More prepared for the reward than the race

How’s this for getting things done: A 6 km run before 5:30 a.m., flights booked for Europe before 6:30 a.m. and off to work before 7:30 a.m.

Now that’s what I call a productive morning!

When the alarm went off this morning I thought it was Sunday and that it was 6:15 a.m., the regular get-up time for Sunday’s long slow distance run, which is probably the only thing that actually got me out of bed. But when I realized that it was Tuesday, and it was actually 4:30 a.m., I stood blankly beside the bed for what seemed like 10 minutes, but was probably only 30 seconds, before grumbling to Mario that maybe I shouldn’t go for a run, maybe I should just climb back into bed. But apparently that 30 seconds was enough for Mario to get out of bed, which meant there was no going back to bed for me.

But ohhhhhh how the tides have turned. Not so long ago, just a couple of weeks in fact, it was Mario setting the alarm for the unearthly hours of 3:30 a.m. 4:30 a.m. and 5 a.m. to catch live coverage of the Tour de France. And it was actually in those three weeks that I started getting up beyond early to run my Tuesday tempo runs, so really he’s to blame for me getting up so early on Tuesdays. And yet, now that the Tour is over, it’s as though I’m jabbing a dagger into his heart, or prying his eyes open with sticks, he moans and groans so when I tell him how early I need to get up. Payback baby 😉

Shorter days are fast approaching, which means the sun goes down sooner and that it takes its sweet ol’ time waking up again, and 4:30 a.m. two weeks ago was a lot less scary than 4:30 a.m. today. Yes, it was still “dark” two weeks ago, but it wasn’t black dark like it was this morning. It was so dark that I actually had to pull out my high-voltage running light to be able to see my surroundings. And because I can sometimes unnecessarily freak myself out (I was so the kid who was petrified of going into the basement when night fell) I kind of, sort of, maybe jumped at the first sight of my shadow!

When she creeps on you, she can be spooky, really she can!

TODAY’S RUN:

  • 4:30 a.m. BG before: 8.5 (mini pancake with 1/4 tsp. syrup, no bolus)
  • Temp. basal -50 per cent
  • Distance: 6.01 km (tempo)
  • Average pace: 6:23 min/km
  • Time: 38:21
  • 5:30 a.m. BG after: 11.1 (BG correction 1.60 units)

I purposely pushed myself today, partly because I was freaked out of the potential for boogie mans and womans in the bushes, and partly because I’ve been wondering if I can actually get my pace down to a 5:50 race pace, which is required of me to complete the marathon in 4 hours and 15 minutes. I’ve done a better pace than that for a half marathon, but for some reason, I’m concerned as to whether I’ll be able to do it for a full marathon, given that on the Sunday runs, which are a “slow” distance run, my legs have been getting somewhat fatigued by the end. And it doesn’t matter how many times the experienced marathoners tell me that that’s normal, until I actually do it, I’ll probably continue to worry about it.

What sort of things do you worry about when preparing for a race?

Oh, oh, oh, the Europe trip: As a post marathon reward, and in keeping to the trend of our European travels every year and a half, Mario and I have decided to go to Paris, Belgium and Berlin three days following the marathon. And while I was on my run, Mario was negotiating our flights through Airmiles (we got one flight for free – yay!) which took like an hour and a half before we had our seats secured on a KLM flight. I was a little disappointed that we couldn’t get on a Lufthansa flight, as I was really looking forward to making multiple trips to the washroom, right near where the box of individual-sized Ritter Sport chocolates is stored, and stuffing my pockets and purse and any other hideaway spot I might have on my body full of chocolates  … can you tell I’ve flown Lufthansa before 😀 But all is not lost, according to the KLM website, they serve Belgian ice cream – yum!

And with this trip, in just three years, Mario and I will have toured five European countries together – trés cool!

2 thoughts on “More prepared for the reward than the race”

  1. This time last year I gave up my early morning runs. I got freaked out one morning by a walker who instead of just rounding the corner and continuing on his way..he crossed the road so I would have to run right by him. I of course crossed the road and it wasn’t until after I passed him and looked back did I realize it was a much older gentleman. Still enough to scare me and stop my morning runs.

    This year when I have done my morning runs I have done them later and have had to email a friend at work when I get back to my house so she knows I made it through my run safetly. Sometimes it sucks to be a woman.

    Good on you for still getting out there.

  2. robert Freeman

    Tres cool, indeed, my friend. The world is your oyster. Keep on truckin’ or bikin’ or runnin’ in one country after another 🙂 And it’s a wise child who keeps an eye out for them “boogie mans and womans” in the bushes 🙂

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