So I was eavesdropping on the tube (I know, horrible horrible me, but at rush hour it is extremely close quarters so how can you not eavesdrop?) and I heard this middle-aged man talking about his upcoming 5k this weekend. He said he was going to try and do 15:30, which is what he did last year. Because with a new baby (he has five children apparantly) he hasn't gotten to train as much.
Now, WHAT?
It's just me and my husband and our dog, and I can barely make enough time to run.
Especially that fast!
My boss was telling a similar story at work. He is running a 10k this weekend. He is going to try and do around 34 minutes. He has been training, but not as hard as he would like to.
In the marathon book I am reading they were saying that marathons seem to be the popular thing to do now, and it is not uncommon for much slower runners to run them.
I thought they meant people like me, NOT people who do 7 minute miles the whole time. They are SERIOUS about running here. Even the "celebrities" who just ran the marathon for "fun" were coming in at 4 hours or less. That's why I was so wary when I came back and everyone kept asking me what my time was. NO ONE asks me that at home, except people who are close to me. They are all like "oh, it's so amazing you did a marathon". Here, they were all like "wow that's great you did a marathon. Oh well, you will get a better time next time." How demoralizing!!!
I like how in the states I am considered a runner because I RUN. I get off the couch and instead of watching TV all night, go out and run. Not because I qualified for Boston for the gazillionth time.
:)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
you should be still having your head up high that you finished the marathon. Look how many people was there and didn't finish. The flying pig was my first marathon this year also. It was the greatest thing i have ever been in. Have you ever done a triathlon. Those are alot of fun also, I have done two and going to do them again this year. good luck on your training.
I ran the Vienna, Austria marathon in 2002 (I studied abroad for a year in college) and noticed the same thing. The Europeans didn't seem to be running just to run, but to run WELL. I've run several in about the same time in the states (4:45ish), but was much further down in the finish order for Vienna. I certainly wasn't expecting such an obvious difference in the way running/marathoning was viewed. I say, if I'm running 26.2 miles, I can finish in any darn time I feel like!
Post a Comment