I'm not a runner...(but maybe I'm a duathlete)

Joy here...Last summer when I returned from Malaysia and Singapore (where I finished my second-ever half marathon), I initially thought that I'd get on track to racing a full marathon, and I even convinced Nomi to sign up for one.  She's now gone on to complete one (last November), and now she and her good friend Lulu (who wrote a great guest post on the blog) are running one together in Australia this coming July.  I, on the other hand, felt my running mojo failing rather rapidly.  I just wasn't in the mood for running; but it's not that I traded in my running shoes and hydration systems for sitting on the couch and eating fast food; no, instead I got into cycling last summer.  I thought to myself, "I'm not a runner...(but maybe I'm a cyclist)" and just enjoyed the bike riding, telling myself that my full marathon goals were just being postponed, not sidelined entirely.

Now with an early spring and a month of cycling under my belt so far, I'm having those same feelings again, where I'd rather be riding my bike than forcing myself out to do the long runs necessary for full marathon training.  I mean, if I have to be out there for 2 or 3 hours, I have to say that I'd rather be riding my bike than running for that time.  I still like the shorter runs, like the 7 to 10km loop by my house, but I'm just not feeling all that inspired to head out there and put in the necessary kilometres for full marathon training.  It feels like a bit of a drain...and that's not what running is supposed to feel like.  It's supposed to be FUN!  Perhaps Nomi put it best in her "Morning has Broken" post from July 2010; she wrote about running for "for the joy of running and the joy of being alive...."  That's what our running journey is supposed to be about!  Yet, here I had forgotten about that fundamental truth and was busy beating myself up over the fact that I wasn't in the mood to train for a full marathon but would rather ride my bike.

It suddenly dawned on me:  "So what?"  Nomi wouldn't care if I rode my bike over training for a running race.  That's not the kind of friend she is.  In fact, when I sent her an email waffling about my running races, here's what she wrote:  "I think that the important thing that one should not forget the purpose of running...which is the joy and freedom running brings you. The lightness, focus and exhilaration of crossing the finishing line regardless of the time."  And, once again, Nomi's wisdom is shining through and guiding me.  I don't need a full marathon to get that sense of joy and freedom.  I get it from riding my bike and going for shorter runs.  And now all I need to do is find some races that allow me to focus my joy of riding and running in the right way so that I get that exhilaration of a finish-line feeling, without suffering for months on end to train for a marathon that my heart just isn't in.

Enter...DUATHLON.  Duathlon is a sporting event that combines cycling and running.  Duh!  Sounds like it was made for me!  While I was out on Wednesday's ride with my spinning instructor, she said that she used to compete in Duathlons in Calgary and loved them.  So I spent some time this weekend looking up local duathlon races, and it seems like there are some throughout this summer that look good for me. The general distance would be a 5km run, followed by a 40km bike ride, ending with a 10km run.  So that's a good, hard kind of event, but one that I think I can handle and, more importantly, one that seems to capture my imagination a little bit better at the moment than a full marathon.  The full marathon's not going anywhere, and when the time is right, I'm sure I'll feel like training for one.  For now, I'm going to set my sights on some duathlons!

So in that spirit, I hopped on my trainer indoors on Saturday to complete 5 3minute interval sets.  Basically this means that I held a harder pace for 3 minutes and then rested for 2 minutes and then did it all over again.  My "interval" pace was around 37 or 38km/hr, and once I can reduce the rest periods between intervals, I'll be doing just fine.  A 37 or 38km/hr pace is a solid kind of pace if I can hold it for the 15km Time Trials that I've set my eye on for Tuesday nights this summer and 40km duathlon legs on the bike.

Watch out world...I'm getting just one step closer to being a triathlete!

Over and out,
Joy