So I've done it now, and I may regret it later, but right now I confess I'm excited! What did I do? Why I went and signed up for not only a 10K (my first!) but also 10 mile race (also obviously my first) in October. Of this year. Yep, I'm down to 19 days for the 10K, and now 6 weeks for the 10 miler.
Now why did you go and do a fool thing like that, you may ask. Because I have the running bug and I'm having fun! No really, I have been having lots of fun running this summer and felt like I was ready to try a few races to see just how much my run tracker has been lying to me about how well I've been doing.
And MyTracks has been lying to me, especially about distance on some of my long runs. How do I know? Because I Google map most newer runs and have found sometimes the distance is off, at times way off. It seems like sometimes extra movement will get translated as mileage, so a run that MyTracks tells me was 5.8 miles might really only be 5.3 miles. When I catch it lying I get so irritated but what can you do? Maybe someday I'll get all technical and get a Garmin watch but right now I guess MyTracks and I will continue with our codependent relationship.
Besides, I have been seeing real progress in my running this summer, despite the heat and humidity and the lies of MyTracks. When last we met in June, I was getting ready for a 5K, which I did finish in 33:39. I was happy with my time, because it was faster than the Race for the Cure in May, and felt pretty good during the race. However, I was disappointed by how much I struggled with the few hills on the course and realized that all treadmill running was not a good thing. So I hit the road, and over the summer ran outside, up hills and down. Hills that once made me huff and puff in July, now I can keep my pace and chug right up. I'm still pretty slow but have increased distance gradually so that right now, 5 mile runs are my routine runs. That's right, a 5 mile run is a piece of cake. Ha!
So why not stay with the 5K and work on time? Get faster! Work harder on dropping below 30 minutes for a 5K!
Because I don't want to, that's why.
I am not a fast runner, never will be and don't really want to be. How do I know this? Because I like distance, slow and steady, chug chugging along toward a bigger goal that would burnout those 5K gazelles. I have been pleasantly surprised to find that adding more distance every so often has not been so hard and I can come home feeling good, not all pukey like with a fast run. And remember, my ultimate crazy goal is the big M. Marathon!
So what's coming up? First, October 1, Twin Cities Marathon weekend 10K. Out and back, with the hill at the beginning. Feeling pretty confident that I can do this one without embarrassing myself. I can say this now, of course...
Next after that, on October 29, MonsterDash 10 miler! Why? Because I did this one run recently, where I was trying to add a little distance and then took a wrong turn and ended up running much farther than I had planned. And I survived. Really, it was no big deal. And I've heard that MonsterDash gives good swag so now I'm in for that one too.
Rest assured, I'm not so crazy to try a half marathon yet. But next June is Grandma's Marathon and I've heard the half marathon is the best!
Monday, September 12, 2011
Friday, June 24, 2011
So you want to run a marathon, huh?
I want to run a marathon. There, I've said it, out loud or at least in print. It is crazy, I know, just the thought of going that far under your own foot power for that long. Miles and hours! What am I thinking?! I can do miles and hours in a car or plane but running? You're gonna do what now?! Sit back down, ma'am, before you strain your imaginary muscles just thinking about such a thing!
While I have never been a serious dedicated runner, a marathon has been something that has captured my imagination for a long time. 26.2 miles! A test of will and determination! If Oprah ran a marathon, then you can too! And there is the danger...you could die running a marathon! Or lose control of bodily functions in public! Yay! Oh, wait, that would be bad...
So why a marathon, you may ask? What makes a middle aged woman obsessed with something which seems impossible? Why not try knitting or golf? Neither of those are likely to kill you. Well, golfers do sometimes get hit by lightning or have heart attacks when they get a hole in one but you get my point. Why would I want to set a goal for myself that is so high? Maybe to understand why, you would have to know how I got to this point.
