May 11, 2010

Here We Go ... Again

I'm staring another Ogden Half Marathon in the face. I know because the frequency of runners on the streets and sidewalks the last two weeks tells me so. I see them when I am going to the pool at 5:30am and when I'm driving to work.

I'm ready as I'm gonna be to go out and enjoy myself on Saturday for about 100 minutes. I'm confident that I have trained to run a good race, in a reasonable time, without spending any time in the pain cave. I have to wonder when I see most of these folks, just how many of them have actually trained or if they are trying to cram their training into a couple of weeks like they would for a final exam in school. Because you can't do it like that. Physical adaptations aren't absorbed like learning from a book. If you don't have it by two weeks out, you aren't going to have it.

Not that I have "it," mind you. Sure I've been training, and tapering. I think I've put in more quality running miles in 2010 than I ever have during training for a half marathon. I still ain't going to win. I'll be lucky to finish in the top 50 in my age group. But I am confident that I can run a respectable time without feeling like I've been plowed by a bus afterward. And, if you have read some of my earlier posts this year, you'll know that is the new goal. Compete, have fun, don't feel like, or have, a baboon's ass afterward.

Unlike those poor bastards I see every year that have waited until it's too late to train.

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