(Rob Watson is a Canadian distance runner currently living and training with the Speed River Track & Field Club in Guelph, Canada.  He loves crepes, hockey and Labatt Blue. He maintains a hilarious blog that only occasionally touches upon distance running.)

His personal bests :
8:27  3k Steeple
13:40  5000m  
Marathon  2:16:17

I want to be the next Dean Karnazes.
Thursday, April 21, 2011

Alright here we go. It is time to flick the switch. We are officially going from "dicking around" to "doin' work". This past weekend has put the fire in the belly.

Reid and Gillis were awesome at the sporting life 10km, hammering the field, and
each other to take 1-2. Dylan dropped a very impressive 28:12 in Cali, and Simon
probably did something sick on the trails out there in Portland. These guys are friggen studs, awesome runners, all of em'. And well shit folks, I gotta get to work so I can beat those bastards!

Well actually, they're not bastards at all. I have enjoyed a beer or two with all these guys. Reid and Gilly are my mentors of sorts, I am lucky enough to train with these guys and they are always there to provide leadership, encouragement and guidance. Great guys, love em' both...gotta beat em'. I have been on a few national teams with Dylan and we have always gotten along great, Dylan is an awesome dude, gotten drunk together a few times...gotta beat him. I don't know Simon super well, but he has always been a runner that I have looked up to, hard as hell and fast as fudge. We shared a few beers after cross national a few years ago and he was a solid chap...gotta beat him. Then there all those BCMP boys and a couple other BC guys out there looking to rock it as well.

Man! 24 weeks is a lot of time, but geez louise ... I'm behind! So here we go, flip it- it's effing go time.

It is a very exciting time for Canadian marathoning. I'm gonna say it folks, making a
prediction here if you don't mind : The Canadian marathon record will not survive past Oct 16, 2011.

I'm not saying that I'm gonna break it. But someone will. Eric, Reid, Dylan and Simon are just too good and there is just too much on the line. I'm going to get down to business and work my balls off so that I'll be ready to roll through the streets of Toronto with those guys. Can't wait.

Well, we do have 24 weeks to go, so maybe I shouldn't get too horny about the marathon yet. But I can't help it. I'm constantly thinking about it, I've already raced that damn race 50 times in my head. I'm gonna have to put my focus on other things until July. Oh July, the real work will begin in that glorious month.

Okay, until then lets start work on operation media whore. Operation media whore is my attempt to become one of those runners that is not actually good but has tricked people into thinking that they're awesome.

As a 2:16 marathoner, I qualify as kinda good but nothing special. If I could just do some clever self-marketing and throw in a bit of trickery I think I can get people to think that I am much better than I really am, and then they'll give me money and women will flock to me.

First and foremost, I will now refer to myself as Canada's #1 ranked marathoner. Sure Reid, Gillis and Dylan have all run faster than me in the past 6 months, but according to 2011 rankings I'm #1, so there ya go … I'm #1, bitches.

Also, I have to make a point of letting people know that I am an "Olympic Hopeful" or "Aspiring Olympian" … something along those lines. Anything with the word Olympic in it will do. It doesn't really matter if I actually have a shot or not. Most people won't bother to check that out. Just by using the term "Olympian", they'll immediately assume that I'm awesome.

Also, I may have to do some sort of cheesy running-related publicity stunts. Maybe some sort of treadmill record attempt or super long jog across Ontario or something. People love that shit.

Dean Karnazes has made a living off this kinda stuff. Dude sucks balls running-wise, but people think he is amazing. I hope that OPMW is a success, because being a shitty runner who is good at taking advantage of the naiveness of the general public may be easier and more lucrative than being a kickass runner who works their balls off for scraps.

Okay, so I'm gonna go and get to work on that. Have a great week everyone.

-rob-