Written 6th of October 2014
Soon after my second Half Marathon finish
Until this weekend, I really did not know what I was doing. I have run two half marathons and I still know nothing. Ok that is a bit harsh, change that to ~ I know next to nothing!
That picture you see, the smiling happy one at the finish line? It belies all the pain and the looong road to get to the FINISH. Honestly, looking at someone’s finish line photo does not give anyone an idea, not an iota of what went on behind the run ~ the gruelling hours of pounding the pavement. If the finisher completed a half marathon, he/she would have averaged 20Ks every single week for at least 12 weeks of training. And a full marathon? That runner with such relief and joy at the finish line ran over 40Kms+ for 4 to 5 months just to get to the start line. 40Kms is like 4 to 6 hours every week on the road ~ solitary, enduring, and oh so lonely. But this is what makes runners happy. The suffering on the road, and the endorphin rush at the end of a long run.
I had no idea.
So we talked about weekly mileage during training. There are also injuries that plague an average runner unless one is a superman or wonder woman. What a noob I was. I thought I can just get up on Saturday mornings, lace up, and fly the heck out into the road. Sure, that is the right idea, if I was doing just a 5K every week. But once I tried to increase my mileage, say to a 10K, my knees started to ache, my ankles were in pain, I experienced stomach stiches, my shins hurt, even my butt was now sore! I felt my age, like a lola (grandma)! And what about my breathing? I huffed and I puffed like the magic dragon!