Ten days. TEN days. I might be a little anxious. Maybe. A lot.
Thoughts:
I’m not sure but I may have misjudged how many weeks I had left, and the weekend I took off due to the combination of balloon ride, long bus trip, cupcakes and mucho booze would probably have been the last chance I had to get in another long run before my taper.
Did I do enough long runs? Were my long runs long enough?
42.2 kilometres is ten whole kilometres longer than my longest long run. Ten. Kilometres. An hour or more.
I only ran home tonight, and my knees hurt. My shins hurt. I may be whinging a little.
I have never done this. I don’t know if I CAN do this. Do I even really want to do this?
Of course I want to do this. I have to want to do this. How could I have gotten so far if I didn’t really want it?
Alright. No more negativity. Regardless of whether I’m actually ready for the big day, it’s coming and I will run it. Even if I have to walk to the finish line. Even if I cry like a whiny little girl at the end, which we all know I will do, and for a number of reasons. Because I’m tired, because I’m in pain, because I can’t believe that I’m actually about to finish the race.
April 10. Bring it on.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Friday, March 25, 2011
The Return Email
I received the following email today from Fairfax events, about the iPod issue at the marathon.
Hi Anika,
You will not be disqualified for running with an ipod or receive any penalty. We include it as a guideline because the use of ipods can be a safety hazard. Runners listening to loud music tend to be less aware of other runners and race marshals who may be trying to communicate with them.
Good luck with the event.
WIN!
Okay, so I know I’m supposed to be all rational and adult about it and be all:
“I’m glad they’re being rational, and I’ve reconsidered it, and decided I won’t be needing my iPod in the race after all. I wouldn’t want to cause a safety hazard.”
But I won’t say that. I’ll carry on being inconsiderate (at least in a technical sense), and in doing so will remain just as considerate of others as I always have in a race situation.
Hi Anika,
You will not be disqualified for running with an ipod or receive any penalty. We include it as a guideline because the use of ipods can be a safety hazard. Runners listening to loud music tend to be less aware of other runners and race marshals who may be trying to communicate with them.
Good luck with the event.
WIN!
Okay, so I know I’m supposed to be all rational and adult about it and be all:
“I’m glad they’re being rational, and I’ve reconsidered it, and decided I won’t be needing my iPod in the race after all. I wouldn’t want to cause a safety hazard.”
But I won’t say that. I’ll carry on being inconsiderate (at least in a technical sense), and in doing so will remain just as considerate of others as I always have in a race situation.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
The fast run home, and race pack: wtf?
I haven’t been running a lot lately. I feel like I’m making a confession at a Lazy Bitches Anonymous meeting, but I have an excuse, don’t I? I’m tapering. I ran home once last week, and I ran home once this week. No long run, too much on. Last night’s run was fast, though. Really, really fast. I left work late, maybe twenty past five, and I got home early. Five to six, or thereabouts. I know I took a walk break or two during the run so when I was running I must have been running fast.
My race pack for the marathon was here when I got home last night, also. My race number is ’64’, which looks entirely odd on my bib. I’ve never had a race number as low, even in races with two hundred or so participants. There’s these strange hard plastic strips on the back of the bib, and I’m not sure if they have something to do with the timing tag, or what. The runner’s guide doesn’t mention. The runner’s guide does, however, have one of my least favourite sentences written in it, in the ‘Runner’s Etiquette’ section:
Refrain from using iPods or other music devices
Sadface.
I know, I’m a selfish cow. I race with an iPod. There’s a special circle of hell devoted to self-centered freaks just like me. Where we can trip over each other and cut each other off at water stops and ignore the marshals for all eternity.
Look, I’ve already gotten as much criticism of iPods as I can handle from the Coolrunning forum. Because iPods are EVIL. And why can’t you just enjoy the ATMOSPHERE, and make CONVERSATION, and enjoy the SCENERY, and listen to the BIRDS. If you need an iPod, you OBVIOUSLY don’t like running at all. Funnily enough, nobody ever seems to want to make conversation with me in a race, even when I’m not wearing the iPod. I just like music. I like running, but it’s tough. It’s always going to be tough. If the iPod gets me through the toughest spots, then I’m going to keep on using it, even if I get shunned by all the ‘real’ runners.
I wrote an email to Fairfax asking if it’s a ‘ban’ or a ‘guideline’, and whether disqualification will be on the cards if I bring the demonic music machine along. Because if it isn’t? I will bring the iPod. I will listen to it on low low volume (as I always do in races) mostly with one earpiece out (as I always do in races) and if you feel the need to swear, slap, scream at me because you think I’m selfish, then that’s your prerogative.
