13.1
For more than a year now (and in fact inching closer to two), I’ve been tossing about the idea of running a half marathon. The most I’ve ever run in one go is four miles (once, on a treadmill), and I consider myself (correctly, I think) one of the worst runners evar. I mean, I run approximately 5 mph, which is much more like a jog than a run (in other words, I run a TWELVE MINUTE MILE), and even at that snail’s pace I’m breathless, somewhat pained and insanely ready for the whole thing to be over. So the whole half marathon thing seems… misguided. It’s no wonder the idea has never gained steam.
But I feel re-motivated. In part this is because, thanks to BURN and personal training, I feel stronger. As a self-described pathetic runner, one of my ongoing “pain points” w/r/t running is my aversion to taking my floppy, red-faced, stopping-ever-2-minutes self out on the pavement. (I also have flashbacks to the time I was on a short run around my parents’ neighborhood and some loser suburban kids in a car yelled “Don’t quit your day job!” That was great.) So feeling a little stronger helps me face those fears. And part of it is sheer frustration with my inability to lose even the slightest bit of weight. And another part of it is that multiple times over the past year I’ve run into coworkers who have just completed a marathon or half-marathon after relatively small-seeming amounts of training. If they can do it, I keep thinking, then I must be able to. I’m a 20-something. I’m theoretically in decent health. I can’t run a marathon, certainly not, but I can run a little, piddly 13.1 miles, right?
Right. Well, the point is, I’m thinking very seriously about this. And have been trying to figure out the best plan of attack. While several of those coworkers have made it across the finish line (haaa) thanks to the ubiquitous Team in Training, more people roll their eyes when I mention that than not. (Maybe they just don’t feel like paying?) Comparisons have been made between that organization and churches/cults. Firm recommendations to skip it in favor of the Nike Women’s Marathon training program have lost air, as it turns out that Nike is a sponsor of Team in Training and their program IS a Team in Training program, tailored to the NWM. And so webpages with training plans have been bookmarked and peered at, with alternating skepticism and cautious optimism, for signs of “doability.” And searches have been performed for local half-marathons, and turned up many, many possibilities, of which a few seem most likely: the SF half (July 25), the NWM half (Oct 17), the Santa Rosa half (Aug 29, looks so easy even I might be bored, but is extremely close to Consecration), and the Events with Sole Wine Country half (Oct 10).
And yesterday, as a test of my nerves and abilities, I ran just over three miles, pseudo-interval-ly. It went ok. My hips hurt later. It’s odd, a year ago it was my knees that couldn’t take it, and now my hips (or, like, hip flexors or something). Progress? (On an unrelated note, my other form of exercise yesterday was pushing a rolling Earth Box planter filled with water and soil, topped with Christmas lights and my purse, from my old house to my new one. [Major props to Ace for doing the same, minus the Christmas lights.] It was quite the sight, believe me, the two of us, asses up, essentially doing mountain climbers [plus planter prop] for three or four blocks in the middle of the Mission. It was solid. But now my left shoulder is totally killing me, I think I knocked it out of whack.)
So. Here is where you come in. I need some serious advice and reassurance. First: Do we think I can do this without some kind of official training program, i.e., Team in Training? Second: Do we think I could get up to a point where I could run 13 miles in just 16 weeks and therefore do the SF half? (Note: this is kind of what I want to do, because it is in my city so I wouldn’t have to persuade people to join the same race as me, I have friends already doing it and it will force me to operate on a deadline, whereas the other ones I could easily see myself not starting to train for because they are so far out and then I’d talk myself out of it.) Third: Ahhhh there is no third, will someone just decide for me!?
Seriously, though. The registration page is taunting me… Can I get a “yes, you can!” from the crowd?
