A half-what?!
The following is the first in a series of posts that chronicle Kyle’s training for the Raleigh Rocks Half Marathon in Raleigh, NC. Will he stick with it? Will he fail miserably for the amusement of all who read? Will he jump on stage and smash a guitar, eight miles into the race and be arrested? Will he leave it all-including his breakfast-out on the beautiful streets of downtown Raleigh and finish? Read on to find out.
I received an auspicious email from my brother two weeks ago. An email that would unwittingly send the beginning of this year on a turn for the better. The subject line: “You know you want to.” I wasn’t sure if I did.
Now I know my brother well enough to know that this sort of subject line could mean a number of things. Very possibly just another work forward. Almost certainly something you’d never want to do. Strong chance of some sort of practical joke. But the odds-on favorite: an itinerary of what we’d inevitably be doing this weekend.
I pulled up the email. Nailed it. In some strange way it was all of the above.
He began, “I probably already know the answer to this, BUT…” A stunning endorsement of his confidence in me, and a cliffhanger intro at that. Good sell so far. He continued, “Jess and I (and Jordan and a bunch of Jess’ friends) are doing a half-marathon on March 27th.” A half-what?!
I quickly poured over the possible replies to this email. The clock was ticking, and I knew he was waiting for a response.
There was that knee issue I’d been having. Ever since I’d played ping-pong (yep, ping-pong) at my buddy’s new place about a month earlier my knee just hadn’t felt right. He had an unfinished bonus room upstairs and figured that it was an ideal place for a ping-pong table. I would have agreed until I saw it. The problem with an unfinished bonus room is that there aren’t any walls-just studs-and just insulation and rafters beyond that. In ping-pong terms that means about equal time spent volleying, and twisting through rafters to retrieve the balls that pass through the imaginary walls. Anyway, my knee got twisted up and provided me with a convenient out. Those ping-pong injuries will get you.
I didn’t just want to dip out on the idea though. I’d said for a long time that I wanted-ok maybe I needed to get in shape. I put on a few pounds and I was, well, totally out of shape. I’ve never been a New Year’s resolution guy. I think most people are only kidding themselves.
The kids! Yes, the kids. It would be a logistical nightmare to plan all of that running around taking care of the kids, right? Man, it just seems like this is going to be difficult to work into my incredibly hectic schedule. Modern Family is on tonight, right?
I thought about my recent workout history…Still thinking. I had ridden the exercise bike about four times since we’d gotten it a couple years ago. Ok, three times. I did the “Tour de Franzia” a couple times in college. You know, where you line up all the different kinds of Franzia boxed wine and the tour isn’t over until they’re all gone. Does that count? Depending on the amount of people involved it can be a real test of endurance.
I tossed the idea back and forth in my head like a knee-twisting ping-pong match. The kind that leaves you limping and ashamed that you were so out of shape that you hurt yourself playing ping-pong. I needed to get in shape.
It was settled, I would give it a try. But a half…gulp…marathon? God help me.
Oh, what’s this? An attachment. “Training for your first half.doc.” I opened it up. My heart sank.
The regiment goes something like this: Twelve weeks of training. You run on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Distances start at 3mi. on Mon, 2mi. on Wed, 3mi. on Thurs, and 4mi. on Sat-gradually working its way up to 5mi., 3mi., 5mi, and 10mi. respectively in the 12th week. I think I just got a cramp.
I swallowed hard and hit the reply button. “Let’s give it a try,” I wrote. Wise. Leave yourself an out. Remember, you said ‘try.’ That doesn’t mean ’sign me up for the half-marathon’ just yet. “If nothing else it will get me running again, but I have to admit this is totally intimidating.” I wasn’t kidding. I felt like I was about to fight Kimbo Slice on the internet.
Check back soon for more installments of Kyle’s illustrious half-marathon training. Assuming he does not hyperventilate and die mid-training, this series will monitor Kyle’s torturous journey right up to the Raleigh Rocks Half Marathon on March 27, 2010. Stay tuned.
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