Miles Week 8: 22 (Sunday's long run: 12 miles)
Miles Week 9: 10.5 (Sunday's long run: 6 miles)
Miles To Date: 109.5
Just kidding! Not really! I wouldn't dream of it!
Well ... okay, last week I was pretty damn tired and off-kilter ... but still, I wouldn't dream of quitting.
And for so many reasons, which is the magic of this crazy program. Barring injury, once you are in it's not easy to quit. I truly am not even tempted - crazy though it sounds, they make long miles relatively easy and fun - but if I were, it would be a challenge. I am now friends with all the folks in my pace group. They expect me to be there, and I look forward to seeing them. There's a rhythm to the training schedule that has become part of my life, which I would very much miss were I to stop. There's the endorphin addiction, for sure. And then of course there's the fundraising commitment: After May 2, if you are still in the program, you sign a form COMMITTING to giving the SF AIDS Foundation $1800 by June, no matter what. If you can't raise it, they take it from your credit card. Period.
So, yes. There's that.
I think it's genius! Some friends have expressed some alarm about the financial commitment part, but I think without it, it would be too easy to quit. They get to raise money, I get to absolutely change my life and body and self, forever. That sounds perhaps dangerously fanatical, I know, but it's true. I can't imagine the kind of strength and pride I will feel when I can know that I've run a marathon. It's spirit-fuel for so many things.
That said...
A week ago this past Sunday, we ran 12 miles. Isn't that insane? What's nuttier is that, although I was tired by the end, I wasn't spent; I could absolutely have gone another two miles. Let's hope I can say that this coming Sunday, when the distance is 14.
12 miles intimidated me. I once ran 10 miles on my own, years ago, so three weeks ago when 10 was the distance I knew from experience that it was within my capacity. 12 miles was a first, and I was nervous. And as is often the case, the first 3 miles or so were challenging. But you keep going, and before long it's been 6 miles, then 8, and by then your body is awake and chugging and you're in a groove. The company is entertaining, the view is spectacular (we run along the western Berkeley shore, with a full view of the SF skyline, Angel Island, and the Golden Gate bridge) - you've got your little running snacks and your sports drink (refilled at stations peopled with volunteers along the way) and it just feels good, even when your body starts to fatigue.
That's a good day, anyway, and the 12-mile day turned out to be a good day for me.
A good day, incidentally, is pretty much guaranteed by A) adequate sleep, B) proper nutrition and hydration, and C) general emotional balance the few days preceding the long run. A bad day is pretty much guaranteed by lack of any of the following. That's my experience, anyway. If I drink water and eat a decent amount of clean food the day preceding, and sleep, I perform well and feel okay. The one run that nearly killed me (7 miles) was preceded by a week of sickness, sleep deficit, and dehydration. It can sneak up on you. With a life as generally unregulated as mine, it helps to have a real motivation binding me to a regular self-care routine.
I do think my vitamins help, too.
This week was our first recovery week. From here on out, we increase our long-run distance by two miles every two weeks, and in the alternate weeks we run half the distance of the previous week's run. So, after 12, last Sunday was 6 (I actually slept in and did it at the gym Monday morning!); this Sunday will be 14, the week following that 7; then 16, then 8, and so forth. I think once we hit 20 (then 10) we increase by one mile until we reach 23, then we do shorter runs for 2 weeks and then we run the marathon, 26.2 miles.
It sounds like math. But it's really just running.
By the way, I don't look anything like any of those women in the running magazines. If my body has changed, you can't really see it, at least not yet (well, the shins, a bit. But that's it.). This is true, I believe, of most everyone in the program. Except for the very fast experienced runners, most of us don't look like athletes. Most of us in fact look remarkably UNathletic... you would be surprised at the folks you pass in a day who have 12 miles, or 26, or some equally remarkable achievement, already under their belts! It excites me to reflect that possibility: You don't have to already BE an athlete, to become one. You just have to show up at the Berkeley Marina Sunday mornings at 8, hang out out with nice people, and do the best you can, at whatever pace is right for you, taking the walking breaks you need and drinking water and eating sports gummies. Oh, and do that twice a week on your own. That's it.
That, and raise $1800. HELP! SUPPORT! ME! PLEASE! THANK! YOU!
http://www.aidsmarathon.com/participant.asp?runner=SF-1090&EventCode=SF08
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