"Are you still running?"

Leave it to my son to point out the obvious: visiting with him at the wine store last weekend, he looked at me and said "you're not in the shape you've been in". Darn! I thought I was the only one in on my secret. The bitter cold, a calf injury, travel, a funeral, and a lingering head cold have all left me "off track", and out of shape. My too infrequent runs with my morning running partner also revealed that she was on to me over a month ago. How this all happened is easy to explain with all the excuses I just listed. Turning it around is hard, in that one has to resist the urge to catch up on your mileage too quickly and end up injured, and set realistic goals that will show steady progress and are attainable.
The other part of this is that I wonder why I resisted the fact of my current state of fitness and needed an external observation to drive me to action? Aside from my son's direct statement, I realized that we get a lot of external input that is easy to ignore. When I stopped running after my Achilles tendon surgery, people would not say "you've put on some weight", but would ask "are you still running?"
Yesterday, with my son's voice still resonating in my head, I drew up a schedule for the next two weeks. "3 miles easy", were frequent entries with some "long" 6 miles on the weekend. This week's total is 21 miles and I go up to 23 next week. Yesterday, after work, I got my gear together and headed out for my run. Around the circle, down the hill, and along the lake to the park and back. It was slow, but felt good, and I set aside some dry clean clothes for today's run. Today, at work, someone asked me whether I was still running? "Yes" I answered, "I'm getting in shape!"

Records and resolutions

This is the time of year when everyone is trying to stick to the resolutions they made for the new year. Personally, I have never really cared for resolutions, especially the ones that aren't about an ongoing change in the way you conduct your life, or your interaction with others. I especially dislike what I call "destination" resolutions, where one vows to "lose 20 pounds by June", and then how one addresses what you are going to do for the rest of the year goes unanswered. In running, we sometimes have a resolution about qualifying for Boston or a new PR for the 1/2 marathon, but most of the time I encounter my fellow runners trying for a "record", not a resolution.
I know someone who has run all the Twin Cities and all the Grandma's marathons. Pretty cool, and he gets treated as a VIP every year that he extends his streak. Then there are those who have run a marathon in each state, and I also know someone who ran a marathon in each state in a 12 month period. I remember meeting a couple, both retired physicians, the morning of the Seattle Marathon and they revealed that they both run a marathon every week somewhere in the world. Impressive, especially considering that his times were always sub 3:45. But, on my flight back, I thought about them and realized they were pursuing something that really wasn't anything more than a personal goal and not something that anyone tracks as a "record". Unlike the 50 states folks, there is no website or embroidered patch for the couple I met. All this came back to me when I was approaching my 60th birthday. About 8 months in advance, I had already run 53 marathons and someone suggested that I try to run 60, or one every month by my birthday. I was intrigued by the idea until I realized that it was also not a "real" record and that no one would really care, other than myself, and that it would only reinforce the "crazy" tags we runners get meeting non-runners at cocktail parties or business meetings. To non-runners, finishing one marathon is impressive and an accomplishment that a very small percentage of the population ever achieves. Is running 60 marathons by the time you are 60 even something that is better than running 55 (which I had done when I turned 60)?
It was all put in to perspective when I was working a booth at the Medtronic Twin City Marathon Expo, (while still deciding if I wanted to establish my "record"). Someone in the booth bragged to a visitor that "Jon here has done 53 marathons". Someone with him pointed across the aisle and said "Alan, over there has done 320" and my friend Craig stopped by an hour later and announced that he was now doing a marathon or an ultra in every week and state next year. Suddenly, I saw the meaningless nature of what I was about to embark on, and decided not to pursue it. I have now run 55 marathons with out dropping out until Chicago last year. So that "record" fell.
I hurt my calf last weekend and have not run all week..................it was a new "record".

