Back to Basics Works (Again)

I'm recently (and still, it seems) recovering from a hamstring issue. It's healing, slowly, but healing nonetheless. Sunday, I decided to test it out with an eight mile, progression run (gets faster each mile). Normally, an eight mile run is not a big deal. Unfortunately, I had not been that far in two months. While all in all, the run went well, there were a few middle miles when it DID NOT seem that way. The next few paragraphs describe the choices I (we) have when things aren't going as they might.

As with any experience in running or work or life, there are three possible scenarios that exist at that point when one realizes that things aren't going so well: 1) We can continue going through the motions and simply hang on till the end, 2) we can fold up the tent and call it a day, or 3) we can get out of your comfort zone and try something daring and yet familiar at the same time. I chose number three. The daring part: pick up the pace. The familiar part: go back to basics to do it.

There are three basics at the very core of running: feet on ground (biomechanics), breathing and overall relaxation (physical AND mental). Choosing a nice downhill, I asked myself, "doing okay?" Upon receiving an extremely weak but affirmative answer, I decided to pick it up. The pace increase was noticeable. I lasered my consciousness on running efficiently and relaxed and went into what I call monitor mode: feet landing well and pushing off easily? Check! Hands and face relaxed? Check. Breathing under control? Check! Repeat, repeat, repeat.

Amazingly, although not really, the change was nearly immediate. I knocked off a quicker mile and I felt fantastic! The seventh mile was even faster and considerably under my early pace and despite a decent size hill in mile eight, that one was quick too. Somehow I had turned lemons into lemonade and what could have been a rough finish into a fabulous run. Back to basics, as per usual, had worked.

When faced with a difficult task, rely on what you know. Draw strength from your basics. It's the ninth inning in the movie For Love of the Game, when Billy Chapel (aka, Kevin Costner) discovers that he has nothing left and his quest for the perfect game may be over. He lets out a deep breath, closes his eyes and says, "Okay, three more. Like I've done a million times."

I rallied on the run. Billy pitched the perfect game.

We all have it in us to reach back and rely on our basics to achieve when troubles arrive. In sales, maybe it's customer service or product knowledge. Maybe it's simply relying on knowing that we can finish what we started because we have so many times before. Whatever our basics might be, they are the key to turning it all around. They are the key to high achievement.

Marcus Garvey said "If you have no confidence in self, you are twice defeated in the race of life." 

What are your basics? Run on.

On a Roll

This morning I ran 4 miles. It wasn't particularly fast and nothing impressive happened whatsoever. But this morning I ran 4 miles and it was the third day in a row after a very inconsistent, injured month.

Saturday's run was in a lovely place near Elyria, Ohio called the bridgeway trail. It was the perfect place to test a hamstring: flat as a pancake and sea level! I might have only run 3 but it was the fact that it was occurring without an unreasonable amount of hamstring discomfort. Yesterday, back at altitude for an easy 4 in the Cherry Creek State Park woods. Again, flat, easy and the woods. Doesn't get better than that. That brings us to today where an easy 4 was another step in the progression back to legs that work without over-tightness, cramps and knots. 

I don't mean to get, heaven forbid, optimistic here but the three runs and the fact that I've lost 11 pounds in just a bit over two weeks has me there. Hoping for more steady progress and a fall of racing. More to come. Run on.....

There is a Reason They Call it the DREADmill

Well the last time I wrote here some two and a half months ago, a streak was over. At this writing I would LOVE if I were on a streak and it was over. I have run twice in the last three weeks. What's the problem? Hamstring!, 

Nothing happened. No trauma. It just got tight. I backed off. All to no avail. The discomfort got to the point where I always felt that if I ran a little harder, it would pull. SO, being the conscientious, wise runner, I decided to take a layoff. First a week. Tried things out, not better. Then another week.

This time I had a revelation. I thought, well, this hamstring is a problem when I extend, so what if I didn't extend? What if I ran on the treadmill where you pretty much drop your legs down more than extend or lift them. Great idea!

