Running This Fall

It has been a fun year of racing this year. It started in Evansville in March at the Run Of Luck 7K. After that there were 3 races in Jasper, Herrin IL, Loogootee, Shoals and Bloomington for about 40 miles worth competition this year. Looking at the schedule of upcoming races, you'd think there would be plenty of opportunities but there aren't. Next week there's the Persimmon fest 5K in Mitchell. After that, it looks like I might have a chance for a race around Thanksgiving and one around Christmas. Still it looks like the season is winding down.

Most of my practice runs through the week were confined to the track last winter. When I broke away for the road ways on February 27th, I never really cared for running there anymore. For the most part I head for the track only out of necessity; night runs, tired legs and feet, warm ups or time limitations. This winter I hope to stay on the roads as long as possible but I know there will still be days of lap-counting.

I started logging runs on October 9, 2006 and so my perspective about these daily runs has changed. When I started running I hoped to dabble in a run or two through the year. I never imagined I would have raced so many times through the year. Now that I know what it feels like, I approach my second year of running with a better idea of what to expect. Still there is another goal out there that will nudge me out of my comfort zone... the marathon. As I run under brilliant leaves and clear blue skies, followed by snow covered branches and chilling north winds, I keep in my mind that it is all part of the experience to mold me for my first 26.2 mile quest for survival.

Running this fall my feature very few starting lines but I have made up my mind that I am going to enjoy the journey that leads me to a mountain I once thought I'd never try to climb!

What's Your Motivation?

On Saturday I watched the Virginia Beach Half Marathon. It was cool to see those runners make the turn off the streets onto the boardwalk. That was the same place I ran when we took our family vacation. When the race was over, I was inspired to go for a run. It turned out to be a very fulfilling run because I was able to break a barrier I was wondering if I'd ever surpass, a 4-mile run in under 30 minutes. I was very glad to look at my watch to see 29:41! My closest run at the mark before Saturday was 31:08. The best part of reaching this goal is that the final mile was run the fastest at 6:57. I guess watching a good race motivates me pretty well.

Reaching Goals

Being a first year runner, I have found goal setting to be a mystery. Am I aiming too high and unrealistically or are goals too low and not challenging? I am learning a lot just through this process. I hit some targets this year that have been satisfying. I hoped to cover 1000 miles through the year, to beat 23:30 at the Shoals Catfish 5k, and to run farther than ever on my birthday. On Saturday I was able to reach another goal that had not come easily. It was an ambition I was starting to wonder I could ever realize. I went back to my running log and found the place this spring where I set the goal to run 4 miles in less than 30 minutes. The thought entered my thinking when talking about running with an acquaintance. It was very gratifying to cross the 4 mile mark in 29:41 at a spot on the road near Weisbach. Not a soul was around when I broke through the barrier and yet it felt so good to finally reach a level I was beginning to think was only a dream.

IU Mini: After The Race

Final thoughts on this race...

Things I liked about the MINI:

• Crossing the line in a 13.1 mile race... A year ago that thought was laughable.
• The hills... I figured out what needed to be done and stayed with the plan. The fact that it intimidated others (ie. walking up) gives a runner a big advantage.
• Seeing the IU campus from a different perspective.
• Energy and enthusiasm of other runners.
• See Kelvin Samson & IU basketball team participate in awards ceremony.
• Good food after the race.
• Met a runner from upstate NY near my hometown who finished in the top 150.

Things I didn't care for about the MINI:

• Muggy conditions. Besides a very brief sprinkle at mi.5, the rain held off.
• Stinking, pesky yellowjackets.
• Turn around points where people could cut away from because they were not carefully watched.
• Local news coverage was strangely sparse for such an event. Wanted to read more about it.

Life after the Mini:
Kelly & I milled around after the race and then enjoyed a soup and salad at Olive Garden. Slept an hour when I got home. Did not feel too bad the next day. Just soreness on the sides of my upper legs. Took a nice 4 mile walk. Decided that I will plan for a full marathon in 2008. Resumed running on Monday (very easy running).

Overall, a very positive experience and wouldn't mind doing this race again next year with plans for further strength and endurance training before I toe the line.