Chasing "perfect"

01/05/2011


"Perfect is the enemy of good". I have always loved this saying. (It is from Voltaire and the literal French translation has "best" replacing "perfect"). The saying has great relevance for business, but I had never thought of it in the context of running and training for races. As we start the new year, take some time to think of what did and didn't work in your training during the past year. Did you reach a "plateau", felt great, and then "raced" your workouts until you were stagnant on race day? Did you run farther or harder than planned during long runs because you "could'? Or did you give up on a goal race because you missed a long run or were not happy with your training regularity? Most of this can come from chasing "perfect". Or put it this way: in all my years of training and coaching, I have never witnessed a "perfect" training schedule. During a fourteen or sixteen week training schedule for a marathon, people will get sick, have minor injuries, miss sleep, or have stress at home or at work. How they manage it is really what determines their success in meeting their ultimate goal. Rather than be discouraged that one hasn't run a "perfect" training schedule, I encourage people to keep a log, or make notes on their training calendar and then review it on a regular basis. This will allow one to gain an appreciation for the total effort they have been putting in, rather than dwelling on the day they missed a run. Chasing "perfect" may also keep you from starting your 8 mile workout when you only have time for 4. This is where the "good" comes in. You are not settling for "good", but accepting that it is part of the reality in any training program. Chasing "perfect" will also hurt you on race day. We think we know people who have run a "perfect" race, and think that some day we will do the same. We won't. A marathon is 26.2 miles of managing one's energy, spirit, hydration, and dealing with the elements. Even in the best marathons that one has run, there were various challenges that presented themselves and needed to be overcome. Last fall, at the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon, there was what everyone agreed to be "perfect" weather. Unfortunately, many runners went out too fast or ignored hydration and refueling needs because it was such a "perfect" day and they paid dearly for it at the end of the race.
My first run of the year was New Years day. It was really cold and windy. I thought about the warmth of Kenwood Cafe after the run, but it was closed. We meant to run 8, but turned around to have the wind at our back and we ended up doing 7 miles. It was good.

Headphones

In the business world one is always advised to avoid discussion topics that are sensitive in nature, especially politics and religion. For runners, the simple utterance of the word "headphones", elicits such a strong reaction that I normally avoid the discussion altogether. A recent incident made me think again about the use of headphones while training or running races. I was driving in downtown Minneapolis and saw a runner passing through the outside courtyard of the Federal Reserve Building. She was running with headphones on and I looked at something coming fast behind her. It was a deer, running at full speed, slipping every once in a while on the bricks and it was headed right for her. It made a leap and almost landed on top of her and she made a turn and continued running while the deer ran across the street. She never saw the deer, never heard the deer, and I watched while she continued briskly along with her pony tail flopping in the wind as she ran.

Granted, this was pretty much a freakish occurrence, but I have witnessed many other incidents from people running with headphones. The time I watched a woman running with headphones along Kenilworth trail with her dog, she couldn't hear a dog barking at her dog and was completely oblivious as her dog darted away and ran right in to a sign. Or during Go Saint Louis Marathon when a guy running with headphones stopped to tie his shoes and then ran right into my path, nearly sending me for a fall. He was completely unaware of people around him and could not hear the footsteps of oncoming runners.
Now before you start assuming that I just don't get it and that headphones are a tool that helps motivate you by the songs you listen to while you train and race.........I do get it. I used to be one of you. From 2000 until about 2005, I listened to either a radio or MP3 player at every marathon I raced and for virtually all my training runs. I remember the exhilaration of listening to James Taylor singing "Gaia" as I crossed the Franklin bridge during the Twin Cities Marathon and I remember the "mixes" I put together for my runs around the city lakes.
So why did I stop? I was in San Francisco and decided to do a long run with Nike Club Run San Francisco. There were over 400 people, divided up in to pace groups with water stops, each group having two pace leaders. Once we started, I saw that virtually everyone had an iPod or other MP3 player and was wearing headphones. The run was a disaster, with no one listening to directions, people oblivious to traffic, and no ability to converse whatsoever. It had not even occurred to me to bring music and headphones for a group training run through a fairly complicated route, and after that day, I rarely, if ever, train with music. I found that I enjoyed the sounds of a city, the rustling of the wind, or the waves breaking on the shore as I ran around a lake or along the ocean. I also found that it is fun to say "hi" to people as you encounter them on the running paths. It is great to have that instant bond I get with fellow runners and far preferable to the blank stare that I get when I say "hi" to someone wearing headphones. My current mix is "the sound of nature and the running community". No download required.

