13.1 miles NOT Half

Half-marathon. The name frustrates me. That is a long way to race, but if you tell a non-runner, or sometimes even a runner, that you are competing in or just completed a "half-marathon" they wonder why you couldn't do the whole thing (meaning 26.2 miles). This is true even though most non-runners don't really know how long a marathon is. All they know is you could "only" run half!
I like the distance. You can race it and recover much more quickly than a marathon. A 13.1 mile race demands stamina, pacing, endurance. You don't really need to carbo load. If you tell a non-runner you raced 13.1 miles, they will be duly impressed, and well should be. Don't say you ran a half-marathon.
Is a 5k called 1/2 10k? No. So why is 13.1 miles called a half-marathon? It does the distance a disservice. I'm starting a movement and from hereafter will strike the term half-marathon from my vocabulary. Anyone want to join?

Comments

  1. AnonymousSeptember 6, 2007 at 12:57 PM

    I'm with you. I wish I'd thought of that. Megathon, Thirteen One, Mararace,Maxithon (sounds like a large type of underwear), 21K, Fleetathon, Longrunathon?

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousSeptember 7, 2007 at 6:34 AM

    21k, I like that. No one will know how far you really ran and it sounds much longer than 13.1 miles.
    Yes, 21k gets my vote. No more half marathon. (I know, it's really 21.1k, but 21k will do)
    So, anyone racing the 21k in Rochester this weekend?

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousSeptember 7, 2007 at 8:14 AM

    My wife and I are running the 21K in Rochester next week. I'm also running a 2 times half marathon in Scranton next month.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Motor Imagery

Image
In the book, " The body has a mind of its own " by Blakeslee, the authors state that, "While many types of mental practice are undoubtedly helpful, motor imagery is the only technique that alters your body maps in the same way physical practice does. Visual imagery (as from a spectator's point of view), relaxation, hypnosis, affirmation, prayer...may help you...but will not alter your motor maps." (page 60). Several experiments have been conducted that verify this information. A simple example is that if you imagine moving your little finger for ten minutes a day, after four weeks it will be up to 20% stronger. Motor imagery has been used by pianists, dancers and all types of athletes. It is not something that will help you overnight get better at swimming, running or biking, but over time, just like with physical exercise, it does promote stronger muscle memory and physical attributes.
Read more

Head Over Heels

Probably not the best way to ride a bike, looking at the pavement up close, arms stretched out, seeing the rear tire straight up in the air. Once Jan knew I was only bruised and my bike was okay, she had a nice laugh. Apparently I didn't look too graceful flipping up towards the handle bars, arms and legs spread out. Fortunately I was going very slowly making a turn when I hit a hole off the shoulder of the road. The result was just a leg bruise. Jan ran 11 miles and swam almost 2 miles on Saturday. On Sunday, a beautiful day for bike riding, we rode the 6 villages route . I went 76.5 miles, she completed her scheduled 80 miles by going around our block several times. The route is 66 miles, but we did an extra 10 miles around Churchville. Our overall mph time was pretty good, faster than the cutoff time for Ironman. The roads were in pretty good condition, not too much traffic except for .5 miles on rt. 31, and only a few barking dogs that scared the heck out of us, but didn't ...
Read more

Supportive Husband?

I'm having a difficult time drawing the line between "gentle" encouragement of Jan's Ironman endeavor and being thought of as an overbearing bully where whatever she does in training isn't enough. Yes, she has trained over 8 hours in the past six days. Yes, she will be doing some massive swimming, biking and running this weekend. But I still worry about whether it's enough to make the time limits at the Tupper Lake Tinman in three weeks and Louisville Ironman in twelve. So, I sometimes feel that if I'm not going to push her, who will? Yes, Jan is obviously self-motivated and highly competitive. But even the best athletes usually need an extra push now and then, don't they? I can't imagine being a real coach and a husband or wife of the athlete you are coaching. That seems like an absolute no win situation. Something would have to give in the relationship. It's one thing to coach, push an athlete to do an extra interval or two, have them get ups...
Read more