Run Long

    Counting down to the next Big One. In just over two weeks I will run my first marathon. I know I have not properly trained to run 26+ miles, instead I have trained to cover 70.3 miles, only 13.2 of which are running. A Half-Ironman was my ultimate goal, and I grabbed that gold ring. A marathon will be a triumph, but I don't see it in quite the same light. Running has been my Achilles's Heel from the very beginning of my triathlon journey. My joints just don't allow me to run the mileage that most long course, and endurance athletes run. I have trained hard, substituting strength training, plyometrics, and crazy amounts of cycling for some of the miles I wish I could have been running. I am pretty sure that it has been my lack of running miles that contributed to the nearly debilitating leg cramps I experienced for a goodly portion of the half-marathon leg of my long course tri. And now, I am a few weeks out from attempting to run twice that distance. Am I insane? Well, yes, I do seem to be a bit of a lunatic. I am salving my nerves with the knowledge that The Portland Marathon will very likely be the flattest course I have run in the last 12 months, except for my Olympic Tri in August. All of my long running events have been at the least quite hilly, at worst they were brutally steep. The running leg of my long course tri was very hilly, with almost zero level ground. I know that it is too late in the game to do anything about my base level of running fitness, that it why I am fretting. I remind myself that the last half marathon I ran was literally right on the heels of a 1.2 mile swim, and a 56 mile bike ride, so it is not exactly comparing apples to apples. And my last running only event was the Hagg Lake Half, which had some very steep hills. I think the wisest thing for me to do at this point is exactly what I have been doing: cycling, some running, plyometrics, core strengthening, strength training, and plenty of stretching. I have run several long events with no ill effects, this should be no different. It is just that after suffering through miles of such agonizing cramps I am feeling just a tad flinchy. I would really rather not go through that again. Ever. Ever. I know I will run at my penguin pace, just aiming to finish in decent time, and with little or no walking. That is my goal. Yes, this is gonna hurt. But pain is temporary, triumph is everlasting.