Three Way News: 6 point 2 miles

Sunday, June 26, 2005

6 point 2 miles

In just over a week, I'm running my first 10k race. Please pray for cool weather and a flat course.

I've run for years, off and on, but have never gone 6 miles at a race pace. Not with people watching.

The race, itself, I suspect, will be a breeze. Provided I don't run the first 2 miles in 14:00 minutes, heave in mile 3, and start crawling in mile 4.

It's the training that's hard. I'm not going to win the race and, unless I convince everyone that I'm 85 (or 11), I'm not going to win my age group. So there's not even much of a reason to train hard. Yet I do. I train as hard as my broken down body will let me -- I've got three variations of runner's knee in each leg, which does make me the world's largest insect. So I've got that going for me, which is nice.

I'm running with older brother Gambly, younger brother Churchy, and Churchy's wife. I will probably finish well ahead of Gambly and Churchy's wife and well behind Churchy, so there's very little competition even on that scale. And yet I lurch around the living room three nights a week with frozen peas strapped around my knees.

It ain't a pretty sight.

In the end, it's just me running against my expectations. This is -- and you're welcome to take this as an apology for everything preceding -- the interesting part. When I just want to quit, I can either self-talk up or down. I can say to myself "You're running smooth, your legs are strong, you're doing well". Or, I can say to myself "You pussy. Just quit."

It's the denigration that works. It's proving myself wrong that gets me through mile 3 and into mile 4. (Mile 4 is easy, just hold on for 8 minutes to mile 5. Mile 5 is the easiest. Run like hell and focus on keeping your gorge down. If I trip, it'll be in mile 5.)

Is it a happier life to be able to respond to encouragement? Spite keeps me going, but I'm not sure it's all that rewarding in the end.

5 Comments:

Good luck. 10K is a tough distance. My long-term goal is to run a 10K in minutes=age. I'll have to get a LOT faster or a LOT older to reach that one. I've been running road races for about four years, and just last week ran my slowest 10K ever. Five weeks of sinus infection had my training down to almost nothing, and the hot, humid, windy race conditions didn't help.

About the knees -- leg lifts with toes pointed outward can do wonders. You might need different shoes, too, or even orthotics. A friend of mine swears by glucosamine/chondroitin, but I say go natural if you can.

Let us know how it goes.

By Joseph Thvedt, at 12:01 PM

Thanks for the tips. I've got two structural problems with my knees. I've got very thin cartilege on both sides, so just regular running leaves me sore in a hurry. I've also got patellafemoral syndrome, which is manageable so long as I stretch well before and after.

In addition to that, and what feels quite different to me, is tendinitis in both knees. If I do leg presses at heavy resistance it feels like I'm about to tear my patella tendon. Same thing with leg extensions, but not as bad. I'll try to rotate my feet, see if I can take some pressure off. But for now I'm done strength training until after the 4th.

By Hammer, at 2:56 PM

Fortunately, my older brother is plenty goofy and I hope to beat him by 10 minutes.

By Hammer, at 8:01 AM

"Fortunately, my older brother is plenty goofy and I hope to beat him by 10 minutes."

Well there you go!

cp

By Anonymous, at 8:08 AM

Good luck, Hammer. I know you will do well.

For a brief (very brief) moment, I thought this was a Jambo post. Ha ha ha ha!!!

By Anonymous, at 10:24 AM

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Sunday, June 26, 2005

6 point 2 miles

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