So, first of all, I hope you all had a lovely Easter, Passover, or whatever it may be that you celebrate this time of year. I had an excellent Easter. I went for a swim in the morning then headed to the family brunch at a golf course where I watched my aunt accost the Easter Bunny. Really. The Easter Bunny walked past and she grabbed his rear. It was all very demented. But, if you know my family, unsurprising. Greek Easter is next Sunday and is usually much more civilized. haha
The Saturday before Easter, I decided I was going to run to my parents' house. They live about 12 miles away. This seemed surprising to me seeing as (A) the week before I had a massive fail at a 9 miler and (B) I had never considered this before. At all. Ever. For some reason, I woke up that Saturday just like any other. I noticed it was sunny and going to be warm, so I decided to take advantage and run. Then, I got the email that said "Flying Pig Half-Marathon is 23 days away!" Something in my brain snapped. It can't be just 3 weeks away - I hadn't even run 9 consecutive miles yet!! How was I ever going to be ready for 13? So, I took the advice of my friend and nemesis, Nando, and said, "Well, then I guess I'll just run it." (Nando had told me after my failed 9 miler that I should just pick a longer distance, like 10 miles, and run it. I rarely do something in a small manner. So, of course, I jump from 9 to 12.)
Some people might say that this is a recipe for disaster or injury. I say it was a recipe for being awesome. Here is pretty much how it went:
3.2 miles I was at my normal 5 K finishing pace. This leads me to believe that I don't push myself hard enough during 5 K races.
5 miles - Feeling pretty good, have done some walking.
8 miles - Walking some more, getting tired, and my left pinky really hurts. I have no idea why.
After that I didn't pay attention to mileage for a while, I was just feeling out how I was feeling. At some point I got a burst of energy and took off at about a 9:45 pace (about my 1 mile pace). I did that for 1/4 mile and then returned to a walk.
At mile 11 I got kind of emotional because I was so excited that I was actually going to do it. It was so cheesy. This excitement was interrupted at about mile 12 mile when I was across from the Polo Fields. A stupid suburban house frau slowed down her giant red SUV and shook her arms at me and mouthed, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" I was on a lesser traveled road, running (barely) on the gravel side. It was not anything odd, unless you are an idiot maybe. I tend to suppress my natural inclination to yell and flip people off when I'm alone since confrontation with drivers is rarely the safe choice. So, I gave her an odd look and kept going.
I made the turn into my parents' subdivision and, even though running was a dream at this point, I hit my watch at the drive - 12.84 miles on my own two feet! (2:49)
Hoping for a better half-marathon time, but we shall see!! At least I know I can make the distance. I clearly need to work on pacing though.
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5 comments:
Nice job!
Now that you know you can easily knock off the distance, just work on that pacing and you'll be all set for the half mary!
Good job.
Nice job on the 12 miler... you can so do the half marathon in 23 days! Knock 'em dead!
nice, the longest run I have done is 10km altough I have sterted to increase the milleage of my runs lately.
Great job! And keep in training for the 1/2 marathon. I want to do one but maybe next year!
And please take care if your body, an injury is the last thing you need to keep the motivation up!!
web.me.com/amaurydeleon
I love your account of this run. This should give you a lot of confidence about your upcoming 1/2. People have always told me that if you can do 10, then you can do a 1/2. Well, 12 and then some certainly puts you there. I'm hoping for a half marathon later this summer, but I'm nowhere near that point with my long runs yet.
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