Trippin'

One week to an epic road trip down to Missouri. Down a fabled road way, that no longer exists. A road that once ran from Chicago to Los Angeles.







Oh yeah, got my race number for the Hundo.

Sixty Six.

Nice.

ZIP

So, I have been "down' for a week. No running for 6 days. Nada. I started to have doubts about doing the 100 miler in Nov, let alone actually finishing it.

I was zapped. Tired. Fatigued. So I took nearly a week off, to let my system catch up. Legs felt OK, but I just had no energy. Some of it was running, some of it was work. Lots of stress there, given a variety of unknowns.

Today, I feel like the ZIP is back. I am excited again for the attempt at 100 miles. (I need to get some planning done!)

I will do somewhere between 15 and 20 today, but really slow (no watch). No stress on the legs. I will probably stay out for 4 hours, mostly because it looks like such a beautiful day.

Running time is play time. Get out and play today!

Elimination

Random Foolish Question of the Day:

Creationist typically criticize "natural selection" by claiming the mechanism to trigger "change" is absent.

I think this is a valid argument.

But what if natural selection works the other way around?

Attrition/elimination of those things/organisms that DON'T have an attribute, thus leaving the gene pool filled with those that do. The stronger the characteristic, the more that gene or trait is emphasized. Maybe the 'change' is simply the change in the environment. That change is well documented (ice ages, volcanoes, meteors).

I have not researched this angle at all, so don't throw arguments my way.

Down By Law

Newton formulated three laws of motion, and the first states (paraphrased and misquoted): that a body in motion tends to stay in motion, and a body at rest tends to stay at rest, unless acted upon by an external force.

For the first weekend since I can remember, I am at rest, having been in motion for the entire summer.

Over the past four months, I've been either running or training for 50 mile races (4 in 90 calendar days), with hiking, backpacking and kayak trips sprinkled in between.

Unlike physics, the forces exerting on me come from within.

Desire and Discipline.

Discipline is the opposing force on desire. The discipline to follow though on long term goals is very very hard in a world of instant gratification, and one where our desire can blind us to obstacles; a desire without planning, without reason is just a wish. Discipline is seen as inertia to desire in our hearts. But really discipline is patient when desire wants to act. Discipline is not inaction, but planned and deliberate action.

Discipline says now its time to STOP the motion, at least temporarily; REST. Let the body come to rest, and recover.

Down.

What I need right now, is to stay down; reflect on the past four 50 mile races. Look for the things I did right, the things I did wrong, the things where I let desire impede my progress.

Down.

Over the past four months I have ping ponged between over planning (which leads to inflexibility) and under planning (which leads to mistakes). For the Ozark 100, coming up in three weeks I need to get down with a plan.

Look for a detailed plan here soon.

Seed

A seed is planted in my mind. An idea, a hatch ling that won't go away.

I tried to reason with it. Then I fought it. I tried to push it out, make it wait.

The whine of the buzz saw. The grinding of the grist mill.

I tried to pound it down, but an organic thing isn't stopped by all the industrial gears of logic toothing away at it.

Sigh. So I gave in. I signed up. More details to follow (look right Brother Grub).

Clang. Boom. Steam.

Clang. Boom. Steam. Three Running Stories




I have not made a habit of posting about running. Its not that I don't like to post about it, its just not all that interesting to me, its starts to sound kinda the same..... after a while. But, I'll make an exception for this week. I ran and hiked a total of 95 miles. My biggest total ever. By a long shot.

Chug chug chugging along. Riding the rail, life gets louder with the clang boom and steam of a rolling train.

CLANG: Superior, the rest of the story.

53 miles in the Superior Trail race. OK, the race was 52, but I got some bonus miles in due to getting lost. Wow, what an adventure I had. The race didn't turn out at all as I had 'planned', but I had an amazing time anyway. One of the best part was Jodie T. Jodie and I ran probably half of this race together, and I reported on it in my blog post over at the Lapham group site. I left a LOT of stuff out of that race report.

In short, let me say while I didn't do all that well in the race, and I hopefully helped out Jodie, I had my own motives to do what I did: I abandoned my race plan and stayed with a fellow runner to see her to the finish. So there was some compassionate, empathetic behavior going on from my part; I really wanted to see her finish that race.

I had two roads: one, in which I ran a sub-par race with a luke warm time. and Jodie does or doesn't finish. How would I feel about that had she quit? I would have second guessed any decision to leave her behind. The second, solution to my mind was to stay with her and give it a shot, and that's what I did. Did it make a difference? I certainly hope so, but I'll never know. The luke warm race result was easy to give up, and I have not had any misgivings for doing it.

Things are other things I learned on that run.

- Prepare and Execute. Don't let desire and expectations change your plan. THINK execution, not results.

- always have fun. This is play time, don't make a job of it by creating unrealistic expectations.

- Be prepared to fail, and not have it ruin your day. Be joyful in the efforts. Adjust your plan. Go with it.

