March 30, 2014
98 minutes. What can you do in 98 minutes? The film Despicable Me 2 is 98 minutes. I haven't seen it yet, so that's an option.
Or maybe I could run a half marathon.
What? No way! How can someone who doesn't really like running do such a thing? Generally I thought a movie more inline with my half marathon time would be something like Titanic or the Lord of the Rings Trilogy (all 3 together), but somehow, someway, I ran a Despicable Me 2 half marathon.
1:38:04.
I'd never guess that would be my half marathon time. Last year, in my first one, my goal was to be under 2 hours (in which I was about 1:48). This time, I was only trying to break 1:45. I think I have a bad habit of underestimating my running speed.
Two days before my birthday (on which I turned 4 numbers higher than when I arrived in Poland), I ran my third half marathon. However, it was the first that was not in below freezing temperatures or when I was dressed as a Spartan holding a shield and spear (which was also in below freezing temperatures). So I call it my first "real" one. To break the 1:45 barrier, all I needed to do was average 5 minutes per kilometer for 21 km, and I'd be set.
Since the slow Spartan half-marathon back in December (we ran/walked/chanted our way to finish in around 2 hours 20 minutes in Torun), I hadn't run more than 14 km at once (because it's boring), so my training wasn't all that good. However, I had been doing a lot of core and leg exercises with my cross training group, and my legs and knees had been feeling good. Until recently, when I started feeling a bit of discomfort in my left ankle, left big toe, and left knee, presumably from my orthotics needing to be replaced (I've been wearing prescription/custom made insoles in my shoes to give me arch support for as long as I can remember). I've had these particular inserts for over 4 years and recently my ankle has been making lots of clicking/cracking noises when I rotate my ankle and wiggle my toes (I can show you someday, or I might post some videos on Youtube). It doesn't hurt, but it's one of those things that I need to do to feel some relief of the pressure. I went to an orthopaedic doctor to get an idea of what was happening, and he suggested 1) to do a test where they check out my gait (how I walk) in order to make new orthotics, and 2) to stop running. Actually he said (three times) "I strongly suggest getting a new hobby". Since running is not really a hobby of mine (I don't really like it), I suppose I don't have to listen to him. But his opinion is that my feet will be in a lot of pain in 10 years if I don't ease up now. I don't consider myself a runner though...it's not like I do it for fun every day. I only run once in a while, for training reasons. I tried to explain that I don't run a lot. He asked "are you doing the half marathon next weekend?". I said yes, and he said "that's 21 km". Yes, yes it is. Well played sir.
Anyway, I decided to run the race, to see what would happen. Assuming I decide to listen to the doctor, there's a good chance it was my last one ever (well, except for when I do a half-Ironman triathlon in July), so I had to give it a good try.
A friend at work (whom I used to be faster than), told me she was going for a time of 1:40, so I felt a bit lame telling her my goal is 1:45 (she is pretty fast though, trains a lot, and IS a "runner"). But then I realized, I am not running against anyone...only against myself. So let's just see if I can do it. I ate a nice breakfast 3 hours before race time (peanut butter and jelly sandwich, some granola with soy milk and a banana - I'm writing this down so I remember next time), and tried to load up on BCAAs and sports drink. This worked pretty well (in combination with a couple energy gels during the race), as I felt pretty strong the whole time.
We went down to the race site (at the National Stadium), met up with the other WITCers, and started loosening up. I also had the plan to try to break a sweat during warm-ups by doing a lot of exercises and stretches, to be sure I was loose at the beginning. The rationale is that the first km is always my slowest, so I had to warm up my body enough to get up to regular speed as quickly as possible.
It was PERFECT day for a run; warm enough that I could shed my long pants and long sleeve shirt, but not so hot that I felt sweaty or dehydrated. I gathered myself in the 1:45 pace group, turned on my custom music iPod mix (a lot of Imagine Dragons on it), and off we went. The first couple km were pretty uneventful, but I was able to get up to my necessary 5min/km pace pretty quickly (thanks to the good warm-up!!). Everything was feeling really good. Then I saw Martins on the side taking pictures, and I remembered that we had a bunch of supporters there, and that would take my mind off how bored I sometimes get while running. I waved at Martins and then noticed Asia standing next to him. I hadn't seen her for a few months, and actually it was really nice to see her, just like at all the races she was supporting us last year. That gave me a little boost and I actually think that 3rd km was my fastest of the entire race.