IU Mini Marathon - Thoughts During the Race

Here's part 2 of 3 of the IU Mini- "The Race"

STARTING LINE:
Shuffle out the starting line, feeling I am starting out too slowly... But so are most of the runners... Maybe the creeping pace is not so bad, as it harnesses some of the excitement that could make my feet go faster than is wise at the onset... A sardine shuffling along... first mile is all the chatter and laughter... Amazed how relaxed so many seem.. Reminded to enjoy the journey ... I smile, hearing the patter of hundreds.... At 1/4 mile Start picking my spots to find cushion where I can get into my rhythm and not the tempo of the herd. I settle in and glance at my watch at Mi. 1 8:39 (off my goal by 14 sec) I reason, the crowd slowed the pace...I'll make it up.

Mi.1-2
Between these 2 points ... A band is playing on the right side of the street.... A guy is counting from the sidewalk and yells as I pass by, "400 hundred runners to this point". In a good spot for my hopes, yet wondering if I can hold on... Spot a car on Fee Lane that looks like mine... Well, surprise, it is, because Kelly had to run to the store to buy camera batteries!

Mi.2-3
Turn onto N. Jordan Ave, approach Mi.2 @ 8:24 (making up 1 sec.) yet aware that my first hill is before me among frat & sorority houses I have to go into conserve mode. Not as many yelling and cheering as I was told to expect but some were out there to keep us climbing the first big steady hill. Someone had a hose, darted toward the spot to get doused but the shooter missed so I remained dry. Happy to see the 17th st turn marks the end of the climb.. Got to make up for time lost... See the 3 mi. sign and pick it up crossing the point @ 8:36 (25:40 overall). A quick check on how I feel reveals all is going pretty good. I feared tightening shins at this point since that has regularly occurred over the past 2 weeks, but not today! Descending down Jordan Ave., can see top runners have made their return up the street. (They were already 1 1/4 mile ahead) Conversations are still going on between runners. Some one talks about the challenge of returning up Jordan. I make a mental note to be ready. I have just covered a 5k race dist. and have a lot more to go.

Mi.4-5
Watch check @ 4th mile, 8:28, that's using the hill to my advantage but now it's time to climb again. I expecting conversations to start tapering off some now. Except I am just in front of 2 girls who are talking about guys and about some one who did not get invited to their party. I tried to pick up the pace because I really didn't want to run with a soap opera as the background music... I got away only to pass some guy who decided to boast to his running partner about how great his sex life has been for the past 6 months... I wondered if there would be any quiet places on this route. It's getting warmer and much more muggy but try not to think about that too long. 5th mile sign in sight, I hurry and check my watch 8:40 (42:49 total) Get some powerade as I keep moving on Union Street.

Mi.6-7
Now on the rolling terrain for the next 2 1/2 miles... Welcome it because I have trained for this. A good place to employ my running plan, ease up hills and open up down hills. Conversations are thinning out. Surprised to see several people already starting to walk, especially among the top 400 runners. I start passing some on the hills. Look for people I can pace with for short distances... Pretty happy with the way I am taking the hills, although not pressing too hard... Coming up to some of the more serious runners now. Feel this pack is much more serious... More at home with them and I become more aware of my running temperament... I can smile and enjoy but I want to stay focused as I am at the half way point... I still feel well and with a lot in the tank... I know I am going to need it... Mi 6 time= 8:34 Mi 7= 8:26. I have only reached my 8:25 pace goal once and so I am a little high with the pre-race goal. (Not enough accounting for the hills) At mile 7 the overall time is 59:50. It has been a nice plunge down High St, I make the turn at Winslow.

Mi. 8-9
Winslow HILL or MOUNTAIN? By far the steepest climb rises before me. I believe that this is the first great race separator. Several are walking it. Mind games go on at this point with just 5 miles left. I try not to think of it's steep grade. Another runner beside me jokes, "I love hills!" I say "Yeah, me too." We smile and plod up. Reaching the top feels good. I know it's a serious hill because 2 first aid guys in golf carts are ready to scoop up bodies and take them to the ambulance located on the left at the crest of the hill... Figure if I have made it past this vehicle, I will survive my first mini. Just beyond the hill I see mi. 8 and I check in @ 8:45 (satisfied). The next mile (9) is pretty monotonous & turns onto Henderson @ 8:54... (Much slower and I wished that I had turned my feet over a little quicker. I am starting to knock on the door of 9 minute miles) Start wondering if I am losing my steam?... Did I spend too much early on?... Was everyone I passed over the last 8 miles going to fly by now?

