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.

Yeah, I'm one of Those Guys.

I am a 50-year old runner.  Yeah, I'm one of "those guys."  The guy who still thinks he looks okay in half inch inseam running shorts and a singlet.  Still lines up at the front of a competitive 5k race, only to finish a half a mile behind the winners.

Our kids are grown and we don't play golf, so we run.  60, 70, 80 and sometimes 90 to 100 miles per week.  When people ask us how many miles we ran, we shrug it off with a nonchalant, "eh, only about 85 this week."

Our dresser drawers are full of race t-shirts, some of them much older than the guys who win the aforementioned 5k's.  We've got a couple of boxes in the closet full of bibs, medals and even awards for some age-group win in a small, local race.

During the day, we wear blue shirts, with navy ties and beige slacks.  But on the weekends we can be found wearing high vis yellow jackets, bright orange singlets and electric green shoes.

You will find us congregated  most Saturday or Sunday mornings, milling about the starting line of a race.  Maybe running warm-ups, doing strides, preparing for the race like our lives depend upon it.  We chat a little bit about how many miles we logged that week, about nagging injuries that will keep us from doing our best that day and usually way underestimate our finishing time that we share, then feign surprise at the finish when we were a minute faster than predicted.

We have all our PR's since turning 50 memorized down to the hundredth of a second, and we really like passing young runners in the final miles of a race, no seriously, it's really fun.

When we were 20, we most certainly would have laughed at this 50-year old version of ourselves, but who cares.  We are having fun and pushing ourselves beyond limits we couldn't have imagined.  We see the 70 and even 80-year old racers out there and we don't laugh.  There is nothing but respect.

Recovery Week?

This was a week of quantity over quality, but not by choice.  I did manage my most miles per week for 2015, but still not "high mileage."  Outside of some of some hill repeats on Tuesday, I ran no miles faster than 8:15.  I tried, but every time I gradually built up the pace, the wheels would start to fall off.  Granted, I had a super aggressive tempo run the week before, followed by a race, but I shouldn't need recovery from that.  Perhaps this 53-year old body is finally rebelling; the 6 years plus of chasing marathon PR's is gradually coming to a halt.  There is the old rule of thumb that most runners have a 7 year window to realize gains in the marathon and that may window is closing.  Or, this was just one of those weeks and I will be back as good as new this upcoming week after a couple nights of good sleep.  Yeah, let's go with that!

Happy Running!
Rick

Managing Expectations

Managing my expectations, especially this early in the season, has never been easy.  You know, after running for as long as I have, you have a pretty good feel for what your fitness level is, but your judgement still can be clouded by the desire to PR, to run well beyond your known fitness level; every stride will be effortless and today is that day where unexpectedly and magically you breeze through the course, blowing by your competition, each mile faster than the last, runner's paradise.  Then reality sets in.

Yesterday's 8k was no exception.  I knew where my fitness level was, somewhere in the 30:20 to 30:30 range, but I have run sub 30, so maybe today was that magical day!  Warm-ups felt good; after 5 or 6 strides everything felt fluid and easy.  Enough of an enticement for me to go for it.  The gun went off and I took off with the lead pack.  The course started with a fairly significant uphill, but held pace throughout.  Hit the mile split at 5:56 and it felt so easy;  yes this was going to be that day.  I relaxed, concentrated on my turnover and readied myself for 4 more sub 6 miles.  Yeah, right.  After a "relaxed" mile two, I checked my split and it was 6:15.  It was windy, but that wasn't it.  I let relaxed become lazy.  Got to work on mile 3 and had to muster everything I could just to run a 6:07.  Mile 4 had less wind and managed a 6:04.  The last .96 miles had some uphill to it, but I managed to stay around 6 flat, finishing in 30:24, 9 seconds slower than last year and 32 seconds off my PR.  No magic today, only reality.  I'm glad I raced the way I did though; my 5 minutes and 56 seconds of denial were wonderful!

Transitioning back to morning running this past week, which always is a sure sign of spring for me.  I love getting back to early morning runs, but not as thrilled with my 9 am bedtime!

Happy Running!

Rick

My Day as a Non-Runner

Okay, most of us runners spend a good part of our week-end, well, running.  Probably a race on Saturday, followed by the "long-run" on Sunday.  Now it's just not the time running, but there is the prep for the run (yes for me there is quite a ritual) getting to the event, post event cool down and eating, socializing, stretching yadda, yadda, yadda.  Then depending on how hard you ran there is the post race nap, and the constant need to eat.  Needless to say, this doesn't leave lots of time for other things.

