Interestingly, I had no fear, no uncertainty, just total commitment. Coming from someone who owned more heels and fashion boots than running shoes, it seemed quite the irony. But the seed was planted when I arrived early for a group class at the gym, and decided to jog for 10 minutes.
Immediately, I had memories of high school PE, shuffling around the track and disliking every second of it. Back then we were timed, and I was also getting passed up by many of my peers. So this time, I was running with no time frame in mind. I didn't have one of those fancy gps-heartrate-tellmeyoursplits kind of watch. No distractions. No destination. With that, I felt a certain freedom, and was able to run how I FELT.
And it felt Fan.Tas.Tic.
So much so it left me intrigued for more. Running never felt this way before! I wasn't sweating. (Yet.) I didn't have a charlie horse. (Awesome.) I felt I could do more. (Um...what?!)
And that kickstarted my training. I gave myself a 12-week training program, which started on July 1. I printed out a chart with each week laid out with the dedicated training for that day. Some days were rest days - those were the easiest. Other days consisted of strength training, tempo runs, and the most important one - the LONG run.
Long runs turned out to be my favourite, because you just got out and ran at a slower pace but for a longer time. Time actually goes fast, once you get into the groove of it. Your breathing isn't hard, and as more time elapses it's a snowball effect - how much longer can I go at this? (Perhaps it's the mentally for ultra races in me). Speed was my least favourite - no matter how hard I pushed, or really kicked it with form - I was still the slow lane car on the freeway. Training went well, I hit most of my workouts, and made sure to consider resting as training. A few pointers from my fitness instructor friends and...I was off!
Race day, 2014. I was half excited, half nervous. To compare the feels of race day to other monumental moments in my life - it would be entering the classroom to teach high schoolers for the first time, and also stepping out onto the stage for a piano performance in front of 10,000 people. All three gave me the jitters, and all three moved me to tears - in a beautiful, good way.
On race morning, we parked in the dark, and made our way to the start line corrals next to the Marina. Being surrounded by so many other runners - not to mention the question of going the distance, was all very new to me. The place was buzzing with excitement. There was music and an MC, along with the beautiful sunrise that opened us up to a 7:30 am start.
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| The start - I am way back in my corral - 2:30 finish was my best goal guess |
I had put the training in - many inclined treadmill runs, the weekly long runs outdoors, and committed to my fitness classes, and was feeling confident. A few weeks prior, I did my longest run at what I felt was 11-12 miles. (I just had a wristwatch that had a stopwatch function!)
So, as I toed the start line, I had one goal in mind: to finish the race, and to run it non-stop as an added-bonus. When you register for the race, they ask you to estimate your finishing time. I put 2:30:00. I figured it would give me a good buffer pace, and 10-11 minute miles seemed very reasonable, since that equated to the efforts I was putting on in the treadmill.
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| Somewhere between mile 8-9...I'm smiling! |
I finished with an official time of 2:00:46.
I was elated. I ran non-stop. I was a tad nauseous. I wanted to hug my mom. I wasn't as tired as I expected. I wanted to celebrate.
But...2:00:46.
You know what I thought next?
Darn those 46 seconds.
Imma have to come back next year and try to break those two hours.
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| Still had energy to do a jump shot at the end! |
So Long Beach Half 2015 was in the books again. However, running took an unexpected backseat to projects and new work prospects on the horizon. The only long run I managed to do was a 7-miler.
So guess what happened. During the race, right at mile 7 - I hit the wall. Go figure. The legs felt like lead, and I battled a lot mentally. I recall thinking at one point, this is one of the hardest things I've done in a long time. I kicked my mantra in, and it helped somewhat. I finished in 2:07:40.
I ran again in 2016, this time coming off an knee injury from completing my first ultra marathon earlier in May. It was probably the least pressure of all the halves, because let's face it, a sub-2 this time was laughable. So I decided to really enjoy the course and walk if I had to. I decided to stop at the aid stations for water and food. It was there I tried a new gel - and if it didn't sit well with my stomach, there was a port-o-potty at mile 12 somewhere - had some coconut water, ate an energy bar, and got my leg sprayed with some cooling mist to help with the dull leg pain that I was having. I crossed the finish line in 2:17:12.
Well, time wise, you can see where the trend is going, and I'm determined to change it's direction.
After a glutton filled November and December, and a temporary break from running to let my knee really heal, going into 2017 was going to be different. I still struggled with balancing life and motivating myself to go run. At one point, I decided to run 5K a day for 10 days in a row. I did just that, but it didn't spark any new motivation in me. I even found I was warding off a slight metatarsal tweak.
But I reflected back to how I first started. Small steps. I'd have to bounce back from my lax days, but I knew I could not do it instantaneously. Gung ho attitudes do not work well for running, or you risk injury or disenchantment, and I tend to have a very enthusiastic gung ho attitude! To earn back the high mileage I needed for training, I'd have to humbly start from 1-2 miles.
So now, with the half a few days away, I'm using my taper time (riding off of 250-275K monthly training for the last several months) to blog about my journey. Running a sub-2 means averaging 9:09 min/mile. Given my last long training run of 15.25 miles, I'm confident I can run a sub 2:05:00. Yet, a 1:59:59 (or lower!) is still within reason.
Whether I crack it or not, I am still thrilled with the progress I've made so far. What sparked this goal was to see if I could transform myself into a better runner than I was before. And with recent PRs in both 5K and 10K distances are little fruits of the efforts along this journey.
I'm a bit nervous to toe the start line on Sunday. But, mostly excited. This race in particular is very close to my heart. Along with thousands of others, I'll be getting there pre-dawn, pre-loaded with carbs.
We'll line up at the start corrals.
And together we'll watch the sun rise.
*Good luck to all the 5Kers, halfers, and marathoners this weekend! Go get 'em!*
