Tuesday 12/22

With the Whitewater Center still closed, I was once again stuck doing Renaissance Park. Showed up early to get in some extra miles and enjoy some slightly warmer temps, only to realize that my headlamp seemed a bit dim. Maybe it was just the fading light around me, and once it was fully dark my light would seem normal? Nope! Apparently my 4-setting light is stuck on "low". Just put in new batteries, so I'm guessing it's the bulb, finally fading after a few years of service. Normally, I wouldn't really have minded. I'm usually able to run in low-light conditions, but the rain the previous Friday was still apparent, as the trails were quite muddy. Okay, maybe the USNWC had a reason to be closed. Decided to run down the gravel road, and then back up it, for a little hill work, and then through the far parking lot, before heading back on the trails. Only .8 miles, but the light was so dim I gave up, made my way to the actual road and just ran back on it. Thus, I found myself standing in the parking lot by my car, 34:11 and 3.24 miles after I started. I had averaged a 10:32 mile in that time.
Went inside the offices to warm up a little, and came out to find Tasty in the parking lot. We talked, I told her that I wasn't going on the trails with no light in the mud, so she was on her own. However, a newbie showed up, and since he lives north of town, he was set on running, no matter the trail conditions, temperature or company. And so Tasty decided to run too. They headed onto the trails, and I debated what to do. Since I hadn't heard back about my dinner plans, I decided to run some more in the parking lot. 30 minutes later, I had done another 3.1 miles, apparently at a 9:44 pace. not exactly speedy, but hey, I managed to get 6.34 miles and 63 minutes out of a night when I could have stopped instantly due to the dead light. Felt decent, just cold, and Tasty and I met a new, fast runner who likes trails, so maybe we'll introduce him to the dark side of running

Shoez

Like more and more runners these days, I've gotten into the minimalist style of running. It's been tough, especially since I was so excited when I got my lighter shoes that I overdid it at first. I still have a nagging ache on the top of my right arch, especially noticeable when driving. Oddly, I never feel it when running. I suspect it's from the new shoes and mid-foot running transition. On Thursday, I ran 6 road miles, 2 before the group run, in my New Balance 790s, then 4 with everyone else, in my old Mizunos. I feel a difference with the New Balances, they're just so light and make me feel powerful. That seems to be reflected in my splits. I'm still not good about warming up and pacing, so my first mile was a 7:45 pace. I dialed it back for the second mile, mixing walks in at this point and going back up hill, so overall it was a 9:15 pace for 2 miles. Switched into the more conventional shoes, though since I've had them for a year they're definitely not as cushioned anymore. And my first mile was an 8:35. I don't think I was trying to go slower, and I usually run faster with a group, plus this involved a .75 mile downhill run! However, over the course of the run, I began to feel last Saturday more in my legs. I didn't think it would still be with me, but I guess that degree of trail racing, combined with another 4.5 miles of road running had kicked the ass of my quads a bit. Thus, it's hard to make an exact comparison between shoes, though my feet and legs felt great while hashing this Saturday.

On that note, I'm a sucker for the Sing-Off. I've known about the Bubs since 2002, and am a fan of acappella in general, so I can't help but like it! It's kinda weird that they've already apparently filmed everything except the finale, and don't tell me it's the "hottest show in America" during the previews for night 2, plus the constant "they're doing it without instruments!!!!" gets annoying after a while, but I can't help but enjoy the harmonies and choreography. Where are the Waiters or Last Call?!?!?!!?!?!

