The Race is Run

First Race completed!  My Time wasn’t all that great.  46’12” for 7K (4.35 miles). That’s right there at 10 and ½ minute miles.  I was hoping for 10s but I was running shoulder to shoulder with people most of the race.  I started off slow.  My First mile I kept my HR in the 135 – 140 range (this is my goal HR for long days)  After mile run it started to creep up.  By the end of the Race I averaged 165 bpm.  With a MAX of 184, note this is the highest I have ever hit, must have been on an uphill.  I ran (jogged) every step of the race.  And I feel like I won the mental game, especially since I planned on running with someone and ended up running alone.  Luckily 3 lovely ladies in some amazing outfits planted themselves right in front on me and had the same pace as I did…  Weird...  After a few miles I passed them, the hills were easy gentle hills which was nice for passing people.  I learned a few things about me as a runner and that’s how I’ll organize this Blog:

 

·         I don’t like crowds – Although I’m not sure if it helped me or hurt me, I was dodging people the whole race but maybe that made it more like trail running. 

·         My bodies not built to be a runner – As I was passing mile marker 1 and saw the pack leaders pass by heading back to the start, None of them looked like me.  They didn’t look like marathon runners either.  More muscular…  I think that these short races the muscle is important for power.  These guys sprinted the whole race..   Anyway although I always have said I’m not built to run, I’m too big, too heavy, But I do it anyway as cross training.  I would love to do some Long trail runs in the 25 to 50 mile range maybe one day.  Whats funny is how strong my body is while Im running.  I mean, I was huffing and puffing, a good steady breathing pattern and My lungs were definitely my limitation, my body wanted to go faster (I usually fall somewhere between an 8 and 9 min pace).  When the end of the race came, While my lungs were ready for a rest, My body wanted to do it again.  Maybe 15K would be a better distance for me.

·         I’m not a road runner – I’ll take the trail over the road any day.  Much easier on your joints, much different workout and type of run.  Trail running is the future of my training.  Uli Steck runs something like 2-3 hours a day on uneven terrain with a Pack.  Although I am not fooling myself into thinking I can perform at his level, I can certainly take some tips from his training.  Let’s get crazy this summer.  I want to run some 14ers.    

·         I love what women wear to run in – I think having a properly dressed female running partner may be just about the best motivation you can have. 

·         Alcohol is not a proper recovery drink – Fish and chips and “Rocky Mountain Oyster Porter” are not ideal post workout meal.

·         Although I treated this as a workout, I could see myself doing more.  What a great excuse to go run the city.  I would be down for a short race like this anytime…

 

I’m hoping some snow melts for me this week (or it snows a bunch more for skiing).  I have a 4.4 mile run I do in Red Rocks Park (next to the concert venue).  This will be my Baseline test piece.  I will run my butt off to get the best time I can, track my HR and then get onto a regular outdoor running schedule.  I have some great stuff right near my work I can do before work.  I’m excited.  I’m excited to be back in the shape I was in before rainier.

 

I do feel I won this race mentally like my goal was.  I would have liked to be a little faster but really if I wasn’t dodging people the whole time and getting tripped and matching up with other peoples paces, I might have done better.  But I ran the whole thing. When the hills came and I was gassed I sped up.  When I got to the short down hills I maintained pace managing my heart rate.  I ran a good race. 

