Training, training and some more training

The past two weeks have been great and super busy. Not only did the fitness really kick up, but I also found my times improving significantly. I've now started the last of the serious weeks and found mid-week training runs getting harder - mentally mostly - while running the races on the weekends keep me honest, it is kinda lonely to get up at 3:30am and trot of to some distant spot in Jozi. But, I ran my best ever 32km and matched my second best 21km in the last two weeks, keeping the motivation levels up when times are tough. Amazing how persistent training of 40-60 km a week can change one's fitness in merely 6 weeks. Hope for all. Most weeks I make up the distance with plenty 5-9 km runs in the week and one or two longer ones on the weekend. Hey I know plenty more running is possible, but I also have a job and a life to manage. Remarkably, my two training partners both "fell" due to obscure accidents and I have been stuck with resorting to dragging my injured partner out at night, him following me in the car, me running in front. As winter approaches the evening runs are harder, and it is not a great strategy to run after dark, on your own, in Joburg suburbs. But the night runs - with the entourage - have been a revelation to the soul. No stress and plesant beyond my expectations. So when the going gets tough, the tough gets the 4x4 to be my wingman!

Progress is so good.

I spoke to someone who's run 14 Comrades and 50 marathons and is obviously a real runner. A gentle, modest guy, not one of those people that make my little dream small because they have done so much.
I like to remember how hard the first 10km race was AND how amazing the accomplishment was for me. Running a marathon, and the Great Wall Marathon, is huge for me and what I am doing is running against the odds - for me. Easter weekend saw me run my longest training run yet 32km (as part of the Randburg Harrier's Easter 100). I felt amazing. In a mere 6 weeks I have run 267km. Suddenly I am contemplating running a marathon this Sunday and the mere thought is not frightening me silly. I need to decide and either do it or just run China. Sometimes it is just hard to know what the right thing is to do.

Toe the line

Toe-less (left) and Toulouse (right)

I ran my first Gauteng race this year! Jackie Gibson Half Marathon and it was nice. I finished in a much better time than I expected for this early in my training and with the extra kilos I am still carrying and were very grateful for the 2:16. The route had some tough hills, but also genuine downs that helped with time. I prefer hilly routes over flat ones any day. Hills make you work, focus and concentrate - flat races are boring and it is too easy to slow down. Interesting thing is that I ran the same race in 2010 and in identical time. The little photograph : On the left the Toe-less wonder's foot and on the right Toulouse the kitten. The same kitten that was being rescued from the tree when the accident happened - and really that was his name before the "incident". He is adorable and loving and is bonding big time with his dad.

In the meantime, March is nearing it's end and I have been at this for a month. Thus far I have completed 169 km, ran 2 races, adapted to a new training regime, booked my spot in the marathon, booked my ticket, and is busy applying for my visa. Not bad for March! 

Toes are important

When I started this blog about my little dream to run the Great Wall Marathon, I thought this process would be about how normal people (non-athletes like me) experience this process. I know the word athlete is a bit generic, but whatever it means to you... I am not one. I found though that as time marched on, that some of the blogging is me writing about coping with the training, while some of this is me just sharing, but a lot of this is me recording this path and in the process this has become a bit of a diary.

A week or so ago, I wrote about my favourite things, amongst those I mentioned, my training partners. This past weekend my training partner had an accident. On Saturday, in a freak accident at home, one of my precious partners lost his big toe and broke multiple bones (mostly toes) in his right foot.  Drama, hospital, doctors and some more drama. Now that the dust has settled, I reflect and suddenly felt lonely.

The first thoughts were to deal with the actual incident and get the medical stuff sorted. After all of that, I had to face the facts: How much I relied on the companionship and the co-motivation. And generally, having a guy run with you just makes you feel safer. This week, I am faced with taking care of an injured toe-less wonder and having to deal with a changed picture of how I am going to get to the 19th of May in good enough condition to run this thing. It's not impossible, but life can be so fickle. I know the loss of a toe is a bigger problem than my "loss of training partner" and there is no "but" really that can be said without feeling really crappy about saying it. Maybe there is only a "how". How do I adjust the training plan; how do I alter my training schedule to accommodate all of this, how do I not slip.

It is simple - less enjoyable, but simple.

I need to start using races as training for the longer runs (already entered a 21.1km on Sunday and ran the Run Jozi) - tick. To deal with the immediate problem of increasing the distances: I need to dust of the old iPod and start running those shorter runs on my own again.

No problems here (I hope).

So first stumbling block: my dog chewed my iPod this morning sigh :-) luckily only damaged was the headphones.

