Schedule goal: 30 minute run
Result: 36.37
Distance: 3.92 miles (9.20/mile)
Walking breaks: 0
I was supposed to meet up with a local running group for about a five-mile run this morning. The group meets at 5:30 am, which means I need to get up around 4:40 - I am certainly not a morning person, which means I require a little extra time to be sufficiently awake for running. I did wake up and get moving without much of a problem, but I still didn't get moving quickly enough. I pulled into the parking lot where the group meets at 5:33, and while the lot was full, the place was empty of early-morning risers wearing tech gear and iPods.
Disappointed as I was to not reach the starting point in time, I knew this was no excuse to not get today's run in the books. Since I had wasted a little bit of the morning driving to and from the running group's starting line, I figured I wouldn't have time for a five-miler, so I cut it short to just under four miles...which is actually a pretty happy medium. The training calendar I'm following is dedicated towards first-time marathoners, and it called for a 30-minute run today, so I knew that by committing to the running group, I'd be exceeding that time this morning (there's just no way I'm going to fit a five-mile run into thirty minutes...that would be insane!). Logging just under four-miles means I still exceed my 30-minute goal while running at a comfortable pace, but not the amount I would have if I had run with the group. Of course, my chance at redemption is just two days away - the same running group has a run planned for Thursday, and I'll be there.
I've accepted that getting up early is a necessary part of running, and while I don't enjoy the waking up part, the calmness I find on those early-morning jobs is an extra perk I didn't anticipate. And while I enjoyed running with the group last Thursday (and I'll certainly need to be used to running in a group to prepare for October's big run), there's something to be said for the quiet and calming nature of running solo. Aside from an occasional car driving by, neighbors dragging their garbage to the street on trash days, or wild animals running by (ranging from squirrels to deer), there's nothing on these early morning jogs to stop you from diving into your thoughts. And since I don't want to depend on music to keep me going during a run (headphones are forbidden in the Marine Corps Marathon for safety reasons, and while plenty of people skirt past this rule easily enough, I still would rather be able to take in the full experience of the event), I'm not running with my trusty iPod blasting classic rock and blues into my ears. The stillness of an early-morning solo run is refreshing and wholly different from running pre-dawn with a group - it's easy to get distracted by other runners while on a run together, and the close quarters typically leads to conversation - and it can be a welcome change when you're surrounded by people the rest of day. In other words, sometimes it's just a relief to escape once in a while.
In other news...I signed up a new race today. I'll be running in a half marathon the first weekend in October as a part of the Roots N Blues N BBQ festival. I've heard great things about the event, and while I love the blues and I love BBQ, I've never been to this event. There will be some serious blues musicians performing, and I'm really excited about the chance to see Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi.
Concerning the run itself, the training calendar calls for a 26-mile run that weekend...sort of a final long-run-tuneup before the Marathon at the end of October. Which means that when I run the half marathon at the festival, I'll run the 13.1 mile loop...then do it again. I have no idea why two 13-mile loops sounds more intimidating than one 26-mile run, but it does...but I'm sure this isn't the first time I'll be intimidated by running great distances. There's no turning back now, so I might as well just enjoy it.
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