Mi. 10-11
I practice this run a few weeks earlier & Henderson St. Felt like the longest mile back then and today feels no quicker. An impatient driver cuts in front of me & I'm riled, which probably helped me come in at 8:53 @ mi.10.... The stretch from Atwater to 3rd is tiring. I really remember little except that I am wearing quickly now. Keep trying to tell my self I am down to a 5 k distance now, but I'm now burning in my stomach & my shorts are dripping in sweat. like running in mud as I cross mile 11 @ 9:35 ... Wishing for more strength training and conditioning now. With only 2 miles left I had to figure out a way to gut it out. Tempted to walk but resisted. Keep running no matter what!

Mi. 12
The turn onto 7th street would lead me to another turn-around by the fountain. This route was not so steep but as fatigue stepped in, the gradual grade up to the fountain seemed tough. Campus students were zig zagging across the path. On the way to the drink I could see runners who were 2-3 minutes ahead of me on their return. They looked tired too... Making the turn, I hear some lady breathing excruciatingly loud... She was in misery but looked determined to finish... Her effort was totally there though a bit unnerving... Heading toward Indiana Ave. I hear Sue & she's smiling as we pass, exchanging high-5s... Reminded that we worked hard for this and this was no time to back off... New energy came over me despite crossing mile 12 @ 9:33... Just 1.1 miles to go. I was ready to find the finish line.

Mi.13
Heard a speaker talk about finishing strong and I have often quoted that to my sons along the tough stretches of life. Time to practice what I preach... As I turned onto Indiana Ave. a little boy stuck out his tiny palm and I gently tapped it as I ran by, while I smiled at this young encourager. The next 1/2 mile was very hard. A steady climb before me that was getting the best of so many runners-turned walkers. Don't know how many I passed on this hill that tested so many wills... Kept hearing a voice say go ahead and walk a little but I resisted... I saw this hill as a metaphor of my life the last two years... They were very hard to me... They represented so many obstacles and doubts and fears I had faced that made me feel so tempted to quit on a lot of fronts in my life... But I thought about how far I had come, of little victories along the way... I thought of new windows of opportunity before me... Of achievements that were laughable when I first met the hill... Of the questions and uncertainties I possessed... I remembered the long miles run way into the night or sweltering noon day heat... of the pains that stood between me and my hills... I decided right there, I would beat this hill with the same passion that I climbed others in my past. I set my sights on the top knowing it was all downhill from there. I could hear the roar of the music when I cross under a railroad truss. Mile 13 was finally in sight and I was smiling and happy that the finish was drawing near... 9:07 (reverse from the last 2 miles!)

Mi 13.1 The Finish Line
The finish line was clearly in sight and my feet felt lighter. I started bouncing and feeling that I had one final kick left for the mystic 1/1oth left. I don't know where it comes from, when you feel so spent in the final third of a race, but it was there! I started passing people along the way. Time was short and few were left that I could reach. My arms were pumping and my legs forgot I was 45. I saw 2 men who were about 50 yards from the line and about 3o from me. They were the last prospects I could try to pick off and only if I gave every ounce left. Ah, this was what I longed for and wasn't going to walk away wondering if had just given a little more. I sprinted faster than I had in many many years and with just a foot away from the line I caught them, lunging my right foot with all the strength I had, as I shouted out the energy that was welling up in me. With 1/100 of a second I toed in first among them. My first mini marathon was at 1:55.27. Euphoria kicked in as I finished the race I will always remember.

IU Mini Marathon.... Prerace thoughts in my head

This will be a little different, as I replay thoughts from race day.
Here's the first of 3 installments.

