No, I am better than that! » Fitness

2011 MCM, my first full marathon

Rick Osborne — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 14:36:38 +0000

It’s put up or shut up time for me. I have a running coach scheduled for 2011. I’ve completed a half marathon ahead of my goal time. The next step really can’t be anything other than a full marathon.

But which one?

I come from a military family. We have people in the Army, Navy, and Air Force. I may not be one of them, but I grew up in that world and respect it. The choice is clear: the Marine Corps Marathon, 30 Oct 2011, will be my first full marathon.

I have 11 months to get my distance from 14mi to 26mi. I have a time goal of 4:30 for now, but I hope to be able to revise that down as low as 4:00 if my training next year goes well.

My other running goal for 2011 is the Florida 15K Challenge, which is the completion of three 15km runs: the Gasparilla Distance Classic in Tampa Bay on 26 Feb, my fourth Gate River Run in Jacksonville on 12 Mar, and the Miracle Miles here in Orlando on 24 Sep. For the Gasparilla run I can substitute in their half marathon and still meet the challenge.

I have an actual running calendar. That feels so strange.

I may be below average, but I can still meet my goals

Rick Osborne — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 20:34:25 +0000

Goal for the Daytona Beach Half Marathon: 2:15

Actual time: 2:10

I made my goal, and beat it by 5 minutes! This is my first (competition) run at this length, so to have been able to make my goal is a really big deal.

However, I’m told that maintaining this kind of heart rate for 2 hours isn’t all that good for you:

Go figure.

I am a below-average runner.

Rick Osborne — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 04:40:21 +0000

This weekend I will be in the Daytona Beach Half Marathon. At 13.1 miles (21km) it will be the longest competitive running I’ve done¹.

And I will be below average. Not even average—below average.

This is a difficult concept for me to get my head around. This thing, this running that I’ve been doing for 3½ years and 1000+ miles now, I haven’t gotten much better at since I started. I can run for longer distances², but my pace has remained almost unchanged.

I can drag myself to the middle of the pack for shorter distances, such as the Gate River Run 15K, but in this race I will most likely finish about ¾ back. I’ll be in the slowest handful for my age+gender class—well to the right of the curve.

I don’t stomach mediocrity in myself lightly. It takes a good long while to come to terms with it. I have not made a conscious decision to be a below average runner, and yet here I am.

I do know that I have trained and trained and trained. I have put in a serious, undeniable effort. This Sunday, I will continue this effort and push to meet my time goal, even as all of my training says I won’t match it. I feel comfortable with what I have put into it.

But that doesn’t mean I have to be happy with where I am.

So I will continue. I will train, and I will train correctly.

-R

For extremely liberal definitions of “compete”
For a definition of “longer” that would be laughable in most other contexts