I've had a great week of running. My ramp back into heavy running started shortly after my podiatrist appointment last week. I've been doing the stretches and exerises she gave me (and dropping the pills she gave me too) and my feet feel pretty good. So I've been running a ton.
Last Wednesday I went out and did about 10 at the green belt with Joe P and company. The run was good, and fast, and I was dead tired when I finished. Then I hit the same trails on Saturday and Sunday for a total of about 25 more miles. I was lost most of the time but it didn't matter. I knew I was spent when I took a nasty fall and slammed my collar bone into a tree. No major damage, but I knew I was done for the day.
Again, this Wednesday I went out with the HCTR crew and did about 8-9 miles. We went a lot slower this week, and it was easy. It's a good thing too because I forgot to bring water. 10 miles without water is OK for me, I'm a little dehydrated when I'm done, but it was fine.
My feet are still feeling good, and I'm ready to ramp up with Pike's Peak training starting next Wednesday. I had been frustrated with all of my time away from heavy running, but I think it's paying off. I feel good, and the shorter faster running I had been doing seems to have helped. I feel faster and stronger on the hills. Maybe it's just an illusion, I won't be winning any races anytime soon, but I'm happy with my progress.
Thursday, March 30, 2006
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
What's New?
I haven't posted anything in a while, so figured I'd give an update. My running has been pretty good, I've been running descent (boring) miles most of the week, just squeezing in miles as my schedule allows. Went out to Bastrop last weekend with Jim for a longer run, but it was hot and he got pretty tired, so we cut the run a bit short. No big deal, I didn't want to push it that day, and he's still recovering from Freescale.
The biggest news is from yesterday when I went to the podiatrist, finally, for my foot injury. I was reluctant to go, but the doc is a runner, so I figured I'd trust her. She diagnosed me with about 5 injuries, all stemming from an initial case of plantar fasciitis. That came form the Warda 44 miler in Novermber. After that, when I finished training for Sunmart and ran that, I eventually developed several forms of tendonitis in just about every tendon in my leg.
I knew I could trust the doctor when she asked me how much I ran. I told her a lot, and she asked, "marathons?" I told her that I did those and some longer runs, and she excitingly replied "Ultramarathons!?! Cool!" She then taped up my feet, gave me some stretches and exercises, and told me to run a LOT this week. To keep a "pain log" and give her all the details in 2 weeks when I go back. Any doctor that doesn't tell me to rest is a doctor for me. So now I'm running all out for the next two weeks with no excuses. I ran 5 last night at St Ed's when I got home from the doctor. The tape job she gave me seemed to help. It simulates an orthodic, and if it continues to work, then I'll be a candidate for that.
Tomorrow I'm heading to the HOL to run some trails with Joe and some other HCTR folks. I've been a member for a few months now, and yet never ran with any of them. So this should be a good time.
Happy trails.
The biggest news is from yesterday when I went to the podiatrist, finally, for my foot injury. I was reluctant to go, but the doc is a runner, so I figured I'd trust her. She diagnosed me with about 5 injuries, all stemming from an initial case of plantar fasciitis. That came form the Warda 44 miler in Novermber. After that, when I finished training for Sunmart and ran that, I eventually developed several forms of tendonitis in just about every tendon in my leg.
I knew I could trust the doctor when she asked me how much I ran. I told her a lot, and she asked, "marathons?" I told her that I did those and some longer runs, and she excitingly replied "Ultramarathons!?! Cool!" She then taped up my feet, gave me some stretches and exercises, and told me to run a LOT this week. To keep a "pain log" and give her all the details in 2 weeks when I go back. Any doctor that doesn't tell me to rest is a doctor for me. So now I'm running all out for the next two weeks with no excuses. I ran 5 last night at St Ed's when I got home from the doctor. The tape job she gave me seemed to help. It simulates an orthodic, and if it continues to work, then I'll be a candidate for that.
Tomorrow I'm heading to the HOL to run some trails with Joe and some other HCTR folks. I've been a member for a few months now, and yet never ran with any of them. So this should be a good time.
Happy trails.
Thursday, March 09, 2006
No Five-0 for me...
I've decided not to go up to Waco this weekend for the Waco Five-0 50K. I'm sure it will be a great race, and I think I'm ready for it, but I run plenty of races and I'm going to take this weekend and just get some long easy runs in for fun. Jim and I have discussed going out to Bastrop State Park for a couple of loops. It's a great trail that I've only been to once. And I want him to get some trail experience since he's signed up for his second marathon, Pike's Peak. Not a bad second marathon. Gambatte!
In other news, I finally got a podiatrist appointment for my feet. With Pike's Peak training starting up soon, I just need to hurry up and heal. My legs are strong right now, and mentally I'm ready. If my feet were better, I'd venture to say I'd be as healthy as I've ever been.
In other news, I finally got a podiatrist appointment for my feet. With Pike's Peak training starting up soon, I just need to hurry up and heal. My legs are strong right now, and mentally I'm ready. If my feet were better, I'd venture to say I'd be as healthy as I've ever been.
Thursday, March 02, 2006
A few xTimbers pics
I don't think I did a very good job describing the muddy chaos at Cross Timbers last weekend, so I've added a few pictures. The first is me bathing in the cold waters of Lake Texoma after the race. The second is after the bath. My clothes were still pretty muddy, but I got enough off of my legs that I could get in my car and drive home.
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
Pike's Peak
Alright, I'm officially signed up for the Pike's Peak marathon. I also signed up for the Rogue training program.
The hard part is done, now for the fun stuff.
The hard part is done, now for the fun stuff.
Saturday, February 25, 2006
My Kind Of Morning
Saturday was my 28th birthday and I decided to celebrate it at Lake Texoma and the Cross Timbers Trail Marathon. And what a birthday present it was.
We got into Whitesboro around 6pm Friday night. We went straight to the registration/packet-pickup/dinner at the marina. I got my packet, met a few cool people including the guy who would go on to win the race, and had some good spaghetti. Afterwards we went back to our hotel and got some sleep. It had rained all day, and continued to rain all night. I woke up at 4:30 to thunder and heavy rain. It would continue to rain the entire day. Many of you have not run with me and don't even know me very well. I hate running in cold and hate heat even more. But I love hills, love mud, and I especially love rain. This was my kind of morning.
At 7am the race started. I felt kind of stupid because I had not even brought a jacket. I had a long sleeve shirt and shorts on. It was good enough for now, but I new it would get heavy as the rain continued to drop. That wasn't my biggest concern. I had signed up for this race because I hadn't run a trail race since Sunmart, and hadn't run hard since then either. I felt out of practice and out of shape. This was my test to see if I could still run well, and my first good run before I started ramping back up. It was my litmus test. For me the race started slow, I tucked in behind a guy that was running his first trail marathon, and a woman running the half marathon. They were running slow 12 minute miles, but given the muddy terrain, that was fine with me. I wanted to start slow, and kick it up after 10 miles if it felt right.
At 7 miles, we hit an aid station and I decided it was too slow, so I took off. I ran the next 3 miles very hard (sub 10 minute miles sliding on mud up and down hills). I swung from tree branches to hold my balance, and passed a bunch of people. There must have been about 10-15 marathoners ahead of me as I approached the turn-around at Paw Paw Point. I didn't really think twice about it, I figured I'd catch a few of them, but most would continue along ahead of me.
At Paw Paw Point, I filled up my water bottle, declined any food because it was far too soggy to look appetizing, and I took off. The next hour I passed a lot of people. I wasn't sure how many people were marathoners and how many were 50 milers, but I knew I passed most of them. Guys that were over 10 minutes ahead of me were struggling up muddy mountains, sliding backwards on their hands and feet. I just grabbed onto trees, took advantage of my 200 lbs. sinking into the mud, and kept on up the hills. I reached the marina (20 miles) at 3:45 and found out I was in 4th place!. Now, anyone who knows me knows that I am not fast, and I don't run against anyone but myself. But I've also never been in this position before where I was amongst the leaders. I also knew this may never happen again, so I went out as fast as I could.
I passed a few more people, but learned they were 50 milers. Where was the third place guy??? Just before I reached Juniper Point, (0.6 miles short of the turnaround) I saw the 1st place runner, Matt. He told me to keep on running, that I could catch the guy in third if I kept it up. That got my adreneline going, and I scurried up the muddy hill. I hit Juniper Point, but had to continue another 0.6 miles to a turn-around. That distance was on the road, and it felt so good to feel traction again on my feet that I just ran a sub-8 minute pace despite the burning in my legs. I spotted the 3rd place runner and chased him down. Around the turnaround I passed him, talked to him for a minute and realized I would not see him again. He was beaten. I told him good luck, and went on ahead. When I reached Juniper Point again, I saw the 5th place runner. I was over a mile ahead of him and realized that I would finish in 3rd! This would be the first and only time I'll ever finish in 3rd place of a marathon. It's not like winning a road marathon, I know, but it's still really cool to think about. My elation carried me the rest of the way, and I slalomed down the muddy hills like Bode Miller. (Actually, better that Bode since I won a bronze). I fell once about 0.5 miles short of the finish line, but I was so caked in mud that it made no difference.
