So it’s done.  I scheduled my first half marathon in roughly three months.  Hopefully that gives me time to continue my current training so that I’ll at least feel comfortable once I’m out there actually doing it.  After plenty of research, and the fact that I still need a few hundred SkyMiles so that I can retain my Silver Medallion Status through 2014, I have decided on Philadelphia in November.  It appears to be a very large and very friendly race, an historic course, and a diverse group of people of all backgrounds and fitness levels.  So that actually has me excited for it.  So within one massive sweep late last night after kickball, I booked the race, the flight and the hotel.  I’m set.  I hope I don’t regret this.  😉

Actually, I’m feeling pretty good about it.  I’m actually feeling so good about it (remember this will be my first), that I feel pretty lofty about my goals now.  I’m thinking if I train properly for the distance, my normal pace should carry me across within 3 hours.  Originally, my goal was to just finish and hopefully within 4 hours.  I based that on a worst case scenario, not being ready, or having some sort of injury or sickness and having to walk the entire length of the course.  I know that may not sound noble or maybe even admirable to some.  I’ve certainly come across my fair share of blogs and articles that downplay the role of slower runners and walkers and even go so far as to criticize them for crowding up the marathons in recent years.  I can certainly understand some of the gripe.  Slower runners should do everything they can to stay out of the way of faster runners.  They should start in appropriate corrals, or if there are none, they should start in the back of the pack just in front of the walkers.  They should not stop to rest of tie their shoes in front of other people.  They should not stop and block the water/aid stations.  I do get all that, I promise.  I try very hard to follow the etiquette of running, whether I’m running, jogging or walking.  But just like with everything else, it does go both ways.  Runners need to start in their appropriate corrals and not at the very back because they’re arriving late or prefer to start in the back so they can feel good about themselves while weaving around all of the slower runners just to later complain about the number of slower runners they had to weave around.  Slow runners and walkers make up a huge part of race event weekends now.  They attend the expos.  They buy the sweatshirts and caps and gadgets.  They bring in the money not only to the event itself but to the city that’s hosting it.  They’re the reason that faster runners have 50% more events to run in, because if you go back and do any bit of research, you’ll discover that the number of race events have easily doubled and maybe even tripled since the early 1980s.  What can I say.  The consensus is that it has become more popular.  The idea now is that you don’t have to be an Olympian to register for a marathon just to say you finished it.  You just have to decide you want to do it and then put forth the effort to actually do it.  Who cares about winning.  I’ll never win a race unless I’m the only contestant.  The best I can hope for is winning my age bracket if it’s a small enough race where enough people in my age bracket fail to attend.  I think that’s where some additional criticism comes in.  Some elitists believe that slower runners have “dumbed” down the sport, made it slower.  Luckily, this isn’t the consensus of the majority.  Most people would agree that we as a society need to get off the couch and move more, so for anybody to just run, walk or jog 13 or 26 miles just to finish is worthy of a little admiration and respect because at least they’re doing something.  I think people just have to have mutual respect.  Elite runners should respect the slow runners for being out there, trying to improve their overall health and supporting their events while slower runners need to respect that the elite runners still make up the “race” and that pushing yourself to the extreme and having fast times mean more to some than having fun.  There are plenty of events out there that still cater to only the faster elite runners or only to the slower runners/walkers who are looking for more fun, and it is our job to be aware of that before signing up for any given race.  Shame on the elite runners for signing up for a fun run expecting walkers to get out of their way as is equal shame on the slower runner for signing up for an event geared towards fast racers with a very short course cut off time and then failing to finish within that time and complain about it.  But I have been in enough events already to know that it’s easily possible to have both if it’s done correctly.  And luckily for us, most events are coordinated well just for that purpose.  So what I say is, come on back down to Earth with the rest of us humans and try to enjoy yourself without worrying about what the next person is doing.  Run for the prize money; run for the victory; run for a new PR; run for your health; run because a friend wants someone to run with; run to get your mind off of everyday troubles; run to remember; run for fun.  You pick your level and just enjoy it.  If you do that and can incorporate that same idea with other areas of everyday life, then you’ll find yourself happier for it and won’t feel the worries of regret.

Happy trails