Inspiration

One of my biggest challenges when my exercise routine turns into "real" training, is that I constantly feel rushed and even overwhelmed. Rushed to choose dinner, rushed to get to work, rushed to get home, rushed to make decisions, and somehow everybody else seems just a tad slower than normal. The last few weeks also have not been the best traffic weeks either with a few critical traffic lights not working resulting in total havoc in Randburg. Everybody in Randpark Ridge knows that if the Rhema traffic lights (Hans Schoeman & Ostrich or Rabie) are out you travel an extra hour that day. Some days though, it all just clicks and none of the above mentioned stuff,matters. A day when one has one of those WOW runs. Tuesday's run was a quick-fire 5km hill training run, and I felt like a runner. It does not matter that I am not an athlete, it doesn't matter that I am not fast, it FEELS great. Maybe it was the Monday rest day, but man it is inspirational! Last week Wednesday, we planned a 10km run which we had to cut short as suddenly the heavens just opened. We even had a bit of hail. Never mind that were drenched to the skin. The last 2-3 km were fabulous - invigorating - inspiring! It felt real, it felt like Africa.
So on those days, when it is a tough grind to train and my legs feel like lead, I think about the moments that inspire me rather than the mechanics of getting fit.

And if all else fails, I stand in front of my fridge (not opening the door) and read the following to remind me of those moments:

I like to feel the squish of sand underfoot.
To feel the dawn wind.
To hear the birds.
To learn my strengths and weaknesses.
To be out there.
To switch off.
To go to another place.
To smell that summer has arrived.
To clear my mind.
To see the wood for the trees.
To stand outside myself for a bit.
To do something simple, dull and repetitive.
To give problems some perspective.
To enjoy the freedom.
To hear the quiet.
To feel tired and worn out.
To beat that part of me that wants to stop.
To feel that feeling I get afterwards.
Don't call me a runner.

I just like to run.

- Anon

I've had this poem on my fridge a few years. I love it and I read it often.
(and despite quite an exhaustive Google search I've never been able to find any reference to the author)

My favourite things

 

Like most runners, I have a few running habits. Things that make me feel good inside, things I take with me to races and on training runs, my favourite things. (And as I write the words I hear Julie Andrews in my head, singing "these are a few of my favourite things" - I love whiskers on kittens! Before I start posting the "Kitten Diaries", back to running.) My favourite running things are my GPS watch (Garmin Forerunner 610, my super-gadget), my favourite Falke socks, chocolate flavoured GU (I hear there is a peanut butter flavour now...), my trusty running shoes, my two training partners, coffee and rusks at the car before the race starts, Future Life energy meals, and those moments when you run and you just feel FREE (the latter, you can't buy or coerce, it happens when it happens).

Thinking about my favourite running things, made me think about this journey. How did all of this happen? Most of my life I've been the fat one, the bookish one, the nerd not the ever the athlete. I am still not sure I am truly an athlete, but I look around at people my age and very few do what I do. Try what I try and dream this big. Maybe it is a bit of a belated response to life, but who cares? At least I am trying and I am out there and running gave me the wonderful gift of adventure. Adventures like swimming the Midmar Mile this year (I could not swim 6 months ago), running races that seemed impossible not that long ago, dreaming about completing big events like the Great Wall Marathon, maybe even the Comrades one day! 

I started running about 4 years ago and I began from the lowest possible base you can imagine. NEVER doing any sport at all. And when I say running I use the term very loosely. I walked on a treadmill three times a week, slowly increasing my pace and watching Greys Anatomy while I "treaded" my mill. My treadmill journey took me from an overweight, couch potato to a moderately fit 37 year old (15kg lighter, not perfect but better). I followed a basic 10k training plan (all on the treadmill) and finally took the plunge into the "real" world. My first 10k on the road (and my first road running experience) was on the 14th of February 2008; Randburg Harriers Valentine's Night Race. It was amazing. Not only did I love the atmosphere of the night race, but somehow, I had managed to run (jog) 10 000 meters and finish in a not too shabby first time of 70 minutes (and I was at the back of the pack at the start, newbie that I was)! I was shocked, awed and exhilarated and I fell in love (appropriately) with this thing called running. The next day of course, I realised that running on a treadmill will not prepare your body for the road and I ached all over. Not enough to make me stop though. Suddenly, I felt more confident, happier and hopeful. I started dreaming about longer distances. Soon I started running 15s, then a couple half marathons and even tackled the RAC Tough One in November 2009 (32km). 

Running is definitely, one of my favourite things.

Goosebumps

What can I say. I am speechless.