Summer Running

Sunday morning at 5, a friend and I headed down the C&O for a easy run of 19 miles.  The easy part was starting, the hard part continuing...after all it was like 80 degrees and 90% humidity.  I found myself several times because of the heat wanting to turn around and head back to the car, but because of my commitment to run with this friend his first 19 mile run...I didn't.  We just kept moving down the trail, finally after about 2 hours, we made the turn and headed back up the canal. Yes, we ran down river for the first 9.5 miles and as we headed back up the humidity broke.  The temperature continued to climb but the run actually became a pleasure.  As we headed back up the path, my friend noticed a waterfall that I had never seen before and I've run this path several times.  Finally after another two hours of running we reached the end...and I was so glad we did.  The temperature had reached into the 90s and the Heat Index had topped the 100 degree mark.

So why did we do it?  Friendship.  Loyalty.  Companionship...all these things.  We suffered through the long hot run, and in the process, we learned a little more about each other.  That's what challenges do.  They help us grow in appreciation of others.  My friend who pointed out the waterfall...had never run this trail before, but now, I'll never forget...and every time I run past the waterfall again...I thinking of Ron....and how he toughed it out and did his first 19 mile run on the C&O on a day that was over 100 degrees.

Week Off

I really wish I could say I have had a great week off from running...but the truth...no I've missed it. My right ankle is still recovering from the 50K last week and I know given my schedule for the year, I need it to heal. I noticed back on Wednesday and now every day since...whenever I pass a runner...I find myself wanting to be out there, too.

This past week, I have been extremely busy with work, and so this time off from running has allowed me the time I needed to finish a few projects I've been working on. As it says in the Bible...there is a time to work and a time to play. I just want to get out and play...and next week, I'll do just that...and I'll start working on preparing for the next challenge, my Fall Marathons. Until then, go out easy, have fun and keep the desire to run.

Don Quixote and the North Face Endurance Challenge 50K

As I ran along the Potomac River, up and down the bluff and through the woods and fields that made up the 50K course of the North Face Endurance Challenge, I found myself observing the other runners around me. They were wonderful people. All were attempting to conquer something that was deeply personal.

For me, I learned the lesson, once again that I had to trust God…and in my pain rise once again and continue to the end. That happened around mile 27. I had completed a fairly easy section of the course that ran along side the river when I entered a very rock area. The trail I was running along came to a point where you had the steep bluff wall on your left a small ledge to run along with about 2 feet drop to the rocks on the right. My legs were dead and I was totally spent. I was thinking about the next climb of about 600 yards that would be the last major climb of the race. Not something I should have been thinking about…but your mind tends to wander as you run. The next thing I felt was a rock under my right foot and the twisting of my ankle. The pain shot up through my body like lightning and I felt my body tumble forward into the rocks in front of me. Slamming my body to the ground and knocking all the air out of me. I tried to roll over to but rocks all around me made it almost physically impossible. I lay there thinking it was all over. I didn’t have the strength to move.

I again pushed up with my arms and still had trouble trying to rise. Then I heard the voice of another runner asking me if I was all right. His hand touched my arm and he helped me to my feet. I said I was good and my name less aid headed down the path, I following. I willed my body forward. My fellow runner who stopped and helped me to my feet gave me a wonderful gift. He gave me hope and a chance to finish the race before me.

Later that evening while attending my eldest daughter’s play, I found myself on the verge of tears. The play was a retelling of the story of Don Quixote. And as you all know in the end Don Quixote dies with Sancho Panza and Aldonza (Dulcinea) at his side urging him to live. And so it ends with Alonzo Quexana rising from his bed as Don Quixote ready to fight evil until his death. At that moment, I too realize what I conquered that morning in the race. As I stood up after that fall, I went on to finish the toughest race of my life. But I finished it because God sent a runner to give me a hand up when I needed it the most. He was my Sancho Panza…and he helped me fight to the very end.

Next Test - First Ultra Marathon - 50 K

Well, in two weeks I'm out there again but this time I'm moving up to an Ultra-marathon. Its a 50 K run along the Potomac River. It starts in Algonkian Park and the moves down river through River Bend Park and into Great Falls Park where we run around the park and then back track up the course to Algonkian Park to the finish. The whole course is on the Virginian side of the river. I'm totally unfamiliar with the course even thought I spend a day in Great Falls Park back in February 1980. My memory of that area includes steep inclines...so my anxiety is up.

The total Gain/Loss listed for the course is 3147 feet. The only thing in my experience that comes close to that much climbing are the Palos Verdes Marathon in San Pedro and Big Sur Marathon in Monterey California. And those were just under 2000 feet of climb. So...how am I going to run the course. Very slowly...that is key. I know there are some supermen out there who will go out full speed on their first marathon, or ultra, but they really should be the exception to the rule, rather than the rule.