At the finish it I was happy. Not because I had come in third (which is cool, but I'm over it) but because I ran a smart race, ran as hard as I could, and had my favorite birthday present ever. I took a bath in the 45 degree waters of Lake Texoma, changed in a Port-a-Potty, and enjoyed cheering on some runners back to the finish line. They were serving burgers, beer, soda, and lots of other calories. The food was good, just like the course, and just like the company.
Anyone that hasn't run Cross Timbers should think about it. It is a beautiful course along the lake. The RD puts on a good race, the people are good people, and it's very challenging. It was a long trek for me to get up there from Austin, but I'm glad I did it. Like I said, it was my kind of morning.
We got into Whitesboro around 6pm Friday night. We went straight to the registration/packet-pickup/dinner at the marina. I got my packet, met a few cool people including the guy who would go on to win the race, and had some good spaghetti. Afterwards we went back to our hotel and got some sleep. It had rained all day, and continued to rain all night. I woke up at 4:30 to thunder and heavy rain. It would continue to rain the entire day. Many of you have not run with me and don't even know me very well. I hate running in cold and hate heat even more. But I love hills, love mud, and I especially love rain. This was my kind of morning.
At 7am the race started. I felt kind of stupid because I had not even brought a jacket. I had a long sleeve shirt and shorts on. It was good enough for now, but I new it would get heavy as the rain continued to drop. That wasn't my biggest concern. I had signed up for this race because I hadn't run a trail race since Sunmart, and hadn't run hard since then either. I felt out of practice and out of shape. This was my test to see if I could still run well, and my first good run before I started ramping back up. It was my litmus test. For me the race started slow, I tucked in behind a guy that was running his first trail marathon, and a woman running the half marathon. They were running slow 12 minute miles, but given the muddy terrain, that was fine with me. I wanted to start slow, and kick it up after 10 miles if it felt right.
At 7 miles, we hit an aid station and I decided it was too slow, so I took off. I ran the next 3 miles very hard (sub 10 minute miles sliding on mud up and down hills). I swung from tree branches to hold my balance, and passed a bunch of people. There must have been about 10-15 marathoners ahead of me as I approached the turn-around at Paw Paw Point. I didn't really think twice about it, I figured I'd catch a few of them, but most would continue along ahead of me.
At Paw Paw Point, I filled up my water bottle, declined any food because it was far too soggy to look appetizing, and I took off. The next hour I passed a lot of people. I wasn't sure how many people were marathoners and how many were 50 milers, but I knew I passed most of them. Guys that were over 10 minutes ahead of me were struggling up muddy mountains, sliding backwards on their hands and feet. I just grabbed onto trees, took advantage of my 200 lbs. sinking into the mud, and kept on up the hills. I reached the marina (20 miles) at 3:45 and found out I was in 4th place!. Now, anyone who knows me knows that I am not fast, and I don't run against anyone but myself. But I've also never been in this position before where I was amongst the leaders. I also knew this may never happen again, so I went out as fast as I could.
I passed a few more people, but learned they were 50 milers. Where was the third place guy??? Just before I reached Juniper Point, (0.6 miles short of the turnaround) I saw the 1st place runner, Matt. He told me to keep on running, that I could catch the guy in third if I kept it up. That got my adreneline going, and I scurried up the muddy hill. I hit Juniper Point, but had to continue another 0.6 miles to a turn-around. That distance was on the road, and it felt so good to feel traction again on my feet that I just ran a sub-8 minute pace despite the burning in my legs. I spotted the 3rd place runner and chased him down. Around the turnaround I passed him, talked to him for a minute and realized I would not see him again. He was beaten. I told him good luck, and went on ahead. When I reached Juniper Point again, I saw the 5th place runner. I was over a mile ahead of him and realized that I would finish in 3rd! This would be the first and only time I'll ever finish in 3rd place of a marathon. It's not like winning a road marathon, I know, but it's still really cool to think about. My elation carried me the rest of the way, and I slalomed down the muddy hills like Bode Miller. (Actually, better that Bode since I won a bronze). I fell once about 0.5 miles short of the finish line, but I was so caked in mud that it made no difference.
At the finish it I was happy. Not because I had come in third (which is cool, but I'm over it) but because I ran a smart race, ran as hard as I could, and had my favorite birthday present ever. I took a bath in the 45 degree waters of Lake Texoma, changed in a Port-a-Potty, and enjoyed cheering on some runners back to the finish line. They were serving burgers, beer, soda, and lots of other calories. The food was good, just like the course, and just like the company.
Anyone that hasn't run Cross Timbers should think about it. It is a beautiful course along the lake. The RD puts on a good race, the people are good people, and it's very challenging. It was a long trek for me to get up there from Austin, but I'm glad I did it. Like I said, it was my kind of morning.
Monday, February 20, 2006
In Search of a Hero
I'm always in search for a new hero, and yesterday I found one. It came from the most unlikely of places just when I least expected it, but I knew I had found one in a single moment. My new hero is my wife, Kara.
Yesterday, she ran her first marathon in 5 hours and 37 minutes. But it wasn't just that she crossed the finish line, and it wasn't her finishing time that made me realize how amazing she is. It was how she did it. She started training 18 months ago for the 2005 Freescale marathon, but after her long training run of 18 miles, she came down with a bad case of tendonitis, and missed a critical 3 weeks of training. The idea of running that race was lost, and I expected that the desire to run a marathon at all would be lost with it. That year, I don't think she was training for the race for herself, I think it was something that she wanted to do for me. And anyone who has run this race knows, this is not something you can do for someone else. It takes too much commitment and discipline, and there are so many obstacles to overcome, that a desire to run is not enough. You have to have a NEED to finish.
When the time came to train for the 2006 Freescale marathon, she signed up for the AustinFit training program, and began her training. She had her good days and her bad days, but this time I could see a difference. When she talked about it, she didn't say "if I run" the marathon, she talked about it as something that she was definitely going to do. Her training went well, and after the RunTex 20 miler, she had a great time and felt really good. It looked like she was prepared and ready to go. Then, while doing one final 21 mile training run, things fell apart. She came down with a nasty case of IT band syndrome, which I know all too well. It hurt, and she limped the final mile to her car. She had no idea what the injury was, but I knew right away. I diagnosed her (I'm not a doctor, but this is an injury you don't soon forget) and told her to go see a physical therapist. It was only 3 weeks before the marathon, and it looked like deja vu from last year.
After 10 days off, she started up her runs slowly. She had missed a few runs, but this was the tapering period anyways. As long as her leg stayed strong, I knew she could do it. And more importantly, she knew she could do it. And now we cut to the day before the race.
It's 30 degrees outside, and the forecast for tomorrow is high 20's and freezing rain. Or, as wunderground.com put it, "ice pellets." But she never complained. Sure, she worried and checked the forecast every hour to see if it would change, but she didnt complain. She never once mentioned that it wasn't fair, or that it would ruin her chances of her first marathon finish. An IT band problem is worst under cold temperatures, but she didn't flinch. And on race morning, she put on several layers of clothes, and we headed out.
That morning was freezing as expected. We walked around to find the bathrooms, and then walked about a mile and a half searching for our car, which we had lost. Wasting miles on your feet is not something you want to do before a marathon, but she was not deterred. And at 7:30 am, she took off on her adventure.
I didn't see her again until mile 11, where she looked tired and cold. Her stomach was a little upset, which I did not expect. I tried to get her to take some food, but she wasn't really interested. She walked for a minute with me, then started off again. I was already sensing something special in her, but I knew she was in for an experience that she has never felt before, and would never forget.
