Just One Marathon

The Long Road Back

Since I started training for the marathon last May, it’s safe to say that things have gone from bad to worse. My pace has been slower for each run, and even more significantly, I’ve been feeling just terrible. That’s pretty discouraging, considering that I’m supposedly trying to improve my marathon finish time by a whopping 36 minutes. 

Then -- lucky me! – I discovered that I have low iron. Why lucky? Because it’s an easy fix. I can take pills to make me faster without having to lie to Congress or anyone else. How cool is that?

And I am, finally, getting faster. It’s been easy to track my improvement over my last three long runs:

Three Sundays ago: I had taken the preceding week off from running because I figured that over-training was my problem. I started out on my 26K run with the very modest ambition of not logging RWOS #4. Mission accomplished. But it wasn’t pretty.

 

Average pace per kilometre: 6:30 minutes (i.e. it took me an average of 6 minutes and 30 seconds to complete each kilometre).

How I felt: Like hell.

Two Sundays ago: I started iron supplements and reduced my mileage, planning a long run of between 12 and 15 kilometres. It felt weird to run so little just when I should be working my way up to the longest runs in my training schedule – but it felt sensible, too. And it worked. For the first time in weeks, I felt like I could actually moderate my pace throughout the run. I was even able to speed up a little at the end.

 

Average pace: 6:15 min/km.

How I felt: Like hell. Again.

Last Sunday: Following coach Barb’s instructions, I headed out for a 20K run, with instructions to shorten it to 18K, if I didn’t feel well. My aim was to see if I could comfortably maintain last week’s 6:15 pace. When I clocked the first three kilometres at around 5:50 min/km, I thought I was going too fast. But I simply couldn’t slow down. I was having an incredible run, and after 15 kilometres, still maintaining that pace with little trouble. I wasn’t just feeling a bit better – I felt fantastic.

 

Average pace: 5:48 min/km.

How I felt: Heavenly.

I can’t wait until next week. I’m trying to temper my expectations and get ready for some potential set backs as I quickly ramp up my miles. On the other hand, I’m feeling more hopeful about my capabilities than I have in ages.

Here’s the adjusted long run schedule I’m considering, heading in to the last few weeks before the marathon:

August 29: 26K

September 5: 32K

September 12: 26K

September 19: 18 to 20K

September 26: 8k

Race Day: 42.2K (gulp)

Messy

And if I was a bed,

I’d be an unmade bed.

Tom Waits, “Baby Gonna Leave Me”

 

Why do other people’s lives always seem so tidy? Me, I’m always forgetting my lunch, putting my car keys in the wrong place, and misplacing important documents. I go to work wearing one navy shoe and one black, often sporting a post-it note in my hair or a static-y stocking on the back of my sweater.

 

When it comes to running, I’m similarly disorganized. Sure, I make plans. I loooove to make plans. I create a training program, print it, post it on my fridge and, for the first few weeks, check off all my long runs religiously. Then life gets messy. I need to work late, or drive a kid to hockey practice, or I just get lazy. That neat little plan starts to look ridiculous when applied to a messy Reluctant Runner.

 

What helps? Structure. That’s why I’ve joined a running class to train for the hypothermic half marathon in Ottawa on January 24. I have a love-hate thing going with the group run. On one hand, it’s nice to be my own boss – run whenever I want to, at whatever pace I feel like, listening to my music. On the other hand, I really appreciate having someone set up a training schedule, map routes and supply running buddies.

 

During group runs, the running class divides into “pods”, based on our goal times for completing a half marathon. Not surprisingly, finding the right running pod has been, for me, a messy process. I started out with the two hour group. After all, that is my goal and I ran one half marathon in just under two hours. However, it’s been 15 months – and countless skipped runs – since I ran that sub-two half. These days, I can’t keep up. So, my next choice is the 2:15 group. Unfortunately, that pace feels a bit leisurely, since my slowest half marathon ever was about 3 minutes faster than 2:15. Mind you, it’s very enjoyable to run at that pace.

 

So, in my typical sloppy fashion, I’ve been alternating between the two groups. Last week, the clinic leader started a 2:07 group – yay! I ran with them on Sunday and it still feels like I’m holding back. Oh well. I’ll just keep muddling along, enjoying the company, and recognizing that this training schedule doesn’t fit into a neat little package.  

How Am I Slower? Let Me Count the Ways.

I thought it was just running. But I’ve realized recently that in just about every way possible, I’m slower. To summarize:

 

My running pace is in the toilet. My Garmin’s been telling me that for weeks, but I don’t think I’d really internalized it until last week’s long run. At one point, I gradually approached a slightly rounded middle-aged guy out for a brisk walk. As I passed him, I gave him a rather patronizing nod and smile, all the while thinking, “Way to go for getting out there on a walk, big guy.” Then his walk break ended, he kicked it into gear, and left me in the dust. As his form receded in the distance, I noted he was wearing a plain white t-shirt, black socks and brown shoes. Somehow, that made it more humiliating. 

 

I’ve been working on the same university course for more than eight months. The program I’m taking allows six months to complete a course, plus two costly extensions. I’m on extension number two, closing in on the final completion date of September 30^th and I’ve still got one assignment to finish and an exam to write. It’s not that I don’t work on it at all. It’s just that I work on it little by little – like digging a grave with a teaspoon, and just about as much fun.  

 

When it comes to planning, it’s all about the last minute. I was so organized back in July. But somewhere in the midst yet another summer of being on the road almost every weekend, I lost the will to pack. So my kids are in Toronto this weekend visiting their grandparents with what could be a critical shortage of socks and underpants. I’m not sure, and I can’t seem to get too concerned about it. They only seem to wear clothing from the top layer of their suitcases anyways.

 

Here’s the thing, though. I am running. I am studying. And the boys are in Toronto, leaving The Runner I Married and me with the house to ourselves for a week. So it’s hard to feel too worried.