It's no secret that I'm a not much of a runner. I enjoyed cross-country and trail running in high school, but those days of frolicking in the woods are far far behind me. It's not that I don't enjoy a good frolic, but I live in Beijing, which isn't exactly a lush forest, and I've since lost that naive gaiety in favor of bourbon and a surlier disposition.
So you'd be forgiven if you thought I would never register for a running race, particularly of the 21km variety. But register for the Beijing Half Marathon I did. Well, the good folks at the office did that for me. All I did was say "sure, why not?" to the event months ago and promptly forgot about the entire thing. A week and a half before the run, I was back in DC, getting my ass kicked in a singlespeed cyclocross race and drinking plenty of delicious bourbon. It was there when it suddenly clicked that I was supposed to do some kind of running event that month (the exact date had unsurprisingly alluded me). Also through my immense powers of deduction, I came to the conclusion that I would need a pair of running shoes. Yes, folks. This Idiot didn't even own a pair of running shoes prior to a week and a half before the marathon. In fact, I hadn't done a serious run or even a light jog since 2006. Instead of buying a reasonable pair of shoes, with cushioning, an insole, and laces, I rode the Fad Wagon to the running store and picked out a pair Vibram FiveFinger KSO's, which are basically 2mm thick rubber soles that you velcro to your feet.
Training? What training? How much can you actually do the week before a run like this? Of course, I did do a quick 50minute run two days before the half-marathon to break in my new kicks. Of course, I went out too hard and too fast. And of course, I got blisters on my feet and was incredibly sore the day before the race. Smart, right?
So the day of the race, I put a dab of chamois cream on my feet cut down on some of the chafing (it didn't help) and headed out the door. Starting any event from Tiananmen Square is pretty epic, even if it is a stupid foot race. Blue skies, cool temps, and clean air made it a perfect day for a run (or so someone had told me a the start). We ran in front of the Forbidden City and then 2hr05min later I was done. During my run, I made the following observations:
- Running for 2hours without a running buddy, forest trail, or even an iPod is really really boring. I can ride a bike all day by myself and would be more than content. In the city, running is probably the slowest way to see a repetitive collection of nearly identical streets and highway overpasses. There was almost no change in scenery, running surface, or elevation. If I could've take a nap while I ran I totally would have.
- One of the reasons I couldn't have taken a nap is that asphalt is apparently a pretty hard surface. It's been a while since I've crashed on the road (*knock on wood*) and even longer since any outing on asphalt didn't involve a minimum of 25c of tire between me and the blacktop. Me and asphalt were reunited by my barefoot-style foot gloves and in those 2hours we spent a lot of quality time together. I actually really like the FiveFingers and the fact that I came off that run with nothing more than a few blisters and muscle soreness is pretty much a damn miracle in my book. That said, I still wish I had spent more time gradually getting to know my new shoes as opposed to yesterday's hot and heavy introduction.
- I got beat by a lot of people. At the start I felt pretty decent for someone that's shut running out of his life for 5years. With the huge number of registrants, the first couple kms were a huge sort-out. Tons of people were bouncing off each other and weaving through the crowd. The chaos finally settled and a rhythm found its way into my legs. If I were to guess, I'd say I maintained a pretty steady pace for the first dozen kms. At that point, either boredom, lack of training, or both kicked in and I saw myself slowing down a bit. It was only for a moment and I wasn't walking, but this was the first time where I caught myself thinking about how badly I suck at running. I shook it off after a few hundred meters and kept on truckin'. Another drop in pace came about 5km later and in similar fashion, I tried to shake it off but couldn't pick the pace back up to where it was when I started. Lead feet. Fine, I thought, I'll just keep running at whatever speed my legs will let me as long as I wasn't speedwalking or trotting. I kept it up until the last 1.5km, where I have no idea what I was doing, but it wasn't running. Stumbling like a drunk hobo maybe, but definitely not running. Each time my pace dipped or dropped, I was passed by a variety of different folks. Someone will have to tell me if the following are considered the norm for marathon-type people, but at no point was I not constantly passing or being passed by:
- Someone wearing gungfu shoes
- Someone with external speakers playing Chinese opera, easy listening, or folk music
- A kid
- An octogenarian
- Someone grunting, spitting or publicly relieving themselves
All in all, I'm glad I did it, though having half-assed my way through a half marathon I can't honestly count this as an "accomplishment". I have a feeling that running will be an unlikely ally in the battle against urban sedentary life since riding in the city is deadly and getting out of the city by bike or otherwise is unpredictable and time consuming. As much as I hate to admit it, running seems to fill a void in my traditionally cycling-exclusive routine. A morning mid-week run or two will help clear the mind, work the legs a bit, and keep the flab to a minimum. Eventually I'll try to actually train for a distance run. The Great Wall Marathon looks particularly fun/menacing, so maybe I'll do that one of these days. The following weeks will see how far I'll take these intentions, but in the meantime my dumbass needs to let the legs and a few blisters recover a bit.
2 comments:
Sounds like someone needs one of those 13.1 stickers for the back of his car.
It's 21.1km in China. And no.
Post a Comment