Another day. This is what they call writers block. Sitting down to a blank page and starting to write - regardless of whether I feel like there is anything to actually say.
Today is a Wednesday, which it is one week since I had my wisdom tooth extracted - a wonderful birthday present that I never knew I wanted. I can’t say that it has actually given me much in the way of problems. The pain has been very manageable, no infections, and it hasn’t even messed with my eating all that much.
However, there is certainly still pressure in my gum, which has made me very shy about continuing my usual exercise and training regime. No doubt, that isn’t helping with my current mood - and it’s also starting to make me a little nervous about the half marathon next month. I have no doubt that I’ll be able to get around - but as with all these things I’ve been attaching targets to the thing and been treating it as a thing to attack, rather than a thing to enjoy.
Last year, I came in a little over two hours, so I’ve been telling myself for almost a year that it would be good to get in next time under two hours. But two hours, requires a pace of 5:40/km and right now, I’m struggling to hold 6:00, and more like 6:30.
Which either means I need to suddenly do a lot more training, or I need to shift my goals towards to just enjoying the experience. I mean, the real reason I initially signed up at the start of the year was because I really appreciated last summer having some objective to aim for.
I really appreciate the half marathon as a distance. It’s just a little bit scary. And 20km is the sort of distance you can’t just turn up and fake your way through. In the spring, having done practically no cardio for the whole winter during the snow, I managed a 5k off the bat. Did it suck? Oh yes! Was the time good? Hell no. But within a couple of runs, I had the 5k back down under 30min. And with a 30min 5k, unlocking 10km again was pretty easy. Well I say pretty easy. I mean I had to turn up and do a couple of runs I really didn’t want to.
Maybe that’s the way to view it. I think the Montreal Marathon this year needs to be viewed as something that I turn up to. Who cares about the time, so long as I finish.
I’m telling myself that consistency is the name of the game. I like the idea of running a half at the end of each summer for as long as I can. And if, the intention is to keep turning up and run it every year, long after I become an old man, then I know there will be a point where every year is going to get slower and slower. But when I get to something obscene - like my 50th year of running the half - will anyone care if it takes 4, 5 or even 6 hours to finish?