Moping

For some reason, it seems like every time our Tuesday trail run is scheduled for the US National Whitewater Center, it rains. Which shuts the trails down. Which I hate, because the USNWC is my favorite place to run around here. 14 miles of trails, beginner to highly technical mountain biking, so a runner can pick and choose a longer, flatter run or a run with more climbs. As I continue training for my trail marathons and ultra(s?) in 2010, I'll definitely be wearing the hell out of those trails. Plus, at $40 for a year-long pass, it's a great deal. Assuming it doesn't rain every time I want to run there.
Of course, running on wet trails is a necessary skill, so a place like Renaissance Park, which simply asks that you don't use the trails for 24 hours after rain, is great. I only feel slightly dickish for violating those rules, mainly because it's for bikes more than runners, since they can skid and slide more than we do. Unless it's seriously muddy, in which case the trails are screwed no matter what. 7 miles of trails, not as fun, which I know is because of the terrain, not the design of the trails. There's only so much you can do with a forest, especially when you have no budget. God bless the volunteers. Not the Tennessee ones, they suck.

And so I did a little 4.5 mile run on the wet trails at Renaissance today. Legs weren't feeling stellar, so I cut it shorter than I had planned, but with temps in the 60's, how could I not run? Slipped and fell at the very end, if it wasn't for the high temperatures, I wouldn't have been out there, but I'm still glad I did it. Never regretting a run you did, and all that jazz. On that note, how is that the home of Broadway ruled against gay marriage?

Baby's First Run Recap

As I've begun to immerse myself in the field of ultrarunning, I've enjoyed reading the write-ups of various runners, of various abilities, of various skill levels. While it's great when you can "get inside the head" of a 100-miler winner, it's also interesting to read what a "back of the pack" finisher took away from the experience. Because that's what this really is. A 5K is an event. 3 miles, completed in as little as 15 minutes. Sitcoms take more time than that. I can do one in 26 minutes, probably. A 10K doubles the mileage, doubles the time, but can you really learn anything about yourself in 60 minutes? True, there's the "twists ankle, finds the inner strength to go the last 2 miles" story, but it's still just 6 miles. When you get up to the level of a marathon, you're more committed. 2 hours for the best, 4 hours is still good, and there's nothing wrong with 6 hours. You can get a lot done in 6 hours. Soul searching, hitting the proverbial wall, etc. But you can also just power up your iPod and lose yourself in the music.
Yet ultras seem to be a different monster all together. A champion might finish in 15 hours, or possibly 24, for a truly grueling one. And while an iPod can also last that long, can you really run 24 hours sustained solely by music? Or can a trip that long teach you something about yourself. Help you find a new purpose, or redefine what you want to do with your life. One of the biggest differences I've noticed is the discussion of aid stations. The volunteers there, the different foods offered, the struggle to keep going. Most of the time, they're not running through, downing a water or Gatorade on the fly. They've covered 30, 40, 50 miles, and may be wondering why they should keep going. Sitting down to change shoes, and enjoying the resting sensation.

And I want to experience that. To reach that point, and see what I find within myself. Sure, a marathon is a good place to start, to be moving for (ideally) 4 hours or so. So we'll start with shorter races, and build up.


Saturday was a "shorter" race. 7 miles. Some chose to do the loop again, and hit 14 miles. 360 did the 7, 135 did 14, according to the results. The race caps at 750, and apparently usually hits that mark, but the cold and wet conditions may have kept some people away, since only 495 completed the course (maybe others started but didn't finish?) As a starter for my "running rebirth" I couldn't have picked a better race. Nor could it have started in a worse way. While standing in line for the port-a-potty, I suddenly realized I had left my bib in my car. I had my timing chip on my shoe, so I wasn't worried about not getting an official finish, but I really wanted pictures of this. And without a bib number, it's hard to search for yourself. Man, I really hope the event photographers let you search for bib numbers. Because there was less than 5 minutes before the start, and I had to run a good .4 miles there, and then back, to get my bib and start the race. Added nearly a mile, and I didn't even make it in time. I ran past the pack on my way to the start, only to discover there was no starting mat, so I, and a few others, just started back down the road toward the tail end of the pack.