The next time I saw her was at 19 miles. My dad and another friend were running ahead of her, so I gave my mom the car keys and told her to go to the finish line. We knew we would never make it to the finish line to see them, if we waited around for Kara. I was going to run the rest of the way with Kara. She hadn't asked me to run with her, but I knew she would need it. And even if she didn't want it, I was going to do it anyways. When I found her, she was struggling. In her words at 19.5 miles, "I hit the wall around 14, and now I just keep banging my head against it." It was one of the few things she said for the next hour and a half. I spent that time doing all of the talking, trying to keep her mind off of the run. I encouraged her to keep moving forward, just like I've been encouraged in the past. But the truth was, she didn't need me there. She was now on a personal mission, and I was just a spectator. During the next hour, I ran with a cell phone. I called people that had already finished, so I could give Kara the update. I called her sister, to tell her how she was doing. I wanted everyone to know that she was still strong. I knew she was feeling a lot of pain, but she never complained. I know I would have complained, I know I have complained in similar situations. Maybe she was too tired to complain, but I don't think so. I think she just isn't any good at it.
At about 25.75 miles, I let her go. I told her to run alone, enjoy the experience, and think about what an amazing accomplishment she was now acheiving. She had worked hard for so long, and now she needed to just reap the rewards. I walked off the course, and ran along the sidelines behind her, so I could be a real spectator. I made it to the finish line just in time to see her finish. It was an amazing accomplishment. I hadn't felt so proud in a long time.
After the race, I finally heard her complain. They gave her a banana, some gatorade, and a cup of chili. "This is stupid. Who would eat chili after a marathon?" That's all she had to complain about. And I ate her chili.
Before we went to sleep last night, she called me an inspiration. But I was the one that was inspired that day.
Yesterday, she ran her first marathon in 5 hours and 37 minutes. But it wasn't just that she crossed the finish line, and it wasn't her finishing time that made me realize how amazing she is. It was how she did it. She started training 18 months ago for the 2005 Freescale marathon, but after her long training run of 18 miles, she came down with a bad case of tendonitis, and missed a critical 3 weeks of training. The idea of running that race was lost, and I expected that the desire to run a marathon at all would be lost with it. That year, I don't think she was training for the race for herself, I think it was something that she wanted to do for me. And anyone who has run this race knows, this is not something you can do for someone else. It takes too much commitment and discipline, and there are so many obstacles to overcome, that a desire to run is not enough. You have to have a NEED to finish.
When the time came to train for the 2006 Freescale marathon, she signed up for the AustinFit training program, and began her training. She had her good days and her bad days, but this time I could see a difference. When she talked about it, she didn't say "if I run" the marathon, she talked about it as something that she was definitely going to do. Her training went well, and after the RunTex 20 miler, she had a great time and felt really good. It looked like she was prepared and ready to go. Then, while doing one final 21 mile training run, things fell apart. She came down with a nasty case of IT band syndrome, which I know all too well. It hurt, and she limped the final mile to her car. She had no idea what the injury was, but I knew right away. I diagnosed her (I'm not a doctor, but this is an injury you don't soon forget) and told her to go see a physical therapist. It was only 3 weeks before the marathon, and it looked like deja vu from last year.
After 10 days off, she started up her runs slowly. She had missed a few runs, but this was the tapering period anyways. As long as her leg stayed strong, I knew she could do it. And more importantly, she knew she could do it. And now we cut to the day before the race.
It's 30 degrees outside, and the forecast for tomorrow is high 20's and freezing rain. Or, as wunderground.com put it, "ice pellets." But she never complained. Sure, she worried and checked the forecast every hour to see if it would change, but she didnt complain. She never once mentioned that it wasn't fair, or that it would ruin her chances of her first marathon finish. An IT band problem is worst under cold temperatures, but she didn't flinch. And on race morning, she put on several layers of clothes, and we headed out.
That morning was freezing as expected. We walked around to find the bathrooms, and then walked about a mile and a half searching for our car, which we had lost. Wasting miles on your feet is not something you want to do before a marathon, but she was not deterred. And at 7:30 am, she took off on her adventure.
I didn't see her again until mile 11, where she looked tired and cold. Her stomach was a little upset, which I did not expect. I tried to get her to take some food, but she wasn't really interested. She walked for a minute with me, then started off again. I was already sensing something special in her, but I knew she was in for an experience that she has never felt before, and would never forget.
The next time I saw her was at 19 miles. My dad and another friend were running ahead of her, so I gave my mom the car keys and told her to go to the finish line. We knew we would never make it to the finish line to see them, if we waited around for Kara. I was going to run the rest of the way with Kara. She hadn't asked me to run with her, but I knew she would need it. And even if she didn't want it, I was going to do it anyways. When I found her, she was struggling. In her words at 19.5 miles, "I hit the wall around 14, and now I just keep banging my head against it." It was one of the few things she said for the next hour and a half. I spent that time doing all of the talking, trying to keep her mind off of the run. I encouraged her to keep moving forward, just like I've been encouraged in the past. But the truth was, she didn't need me there. She was now on a personal mission, and I was just a spectator. During the next hour, I ran with a cell phone. I called people that had already finished, so I could give Kara the update. I called her sister, to tell her how she was doing. I wanted everyone to know that she was still strong. I knew she was feeling a lot of pain, but she never complained. I know I would have complained, I know I have complained in similar situations. Maybe she was too tired to complain, but I don't think so. I think she just isn't any good at it.
At about 25.75 miles, I let her go. I told her to run alone, enjoy the experience, and think about what an amazing accomplishment she was now acheiving. She had worked hard for so long, and now she needed to just reap the rewards. I walked off the course, and ran along the sidelines behind her, so I could be a real spectator. I made it to the finish line just in time to see her finish. It was an amazing accomplishment. I hadn't felt so proud in a long time.
After the race, I finally heard her complain. They gave her a banana, some gatorade, and a cup of chili. "This is stupid. Who would eat chili after a marathon?" That's all she had to complain about. And I ate her chili.
Before we went to sleep last night, she called me an inspiration. But I was the one that was inspired that day.
Thursday, February 16, 2006
2006 Race Plan
I finally took some time to figure out my race plan for the coming year. Well, atleast the next several months, anyways. Here's what I have:
25-Feb Cross Timbers 50M/25M
11-Mar Waco FIVE-0 50K
25-Mar Do the Ultra Canyon 47K or 15K
or...
25-Mar Grasslands 50M/26.2M
1-Apr Hog's Hunt 50K
23-Apr The Maze 30K
30-Apr Rocky Hill Ranch 50K
6-May Prickly Pear 50K
21-May The Loop 30K
18-Jun The Belt 30K
19-Aug Pikes Peak 26.2
Obviously I'm not going to do Graslands and Ultra Canyon. I'll probably see how Waco goes and decide if I can do 50M. If not, I'll do the 47K. I haven't been to either place, so both should be fun.
My two long shot goals are Zane Grey and San Juan Solstice. Right now I don't think either are going to happen with my work schedule and my lack of training over the past 2 months. But now I'm ramping up again and ready to get going with a lot of the Texas races. Once things get rolling, we'll see how things go. I've been known to do a lot of dumb things, so running a crazy race I'm not ready for isn't out of reach.
25-Feb Cross Timbers 50M/25M
11-Mar Waco FIVE-0 50K
25-Mar Do the Ultra Canyon 47K or 15K
or...
25-Mar Grasslands 50M/26.2M
1-Apr Hog's Hunt 50K
23-Apr The Maze 30K
30-Apr Rocky Hill Ranch 50K
6-May Prickly Pear 50K
21-May The Loop 30K
18-Jun The Belt 30K
19-Aug Pikes Peak 26.2
Obviously I'm not going to do Graslands and Ultra Canyon. I'll probably see how Waco goes and decide if I can do 50M. If not, I'll do the 47K. I haven't been to either place, so both should be fun.
My two long shot goals are Zane Grey and San Juan Solstice. Right now I don't think either are going to happen with my work schedule and my lack of training over the past 2 months. But now I'm ramping up again and ready to get going with a lot of the Texas races. Once things get rolling, we'll see how things go. I've been known to do a lot of dumb things, so running a crazy race I'm not ready for isn't out of reach.
Sunday, February 05, 2006
Champions
I'm tired and don't have time to write much, but I have to say...
We got one for the thumb!!!!! I love yinz guys!!!!!
We got one for the thumb!!!!! I love yinz guys!!!!!
Friday, February 03, 2006
Take the Big Ben Pledge
Want the Steelers to win? Then take some responsibility and click on the picture below:
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
Reasons why I run
I put together 12 reasons why I run. There are plenty more, but these are the ones on my mind these days. I'm sure every runner has a different list, but this is mine.
12. It gives me more energy
I didn’t realize it at the time, but before I started running I was drained of energy. I worked (and still do) 60-70 hours per week usually. When I finished the day I came home, ate dinner, watched too much TV, and was drained and ready for bed. Then one day I started running, and all of that changed. I still work, I still watch too much TV, but now I have energy all day long. I don't have days where I have no energy. Sure, after a very long run I get tired, and I don't have any immediate energy. But after a shower and a snack, I'm ready to go. It's a small difference in my day to day environment, but I go through the day feeling great. I've seen the top of the mountain, and I can never go back down.
