Blog #13: Running Is Hard.
Howdy friends! I hope you are all having a swell October so far. I’m having a pretty amazing October: I’ve enjoyed lots of yummy food (my favorite), I’ve gone to apple orchards, spent some lovely time with Suketu and my friends and family, danced at Garba (a lot), and oh yeah… I ran a half-marathon.
Let me tell you a little about a half-marathon if you haven’t run one before: it’s hard and you have to be a little crazy to WILLINGLY race for that long. Yes, I said race. Because there is a big difference between running and racing. Let’s get into it.
Running, I’ve learned, is simply running. Going at a pace you can sustain for quite some time and not hating your life too bad. Running is what I did most throughout my training. Racing, however, is very different. You see, racing, or running at “race pace” is much more challenging than it sounds. Racing is all out. Racing is everything you’ve got. Racing is… pain. In the last 5.5 years I have run 2 half-marathons, here’s what I’ve learned:
13.1 miles can be really long or short, depending on how you’ve trained.
a. For example: Throughout my training in the last 11 months I have run up past 14 miles. Suketu had run up to 10 miles. You might be thinking that those last 3-miles are easy, considering you’ve already run 10. Wrong. Just, wrong. You have to, HAVE to run above what you’re training for because if you don’t, your body struggles to make up the rest. At least that’s the case in a shorter race. Marathons, on the other hand, I wouldn’t recommend running 27, 28, or even 29 miles because well… that’s insane. I felt that this race was really short. Oddly enough, right? I pushed and pushed the entire race. I did not stop. I did not go to the bathroom. I did not throw up. I BULLDOZED THAT COURSE, and it went by so quick. I mean, depending on who you ask, 13.1 miles can seem super long or super short. I was in pain, yes, but it didn’t feel like an eternity because of how much I trained?? It only makes me want to train harder so I can run faster. WHAT’S WRONG WITH ME. I TOLD MYSELF I WAS DONE WITH RUNNING AFTER THIS. If you’re training for a 5k, 10k, or half-marathon, running mileage past what you’re training for is easily doable. Just take it at your own pace. That leads me to my next point.
BE PATIENT WITH YOURSELF.
a. Read that again. That’s right, you absolutely, 1000%, without a doubt have to be patient with yourself. 11 months for a training block seems like a long time, trust me, it is. But I also wanted to give myself time to adjust to running 10, 15, 20, 30+ miles each week. As someone who wasn’t new to running, but also didn’t run more than 2-3 miles at a time, I learned just how important it is for your mental and physical health to take things slowly if high impact isn’t something you’re used to, especially when training for a race because there are all kinds of workouts and runs you should do to prepare. And… it’s a lot. It’s exhausting. It can be so draining and time-consuming. I slowly built up mileage each week because I knew it was going to be a lot on my body, wearing it down run by run. Most training blocks with serious running and workouts happen within 3 months. I promise, if you put in the work and TAKE YOUR OFF DAYS OFF, your body will surprise you. Know that you will have good days and bad days, and that’s all just part of the process.
My last point is arguably the most important.
3. Show. Up.
a. Be consistent. Show up every day. I have so many people ask me “How do you run that fast?” “How did you get yourself to stay running?” “How can I run a faster 5k time?”. The answer? Be consistent and work on it every single day. It sounds simple, I know. Even in the negative windchill, rain, ice, snow, hot, humid, hellish days, the LAST thing I wanted to do was get outside and run. In fact, I made every excuse not to. I would go to bed late, I wouldn’t always fuel myself the way I should with food or hydrating properly, I would scroll on my phone instead of getting my a** up off the couch and getting outside.
Running has taught me more about myself than I ever thought possible. Running is pain. Running is therapy. Running is hurt. Running is happiness. Running is a mental game. Running is peace and tranquility.
It sounds crazy. But the way that my mind is healed after such exertion is cathartic.
Because if you can run, and do all the things that come with it, you’re unstoppable.
I’ve grown so much personally while on this running journey. I’ve learned that nothing will probably ever hurt me as much as a 12 mile long run on a humid July morning. Running has helped me transform my eating habits, and how I view eating. I see food as fuel, which leads me to make healthier choices. It’s taught me patience. Perseverance. It’s so much more than just the physical act of running. By pushing yourself further and further you truly become the best possible version of yourself. And I’m just getting started.
That last statement… that’s questionable. Wanna know the truth? Just 2 short weeks ago I had a breakdown. Yep, a full-on breakdown after a workout I did on a Wednesday evening. I kept stopping, the run felt terrible, I was tired, my stomach hurt… I walked inside, began my cool-down stretching on the floor, and wept. I felt complete and utter burnout from running. It was that day that I told myself I was going to quit running after this half-marathon. Up until the race, that’s the mindset I had, which ultimately made me feel pretty excited that this race was my last long run for a while.
Well, you may notice this blog post is coming out a day late. The half-marathon was yesterday, and today is Monday. I’m still tired. I’m pretty sore too, my hips are tight and I want to rest. Currently, it’s 76 degrees here in Indiana and I’m going to wait an hour or two before I do an incredibly light shakeout run to get my body moving for a bit. And as I’m sitting here in my town’s library writing this, I’m thinking and pondering what’s next. You see, I woke up this morning reflecting on yesterday. I had an amazing time before, during, and after the race. Such an amazing time in fact that I cried tears of joy throughout the entire day: before and after the race was over. I never understood how a sport could be emotional, let alone make me cry??? What? That is because I’ve never put in this kind of work before, and man oh man, what a true joy it has been to see all my hard work pay off.
Remember I mentioned my last half-marathon in 2019? Well, I ran a time of 2 hours 15 minutes, with an average pace of 10:19 per mile.
Yesterday, I ran my race in 1 hour 37 minutes, with an average pace of 7:27 per mile. That’s a 38-minute personal best.
I’m still emotional thinking about this level of growth. I poured my blood, sweat, and tears into this… literally. All those times I pushed myself, even when I didn’t want to, and persevered… they paid off. And I couldn’t be more proud of myself and the runner I’ve become.
I promise, I’m not trying to get attention or get people to tell me “good job”. It might seem like that, in fact, I totally see how it may seem like that. But I’m writing this and posting all over social media because I have never been more proud of myself in my entire life and it feels damn good that I’ve hit every goal I’ve ever dreamed of.
A while back I mentioned I was done running, that this was it. Well…
Surprise b*tch. I’m not going ANYWHERE. This is just the beginning.
I may take a few easy weeks, sure… but I’m sticking with running.
When will my next race be? What distance is it? What will training look like?
So many questions. For now, my answer is that I’m simply going to run for me. And whatever race I feel like running, I’ll do it. And I can’t wait to get started on my happy running journey.
I wanna sign up for another half in April OK BYEEEEEE.
One more thing: wanna see a super bad quality pic of me running? Here you go :)
Bruh why do they make the image quality SO BAD? They do it bc they want me to pay $30 for this pic. Smh.
