Half-baked Marathons…

Or, how i’m gonna try running 21km with no training

Tomorrow is a day I face with some trepidation. Other useful descriptions include expectation, anticipation, dawning alarm, alarming indifference… but trepidation pretty much averages it out and sums it up.

Reason: It’s the half-marathon tomorrow, and despite having it labeled prominently on my calendar, somehow it must have slipped between the cracks of my foggy mind. Every procrastinating reason aside, the simple fact remains that I’ll be at the starting line in about six hours. Eek!

Now, 21 km isn’t actually so bad (not that I’ve done it before). Anybody in reasonably good health can run/walk that distance. It’s just that
1. I’ve never run more than 10km before, and more importantly
2. I’ve got pride/self-esteem tied up in this and want a respectable time and 3. I don’t want to suffer too much and limp half-dead over the finish line.

So, my fault for missing the Sunday morning runs with dad’s running club (how do people twice my age wake up so early?!), and my fault for studiously avoiding the idea and not training.

Which brings me to WHY am I not training, despite knowing I have to run this tomorrow, and knowing that I want to do a full marathon in December. Why this strange inability to carry out a well-laid intention to fulfill one of my personal goals for this year?

A conversation with my sister comes to mind. She was commenting on a typical runner during a typical timed race: usually head down, heaving/gasping/panting, entirely focused on the burning goal of completing within a desired time limit, with absolutely no interest in looking at the pretty scenery around them! How Type-A, how competitive, how boring! And of course I agreed, because deep-down I’m pretty sure that I’m an Aesthetic Runner.

A what? Aesthetic Runners (I’ve just coined this term…) are people who can only run when the air is fresh, and the environs are beautiful. The type of runner who looks up and around, stops to smell the flowers, has a smile on her face. The runner who’s there mainly for the experience of running, and all the surroundings and people she encounters along the way. This sort of runner is likely to run fast and fluid while happy, and exceedingly indifferently otherwise.

This might explain why I seldom, and almost never pant or feel short of breath while running – this would disrupt the smooth, happy, easy flow. Correspondingly it means I could probably run faster or in better time if I increase the speed enough to warrant gasping for breath. Ah well. It also explains why I’m fairly indifferent and spotty about training – I’d only go for ‘training sessions’ that give me maximum aesthetic pleasure. So the usual training grounds – running tracks, routes with heavy morning traffic, residential and populated areas – are out. And quieter, more nature-y places I sometimes prefer to walk through, because there’s more enjoyment that way.

(Methinks as well: how much of this post is an attempt at pointing the finger away from the more typical culprits of procrastination and laziness? Hmm…)

Okay enough musings. Off to bed so lack of sleep doesn’t become an excuse either!

Update:
So I did it in 2 hours and 34 minutes after all! The road was ridiculously clogged with army boys forced to run the 21km, so I spent a good deal of time in the initial hour ducking around strolling and chatting walkers. Grr! That said, a pretty parts included the beach (which allowed me run off-road and ease the poor aching feet) and running across the Marina Battery and Sheares Bridge. The toughest stretch was this horrible dirt road, potholed and muddy, in the middle of nowhere (read: ugly scenery). I almost cried when I realized it lasted only two km, because I was so sure it must have been almost 5! But all in all, a good run. No injuries or icky black toes (or burst nipples – thank you, Claire, for that memorable warning…), aside from an inflamed jaw (!) and diarrhoea (!!). I’m now signed up for the December full marathon… wish me luck!