It would have been nice (considering the seriousness with which I took this morning’s half-marathon) if I had the opportunity to run 13.1 miles on good rest. Alas, this was not the case. I received only 3 hours of sleep last night, and when my alarm sounded at 6am I was finally starting to drift off into a peaceful, unconscious state. Perhaps my anger over not getting a full night’s sleep held over, because when I started to run I couldn’t find a comfortable pace. I was pushing hard, and after mile 4 I started to feel the beginning tinges of knee/ankle pain. When I got to 6.5 miles I checked my pace. Exactly one hour. If I was going to finish in under two hours (that was the goal I set for myself) not only was I going to have to keep my pace up, I was going to have to increase my pace in order to compensate for the uphill stretches that I’d hit between miles 9 and 11. So how did I amp myself up enough to hit my stride at a faster pace? Pinkerton.
Pinkerton? Yeah, I know. I haven’t listened to that album in years. But it’s on my iPod and I thought maybe listening to an album I knew in its entirety might a) keep me from continuously checking my phone and b) provide a little rush (don’t laugh, nostalgia plus mostly straight-forward, uptempo rock songs equals speed!). The next time I checked my phone I was at mile 11 and I had exactly 18 minutes to go. I was going to have to pick up the pace even more. Knees starting to throb, legs feeling slightly wobbly, I somehow found the strength to kick my body into another gear, and for the next 2.1 miles I ran as hard as I could.
Did I finish in under two hours? Yes. How close did I come to NOT finishing in under two hours? 13 seconds. My final time for the 13.1 mile half-marathon was 1 hour, 59 minutes, 48 seconds. Fucking insane, right? But at least I finished. As I walked a mile to cool down, my first thought was, “Can you imagine doing that whole thing again right now? Because that’s what a full marathon is. That’s what I’ll be doing in ten weeks.
RULES for uninitiated noobs: I give birth to a weekly Mix Tape to be deposited on your iPods or Zunes or Kingklangs or whatever the industry is currently pushing on you. Sometimes there will be themes that link all the songs together, other times I’ll just throw songs at a wall (not literally) and see what sticks. This week’s featured artist(s): Rapoon. The goal of this endeavor, as always, is to pique your interest in these artists so you’ll support the artists and buy their albums.
Sunday Mix Tape – Number 229
We Gotta Fight
01. Wooden Shjips – Black Smoke Rise
02. The Besnardlakes = Thomasina
03. Slim Charles – If It’s A Lie, Then We Fight On That Lie.
04. Manorexia – Anabiosis
05. Rapoon – Hollow Flight
06. Julian Cope – The Mystery Trend
07. Zelienople – More Than That
08. White Rainbow – Golden Gilded Ladies
09. CharlieSteinmann – It Is Such A Good Night
10. Rapoon – Arguing The Theological Toss
11. The Wind-Up Bird – Monster
12. The The – The Lust For Unsung Dreams
13. Matthew Florianz – Koude Handen
14. Mick Harvey – Out Of Time Man
15. Rapoon – Descent