I'm a firm believer that the first time you attempt a distance be that a 5K race to the Ultra marathons, your personal goal should be just to finish the race. As you gain experience and knowledge of how to run that distance, you can begin to push it and try to set personal records. When I coached High School distance runners, I only had them run full out after they felt comfortable with the distance, and sometimes that was after their second full season on the track or on the trails. The need for practical knowledge of having run a course will always improve performance in following years.

So on 4 June, I'm off to run my first Ultra-marathon. Game plan: Go out easy, have fun and keep the desire to run.

Pittsburgh Marathon - Its the shoes...my fault.

I was prepared to run what I thought would be one of my best races in the last few years, but unfortunately that was not the case. I ran a "Okay" race but not a great one...and that's alright. One of the things that I have learned through all of my races is that somedays you are on and some days...its just not there. Sunday...it just wasn't there. I ran my plan, but at about mile 4, my shoes didn't feel right and by mile 8 my feet were in total pain. I actually thought around 23 miles that I had broken my right foot because of the pain...but the reality was "new shoes."

Okay...remember this rule and keep it. Don't change shoes in the last few weeks before your big race.

Right after the National Marathon, I was developing soreness in my right ankle and I also realized that my racing shoes, that I ran with on the treadmill were breaking down. So I a few weeks ago I went out and replaced them with a new pair of shoes. I thought I broke them in by running a few easy miles on the treadmill...but...on Sunday as I was running on the roads around Pittsburgh, I realize that the shoes were a piece of junk. Yea...the problem was the shoes. Wrong...the problem was me. I changed shoes and didn't run with them on the open road before hand. Had I tested them out, I most likely would have worn my training shoes, but I didn't do it. So again, like at that National...No excuses...just didn't perform the way that I wanted to. Yet...I did finish and I now have 26 Marathons to my name.

As for the race itself. I ran pretty much like I wanted to, but because of the shoes, I slowed down at the end. Can't say that I hit a wall...but my last 8 miles were in the 12 minute/mile range. As for the course. It was great...and I can't wait to run it again next year...yea...I'm going back...and I won't change shoes during the last two weeks again.

Tapering for Pittsburgh Marathon

Okay...I'm ready...now lets get to the starting line. I'm starting to get that racer anxiety...that comes when you know you've done everything right. My milage has been right on for what I'm wanting to do, I've averaged about 35 miles a week for the past 10 weeks. I've gotten in three runs over over 20 miles, and I've done seven runs over 15 miles. So I know mentally, I'm as prepared as I could be.

Now this week, I've been resting. I ran 2 miles on Monday, 5 miles on Tuesday, 2 miles on Wednesday, rested Yesterday, and today another 2. Tomorrow, I'll not run with the traveling to Pittsburgh and Sunday morning...I run. That is only 11 miles for the week, but perfect when you think about tapering for the race. Everyone is different on how much they taper, but this works for me. Back when I did my 4:10 at the Air Force Marathon in 2008, that taper was identical with this one.

When I taper well like this, I find myself anxious to get out there to run. I'm not sure what causes that desire, but it is a strange feeling. So...let me get there and lets get this run done. More later.

7 Days

I'm not a Biblical Literalist! Yes, I believe that God created the Heavens and the Earths, but not in literally 7 days, more like 7 of God's days...or a few million years or so. But that's not my point in this blog. No, I'm thinking of 7 days as in one week before the next test..."Pittsburgh." Next Sunday is the Pittsburgh Marathon, and I'll be there for the second time.

Back in 2001, I ran the race...and a few months later...Bin Laden launched his attack on the United States, that changed my life dramatically. Over the past 10 years, I have spent over 700 days in the Middle East and Southwest Asia. Now this year the idea hit me that again, my life could be very different. I’m nearing retirement from the Air Force in the next few months or years. And I’ve wondered will this “Pittsburgh Marathon” once again mark a major shift in my life and my work? My gut tells me that it just might. Bin Laden is dead, and I think this is shifting our worldview again. The economy is not in the best shape and will be challenging for the next several years. So it is inevitable that the times they are a changing.

So in 7 days, how different will my life be? Will I have finished my 26th marathon? Will I be looking at a world that might once again be attacked by fanatics? Will I be one step closer to retirement from the Air Force? Will life be once again, a scary place?

But then I think…of that passage in Genesis…you know where God creates the world in seven days…but my attention is drawn towards those little words at the end of each day… “And God saw that it was good.” Yea…life might be scary and always changing…but God sees that it is “Good.”