Run, Anna, Run!

After announcing that I was going to train for a half marathon this year, I've since signed up for not one, but two half marathons in the next few months.  Originally, I'd just planned to run the Rocky Mountain Half Marathon but then I saw the inaugural Millarville Run to the Farmers' Market Half Marathon and immediately signed up ... now that's my kind of run, running towards a delicious array of fresh local produce!  I have also signed up for a couple of 10km races, the first one being held this Sunday.

Great Wall Marathon 2009

Training is going pretty well and it is incredibly motivating to have an actual event to train for as opposed to simply training for health's sake.  The training for these half marathons is very different to the training I did for the Great Wall (half) Marathon I completed back in 2009.  For starters, Calgary is a very active city so it's not unusual to pass huge numbers of runners during a lunch time run.  Often, the river pathways are like highways, especially now that the weather has picked up.  It makes a refreshing change to be amongst other like minded people rather than in China where I was often stared at, followed or encouraged to accept rides from strange men on rusty scooters.  To many Chinese, it was simply incomprehensible why anyone would want to run when they could ride on a scooter!

Beautiful Hangzhou scenery during the 2009 Hangzhou Marathon (I just ran the 14km race)

The training is also different because of the nature of the events.  The GWM was a unique event in that the first 5km of the race were up a huge hill.  Once you reached the top, there was no breather because most of the rest of the race was actually on the wall, meaning a lot of mental concentration (and physical agility) went into the rough, uneven and undulating steps along the wall.  To train for this, I ran up and down the stairs in my apartment building.  I hardly did any 'long' runs, mainly because of the smog outside but also because I thought that I'd be okay in terms of endurance, it was just the steps and the hills that challenged me.  For both the Millarville and Rocky Mountain races, the terrain will be 21km of rolling hills, albeit at an altitude of between 1000 and 1500 metres above sea level.  To prepare for this, I am including one 'hills' session and one 'long' run in my weekly training.

The satisfied feeling of having a 'participation' medal around your neck after a 21km race!

My training is (rightly or wrongly) varying from how a 'real' runner might approach their preparation because I am reluctant to give up my strength workouts in the gym.  I love feeling fit and strong after a weights session, so am including two of these in my weekly training.  So far, it's been tough to fit it all in (I don't think I'd ever have the dedication to train for a full marathon) without neglecting the other priorities in my life.  But so far it's been fun and I can't wait to feel the sense of accomplishment when I cross the finish line of the upcoming spring/summer races.