PRE-RACE:
HOME
4 am. Why do I have to get up so early. If we were just rich, we could have stayed in a hotel up there and got what another hour's sleep?... I need some coffee but not too much... Other than the usual pain in my ankles, the trip to the coffee pot feels pretty good... I guess having 2 days rest and lots of stretching was a good idea... Out the door at 4:45 exactly and it's kinda cool but muggy and very dark!...
ARRIVAL
It's 5:45 am.(or 6:45 Bloomington time) and we just pulled into IU's campus... Plenty of parking available, not sure why I worried.... The walk into the field house to register is still under the cover of darkness... We go in the wrong door and have to zig zag through cones and by the indoor track to register... I look around at all the athletes who will blow by me in this first race... they look so young!... the tables are well organized and I get my packet... I can tell I am nervous cause it's taking me so long to calm my fingers enough to tie on my scoring chip (have a phobia that it will fall off my shoe) and hang my bib correctly... back out the door to be greeted by the break of day but there's no break in the humidity.... I eat 2/3 of a power bar, of which a yellow jacket decides it's entitled to a share... I surrender to it after a few frantic swats at the pest (I'm also a bee-phobic)... One last sip of water takes me toward the starting area....
WARM UPS
I see runners darting across the stadium parking lot in every different direction.... some are stretching under trees, by lamp posts and along sidewalks... Others are just sitting on parking stops chatting so casually... I study the crowd, we come in all shapes and sizes... some look very seasoned for the occasion, others seemed to have decided yesterday that they'd give this running thing a shot!... I start a very easy jog as an all systems check of my body... so far so good... I stretch in the usual ways only hold each stretch a little long and I focus a little more intensely on the muscles and tendons while rehearsing the upcoming miles.... I remind myself this is my first time but that I have covered this distance before on long runs... I think about the hot summer days and hills I have climbed but mostly just how good it is to feel ready for this new venture called the mini... I remind myself of the strategy.... conserve up hills and speed down the other side... there will be many opportunities to employ this tactic today....
RUNNERS TAKE YOUR MARK
we are called to the start line and I wonder, "where's Sue and Charity?"... I look and look and spot them... Now I don't feel like such a stranger in the crowd... We high five each other knowing the hard work we have all put in and feeling like we've won because we've made it to another starting line... The national anthem was sung by an IU student... I figured it would be good but I was wrong as she sounded like someone singing from atop the North Pole, shivering with each note... I thought it was ironic that she sounded like she was freezing, under such warm and muggy conditions.... Once the song was over, it was time for the count down 10-9-8-...3-2-1 and finally we were off! Anticipation, now in the past, my first mini marathon was unfolding in front of me as the crowded mass of runners crossed the start line triggering beeps from their timers, assuring each of us that our times were now being tracked until our return. Most of us tapped our watches as we headed out of the gate.

IU Mini Marathon - A Day After

Arrived on the Bloomington campus before daylight. I was a bit nervous as it took a while to get my scoring chip laced to my right shoe & my running bib on straight. Stepping out of the field house, daylight was just breaking. Headed down to the starting line a did some easy warm ups and stretching. I milled around the crowd hoping to spot Sue and Charity, running friends who have started this new passion about the same time as I did. With 5 minutes to go I found them and we took off on the 13.1 mile course together. Mile 1 was a slow one, as we were all bunched together. That was probably for the best, as it harnessed my adrenaline and kept me from starting out too quickly. About a quarter mile out I lost contact with Sue & Charity

1000 Mile Mark Reached On Labor Day

I just passed the 1000 mile mark with my running. It felt great to cross an imaginary line on Labor Day, alongside a set of railroad tracks on a back road in Shoals Indiana. It happened at around 8:45 am, under blues skies, a gentle breeze and 70 degrees. I do not write this to boast but rather to celebrate a gift God gave me this past year- an intense desire to run.

I call it a gift because it's the only reason I could accomplish what seemed so far fetched 11 months ago. It kept calling me out of bed on cold winter mornings. It lifted me over hills through hot muggy days. It motivated me to run when I felt aches and pains. It nudged me to toe up at the starting line of 5,7 and 10 k races. It prepared me to reach new personal bests from time to time.

Running has been a source of inner healing and renewal during difficult times. Many decisions and creative thoughts have come during those daily runs. I have learned to appreciate God's creative work with each season. I've learned to love the rain, taste a refreshing snowflake and welcome the shade spot along the path.

I now respect those I once thought crazy because I'd see them plodding in familiar places with such regularity. I have found new friends because I was willing to lace up a pair of running shoes and head for a race. I have discovered more can be accomplished than I imagined possible. I have learned to better with disappointments on and off the road, as they are inevitable at times.

Today I felt the joy of a long anticipated reward. No one was around at the moment I past the 1/2 mile utility pole on Ironton Road so as I crossed that point, I imagined a tape was stretched out, as I broke though. As I raised my hands in triumph, I felt release from my shoulders, realizing that entered a new realm in my running world.

This blog will probably mean very little to anyone who sees this post but it's my way of celebrating a personal victory that took slightly less than 11 months to reach. Hopefully it will give you insight into why love running.

I am thankful for the finest encouragement of my wife Kelly and to all my friends who believed I could do this and more. Most of all I thank God for the gift, not to be the fastest but to have this great desire to run.

I have set a goal for the coming 12 months- from October 2007-08- I aim to run 1500 miles and my first ever marathon. In the meantime, I am thinking about my first mini-marathon which will take place this Saturday in Bloomington Indiana.