My Running Evolution

There were some big changes to my running this week, which got me to thinking about how my running has evolved over the years.  I didn't run in high school or college and really got my start when I was about 21 or 22.  A friend got me started in 1983; I was going through some "stuff" at the time and luckily discovered that running was great therapy.  I didn't train, I just would go out and run; since I had a lot stress, I ran a lot. I was a lonely, reclusive runner who found solace in being alone.  I love running for that.  The Twin Cities Marathon was just getting started, so someone talked me into running it.   With no experience and no running history, I proceeded to run as much as possible. That was my entire training plan.  I think I finished my first Twin Cites Marathon in 3:43.  I pretty much ran the same way for the most of my 20's.  Running a lot in the summer, taking long periods off in the winter and running the occasional marathon. I got married when I was 30 and with marriage and kids, running took a backseat for a short time.  When I did start back up, I had to be more organized and disciplined.  As a single guy, I could run anytime, but with a family, I had to be up early and run before work.  The discipline and focus helped and I was able to get my Marathon time down to well under 3:30.  As the kids got older, I was able to run more and I was able to get faster.  By 1999, a the age of 38, I ran a 3:09 Twin Cities on low miles and the seed for a sub 3-hour marathon had been planted.

I knew to break 3 hours would need a significant time commitment, but with a 5 and 6 year old, it didn't seem wise.  It wasn't until 2006 or 2007 that I trained for the specific goal of sub 3 hours.  I spent 3 years following low mileage plans and failing miserably.  It wasn't until I adopted the high mileage, slow running strategy that I saw results.   I ran a 3:17 at Minneapolis in 2010, a 3:07 at Twin Cities, followed by 3:02 in 2011.  It wasn't until 2012 at Des Moines that I broke through.  Since then I have ran 2:56, 2:54, 2:54 and 2:53.  In that 5 year span, I have run over 3,000 miles per year and PR'd at every distance.  The last 5 years have definitely been my competitive time.

But, I have realized that you can only keep up running that hard and long for so long.  In recent years, I have evolved into a social runner, running with clubs, with friends, with my daughter.  Races are social events as well as competitive events.

This week, I attended a Chi Running clinic.  Now I have been following Chi Running techniques for many years, but this is the first time I have attended a clinic.  It is definitely a technique designed around endurance and longevity over speed and short term gain.  I got a lot out of it, but see this a turning point in my running.  From competing and pushing, and putting my body through the ringer, to looking ahead and finding out how long I can do this running thing and still get some joy from it.

Lastly, I got a dog.  A dog that I can run with.  It wasn't enough that I had people to run with on most of my runs, I needed a companion on my lonely 5 am runs, or those difficult 4 or 5 mile recovery runs in the middle of the week.  I feel like I have evolved from that lonely, recluse, hermit runner of my 20's into a more well-balanced runner and person. I still enjoy my solo runs, but they have become less therapy and more of a meditation, if that makes any sense. I still have some racing ahead of me, and maybe a marathon PR or two, but I also can see that this sort of effort can't go on forever. Soon I will be that 60, 70 and 80 year old runner, running for the sheer joy of getting outdoors and moving, which certainly beats the alternative. Looking forward to how my running will change and how it will change me.