Me, the Ultrarunnning Poseur

I recently sent the following email to a cousin with whom I gotten close in the past couple years.  Our respective families were pretty much antisocial or asocial, so we missed out upon decades of potential relationship.  

Actually, since my cousin's dad and mine were identical twins, he pointed out that in essence we are genetically the equivalent of half-brothers.  That's kinda something to think about.

Anyway, I post this just to provide some personal background on MY running journey in case it may resonate with you and your experiences.  But of course--and I just can't help myself--your mileage may vary....

Hope all is well with the doc. We go for our annual physicals next week, and hopefully we'll get a clean bill of health, although at our age (62, with me turning 63 in March) we take NOTHING for granted.  Life has been a wonderful gift thus far, but things can certainly change in a literal heartbeat.

I'm so cognizant of my dad's heart issues, plus those of my brother xxxxx. I kinda stumbled into running as a sport and as a health enhancement when I was 27 when I changed jobs and had a life milestone and a fitness opportunity, and it stuck...and I've now been a regular runner since for 35 years. Marathons, 50 milers, and even three 100 mile races. I do think based upon medical research that running does convey some measure of heart health immunity, but we are all an experiment of one.  Keeping fingers crossed.

People say to me how much they admire my dedication to running, but I feel like a poseur. I actually have grown to love running for the solitude and the time to think my thoughts--as much or as little as I wish--and I think I'd be a runner even if it were bad for me.

As I've said before, please don't stress about repairing my mom's clock. If you get it done or not, it's all good. I know that you are trying your best, and that's all that matters.  I truly value our reconnection these past couple years.

Tough Running

Another short post due to computer problems but hopefully those issues will be soon solved.

Finger issue still is complicating my ability to run, although that is improving.  Wound care doctor and my ortho see steady healing after the secondary infection that put me in the hospital a couple weeks ago.  The pain is now manageable, so today's run is mostly dependent upon my desire to run in the teeth of a howling wind and bitter temperature.

We'll see.

Sweat

I love to sweat.

One of life's little pleasures, for me, is to go out on a humid 90 degree day and run an hour or whatever. The kind of day that the weatherman, here in the northeast, refers to as HHH: hazy, hot, and humid. I'm talking the kind of day when my running clothes quickly become totally soaked, sweat drips off my nose, ears, and elbows, and a bandana is essential gear to keep the burning sweat out of my eyes.

Then upon my return home, I sit on the cool bricks of my shady front porch and let the sweat just gush from my pores while I enjoy some lemonade or ice water. I often lay on my back and just enjoy cloud-watching.

By the way, cloud-watching is a highly underrated activity for adults. Mister Tristan is a little young to understand clouds, shapes, etc., but I'll keep pressing the point over the next months and years until that day comes when the light goes on in his brain and he says "I see a bunny in the sky!" or the like. And on that day I will clap my hands because I will have done my job.

Golf Balls, Catnip, and Running

This past weekend I did not make it out for an Appalachian Trail run as I had hoped. We were away Friday and Saturday, and Sunday seemed just too good an opportunity to catch up on some sleep that an AT run just wasn’t feasible.

I did run 10 miles on local roads, and out in the middle of nowhere I found a golf ball, in perfect shape. I carried it home and gave it to a golfing buddy, even though, as we all know (just like NASCAR), golf is not a real sport. I’ve previously found golf balls on runs far away from any course, so all I can figure is that golf aficionados must be teeing off from their yards to practice their drives…or they are tossing them from moving cars.

Neither explanation seems too plausible.

The other thing I bought home was some catnip for the cats. I don’t need to plant any in my yard as it grows profusely around here on roadsides. It seems mighty strange to see a cat munching on a green plant, but munch they do, eagerly.

By the way, the run went OK, but barely. The skies were threatening when I went out and sure enough, about 5 miles out I got drenched, although that was no big deal since it was not cold. The main reason for an unsatisfactory run was that I just had nothing in my legs.

My running has been majorly flat and uninspired since completing the Umstead 100 Mile Endurance Run on 27 March. I’ve experienced similar letdowns subsequent to some major effort and I realize that this, too, shall pass. I need to apply for another race—there’s nothing like a commitment and an actual date on the calendar to focus one’s mind and body.

Mmmmmm...good!
(photos by Gary)

Last of the Mohicans and Ultrarunning

(image credit here)

I posted this to the Ultralist back in 2000 but I think it’s sorta funny to resurrect here on the blog. Besides, after my recent political and philosophical posting, I’d better put up something to do with ultrarunning, right?

A buddy of mine is into 18th century living history and has probably worn out his copy of the Last of the Mohicans movie. Anyway, for those into such things, he pointed out 2 pretty cool technical errors in the film that survived editing:

--Near the beginning of the final climactic hill climbing scene, the main character (Daniel Day-Lewis) emerges running from under a "cave" or rock pile.....and he bounces off a "rock" in the left foreground that shakes significantly. It obviously must be a fabric-covered mock up.

