Hey, if you find someone talking about their fantasy team to be boring, well, you're in for a treat. I'm going to be writing about running. And not just once. I'm signed up to run the Twin Cities Marathon Sunday, October 7. Don't ask why, I just figured it'd be cool to be able to say later that I'd run a marathon at some point in my life; gotta figure dunking a basketball on a ten foot hoop is getting less likely by the day.
I've never enjoyed running, except in short bursts. Breakaway layups, Turkey Bowl post patterns, legging out a triple (going first to third is for pussies), those I'm all cool with. Running 26.2 miles is something I just don't understand. If it involves anything over 70 or 80 yards, I'm really not interested. I barely know why I'm doing it, and just wonder how the hell do people enjoy it? Trail running is ok, but this is pavement. In Minneapolis. In October. It's going to be a cold start to the morning.
I've already been "training" for the past few weeks and still struggle running 40-45 minutes without slowing to a walk. It's been said that while hiking the Appalachian Trail, "When you're carrying 45 pounds on your back, you don't forget that, not even for a second." While I'm running, it never escapes my mind that I have barely done a fraction of what I'm expected to do in one day. I'm still at a stage where running is boring. At this point, I'm really just doing it to get better. I keep hearing about this "runners high". Whatever it is, count me in.
The World Record Holder in a marathon finished in 2:04:55 (fun fact: the 2nd fastest time ever is only one second longer! Too bad they happened in the same race. Sept 28, 2003 in Berlin.) So yea, the World Record is impressive, but how much worse can I be than him? The Twin Cities Marathon (from here on "TCM") allows a participant 6 hours to finish and I'm going to need every second of that. Have to average 13:44 per mile to make it in time or they pick you up off the route in buses; their permit only allows for limited time. I just want to finish the damn thing, that's my goal..
The toughest part of training so far? My diet. My fridge is filled with water, mango/berries/pineapple, half a beet (nothing like thinking you're peeing blood until you remember eating a beet a couple hours earlier), rice, beans, kale, spinach, asparagus, parsley, carrots, soy milk/soy ice cream and tortilla shells. Doesn't help that I gave up meat again when I moved to Minneapolis. My lunch today actually included a juice which contained, among other things, beet & carrot. I literally thought I was going to throw up. Ever drank wheat grass juice? Want to know what that tastes like? Grass. And not the fun kind.
Yea, but the best part of the training? My running partner. She's an accomplished runner, having participated recently in an adventure race (sort of a cooler triathlon - running, biking, kayaking - except with a team), she's cute and she's a Swedish masseuse who's actually Swedish. To answer your questions: No, yes and hell yea. We get to go running and biking along the banks of the Mississippi River. That just blows my mind. By car, eh, maybe 10-15 minutes to the longest river this side of, well, never mind...
I guess that's it for now, but if anything happens that's worth mentioning, I'll bring it up again.
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