Part Deux

Though I was not planning to post on this theme again right away, after reading something this weekend, I decided I just had to write this follow up to my last post.

I recently started reading Running the Edge by Adam Goucher and Tim Catalano and last night I came across this passage which, I think, really sums up exactly "what it is about running":

"'Pretend I am a person who can only see the world in black-and-white. Now imagine you need to explain to me what the color blue looks like. How would you do it?...'Being a runner is like being able to see the color blue'...it feels natural and easy. Your legs feel powerful and strong. Your breath, heartbeat, and muscles have found a rhythm and harmony working together in perfect balance. You get a sense that this is what all humans were meant to do, and you feel a connection to your primitive ancestors, as if you have discovered what you were always meant to be...you unlocked the secret to a new understanding, just as the person who has never seen in color opens her eyes to the see the color blue."

Pretty perfect, right?

Have you read "Running the Edge?" Did you like it?

Facing Your Fears

This morning something awesome happened. Something I never really thought I could do. This morning I conquered my fears, and ran not one, but two, spectacularly sweet sub-7 mile repeats. Yes, that means there was a big ol' 6 in front. A freakin' 6!

More importantly though, why are my hands bigger than my head?

Usually I do speed Wednesday mornings, but I slept through it yesterday and today was the only other day to make it up. Yes, I was really tired yesterday, but mostly I think I was afraid. Speed frightens me. Trails frighten me. They both make me want to curl up in a ball and hide. But if I spend my whole life doing that I'll never really know what I'm capable of.

Sometime in the last 36 hours I decided that I wanted to see a 6:xx in my mile repeats in the near future. I did not really expect the "near future" to be this morning, but I thought I could at least get close. All week I have felt slow and sluggish, but for some reason my splits have been getting faster and faster.

When I left my house this morning I was still afraid, still frightened. "Maybe I don't need to do mile repeats. Maybe I can just run some regular miles. No one is forcing me to do this. Why should I have to?" Why should I? I should because it frightens me. It's the same reason I do my laps in the deep end of the swimming pool even though deep water scares me. Because if I don't face my fears, they will eat me alive. Because deep down I know I can conquer them.

I took off for my first repeat and even in 35 degrees I was completely warmed up 0.3 miles in. It felt hard and challenging. I didn't look at my watch at all. I didn't want to know. First mile done: 7:09. Two seconds faster than my fastest repeat last week. Can I do better?

Second repeat hurts like absolute hell. I feel like I'm going terribly slow. I don't look at my watch again. I feel like I want to die. Second mile done: 6:57. How is that possible? Did I really just do that? More importantly, I'm exhausted. How can I possibly do one more?

Even though I cool down between repeats two and three, everything starts hurting again as soon as I start the third. If I thought I wanted to die before, then I don't know what you could call what I'm feeling now. "Who says I need to do three repeats? Maybe I'll just stop at 2.5. Who would know?" I would know. I want to finish. I need to finish. As I'm curling around through my last lap a man and woman begin running ahead of me. I'm surprised when I not only catch up to them, but seem to fly past them as if they are standing still. As I pass I hear the man say to his partner behind me "Wow, she's got a motor on her." I smile. Yes, maybe I do this time. I push just a little bit harder the last 20 feet. My whole body feels as though it will explode into a thousand pieces. It's over. I look at my watch: 6:51.

As sappy as it sounds, it's true: you never know what you are capable of until you try. I don't think I'll ever be one of those sub-6 runners, but at least now I can say for damn sure that I can run a sub-7 and that I conquered my fear.

Next up: trail running.

Women and Running and Rules

I don't typically take interest in the politics and rules of running and my feathers aren't usually ruffled, but there have been some recent discussion-worthy announcements regarding women and running that have caught my attention.

Many of you probably know which announcement I'm referring to. Last week the IAAF (International Association of Athletics Federation - basically the international governing body for athletics) announced that women would only be able to set a world record in a road race if it was a "women's only" race. Basically, if men and women are running a marathon together, and a woman sets a new female record, it will no longer be a "world record," but a "world best." The argument behind this is that women will run faster if there are men in the field because the men are pacesetting for them and this should be unfair. Excuse me, but last time I checked women are not tethered to men during races by invisible ropes. They run with their own two feet and put just as much effort in. Just to elaborate on the ridiculousness of this let me give you an example:

Paula Radcliffe had, up until this announcement last week, set a world record for the woman's marathon in 2003 in London with a time of 2:15:25. But it was a mixed gender race, so now it doesn't count. Her next best time was 2:17:18 in 2002 in Chicago. Also a mixed gender race. Doesn't count. Her third best time, 2:17:42, was in 2005 in London. During this race the elite women started 45 minutes before the men and ran the race separately. Hence, her 2:17:42 is a world RECORD and her 2:15:25 is only a world BEST. Say what?

Completely separate from this, but also confusing, are the rules for women in the Ragnar Relay Series. I am running the PA Ragnar next Friday. I'm really excited about it and I really do think they are a great organization. I've heard nothing but good things. However, they also have some strange rules regarding women runners.

