the run i did not take today

I can feel the run I did not take today in my legs.  The steady pounding, step after step, as I climb the hill past the church, passing the squirrels busy making their winter nests.

I can feel the cool damp air on my face, smell fall’s onward approach in the undertones of the earth.

Whisper, whisper…I listen to the leaves dancing under my feet.

Gliding down the hill, I see the trees showing off their new colors, standing sentinel along the streets where I run.

All of this would have happened, only I did not run today.

The run I didn’t take today will make me stronger.

In three short days, I will run my seventh marathon.

I will return to the scene of the crime.

Portland 2007 was my first marathon.  I did not train enough.  I chose not to take so many runs that I was miserable by mile 13.  By mile 18, I learned that even walking hurts when you haven’t trained enough.  By mile 26.2, I knew that I loved this pain, this accomplishment, this pride.

My legs are ready.

My heart is ready.

My mind is ready.

And so today I rest.  I dream.  I plan.  I wait.

put down that running magazine and decide what matters to you

Skim through any running magazine on the market, and you will find plenty of advice about how to run your fastest race ever.  Is this really a surprise? Learning to run faster requires the purchase of many things - from coaching services to expert books, from lighter shoes to high tech gels and electrolytes designed for top performance.  Running fast is sexy, or at least we are led to think that way.  The running industry may be built on our desire to improve our health and wellbeing, but it grows larger on our insecurities that we are not doing it well enough.

You don't have to buy in to this nonsense.

Think back to why you started running in the first place.  Most of us did not take up running because we wanted to start building a list of PRs.  We started running to lose weight, to find clarity, to take charge of our health, to seek happiness.  Good reasons, all.  None of these ultimate goals require us to push harder and harder at every race if we don't want to.  They can be accomplished by simply running happy - at whatever pace our bodies suggest is comfortable to us.

I am not saying that you should never try to run fast and get a PR.  For some people, the drive to make improvement is what brings them joy.  But we should never buy in to anyone else's idea about what matters in running.  We should define for ourselves what constitutes a great race.  Is it doing our best that day?  Enjoying the experience?  Connecting with friends?

For me, what matters in running is enjoying the experience that day.  Some days that might mean that I am letting loose and letting my legs fly.  Other days I'm chatting with friends and petting the livestock along the course.  Through it all, I try to keep a smile on my face and the love of running in my heart.  The races when I become too focused on how I am doing versus the clock are the races that I look at as being poor - even when I am running as fast as ever - because those are the races I cannot remember.

What matters to you in your running?

sweet video

Uno de lo mejor corredoras del mundo: Kilian Jornet.  (Él es de España, asi que escribo en español.) Este video es incroyable; el corre como un bailarín.

One of the best runners in the world - Kilian Jornet. (He is from Spain, so I write in Spanish.)  This video is incredible; he runs like a dancer.  


Well, that is what I was trying to say anyways!!

new adventure brewing?

I love it when life has a happy accident.

This morning, as I was browsing the portfolios of local graphic designers, I happened across a map one person had designed for the Klickitat Trail.

A trail I have never heard of.

A trail less than two hours from my home.

A trail that stretches for 31 miles, including 10 miles along a wild and scenic river.

A trail that passes by the hometown of one of my favorite running buddies - a town I have heard many, many, many, many, many stories about.  (Okay, maybe it's not that bad - but you know how it goes when you run together a lot!!)

A trail that is a converted rail bed, which means it is flat, flat, flat.

I bet you know where this is going.

Here are some images from the trail:

 

Now I have some planning to do!

you are fast enough

I love many things in this world.

Running is just one of them.

I'm a sucker for good books, cold beer, and guitar playing singer songwriters.

I also love street art.

You know, like Banksy stuff.  Or Ludo.

Unurth is a great blog to check out to learn more about what is happening in this new art movement.  They are always posting new installations from around the world.

So guess what I did today.

I made a little street art of my own.

But I am a fantastic chicken.  So there was no way I would paint on anything or deface any property. 

Instead, I made a little "You are fast enough" rock.

And then I placed it in this rock wall on my favorite little bridge in a local state park where I love to run.

And now I hope that someone finds it.  And maybe thinks, hey, I am fast enough just as I am now.

I don't think I am done.

details of the run

You know how people post the Garmin recap of their run, and it shows all these perfect splits every mile, and you think, wow, my runs never look like that?  And maybe you think that you are the only person in the world to ever have had a bad run, and probably it is because you have no business even thinking about running a 50 miler...

Okay, maybe that's just what goes through my head, but just in case you have ever found yourself wondering what an "internal" Garmin recap might look like on someone's bad run day, I give you mine from today's 18 miler.  Enjoy.

Mile 1 - Immediately realize I am in trouble for this run and consider tying a rope around Julie to slow her down.  She is feeling great.  She is chatting about all kinds of things.  I hope she doesn't notice I am already quiet.

