Monday, August 21, 2006
Guess what I did last weekend!!!
On the spur of the moment, I signed up for a half-marathon (that's 22km folks) here in Bremen, thinking that it would be a good warm-up for the big one in Basel. I figured if I didn't finish, it was not the end of the world, since I just saw it as prep. Not only did I finish, but I finished 27 minutes faster than I thought I would! I gave myself 3 hours (the time limit) to run, walk or crawl to the finish, and I finished in 2 hours and 33 minutes. I probably would have finished in an even 2h30, but I took a couple of wrong turns along the way. Beginner's luck.
Thanks to Lucie for being there to support me. Thanks to Linda for the tips about Vaseline on the feet. And thanks to my feet for not failing me. I've never run that long in my life, and I only had to walk about 10 minutes of the entire ordeal. After the first lap (8.5 km), I was still going strong. It was about half way through the second lap that I "hit the wall" so to speak, and the legs started to burn a bit. But I pressed through, and after the second lap, I discovered the joys of carbohydrate gels. I downed one of those puppies, and within 5 minutes, my legs were pumping once again! I felt tingling sensations all over my body, and could even feel the blood flowing in and out of my hands as I was getting close to the end.
Running is meditation. You find a rhythm, and it hypnotizes you. The steady beat of the breath in unison with the sound of the feet hitting the ground. It's music for the soul, and the circulation. I think I added 3 years to my life span last weekend. My legs still hurt, but I've never been so happy to be in so much pain. I didn't walk far the next day, but why walk when you can recover?
I must tip my hat to those who kept pushing on for 2 more laps to finish the whole marathon. I wouldn't have made it (yet), and I sure wouldn't have made 3 marathons in ONE DAY, like some of the crazies who were running with me. Imagine, they got up at 4 AM, and within 20 hours had run 3 marathons in a row! This is not just a hobby, or even a sport, but a passion for these people. Some of them do nothing but run 1-4 marathons PER WEEK! I think it will take me a week to get my legs back in working order. And that gives me one week to prepare for the Basel marathon on September 3rd. Keep posted here, and I'll tell you how it went. Pics and video are to come.
On the spur of the moment, I signed up for a half-marathon (that's 22km folks) here in Bremen, thinking that it would be a good warm-up for the big one in Basel. I figured if I didn't finish, it was not the end of the world, since I just saw it as prep. Not only did I finish, but I finished 27 minutes faster than I thought I would! I gave myself 3 hours (the time limit) to run, walk or crawl to the finish, and I finished in 2 hours and 33 minutes. I probably would have finished in an even 2h30, but I took a couple of wrong turns along the way. Beginner's luck.
Thanks to Lucie for being there to support me. Thanks to Linda for the tips about Vaseline on the feet. And thanks to my feet for not failing me. I've never run that long in my life, and I only had to walk about 10 minutes of the entire ordeal. After the first lap (8.5 km), I was still going strong. It was about half way through the second lap that I "hit the wall" so to speak, and the legs started to burn a bit. But I pressed through, and after the second lap, I discovered the joys of carbohydrate gels. I downed one of those puppies, and within 5 minutes, my legs were pumping once again! I felt tingling sensations all over my body, and could even feel the blood flowing in and out of my hands as I was getting close to the end.
Running is meditation. You find a rhythm, and it hypnotizes you. The steady beat of the breath in unison with the sound of the feet hitting the ground. It's music for the soul, and the circulation. I think I added 3 years to my life span last weekend. My legs still hurt, but I've never been so happy to be in so much pain. I didn't walk far the next day, but why walk when you can recover?
I must tip my hat to those who kept pushing on for 2 more laps to finish the whole marathon. I wouldn't have made it (yet), and I sure wouldn't have made 3 marathons in ONE DAY, like some of the crazies who were running with me. Imagine, they got up at 4 AM, and within 20 hours had run 3 marathons in a row! This is not just a hobby, or even a sport, but a passion for these people. Some of them do nothing but run 1-4 marathons PER WEEK! I think it will take me a week to get my legs back in working order. And that gives me one week to prepare for the Basel marathon on September 3rd. Keep posted here, and I'll tell you how it went. Pics and video are to come.
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
I just signed up to run a half-marathon in Basel in September! I am scared shiteless.
Running was always something I dreaded and deplored as a child. In gym class, they would make us run and run for what seemed like ages (though was probably only about 800 meters). I was a rather corpulent child, and was under pressure from the twigs around me to keep up, or I would be ridiculed. I was ridiculed anyway, but I still somehow felt obliged to prove myself, at all costs. After about two laps around the school-sanctioned torture chamber, the room would start spinning, my then-undiagnosed asthma caused me to wheeze and gasp for air, and I had to stop running, thus increasing the humiliation as the two-legged slicks breezed by, thinking they were something special.