Now I must confess, I am an everyday runner.  I don't keep track of my streak, but I rarely take a week-end day off, and every couple of months I will miss a weekday.

Today was a rare Sunday that I did not run.  What does a runner, whose Sunday is usually taken up with running and all the post running side effects, do on this rare day off?  Well let me tell you.  First, I slept in until 8:00, which means I slept for over 10.5 hours.  The need to sleep that much is a sure sign that you need a day off.  After a quick breakfast, I started on my "project," paint the master bedroom; that was it.  Okay, I have a lot of unused energy from not running, so this painting project turns into my own version of some home make-over show!  The room was painted in no time, main color and an accent wall and then I completely empty the room and clean, organize and rearrange the entire thing! Almost 10 hours into it and things are coming together. I have to admit, the room was transformed from drab and dingy into something pretty special.

I'll be back at it next week, but I have to admit it was nice to act like a non-runner, at least for a day!

Happy Running!
Rick

Ahead of Schedule

Wow, the mileage is really starting to pile up and at a steeper increase than in 2014, also with some faster paces.  Getting close to the mid 60's with some pretty good quality.  Tuesday's 10-miler was especially satisfying.  I was at the track and after a brief warm-up I started my workout, 3x1mile at 5k pace.  First mile felt effortless and was surprised to see 5:52 on my watch.  Mile 2 was 5:50 and mile 3 was 5:47.  Wow!  I didn't know I had it in me!  Finished off the run with some recovery and a progression to cap things off.  Average pace for the 10-miler was around 6:39.  Friday night was a decent progression run from 9:30 to 6:00 flat and then there was the double digit back to back week end runs of 13 and 10.  I am curious to see how my race goes in a couple weeks.  Feels like it's been forever since I raced.

Musical treat this week, as Rhapsody finally got the rights to Led Zeppelin.  I had forgotten what a great album Physical Graffiti is.  It's been a long time.

Running highlight of the week.  Running 800 meter repeats on the U of M Washington Avenue Bridge on Thursday with my daughter.  She is getting speedy.  The bridge provides a flat, dry, scenic and almost perfect 800m loop to work out.

Couldn't end this post without a little weather shout out.  Sunday's run and Saturday's 13 miler were sunny, warm and full of puddles.  After the deep freeze we have been, what a wonderful treat.  Everyone I ran with seemed to have a bigger smile on their face.

Happy Running!
Rick

Why I Run

You've probably ready lots of posts about why people run.  I won't I say I am any different then any other obsessed runner, but I felt the need for some self-reflection as to why I do this.  As a runner, it's really not hard to understand why we do what we do, but to non-runners it can be difficult to appreciate.  So here is my attempt:

I run because it makes me feel alive.  There is the anticipation before the run, the peace and often times exhilaration during the run, the satisfaction and relief immediately post run and best of all, the knowledge that you can change your outlook, your attitude and your mental state, by simply changing clothes, putting on your running shoes and walking out the door.  It works almost every time and for me, even after 30 plus years of running, the rewards keep getting bigger and better.

I love the planning.  There is little else more rewarding than setting a goal and mapping out how I'm going to get there.  Looking at what has worked in the last cycle and scrapping the rest.  What else in your life do you have that much control?  

I run with others, because almost without exception, runners are great people.  A little goofy, but great.

I run challenge myself, to push myself to the limits both mentally and physically.  The pressures of work, family and life in general seem easier to handle when you stretch yourself during a marathon training cycle.

I love feeling fit.  I thinks it's cool that my resting heart race can get down to 40!  Sure, there are numerous reports about endurance training is bad for you, but I can find just as many stating the opposite.  I think it's cool that I am the same waist size and weight that I was when I was 18.

I love to eat after running.  I can't describe how much better everything tastes after a great run.  It's truly remarkable.

Running helps me forget how old I am.  The expression about age is only a number, is really true for runners.  

Then there are the more irrational, harder to explain aspects of why we run.  How do you tell someone that you actually enjoy the pain post marathon.  There comes with it some odd satisfaction when you can't pick yourself off the ground after sitting after a race.  Its bordering on a mental disorder!  There also becomes a lack of balance to ones life.  How do you explain that I want to push myself to run 100 miles per week, 10 times per week and pass on other hobbies or activities.  When I find another hobby that gives back as much as running, I will sign up.  Until then, I will continue to run.

Happy Running,

Rick