Week Seven - Race

Mileage (miles per workout): 4 - 6 - 4 - 12

My snooze had gotten the brunt of my unwillingness to get up in the morning.  The routine was usually the same.  I hit the snooze, cursed myself for wanting to run a marathon, cursed the heat, hit the snooze again, contemplated not going for a run, hit the snooze once more and finally forced myself to get up.  The fact I was really going for a run didn’t hit me until I was almost out the door.  By then I was fine with being up so early and running.  Before then, doubts loomed large about whether I’d make it outside.

I was all excited about trying to run in the morning because it would be something different.  I crave change.  It must be why I’ve never seemed to live in the same place for more than six months at a time.  But it must be manageable change.  Staying the same place to run but running at a different time meeting different people; running in the morning but varying the location kept things fresh.

I changed location for my long run of the week.  I ran the BIX 7 road race held in my hometown in Iowa.  It has a history of being a hot and humid seven miles up the dreaded Brady Street hill.  I ran the entire thing and had a great time.  One problem I encountered was I kept trying to run to the beat of the on-course entertainment.  My rhythm never seemed to even out.  I blame eight years of marching band for that one.  Since the course hadn’t changed in the 30 plus years of the event, people living along the course had breakfast parties to watch the runners.  They also hung sprinklers and hoses from trees to let the runners run through them.  It certainly helped.

On the way back to the finish line, I finally looked around and noticed my surroundings.  The course was a loop but I didn’t remember seeing anything on the way to the turnaround point.  It might have had something to do with what my brother told me.  He said he would give me $20 if I could get myself on television (the event is locally broadcast) singing “Eye of the Tiger” with modified lyrics based on the other runners around me.  “Man, man, man, man….man in blue shorts…”  I didn’t get on television but it worked to amuse me in the process.

Not only did I complete my first road race, I passed the 100 cumulative mile training mark last week!  And I hadn’t taken into account all the pre-training running I had done.  I guess the total to be around 150 miles give or take a few.  That makes me excited.

Things I learned this week:

First: No one likes a sweat thrower.  When running among a mass of people, keep your sweat to yourself.  I have my own to deal with.

Last: Try running a shorter race to “get the hang of things.”  Running amid a mass of people is different than alone on a sidewalk.

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