Gadgets & "devices"

Most people who know me immediately assume that I will have the latest running gadget, be it a GPS watch, GPS phone with running route tracking, or even as an early adapter of the Nike+ system. You may be surprised to hear that I am now using none of them. Garmin 405 in a drawer, iPhone with Athlinks GPS and MapMyRun left on the counter when I run, and the Nike+ sensors and receivers in a ziplock bag in my "running goodies" drawer. During the "off" season it just doesn't matter. 5.72 miles or 6.12 miles isn't worth all the clicking, uploading, or even the absurd practice of running around the block to get to your 16 mile training goal. Actually, losing your gadgets is also a pretty smart practice during training as you need to learn what your training pace is on your own. Relying on GPS reception is a dangerous proposition. The first 2 miles of MTCM is a jumble of buildings and the GPS signal goes in and out and tells you you are running a completely inaccurate pace. For those of you who think that you are getting an instant GPS "read" of your current pace, be aware that this is virtually impossible with the Garmin watch technology. Set your watches or phones to "average" pace and you will get a much more accurate idea of how you are doing. There is also a very accurate device that seems to get forgotten: it is called a watch and has obscure brand names like "Timex". Hard to find, but retailers such as Target still carry a few. How this device works is that you run a known distance and check your time. I used this device on my run this morning. It was awesome!

Winter running

Running in the winter here in Minnesota is often a challenge. You are often running in the dark, plus the weather is cold, and the footing can be terrible. This past Saturday, we experienced our first major snowfall. The paths had not been plowed and the wind was strong with a wet snow blowing in our faces. We were moaning and groaning, (and rightfully so), but as we continued, the conversation lightened up and we commented on how beautiful the wet snow was on the trees and how it would be great to have the wind at our back once we reached the top of the lake. This is an important lesson for the winter and even the rest of the year: you will always feel better about the conditions and how you feel about the run after you have warmed up for the first mile. It also reminded me of a life lesson that took place in college.
I was taking an art class and came in on Saturday to work on a project. I passed the studio of one of my professors and saw that he was chipping away at a block of marble. I paused and said hello, and he invited me in. I could see the basic shape of the sculpture emerging, and I asked him how he brought himself to work on such a lovely autumn day and how he had the discipline to chip away for hours on end? His answer was very simple: "I just start".

Why we run?

I am always amused by people who know that I run marathons but come up to me at a party and say "gee, I'd love to do a marathon, but I hate to run". I always suggest that they concentrate on some exercise that they enjoy, and they usually walk away with a puzzled look. I have always loved to run, even as a child I would run up and down hills while my family prepared a picnic. In college, I frequently ran between classes. Not because I had to, but through the sheer joy that I found in running. This all made me think about why running is fun for me. Is it because I see it as a form of play? Or perhaps it is the discoveries that one makes while running? The smells of bakeries and coffee shops as one runs through an unfamiliar city? Or the sunrises, the fog over a lake, the crispness in the air as the seasons change, during the runs around a route that one has done countless times before? There is also a happiness that I get from running with friends. Most of my closest friends were developed from running, whether it was training for a marathon, or meeting at 6:00 AM to run two lakes and discuss everything from our daily life to politics or our take on a new restaurant. But I also like to run alone. It gives me a chance to think about a variety of things and sometimes just to daydream. I sometimes find that I'll start laughing about something while I'm running and I can sense people saying to themselves: "he's like a silly child". They are right, .........that's why I run.