A Ragnar team traditionally consists of 12 runners (though you just need a minimum of 4 to run the relay). There are three different divisions: men, women, and mixed. If I asked you what you thought mixed team meant I bet you would say "men and women." And if I asked you what you thought a women's team meant you would say "all women." Right and right. But if I asked what a men's team meant and you said "all men," you would be wrong. As the Ragnar "Race Bible" says:

"To qualify for the mixed division, teams must have at least 6 women. To be in the women's division the team must be all women."

Did you catch that? That means I can have a men's team if I have women on it, but I cannot have a women's team if I have even one man on it! And a mixed team has to be at least six women, but could have up to 11 women and only one man and still be considered mixed!

All of these rules seem to be saying "women are weaker and count for less." Apparently, in the world of running, women just aren't worth as much weight in gold as men.

Any thoughts on this?

The EPIC-ness of It All

Yes, I did just make up the word “epic-ness.”

Don't worry about me! Those rain clouds only stayed for a short while

During my one day of vacation so far I’ve been able to take pleasure in a lot of relaxing downtime, time when I put on my iPod and daydream away. I don’t run with my iPod so I only use it during the 20-minute walk to work and back home Monday through Friday. I take these 40 minutes, 5 days a week very seriously and I try to leisurely stroll to work as much as possible to get just a few more seconds of blissful daydreaming. Not to say that I don’t let my mind wander on a run. I most certainly do! But I still really dig my iPod walks. Music has a way of setting the mood for your thoughts.

Between the bus ride down to DC Friday night and the plane ride this morning I’ve been playing lots of tunes and daydreaming a lot about the future. And when an especially moving song pops up I start think of the EPIC things in the future, the things that will change my life. The things that I can’t wait for, but at the same time I’m okay waiting for because I know I’ll never experience anything so moving again and I want to savor it. Things so massive and moving that they will rock the core of your being. What’s on my list? Getting married to my best friend and the man of my dreams, having children with him, excavating abroad, earning my Ph.D, and running 100 miles.

In my head I’m running Western States (though it could be any 100 mile race) and enjoying every minute of it, even when I puke, scrape my knees, and hit my tenth wall. And then I enter the Placer High School track in Auburn and take it all in, tears streaming down my face (ps. If you haven’t noticed from reading other posts already, I cry a lot in running). I get emotionally overwhelmed just thinking about it all. And it doesn’t even have to be me crossing the finish line to make me feel this way. Reading Mike Bailey’s account of his first Western States run made me tear up just picturing how epic it must have been for him. I get overcome with emotion anytime I witness someone else doing something epic. During a race, for example, when I’m not even halfway through and I see the elites and super fasties start passing me in the other direction on their way to the finish line. I lose focus for just a moment and get choked up knowing what they are about to accomplish. Oh the epic-ness of it all!

Now if you’ll excuse me I’m going to go put my toes in the sand and daydream some more while you enjoy a sampling of some other epic things below:

Epic Song

Epic Locale

Grand Canyon

Epic Finish Line at Epic Race

Placer High School Track, Auburn, CA

Epic Frozen Yogurt*

Sweetflow from last night

*Dessert is always epic

Why Do We Run?

This is probably a question asked more frequently by non-runners. As in, “what the hell would motivate you to take part in such torture?” And while runners may know exactly why it is they run, it might be hard to put into words when they are asked. And sometimes there is no one answer.

I started thinking more about this question a few days ago. I read a lot of blogs that are more food-centric. A lot of people are clearly into this running thing as a means to eat. And why wouldn’t you be? Running is one of the highest calorie burning activities you can do with an average of 100 calories burned per mile (note: varies slightly when taking into consideration weight, height, body fat, etc.). All it takes is 3 miles, 30 minutes and then maybe you can grab that extra blueberry muffin (if you can find a blueberry muffin less than 300 calories these days. Yay America!). So earlier this week I was trying to figure out if I was one of those run to eat or eat to run people. Many times I find I have to force feed myself just so I have enough energy to run. At the same time I do indulge in dessert almost every night (there’s always room!) and it does make me feel a little bit better knowing I just burned 500 calories.

Overall though, food is not really the reason I run. I run for much more than that. I run to feel alive. I run to sweat. I run to feel the burn. I run because its fun. I run to get away from it all. I run to feel accomplished. I run to see what I’m capable of. I run because I can.

In a few weeks I plan to launch a monthly series dedicated to runners and running of the past. Running has been around a long time. In my research so far I’ve come up with many reasons why people run. We run to catch food, to deliver, to report, to exercise, to show power, for fun, for sport, for prestige, for prizes. The list goes on. Some of these apply to today, some don’t. I hope to look at these more closely in my investigations.

Okay enough serious face. Great weekend ahead: boxing and a 3 mile run tomorrow morning, then headed to Baltimore to take refuge from this ridiculous heat at our friend’s pool party, and back in Philly for an (hopefully) early AM 16 miler Sunday! Time to get going!