Mile 2 - Not bad, since it was mostly downhill.  Of course, I obsess about the return trip the entire time.

Mile 3 - I'm trying to figure out ways to put lead in her shoes. 

Mile 4 - The "good" mile.  Did I mention it is a lovely downhill stretch, and only 4 miles in to the run?

Mile 5 - Distract myself with the perfect waterskiing water on the river next to us.  Forget going inward and focusing on technique.  It's all about diversion for me at this point.

Mile 6 - After Julie points out that almonds are an "interesting" food choice, I spend much of this mile cementing in my mind that I should never plan long run food on 4 1/2 hours of sleep.

Mile 7 - Considered hiding in the bushes at a bathroom break, forcing Julie to continue on alone. After starting up again, amused myself by watching a guy riding his bike like a drunkard up the hill we were climbing. Maybe this is a cycling technique I have never heard of?

Mile 8 - It is possible to physically and emotionally hate an electronic device. I spend most of this mile fantasizing the destruction of Julie's mean Garmin, interrupted only by fantasies of calling someone to pick me up.  I'm also ready to cry.  

Mile 9 - The urge to cry clues me in that I need to eat some carbs. Thank god for a bagel shop. I am both annoyed and pleased that the line is moving slowly. Eating a bagel helps tremendously.

Mile 10 - The only time I manage to go fast.  1/4 mile of sprinting to the bottom of the hill that I've been promised we can walk.

Mile 11 - Stupid 'effing hill.  It is possible to think one obsessive thought for an entire mile.

Mile 12 - Math abilities and memory of how far we are going are now gone.  I am extremely pleased that we aren't doing 20 miles, and I just have 7, no 5, no 6 - well some amount of miles left to go.

Mile 13 - We're going flat for awhile now, she tells me.  You know, so it's easy.  Mmm hmm.  Stupid songs are now stuck on repeat in my head.  "All the single ladies, all the single ladies..."

Mile 14 - I return to math problems for amusement.  I have now done 27.5 miles in two days...  I have now done 27.75 miles in two days...my legs can suck it!

Mile 15 - "All the single ladies, all the single ladies..."

Mile 16 - It's official.  I no longer like to run.    

Mile 17 - "This is where it starts to smell bad," Julie mentions.  Of course now I need to walk and take an electrolyte.  That's okay though - I smell worse than the sewer plant she is referring to.  Or maybe she is talking about me...

Mile 18 - The longest darn mile ever.  There is no gas left in the tank.  The guy walking down the sidewalk gives me a look of pity.  I'm happy to take it.  But you know what, by the end of that mile, I love to run again.

reflecting on what social media has done for me

When I began my blogging journey, I had no idea what the process would bring.

I was afraid.

Scared to show myself, scared to share my words, scared to put myself out there. I imagined stalkers and nefarious organizations hunting me down in the night.  There was no end to the litany of reasons I gave myself to never hit "Publish".

Did I mention that I have a vivid imagination?

But even with such an imagination, I never once envisioned that my life would improve from social media, that the connections I would make from Twitter and Dailymile and the blog itself would enrich me in ways I never dreamed.

I still remember the pit of fear in my stomach the first time I let my blog become listed in search engines.

But if I had never hit publish, I would never have had these amazing experiences:

• Running a Ragnar relay with a team I had met via Twitter and having one of the best relay experiences ever
• Meeting dailymile friends in real life at a morning shakeout run and brunch before the Portland marathon
• Helping a Twitter friend complete a 36 mile run for her birthday after pacing the first half of the marathon
• Running the entire Wildwood trail for my birthday with a group of fabulous pdx running chicks
• Making real, local running friends who are willing to meet me at 6 am for a 15 mile training run - midweek!
• Interviewing a cool teacher who was running the 216 mile Cascade Lakes Relay solo and helping him meet his fundraising goals
• Running my first 50k
• Learning about the Pac Rim 24 hour race, signing up to help out, running 35 miles and seeing real life Badwater badass Lisa Bliss run a zillion miles
• Driving, crewing and pacing a group of Twitter friends in their first 100 mile race, while being drenched, cold and muddy - and later learning how much it meant to one of the participants
• Having the chance to help race direct a 10k race, and learning that's not what I want to do!
• Earning 4 stars as a marathon maniac - before I met all these people online, I thought running two marathons in a year was insane

Every so often, I wonder if all of the blogging and tweeting and dailymiling is worth it.  I'll consider going dark - shutting it all down - but then something will happen that reaffirms to me that these things I am doing make my life more interesting.  When I look at this list of experiences I would not have had without the connections I've made via the Internet, I realize just how powerful this tool can be.  Sure, it isn't without risks, but without risk, there is no reward.