Category: Well-being

My Half-Marathon

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A Distant Goal

One of my short-term goals is to run a half-marathon (and someday a full marathon), probably at the Austin Marathon in 2015. My sketchy plan was to build up my miles in preparation for that race, maybe running 3-5 miles Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, a rest day Saturday. On Sunday I’d do a long run of about 10 miles followed by a rest day on Monday. I felt this would be a nice, do-able routine.

But, when I injured my knee in October, I had to suspend my running for a few weeks to let it heal up. So, the routine got messed up. In November I slowly started running again and finally got back up to running my normal distance of about 5 miles, but taking at least one rest day between runs.

Weekend Run

Sunday morning, I began my normal run around the neighborhood.

It started out on a good note with the weather just about perfect. There were plenty of clouds to block the sun and keep the sky beautiful, a nice breeze, and mild temperatures. About a mile into the run I saw a turtle sunning itself in the middle of the boulevard, so I picked it up and put him by the nearby pond (where I assumed he came from). That immediately put me into an even better mood and I continued the run with a smile on my face.

Can I Run All the Way?

At this point the thought of running 13.1 miles crept into my head.  “Can I run all the way? Does it matter that my half-marathon is not at an official event?” These questions were floating around in my head while I started to calculate how many laps around my usual route I would need to make. I figured I would aim for three laps, but I had my phone with me telling me how long and far I have run every 10 minutes. I didn’t have to worry about getting the course perfect. With that in mind, I just kept running.

Lap 2 was uneventful but towards the end my legs started getting fatigued. I also started thinking that I didn’t really fuel up before the run since I didn’t think I would go for long. In fact, my breakfast consisted of two cups of coffee, a single glass of water, and about five macadamia nuts – not the best pre-race meal!

What’s Important about 13.1

I was also pondering why running a half-marathon was important to me, or rather, why it was a goal of mine. I guess it’s all about completing the distance, and not actually competing in an official event. I’ve run 5k and 10k races before and although they took place at nice locations and were fun, they don’t seem to have the appeal to me that they do to other people. I guess I am kind of a solo runner (and motorcyclist too). I really look forward to running alone. So the answer to my second question above – “Does it matter that my half-marathon is not an official event” – was “No”. I’m doing the distance, albeit at a slow pace. But 13.1 is 13.1, isn’t it?

Back to the run. Halfway through lap 3 (at around the 10 mile mark) I started to get really thirsty. My mouth was getting dry and my lips felt chapped. I also started to feel a little bit of pain in my right calf muscle, as if it were cramping up a bit. I was so close to my goal! Of course I didn’t want to risk my health or suffer dehydration, but I could taste the “finish line”. After a quick check of the rest of my body’s condition, I came to the conclusion that I could go on. I was pretty much in the home-stretch, heading back towards the house.

Success!

Continuing to watch my body condition closely, I kept chugging along and before long, I had passed the 13.1 mile mark! It kind of felt like when I passed the 1,000 mile mark on my Saddlesore 1,000 motorcycle ride. I knew I had achieved my goal, and any extra distance I ran was just the icing on the cake!

When I reached home, the total distance was 13.9 miles and it took me about 2 hours and 15 minutes. Now that I have completed my goal, I am looking forward to upping the distance and have learned a few things. Most important is that I need to fuel up properly, and even maybe plan a water stop at my house. Also, I learned that I need to allot about 50+ minutes per “lap” and I should be good!

I’m so happy to be running again!

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Too Cold to Run

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Yesterday I ate a ton of pizza at Conan’s with my friend Scott so I was looking forward to a long evening run in the neighborhood. But when I went out, it was too cold! It was about 50ºF and windy.

I told myself that I should at least run the first leg of my normal route and see if I warm up. I ran a couple of miles, but my face was so cold I decided to cut the run short and try again during the day. (Maybe I need some winter running gear?)

Looks like it will be lovely weather for a lunch run today!

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Back to Normal Distance

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Today I ran my normal route, which is about 5 miles. Although my knee is still sore, it feels good to be back to a regular routine. I think if I am careful to not twist my knee (in other words, just run straight) then I won’t re-injure myself. Now that I am putting on miles again, my appetite has grown again.

Which is a good thing.

Now I can eat and drink without fear!

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Noodling Around on the Guitar

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This past “bachelor summer” I bought an inexpensive classical guitar for myself to play. I haven’t really played guitar before (I’ve played keyboard and bass a bit), but Koa has taken a year of lessons and it looked so fun and sounded great. I thought I could have some fun noodling around on the guitar too. And yes, after watching a bunch of YouTube videos and practicing a bit, I could actually play some chords that don’t sound half bad!

I realize that with my current level of commitment I won’t ever excel at guitar, but even at my beginner/hobbyist level there is a lot of value for me in playing my ~5 chords. Look out, here comes a list!

Playing my guitar:

  • exercises a new part of my brain
  • improves hand-eye coordination
  • stretches out the fingers
  • is relaxing!

I also like to goof around on my bass guitar which is also fun. The problem is that I need to plug into an amp, and I don’t have a proper bass amp anymore. It just doesn’t sound right going through a tiny practice amp.

But what is neat about playing both guitar and bass is that you can sort of piece things together between the two instruments, and when things click and make sense, it’s a nice thing. It’s kind of obvious since they are essentially the same instrument, but it is still really satisfying to make the connection.

Satisfying enough to bring a huge smile to my face.

Classical Guitar
Classical Guitar

Running Machine

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One common thought that enters my mind as I am running my daily route is a kind of fun way to think of how my mind and body are related. In Haruki Murakami’s book What I Talk About When I Talk About Running (Vintage International), he compared the human body to a beast of burden, in that if you stress your muscles, they will complain at first but then eventually comply to the extra effort. I have for a long time thought of my body as some kind of machine or robot, sort of like one of those Japanese giant robots, where my brain is the pilot of this running machine, and I have to keep watch on the functions of the different parts of the machine.

The pilot keeps tabs on the status of my knees, ankles, leg muscles in general, breathing, and hydration level. For the most part, I let my body run on auto-pilot, never needing to actually adjust my speed (except when crossing intersections), and just monitor the statuses. My breathing also never really changes except when I go on a long uphill. It’s actually fun to notice that my body requires more oxygen, and imagine the “pilot” order the body to inhale and exhale with more force and more speed. Then at the top of the hill, the body goes into a “recovery mode” and the heart and breathing rate drop back down to normal.

Since I have been nursing a sore knee the past month or so, the pilot’s control center is a little more lively in that his status displays show some damage to the right knee. I am visualizing a picture of my body as if it were viewed by a heat-sensitive night-vision-goggle type of thing or MRI. When my knee hurts, that part of the scan is glowing red. And sometimes my shoulder would get a little sore before it loosens up, and I’d imagine the pilot in my brain having to monitor that part of the machine as well.

It’s really bizarre what goes through my mind sometimes! But I think it’s actually kind of fun too, and just another aspect of running that makes it so enjoyable to me. I never know where my thoughts are going to take me, but I always end my run feeling way better than at the beginning.