11. To control my weight.
When I started running, I weighed about 230 lbs. I wasn't extremely fat, I'm 6'0" and it was spread pretty evenly. But I wanted to lose some weight, and I like eating too much to stop. 6 months later I was training for a marathon, and I weighed under 200. Now, if you like this reason, then you really need to get into trail running and ultramarathons. There is nothing you can't eat in your peak milage while training for a 50-miler. I'm not saying you should, Im just simply saying you can.
10. To constanly challenge myself.
For me, the challenge is within. I don't have too many races where I have a specific time goal. I've had a few and I usually end up disappointed. But for me, the challenge is to have fun while I train, see new things and meet new people, and when the times comes for a race, I don't need a watch. My challenege is to run as hard as I can and to push things as far as they can go. When my race is over, I don't need to see the time. I know whether I had a good race because I gave it everything I had and ignored the pain in my legs, the struggle in my lungs, and the pounding of my heart. One of my friends makes fun of me because, whenever I have a slow race, it's always because I went out too fast. And I aways say, "I felt good early, so I stepped it up." Well, to me, there is no other way to race. If I conserve, and finish strong, I'll never kow what could have happened if I went out hard. But if I go hard, and I have that rare day where eveything goes great, I can finish hard and honestly say that I could not have run better. Sure, for many people that would lead to some seriously disappointing times. But for me, it's the only way to challenge myself.
9. You get to meet good people. Especially on the trails
I've met a lot of good people out running, and I've turned some friends into runners. Overall, I'd say I like the running community and would prefer to spend time with them (even if it's just saying "hi" while passing them on the road) than with co-workers or other random people. They are good people, with good spirits. But I have to say, when I started running trails and meeting people in training groups and at the trail running events, I really found my niche. These places are filled with runners that share my motives, my desires. They understand the reasons to run. They all have interesting stories, and they all love the feel of the trail beneath their feet. They don't worry so much about time, as they do about the experience. They understand that running, like life, is about the journey and not the destination.
8. It's a cheap hobby. All I need is a pair of shoes.
I love that I can run at a moments notice. When I get out of work early, I head to a trail and strap on my shoes. And I'm off. Or if I'm travelling to a new place and see some cool hills or hear of some tough trails, I strap on my shoes and I'm off. When I started running I bought a $40 pair of shoes and never had a blister. It doesn't take much to get out there. There are no good excuses.
7. It's dependable
Running is always there for me. It's a relationship that always forgives. I can ignore it for awhile, but when I come crawling back, it's there for me. Sure, it might punish me with some sore legs and some heavy lungs, but it takes me in. It abuses me at times, but also gives me some of my biggest rewards. It comes with me wherever I go, and gives me confidence. It's there to listen when I'm stressed out with work, or mad at life. It's there to celebrate with me when I'm excited and want to enjoy the outdoors. It will go with me in the heat, the snow, the rain… Running will stay with me until my legs give out, and even then I'll have the memories.
6. It's better than other addictions
Smoking and drinking might work for some, but they are expensive and/or time consuming. Some people depend on drugs or gambling. For me, I would prefer to run.
5. To enjoy the outdoors
Before I started running, I never understood environmentalists (AKA tree-huggers). I didn’t get it. I thought it was stupid to worry more about parks, trees, and grass compared to the advancement of society (technology, parking lots, new buldings, etc). Now, when I go out to St. Edwards or Barton Creek, and I find the rare spots where you can't hear a single car, or you see some wildlife nearby, I get it. I love the rush of being outside, alone in the wild, at dusk or at dawn. I never got excited about a walk in the park, but now I love those perfect weather days where I sneak out of work early to get on the trails all alone.
4. Escape from the rest of life's complications
Like everyone else, I have a job, a family, a house, and all the rest. Which means responsibilites, deadlines, mortgage payments, stress, and all the rest. Some people use time running to organize their lives, and figure things out. To prioritize commitments, or to solve problems. Not me. I use it as a time to clear my mind. Stress and worries disappear during those hours, and even if they return when I'm finished, things just aren't as urgent. I feel better the rest of the day.
3. It cleanses my soul
I don’t know what I think about during most of my runs. Sometimes I finish a 2-3 hour run and I can't remember a darn thing. All I know is I feel very spiritual during the run, and afterwards. Some people are more comfortable in a church praying, others use yoga and meditation. For me, my soul is cleansed when I run. I can use the time to talk to God, to give thanks for my blessings in life. Or I can use it to complain about things that are going wrong. But this is a personal time that is just impossible to get in any other environment without a serious amount of commitment and discipline.
2. Because I have to
Sometimes there is no explanation. I do it because I have to.
1. No matter my mood, I've never NOT felt better after a run, than I did before the run
Sure, sometimes my feet hurt or my knees hurt. Sometimes I'm sore for a day or two, and I've had a few injuries along the way. But I can say, without exception, that regardless of how I felt as I put on my shoes before a run, I always feel better when taking them off. Physically, mentally, spiritually. I've never had a run I regretted, I've never caught myself saying I should have run less.
12. It gives me more energy
I didn’t realize it at the time, but before I started running I was drained of energy. I worked (and still do) 60-70 hours per week usually. When I finished the day I came home, ate dinner, watched too much TV, and was drained and ready for bed. Then one day I started running, and all of that changed. I still work, I still watch too much TV, but now I have energy all day long. I don't have days where I have no energy. Sure, after a very long run I get tired, and I don't have any immediate energy. But after a shower and a snack, I'm ready to go. It's a small difference in my day to day environment, but I go through the day feeling great. I've seen the top of the mountain, and I can never go back down.
11. To control my weight.
When I started running, I weighed about 230 lbs. I wasn't extremely fat, I'm 6'0" and it was spread pretty evenly. But I wanted to lose some weight, and I like eating too much to stop. 6 months later I was training for a marathon, and I weighed under 200. Now, if you like this reason, then you really need to get into trail running and ultramarathons. There is nothing you can't eat in your peak milage while training for a 50-miler. I'm not saying you should, Im just simply saying you can.
10. To constanly challenge myself.
For me, the challenge is within. I don't have too many races where I have a specific time goal. I've had a few and I usually end up disappointed. But for me, the challenge is to have fun while I train, see new things and meet new people, and when the times comes for a race, I don't need a watch. My challenege is to run as hard as I can and to push things as far as they can go. When my race is over, I don't need to see the time. I know whether I had a good race because I gave it everything I had and ignored the pain in my legs, the struggle in my lungs, and the pounding of my heart. One of my friends makes fun of me because, whenever I have a slow race, it's always because I went out too fast. And I aways say, "I felt good early, so I stepped it up." Well, to me, there is no other way to race. If I conserve, and finish strong, I'll never kow what could have happened if I went out hard. But if I go hard, and I have that rare day where eveything goes great, I can finish hard and honestly say that I could not have run better. Sure, for many people that would lead to some seriously disappointing times. But for me, it's the only way to challenge myself.
9. You get to meet good people. Especially on the trails
I've met a lot of good people out running, and I've turned some friends into runners. Overall, I'd say I like the running community and would prefer to spend time with them (even if it's just saying "hi" while passing them on the road) than with co-workers or other random people. They are good people, with good spirits. But I have to say, when I started running trails and meeting people in training groups and at the trail running events, I really found my niche. These places are filled with runners that share my motives, my desires. They understand the reasons to run. They all have interesting stories, and they all love the feel of the trail beneath their feet. They don't worry so much about time, as they do about the experience. They understand that running, like life, is about the journey and not the destination.
8. It's a cheap hobby. All I need is a pair of shoes.
I love that I can run at a moments notice. When I get out of work early, I head to a trail and strap on my shoes. And I'm off. Or if I'm travelling to a new place and see some cool hills or hear of some tough trails, I strap on my shoes and I'm off. When I started running I bought a $40 pair of shoes and never had a blister. It doesn't take much to get out there. There are no good excuses.
7. It's dependable
Running is always there for me. It's a relationship that always forgives. I can ignore it for awhile, but when I come crawling back, it's there for me. Sure, it might punish me with some sore legs and some heavy lungs, but it takes me in. It abuses me at times, but also gives me some of my biggest rewards. It comes with me wherever I go, and gives me confidence. It's there to listen when I'm stressed out with work, or mad at life. It's there to celebrate with me when I'm excited and want to enjoy the outdoors. It will go with me in the heat, the snow, the rain… Running will stay with me until my legs give out, and even then I'll have the memories.
