I've done it. I've relegated myself to the half at the Run Like Crazy Half Marathon.
It wasn't an easy decision. I'm not the kind of person or athlete that takes the easy way out. But, given I'm also not the kind of person or athlete that can just punch out a marathon, I know it's the right thing to do. It's simple. I haven't done the training I need.
Had I fronted up for the marathon, it would have been a half arsed effort at best. But copping out into the half marathon feels half arsed too.
Showing posts with label gold coast marathon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gold coast marathon. Show all posts
The runners' secret
An excellent article in The Courier Mail today about triathlon. Sure, it's a blatant sell for the World Triathlon Championships happening on the Gold Coast next weekend, and even more blatantly uses sex to do so.
It would have been very easy for a less accomplished columnist to stay with this theme. Kathleen Noonan, though, digs deeper. Might be because she often writes about running and cycling, and it's always convincing because she's a devotee herself.
She writes about our bravery, and our lust for life (and running). She writes about how we heal our lives through our exercise; about how we all need something to get ourselves through the day (of course, running's better for this than scotch).
Kathleen Noonan writes about how we're not meant for 'sitting at a desk on our growing arses in front of a computer'. That's because Kathleen Noonan believes we were born to run.
Unlike the Athletic Powerhouse, Kathleen Noonan has the power to influence hundreds of thousands of people into giving up the computer for a pair of running shoes, even for a day or two a week. Imagine what that could do for the obesity crisis?
Alas, I expect that because her writing is so connected to the runners' psyche, she largely preaches to the converted. Not that I mind. Part of me enjoys that fact that other people don't get it...
And that, my friend, is the runners' secret.
It would have been very easy for a less accomplished columnist to stay with this theme. Kathleen Noonan, though, digs deeper. Might be because she often writes about running and cycling, and it's always convincing because she's a devotee herself.
She writes about our bravery, and our lust for life (and running). She writes about how we heal our lives through our exercise; about how we all need something to get ourselves through the day (of course, running's better for this than scotch).
Kathleen Noonan writes about how we're not meant for 'sitting at a desk on our growing arses in front of a computer'. That's because Kathleen Noonan believes we were born to run.
Unlike the Athletic Powerhouse, Kathleen Noonan has the power to influence hundreds of thousands of people into giving up the computer for a pair of running shoes, even for a day or two a week. Imagine what that could do for the obesity crisis?
Alas, I expect that because her writing is so connected to the runners' psyche, she largely preaches to the converted. Not that I mind. Part of me enjoys that fact that other people don't get it...
And that, my friend, is the runners' secret.
It's official
Yes, I am officially a Marathon finisher.Great weather, a dedicated support crew, the best cheer squad on the coast and a very patient pace runner (well, for a couple of Ks anyway... shhhh!) got me through.
As did an anonymously drawn picture on the road.
I've replicated it here - a smiling stick figure runner, wearing a Gold Coast Marathon Tshirt and medal.
Whoever drew it knows that for some of us out there, all we want is to get our hands on that shirt and medal. But not for the reasons that many would suspect. The "race bling" isn't for show.
Yes, we all wear our Finishers shirts. Sometimes, even in public. But when you pull on a Finisher shirt, it's not for anyone else.
Sure, people will see it and think all kinds of things - some positive, some negative. But none of that matters.
When you pull on a Finishers shirt, whether it be straight after you finish for a happy snap with your loved one, or whether it be weeks, months, or even years later, you can't help but feel something. Pride in a well deserved achievement (perhaps a PB). The memory of a great day in the sunshine. Sometimes, it's just relief that you got through what wasn't such a good day.
When you pull on a Finishers shirt, above anything else, it makes it official.
An explosion, two days early?
So, after getting my "personal refreshments" ready to go last night I arrived at work with a bag full of Coke (rather than a couple of bottles full of Coke). It obviously wasn't as flat as I thought it had been, and had exploded from the small disposable bottles I'd so carefully decanted it into.
My workmate totally misjudged my arrival at work with a bottle of Coke as terrible breakfast nutrition. Luckily, he asked so I could explain why I'd arrived to work at 8am with a bottle of Coke at the ready!
I hope my drink bottles are the only thing that fall apart over the next couple of days.
My workmate totally misjudged my arrival at work with a bottle of Coke as terrible breakfast nutrition. Luckily, he asked so I could explain why I'd arrived to work at 8am with a bottle of Coke at the ready!
I hope my drink bottles are the only thing that fall apart over the next couple of days.
But what should I wear?
So, it's time to finalise what I'm going to wear for my Marathon debut on Sunday.
I'm thinking I'll go for the Phoenix Adventure jersey with running tights and my new Saucony Hurricanes. I'll have to wear one of my Ironman hats - as multisport is really where my heart lies.
What you wear in a race is always a big decision. This time, I've agonised over the decision to wear the Phoenix Adventure kit, even by my standards. I even asked KKB whether he thought I should ask Andy if he would mind me wearing his new club kit, given that I haven't really trained with him for this race, and also because I wasn't realistically going to set a blistering pace...
KKB wondered why on earth I thought Andy would possibly mind. Doing your best, rather than being the best, has always been Andy's ethos.
Nevertheless, when I got the chance to run it by Andy, I did. As KKB had predicted, Andy looked at me a little blankly, as if he couldn't quite fathom my request. As Andy wondered what to say to me, I kept chattering away, explaining my predicament.
