Long Run 6
I woke up at 4 AM yesterday (Saturday) and sat up in bed, switched on the light. I then wondered why the hell I was waking up at 4 AM on a Saturday morning. The bed had never felt softer and my eyes couldn't really focus yet. A rush of reasons flooded my brain, urging me to lay back in bed and give myself up to the beautiful cocoon of sleep. I didn't. I pushed myself out of bed and splashed some water on my face, looking in the mirror I reaffirmed the reason I had woken up at 4 AM: today was the day I had planned to run my first half marathon training run distance. Looking in the mirror, I quickly looked away lest all the usual fears and questions came rushing back telling me what a foolish endevour I was embarking upon. I got dressed, did my stretching routine at home and headed out the door to the car.
I reached Cubbon Park by 5:20 AM, set up my "aid station" in the back seat of the car: 1 big bottle of a lemon and very salty water mix, 1 big bottle of gatorade, bananas, green tea mints (delicious) and water. I hit the road by 5:25. Truth be told, it was still pitch black and I was a bit apprehensive to take my usual trail route through the park. Snakes do have a presence here and I didn't want to risk stepping on any. Broken branches and logs too are a risk. I'm going to strap on my flashlight from the next long run. I decided to plunge into the park nonetheless and trust in the running gods.
My usual loop is about 5 K but I knew today that that wouldn't do. I was aiming for 20K and 4 loops would mentally not be feasible. I changed the route a little bit and ran a few extra rounds of the hypnotic Queen's park. My first stop was at the 7.5K mark. My 2nd stop was at the 17K mark and that was when I started struggling. Around the 17.5K mark, there was an explosion of rational assessment in my head: to ease off, to stop, to walk, to relax because it had already been a fantastic run and when none of that worked, all the blissful sensations of stopping flooded my brain. It's really incredible when you begin to consciously study and become aware of the REAL reasons you stop doing something. At least when it comes to distance running, rational assessments have no place. That much I now know and I pushed on harder when all those reasons flooded my brain. In fact, I think they made me more determined to carry on and achieve the goal I had set for myself that morning. I really struggled for the last 2 Kms and that destroyed my time for the run. However, I wasn't running time but distance so I didn't mind though it did hurt my pride that I slowed down to a crawl those last 2 kms.
I completed 20K in 2:40. Even if I shave off 3-4 minutes due to stopping etc. that's still too slow. But on the other hand, I've gone from 0 Kms to a half marathon in 45 days of training and discipline. I feel a comforting sense of satisfaction and quiet accomplishment at this small win. This while Scott Jurek is attempting to run 2,160 miles from Georgia to Maine. :-) Perspective. But mine is a great, single step in what I hope will be a much longer journey. The jury's still out on whether I can attempt 42K in another 100 odd days. Let's see. For now, I'm going to focus on just the next training week, the next long run. I'll aim for 25K in 2 weeks or so. What is abundantly clear is that I have never before trained in so scientific a manner and never stuck to my training goals as well as I'm doing right now. You would think there's some payout at the end of all this right? Wrong! There really are no guarantees in distance running as in life as in hoping to spot a tiger in the wild. But you still keep trying.
As I hobbled to my parents' place after the run, I was berated (as usual) by my Mom about how foolish this whole thing is, how I am now "middle-aged" and shouldn't attempt such madness, how I have done it before and why do I want to do this again? et cetera. One of my responses, which admittedly further reinforces the belief that this whole exercise is crazy is the motto of one of Scott Jurek's coaches, "Pain only hurts." What lies beyond is something far more magical and worthwhile.
I reached Cubbon Park by 5:20 AM, set up my "aid station" in the back seat of the car: 1 big bottle of a lemon and very salty water mix, 1 big bottle of gatorade, bananas, green tea mints (delicious) and water. I hit the road by 5:25. Truth be told, it was still pitch black and I was a bit apprehensive to take my usual trail route through the park. Snakes do have a presence here and I didn't want to risk stepping on any. Broken branches and logs too are a risk. I'm going to strap on my flashlight from the next long run. I decided to plunge into the park nonetheless and trust in the running gods.
My usual loop is about 5 K but I knew today that that wouldn't do. I was aiming for 20K and 4 loops would mentally not be feasible. I changed the route a little bit and ran a few extra rounds of the hypnotic Queen's park. My first stop was at the 7.5K mark. My 2nd stop was at the 17K mark and that was when I started struggling. Around the 17.5K mark, there was an explosion of rational assessment in my head: to ease off, to stop, to walk, to relax because it had already been a fantastic run and when none of that worked, all the blissful sensations of stopping flooded my brain. It's really incredible when you begin to consciously study and become aware of the REAL reasons you stop doing something. At least when it comes to distance running, rational assessments have no place. That much I now know and I pushed on harder when all those reasons flooded my brain. In fact, I think they made me more determined to carry on and achieve the goal I had set for myself that morning. I really struggled for the last 2 Kms and that destroyed my time for the run. However, I wasn't running time but distance so I didn't mind though it did hurt my pride that I slowed down to a crawl those last 2 kms.
I completed 20K in 2:40. Even if I shave off 3-4 minutes due to stopping etc. that's still too slow. But on the other hand, I've gone from 0 Kms to a half marathon in 45 days of training and discipline. I feel a comforting sense of satisfaction and quiet accomplishment at this small win. This while Scott Jurek is attempting to run 2,160 miles from Georgia to Maine. :-) Perspective. But mine is a great, single step in what I hope will be a much longer journey. The jury's still out on whether I can attempt 42K in another 100 odd days. Let's see. For now, I'm going to focus on just the next training week, the next long run. I'll aim for 25K in 2 weeks or so. What is abundantly clear is that I have never before trained in so scientific a manner and never stuck to my training goals as well as I'm doing right now. You would think there's some payout at the end of all this right? Wrong! There really are no guarantees in distance running as in life as in hoping to spot a tiger in the wild. But you still keep trying.
As I hobbled to my parents' place after the run, I was berated (as usual) by my Mom about how foolish this whole thing is, how I am now "middle-aged" and shouldn't attempt such madness, how I have done it before and why do I want to do this again? et cetera. One of my responses, which admittedly further reinforces the belief that this whole exercise is crazy is the motto of one of Scott Jurek's coaches, "Pain only hurts." What lies beyond is something far more magical and worthwhile.
posted by Abs @ 11:48 AM
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