Do the Opposite #34 - First Half-Marathon Experience, Where to Find Time, Escape From Social Networks
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My First Half-Marathon Experience
Yesterday I ran a half-marathon for the first time in my life. It was quite an experience — feels like I've lived a little life within these 2 hours, full of ups and downs, and experienced every emotion on the spectrum. I participated in the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon event, which was held for the 30th time this year here in Toronto, with more than 25,000 participants. It is indeed, a LOT of people — there wasn't a moment I had more than 2-3 meters of the road in front of me free of other runners; most of the time they were around me in all directions, about a meter away (or often less).
That's me on the photo, before the race. There are so many people that the event uses "Start Corrals": cohorts of different colors that separate people into different groups, where each starts separately at a different time, based on the estimation of the time it takes them to finish the race. I thought I would be in 2:00-2:14 so that placed me into a green corral.
It was supposed to be a normal race for me, no surprises, but the Universe had other plans :) I should preface the following by saying that half-marathon is 21.1 kilometres.
I ran the first 10K with no issues, slowly passing runners whenever I could but keeping a conservative pace that I knew I could sustain for the whole run if needed. At 10K I stopped to drink some water and briefly walk (around 50 meters), then started again. I follow the Run-Walk-Run method, which means every now and then I switch from running to walking for a bit (it's always planned, not whenever I feel like it :) and then after about 100 meters, which I measure by my watch, I get back to running. My first stop was at 10K and the second I've planned to have at 15K.
Approaching 15K, I felt good, maintained a steady rhythm and enjoyed the run. Reaching 15K mark I've switched to walking, grabbed some water and an energy gel, and was about to get going. I had about 6 kilometres left to run, and thought I would slow to walking one more time, after 3 kilometres and then will run the remaining 3K to finish. I've tried to start running again after my walk, but a tendon in my left leg, to the left of my knee started cramping, and I experienced some pain (not too bad but a good amount) on each step. I was shocked: I was just running normally, didn't have any injury or anything while running, "I just can't start running again for some reason!". I tried running a couple of steps, only to find myself limping lie crazy — I tried to fight through the pain and run but I couldn't make my left leg run normally without the limp. I thought, OK, let's walk a bit.
So I've started walking, already growing worried. I knew it wasn't something catastrophic long-term, and I knew it would not affect my running in the future, but today and right now, it was killing my chances of finishing the race proudly (or should I say with whatever remained of my pride). I tried to start running 3-4 more times (after some stretching by the side of the road), only to find the same result. I called my wife telling her the situation and that I would be walking the rest of the race — so she wouldn't worry about me if I didn't show up on time at the finish line.
I was devastated — this whole summer and up until yesterday I was training for this event. (not necessarily just for the event, but it was supposed to be the race I would be most proud of finishing this year so all the training was measured against the goal of 21.1K) I walked for about a kilometre or more, thinking various thoughts (and calming down a bit), determined to finish the race no matter what condition I am in (Thanks to David Goggins for this determination and for getting me to start running seriously).
Then I saw this old lady, running almost on the curb of the street, veeery very slowly, almost shuffling her feet against the road and I had an idea I wanted to try. I started to shuffle in the very same way the old lady did, and was happy to see that my leg stopped limping, or at least it didn't have to limp in this new "old lady" running style of mine. Then I slowly accelerated until I hit about 70% of my regular speed. When I say slowly accelerated, I mean it. It took about 1km or 1.5km to reach that speed. After I succeeded in that, I knew I couldn't stop running and slow to a walk again until I reached the finish line. So I kept pushing forward until I reached it.
All in all, it was a great experience, but there was a real moment there when I thought of leaving the track completely and getting a DNF ("Did Not Finish") or just simply walking the whole race. I am glad I was able to continue the race. I am now recovering and the leg is good. I think I need to train more the next time and also I need to get better at stretching. These are some of my takeaways :)
I am looking forward to running a marathon next year, and will definitely keep you updated on my running exploits :)
Marathon Signs Culture
The best part of the race, and the most motivating, were the signs/posters that the supporters brought. Nothing relieves pain of the run as a dose of humour, and that's what these signs had plenty of. I tried to remember as many signs as I could to share here. They were brilliant and they definitely helped the runners persevere.
