Race

Yesterday I ran from Morat to Fribourg in a race with 17,000 other people. One of them was wearing a 34kg suit of armour. Most were in shorts and t-shirts as you’d expect. The challenge for me, wasn’t to race. It was to run the distance, without exhausting myself, without pain, and without pushing myself to the limit.

This is a success because less than a year ago if I ran 200m my knees hurt, so gradually I built up my stamina, until I reached 5km and more with time. In so doing I gave my body time to adapt to the stress of running, reducing the likelihood of injury and more.

It is amusing that I would be nervous about a linear path that goes from A to B. I am nervous because I haven’t had the race experience yet, although in recent weeks I have experienced two triathlons, once walking, the second as a volunteer, and I experienced a crtiérium a week or so ago. In effect I’ve been in a race context multiple times in the last month.

What I haven’t experienced is a social run that is a race. I’ve done three or four Wake Up and Runs by now, so I am used to these. With the Wake Up and Run I ran solo in Nyon, and with someone else in Morges.

I would like swimming if I could go to a quiet pool on a day with a comfortable temperature. I like being in the water but I don’t like being in cold water, despite diving in Swiss lakes every weekend for around two years. I used a dry suit so once out of the water I was comfortable within minutes.

Not a Runner

I am okay with running a 5k, and even a 10k, although not regularly. I find running tiring. It’s easy to overheat if you run at the wrong time of day and it can impact on joints if you push too hard too fast.

Sometimes I stumble across documentaries that I feel excel in their genre. One such documentary is Earthrace: The Power Boat Race around the World. This is a one and a half hour documentary charting the fundraising, awareness building, race preparations and then the actual race, including logistics and more.

I like this documentary because the editing rhythm is in keeping with the story. The story is told in a logical and chronological order with no excessive editing, no breathless commentary, no excessive use of music. It is one and a half hours exploring the project from its start until its temporary conclusion.