Running of the Green

So A friend of mine is interested in running in a race Sunday, so the super competitive person I am, I said “hey I’ll run it with you”.  So here I am signed up for my first Race ever (I guess technically it’s not a race it’s a run but to me it’s a race so…).  7K which I thought was Odd.  Apparently 7K = about 4.3 miles.  A very short distance so I figured what do I have to lose?  As many of you know I am not a runner, I mean I run.  Some people say if you run you’re a runner.  I don’t know about that.  I’m not built for it.  Even if I was at my Lean weight, I’m still too heavy.   I’d choose trail over road any day just because I get sore knees running on the road but I made the exception here because it’s so short.   SO I sign up for a race, my first race, last night.  No time to really train, I’ve been doing some runs and getting terrible times but I am also running by my house which is either up or down and is 2000 feet higher than Sundays race.  I have a weird feeling.  I never call it nervous.  I’ve had it before and I’m not scared or afraid of anything so I don’t call it nervous…  It’s more of a curiosity, or a concern with how I will react.  There are 7000 people running this thing.  Yea I’ve done some crazy sick Hikes and summited some cool mountains that most of the people could not do.  To me, this is a workout.  When I’m training, I wouldn’t even call this a “long run”.  So why do I have this feeling.  I think I am just wondering how I will compete.  Usually I am competing with my brain and the elements.  Sometimes I am risking my life.  It’s so funny to say that, but really I have many times.  (Mom – all minimal calculated risks).  This run will be new for me.  I hate crowds, I hate Parking downtown, this is my battle, not the workout (Run).  I am so much more comfortable alone on a snow or talus field or tied to a trusted friend than surrounded by 7000.  I am very interested in Trail Running.  To make the transition from Mountaineering to Alpinism, speed is key.  I need to keep up with my partner Shawn, who places in these races…  I have a long way to go but I’ll get there.  For now I’m going to set a goal.  This goal has nothing to do with time.  I want to WIN this race…  Mentally…  I know my legs can handle it, I’m not sure about my lungs right now.  But my Mind is what I want to beat.  Running with all these people for in the 40 minute range, dogging people..  I want to compete at the top level of my mind with all distractions.  If that’s 12 minute miles, so be it…  I am shooting for 9-10’s. 

I'll do it tomorrow...

So I saw a FB update the other day by Conrad Anker.  It said “When there is a mountain to climb, don’t think that waiting will make it smaller.”  Coming from a man who has had his share of epic summits, powerful climbs and just plain life experience, I think this says a lot.  He’s clearly a man afraid of very little but he is still acknowledging its best move with intention and concur the “mountain”.  I’m pretty sure he’s speaking of far deeper things than just summits.  He has had plenty of time in solitude pondering the intricacies of life.  Although I have never met him I imagine him a lot like myself; I think, I reason, I calculate, I execute, and most importantly, I don’t look back.  How often in life to we put things off we don’t want to do?  Maybe we think it will get easier, maybe we think it will go away.  It never does.  As a society we are procrastinators.  I know personally I work hard to not procrastinate.  .  But anytime I think I can do something tomorrow another quote goes through my head by Pablo Picasso “Only put off until tomorrow what you are willing to die having left undone”.   There are a million cliché sayings like this…  But one this is sure, we ALL have a mountain to climb…  All of us.  And truthfully today is as good a day as any to take those first steps. 

Fate, Faith and other F words

As I've mentioned before I am a big believer in fate.   I believe there is such a thing as karma.  I've mentally noted that always doing good seems to bring good things.  This doesn't mean you can't be your self, it just means if you treat the universe well, it will treat you and the ones around you well.  How has fate affected you?  Just think about it?  Maybe you go to a job and someone who initially saw you as the enemy recognizes you from a charity they are involved?  Maybe I smile at someone on my way to work and buy their coffee, and for the rest of their day they pay it forward and spread just a tiny shred of happiness.  Maybe that gets to someone who was right on the edge and this pushed them in the right direction.   Maybe a spot opens up for a course or class that had been full, might this day help determine the rest of your life?  My life has been full of close calls.  My life has been full of paths to choose.  Unlike most, I feel I have a guide through these paths.  I never thought of it as God or really anything spiritual but I haven't ruled it out either.  At this point in my life, I think of it more as intuition.  Maybe it's my belief in Faith and Karma that has allowed me to choose the correct path.  Maybe The "correct path" is a relative thing, and we see what we want.   It's the Faith that is hardest to attain.  Especially when you have been beaten down.  When you've struggled to swim or so long that your afraid to head for shore.  Some cannot even believe a better place exists.  But another F word comes along; Fruition...  Once the effects of  your plan and your acts and your faith all come to Fruition, a great weight will be lifted.  Its funny because we've been inundated with stories of similar outcomes since birth with Fairy tales, Wives tales, the bible...  But we shrug them off as stories...  But in reality they all have truth.  I have really been blessed by Fate, Karma, intuition, whatever you call it.  I am simply labeling it to try and help a doubter understand.  Things will work out.  Life will go on.  People will survive, and if not maybe it wasn't meant to be.  I spent a lot of time worrying especially about women I dated like they weren't capable of taking care of themselves and what really made me realize how Frivolous it was my mom (the queen of worry) said something to me that applies to all people even kids.  When I said I was worried about a girl she said sarcastically "Wow, how did she get by before you came along?" We'll... Touche!