6. It's better than other addictions
Smoking and drinking might work for some, but they are expensive and/or time consuming. Some people depend on drugs or gambling. For me, I would prefer to run.
5. To enjoy the outdoors
Before I started running, I never understood environmentalists (AKA tree-huggers). I didn’t get it. I thought it was stupid to worry more about parks, trees, and grass compared to the advancement of society (technology, parking lots, new buldings, etc). Now, when I go out to St. Edwards or Barton Creek, and I find the rare spots where you can't hear a single car, or you see some wildlife nearby, I get it. I love the rush of being outside, alone in the wild, at dusk or at dawn. I never got excited about a walk in the park, but now I love those perfect weather days where I sneak out of work early to get on the trails all alone.
4. Escape from the rest of life's complications
Like everyone else, I have a job, a family, a house, and all the rest. Which means responsibilites, deadlines, mortgage payments, stress, and all the rest. Some people use time running to organize their lives, and figure things out. To prioritize commitments, or to solve problems. Not me. I use it as a time to clear my mind. Stress and worries disappear during those hours, and even if they return when I'm finished, things just aren't as urgent. I feel better the rest of the day.
3. It cleanses my soul
I don’t know what I think about during most of my runs. Sometimes I finish a 2-3 hour run and I can't remember a darn thing. All I know is I feel very spiritual during the run, and afterwards. Some people are more comfortable in a church praying, others use yoga and meditation. For me, my soul is cleansed when I run. I can use the time to talk to God, to give thanks for my blessings in life. Or I can use it to complain about things that are going wrong. But this is a personal time that is just impossible to get in any other environment without a serious amount of commitment and discipline.
2. Because I have to
Sometimes there is no explanation. I do it because I have to.
1. No matter my mood, I've never NOT felt better after a run, than I did before the run
Sure, sometimes my feet hurt or my knees hurt. Sometimes I'm sore for a day or two, and I've had a few injuries along the way. But I can say, without exception, that regardless of how I felt as I put on my shoes before a run, I always feel better when taking them off. Physically, mentally, spiritually. I've never had a run I regretted, I've never caught myself saying I should have run less.
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
Great GPS Find
I have a GPS watch that I got as a gift over a year ago, and I almost never wear it. I don't mind the size or weight (it's a Garmin Forerunner 201), it's just that the software for it sucks. It just wasn't ever worth having the details of the run because there was nothing to do with the data once you had it. I'm a computer engineer, which makes me a little geeky, and I like looking at data. But it has to be formatted in a usable way... It's so bad that I even started to write my own software to analyze the data in the GPS, but I never finished it.
So I stumbled upon a website which just got bought by Garmin a while back. Maybe most people were already aware of this website, but I found it and it's incredible. It's call MotionBased. You can track you loaction, speed, altitude, etc. It looks up the weather on that day in that location and stores that. And you can overlay the route on Google Maps, or even Google Earth. It's great.
And finallly, you can export the data to a iframe to put in a blog! Here's my last run at St. Edwards park.
Check it out if you have a GPS. I might start wearing mine finally.
So I stumbled upon a website which just got bought by Garmin a while back. Maybe most people were already aware of this website, but I found it and it's incredible. It's call MotionBased. You can track you loaction, speed, altitude, etc. It looks up the weather on that day in that location and stores that. And you can overlay the route on Google Maps, or even Google Earth. It's great.
And finallly, you can export the data to a iframe to put in a blog! Here's my last run at St. Edwards park.
Check it out if you have a GPS. I might start wearing mine finally.
Saturday, January 28, 2006
Poweline Run
I got out of work around 3 yesterday so I headed down to the Hill Of Life for a couple of powerline loops. My plan was to run it twice, taking the first loop slow and then speeding up for the second loop. My legs felt strong (they've had lots of rest over the past month and a half) but I was easily winded. Every hill knocked the air out of my lungs. But it felt great to be out there. Runs like that make me appreciate Austin in January.
The second loop was not meant to be. As I ran down the rocky powerline towards the end of the loop, I stepped hard on a sharp rock and the injury I've been nursing in my feet sent a shot of pain right through my foot and up my leg. I slowed down, regained composure and focues on one strong climb up the HOL instead.
When it was all over my foot hurt, but it was a success. I made it about 5 miles before anything hurt, and it's been awhile since I did that. I'll be heading out there again tomorrow for another try at 2 loops.
(Meanwhile) My wife is out doing her last long training run of 21 miles for Freescale this morning. It's pouring down rain, and she hates rain. I'll just need to convince her that when this is over, and she completes it, there is no stopping her from completing her first marathon.
And one more thing... Go Steelers!
The second loop was not meant to be. As I ran down the rocky powerline towards the end of the loop, I stepped hard on a sharp rock and the injury I've been nursing in my feet sent a shot of pain right through my foot and up my leg. I slowed down, regained composure and focues on one strong climb up the HOL instead.
When it was all over my foot hurt, but it was a success. I made it about 5 miles before anything hurt, and it's been awhile since I did that. I'll be heading out there again tomorrow for another try at 2 loops.
(Meanwhile) My wife is out doing her last long training run of 21 miles for Freescale this morning. It's pouring down rain, and she hates rain. I'll just need to convince her that when this is over, and she completes it, there is no stopping her from completing her first marathon.
And one more thing... Go Steelers!
Monday, January 23, 2006
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
I'm back -- I hope
As you know, the title of this blog is "running and being," but since I haven't really run since Sunmart, I haven't had much to write about. It's now been a month since my last good run due to injuries. I need to be careful, though, that running and being are not too directly related. My lack of running should not result in a lack of being, but lately I feel like it has. Maybe it has to do with the month I took off from work during Christmas, or the month I took off from running after Sunmart, or maybe it's the fact that they lined up perfectly. I suspect that it's the combination.
But I'm finally ramping back up with my job, and I had two good runs this past week (St. Ed's loop and Jester repeats) and I'm feeling a lot better. I've also had some time to figure out what I want to accomplish (running) this coming year. I'm sure I'll end up doing more, but the keys to this year are the Cross Timbers Trail Marathon (I originally planned on the 50M, but don't think I'll be ready), Grasslands 50M, Zane Gray 50M (if I can ramp up quickly enough). I'm sure I'll do some of the shorter Rogue races in the summer, and I'm leaving the fall wide open right now.
I'm anxious to get going again with everything. This time off might prove to be a much needed break on my mind and body, but right now I'm just excited to get back in the saddle.
But I'm finally ramping back up with my job, and I had two good runs this past week (St. Ed's loop and Jester repeats) and I'm feeling a lot better. I've also had some time to figure out what I want to accomplish (running) this coming year. I'm sure I'll end up doing more, but the keys to this year are the Cross Timbers Trail Marathon (I originally planned on the 50M, but don't think I'll be ready), Grasslands 50M, Zane Gray 50M (if I can ramp up quickly enough). I'm sure I'll do some of the shorter Rogue races in the summer, and I'm leaving the fall wide open right now.
I'm anxious to get going again with everything. This time off might prove to be a much needed break on my mind and body, but right now I'm just excited to get back in the saddle.
Saturday, December 31, 2005
Bandera Withdrawl
It's a sad day for me because this morning I had to admit my mortality and withdrawl from the Bandera 50K race. I've been struggling with feet and ankle pains for several weeks, and although I got lucky and slipped through Sunmart, it's obvious to me now that I need some time off. I had a few mediocre runs up north during my Christmas break, mostly focusing on big hills and a slow pace, but my feet hurt after only a few miles. I did have a wonderful (yet painful) run through some back roads in Lexington Kentucky that easily ends up in my top 5 favorite runs of all time. The course I did was out and back down an empty road, along a small creek, and dodging stray dogs. The "rolling hills" were more like mountains for this Texas runner, but the views were magnificent. My feet were killing me the whole way, but I enjoyed the run and the air and the views so much that I just kept going. I only knew to turn around when a hundred-pound St. Bernard told me that I should. When I got back to my car I was limping noticably, but it was exhilarating.
How did I find this great running road? My father-in-law is a new home builder in Lexington, and he is building a new house on a 2-acre lot in a new empty neighborhood. Lexington is filled with these places, it's great! Anyways, I spent the day "volunteering" my services, painting the house for him. After a 10-hour day of hard labor, as everyone else packed up and wobbled home, I strapped on my running shoes. Your should have seen their faces.
