The Struggle to Find a New ‘Why’
Searching for a reason to run after my half-marathon
I ran my first in-person half-marathon over a year ago. It sucked, or more honestly, it went worse than I expected. I thought I’d do better, but I was undertrained and ill-prepared.
Here’s where I struggled. The race was in Kingston, Ontario in the spring. Rainy, chilly Great Lake weather. I was hot then cold, jacket on and jacket off. Fifteen kilometers into the race, after running up and down, up and down, I felt like I was going to die. I had no energy left and quickly realized 21.1K is far, really far as I watched the parts of Kingston I’d known as a student turn into the parts of Kingston I’d only known were far away — like car distance away.
I know I didn’t get enough water, fuel, or sleep. For some reason, likely lack of experience, I didn’t consider the fact that prepping for a race out of town would require planning. I put zero effort into hydrating in the days leading up to the race. I had a gourmet waffle at 10 p.m. the night before, and a free breakfast sandwich at 7 a.m. the day of. It wasn’t enough. And I don’t remember sleeping all that well either.
Failing to complete the training plan also didn’t help. I knew this because I’d run the distance six months before with much more ease. I had trained for months…