The first 12 minutes went well. Then, disaster struck. I decided to take my shirt off (getting hot). So, again being the conscientious, wise runner, I maneuvered the wires on my headset, threaded them oh so carefully under my shirt and began the removal process. All went well until the shirt got caught and I began heading backwards (and there isn't a lot of backwards on a treadmill).

My wife, Linda and I disagree on what happened next. I maintain that had there been nothing behind the treadmill, I would have slipped off the back, possibly fallen, but been pretty much okay. Unfortunately, there was a Swiss Ball lodged between the treadmill and the wall. When I hit it, it bounced me back. When I bounced, the treadmill (now quickly becoming the DREADmill) sent me back again. And so on and so on until I leaped to freedom.

Damage? Jacked up hamstring AND the biggest bruise of my entire life (covers the ENTIRE back of my leg butt to knee), a DREADmill burn that was huge (imagine a nasty floor burn), two other cuts and a bonked head (hard to damage that). And, to boot, a very damaged psyche.

That was a little more than a week ago. Tomorrow, I head to the Carlisle Reservation, a park near Elyria, OH where I have been the last few days. I'm going for a run. Wish me luck.

By the way, that audition I was hoping to land with OK Go? Forget it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTAAsCNK7RA

Streak Over. 2015 Ruined. But There is Hope!

I didn't run Tuesday. In my defense, I could barely walk my lower back was so stiff. But I didn't run.

This unforgivable lack of commitment and total disregard for my 251 day running streak has twofold consequences. First and foremost (maybe) is the fact that my streak of nearly two-thirds of a year has ended. Perhaps, worse than that, I have now fallen 251 days behind reaching Ron Hill's feat of 50 years straight without a day off (which I planned to achieve on my 113th birthday).

On the upside, striving to be the optimist, this morning's strength and core session is the tenth of the year. Perhaps the goal for consecutive weightlifting days is in reach. Who holds that one anyway? Hercules? Arnold Schwarzenegger? That Milo dude who lifted the cow?

Actually I am pretty excited about the whole strength and core stuff. The hope is to establish a sense of consistency to the routine. Right now it is seven lifting exercises paired with seven core exercises. In another week, both are expanded. The key for me is doing the first lift. Once I'm there, I love it.

The snow has been consistent. No, not huge dumps that paralyze the highways and byways of the Denver Metro area, more like annoying 1-3 inch accumulations that make it impossible to see the ice hidden underneath. And they're coming about once every four days or so. Thawed out, snow; thawed out, snow and so on. I am SOOOO not interested in slipping and going down a la last years head whacking.

Down the road, I have 9 days to register for the Cincinnati Flying Pig Marathon before the next price increase. Been thinking about returning to the Pig as it's been a long time since my Boston Marathon qualifier in Cincy. It's a fun race (run) with a great organization and having run the first two in 1999 and 2000, it'll be cool to see how the event has changed. My race report from that day is at http://runspittle.blogspot.com/2010/12/recap-flying-pig-marathon-may-2000.html. 

So that's it. Stay warm and run on!

Yeah, I quoted Oscar Wilde...

Roughly 30 minutes ago, the doorbell rang. It was the UPS guy. I've been waiting for him all day. In fact, I've been waiting for him since the 1st of January (yeah, I know, it's only the 6th). Why so diligent, you ask? Well, he was bringing my running log book.

Yep. I said log BOOK. Tried those computer, online run logging programs before and while they are SLICK, it is not the same as committing to writing a workout with a pen in hand (and by the way, I have used the SAME PEN for three years). There's something cleansing about that. 

I've been logging since 1966, the first day of cross country practice, when Coach Al Pingel said, "log your miles." No explanation given, none needed. Coach says log your miles, so I began what has been a fairly non-stop routine for five decades. Along with the logs, I have kept a running spreadsheet tallying the years as I go. That came in handy, by the way, in 1991 when my ex saw it wise (for whatever reason) to relieve the premises of many of my early log books, along with my college letter jacket and Duke the horse. I digress.