My race pack for the marathon was here when I got home last night, also. My race number is ’64’, which looks entirely odd on my bib. I’ve never had a race number as low, even in races with two hundred or so participants. There’s these strange hard plastic strips on the back of the bib, and I’m not sure if they have something to do with the timing tag, or what. The runner’s guide doesn’t mention. The runner’s guide does, however, have one of my least favourite sentences written in it, in the ‘Runner’s Etiquette’ section:
Refrain from using iPods or other music devices
Sadface.
I know, I’m a selfish cow. I race with an iPod. There’s a special circle of hell devoted to self-centered freaks just like me. Where we can trip over each other and cut each other off at water stops and ignore the marshals for all eternity.
Look, I’ve already gotten as much criticism of iPods as I can handle from the Coolrunning forum. Because iPods are EVIL. And why can’t you just enjoy the ATMOSPHERE, and make CONVERSATION, and enjoy the SCENERY, and listen to the BIRDS. If you need an iPod, you OBVIOUSLY don’t like running at all. Funnily enough, nobody ever seems to want to make conversation with me in a race, even when I’m not wearing the iPod. I just like music. I like running, but it’s tough. It’s always going to be tough. If the iPod gets me through the toughest spots, then I’m going to keep on using it, even if I get shunned by all the ‘real’ runners.
I wrote an email to Fairfax asking if it’s a ‘ban’ or a ‘guideline’, and whether disqualification will be on the cards if I bring the demonic music machine along. Because if it isn’t? I will bring the iPod. I will listen to it on low low volume (as I always do in races) mostly with one earpiece out (as I always do in races) and if you feel the need to swear, slap, scream at me because you think I’m selfish, then that’s your prerogative.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Alrighty then.
I don’t want to worry unnecessarily about this, but I’ve been getting a warning tenderness in my right leg after running. Here are the two words that fill me with dread:
Shin. Splints.
I don’t think it’s at the point yet to panic, but I’m going to take it easy regardless. Normally I would have run home from work tonight, but after hip hop last night I have a massive bruise on my left knee and I didn’t want to push myself. Right now I’d really like to keep myself uninjured. I’ve started my taper, and the big race is less than a month away. Yay. Exciting.
Shin. Splints.
I don’t think it’s at the point yet to panic, but I’m going to take it easy regardless. Normally I would have run home from work tonight, but after hip hop last night I have a massive bruise on my left knee and I didn’t want to push myself. Right now I’d really like to keep myself uninjured. I’ve started my taper, and the big race is less than a month away. Yay. Exciting.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Malaise
I managed to run 32 km on Saturday, despite my current overwhelming fatigue and growing impatience with long runs. I would love to be energetic and excited about every run, but at the moment it’s simply not happening.
Only three long training runs to go. Maybe one or two of those runs will be 30+ kms, then begins the taper. I’ve been reading blogs and forums, looking up tips and tricks and motivation and reassurances for first time marathoners, and for everything I read that convinces me I’m not ready, there’s something else that fills me with a hopeful (if temporary) confidence. My main worry is that I’m too slow, but even if I am there’s a six and a half hour cutoff.
I bought some gels to try out for fuelling on the weekend, even though my last experiment with gels wasn’t all that successful. Up until now, I’ve brought snacks along for the really long runs, but they’ve been a varied grab bag of stuff, whatever I could grab on the way out the door. Lollies, like those forest berry jelly gummy things with sugar on, also on one memorable occasion a crappy compound chocolate coin (which tasted like the sweetest thing in the world after fifteen or twenty kilometres). Grapes, on my first 30 km run. This last weekend, it was a new low - a little plastic container filled with about a tablespoon and a half of peanut butter. That didn’t really work. So I’ll try gels.
In other news, I ran home really fast tonight. It was awesome, once I got into it. One of those ‘I’m invincible and the world is awesome’ sort of runs. Despite how tired I was before I started running.
Only three long training runs to go. Maybe one or two of those runs will be 30+ kms, then begins the taper. I’ve been reading blogs and forums, looking up tips and tricks and motivation and reassurances for first time marathoners, and for everything I read that convinces me I’m not ready, there’s something else that fills me with a hopeful (if temporary) confidence. My main worry is that I’m too slow, but even if I am there’s a six and a half hour cutoff.
I bought some gels to try out for fuelling on the weekend, even though my last experiment with gels wasn’t all that successful. Up until now, I’ve brought snacks along for the really long runs, but they’ve been a varied grab bag of stuff, whatever I could grab on the way out the door. Lollies, like those forest berry jelly gummy things with sugar on, also on one memorable occasion a crappy compound chocolate coin (which tasted like the sweetest thing in the world after fifteen or twenty kilometres). Grapes, on my first 30 km run. This last weekend, it was a new low - a little plastic container filled with about a tablespoon and a half of peanut butter. That didn’t really work. So I’ll try gels.
In other news, I ran home really fast tonight. It was awesome, once I got into it. One of those ‘I’m invincible and the world is awesome’ sort of runs. Despite how tired I was before I started running.
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