Running with Eric

This coming weekend I will be participating in two significant races. On Saturday I will be participating in a Paddle Triathalon, followed by a Half-Marathon on Sunday. Between both races I will probably spend at least a combined four and a half hours on the courses.

I participated in the paddle triathlon last year (pictured above) and finished with a time of 2:41:22. I did pretty well in the run, a little below average on the bike, and rather slow on the kayak. While I was happy with the run, I hope to improve upon my times in the later two disciplines. My goal is to finish the run in 24:30, the bike in 1:22:00, and the kayaking 48:00. If I can reach these times, my finish would be four and a half minutes quicker.

For the half-marathon my goal is to finish in under two hours. This will be my third half-marathon, but (more importantly) it is the first time I have run two races in back-to-back days. I am also planning on trying something new in the race in staying with a pace group. My plan is to go out with the 1:50 group, and fall back if I need to. Having not done two races in a row before (even with a 5k) I am a bit unsure on how to rest and eat on the day between the races.

I ran 16 miles last Friday, so I feel good about the running portions of the events, but the biking and kayaking are going to be more challenging. I took a practice run in the kayak on Saturday afternoon and found the current to be fast and challenging. I am better prepared than last year, but still expect to be worn out by the time I am done paddling.

Later today I am running the Dirt Cheap Trail Race in what will be my first real race of 2015. Technically I have run two previous races early in the year, but this will be the first one without mounds of snow all over the trails.

Today’s race is on trails at Mendon Ponds park. I have run once before at this locations (show in the image above) at what I believe is tonight’s course in reverse. I ran that in 57:15, so assuming that the course is the same length my goal is to improve upon that time. Let’s see how it goes…

At the start of any race a common refrain among runners is “I just don’t want to finish last”. I understand this mindset. The idea that even if you are not close to winning, you just want to finish decently is an easy concept to get behind. Yet I do want to finish last.

I never have finished last in a race, but I have tremendous respect for those who do. Anyone who finishes last is clearly struggling to complete the race, yet manages to do so. Arguably you could say that the person in last place is pushing themselves closer to their limit than anyone else in the race.

Last year I completed my first triathlon. I finished towards the back of the pack. Yet I wasn’t disappointed with myself, but instead I was glad that I had finished my first triathlon. There were still another handful of individuals who struggled even more than I did in order to complete the course.

As much as I would like to improve upon the races that I have already proven as being able to complete, I also want to push myself farther and try to complete races that I don’t have any prior experience in. If I can barely complete a race to the point that I finish last than I can know that I am really pushing myself to my limits.

This isn’t saying that I am going to stop running in shorter races that I know I can complete, but that my training is going to focused on the events that take well over an hour to complete. While most people will focus on the word “last” here, I also want to point out the importance of the word “finish”. The goal is not to drop out of races, or to be unable to complete the course, but to cross the finish line having done something new.