Tag: race

Posted in Fitness

Coming to a Crossroad – Decision Time

Posted on by M Garcia

Every day we make hundreds of decisions. Some of the decisions we make unconsciously – turning on a light when we enter a room, sitting in our “usual” seat in a conference room or on the bus, drinking coffee in the morning. We do these things because we’ve always done them so these actions seem natural and not decision points. But they are decision points.

If there’s enough natural light coming in from the window, we don’t need to turn on a light but the amount of natural light coming in usually doesn’t register until we’ve taken that automatic action of turning on the light. We could choose to drink tea in the morning or water but we reach for coffee because that’s what we’ve always drank in the morning. We make these unconscious decisions throughout the day.

Then there are the conscious decisions we make – where to go to lunch, which emails to respond to, which task we tackle first. Which race to enter. Whether to enter a race.

I’m toying with the idea of entering a triathlon in December, which would give me just about 3 months to prepare for it. Did I mention that I’m running  a half-marathon in 3 weeks? And a marathon 2 weeks after that? And another half-marathon 4 weeks after that? And that I’m not really comfortable in the water?

That last one is why I’m only toying with the idea of entering the race. Although I took swim lessons as a child, a traumatic incident instilled a fear of deep water that I never faced until last year. I’m still not really comfortable in the water. It takes me several laps – with long pauses at the wall after each lap – to go from desperately swimming just to get to the other side to being comfortable enough to focus on improving my form or to work on a drill. You wouldn’t know it because I’ve picked up surfing and stand-up paddle-boarding in the meantime. I’ve even tried discovery SCUBA dives. But I’m not comfortable in the water.

So this is a crossroads for me. Do I go or do I stay? By “go” I mean enter the race and “stay” means spending more time preparing and getting comfortable in the water. Do I enter this reverse triathlon (run, bike, swim instead of swim, bike run)? Will I be ready to swim 150 meters? Or do I wait until 2012 to participate in a triathlon? Do I spend more time getting more comfortable in the water before entering a race that involves swimming?

This is not an easy decision. What do you think?

The thought processor churns on . . .

Posted in Running

With a Little Bit of Luck

Posted on by M Garcia

On 16 October 2011, the 8th running of the Nike Women’s Marathon will take place in San Francisco. Over the years, the Nike Women’s Marathon has exploded in popularity so much so that you can no longer simply register to participate in the event. Registration is via random draw only.

On 11 April, I received an email from the Nike Women’s Marathon announcing that registration for the random draw opened. Knowing how popular the event was and still feeling good from last fall’s half-marathons, I decided to register for the event. I chose the full marathon instead of the half-marathon primarily because I didn’t think my name would be drawn. If I had thought it through, I would have looked at my race schedule and noticed that I was already registered for the San Jose Rock-n-Roll Half-Marathon on 2 October 2011 and the Big Sur International Half-Marathon on 20 November. No one in their right mind would have put a full marathon in between those two half-marathons. Apparently I wasn’t in my right mind because I submitted my registration and then forgot all about it.

Tuesday the 26th of April was the day the Nike Women’s Marathon announced the winners of the random draw. I knew this not because it was marked on my calendar but because I saw some posts on Facebook from people who had registered and hadn’t been chosen. So I switched tabs to check my email and discovered an email from the Nike Women’s Marathon (NWM). I was in.

First excitement, then trepidation. Excitement because I was chosen. Trepidation because I truly believe that the half-marathon is my distance and I’m not convinced that I have the mental toughness to handle a full marathon. I know that physically I can finish the distance but my mental toughness is my challenge. Trepidation also because my fall race schedule already has two half-marathons, one two weeks before the NWM and one three weeks after the NWM.

The good news is that I have 5 months to work on both my mental toughness and my physical conditioning. It will definitely be an interesting journey.

Happy running!

Posted in Opinions and Thoughts, Running

To Cheer or Not to Cheer – There Is No Question

Posted on by M Garcia

When running on an out-and-back race course, unless you’re the Road Runner running from Wile E. Coyote or a Kenyan, you will meet the leader and the lead pack. Do you cheer for them? Or do you worry about conserving your energy, your breath, and your strength so do not cheer?

When I first started racing, I didn’t cheer. Part of me thought that they wouldn’t even hear me cheering either because they were in the zone or because they were going so fast that they wouldn’t be able to hear. The other part of me worried about conserving my energy, my breath, and my strength. I had such a hard time breathing that I honestly felt that yelling, “Way to go!” would make it impossible for me to finish.

Over time, I realized that cheering for the lead pack had no negative impact on my ability to finish the race or to set a PR. And I noticed that runners in the lead pack would smile when they heard someone cheer. That made me realize that these runners were just like me, that they appreciated encouragement especially as they were getting close to the finish of their race.

I started with baby steps, first just clapping for the lead pack and making eye contact and smiling. Eventually I was able to shout, “Way to go!” and “Woohoo!” and “Good job!” as the lead pack passed by me. And I always get extra noisy when the first woman makes her appearance along with the rest of the women in the women’s lead pack.

The Wahine Half Marathon last week was an out-and-back course and the slower runners did get an opportunity to see the lead pack. And despite being hot, discouraged, and tired (see my race report for the explanation), I cheered for the leaders. I clapped and yelled, hooted and hollered until the lead pack passed while I continued slogging away. The interesting thing is that I was the only one out of the other back-of-the-middle-of-the-packers who was cheering. I’m not exaggerating, either. It took some time before some other people started even clapping with me for the lead pack.

I do understand why other people weren’t cheering. It was hot. It was miserable. We were in a section of the course where there were no water stations. I’m sure we were all jealous of these women who were headed to the finish line where shade and refreshment were available. And I know that there were a lot of runners running their first half-marathon so they may have been unsure what the protocol was.

Here’s my advice – it’s always okay to cheer. Cheer for the lead pack when you see them. Clap if you can’t shout. Make eye contact and smile if you can’t clap. It will give the leaders a boost. But more importantly, it will make you feel good, too, because you will know that you’ve given someone else the encouragement they need to push to the finish. You’ll find that rather than detracting from your race, cheering for the leaders will put a spring in your step and give you a surge of adrenalin.

And when you’ve finished your race, go back to the finish line and cheer for some of the people finishing after you. That will really make you feel good.

Happy Running!