"It's just that I'll be out there for a while... in fact I'm a little bit worried that I might come last. I don't want to be a bad advertisement for you", I continued.
Andy reminded me that his team had finished the recent Geoquest 48hr Race just a couple of minutes before the official cutoff. "Why do you think we did that? Everyone was there waiting for us, the presentations were about to start, it was the best exposure ever!"
Problem solved.
I'm thinking I'll go for the Phoenix Adventure jersey with running tights and my new Saucony Hurricanes. I'll have to wear one of my Ironman hats - as multisport is really where my heart lies.
What you wear in a race is always a big decision. This time, I've agonised over the decision to wear the Phoenix Adventure kit, even by my standards. I even asked KKB whether he thought I should ask Andy if he would mind me wearing his new club kit, given that I haven't really trained with him for this race, and also because I wasn't realistically going to set a blistering pace...
KKB wondered why on earth I thought Andy would possibly mind. Doing your best, rather than being the best, has always been Andy's ethos.
Nevertheless, when I got the chance to run it by Andy, I did. As KKB had predicted, Andy looked at me a little blankly, as if he couldn't quite fathom my request. As Andy wondered what to say to me, I kept chattering away, explaining my predicament.
"It's just that I'll be out there for a while... in fact I'm a little bit worried that I might come last. I don't want to be a bad advertisement for you", I continued.
Andy reminded me that his team had finished the recent Geoquest 48hr Race just a couple of minutes before the official cutoff. "Why do you think we did that? Everyone was there waiting for us, the presentations were about to start, it was the best exposure ever!"
Problem solved.
Focus on the positives
Taper has been going nicely. I have had a massage and my last long run on Saturday, 1.5 hrs, felt good and was over before I knew it.
The key to a good taper, though, isn't just physical. More than anything, it's about getting yourself mentally prepared.
On Saturday as I ran past a bus stop and a would-be passenger called out as I passed, "I wish I could do that. I've got busted knees". I realised how lucky I was to be able to consider running a marathon. It was then that I remembered how important it is for me to spend this week focussing on the positives.
The key to a good taper, though, isn't just physical. More than anything, it's about getting yourself mentally prepared.
On Saturday as I ran past a bus stop and a would-be passenger called out as I passed, "I wish I could do that. I've got busted knees". I realised how lucky I was to be able to consider running a marathon. It was then that I remembered how important it is for me to spend this week focussing on the positives.
What I Talk About When I Talk About Running
Throughout my preparation for this, my first marathon, I've been reading What I Talk About When I Talk About Running - a memoir by novelist Haruki Murakami.
As a (very) amateur writer and runner, it is perfect reading material for me right now - lent to me by my boss when she heard I was training for the marathon.
I identified really strongly with his attitude to running. For Haruki, it seems that running is a meditation and a discipline; a way for him to tackle his life as a writer with a newly found physical and mental strength. It doesn't seem to be about success in its pure sense; rather his running is a way for him to challenge himself, to better himself, and to find out more about himself. Through his running, he remains true to himself.
All of these things, I identified with. They're exactly what I talk about, when I talk about running.
As a (very) amateur writer and runner, it is perfect reading material for me right now - lent to me by my boss when she heard I was training for the marathon.
I identified really strongly with his attitude to running. For Haruki, it seems that running is a meditation and a discipline; a way for him to tackle his life as a writer with a newly found physical and mental strength. It doesn't seem to be about success in its pure sense; rather his running is a way for him to challenge himself, to better himself, and to find out more about himself. Through his running, he remains true to himself.
All of these things, I identified with. They're exactly what I talk about, when I talk about running.
Keep the respect
Well, I was fairly apprehensive about my big run yesterday. After a few double runs of 30k combined, it was time to put it together to complete a 33k River Loop.
Like the previous days, the morning was cold, and as we are still a week and a half off the winter Equinox, the sun wasn't strong enough to cut through.
KKB had offered to ride a loop to measure my intended path, then come back to supply extra drinks and moral support.
I needed the extra Gatorade but needed the moral support more. In retrospect, I don't think I'd prepared mentally for the run. I've done this route before when preparing for each of my Ironman races, so maybe I thought it would be all too easy.
I had a few issues along the way with my tummy and tight muscles, so hopefully some better dietary preparation and a few massages will help with that. But mentally I've realised I need to keep the respect for what I'm doing. A marathon is not a walk in the park.
Like the previous days, the morning was cold, and as we are still a week and a half off the winter Equinox, the sun wasn't strong enough to cut through.
KKB had offered to ride a loop to measure my intended path, then come back to supply extra drinks and moral support.
I needed the extra Gatorade but needed the moral support more. In retrospect, I don't think I'd prepared mentally for the run. I've done this route before when preparing for each of my Ironman races, so maybe I thought it would be all too easy.
I had a few issues along the way with my tummy and tight muscles, so hopefully some better dietary preparation and a few massages will help with that. But mentally I've realised I need to keep the respect for what I'm doing. A marathon is not a walk in the park.
I'm in
I'm all signed up for my first marathon. There's no turning back now...
Look out for the Athletic Powerhouse, bib number 1622.
Look out for the Athletic Powerhouse, bib number 1622.
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