In my head, I have these silly physical standards for myself. Many people do a triathlon without actually knowing how to swim. They float, do the back stroke, or doggy paddle their way to the finish line. I couldn’t do that. For me to participate in a triathlon and have it count as an accomplishment, I had to actually put my face in the water and swim. Thus, it took me several years to learn to swim and reach my triathlon goal.
Last year, I ran my first marathon, but for some reason in my illogical thinking, I cannot consider myself a marathon runner. That can only be an achievement when I have run at least two marathons. And so the training for my next race has begun.
Earlier this week, on a nice sunny day, I did a 16 mile training run. I am slow but consistent, and so it took me about 3 hours to finish. Usually I wear a visor to protect my face from the sun, but because of the wind chill, I sported a headband to cover my ears. I am not sure if that is where I went wrong, or if not applying sunscreen was my mistake, but at the end of my run I was sporting a ridiculous tan line.
So my marathon training tip for the day is a) apply sunscreen, b) wear your headband equal to your hairline, or c) consider yourself a marathon runner after just one race.