I quickly made up ground, and was pleased with how well my legs felt. I was trying to avoid overdoing it so early, since we were on the roads at this point. The switch to trails was the first hold up, since it was a narrow gap in the brush, so I got a brief respite. A lot of people seemed surprised/dismayed by the mud. True, you don't sign up to slog through mud constantly for 7 miles, but it's a trail race, and we just had rain. Rain + trail = mud. It's a simple equation. Thus, I was able to pass a bunch of people, as they were trying to go around the mud rather than just splashing through it. This was a theme for the remainder of the race. I didn't see many people other than myself actually choosing to run through the mud, which slowed them down and gave me open paths and quicker running.

While I'm no speedster, I'm hardly a back of the pack runner in events like this, so I was glad I had found a way to keep moving and fall in with people who were more my speed. That being said, my time definitely suffered from starting at the very back. I'm not saying I would have won any awards, but I would have been several minutes quicker, possibly even breaking 60 minutes, had I not been dodging people so often and early. It's one thing to do it on roads, but on trails, you can't just pass someone whenever you feel like it. You have to wait for an opening, or for them to find a spot to move over. This also may have helped me to keep my legs fresh, because I couldn't overclock.

Early on, I started to appreciate just how awesome my New Balance MT100's are. I hate to sound like a paid reviewer, but they definitely gave me an edge. With a lot of hills, both up and down, many of which were slick with mud, I never lost my footing. On uphills, I could power through and not worry about my feet slipping back and fall on my face. And on downhills, their braking system in the heels meant I kept my speed up, skipping across rocks, roots and mud without fail, unlike many of the other racers. And with how lightweight they are, plus how quickly they shed water (many streams were stepped through), my feet were never weighed down. I didn't really have time to examine the shoes of anyone else, but from the number of them that seemed concerned about getting their shoes wet, I'm thinking that a lot of people weren't wearing trail shoes. Yes, the water was cold, but if you kept moving, you weren't going to catch frostbite or anything. So I jumped through puddles and streams with glee, taken a certain amount of joy in abusing my shoes, because I knew they could take it.

Anywho, this trail was a muddy mess. I'd hate to be the ones who have to clean it up, because the mud was everywhere. I wish I had pictures of the awesomeness, but those pesky water crossings would clean my lower legs back up.




I'll try to find pictures of Marcus's legs later, as they looked like he had bathed in the mud, but my own legs will have to do for now.

My mind is still jumping all over the place from this run, wanting to share everything at once, which I think speaks to how joyful I felt during this experience. I found a certain perverse joy in this playing in the mud, jumping into mud puddles, flying down hills, for 7 straight miles. I think hashing helped prepare me for this, because I've definitely run in worse conditions, without helpful trail markers. I had a goofy grin on my face for most of it, which kept me positive and upbeat, instead of thinking about how much further we had to go. In fact, I really didn't pay attention to the distance until we were 4 miles in. 3 miles left, how hard could that be?

As for my mile splits, it's kinda hard to determine. My Garmin tells me that I did 6.66 miles, which can be blamed on GPS coverage, confirmed by others also have 6.6-6.7, instead of 7. But going by my watch, the first mile was 11:19, which sounds right, because of the waiting at several spots. Mile 2 was 11:05, more waiting. Mile 3 was 10:11, getting faster. Mile 4 was 11:26, possibly because I took a breather with a slower pack, before powering back ahead, with Mile 5 in 9:25, and Mile 6 at 9:47. Technically, Mile 7 was in 6:13, because that's when I finished, and while I sped up at the very end, it wasn't that fast. Mainly because I thought I still had 4/10 of a mile to go, instead of rounding the corner and seeing the finish line. My pace was a 9:47, with only a couple walk breaks, never lasting more than a minute, but the lines for several bridges and hills definitely held me up. I'm envious of the 14 mile winner, who not only ran both 7 mile loops fast enough to win the shorter race with either one, he finished 11 minutes ahead of 2nd place. I saw him finish, and didn't even realize it, because I only beat him by 20 minutes. Twice the distance, and he's 20 minutes behind me. Wow.