In 1966, I simply wrote what I did on the day I did it on lined paper, in a notebook. That was my modus operandi for many of the early years. I've also used the Runners World log, the Daily Run, the Running Times version and for the last six, maybe seven years, The Runner's Diary, designed (I guess) by Matt Fitzgerald. It is my current favorite.

I like the Runner's Diary because I prefer to have everything in a half a week facing me when the log is open and the option to write a little or a lot. I like that I can track races, set goals, and monitor progress (although I will confess to rarely using anything outside of the daily logging).

I don't read past logs although I will confess to referencing workouts when prepping for a special event. Mostly, the old workouts depress me. As a current 80+ ish minute ten miler (on my best day), it's a little disheartening to see a 1976 entry that states, "10 miles Easy. 56 minutes." OR "14x880 averaging 2:14 with 1:30 rest." Worse yet are entries like "107 miles, not a bad week." I do, however, occasionally read my race reports.

I won't go this far, but Oscar Wilde said, "I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read in the train." Nonetheless, I love reading the day I qualified for Boston, my first NYC Marathon and the pain written in the words following the Pikes Peak Marathon. My logs reflect my commitment. One day and mile at a time.

Yep, I am pretty happy. My log is here. Let's fill it up!

Happy New Year! Let's Run!

On this morning's run, I saw someone.

No, no one famous. No one I even knew. I just saw someone. And that someone was the first person I had seen running in the Cherry Creek State Park in five days. It's been cold. In fact, today was the first 0+ run out of the last four. It was 20 (we're havin' a heat waaaaave!).

Grippy Things

Today, obviously, marked run number one of 2015, the new year. It was a five miler in the snow. That followed yesterday's five miler which brought the total for 2014 to 2289. 

Speaking of snow, I am LOVING my snow gripper spring thingys my son Ryan gave me for Christmas. Very grippy and after a bad slip and fall last year, they have raised my confidence level on these last snowy days.

Back to the year. I did not race a single time in 2014 and went on very few long runs (15+ is a long run in my world). I meant to, it just never quite happened. Well, there's always next year. Right?

Ah, next year. The goals for 2015 are 1) to run as many days as possible. I am not super big into streaks (although currently haven't missed a day of at least 3 miles since May 13 - that's

From the One More Mile website

232 days) but a good streak is a reflection of being injury free and without sickness. 2) to run a freakin' marathon. I'm really shooting for a pair, here. I've run 17 so far and would love to begin pushing that number so that someday I hit 50. 3) to run a trail Ultra. I figure the intro distance is going to be 50K. 4) I want to hit the trails; mountains, seaside, plains - mostly in the mountains. There is a serenity and beauty of trail running that can convert the average run into an above average experience. 5) MOSTLY, I want it to be fun again. While I love my runs (in a strange way), 2014 was a year of little or no motivation for the individual run. I know it is not possible to embrace every run with the wide-eyed enthusiasm of a new convert, but I'd at least like to return to the days of the easy, semi-fast, fun runs.

So, 2014 is in the books. I like closing out the year's log. I've been doing it for a long time. As has been previously noted herein (whoa, herein), I have been logging miles since I began this wonderful activity of running back in August of 1966. So, this log was number 49. In 49 years, we've logged 105,465 miles. That's 169,729 kilometers, 44% of the way to the moon, 4 and a quarter times around the equator and back and forth across the US about 19 times (take THAT Forrest Gump!).

At this point, I'm sure I could say many things, I will say only this: this incredible act of placing one foot in front of the other has been the cornerstone of my life. It has gotten me through the toughest of times, shared in the most joyous moments, been a reference point for how everything else is going and provided for billions of thoughts, emotions and perceptions. It is my anchor.

I want to do it forever.

A Solitary Runner Goes Social: Hug A Runner 2014

Caught on a compression sock day

It was odd yesterday morning. Even though the trails are clearing from the weekend's snow, I just didn't want to head out. I thought about the wind. I thought about the treadmill. I thought about not running. I thought that maybe the evening run, a Hug A Runner event at the Boulder Running Company in Cherry Creek would suffice.

