Joy here...Saturday's long run went as planned. In fact, it went better than planned. Originally we thought we'd run for 20kms. It would be an easy run, and I would do my best to make friends with running again and enjoy myself. Luckily the weather was rather cool, and so as we went out the door, for the first time in MONTHS I was able to run without immediately breaking a sweat and breathing like some perverted crank caller huffing and puffing into the end of a phone line. Since running with my Garmin tuned to tell me distance and pace has made me turn into a maniac who freaks out internally whenever she realizes that she just can't run fast, I turned my Garmin's display to show me heart rate only. So for the whole run, I had no real idea of pace or distance, but merely kept my heart rate within the 142-ish beats/min. range. Figuring that my heart rate goes up into the 160s when I'm doing a tempo run, the 140s would be an "easy" run. And let me tell you, it was easy! Before I knew it we had run 21 kms! That's 1/2 marathon distance right now...still 6 weeks out from our actual race date. So that's a real psychological bonus, because now I know that I can run 21 kms so long as I take it nice and easy.
My run stats:
Ran for a total of 2:00:00 for 21.01 kms with an average pace of 5:43min/km.
I was feeling pretty pleased with myself and was high-fiving The Man on our accomplishment. We were at the high part of the emotional roller coaster, for sure. But then, as with any roller coaster, this one soon began to plunge quickly as we found ourselves watching a local 1/2 Ironman and full Ironman triathlon race. A 1/2 Ironman is: 1.2 mile swim (1.93 km), followed by 56 mile bike ride (90 km), and a 13.1 mile run (21 km). A full Ironman is: 2.4 mile swim (3.86 km), followed by a 112 mile bike ride (180.25 km), and a 26 mile run (42 km). What this means is that the competitors that we saw who were doing the full Ironman distance event were running A FULL MARATHON after completing a swim and a bike ride. Even the 1/2 Ironman distance competitors were completing a HALF MARATHON after a swim and a bike ride. Let me tell you, my measly 21 km run started to pale in comparison as I watched the finishers of the 1/2 Ironman event. I mean, there were people of every age, size, and fitness level coming through. There were people who out-aged me, who out-weighed me, and who looked like there's no way they could compete, but they were there, finishing a 1/2 Ironman. On the one hand, it was inspiring to see so many people meeting their own fitness goals, but on the other hand, it made me feel a little less accomplished in comparison.
I suppose in some way, that's what sport is all about. There's always the next stage or the next goal that you can aspire to. For now, I'll continue aspiring to the upcoming 1/2 marathon. And maybe, just maybe, one day I'll decide to be a 1/2 Ironwoman!
Over and out,
Joy
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