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August 28, 2005
1:00:23/177
This morning the conditions were comfortably cloudy and cool for almost the entire run. I decided at the outset to ignore my watch entirely and run according to how I felt for the 15 km de la Rosière.
Starting out, I got excited, went too quickly, and got out of rhythm. After maybe three kilometers however I felt okay. Running without looking at your watch is like waking up on a weekend morning where you have nothing planned, nothing hanging over your head. Highly recommended.
After about 5 km I was in rhythm and feeling okay. We passed some people camping who were either cooking or cleaning up. I couldn't tell which. At that point a guy a few steps ahead asked them jokingly whether this was the aid station. For some reason that struck me as funny enough to make me snicker. It was such a relief that I didn't have to take this seriously at all. I may have started to run a little harder at that point.
I started to make a game of catching up slowly with the next runner ahead of me. Luckily I'm slow enough that there's always somebody up there in front of me. It's embarrassing to pass someone, especially when they're looking at their watch a lot and you aren't. I know how they feel. When you're looking at your watch all the time during a hard run you're feeling late, worried you're not going to make it, wondering how long you can keep the pace. It's very serious.
The worst thing at that point is to have some idiot who's not taking it seriously go past you. I tried to be as unobtrusive as I could. Every time I got someone behind me it was a relief, and I could start working on the next person ahead.
Obviously I ran this too slowly to believe I can run a sub-3:00 marathon. McMillanRunning.com would predict 3:02:52 from a 1:00:23 15 km race. That doesn't matter. After today, I'm seriously thinking about running in Grenoble the same way I did today in Pontcharra. Just let the body figure out the pace and enjoy the run. Three hours is too long to feel under pressure, fat, and slow.
At the finish I had lots left. There was one guy about 50-75 m ahead when we came into the last 500 m. But he'd gone too fast and was starting to fade. I ran as hard as I could, sprinting the last 100 m. That surprised me. It was a real sprint. I caught the guy right at the finish line.
Posted by Mark at August 28, 2005 06:37 PM