Then, I watched The Runner in Winter, a short movie featuring Anton Krupicka. If you have yet to view Joel Wolpert's classic (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjDLorXfkao) , it is the tale of one man's quest (promise, maybe) to get out there and do it despite the conditions, despite the lack of company. You get out there mostly because that's what you do (and because you're Tony Krupicka you do it like no one else). So, I went anyway (thanks, Tony). And I went they way I have gone for a little over forty-eight years: alone.

I have run a lot of miles since 1966 (105,000+). Despite being on teams my first seven years and despite a corral full of wonderful training partners, I have easily run at least 95% of those miles with no one but myself. The Runner in Winter, and Spring, and Summer, and Fall, indeed.

I am certainly not complaining. I get a boatload of stuff done out there. I clear the slate, I clean the slate, I add to the slate. Mostly, I nurture the slate. I am so much a better me that I can be when I have logged the miles. Those thought provoking, escaping, creative, wonderful miles. So off I went. AND..... I lived to tell (write) about it. Needless to say, I was less than enthusiastic as the sun set and it became time for my wife, Linda and I to head to the Hug A Runner Event at BRC CC. 

Kara Goucher and Linda

A little background is needed here. In August Linda attended Kara Goucher's Podium Retreat in Napa, California. It was there she met Kara, husband Adam and Tim Catalano. Arriving home she bubbled for weeks about how fun it was and how wonderful the dynamic trio were. We thought it would be great for her to see them again at this event of Adam and Tim's making, say HI, and catch up a bit. And it was just that ..... great.

Talk about three wonderful people. In a world where many professional athletes have no personality, are rude and completely self absorbed, there are Adam and Kara Goucher. Accessible, sweet, caring. Yeah, that pretty much says it. And Tim...... OMG what a fantastic guy (and not too shabby of a runner either). 

The evening's objective was to run a 5K with the group, celebrate Girls On The Run (a fabulous cause http://www.girlsontherun.org/), Hug 5 runners and be able to hang out with Kara, Adam and Tim. Linda and I had a blast. We ran our 5K with Mandy Eberly, a visiting landscape architect from the DC area who had rolled into town two hours earlier. Sub-groups based on pace popped up as the run moved on, all with one consistent dynamic; chatting. So many runners of all shapes, sizes, ages and speeds sharing a common thread: community.

The Hug A Runner Community BRC CC Style!

Runners are a community. I run alone so often, I forget that. Some of my best times were participating in that community, whether it was on the Wyandotte Roosevelt High School team, the Wayne State University Cross Country team, or the Boulder Road Runners Monday night splinter group. Other runners are cool, AND I have to tell you, they deserve hugs the other 364 days of the year as well. And the group last night, completely huggable.

After a run, prize drawings, pictures and community, we headed out the door. As we hit the door a voice from the Boulder Running Company Cherry Creek staff said, "You're welcome to join us every week for one of our group runs."

You know what, I just might do that.

Some important links to cool stuff:

http://www.girlsontherun.org/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/hugarunner2014/
https://www.facebook.com/BoulderRunningCompanyCherryCreek
http://www.karagoucher.com/
http://www.runtheedge.com/

2000 Down and Still Going..... Slowly

La Luz Trail, Albuquerque, NM

In Springfield, Missouri, on a boring, run-of-the-mill 5 miler in the early morning darkness Wednesday, I passed 2000 miles for 2014. With roughly seven weeks left in the year, I would expect to peak out at close to 2300. Not too bad for being pretty unmotivated most of the year.

My running has taken an odd turn over this year. I have really become one of those "run for the sake of running" kind of guys. I'm certainly not complaining. I like being able to not be training for something yet still be committed to the activity. And that IS what I am committed to, the activity.

At this point, I am in the SSD training program. Haven't heard of it? Surely you've heard of LSD (long slow distance). Well, I have invented SSD (short slow distance). The beauty of SSD is that you are rarely worn out, seldom injured and most often cannot wait for the next run. On the hand, and they DO come in pairs, you don't get any faster, stronger or lighter. Oh well. Tradeoffs.

