Wednesday, August 30, 2006

Solo Half-Marathon Apprehension

The World Wide Half Marathon is five weeks away. As I have mentioned, it is a virtual half-marathon, meaning that people from all over the world will be running it in their own communities and then reporting their times (honor system, of course). Some of my non-runner friends have joked that they're going to "enter" and claim a really fast time. Go ahead, I say! I am doing this race for a feeling of accomplishment and self-satisfaction. I will be racing against MYSELF. That brings me to my "normal road race" feelings.

When running a normal road race, I generally feel motivated by the other runners around me. I feel the adrenaline and want to try to keep up! And there are spectators cheering me on. I really push myself. On the other hand, though, it can be discouraging to see person after person (of ALL ages and ALL body types, some pushing strollers) zoom by me.

Speaking of motivation, I have to digress to confess that this time last year I NEVER thought I could train alone for anything beyond a 5K race. In my previous half-marathon experience, I had a training partner. I thought I must have a partner to hold me accountable. Well, I am proud to report that of my +/- 39 training runs to date, I have done at least 35 of them alone! And it's not that I don't like having company out there, because I love to talk the whole time! Nonetheless, I am so pleased with myself about being able to make the decision to stick to an early-morning training habit. It has really worked for me. I just get up and hit the road alone... and I'm so happy with it. This brings me to my WWH feelings.

I am happy that I won't have to "endure" the super-fast folks speeding by me five weeks from now. I think that will put me more at ease. However, I am wondering if I will be able to keep the motivation to charge ahead to the finish. Only my wonderfully supportive husband will be there to cheer me on and provide makeshift waterstops. Should I wear my Garmin and monitor my pace? Or should I just get out there and run? Should I wear my MP3 player? I am conflicted!

Please feel free to donate any opinions on this subject. I'd appreciate it.

In better news, my preliminary marathon training schedule arrived in my inbox today! THANK YOU, Terry! Incidentally, I have "enlisted" a training partner for the upcoming full marathon I aspire to train for and complete... but we'll only be checking in with each other while training alone. Thank you, Matt!

1 comment:

Unknown said...

You are going to do great in 5 weeks, I just know it. I find it very smart of you to recognize that the WWH is going to a run of a different nature... you aren't going to have all the crowd support, but you will know that there are other people all over the world who are doing exactly what you are doing that day!!!

As for you Garmin and other gadgets... if your husband is going to be there to help with the water (awesome guy!) then why not start off with them and if they bother you, just ditch them at one water stop. After all, in this race headphones are NOT prohibited :D

Keep up the good work and I am glad to hear that you have a training partner... it'll help you stay accountable!