Blood, sweat and tears

3 months ago I hadn’t run for many years. In 3 days, 13 hours and 58 minutes (don’t you love those count down clocks) I will be trying to run a marathon.
It’s so easy to post photos on social media that only show the highlights; not the blood, the liters of sweat and the tears. Here’s one now:

 

Some runs make you feel invincible, some runs make you feel defeated, every run makes you stronger.

My last long training run made me feel defeated. Here’s a breakdown of my internal thoughts:
0km: 0:00 Out of breath and sore, “Am I running right? This feels really uncoordinated… Is this how my arms usually swing?”
5km: 0:32 Sunrise over the city and settled into a rhythm, “This is such a beautiful sunrise!”
10km: 1:07 Eating my first Caramello Koala, (chemical power gels can go to hell) while watching hot air balloons over the lake “Wow, this is great!”
15km: 1:41 Halfway – My shirt is chafing under my arms and I’m getting over it “This is hard… ”
20km: 2:22 Another Caramello and a short recovery walk.
21km: 2:30 A sharp pain in my knee (my good knee) and I was walking again, then I was crying. Not quite sure why but it all seemed like too much. “Why am I doing this? Can I back out now? There is no way I can finish this race in the time given. They will close the race and I’ll get a DNF.”
22km: 2:40 Alternating between walking and running, crying again when a sad song came on.
2:58 Another Caramello.
25km: 3:10 Running again “Only 5km to go!”
3:25 “This isn’t so bad, maybe I can keep going”
30km: 3:44 Home, carbs, ice bath and a 1hour nap/pass-out.

I started training 3 months ago. I’ve endured hypoglycemic crashes, open wounds from rubbing, blisters than haven’t healed since January and getting lost more than once. I had no idea about fueling for long distances or training plans.. and honestly, I still don’t. But it’s all too late for that now.

So here’s my plan:

• Between now and the race eat lots of carbs (for the record: beer is a carb)
• Give the marathon a go
• Plan A: Don’t seriously hurt myself
• Plan B: Finish within the 7 hours
• Plan C: Finish the distance no matter how long it takes
• Eat lots of everything after the race

But even if the running isn’t a success, the fundraising has been, $1,863 raised thanks to my amazing friends and family!  https://runningfestival2016.everydayhero.com/au/cos-and-the-big-3-0

10 things no-one tells you about running

Ten things you only find out by actually running – Welcome to the wonderfully glamorous world of long distance running

Running in Canberra isn’t so bad after-all

1. You will eat bugs
   – Sure enough on that peaceful sunset run next to a nice lake/river you will encounter a hoard of bugs that seem intent on kamikaze flight paths into your mouth/up your nose. Breathing being an essential part of running will aid their plight and you will spend the next thirty seconds snorting, coughing and trying to eject the little bastard from your nasal cavity. Embrace it as a source of protein.
2. Your feet will lose all feeling
   – Blisters than don’t heal for months, losing toenails and finding out several days later that the little rock that went into your shoe apparently worked a hole in your heel and now has a healthy fresh layer of skin covering it. It will be gross, but your feet will become an asset defined by their utility. They get me from A to B. Their maintenance is important to keep them working, but not their looks or feelings.
3. There will be gas
   – both ends. If you’re lucky it will just be gas… The most inspirational athlete I’ve seen speak is Kurt Fearnley. My favourite anecdote was from when he was defending his title at the New York marathon and shat himself at the 32km mark. With over ten km to go, he went on to win gold.
4. Ice baths/cold showers will become your friend and compression socks work
   – I don’t know how, but wear then if you want to walk normally tomorrow. Ditto the ice bath.
5. Chafing is an issue
   – prepare yourself for weeping sores that don’t seem to heal, created from next to nothing. You will gain a whole new appreciation for seam free everything and bepanthen.
6. It will increase your flexibility
   – OK so the next day after a long run you won’t feel flexible, you will wake up feeling like an 80 year old who has spent the last 60 years living a box – but after a few weeks of training you will realise that somehow touching your toes is much easier that it ever was. Take the jagged yoga pill after your run and you will get serious rewards.
7. It will increase your creative thoughts/philosophical ponderings
   – many great writers/comics/philosophers credit long distance running to developing and fostering new ideas. Maybe its the increased blood flow that opens your mind?
8. You will be starving
   – all the time. Thoughts of food will consume your day and when you do eat, you will be insatiable. But that’s ok cause you just ran 20km, dig in! Enjoy those carbs, you’ve earnt it!
9. It is really time consuming
   – “back in a tic, just gotta do this 20km easy-slow” said no one ever.
10. It will teach you more about self-control, who you are, and what you are capable of than any self-help book ever will.
    –  You’ve heard the adage “your body is capable of doing anything your mind tells it to” well actually it’s capable of much more. During standard strength tests in the 60’s scientists found that when subjected to loud sudden noises people could express much more force than by sheer will-power alone. (http://jap.physiology.org/content/16/1/157) This has been shown time and time again through studies and anecdotal evidence (‘Mum lifts car off her toddler’ etc. etc.).
    As for running long distances, train the mind first, everything else is details; or as Kurt Fearnley puts it: “Your body is an idiot. It will listen I anything you tell it.” So why not tell it to run a marathon?

Donate here: https://runningfestival2016.everydayhero.com/au/cos-and-the-big-3-0

Why all the running?

I spend a lot of time while running, thinking about why I run.
In a nutshell; its because I can.

I know I’m lucky to have legs that work, that can take me where ever I want to go. They may not be fast or particularly coordinated, but they work.
For that I am really grateful.
There may be a time in my life where they stop working, or won’t take me as far, but for now I choose to celebrate by climbing mountains, running in circles around lake Burley Griffin and wearing way too much pink.

I sign up for these things because I want to know that I can do them, and dare I say I often enjoy it. But not all the time.

The first half-an-hour of running is shit. I hate it. My legs beg me to stop, they protest by being more uncoordinated than usual; my mind screams at me to go home, watch tv, eat some ice cream, bacon, chocolate fudge, – heck you can have all three together just stop running!
But then something happens… I let go. I plod along looking at the trees, the birds, the little bunny rabbits, thinking about nothing in particular, smiling at people and enjoying the moment. I stop thinking about work, recovery methods, my training plan, my time/speed/distance and let my mind wander.

Let go and all suffering will cease.
I always struggled with this Buddhist concept but running has helped. I think the Oatmeal sums up the journey to running Nirvana the best with his Blergh comic: http://theoatmeal.com/comics/running