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'I Want To See The Finish Line'

Tribune photo by JAY NOLAN

Bill Lee with his family (from left): Janine Lee; Faith Mei Lee (7 weeks); Landen Lee (2) and Ayden Lee (3) at their Odessa home. Bill Lee has found ways to keep training for an upcoming marathon with a growing family.

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 19, 2008

As part of the I Made It series, 4You will visit Bill Lee several times this year, as he tries to balance life's adventures and training for his first marathon. The first installment saw him finish a first-ever road race - the Gasparilla Distance Classic 15K in February. This is the second of three visits.

Bill Lee, 36, Odessa

Goal: To continue training for my first marathon in Chicago on Oct. 12, and juggle work, training and the arrival of my third child.

Why I did it: I knew I had to be flexible with the needs of our children, the needs of my wife being pregnant, the weather conditions and my work. I knew it would be a constant juggling act. Though my running was important and it was at the forefront, sometimes it would have to take a back burner. Once everything else was satisfied, then I could go out and run. Actually, the running was very therapeutic.

How I did it: It is definitely not about getting in the long, quality runs or getting the frequency of runs. It's a lot easier following a program and getting into that rhythm where you want to run three days a week and cross-train another day and get in a long run. My program has been all over the board, but that works.

I've gone one week where I didn't even do a maintenance run and I felt sluggish. I felt kind of depressed. But it did allow my body to recover from lack of sleep and my muscles didn't take such a pounding. The week of daughter Faith's July 10 birth, I did get one run in.

I've learned some tricks in terms of cross-training, like making sure I'm hydrated and making sure I eat every 45 minutes during my long runs.

Hurdles: Everybody talks about hitting a wall, and I did hit that wall around mile 16. But I've followed running guru and best-selling author Jeff Galloway's program. I've taken the long runs and increased them by a mile or so every Sunday. And since mile 18, I've been doing long runs only every other week to let my body recover.

I'm now at 20 of 26.2 miles, and considering the heat and what I've gone through, it hasn't been that hard. The running's been the easiest part. The rest of life has been the challenging part.

The humidity and the sun have been hard. If I've got to do a maintenance run, I'll go at night or in the morning. But on my long runs, I've got to go at 4 a.m., after feeding the baby, or really, really late at night.

Going the distance: First and foremost, I'm motivated by my family. My wife and my children have made a sacrifice for me to do this. It's a lot for me to walk away for an hour or two and go run. Two, I owe it to other first-timers for positive motivation that they can do this. Three, I have gone where I could barely run a mile to where I can now run 20 miles and have some left in my tank. I don't want to stop now. I've gotten so far. I want to see the finish line.

Best advice: People are telling me about their first marathon experiences and how I'll never go through that again. That's the ultimate thrill. I know it's so close and I'm going to do it.

Keyword: Made It, to tell us about a personal fitness goal you have reached and how you accomplished it. Or send your story to mshedden@tampatrib.com or Mary Shedden, The Tampa Tribune, 200 S. Parker St., Tampa FL 33606.

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