The sub-5 Beast whipped my ass again! It took me 5:39 to get over the line at the Johnson Crane marathon this last Sunday. The scoreboard now stands at 11-4 in the Beast’s favour. But I have to say that after 42.2 km my legs feel absolutely fine and recovery workouts are going well. Thank you Pilates, you make all the difference. If I was an old car I would be described as in good running condition with a strong chassis!
As always my mind got the better of me, telling me that it was absolutely a-ok to have a little walk at regular intervals. Those regular intervals start off so well – a little walk at each water table – but by the end they have degenerated into every two lampposts. We have nearly four weeks until our next marathon so I need to get to work on this. I have devised a little questionnaire that I have to answer before I am allowed to walk:
Are you bleeding from the head?
Are you about to puke or faint, or both?
Is there an earthquake or tsunami?
If the answer to all three questions is “No” then I have to keep running.
My Old Goat (stubborn creature) missed the cut-off by 16 minutes. He belted out way too fast and then faded in the second half. He scorns training at the slower paces but it does have its advantages when you have to pace a marathon. Marathon pace and half-marathon pace are different and both need to be practised. There’s still plenty of time for him to qualify for the Big C though.
My coach had this to say:
“Congrats with another Marathon under the belt! I have many athletes who just love running and the times eventually come, but it is not that important to them or to me. Running is a lifestyle, a celebration of life and health (sorry I can really get philosophical about thisJ). You have mastered that, well done!”
He’s put it in a nutshell! Let’s celebrate life and health!
