In two weeks I will be running in the 1st Annual Mount Fuji Marathon.. except that I'm not doing the actual marathon, more like a 17.2km race around a pretty lake. So almost a half marathon but not quite. I have never been much of a runner and this time last year I was in the early weeks of Couch to 5K.. today I ran 10 miles.. that's 16 kilometres! That's the longest run I've ever done!
Overall it felt pretty good although it's amazing what a love/hate kind of relationship goes on during a long run. Initially I started off feeling very good. Then I started to get tired and realized that I was still so very early on in the experience that I had no right to feel anything but awake, alive, alert etc etc. Then I start to daydream about future races I might want to run and start to wonder how long an ultra marathon is.. then I get a grip and remind myself that I haven't even run 5km yet. And it goes on an on and on. I learn to play games in my head. I let myself think about certain things after a certain amount of miles and tell myself other things on a loop. I drive myself a little crazy I think.
Today there was a half marathon in my neighbourhood (I wish I'd known how to sign up for it... curses!) and it ended in the stadium that is in the park where I run so I was able to see all the finishers as I was slogging along. There is something rather emotional about watching runners race toward the finish line. I started to get a little choked up and teary.. until I realized it was affecting my breathing so I tried to think about other things. Anyway it made for a nice distraction and something different to look at.
I feel good about November 25th and more ready than I thought I'd be. Now to make sure I'm stretching, eating properly, resting properly and not doing anything stupid for the next two weeks!
No comments:
Post a Comment