Some signs I saw:
"Pain is temporary. Instagram photos are forever."
"Worst parade ever!"
"Chafing the dream" (my personal favourite)
"I just farted. Quickly run away!"
"Smile if you're running commando"
"It's a trap! Turn back!" (this was about 200 meters before the finish line :)
Articles
1) "The Lines of Code That Changed Everything: Apollo 11, the JPEG, the first pop-up ad, and 33 other bits of software that have transformed our world."
This is an amazing collection of tiny stories which show how code has been responsible for the shifts and turns in recent human history, ranging from politics to culture and behaviour. What's cool is that they provide both good illustrations and samples of actual code, for example you will see code from Apollo 11 mission as well as the syntax of FLOW-MATIC, the first programming language to use words (and not just binary), developed by Grace Hopper.
2) "Escape From The Matrix" by Jacob Burak
Jacob explores the reasons why we are so addicted to Social Networks, and potential solutions for "escape" out of them. The main reason behind our desire to always stay connected is FoMO (Fear of Missing Out). Our brains are afraid that if we don't check Instagram or Twitter or whatever other social network it might be, we will miss all the fun, all the opportunities and all the "life" that's out there, just sitting on the pages or in the app, waiting to be experienced. That of course, is an illusion: think about the hours that you spent on Instagram/Facebook/Twitter/Reddit in the past week and see if these are the hours you remember, or if it seems like that time has been sucked into some sort of productivity/life black hole. I bet it's the latter. At least that's true for me.
Jacob suggests using the "good enough" strategy. For example, if you were in a mall, looking for a pair of jeans. You can find a good enough pair pretty quickly, or you can spend half a day looking in every store to find that perfect pair, and still come home unsure whether that was the best choice.
The problem with social networks is that you can't possibly reach the end of the timeline (previously you could do that in Instagram for the posts of people you followed, but they have "fixed it" since then) - it's an impossible battle. Same goes for all the other networks. They are designed to be endless. Hence the only way we can manage them is to introduce moderation and self-discipline into the equation by adopting arbitrary "rules". No more than 15 minutes of Instagram a day is a good such rule. It has to be very specific (the term for that is "bright line rule") for you to act on it. 15 minutes is "good enough" to get the most important updates you care about, say your close friends. All the other updates are meaningless fluff anyway. During an activity, try to remember to ask yourself: "Will I remember this tomorrow?"
3) "Why We Never Have Enough Time & What to Do About It" by Leo Babauta
This is a topic I think about a lot, especially as with time the number of commitments is growing. So does the list of project ideas, work opportunities, the list of courses to complete, technologies to learn, movies to watch, etc. Like in the case with social network (in the description of the article above), there is no time in the world to do all of that, so we are forced to prioritize certain things and ignore others. Leo provides some ideas on how to manage all that and stay sane.
4) "Live on Purpose" by Leo Babauta
Another article by Leo, this time on "living on purpose". We so often are on autopilot, chasing things and dreams we no longer care just because we are already in motion and we don't stop to pause and reflect. If we are not sure what direction to take, what to strive for and what would make us the most fulfilled, Leo is here to provide us with actionable ideas.
Tweets that resonated with me
I have 2 for you this time:
Tweet 1
Ethos:
Quotes:
RUBY wine is drunk by knaves,
Sugar spends to fatten slaves,
Rose and vine-leaf deck buffoons;
Thunder-clouds are Jove's festoons,
Drooping oft in wreaths of dread,
Lightning-knotted round his head;
The hero is not fed on sweets,
Daily his own heart he eats;
Chambers of the great are jails,
And head-winds right for royal sails.
— Ralph Waldo Emerson, An epigraph to "Heroism" essay
"You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do."
— Eleanor Roosevelt
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Keep doing the opposite,
Alexander Kallaway
Website: dotheoppo.site
Twitter: twitter.com/ka11away