So this is it. Up until now I was sorta flirting with the idea of running the half marathon. Do not mistake me - the HALF marathon. Not the full 26.2 miles of crazyness that is the MARATHON. The HALF. That's it. Trust me, that's enough. Considering I am an 8 year veteran of running track as a sprinter (as in, anything less than a half mile) - this is a big deal. For me. I was a sprinter all through high school and college, not because I was fast, but because I hated to run long distance (longer than a half mile, which to me is a freaking LONG way to go). So here I am. Training for the half marathon. That's 13.1 miles. Yeah, a LONG FREAKING WAY TO GO. But I'm going to do it. In October. In Grand Rapids.
I've decided to commit because I thought it would be fun to run it. Not by myself. That's a long time to run (2hr +) alone. I was thinking I'd run it with Kate, but I'm pretty sure she's going to ditch me to run the full 26.2 miles instead (you go girl!!!). Then I thought, hey, my dad just ran a marathon last November. And I remember him saying that during that race he thought that the half was more up his alley (the second half of that marathon was not pretty, but the first half rocked). So, yeah, this is a good idea - how about I ask my dad to run this thing with me?? YEAH! That's a GREAT idea! I mean, after all, he's almost 30 years older than me. So we probably run around the same pace, right? This will be PERFECT!
And when I asked him, he'd already decided he would like to run with me anyway. All right! I'm all set. Now I have motivation, and someone to run with, I'm committed now! Except for one thing. My dad does NOT run my pace after all, but a good minute/mi faster. No, that is not a joke nor is it a typo. To prove it, here's the text message he sent me today from Philly, where he's attending my niece's graduation from High School:
"7 mile run this am 8:30 pace. Game on. Dad."
Oh. CRAP! So far this season, in the two races I've run (a 5K in March, and a 10K in May) my pace is somewhere between a 9 and 9:30 min/mi. Yeah, that's about a FULL MINUTE slower than my dad. Clearly I am totally screwed and have my work cut out for me.
So there you have it. I have created this blog for two simple reasons. One - I'm going to need to complain. A lot. About all the running I'm going to have to do in order to not die while running this thing. Second - I'm thinking I'm going to need some encouragement, support, whatever you want to call it, from friends and family (and let's face it - those of you who will take sheer pleasure from my misery - you know who you are!). Because now my goal can't be to just finish this damn thing (which, barring an injury I'm pretty sure I can do). My goal is now to be able to finish it with my dad in my sights, if not with him right next to me.
Wish me luck. I'm going to need it. Big time.
Two years later...and I am back baby
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Okay so it's been about 2 years since I posted on the blog. I had to
abandon my 2010 marathon attempt due to a very bad hip injury (bursitis)
that required...
11 years ago
Hey Oedipus [gender non-specific] - As the father of two daughters, are you trying to tell me this is what to expect? They should consider you a role model; both of my kids appear to want be proficient in 'iPod.' You seem to be onto something good to me.
ReplyDeleteI was sort of inspired by your blog and almost wanted to run it with you, until you said that you were going to up your time. Ha. I'm back to my 5K's and loving it! Maybe we could have some long runs for me in your training, slow. I will be as supportive as you need!
ReplyDeleteCarrie
Between Kate and your Dad it sounds like you won't be too lonely. While I would never be crazy enough to run it with you, I will come cheer you on. :-)
ReplyDelete