Looping the Hen

Too many miles!

When I started thinking about doing a half-marathon last year, it was kind of a far-fetched goal. Too many years smoking 3 packs a day prior to quitting back in 2003, too many extra pounds to carry over a ridiculous distance, and an overall lack of discipline put it into the 'yeah, right' category. At least with jumping out of a plane all I had to actually do was obey the law of gravity; running 13 miles to me is more like defying it.

On top of that, when I was young, light, and (with no gray in my hair) in the best shape of my life while running track, I never did more than around 8 miles at a stretch. Track and cross-country at the high school level while I was running never topped out at more than 5k (3.1 mile) races. Doing any kind of distance was more for training and endurance.

So when I started actual training for the half-marathon back in January, I set my goal time (which you need to put into your registration form, due to the 20,000+ people who will run the Country Music Marathon) at a near-walk time of 3 hours even (13:45 mile pace). Well, part of that was trying to help motivate someone else who wanted me to run with her, and part of it was a safety net, because I was pretty sure I could at least shuffle along at that pace and finish.

However, my training has gone surprisingly well (for an old guy), and I jogged 10.5 miles (!!) yesterday at just under 10:00 mile pace (just under 1:44). Yes, more than 10 miles without stopping, and yes, I hurt pretty badly today, but proud. I continue to be amazed at the resilience of the human body, as it generally does most of what one asks it to. I started training at around 3 miles and 11:00 mile pace at the beginning of January and now I can run more than 10 miles at a faster pace. That's pretty cool! My new goal for the 13.1 mile butchery of my body is 2:12, or 10-minute pace for the entire distance. With the crowds that might be a little high, but even if I miss it by a minute or 3 (or 10 even), I'm not one of those who dwells on it as some sort of a loss (like many, many runners would!). And the lovely and talented Sara Evans, one of my favorites, is putting on the post-race concert, which should make it all worth while!

The race is on April 28, and I have 3 more 10+ mile runs between now and then, and a bunch of 6 milers, and even a couple of 5k races just to keep myself interested. With luck I'll make it to the big day healthy and under 200 for the first time since 1999. (One of the side benefits of training is the stone plus one pounds I've lost so far)