confucius #76

Notes from a Half Marathon

Well, I ran my first half marathon ever this morning - the Pacific Shoreline Half Marathon along Huntington Beach. Gotta say it was a great experience, albeit quite painful and slightly grueling at times. Granted, I can't quite boast that I've done a whole marathon yet (not even sure that's something I plan on doing), but hey, 13.1 miles isn't a typical jog in the park.

Here's a look at my mental journal of the race:

Mile 1 (7:00 am) -- Feeling good, just taking it easy, not pushing too hard. Since I don't run too often, I thought I would do the run-walk method and just try to finish sometime before the Superbowl. But at some point last night, I was talked into running the whole thing (perhaps it was when my roommate, Chris, mockingly joked about girls cheering me on as "James, the sexy run-walker").

Mile 4 -- Finished 5k at about a 9 minute pace. Still just taking it easy. This whole time I've been running with Jin and Chris Lee. Jin suggests that a 9 minute pace might be too much for her to maintain for the whole race. Secretly, my chauvanistic side is thinking "hmm... I wonder if this means that I'm actually going to beat her." Yes, I admit it, one of my goals today was to not let my female running partner beat me.

Mile 4.5 -- Damn, I have that Damien Rice song, "Blower's Daughter", stuck in my head. Why do I get the feeling this is gonna stay with me for the next several miles?

Mile 5 -- Chris Lee takes off and says goodbye to us. I turn to Jin and tell her that I'm going to try to gradually run faster over the next 2 miles. This is essentially my way of saying "I'm taking off. See you at the finish line."

Mile 5.1 -- We hit a turnaround and immediately run into a headwind and an uphill slope. So much for the idea of gaining speed.

Mile 6 -- I bust out the power gel. You'd think that these things are fun to eat (cool packaging, designed for athletes, etc.), but they are disgusting. Substances with a gel-like consistency somehow weren't meant to go inside your body.

Mile 8 -- I've broken away from Jin and started pushing myself faster. I'm now mentally visualizing the guy from Chariots of Fire who says "When I run, I feel God's pleasure". My head cocks back and I start flapping my arms to try to imitate that image from the movie. Somehow I tell myself that this is working, even though I look like a fool and I'm running with my eyes closed. Thirty seconds later, I revert back to huffing and puffing with a grimace on my face.

Mile 9 -- I feel okay. I've been intentionally trying to keep a faster pace. This is good. I'm passing people. Then I turn to my left and realize that Jin has been right there with me this whole time.

Mile 11 -- Only 2 miles to go! This is when I tell myself to start hauling ass. Just gun it from here, finish in a flourish and make yourself proud.

Mile 12 -- Okay, I actually slowed down over the last mile. Well then, NOW is the time to start hauling ass. C'mon James! Push!

Mile 12.5 -- I see the finish line. Yes.

Mile 12.6 -- Why does it seem like the finish line just got farther away?

Mile 12.625 -- Jesus, help me.

Mile 12.7 -- Mind over body. I think my mind is actually coming around now and starting to win the battle. I punch it and just try to run as hard as I can at this point (which is barely above a leisurely jog).

Mile 13.1 -- Crossed the finish line. Finally! I finished and did it under 2 hrs. What a feeling. Official time -- 1:53:56.

In the end, I felt great. It was not as bad as I thought it would be and it felt good to have finished in under 2 hrs. Granted, afterwards, my muscles immediately started tightening up in ways I never could have imagined. AND my knees could no longer bend. AND I was pretty much on the verge of exhaustion. But the feeling of finishing a 13 mile race pretty much took my mind off of any of the physical suffering. Next step: the triathalon!

posted by jkung925 @ 10:12 PM