After this, I took a few more days off and this morning decided I would go for a run and make a final decision on my readiness for Bandera. 1 mile into a St. Ed's run I had a terrible pain in my right foot. I headed down a fairly steep decline, over-focusing on my foot, and ended up twisting my ankle pretty badly. I turned around, limped home, and sent an email to Joe (the Bandera race director) that I would be volunteering for Bandera. This was the only way I knew to force myself not to run in the race. I had already paid the 50 bucks for race entry, and knew I'd show up ready to run otherwise.
I'm frustrated that the healing process has taken so long, yet grateful because I'm now realizing what a blessing it was that I was able to run Sunmart despite this nagging injury. That was my real goal this season, and I'm lucky and grateful that I was able to finish it. I spoke breifly in a previous post that running (and suffering) could teach humility. I knew it was true, yet wondered how I could explain it. It has now become clear to me. Running great distances brings the human body to great pains, and sometimes pushes it's capabilities. Many endurance runners start out thinking that they can "beat" this, that they can reach any limit. I'm not trying to take the romance out of this, I still believe the human body can acheive great things, but these things take preparation and training. There are limits, and recognizing that is very humbling. One might think that accomplishing huge goals like a marathon, 50-miler, or 100-miler would inflate the ego, but I have found it does quite the opposite. It make me recognize my limits, understand my abilities (and push to new limits), and appreciate the blessings I have with my good health and supportive family and friends. I could not acheive my goals without each of these, and during an injury like right now, I realize that any of this could be taken away from me at any moment. It is this reason that I have to get out there and take advantage of every moment, because every second counts.
How did I find this great running road? My father-in-law is a new home builder in Lexington, and he is building a new house on a 2-acre lot in a new empty neighborhood. Lexington is filled with these places, it's great! Anyways, I spent the day "volunteering" my services, painting the house for him. After a 10-hour day of hard labor, as everyone else packed up and wobbled home, I strapped on my running shoes. Your should have seen their faces.
After this, I took a few more days off and this morning decided I would go for a run and make a final decision on my readiness for Bandera. 1 mile into a St. Ed's run I had a terrible pain in my right foot. I headed down a fairly steep decline, over-focusing on my foot, and ended up twisting my ankle pretty badly. I turned around, limped home, and sent an email to Joe (the Bandera race director) that I would be volunteering for Bandera. This was the only way I knew to force myself not to run in the race. I had already paid the 50 bucks for race entry, and knew I'd show up ready to run otherwise.
I'm frustrated that the healing process has taken so long, yet grateful because I'm now realizing what a blessing it was that I was able to run Sunmart despite this nagging injury. That was my real goal this season, and I'm lucky and grateful that I was able to finish it. I spoke breifly in a previous post that running (and suffering) could teach humility. I knew it was true, yet wondered how I could explain it. It has now become clear to me. Running great distances brings the human body to great pains, and sometimes pushes it's capabilities. Many endurance runners start out thinking that they can "beat" this, that they can reach any limit. I'm not trying to take the romance out of this, I still believe the human body can acheive great things, but these things take preparation and training. There are limits, and recognizing that is very humbling. One might think that accomplishing huge goals like a marathon, 50-miler, or 100-miler would inflate the ego, but I have found it does quite the opposite. It make me recognize my limits, understand my abilities (and push to new limits), and appreciate the blessings I have with my good health and supportive family and friends. I could not acheive my goals without each of these, and during an injury like right now, I realize that any of this could be taken away from me at any moment. It is this reason that I have to get out there and take advantage of every moment, because every second counts.
Saturday, December 17, 2005
The Joy Of Suffering
"If you suffer, thank God! -- it is a sure sign that you are alive."
- Elbert Hubbard
Yesterday I went out for a 16 miler with my friend, Jim. I'd felt pretty much recovered from my 50 mile run last weekend, so I told Jim that I would go out with him for 16 miles as part of his Freescale marathon preparation. It was to be his longest run ever, although not by much. For me it would be a different challenge since I knew I couldn't be fully recovered yet from last weekend.
The run started off OK, except that my left achilles was hurting. I had faith that the pain would subside, so as usual I ran through it. I was right that the pain would subside, but I had no idea what was coming next. It began small, just a slight discomfort on the outside arch of my left foot. We got off of the roads and onto a trail, and the pain eased. But soon we were forced off of the trail again and this time the pain got much worse. Soon I couldn't run at all. I'm not exxagerating at all when I say that I could barely walk. My original intentions were to support my friend on his run, now I was just hoping not to slow him down. So I told him to go off and finish his run alone, and I would see him back at his house. I was 3 miles away from his place, and my car. So I started limping home.
An hour later, and still a half mile from my car, I began wondering why I was doing this. Not why I was struggling through this today, but why do I put myself in the position to suffer such great pain when I could easily be at home in bed, or at least sitting at home with my wife and watching SportsCenter.
It's something I come to think about a lot on long runs, especially when physical pains linger and mental challenges mount. It's a question that I need to answer before I can continue this journey.
We're conditioned at an early age that happiness is good, while suffering is bad. Physical pleasures are to be strived for and rewarded, while pain is to be avoided. But why is that?
The person we become is a result of our experiences in life. Our consciousness is a combination of the joyful experiences as well as our sufferings. To avoid either one of these facets of our development is to avoid gaining true consciousness. Suffering breeds experiences that nothing else can replace. It is as essential as any other factor in our development. It teaches temperance, patience, appreciation, modesty and humility. These are attributes of my character that have never been very strong, so perhaps that's why this is so important to me. Think about these attributes... Every one of them is an enviable characteristic, and everyone of them is enhanced through suffering. I hope to have time to come back to this soon and explain my reasoning, but not tonight.
I'll touch on one of them now, appreciation. Just as a trust-fund baby will never be as rich as a man who saved every dime until his retirement, a man who never feels pain can never experience the true physical pleasures in life.
When I get home after a long day at work and a tough workout, I am physically and mentally drained. My body aches and my mind is exhausted. But I shower and lay down in bed and the greatest sensation rushes through me because I have tasted the sour, and now I get to savor the sweet.
So this is why I run, why I run farther than most people think I should, through injury, poor weather, over hills and rocky terrain. It is not a quest for suffering, rather a quest for consicousness. My goal is not to find suffering, nor to avoid it. It is to experience life, whatever that may be.
- Elbert Hubbard
Yesterday I went out for a 16 miler with my friend, Jim. I'd felt pretty much recovered from my 50 mile run last weekend, so I told Jim that I would go out with him for 16 miles as part of his Freescale marathon preparation. It was to be his longest run ever, although not by much. For me it would be a different challenge since I knew I couldn't be fully recovered yet from last weekend.
The run started off OK, except that my left achilles was hurting. I had faith that the pain would subside, so as usual I ran through it. I was right that the pain would subside, but I had no idea what was coming next. It began small, just a slight discomfort on the outside arch of my left foot. We got off of the roads and onto a trail, and the pain eased. But soon we were forced off of the trail again and this time the pain got much worse. Soon I couldn't run at all. I'm not exxagerating at all when I say that I could barely walk. My original intentions were to support my friend on his run, now I was just hoping not to slow him down. So I told him to go off and finish his run alone, and I would see him back at his house. I was 3 miles away from his place, and my car. So I started limping home.
An hour later, and still a half mile from my car, I began wondering why I was doing this. Not why I was struggling through this today, but why do I put myself in the position to suffer such great pain when I could easily be at home in bed, or at least sitting at home with my wife and watching SportsCenter.
It's something I come to think about a lot on long runs, especially when physical pains linger and mental challenges mount. It's a question that I need to answer before I can continue this journey.
We're conditioned at an early age that happiness is good, while suffering is bad. Physical pleasures are to be strived for and rewarded, while pain is to be avoided. But why is that?
The person we become is a result of our experiences in life. Our consciousness is a combination of the joyful experiences as well as our sufferings. To avoid either one of these facets of our development is to avoid gaining true consciousness. Suffering breeds experiences that nothing else can replace. It is as essential as any other factor in our development. It teaches temperance, patience, appreciation, modesty and humility. These are attributes of my character that have never been very strong, so perhaps that's why this is so important to me. Think about these attributes... Every one of them is an enviable characteristic, and everyone of them is enhanced through suffering. I hope to have time to come back to this soon and explain my reasoning, but not tonight.
I'll touch on one of them now, appreciation. Just as a trust-fund baby will never be as rich as a man who saved every dime until his retirement, a man who never feels pain can never experience the true physical pleasures in life.
When I get home after a long day at work and a tough workout, I am physically and mentally drained. My body aches and my mind is exhausted. But I shower and lay down in bed and the greatest sensation rushes through me because I have tasted the sour, and now I get to savor the sweet.
So this is why I run, why I run farther than most people think I should, through injury, poor weather, over hills and rocky terrain. It is not a quest for suffering, rather a quest for consicousness. My goal is not to find suffering, nor to avoid it. It is to experience life, whatever that may be.