As I said, I'm not complaining. 2300 miles will be a good year and the sixth in a row over 2000. The years of 3000 have probably passed but so have the eight years of <2000 when I worked at Coldwell Banker (something about that whole full time job thing that makes mileage a challenge). 

Also on the upside, I still have goals; dreams of places and events in which to participate. In fact, that keeps getting stronger as the year winds down. A 50K is coming soon, some mountain races will populate 2015, and someday, yes someday, the Mont Blanc Marathon.

Until then, just yell "coming by" as you approach, and "good job" as you go by. I'm just happy to be out there.

A Good Week!

Scared the daylights out of this little guy
coming around a curve.

70 miles. Not bad. In fact, it's the best mileage week of 2014 and the last time I logged that many was the first week of October last year. No particularly long runs, just a steady stream of good days. The highlight, I suppose, has been feeling decent while running. This is something that just began in the last week and is highly welcome.

With the runs going better, there is the temptation of tempo runs, longer runs and some track work. I will do everything I can to resist (but I guarantee nothing). Ultimately, I guess, the goal if the November marathon. Maybe Savannah, maybe something else (although I have unfinished work in Savannah). With that on November 8, it opens the possibility of my first 50K run in Huntsville, Texas on the 22nd. Hope to make both those decisions pretty soon.

In the meantime, the plan is to continue consistency in training and avoid the little (and big) injuries. My work schedule in July and August is perfect for base building and I intend to take advantage of it.

Keep running.....

Small Dose of Redemption

After the debacle that was yesterday's long run, I was expecting little from today's morning effort. I figured to be sore, sluggish and generally apathetic. Instead, I was mildly tired and feeling not so bad. If the truth be told, I was feeling pretty okay (please note the toned down evaluation of how I actually felt). Maybe this getting serious thing is actually beginning to work out.

Early in a training program, the discomfort of not being in shape and/or weighing too much makes most every run unpleasant. Slowly progress is made and there is the OCCASIONAL run that feels good. Sometimes it comes when it is unexpected: like this morning. Seven miles, clipping along nicely, no adverse effects from the previous day. I like that.

Looking forward to more. By the way, halfway through the year and at 970 miles. After a poor beginning, 2300-2400 seems doable.

Keep on moving!

Long Run Does NOT Go Well!

This little guy is a bit too close to Parker Road.
I shushed him away.

Okay, I confess: this was probably a little more than what I should have done. I was supposed to go 13 and I was actually going to do it at the Heart and Sole Half in Boulder. Glad I didn't drop THAT $80. I chose to run at home (home meaning Cherry Creek State Park).

The first four mile loop was run with my wife, Linda. We loped along at around 11 minute pace and while my heart rate stayed fantastically low, I sensed two bad things: it was getting HOT and my legs were not happy after going 13 on them yesterday. Once at the end of the loop it was time to head to the seven mile loop.

My seven mile park loop is a staple of my running. The first two miles into the park woods is a nice downhill. I enjoyed it but noticed I was drinking liberally. Once in the woods, even the shade didn't help much and then stupidity happened. After three and a half miles of the loop, I decided to turn around and make it an out and back creating an uphill tenth and eleventh miles. To top it off, by the ten mile mark: out of water. Stupid is as stupid does, I guess.

It sucked.

Luckily (I guess), at the 11 mile spot, my son Ryan was waiting with fresh water and hopefully the ability to carry me through the last four miles (I was hoping for being carried physically, if not at least mentally). I'd love to report that the influence of company and cold H2O turned the entire experience for the better. Unfortunately, I'd be lying if I wrote that. It was awful. Ryan must have thought we were walking most of the time, but remained a supportive trooper.

Nevertheless, 15 miles in the books. This was supposed to be an easy week but ended up at 64 miles, the second consecutive 60 mile week. Will drop this one down to 50. I promise.

All in all, with the exception of today's fiasco, I'm running easier than I have all year and have now officially dropped 9.6 pounds. Bring on the next 40......... and an easy week.