Smith Family Weblog

Well, I did walk, but it didn’t feel like a failure.

I left home at 5 am this morning, stopping along the way to pick up my friend Sarah. I soon discovered that I arrived at the park about 75 minutes earlier than necessary. But, we had a nice time talking to other race participants and checking out the staging areas for the duathalon. There were about 275 participants, and I lined up near the back of the group. By the time we were out of the park, I was tired and wishing I was back in bed.

I tried to focus on very short distance markers—even just thinking about the next power line pole, or in some cases of extreme desperation (or a seemingly mountainous hill), the next fence post. I lengthened my stride downhill, taking advantage of the easier segments to improve my time. I decided to walk just before the first mile and a half, and I gladly accepted two cups of water at the turnaround point. I would guess it was roughly 13 steps before I began to regret that.

I walked a couple more times on the uphill portions of the course on the way back, though I did try to keep my speed up as much as I could. However, most of my energy was spent trying extremely hard not to lose all that water. Come to find out, it would have been less traumatic to lose it on the course, than, oh, say 100 meters from the finish line…

As I ran down the last turn, I saw Sarah, and then promptly puked. SIX TIMES. The incredibly bored medics all jumped to my aid—I had to fend them off while trying to avoid my shoes and actually finish the race. Once that was out of my system, I felt like a million bucks.

I crossed the finish line at about 41 minutes, meaning I must have averaged just under five miles an hour. I may have some photos to post later tonight—the photographer seemed to think my behavior near the finish line was worth documenting.

Overall—and even despite not meeting my intended goal—I enjoyed the whole process very much. The group was friendly and collegial, and that alone made it a pretty great experience. So much so that I’m planning to sign up for two more 5Ks—July 24 and August 28. And, believe it or not, I’m looking forward to Monday’s run.

Last night, I ran the final workout in my Couch to 5K training program. It was an easy, 30 minute run on the treadmill—quite a difference from what awaits me tomorrow morning.

I made the mistake of doing a trial run on the actual 5K course last week. It went about as well as could be expected for a course nicknamed the “prairie punisher.” Between the hills and the heat, I struggled during the last half, walking quite a bit in order to finish. It took me more than 45 minutes, and was actually harder mentally than physically. And now, having that failure in my mind makes this Saturday that much more daunting.

But, I came home, rested a couple of days, then ran 3.2 miles on my treadmill. There were no hills—not even an incline—and no heat (in fact, I had a fan, and an air conditioned basement). But, in one respect, I’ve met the goal of the training program. It just won’t feel that way, though, unless I can run the entire distance tomorrow.

I picked up my race packet last night, and for the first time, I felt truly nervous. I stood next to actual athletes who intend to run a 5K, bike for 30K, and then run another 5K, just for fun. And here I am, agonizing over what’s basically a warm-up run. It was humbling and a bit demoralizing.

And therein lies the real problem.

I am realizing that while the training program prepared me from an endurance perspective, I still have a lot of work to do within my own head. I spent some time yesterday reading about the mental game behind running, and I found that some runners use mantras to push themselves. I don’t think I could memorize a quotation by Gandhi and use it effectively, but one “mantra” stood out to me:  “Just keep running, just keep running, just keep running…” a play on the “just keep swimming” line from Finding Nemo.  It’s no wonder that one appeals to me—go with what you know, I suppose.

I run at 7 am tomorrow. Here’s hoping…