I started running 18 years ago as something positive to do for myself at the beginning of a very bad time. It was either that or I was going to have to start doing major drugs and that was not really a viable option so running it was! I was not, nor have I ever been, a fast runner or anything approaching athletic. In fact, sometimes running too fast or too hard makes me feel nauseated. Good times! You may be asking yourself at this point, why do you run then if it is sometimes an unpleasant activity which has the potential to cause pain and injury? Well for me, running was and is time alone with myself when I can switch off the brain and just be. One foot in front of the other, as fast or as slow as I want to go, competing only against myself. Running is about control and pushing self imposed limits, something you can do as much or as little as you want. And unlike knitting, it is hard to be bad at running so long as you can keep from falling down...or throwing up in public.
Recently, after a few years of not running regularly, I have started running again and I feel good. I have done one 5K in May and tomorrow, I am running another one. Sure, I could take it slow, keep doing 5K runs, then maybe 10Ks and slowly work my way up but I am not getting any younger. And even though my secret strategy has always been to plug away at running until I am so old that I am the only runner in my age group and therefore the fastest, that could take quite a long time. I need to have a goal for myself that I can achieve in the near future, something to look forward to outside of the day to day grind. I guess I could always do grad school but it is expensive and there are Teenagers to send off to college in the near future so running wins again! I feel like now is the time, and with a little hard work and effort, I can get myself ready for something bigger than a 5K, something to really challenge myself, like a marathon! Or there is always golf, but you have to buy all that equipment and there all those are rules to follow...
Anyway, another thing I have also wanted to do for a while is start a blog. I know, I'm way late to the party, blogging is so last decade but so what. This is really for me and if someone else comes a long to read it, then welcome! If not, it will be a record of my journey toward what seems now like an impossible goal...not vomiting in public, I mean, MARATHON!!
While I have never been a serious dedicated runner, a marathon has been something that has captured my imagination for a long time. 26.2 miles! A test of will and determination! If Oprah ran a marathon, then you can too! And there is the danger...you could die running a marathon! Or lose control of bodily functions in public! Yay! Oh, wait, that would be bad...
So why a marathon, you may ask? What makes a middle aged woman obsessed with something which seems impossible? Why not try knitting or golf? Neither of those are likely to kill you. Well, golfers do sometimes get hit by lightning or have heart attacks when they get a hole in one but you get my point. Why would I want to set a goal for myself that is so high? Maybe to understand why, you would have to know how I got to this point.
I started running 18 years ago as something positive to do for myself at the beginning of a very bad time. It was either that or I was going to have to start doing major drugs and that was not really a viable option so running it was! I was not, nor have I ever been, a fast runner or anything approaching athletic. In fact, sometimes running too fast or too hard makes me feel nauseated. Good times! You may be asking yourself at this point, why do you run then if it is sometimes an unpleasant activity which has the potential to cause pain and injury? Well for me, running was and is time alone with myself when I can switch off the brain and just be. One foot in front of the other, as fast or as slow as I want to go, competing only against myself. Running is about control and pushing self imposed limits, something you can do as much or as little as you want. And unlike knitting, it is hard to be bad at running so long as you can keep from falling down...or throwing up in public.
Recently, after a few years of not running regularly, I have started running again and I feel good. I have done one 5K in May and tomorrow, I am running another one. Sure, I could take it slow, keep doing 5K runs, then maybe 10Ks and slowly work my way up but I am not getting any younger. And even though my secret strategy has always been to plug away at running until I am so old that I am the only runner in my age group and therefore the fastest, that could take quite a long time. I need to have a goal for myself that I can achieve in the near future, something to look forward to outside of the day to day grind. I guess I could always do grad school but it is expensive and there are Teenagers to send off to college in the near future so running wins again! I feel like now is the time, and with a little hard work and effort, I can get myself ready for something bigger than a 5K, something to really challenge myself, like a marathon! Or there is always golf, but you have to buy all that equipment and there all those are rules to follow...
Anyway, another thing I have also wanted to do for a while is start a blog. I know, I'm way late to the party, blogging is so last decade but so what. This is really for me and if someone else comes a long to read it, then welcome! If not, it will be a record of my journey toward what seems now like an impossible goal...not vomiting in public, I mean, MARATHON!!
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