The next 15km or so was all pretty much the same, running through Old Town, along the river, through Lazienki park, trying to overtake more people than were passing me. My average speed was around 4:40min/km, so I started doing math in my head (which is helpful because it gives my brain something to do and I stop thinking about running), and started to think that if I could hit the 11km mark in under 55 min, I could turn up the pace to 4:30min/km and finish in 1:40. So let's go for it!
The plan was working perfectly, even after going up the steep Agrykola hill and losing a bit of juice, I was still well on pace with only about 6 km to go. I spotted a guy in a WITC top that I didn't know (I saw him again at another 10 km race around the Warsaw zoo and we chatted a bit while running), was able to pass him, then kept going hard in case he was watching me. This is when I started to feel the blister on the bottom of my right foot. It happens every time I run more than 15 km. I was wearing 2 pairs of socks, so I hoped it wouldn't happen this time, but it came back. I would have put a protective bandaid on it before the race, but since I hadn't run more than 15km since December, there was no sign of where the blister would appear, and I didn't want to tape up the wrong spot. Wisely (I am in my 30s, so I am very wise), I carried bandaids with me, prepared to put one on, just in case.
With about 4 km to go, I thought that I could finish without stopping to put on the bandaid, but soon after I could feel the blister getting bigger, and closer to popping with every step. With about 2 km to go (which would still be another 8 or 9 minutes), I decided to stop and put on the bandaid. I didn't want a massive, juicy, popped blister at the bottom of my foot at the end of the race.
I quickly stepped aside and bent down to take off my shoe. But I couldn't do it. My stomach muscles began to cramp up and my whole torso collapsed on itself, my shoulders being pulled towards my waist. My left calf REALLY wanted to cramp up as well, but my compression sleeve was preventing it. I stretched out my upper body and managed to pull off my socks. But the blister was in such an awkward spot (the outside edge of my foot), I couldn't see it when turning my foot over. I had to twist my leg to the outside, rather than to the inside, which caused more cramps. I think I looked like a pretzel sitting on the side of the road. I squealed as the pain swept through both of my legs.
Then I heard someone yell "Hey! Japanese!" I looked up and saw Luca sprinting by. He actually forgot my name. I hurriedly put on the bandaid, stretched for a few seconds, and put on my socks and shoe. I jumped up, hoping the cramp would go away, and luckily it did (at least the leg part...my abs were still cramping). I was able to get back to normal speed after 100 meters or so, and tried to catch Luca. He was too far ahead of me, and I didn't have enough left in the tank. I actually think I paced myself well, because even though I tried to sprint at the finish, I could NOT go any faster over the last 500 meters. I had only one speed left, and it was the same speed I had been going the previous 10 km.
When I see people who can sprint super fast at the end of the race, I think that although it might look fancy to the spectators, it means that they didn't run as fast as they could have for the rest of the race. It's my way of telling myself it's OK that I couldn't run any faster at the finish.
In the end, I did accomplish my goal with a time of 1:38:04, beating my last year's time by over 10 minutes (and good for something like 1,900th place out of 12,000). I am not sure how much of that is due to being in better shape, versus the improved weather conditions, versus just knowing what to expect in a half marathon, but I'll take it. Some of the guys in my club still beat me by nearly 12 minutes (!!), running at a speed which I cannot fathom. Maybe it's just because I'm not a runner. Everyone else in the club did really well too. I was really happy for everyone.
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So 1900th place is actually not too bad?
Next time, let's aim for 1:35. Just don't tell my doctor.
And now I gotta find time to watch the movie...
98 minutes. What can you do in 98 minutes? The film Despicable Me 2 is 98 minutes. I haven't seen it yet, so that's an option.
