TheRunningRev.Com

Just a bit of fun

I have several friends who claim to read Runner's World from cover to cover. What I want to know is why none of them mentioned seeing my name in the current issue? I did receive a call from the crew at The Running Store when they saw it. You can find my quote on page 79 of the March issue. As you can see it's really deep and meaningful!

Feeling Great: 20 Miles

It's amazing the difference a week can make. Last Monday I was dying a slow death on a 13 mile run, one week later 20 miles seems easy. Today's 20 was run at a 8:19 pace and was very comfortable, I chose to walk a couple of the tougher hills and that cost me a couple of minutes but it was well worth it as it allowed me to finish feeling great.

Another lesson in the anals of training, even when it things feel like they aren't going your way, stick with it and it will get better.

Running for sheer joy, not results

Most of the time I run with my Garmin strapped to my wrist, recording all the vital information for my training. Every once in a while though I like to leave all that behind and just run for the sake of running and that's exactly what I did today.

About eight miles (no Garmin to give me an exact distance) and I've no idea how long it took! It was a damp evening as the ice from the freezing rain had just melted, the air was thick with moisture and it just felt great to be out running.

It seems that we spend so much of our life constantly measuring and evaluating, putting metrics in place to see how we are doing. There's nothing wrong with that but sometimes we need to set these things aside and just enjoy living, pursue activities for sheer joy and not results, of course joy may be the best result we can ever have. Jesus even said that he came to make our joy complete (John 15:11) of course we don't receive the joy of Christ through running but rather through learning to trust and abide in Him, but all the same I really think the world could do with less measurements and greater joy.

What The Goo Goo Dolls and The Cult have in common

So what is the connection between The Goo Goo Dolls, and The Cult? The answer is ultrarunning! Perhaps that's the answer you were expecting but its true, no sex, drugs and rock'n'roll here, just miles and miles of running.

Mike Malinin the drummer with The Goo Goo Dolls is an avid ultramarathon runner, having completed several 100 milers. Then there's Michael Dimkich of The Cult. Dimkich notes in his chapter in "Running Through The Wall: personal encounters with the ultramarathon" that, "music and running crossed paths as a musician friend of mine, Mike from the Goo Goo Dolls, mentioned that he'd done a local 50k not too long ago. I couldn't let another "rock guy" tackle an ultra distance while I just ran marathons." So off he went and  ended up completing the Angeles Crest 100.

Perhaps Goethe said it best,

Whatever you think you can door believe you can do, begin it. Action has magic, grace and power in it.

Make Up Day

There's nothing like a good make up day after a bad run. The temperature dropped 30 degrees today and was in the low 40's, the wind was blowing hard and I ran six at a 7:30 pace... yesterday is behind me and all is well! I enjoyed a relaxing final mile to cool down for a total of seven.

Running "Blahhhh!"

Some days just seem to go better than others, today was a bad running day! It was supposed to be an easy 13 miles, but it turned out to be anything but easy!

First up I made a last minute decision to run this morning, so my head wasn't in it. Secondly I only had a bowl of oatmeal for dinner last night and some toast for breakfast this morning, so my energy supply was low.

Added to that was the reality of a beautiful sunny morning with temperatures in the mid-60's, the humidity was a little high as it rained last night. Quite honestly it was a beautiful day but about 20 degrees warmer than I have been used to running in for the last few months. I carried 20 ounces of water with me in my hand held amphipod but that wasn't close to enough and I still lost 5 pounds over the 13 miles as I struggled to get one foot to move in front of the other.

I ran an 8:43 pace, my slowest run since the mid-summer heat!

I look forward to a better run tomorrow

Feeling Old

I've been feeling fairly good about my running recently but just the other day I had a conversation with a young adult in our church that left me feeling old and sluggish.

We were talking about running and he was asking me how I had been doing and about upcoming races that I was considering. It was all very pleasant conversation until he said that it was really great that someone my age was running as much as I do. MY AGE! MY AGE! MY AGE! What on earth did he mean? He meant that since I'm turning 40 this year I'm no longer considered a young adult. I know this, that's part of the reason that I stopped playing rugby, its a big part of the reason why I started running, but I don't need a 23 year old reminding me that I'm not getting any younger, even if its true.

When it comes to a midlife crisis some men buy a motorcycle, others a sports car, some end up in affairs and then there's me, I run. My midlife crisis has me wanting to run an ultra just to prove that I'm not that old and that my body can still do some great things!

As for the 23 year old, I think I could beat him over almost any distance!

GO MARY!

I've been running for two years now and yes I consider myself a runner. I was in fairly good shape when I started running so it wasn't as tough a transition as it might have been. I have a friend, Mary, and she is starting running for the first time in her life and is planning to run a marathon this summer as part of Team in Training.

All I can say is wow, go Mary, go!

Off the treadmill and outside again

Thankfully the weather broke and I was able to run outside today. The sky was clear, it was 40 degrees and the sun was setting. I couldn't have asked for a more beautiful February evening for running five miles.

As I was running my mind wandered to the National Marathon at the end of March. Even though I haven't entered it yet I found myself thinking about finishing times. For sure I would want to beat my 3:43 that I ran in Richmond. Then I realized that if I ran an 8:05 pace I would beat the pace I ran a 5k at a little less than two years ago. Now that would be cool to translate a 5k pace into a marathon pace in under two years. Then there's the 8:00 pace that would bring me in seconds under 3:30, yes that would mean I'd see a 3:2? on the clock, that would a phenomenal achievement. Of course there's always the BHAG of running a 3:20 time and qualifying for Boston. I don't think that's realistic for the National Marathon but perhaps it could be this fall!

Anyway, it was a great run at 7:30 pace and that's what I was thinking about.

Eighteen Miles on Treadmill with U2

The air temperature was twenty degrees and the wind chill was three, it was the day for my long run, eighteen miles on the schedule. The thought of running outside in this weather was more than I could stand, but the thought of eighteen on the treadmill was surely drive me to the edge of sanity (many of my friends already question my sanity).

It was off to the treadmill. The good news was that I had a new DVD to watch, it was a U2 concert DVD that came as part of the special edition boxed set of the remastered Joshua Tree album. It was absolutely fabulous! Singing along to the U2 tunes from the mid-80's made me feel like I was in my late teens again and the time flew by. Before I knew it I had covered my eighteen miles none the worse for wear, invigorated for all that life has to offer me. I wasn't sure if the cost of the boxed set would be worth it, but I would highly recommend it to any fan of U2.

Of course, no matter how much I enjoy U2, I pray for good weather whenever my schedule calls me to  go long.