Wednesday, December 14, 2005
The parallels of running and life
I got a message from a running friend, Dano, who had an interesting outlook on the parallels of a good, long trail run and real life. I hope he doesn't mind me sharing this, but I thought it was great insight on trail runs, but also our journeys in life.
We were sharing our war stories of the weekends trail race (like my previous post on the Sunmart 50 miler). Many people had similar stories to tell about the pain, the perserverence, and most importantly the fun we had sharing some time with other trail running friends. Here was Dano's take on the adventure:
reminded me of how it seems one of the many lessons for dano over the last year of running has been how much running parallels "real life" - whatever that means. 'specially trails. it dawned on me while reading our band's collection of stories from this weekend. no rocket science here, but it seems like in life, like on the long trail - you never know who you are going to meet up with - you never know how long the company is going to last - and you never know how either one of you is going to react to (or even make it through) what is waiting around the next bend. the best thing that you can do is to enjoy the current moment. nothing else really matters. the past, not a dang thing you can do - you can't take back a fall or an ankle roll. the future, won't come the way you expect it - it will be a surprise - no matter what. so that leaves the moment - this moment.
We were sharing our war stories of the weekends trail race (like my previous post on the Sunmart 50 miler). Many people had similar stories to tell about the pain, the perserverence, and most importantly the fun we had sharing some time with other trail running friends. Here was Dano's take on the adventure:
Monday, December 12, 2005
Sunmart - My first 50 miler
I woke up Friday morning and quickly stretched out my feet to see if they felt any better. Negative. It was the day before my first 50 mile race and my feet still hurt. I injured them 3 weeks ealier during the Warda Cardiac Run, and have been off the trails for 2 weeks trying to let them heal. Two weeks rest obviously didn't work and at that moment I realized that it didn't matter anymore. I was going to Huntville, I would toe the line, and I would run the race. The freezing weather, the aching feet, and the intense butterflies were just nuisances now, but they were not enough to stop me from acheiving what I had set out to do in August.
My wife, Kara, and I got in the car around 11am, and we drove to a friends house to drop off our dog. We dropped her off and headed out 290 to Houston for packet pick-up. I was anxious to just get through Houston before traffic picked up so that we could get to our hotel and settle down before dinner. I had this glorious plan of getting to bed early that night, which obviously was not thought out very well. Packet pickup was amazing. I couldn't believe how much stuff they gave us. But my rule for these races is that I don't look at or enjoy the gifts until after I have completed the race. There are people that will take out the free shirt and wear it that day, or during the race, but I just won't have it. The shirt and everything else stays in the bag until I finish the race. I have to feel like I earned the rewards. So Kara and I tossed the bag of goodies in the trunk and headed for Huntsville.
Once we got to the hotel we quickly unpacked and headed to Chile's for some pre-race dinner. I had the Cajun Chicken Pasta. Not because it looked good to me, or because I thought I needed to carbo-load, but because this is what I ate (at the same restaurant) the night before Rocky Raccoon. I'm very superstitious, so I didn't want to change anything. I would have asked to sit at the same table if I thought that my wife wouldn't smack me for doing so. After dinner we were walking to the car and it was so cold. The wind blew right through my jacket and I shivered. I don't know if it was because of the cold or because of my nerves, but that's when I lost all confidence. I thought about the cold weather, and my aching feet, and the 10 hours I was getting ready to run, and I told Kara, "Tomorrow is going to suck... Tomorrow is going to be the worst day of my life." It sounds comical and melodramatic now, but when I said it there was no doubt in my mind that I was speaking the truth. She brushed it off, knowing I was my usual nervous wreck, and we went back to the hotel for some sleep. I stayed up way too late watching re-runs of the Curb Your Enthusiasm before I finially nodded off into a shallow slumber.
The race started at 7am. I lined up in the back of the pack, heeding Sisson's advice to start slowly, and just settled into a slow waddle for the first few miles. It was really slow. I'm pretty sure I could walk faster and before too long I finally got fed up and started passing people. It didn't surpise me, this is how I do every race. There is an old buddhist saying that guides a lot of what I do. It says, "If you are going to cook, cook." It means that if you are going to do something, do it with everything you've got. Don't compromise anything. And for me, on this day, I was going to run. So I ran. I stepped out of the single file line, and I took off. I know it wasn't the most strategic move, and I probably wasted precious energy, but for me it was mental and I knew I had to feed my pride. At the long lonely out-and-back I saw JT. I was at least 10 minutes back from him and I figured the next time I saw him it would be 9 hours later and he'd be drinking a beer in the tent. I knew he had set a goal of 8 hours on this race and hoped he would make it. Next I saw Joe P and he was just like you'd expect, flying down the trail and catching up with an old friend. I waved and kept on down the trail to the turn-around. I hate that out-and-back and just tried to get through it as quickly as possible, knowing I'd do it 3 more times. The rest of the loop was uneventful. I got to the end of the first loop, waved to some spectators, chugged a Slimfast, and headed out for the next loop feeling good.
The second loop was more of the same. I saw a few people I knew, said hello and kept running at a solid 10:30 pace. When I reached the halfway point, I was right on pace for a 9 hour finish time. I was running great, but knew I wouldn't finish this strong. But my pace felt calibrated now, and figured I could venture a guess of 9:30 for a finish time. I was at 4:30, so I could run the second half 30 minutes slower. I told Kara that I was gonna slow down the third loop and save some energy for my "finishing kick." By this time I had a blister on my right foot that was starting to really hurt, but I didn't want to take off my shoe and treat it. Partially because I didn't want to sit around taking care of it, but mostly because I didn't want to know how bad it was. So I slammed another Slimfast and headed out for the second half.
I was right about slowing down for the third loop. At first I was taking scheduled walking breaks every 10 minutes (or when I reached some of the bigger hills), but soon my walking breaks became more frequent. I'd catch myself walking when I didn't even realize that I had stopped running. When I did start running, it was little more than a waddle. All this training, all the advice from Steve, Joe and the other veterans, and now it was out the window. Now I just needed to suck it up and run. I ate where I could, but the only thing I could take down was boiled potatoes. So I ate a lot of them. At the out-and-back I saw Jennifer and then Dano. They both looked tired, but healthy. I knew they were going to finish and I was happy for them. It gave me a little energy to see some familar faces and I probably got a good 15 minute jog in before I was tired again. Around mile 35 my blister became unbearable. I found a park bench and sat down. I quickly took off my shoe and sock, popped the blister with my fingernail, cleaned off some of the sand from my foot, and laced back up. Believe it or not, the blister never bothered me again. I stumbled to the end of the third loop, and past the HCTR tent trying to look better than I felt. I saw Joe there getting ready to head out for his last loop. I saw Claire and found out she took second in her age group which is great! And I saw my poor wife still sitting in the cold weather, out there to support me like always.
I sat down for a second and drank my last Slimfast for the day. Just then I heard Joe ask me if I'm gonna head out. He's ready to go and I'm not sure whether I am or not. But this was my chance to run with a legend and so I didn't waste any time. I jumped out of my seat, said goodbye to Kara, and I took off behind Joe. He was running a solid pace out of the starting gate and I quickly decided I wouldn't stay with him for very long. It was nice to run with him, he had taught me so much in the past few months whether he realized it or not, but it would be dumb to try to keep up with him. But I hung with him for awhile and struck up some conversation. We walked the uphills, but ran a good pace on the flats and downhills. We talked about some runs and nutrition and some other things, and the next thing I knew we were 5 miles into the loop and I felt better at that moment than I did during the first loop. My blood was pumping, the adreneline was flowing, I was a well-oiled machine after 42 miles. Before long I was confident again and I realized for the first time that I was going to make it to the finish line. There was nothing now that could stop me. Joe kept saying that I should go ahead without him if I was ready but I knew I wasn't yet. The time would come where I would give it that "finishing kick" I referred to earlier, but it wasn't time yet. Around 45 miles Joe told me that I was transforming from a trail running rookie to a veteran. Normally I would take this as a small congratulatory expression, but at this moment, with the emotions of finishing the race starting to kick in, and the gratitude I felt towards him and the rest of the Rogue group that I had the privilege to train with and learn from, it meant everything to me. I was now ready to go hard. I decided that the last aid station around mile 47 would be my starting line. When we got there, I had some Dr. Pepper and a Gu, said thank you to Joe, and I took off. I took off on my personal 5K race with no limits. As far as I was concerned, I was going for a world record at my astonishing 9:30/mile pace. I ran the uphills and "sprinted" the downhills. I saw a woman that had passed us earlier and it fueled me to continue on. I passed her and thought about the next victim. There was no stopping me now...
