Notes From The Run Zone - 12/11/2008

12/11/2008

This week has been a roller coaster:

I felt happy to run on Monday morning going out at 5.45 a.m., running 4.5 miles with hill repeats, and Monday evening with the club on our Quick 6 through our city. It was really cool (for So Cal) about 45 – 50 degrees and very dark on the less traveled streets we choose for these winter evening runs.

Glad to run, I also kept going over and over in my mind the fact that I was not able to take part in the club run this Saturday. It is a long trail run, 24 miles, and I just can’t commit the time necessary on a weekend morning. I estimate they will be away from home about 7 hours, so I have to say no this time.

I was going over and over it and even began to get sad, thinking of my running buddies on an adventure. How weird that it gets to me that way.

I felt down on Tuesday and couldn’t concentrate on anything else other than my own private pity party that was whirling around in my head. I didn’t run on Tuesday, this is my running day of rest.

On Wednesday I ran early, 3.5 miles and found it amazingly invigorating to be out in the really cold morning air, running on streets that are mainly empty. It is like walking on fresh snow before there are any other footprints to mess it up. I feel a real sense of accomplishment to be out before anyone else. I imagine other people still sleeping or eating breakfast, maybe grabbing a cup of coffee and I think of how I have already had my exercise and I feel great.

I ran on Wednesday evening with the club. I met one of the other guys when I showed up early and we did an extra 3 miles prior to the regular club run. That felt good too, like I already had some miles in the bag ahead of the others!

Wednesday evening’s run is a tough battle against a steep hill. We run the entire 6 miles on streets at this time of the year, but in the warmer months when the nights are lighter we travel on a trail for most of the distance. The streets are tougher than trails on the legs and feet, but I love them in spite of that. I pit myself against the pavement and try to get out in front, try to race against the night and my running partners. I feel a strange sense of being pulled along by an unknown force, compelled to push myself to my limit.

I am so competitive and often so obsessed with running, that it’s almost laughable!

This morning, Thursday, I ran with a very good friend. She hasn’t been running for as long as I have, but she has great ability and enthusiasm. She is so fresh and full of wonder at this sometimes solitary endeavor that it is great to watch. Not always the fastest in the group, she is always the most determined. She is making great progress and soaks in advice like a sponge. We ran 6 miles, out and back to a local canyon, along paved roads edged by steep stone walls and deep gullies. We both felt tired and our legs felt leaden, but we persevered and overcame our sluggishness. We both ran the steep hill last night and had barely given our legs time to recover, but we were out again goading our bodies into action, chatting about diet strategies and upcoming runs.

After a run in the liquid sunshine of this early Californian December I feel pumped, successful and ready to take on the world and all it has to offer.

I am not as tired this week as I have been recently. I have been adding Tofu to my diet on a daily basis. I have cut down on meat over the last few months and I think my body was feeling the effects of less protein. The tofu seems to have helped, so I feel less weary and stronger.

Members of our running club are increasing their mileage as we prepare for our biggest test yet, a fifty kilometer trail run. This is on January 18th, 2009. With only a little over a month to go time is literally running away from us. We decided to enter the event about a month ago, so none of us has had long to prepare. Some of us don’t really know how we got involved in this new venture, we just got wrapped up in the idea and found we had committed. It amazes me to remember that my first ever trail run was this January, and at the time I found it so difficult that I almost gave up. Now I have a love for the soft trails and even the steep hills that form so much of our training.

We are up to 24 miles on our long run this weekend and I hope to do 28 or 30 the following week. Hopefully everything will work out well and we can all avoid injuries and illnesses as our bodies become more stressed with the increased mileage.

It’s really something to place your self against nature and the usually accepted extremes of endurance. No, we aren’t “Journey Athletes” those amazing souls who run thousands of miles across continents. Compared to them we are merely going on a short jog, but we are doing a lot more than most people would consider; so we push on relishing every milestone.