Well, guess what? I've faced my fears, and decided my 30th birthday present to myself would be to start running. I've worked up to 10km with gas to spare, but I've never attempted a 21km run before. Ever. And I'll bet that most of the stick kids I went to school with have done that either. If only I could go back in time and tell myself how the world really is, and how one can excel without the ability to sprint laps like an automaton around that stinky hell room where I had to spend 90 minutes a week feeling like less of a person than I already did in the school hallway.
Now when I go back to Nelson (when I have time off from performing with world-class artists in international opera houses), I can see those little twig people I went to school with. Their bark has gotten thinker over the years, and their heads aren't doing much better. (Side note: these are the same wankers who didn't invite me to my own class reunion. They said they couldn't find me. Since my mother's address and telephone number haven't changed since I was 5, I can only assume they didn't look too hard.) I wish I could challenge them to a few laps around the LVR gym. Let's see who's the fat ass now!
Kevin
Running was always something I dreaded and deplored as a child. In gym class, they would make us run and run for what seemed like ages (though was probably only about 800 meters). I was a rather corpulent child, and was under pressure from the twigs around me to keep up, or I would be ridiculed. I was ridiculed anyway, but I still somehow felt obliged to prove myself, at all costs. After about two laps around the school-sanctioned torture chamber, the room would start spinning, my then-undiagnosed asthma caused me to wheeze and gasp for air, and I had to stop running, thus increasing the humiliation as the two-legged slicks breezed by, thinking they were something special.
Well, guess what? I've faced my fears, and decided my 30th birthday present to myself would be to start running. I've worked up to 10km with gas to spare, but I've never attempted a 21km run before. Ever. And I'll bet that most of the stick kids I went to school with have done that either. If only I could go back in time and tell myself how the world really is, and how one can excel without the ability to sprint laps like an automaton around that stinky hell room where I had to spend 90 minutes a week feeling like less of a person than I already did in the school hallway.
Now when I go back to Nelson (when I have time off from performing with world-class artists in international opera houses), I can see those little twig people I went to school with. Their bark has gotten thinker over the years, and their heads aren't doing much better. (Side note: these are the same wankers who didn't invite me to my own class reunion. They said they couldn't find me. Since my mother's address and telephone number haven't changed since I was 5, I can only assume they didn't look too hard.) I wish I could challenge them to a few laps around the LVR gym. Let's see who's the fat ass now!
Kevin
Monday, August 07, 2006
Hi everyone,
Thanks for giving my blog a look. I'll do my best to keep you entertained and up-to-date with my thoughts and actions.
kevztunz's current projects:
1. Recording an a-capella Christmas CD that must be finished before:
2. Going to Zürich for 6 weeks to sing in a production of Busoni's Dr. Faust. While I'm there, I'll be working on the laptop editing:
3. KILLER CLOTHES! Yes, our little, low-budget sci-fi parody is almost in the can. Just a few more small scenes to film, then I can put that aside and focus on finally finishing:
4. Personal Artifacts, my CD-in-the-works for the past 3 years. Funny how life keeps getting in the way.
5. I'm also currently trying to convince Mr. Gian Carlo Menotti to let us use his wonderful Christmas opera "Amahl and the Night Visitors" without having to pay the oodles of money the publisher wants for the rights. It will be a fundraiser for children in Africa, so only a cold, cold heart would refuse us. Unfortunately, Germany is full of them. When it all works out, I'll let you know.
Stay tuned, stay loose, and most of all, stay cool,
Kevin
Thanks for giving my blog a look. I'll do my best to keep you entertained and up-to-date with my thoughts and actions.
kevztunz's current projects:
1. Recording an a-capella Christmas CD that must be finished before:
2. Going to Zürich for 6 weeks to sing in a production of Busoni's Dr. Faust. While I'm there, I'll be working on the laptop editing:
3. KILLER CLOTHES! Yes, our little, low-budget sci-fi parody is almost in the can. Just a few more small scenes to film, then I can put that aside and focus on finally finishing:
4. Personal Artifacts, my CD-in-the-works for the past 3 years. Funny how life keeps getting in the way.
5. I'm also currently trying to convince Mr. Gian Carlo Menotti to let us use his wonderful Christmas opera "Amahl and the Night Visitors" without having to pay the oodles of money the publisher wants for the rights. It will be a fundraiser for children in Africa, so only a cold, cold heart would refuse us. Unfortunately, Germany is full of them. When it all works out, I'll let you know.
Stay tuned, stay loose, and most of all, stay cool,
Kevin