On second thought, there was something that could stop me. I turned the final corner and saw the finish line in sight. That was the only thing that could stop me now. The music was going, people were cheering. I ran past some Roguers and waved. I waved to my wife and ran hard to the finish line. Crossing the line I felt a wave of emotions that I hadn't felt before. It was excitement and disbelief, acomplishment, and even a little sadness that it was all over. Not the run, but the journey of getting there. I had so much fun during this adventure.
And here's the real kicker. When I cheked the results (mostly to see how others had fared) I saw my name with a '1' next to it. Can you believe it, I actually won my age group? Man, this was a pleasant surprise. There were only a couple of us in the age group, but it still felt great. Sunmart was giving out these great little "horse" trophies that I had admired before the race, and now I was actually going to get one.
My wife, Kara, and I got in the car around 11am, and we drove to a friends house to drop off our dog. We dropped her off and headed out 290 to Houston for packet pick-up. I was anxious to just get through Houston before traffic picked up so that we could get to our hotel and settle down before dinner. I had this glorious plan of getting to bed early that night, which obviously was not thought out very well. Packet pickup was amazing. I couldn't believe how much stuff they gave us. But my rule for these races is that I don't look at or enjoy the gifts until after I have completed the race. There are people that will take out the free shirt and wear it that day, or during the race, but I just won't have it. The shirt and everything else stays in the bag until I finish the race. I have to feel like I earned the rewards. So Kara and I tossed the bag of goodies in the trunk and headed for Huntsville.
Once we got to the hotel we quickly unpacked and headed to Chile's for some pre-race dinner. I had the Cajun Chicken Pasta. Not because it looked good to me, or because I thought I needed to carbo-load, but because this is what I ate (at the same restaurant) the night before Rocky Raccoon. I'm very superstitious, so I didn't want to change anything. I would have asked to sit at the same table if I thought that my wife wouldn't smack me for doing so. After dinner we were walking to the car and it was so cold. The wind blew right through my jacket and I shivered. I don't know if it was because of the cold or because of my nerves, but that's when I lost all confidence. I thought about the cold weather, and my aching feet, and the 10 hours I was getting ready to run, and I told Kara, "Tomorrow is going to suck... Tomorrow is going to be the worst day of my life." It sounds comical and melodramatic now, but when I said it there was no doubt in my mind that I was speaking the truth. She brushed it off, knowing I was my usual nervous wreck, and we went back to the hotel for some sleep. I stayed up way too late watching re-runs of the Curb Your Enthusiasm before I finially nodded off into a shallow slumber.
The race started at 7am. I lined up in the back of the pack, heeding Sisson's advice to start slowly, and just settled into a slow waddle for the first few miles. It was really slow. I'm pretty sure I could walk faster and before too long I finally got fed up and started passing people. It didn't surpise me, this is how I do every race. There is an old buddhist saying that guides a lot of what I do. It says, "If you are going to cook, cook." It means that if you are going to do something, do it with everything you've got. Don't compromise anything. And for me, on this day, I was going to run. So I ran. I stepped out of the single file line, and I took off. I know it wasn't the most strategic move, and I probably wasted precious energy, but for me it was mental and I knew I had to feed my pride. At the long lonely out-and-back I saw JT. I was at least 10 minutes back from him and I figured the next time I saw him it would be 9 hours later and he'd be drinking a beer in the tent. I knew he had set a goal of 8 hours on this race and hoped he would make it. Next I saw Joe P and he was just like you'd expect, flying down the trail and catching up with an old friend. I waved and kept on down the trail to the turn-around. I hate that out-and-back and just tried to get through it as quickly as possible, knowing I'd do it 3 more times. The rest of the loop was uneventful. I got to the end of the first loop, waved to some spectators, chugged a Slimfast, and headed out for the next loop feeling good.
The second loop was more of the same. I saw a few people I knew, said hello and kept running at a solid 10:30 pace. When I reached the halfway point, I was right on pace for a 9 hour finish time. I was running great, but knew I wouldn't finish this strong. But my pace felt calibrated now, and figured I could venture a guess of 9:30 for a finish time. I was at 4:30, so I could run the second half 30 minutes slower. I told Kara that I was gonna slow down the third loop and save some energy for my "finishing kick." By this time I had a blister on my right foot that was starting to really hurt, but I didn't want to take off my shoe and treat it. Partially because I didn't want to sit around taking care of it, but mostly because I didn't want to know how bad it was. So I slammed another Slimfast and headed out for the second half.
I was right about slowing down for the third loop. At first I was taking scheduled walking breaks every 10 minutes (or when I reached some of the bigger hills), but soon my walking breaks became more frequent. I'd catch myself walking when I didn't even realize that I had stopped running. When I did start running, it was little more than a waddle. All this training, all the advice from Steve, Joe and the other veterans, and now it was out the window. Now I just needed to suck it up and run. I ate where I could, but the only thing I could take down was boiled potatoes. So I ate a lot of them. At the out-and-back I saw Jennifer and then Dano. They both looked tired, but healthy. I knew they were going to finish and I was happy for them. It gave me a little energy to see some familar faces and I probably got a good 15 minute jog in before I was tired again. Around mile 35 my blister became unbearable. I found a park bench and sat down. I quickly took off my shoe and sock, popped the blister with my fingernail, cleaned off some of the sand from my foot, and laced back up. Believe it or not, the blister never bothered me again. I stumbled to the end of the third loop, and past the HCTR tent trying to look better than I felt. I saw Joe there getting ready to head out for his last loop. I saw Claire and found out she took second in her age group which is great! And I saw my poor wife still sitting in the cold weather, out there to support me like always.
I sat down for a second and drank my last Slimfast for the day. Just then I heard Joe ask me if I'm gonna head out. He's ready to go and I'm not sure whether I am or not. But this was my chance to run with a legend and so I didn't waste any time. I jumped out of my seat, said goodbye to Kara, and I took off behind Joe. He was running a solid pace out of the starting gate and I quickly decided I wouldn't stay with him for very long. It was nice to run with him, he had taught me so much in the past few months whether he realized it or not, but it would be dumb to try to keep up with him. But I hung with him for awhile and struck up some conversation. We walked the uphills, but ran a good pace on the flats and downhills. We talked about some runs and nutrition and some other things, and the next thing I knew we were 5 miles into the loop and I felt better at that moment than I did during the first loop. My blood was pumping, the adreneline was flowing, I was a well-oiled machine after 42 miles. Before long I was confident again and I realized for the first time that I was going to make it to the finish line. There was nothing now that could stop me. Joe kept saying that I should go ahead without him if I was ready but I knew I wasn't yet. The time would come where I would give it that "finishing kick" I referred to earlier, but it wasn't time yet. Around 45 miles Joe told me that I was transforming from a trail running rookie to a veteran. Normally I would take this as a small congratulatory expression, but at this moment, with the emotions of finishing the race starting to kick in, and the gratitude I felt towards him and the rest of the Rogue group that I had the privilege to train with and learn from, it meant everything to me. I was now ready to go hard. I decided that the last aid station around mile 47 would be my starting line. When we got there, I had some Dr. Pepper and a Gu, said thank you to Joe, and I took off. I took off on my personal 5K race with no limits. As far as I was concerned, I was going for a world record at my astonishing 9:30/mile pace. I ran the uphills and "sprinted" the downhills. I saw a woman that had passed us earlier and it fueled me to continue on. I passed her and thought about the next victim. There was no stopping me now...
On second thought, there was something that could stop me. I turned the final corner and saw the finish line in sight. That was the only thing that could stop me now. The music was going, people were cheering. I ran past some Roguers and waved. I waved to my wife and ran hard to the finish line. Crossing the line I felt a wave of emotions that I hadn't felt before. It was excitement and disbelief, acomplishment, and even a little sadness that it was all over. Not the run, but the journey of getting there. I had so much fun during this adventure.
And here's the real kicker. When I cheked the results (mostly to see how others had fared) I saw my name with a '1' next to it. Can you believe it, I actually won my age group? Man, this was a pleasant surprise. There were only a couple of us in the age group, but it still felt great. Sunmart was giving out these great little "horse" trophies that I had admired before the race, and now I was actually going to get one.
After this I headed back to the tent and said goodbye to my new running friends. It was so great to get to see them all after their own great accomplishments. I could not have trained for and finished this race without this great group of runners. Congratulations to all that had the courage to get out there and run this weekend. I can't wait to see you on the trails again soon. I guess now it's time to sing up for Bandera.
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