It’s getting closer and closer to race day and after going for a 19km run yesterday while the Krakow half-marathon was happening I was reflecting on my training so far, the goal of running the race and simultaneously getting pumped after seeing the organizing of an event, something I haven’t seen for over 2 years from before the pandemic.
The beginnings
I’m not sure when the beginnings were. But I remember running in the winter months twice a week. On days that were grey and wet and cold not to mention windy. I remember freezing cold wind finding ways to get through my fleece sweater and the long sleeve I wore underneath it. Sunday afternoons without a shred of motivation to go and keep the pace for one hour. As spring approached and we flew to Florida for two weeks I managed to incorporate runs into the trip when the conditions were the exact opposite – hot, really hot, no wind and generally quite dry. Those runs were much more pleasant even if in heat they can actually be more challenging because of how much I sweat. My shirt can be drenched within 40min or so….But I managed to get the minimum runs in because late evenings were actually quite a treat rather than a punishment. And then upon return things needed to be scaled up to the next level. Some of this I’ve mentioned in my earlier running posts about teaching and running as well as chin ups.
A modern day vacation
Once June began and we got into July I was in a rhythm of about 3 runs a week. When we flew to Greece for 3 weeks in July the task got significantly harder as I tried to navigate some of my lessons with family time and the runs. I guess that is what we now call a modern day vacation! While in Athens I did 2-3 runs right in the middle of the obliterating heat and I can honestly say nothing can quite prepare you for it. During one of those weeks we were on Lefkada island and I refused to run, not because the cove our location was situated in was hundreds of meters down the side of a mountain but because I alternatively had the beautiful Ionian Sea right in front of me – so I swam everyday as much as I could muster going back and forth until I got tired. Wow, what a different feeling swimming gives you. I mean I would come out of the water and feel absolutely exhausted and starving. I suppose because it demands so much movement from your entire body you burn calories like crazy. I had fresh fruit waiting and some times leftovers from breakfast:)
The Autumn blues
This is the final stretch in the training. It’s now October and I’ve managed to accumulate quite a bit of mileage over the past 6 weeks. The weather is cooling and sun penetrates the scattering of clouds, the breeze provides a natural cooling affect. As the leaves fall all around me day by day I now am focusing on the pace, and the refueling aspects. I must say the refueling is garbage for me. I truly dislike feeding myself these sweet gels while I run – it’s unnatural but apparently necessary, I am too committed to risk the consequences of hitting “the wall” during the race. I’ve invested too much time, effort, sweat and discomfort to allow a miscalculation to derail my efforts. Nevertheless, I try to keep this refueling to a minimum just to make sure that my stomach isn’t bothered, which unsurprisingly, it is not. There are about 3 weeks to go, and I feel pumped and ready though when I finish my 19km Sunday run I have the realization after 2hrs of running that this is only the HALF way mark of the race. Then, I return to earth, and humbly reflect on the autumn blues.
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