Monday, January 23, 2012
Olivia and I finally got to run our half marathon this weekend. The route was two loops around central park, with a little bit extra to make it a complete 13.1 mile run. Olivia was more excited than I expected anyone could be for a run that long, but she was bouncing around and lively the night before the race. I wasn’t nervous, but I was too aware of the distance we were about to attempt, so my excitement level wasn’t nearly as high.
To make this event even harder and scarier, god finally blessed our great city with a thick blanket of snow the morning of the race. The event coordinators decided to make the race a “fun run” so people wouldn’t hurt themselves trying to compete for time, so there is no official time for the run on record. My clock shows me finishing at two hours and nine minutes. A little faster than I expected to run it.
I learned some things during this run that I had read about, but never in my life experienced. The first was actually being able to feel an energy tank at empty. I’ve felt hunger before, but I’ve never gotten to a point, physically, where I felt like I was near empty. They gave us these energy goo packs to use during the run, and boy were they needed. The cool thing about it was actually feeling them kick in. Your body is about to shut off and all of the sudden these weird bursts of energy kick in and you feel like you can run forever again. It is super weird and good to know. I’ll try to prepare more for whatever marathon that I chose to run.
I also learned that people are crazy! The course was covered with snow. There was not one place along the course that had a good place to run. You couldn’t get any traction no matter how hard you tried. And there were a few thousand idiots out there doing that.
Having a running partner is super beneficial. Even though Olivia and I didn’t run together, I knew she was in the pack somewhere and that always was a help to think about. At points I worried that she was hurt somewhere along the track, but knowing we were doing that together was amazing. Doing something like this with a partner can really strengthen a relationship, and I couldn’t ask for anything more.
Anyways, 2 days later, a lot of food shoved through my system, I’m sore but content. I feel the same as I did after getting off my lazy ass and running my first mile a year ago. I’m just happy to know that it takes 13 to feel this way, and not just one.
The scary thing is that I can't wait to do it again.
To make this event even harder and scarier, god finally blessed our great city with a thick blanket of snow the morning of the race. The event coordinators decided to make the race a “fun run” so people wouldn’t hurt themselves trying to compete for time, so there is no official time for the run on record. My clock shows me finishing at two hours and nine minutes. A little faster than I expected to run it.
I learned some things during this run that I had read about, but never in my life experienced. The first was actually being able to feel an energy tank at empty. I’ve felt hunger before, but I’ve never gotten to a point, physically, where I felt like I was near empty. They gave us these energy goo packs to use during the run, and boy were they needed. The cool thing about it was actually feeling them kick in. Your body is about to shut off and all of the sudden these weird bursts of energy kick in and you feel like you can run forever again. It is super weird and good to know. I’ll try to prepare more for whatever marathon that I chose to run.
I also learned that people are crazy! The course was covered with snow. There was not one place along the course that had a good place to run. You couldn’t get any traction no matter how hard you tried. And there were a few thousand idiots out there doing that.
Having a running partner is super beneficial. Even though Olivia and I didn’t run together, I knew she was in the pack somewhere and that always was a help to think about. At points I worried that she was hurt somewhere along the track, but knowing we were doing that together was amazing. Doing something like this with a partner can really strengthen a relationship, and I couldn’t ask for anything more.
Anyways, 2 days later, a lot of food shoved through my system, I’m sore but content. I feel the same as I did after getting off my lazy ass and running my first mile a year ago. I’m just happy to know that it takes 13 to feel this way, and not just one.
The scary thing is that I can't wait to do it again.
:: posted by Corey Brown, 7:00 AM