ULTRA CONTENT: we need these forgiving rocks on the trails we run on.


--In the scene after the surrender of the besieged fort, when the stream of British & settler refugees is walking thru that long meadow just prior to being ambushed: a crew person in a blue/purple baseball cap with a small megaphone is clearly visible in the right foreground walking with the others.

ULTRA CONTENT: late in an ultra, with a crash & burn imminent, we may need crew direction.

I better go running now.

Stepping on Nightcrawlers

The other morning, following an overnight of steady, soaking rain, the nightcrawlers were out in full force on the roads. I had to pay close attention lest I trample one underfoot. It was interesting to note that the worms were quite prevalent along pastures, overgrown fields, or yards, and much less common along active farm fields. I presume that the practices of modern agriculture (plowing, chemical defoliation, chemical fertilization) are not worm-friendly.

As the sun rose higher and the pavement dried off, there were many of the critters caught in the middle of trying to cross the road. Since there were literally thousands of worms in that situation, I simply had to trust that they'd either make it to the other side safely without dehydrating, or they would not. Where I did intervene, however, was a stretch where there was an alfalfa field on the left and a fertilizer business on the right, whose parking lot was covered with sand and nuggets of fertilizer.

Any nightcrawler heading over there was doomed, so I took the time to toss any worm heading in the direction of the fertilizer business back into the alfalfa.

It was 10 feel-good minutes well spent in the middle of my run.

Photo credit here (this is the European version but looks virtually identical as here in the U.S.)

A Mean Little Run

Sunday afternoon I finished up productive day of work round the house and went for a 5 mile run on the rural roads that surround my home.  I don't usually run in the afternoon, but circumstances dictated that it was either then, or not run at all.

I’d not been on what I call the “Clay Hill 5 miler” since last summer and I just felt like trying it again today.

Well, I remembered why I tend not to run it—it’s mean little run. It’s shaped like a lollipop, with the stick end starting at my house and about a mile long, then the loop part runs for 3 miles, then you intersect and repeat the last mile of the stick end from the opposite direction.

The stick end was in full sun and crosses I-81, so that part was sort of a drag due to the sun, the very high humidity yesterday, and the traffic noise. Then you go up a lengthy hill, not high, but long and rolling, with a couple of false summits along the way. I know the route well, so am not faked out by the false summits, it’s just that the hill seemingly rolls on and on and on. Then the road heads into the woods—what my kids call a “slinky road,” completely shaded, with the trees almost touching overhead. That part is pleasant…until another long uphill, again with a couple false summits to demoralize you.

The actual length of these 2 hills, and their height, are not really very significant, but just seem to be.

On the plus side, I should note that the run is very traffic-free, being on sparsely traveled roads, and there are a couple of nice downhills (there would have to be, given the uphills and the fact that it’s a loop course...duh!). I guess it’s not so bad after all.

All in all a good run. Maybe I’ll incorporate it into a 10 miler next weekend….

Motivation Following a Major Effort Run

I'm in a running lull at the moment, and it's a lull I expected.

After running well 5 weeks ago at the Umstead 100 Mile Endurance Run, I took a week off to rest my tired legs and to heal my blisters, then resumed running with my work buddies at lunchtime. Runs for a couple weeks were in the 6 mile range. Then I went longer and hit a couple of 10 milers on the weekends.

This past week has been a rough one at work where I was too busy to break away for a run on a couple days, and my running buddies were also busy. So from the pool of 6 potential runners on any given day there might be 2 available. One day, I was the only runner, and I really had to whip myself up to do the run alone. Once I was out there, it was a fine run, but my lack of motivation in advance is an unusual phenomenon.

But, not unexpected. Every time I've done some big event, there seemingly has been a letdown in the ensuing weeks. Also, in my personal life, this seems to be a time of higher than normal stress, which compounds the problem.

It's like I'm stuck in a loop. I don't feel like running because I'm stressed and otherwise just not motivated....and my lack of running ensures that I remain stressed and unmotivated.

How to break the cycle? I guess, like I have done countless times in the past, you just go and do the right thing. Not because you feel like it but because it's the right thing. In this case, the right thing is running, and sooner or later--if prior experience is any guide--the enjoyment and motivation will return.

Celebration of Health and the Triumph of Human Spirit

Speaking of running ultras, and how it is not understood by the world at large, I saved this Rich Limacher quote from the UltraList back in 1999:

Gawkers and media vultures watching all the worn-out bloody bodies must think we all do a death march for fifty or more miles. But they have no clue, do they? Why, in every single ultra I've ever done, the almost non-stop banter and good humor from start to finish makes the whole thing a celebration--not a war zone--which is exactly what it is: a celebration of health and the triumph of human spirit.