- Every race is different! No two courses are the same, the conditions, everything. Every race is a gift, and an adventure.

- Stop trying to meet some time goal. Really, when I do that, I am running someone else's race. I don't frikin' care about TIME. I care about the effort. I will choose to run with who I want, and I will likely run with someone who is slower unless I choose to run alone. This, for me, is like family time. Learn something from whoever you run with. This is the gift. The time elapsed you will soon forget; the time well spent with someone you will not. Case in point: one of the best runs of the year, Pacing Angela. Time for me was never a factor. From today on, I refuse to predict any finish time. It has zero payback, its a no win. I'll take the time spent with my fellow runners any day.

- From today on, I refuse to wear a watch. Its not about getting there quicker, its about being here. Running fast and efficient doesn't get easier because you are watching a watch or GPS (that's the measure). I want to run with grace, the time takes care of itself as a result of running well; as a result of good execution.

BOOM:More Superior, being out there for the fun of it.

Robyn and I hiked for three more days on the Superior trail, getting in about 20 miles. OK, its not running, but it was moving, and that trail dictated a slower pace anyway. We hiked The Split Rock river trail, the area around Tettagouche State Park, and the area that leads up to Bean and Bear Lakes. We had great weather, and a great time doing it. We camped under the most brilliant moon, all three nights. It was so bright, that when the moon was low on the horizon coming off the lake, I had to actually shield my eyes while walking down a path.

STEAM: Running with Nebraska Bobbi.

I was set up to sweep 22 miles of the North face 50 mile course this past weekend. Brad B and I had started at Emma Carlin on the Ice Age trail. If you are not familiar with sweeping; the role is to get behind the last runner, and pick up all the course markings and arrows, as well as make sure the course is 'clear' of anyone out there still running.

I found a drivers license laying on the trail about a 1/2 mile into the job. It belonged to a woman from Nebraska. I put it into Brads pack for return later after our duties were complete.

After making contact with the slowest runner, we plodded along, picking up trash, removing flags. It was a glorious day, temps in the 60's, sunny. We came into the area at McMiller, which is a CC ski park, and suddenly the last place runner changed places with another runner, so we stuck with her for a while. Brad started to chat with her, and asked her where she was from.

Nebraska.

Huh. Uh, lady, I think I found your drivers license.

Her name is Bobbi, and she was there with her husband, Ron. He's a nice guy; and we actually caught him at mile 40 after pacing Bobbi for about 8 miles. The two of them had 9.5 miles to go, and were now going to run it in together.

But there was a problem. They had made the last cut off, but the pace had slowed because Bobbi had hurt her foot. I radioed in about our situation, and the RD said they could keep going but it would be an unoffical finish if they came in after 6 pm. It was now 3:30 pm. So Brad and I decided to stay with them and finish.

It took three and a half hours.

Patience, and perseverance. You can't give it lip service, you have to live and breathe it to your core. I talked to Bobbi for several hours, to take her mind off the pain in her foot. She finished. With tears streaming down her face. She was grateful, beyond words. It was a cool sight, to see her tough it out. It was one of the gutsiest running performances I have ever seen. Reaching the finish line, there were no runners left, no one to cheer for Bobbi's efforts.

None.

But, the North Face people were very cool. They hung out an extra hour, created a big scene at the end, music, tunnel of people with raised hands, and they saved them some food. Bobbi shivered in the cold, and we got her covered up and tried to get her to eat. They gave her a medal, I gave her a clothes pin with the flagging tape from the course. Her husband drove the van over, we got her in. they drove away, and Bobbi was smiling. Bobbi, Thank you for the inspiration, thank you for the lessons on perseverance. You are one tough cookie.


Station to Station.

Whistle. Whoosh. Stop. 95 Miles. All out.

Superior Tough

So later this week I am headed up to Northern MN for a go at the Superior 50 mile race.

I am a little nervous, probably more so than the first two 50 milers I ran in July (Dances with Dirt) and August (Marquette Trail 50).

The distance doesn't scare me at all. The fact is, I want to do this one really well. Maybe its not the best course to give that a go, but I can probably adjust the hours to put it into perspective. I am guessing, but I would think a 2 hour INCREASE when compared to say, Ice Age, is likely. So, a 12 hour race at SHT would equate to a 10 hour race at IAT. My real goal this year was to break 10 hours, so a 12 hour race at SHT would satisfy that. Ultras are tough, every course is different. Honestly, I'll be happy with 13 hours.

Its going to be tough, and maybe I am over planning a bit. I think sometimes we get caught up in the drop bags, race strategies, blah blah blah. (I'm already packed. Including drop bags and camping gear for the week after the race).

I am going to STOP over-thinking.

I am going to take my own advice, which is as follows:

1) Stop arguing for your limitations. You don't run by thinking. You run by NOT thinking.
2) You won't die if you start out too fast (because I NEVER start too fast)
3) The miles behind you are done. There is only one perfect path: the one that lies before you.
Finally,

4) Just shut up and run.