Friday, August 05, 2005

How does 13 miles become "just"?

I'm running my first 1/2 marathon tomorrow morning. I've never run farther than 10 miles in a race, and that was a proud moment indeed. I ran that race in an even 9 minute miles, crossing the finish line at 90:33. I still have the picture taped to my fridge 2 1/2 years later. I wear that finisher shirt to tri's to remind myself I can be an endurance athlete.

So how did a half marathon become "just" 13 miles?

IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Because this tri geek alliance has me thinking marathons and 1/2 irons and aaaggghhhh IRONMAN!

I'd kind of like to run this 13 miles and think, damn girl you can run.

But noooooo. It's just a tune up. Just a practice run on the way to the bigger events.

It's the blessing and curse when I am training. When the 8th mile of 10 starts to feel awful, I chide myself with the thought, you think this is bad, what are you going to do when you have to swim 1.2 and bike 56 before this?

Low and behold, I suddenly have a little more in the tank. I'm suddenly lighter on my feet. What the ????

7 miles used to be a monumental accomplishment which said I could take the next couple workouts easy, now 7 is the warm up.

Curse you damn (blog) spot!

And Bless you.

For all who are racing this weekend, be safe, have fun and I'll see you Sunday to swap war stories.

7 comments:

:) said...

Isn't it great/crappy?

Be glad 13 is "just 13".

Most people hear 13 and say "NO WAY IN HELL!!!"

Brett said...

Good luck!

Phil said...

Hey - rest assured, in my books 13 miles is a monster accomplishment. And is still out of my grasp for quite some time! Good luck and all the best.

Comm's said...

The 1/2 is a great run. Just soak it all in and it will be over before you know it.

Make sure to thank all the cops out there directing traffic.

Chris said...

Hey there! I'll see you tomorrow maybe? Do you have any pace goals or anything? Maybe if we're close in pace, we can run together or something? :)

Nancy Toby said...

Don't underestimate what it takes to do a "half marathon" - which I think is sadly mis-named! It's one hell of a tough race distance! Respect the distance and have a great race!!! GOOD LUCK!!

Hollyfish said...

Damn girl, you CAN run!! Way to go...I'm finding the blog alliance has the same effect on me too...pretty cool! Keep up the hard work and stay connected!