Sunday, September 23, 2012

Compared to my friends, my training is easy!

Today's run (street): 4.2

My friend and colleague KWL completed his first Olympic length triathlon this morning. This event is comprised of three segments: a .9 mile ocean swim, a 24 mile bike ride and a 10K distance run. He's been training with a team for this event as part of our company's wellness program. The commitment to this triathlon was fairly extreme, with coach-led training sessions three or more times a week. I'm sure all that work will pay off for those participants who followed that rigorous program.

As I went out on my run today, I thought about other friends who are training for the NYC Marathon in November. This is the weekend that most of them are doing their 18 to 22 mile long runs. I wondered how they manage to fit in all the training miles that they need run every week. Even training for the half marathon required that I step up my mileage 20% for the eight weeks preceding the race. That was hard enough, I can't imagine what it would be like to train for double that distance.

My cold has stuck around and I'm also dealing with a mild cough but I felt fine on the road this morning. The temperature was in the low 60's with no noticeable humidity, a great combination. Though I felt a little stiff at the start, I got up to speed fairly quickly and followed a new route, just for a change of scenery. It wasn't lost on me that I'd be done after 4 miles, while my friends would just be warming up for the distances they would travel.

I admire anyone that takes on the challenge of triathlon or a marathon. I love my workouts and my competitions, but I'm not looking to move up into the ranks of Olympic-length triathletes and marathon racers. I hope everyone comes through their long runs today satisfied with their results. I was certainly happy to cover my 10 this weekend.

2 comments:

  1. I had a friend who had his 20 mile training run this weekend run the 6th leg of the Ocean to Sound relay with us and then keep going with the 7th and 8th runners with a few turn arounds to add the last 1.5 miles :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. That's the way to do it! How was the Ocean to Sound? It's on my list of races that I'd like to do some day.

    ReplyDelete

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