Not that I'm in any way disappointed with this race. I'm really pleased with my effort, especially since my last 10K was 5 seconds slower. I go another .8 miles, in much worse conditions, and I'm 5 seconds faster. I've put in a lot of training, long trails, longer roads, hills, speed, and I'm started to see results. One of the most telling factors, other than my jogging to my car after the race, is that I then did a 4.5 mile hash 2 hours later, on roads, and had an 11:00/mile pace. Not speedy, by any means, and I wore trail shoes rather than road shoes, but I still ran decently well, and when you're hitting most checks as the first runner, you get slowed down by the searching. All told, I did nearly 13 miles on Saturday, between warm ups, the race, and the hash, and while my legs are definitely feeling it, it's hardly unbearable. Also, since I'll say I started at the very back of the pack, I passed 251 runners in the 7 mile race, and 54 in the 14 mile race. 304 runners. That's a lot of passing, especially since I never got passed. Well, never got passed and didn't pass them back.

I'm also quite appreciative for the Race Director, and all of the volunteers that helped with parking, aid stations, registration, after race food, timing, etc. I'm honestly surprised that they held the race, considering how bad the conditions were, since the trails will be beat-up for a while. Assuming the park service doesn't get pissed off and ban the race from coming back, they're champs for letting us have the event here. The trails are a lot of fun, a great mix of hills and flat areas. The parking was a nightmare, because we couldn't really park off the road because of the mud, so the street became a one-lane road, but I made it out of there with no problem.

I'll have to keep looking out for trail races in the area, and ask other locals if they know of any coming up, as I'd like to do at least one more trail race (at least 10K) before March and the Umstead Marathon.

The Problem With Trail Running

At least, the trails that I often run, is they're technical mountain bike trails, and full of turns, dips, and uphills. You don't want to get too much speed on a bike there, because if you fall you're going ot do some serious damage. For a runner, this makes it tough to run quickly. On one hand, it should theoretically make you a better runner, because running on these trails makes any relatively flat course incredibly easy in comparison. But it's still disconcerting when I struggle to maintain any sort of speed for a distance.

On the trails, I can run at a 9:00 to 10:00 pace, and take walking breaks every 3-5 minutes to recharge my batteries, so I'll end up averaging an 11:00/mi pace overall, usually. On a 5 mile road course this past Saturday, my runs were all under 9:00, with a best of an 8:22 pace for 1/2 mile. I was holding back slightly, because we then did a 3.5 mile run 9 minutes after I finished the 5 mile course, once again running sub 9:00 laps, although I walked for a longer period of time to allow a new runner to catch up to me, but I still felt great with my speed. Finally, 6 hours after this, I did a 4 mile hash, which was half on the road and half in creeks and woods where you really couldn't run.

All in all, I did 12.68 miles on Saturday, with an 11:21 pace overall. And I felt good afterward! No problems Sunday morning, although legs were a little heavy Monday, and no pain. Yesterday, I ran 7.5 miles, and another 3.0 today, so I've done 10.5 for the week. And those 10.5 have been at a 12:11 average pace. Probably a little slower than usual, as I'm still not used to the longer weekend runs, and pushed a little too hard on Saturday, but that's a fairly accurate representation of my trail speed. On the 3 miler today, the last two-tenths of a mile were in the open, on a gravel path, but I didn't really recognize the difference until I saw that I ran that .2 with an 8:13 pace, without trying. I mean to say, I wasn't attempting to sprint the last section, just to run it, and I didn't realize my speed until I uploaded the courses to my computer. This is confirmation that I really should spend more time on the open courses, instead of tight trails, so that I can work on my speed and stamina. I should try to find a track around me that I can run at.

Ruminations On A Friday Night

First off, it's just funny to be completely sober on a Friday night. Went to the fair with Stephanie, Maya, and Maya's friend, nice little family time. It's a little disconcerting to feel a change in my thoughts, in that I now enjoy taking my time while driving, not just for safety, but out of some strange feeling of parental responsibility. And I'm not even a parent!

