Leave It All On The Bridge

Serious runners, read no further. In fact, if you are even a semi-serious runner, you may want to go ahead and delete this web address from your browser history (before any of your runner friends find out you were here...they may judge). I am about to throw around that word again...progress. It's a little embarrassing to use that word when I was so slow to begin that there was really nowhere to go but up, but I don't care. Progress is progress, and man, have we made some.

If you read my last post, you know that Gina and I were very excited when we could maintain our marathon pace for 3 miles (as we should have been). That was week two of our program. We told ourselves during the first week that our pace didn't matter; we were all about the miles and getting our bodies moving. And then it happened. We got a little better while we were busy not thinking about it.

Week Two: Maintained marathon pace (13:43) for three miles
Week Three: Ran three miles in 39 minutes (13 min/mile avg. pace)

Both of these were exciting and encouraging moments, but neither prepared me for what we were about to push ourselves to do.

 

 

Why we chose to make our FIRST 10K one with the word Toughest in the title is beyond me, but we did. Our first 10K included crossing the Kemah bridge 4 times...yup...4 times. We had practiced running the bridge a few weekends before the race, and after crossing it 2 times during a 3.1 mile run I wanted to puke and murder Gina (not necessarily in that order). Nothing in me thought I could finish a 10K that included going through that torture 4 times.

 

The run lived up to its name. It was TOUGH! Half way through, soaking wet from the rain and feeling near death, Gina gave me our time for the first 5K. We had run the first half of the race in 39 minutes. Yup...you read that correctly. We had matched our best three mile pace while going over that damn bridge twice. It was a hopeful moment, but at the same time, I thought, "Well, that's all good and fine, but there is no way I can keep this up." 

 

Toughest 10K Finishing Time: 1:18:46

 

Do the math! Other than those pesky 46 seconds, we maintained our pace for the second 5K of the race. It was a proud, proud moment. We had gone into the day worried that we might be so slow we would not be official finishers (and had come to terms with that fact), and we ended up running it in record time...a record we set when there were no bridges involved, by the way.

 

When push came to shove, we left it all on the bridge. We got it done. Maybe only because the medals were so damn cool that we REALLY wanted one and were seriously worried that they might not give us one if we took too long.  But hey, motivation is motivation.

 

We've talked about that race several times since then...especially when we don't want to finish a daily run (or start for that matter). Gina kept reminding me that day that at least we weren't in a tunnel (flashback to traumatic Spartan moment), and now, when training gets the best of us, we have, "At least we're not on a bridge!"

 

 



That challenge showed us that maybe we really can do this. I'm bad about getting down on myself for being so slow. I apologize to Gina on a regular basis for holding her back, but when it counts, we know we can push ourselves beyond what we think are our limits.

 

Sunday night we joked as we ran our 4 miles that we were going so slow it felt easy. We didn't care. We just didn't want to push. We were dragging ass and were OK with that. We didn't even listen to Run Keeper because we didn't really want to know how slow we were going. We just wanted to relax and go at a slow, comfortable pace.

 

While we were busy being comfortable, we shaved two minutes off of our fastest 4 mile time.

 





Even Slow Progress Is Progress

It dawned on me today at work that I was not dreading tonight's three-mile run. I was not sore from yesterday's four miles, and at that point I was not wishing Gina would be abducted by aliens. That was a big moment for me, as I usually wish strange and horrible things upon her several times a day in anticipation of even our shortest runs...much like the torture I wish upon Elaine on boot camp days. *Exercise makes me mean. I'll turn on you in a heartbeat.

And just when I reached this positivity milestone...what did I do? I went home after work and took a nap. And I woke up from that nap dreading those three miles. I usually dread the first few steps most of all. But, true to motivational form, Gina showed up right on schedule and made me go, and monitored our pace, and told me I was doing great (even when I wasn't), and pushed us through.

The result? WE DID IT! We maintained our goal pace. In fact, our average pace was six seconds under.

Miles: 3.01
Average Pace: 13:43
Duration: 41:15

Now, to what I call a "real runner," those stats will not seem impressive. For me, they are. They do not represent my best times, but they represent an improvement on my recent times. Today, that's what I choose to concentrate on. Progress...slow, steady progress.

Way to go, Gina! I'm proud of us!

And So It Begins...

Today is Day One of our 20 week training program in preparation for the Houston Marathon. While I struggled with the first day's assignment (3 miles at an easy pace), I am convinced that I can actually do this...that I will do this.

I mean, hey, anyone who has known me for any amount of time would never have believed that I would go from here...



AP Scoring, June 2010

 

to here...

 

Semper Fi 5k, August 2013





in just three years. And while those three years have been an amazing, albeit difficult, journey, I think these next 20 weeks are going to push me beyond my limits in ways that will alter my journey permanently.

 

Yesterday, I looked up the pace leaders for our marathon pace group. First, let me explain: Our goal time is the six hour cut-off for the course. We just want to be official finishers, so our goal time is 6 hours (or I guess, technically it is 5:59). To do that we have to average a pace of 13 minutes and 45 seconds per mile. Finding out that there is a 6 hour pace group was a pleasant surprise. There are other runners like us out there! We have our own pace group and awesome pace leaders. One of our team leaders has summited Kilimanjaro and run the Houston Marathon 35 consecutive times. Another one runs all of his marathons carrying an American flag. These amazing runners have finished various marathons in times I can't even imagine attempting, and this year they are devoting themselves to helping runners like me...well, just survive and cross the line. I find that inspiring.

 

So, tonight I struggled, but I will get better. Jen Rhines, Olympic marathoner, once said in an interview, "Life and running are not about times but about the experiences along the way." I'm going to have to agree. Gina reminded me several times tonight to stop concentrating on my time and focus more on the fact that I was still running. For that advice, I am grateful. And as another friend reminded me, I just have to "keep swimming. Just keep swimming" (and hearing Dory singing it in your head helps too).

 

Happy Day One, World!

 

Today began a journey that will end on January 19th at the George R. Brown Convention Center.

It's sure to be an interesting ride, so stay tuned.

 

Today's Run: 3.01 miles @ an average pace of 14:18 per mile for a total of 43 minutes.