Wifey sometimes says to me, exasperated, when we have a weighty matter on the table, "How can you not be thinking about _____?" My problem is that I can only hold one thing in my mind at a time, and even then, it's like grabbing a bar of soap in the bathtub. Her mind is usually abuzz with about 30 things that need thinking about, cross-referenced, indexed, and collated. Thank goodness for that, too, because one of us needs to be on the ball. I have a nearly supernatural ability to Not Think About Things. I can cast things out of my mind like nobody's business.
What were we talking about? See how I did that?
But the marathon keeps wanting to be thought about. It sneaks through the barriers like a puppy and demands attention. The marathon wants me to freak out. "Why aren't you crapping your pants with panic?" it says. "This is your first marathon, dumbass." And when this happens, I can almost feel my blood pressure rising a couple ticks as my anxiety rises to a simmer. That's when I start playing tricks on my mind. Just to piss off the marathon, I just assume it's a done deal, a run race, in the can, and I start thinking about what I'm going to do after the marathon. Some ideas:
- Speed work. I plan to make the two months between this marathon and my training for the Chicago marathon worthwhile; therefore, I plan to throw myself headlong into speed training. I want to make Chicago a devastating PR. I fantasize about it being my BQ moment.
- Barefoot running. I know. But I've been reading a lot about it, and it makes intuitive sense to me. Maybe I will ease into it by finding a good running sandal or thin-soled trainer like the Nike Free. Or moccasins. Something to keep the glass out of my feet.
- Running for time rather than distance. Sometime back, I ran only paying attention to minutes [even though I still tracked miles,] and it was kinda cool. I might go back to it. [George Sheehan recommended that in one of his books.] I figure I'll run 40 minutes during the week, and 60-90 minutes for my long run. Something like that.
- Run trails. Of all these ideas, I think this is one I will almost certainly do. I'll try to do this at least once a week over the summer.
Convincing myself that I've done everything I needed to do and starting to think about what I will do next helps to keep the worries at bay.
Being able to put things out of your mind is a man-trait. We all the ability to do that. You are a more experienced runner than me but I always say this to someone mentioning sppedwork....be careful! I did some track speedwork on a track last fall and still don't think my right hamstring is fully healed. It works different muscle and is known to cause injuries faster than anything else. You will rock that Marathon!!!
ReplyDeleteMen are blessed with the ability to think of only one thing at the time. As you say, women carry the burden of having their mind race on many unrelated things.
ReplyDeleteThe things to do list is awesome. I am kind of jealous at your being able to run trail every now and again. NL tracks are Flat and either concrete or gravel. Not a bit of forest to be found in the neighborhood.
I am sure you will rock the race. keep up the training and keep us posted.
I just think a KENTUCKY DERBY Marathon. How stinkin' cool. Do you then go watch the horses?
ReplyDeletePS: We women like to ask this: "You're tired? Well, let me tell you a story, and I won't get to the punchline for 30 minutes."
Love Jim Gaffigan. Classic.
Good luck at Marathon! BQ!!!