But anyway, to the heart of my desire to write, running. It's still somewhat strange to me, to be a runner. To have dedicated running attire. Wicking shirts, specialized socks, running shorts. Not just basketball shorts, actual running shorts. In high school, my brother was the runner. I saw no reason for it. The only race that I'm aware of him entering, the Manchester Road Race, he completed in 38:05, when he was 17. That was the first race I ever entered, when I was 21, and I did it in 46:33. He averaged a 7:57 mile, I did a 9:43. Talk about getting your ass kicked!

But there's something more to running, I've come to believe. Most people who enter a 5K, 10K, half or full marathon, they don't expect to win. Nor should they. Some are just seeking to place in their age group, acknowledging that time is taking a toll on their bodies. But others are just looking for self improvement (and maybe a cool shirt). I've started to enjoy running more for the inner aspects of it, rather than the outer. The moments that matter the most to me are those precious seconds when my legs are loose, my breathing measured, and my stride long. When I go from running next to Stephanie to pulling past her, without any slowing down on her part, or actual effort on mine. We ran last night and I had that happen about 2.5 miles in to a 5 mile run. My pace dropped below an 8:00/mi, and yet I didn't feel like I was pushing it. I was just utilizing my natural leg length.

That's what keeps me coming back, those moments when the running feels easy and I feel free. I seek out trails to run not just because of the challenge and variety they create, but because it's easier to feel free without the constant humming of traffic. To believe for that little bit of time that it's just you and the trail. I'm sure you can achieve that feeling for a longer period of time out West, or even around here in the rural areas.

It's the same feeling I used to get from golf. I enjoyed it most when it was just me, the club, and the ball. No competition, no external pressure, just my own internal contest. I have no problem walking during a run, because when I do it, it's a choice, not necessity. I'm training my body to go longer distances, and that requires taking it easy some times. I've had guys comment "you hung with us for that first mile" when they don't realize that I could have kept going, but I chose to take a break, usually because I've already run 3 or 4 miles before they showed up, and I've got 3 or 4 more to go.

One of my favorite books, which addresses the impressionable nature of the golfing public, speculates on why people love golf so much. It concludes that it isn't the setting, the battle against nature, or the variety of skills it calls for. Instead, it's the variable nature of it all, the same reason that Tiger Woods doesn't win every time, but can still put together rounds that wow everyone around him. On any given day, he can put together a nearly perfect round of golf. He may never birdie every hole, but if he plays the course enough times, he will have a birdie or better recorded on each hole. The thing is, that's also true for the average golfer. For some, it may be to par every hole. But everyone has the possibility. It starts on the first tee box, before the ball is even struck.
And the same can apply to running. I pull in to the parking lot, stretch, and get ready, and this could be a perfect run. My lungs could be clear, my strides firm, my splits negative, everything is possible. I'm not going to run a 4:00 mile or 15:00 5K, but I can cover a stretch of ground faster than previous, or with less effort. There's something beautiful about running for the sake of running, doing it for your own enjoyment, marveling at the beauty of how our bodies work, how we can rapidly cover difficult terrain without busting our asses (most of the time).

Yes, I realize that can be at odds with the idea of inner competition, trying to outdo yourself, but some days, I'm running with a goal, and other days, I'm running just to feel alive, to fight through the wind in my face, feel the sweat run over my eyes, and keep pushing, wondering what is beyond that next bend.

Recovery

Apparently I caught something during the Labor Day hash-travaganza, as I was subsequently barely able to move for a week following it. As a result, I wasn't able to run, and even at the next hash I was struggling just to keep control of my body, hence my not being FRB, which apparently was unusual enough for people to ask what was wrong.
Luckily, I'm back to running, and feeling much better, although the weight loss was kinda nice. Nearly back below 200, and kicking Slim's ass