Or maybe I could run a half marathon.
What? No way! How can someone who doesn't really like running do such a thing? Generally I thought a movie more inline with my half marathon time would be something like Titanic or the Lord of the Rings Trilogy (all 3 together), but somehow, someway, I ran a Despicable Me 2 half marathon.
1:38:04.
I'd never guess that would be my half marathon time. Last year, in my first one, my goal was to be under 2 hours (in which I was about 1:48). This time, I was only trying to break 1:45. I think I have a bad habit of underestimating my running speed.
Two days before my birthday (on which I turned 4 numbers higher than when I arrived in Poland), I ran my third half marathon. However, it was the first that was not in below freezing temperatures or when I was dressed as a Spartan holding a shield and spear (which was also in below freezing temperatures). So I call it my first "real" one. To break the 1:45 barrier, all I needed to do was average 5 minutes per kilometer for 21 km, and I'd be set.
Since the slow Spartan half-marathon back in December (we ran/walked/chanted our way to finish in around 2 hours 20 minutes in Torun), I hadn't run more than 14 km at once (because it's boring), so my training wasn't all that good. However, I had been doing a lot of core and leg exercises with my cross training group, and my legs and knees had been feeling good. Until recently, when I started feeling a bit of discomfort in my left ankle, left big toe, and left knee, presumably from my orthotics needing to be replaced (I've been wearing prescription/custom made insoles in my shoes to give me arch support for as long as I can remember). I've had these particular inserts for over 4 years and recently my ankle has been making lots of clicking/cracking noises when I rotate my ankle and wiggle my toes (I can show you someday, or I might post some videos on Youtube). It doesn't hurt, but it's one of those things that I need to do to feel some relief of the pressure. I went to an orthopaedic doctor to get an idea of what was happening, and he suggested 1) to do a test where they check out my gait (how I walk) in order to make new orthotics, and 2) to stop running. Actually he said (three times) "I strongly suggest getting a new hobby". Since running is not really a hobby of mine (I don't really like it), I suppose I don't have to listen to him. But his opinion is that my feet will be in a lot of pain in 10 years if I don't ease up now. I don't consider myself a runner though...it's not like I do it for fun every day. I only run once in a while, for training reasons. I tried to explain that I don't run a lot. He asked "are you doing the half marathon next weekend?". I said yes, and he said "that's 21 km". Yes, yes it is. Well played sir.
Anyway, I decided to run the race, to see what would happen. Assuming I decide to listen to the doctor, there's a good chance it was my last one ever (well, except for when I do a half-Ironman triathlon in July), so I had to give it a good try.
A friend at work (whom I used to be faster than), told me she was going for a time of 1:40, so I felt a bit lame telling her my goal is 1:45 (she is pretty fast though, trains a lot, and IS a "runner"). But then I realized, I am not running against anyone...only against myself. So let's just see if I can do it. I ate a nice breakfast 3 hours before race time (peanut butter and jelly sandwich, some granola with soy milk and a banana - I'm writing this down so I remember next time), and tried to load up on BCAAs and sports drink. This worked pretty well (in combination with a couple energy gels during the race), as I felt pretty strong the whole time.
We went down to the race site (at the National Stadium), met up with the other WITCers, and started loosening up. I also had the plan to try to break a sweat during warm-ups by doing a lot of exercises and stretches, to be sure I was loose at the beginning. The rationale is that the first km is always my slowest, so I had to warm up my body enough to get up to regular speed as quickly as possible.
Before the race, the weather is perfect
It was PERFECT day for a run; warm enough that I could shed my long pants and long sleeve shirt, but not so hot that I felt sweaty or dehydrated. I gathered myself in the 1:45 pace group, turned on my custom music iPod mix (a lot of Imagine Dragons on it), and off we went. The first couple km were pretty uneventful, but I was able to get up to my necessary 5min/km pace pretty quickly (thanks to the good warm-up!!). Everything was feeling really good. Then I saw Martins on the side taking pictures, and I remembered that we had a bunch of supporters there, and that would take my mind off how bored I sometimes get while running. I waved at Martins and then noticed Asia standing next to him. I hadn't seen her for a few months, and actually it was really nice to see her, just like at all the races she was supporting us last year. That gave me a little boost and I actually think that 3rd km was my fastest of the entire race.
