Here I am just a couple of days away from what might be one of the biggest races of the year, writing an article about the insignificance of racing. How like me! My first exposure to running came from walking a half marathon. I actually finished ahead of some of the runners. This gave me the impression that I might be able to run one. So I started running more and walking less, until I was mostly running, albeit slowly. I completed a dozen half marathons, without really mastering the distance, and took on the marathon way too soon. I ended up walking more than running. But I was having fun. For me, it was all about the race, and the possibility of improving my finish time. After my third full marathon, I started thinking I needed to get serious about training. Then I hurt my shoulder and had to have surgery. I had to take a few months off to recover. By the time I was ready to run again, it was time to jump right into the marathon training schedule, even though I hadn’t built up a base. I faithfully followed the program, but I was not enjoying the training runs. They felt like a form of punishment, and in a way, they were.
A couple months into the training program, I got the Nike + sport kit. I thought it was a cute toy, but I only used it once in a while. Then I discovered the challenges. I got into a distance challenge, and suddenly my training runs were more interesting. By November I was skipping rest days and boosting my mileage even higher than the training program suggested, to improve my standing in the distance challenge. The week I completed my 20 mile run, I noticed a pain in my thigh. I would be in so much pain I could hardly walk in the morning, but by afternoon I would be able to run, so I did. Soon the pain moved into my hip, and then I pulled a groin muscle. By the time I got to Las Vegas for the marathon, I was a wreck.
The weather was awful, I was miserable, and in the end, I switched to the half marathon, but was only able to run 9 miles. One of the biggest problems with obsessively training for a big race is that it stays with you long after race day. Everyone you know will ask about the race, so you have to tell the miserable story over and over again. There are photos and finisher’s certificates to keep reminding you. It is extremely difficult to get over a bad race. If it weren’t for Nike+ and challenges, I don’t know if I would have started running again after the Vegas marathon. I did start running again, but I decided that from now on, the goal was to enjoy my daily run, and not follow a training schedule. I ended up running as many miles in January and February as I did when I hurt myself in November, but this time I extended my daily runs to 6 miles, and eliminated long runs. Not only did I not get hurt, by March I felt so good, I bumped the mileage up even higher. The extra miles in March wore me out, so I cut back in April.
I still race occasionally, but instead of training to race, I train because I enjoy my daily run. When I do race, I register at the last minute. That way I don’t have to worry about running in bad weather, or when sick or hurt. I’ve skipped a lot of races that I had been contemplating, including 3 this month. My 5K time has improved significantly. Now I’m ready to test the half marathon. I ran 13.1 miles in 2:08 while training a couple weeks ago. That is 19 minutes faster than my half marathon PR. So I’m off to run a half marathon this weekend, and if it goes well, great, and if not, I will take a rest day Monday, and have a great run on Tuesday!
When you race, it is hard not to obsess on the finish time. That is the whole point of the race. When it’s over, nobody will ask you if you had fun. They will ask about your finish time. I started obsessing as soon as I committed. I’m trying to keep my perspective, but it isn’t easy. A race time is just a statistic, and I have a lot of great statistics to show for my running, including my weight, my dress size, my blood pressure and my cholesterol count. These things are all much more important than my finish time, and they inspire me to keep running, whether I race or not. But I still hope I beat 2:10!