The next 15km or so was all pretty much the same, running through Old Town, along the river, through Lazienki park, trying to overtake more people than were passing me. My average speed was around 4:40min/km, so I started doing math in my head (which is helpful because it gives my brain something to do and I stop thinking about running), and started to think that if I could hit the 11km mark in under 55 min, I could turn up the pace to 4:30min/km and finish in 1:40. So let's go for it!
The plan was working perfectly, even after going up the steep Agrykola hill and losing a bit of juice, I was still well on pace with only about 6 km to go. I spotted a guy in a WITC top that I didn't know (I saw him again at another 10 km race around the Warsaw zoo and we chatted a bit while running), was able to pass him, then kept going hard in case he was watching me. This is when I started to feel the blister on the bottom of my right foot. It happens every time I run more than 15 km. I was wearing 2 pairs of socks, so I hoped it wouldn't happen this time, but it came back. I would have put a protective bandaid on it before the race, but since I hadn't run more than 15km since December, there was no sign of where the blister would appear, and I didn't want to tape up the wrong spot. Wisely (I am in my 30s, so I am very wise), I carried bandaids with me, prepared to put one on, just in case.
With about 4 km to go, I thought that I could finish without stopping to put on the bandaid, but soon after I could feel the blister getting bigger, and closer to popping with every step. With about 2 km to go (which would still be another 8 or 9 minutes), I decided to stop and put on the bandaid. I didn't want a massive, juicy, popped blister at the bottom of my foot at the end of the race.
I quickly stepped aside and bent down to take off my shoe. But I couldn't do it. My stomach muscles began to cramp up and my whole torso collapsed on itself, my shoulders being pulled towards my waist. My left calf REALLY wanted to cramp up as well, but my compression sleeve was preventing it. I stretched out my upper body and managed to pull off my socks. But the blister was in such an awkward spot (the outside edge of my foot), I couldn't see it when turning my foot over. I had to twist my leg to the outside, rather than to the inside, which caused more cramps. I think I looked like a pretzel sitting on the side of the road. I squealed as the pain swept through both of my legs.
Then I heard someone yell "Hey! Japanese!" I looked up and saw Luca sprinting by. He actually forgot my name. I hurriedly put on the bandaid, stretched for a few seconds, and put on my socks and shoe. I jumped up, hoping the cramp would go away, and luckily it did (at least the leg part...my abs were still cramping). I was able to get back to normal speed after 100 meters or so, and tried to catch Luca. He was too far ahead of me, and I didn't have enough left in the tank. I actually think I paced myself well, because even though I tried to sprint at the finish, I could NOT go any faster over the last 500 meters. I had only one speed left, and it was the same speed I had been going the previous 10 km.
This is as fast as I can go (without touching the ground and while waving at fans)
When I see people who can sprint super fast at the end of the race, I think that although it might look fancy to the spectators, it means that they didn't run as fast as they could have for the rest of the race. It's my way of telling myself it's OK that I couldn't run any faster at the finish.
In the end, I did accomplish my goal with a time of 1:38:04, beating my last year's time by over 10 minutes (and good for something like 1,900th place out of 12,000). I am not sure how much of that is due to being in better shape, versus the improved weather conditions, versus just knowing what to expect in a half marathon, but I'll take it. Some of the guys in my club still beat me by nearly 12 minutes (!!), running at a speed which I cannot fathom. Maybe it's just because I'm not a runner. Everyone else in the club did really well too. I was really happy for everyone.
Afterwards, in front of the route map
Finishing at the stadium (Pierre isn't in the picture because he already changed clothes, showered and went to the restaurant by the time I finished)
So 1900th place is actually not too bad?
Next time, let's aim for 1:35. Just don't tell my doctor.
And now I gotta find time to watch the movie...
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