The "Why do we run these long distances?" question....

     During today's run I wondered "when did ten miles become 'recovery week' distance ?"  I'm currently in an easy week and my long run for the week is ten miles followed by five tomorrow.  What the heck is wrong with this thinking?
     A mile is a long distance.  Driving on my way home after my run today, I measured a mile using my car's odometer.  It took a while to drive a mile, even at 55 miles per hour.  Yet today, I clicked off ten of these by running them.  The miles didn't go as fast on foot as they did in my car.
      I just don't remember the exact point and time where double digit runs became routine.  I guess I could go back at my training log and look.  Doing this wouldn't explain when "Oh Lord, I'm going to go for 10 miles" became "I'm only doing 10 miles tomorrow."  A month or so ago a friend asked how much I ran the day before and my reply was "Just 12 miles"  He mildly mocked me "Oh, just 12" and we kind of laughed about it.  A year ago I probably would have said "12 miles !!!"
     Somewhere my health, fitness, and mentality during the past year caused longer distances to become less intimidating. My training methods changed.  I changed my diet and eating habits.    Recovery times got faster.  My energy and drive increased. All of these changes enabled me to build up my endurance to do these distances.  As the months passed, longer distances got to be routine. 
     Don't get me wrong: the miles didn't become easier.  Often the first mile of any run is always the hardest and most strenuous.  Honestly, today's first five miles were kind of grueling.  Yet the second half of today's run just zipped by.  It's hard to predict when the run is going to feel good, bad, or, ugly.  Some days I could mentally be up to the task but not physically.  The reverse is also true.  Then there are the days where I am not motivated either mentally or physically.  That is usually a sign to take one or more days off.
     I think some of the 'distance' intimidation was wiped out by my wife.  She recently ran her first 50k.  It's been amazing to watch her grow and develop as an endurance runner.   She registered me to do one early this fall as an anniversary present.  The fact that she did this for me gave me a confidence boost.  As an experienced runner, she wouldn't have signed me up for it if she didn't think I could do it. 
    Running for fitness is great, but somewhere along the way we, as long distance runners, go beyond that.  A person doesn't need to run over twenty miles in a morning workout for fitness.  Something in our brains cause us to push ourselves mentally and physically.  To strive for longer and longer distances.  Then we get comfortable at those distances and look further.  Each person has their own reasons for doing so.  There is something inside us that drives us toward these goals and distances.  If we're lucky, we can keep chasing after these goals by staying healthy and avoiding injury to ourselves.

Morning long run in the Morgan Monroe State Forest

           I had my mid-week day off and took the low gap trail counter clockwise.  I had my first wipe out in over a hundred miles on the wooden bridge just past the North Low Gap Rd crossing.  Watch out for slick wood !!! The last step I had on the wooden bridge slipped from under my as I pushed off to get back on the trail.  Super lame !!!
        I've been heart rate training with my running since about early March.  Today my heart rate kept spiking fifteen to thirty minutes into the run which was annoying.  I lowered my max heart rate setting on my garmin down to 143 so that required some getting used to also.  I've been seeing great gains in the past few months but decided to experiment with lowering the max HR.
     I then realized that the new camel bak i've been using causes my shirt to creep up in the back when the bladder is completely full.  This is a real annoying occurrence that went away after I started to drink water throughout the run.  The shirt issue lasted for the first several miles then gradually went away.
     I ended up doing most of the low gap trail and headed north to the Tecumseh trail head by cherry lake where I got on the Three Lakes Trail until I came out on the Main Forest Rd,  I still had plenty of miles to go to get to the 16 I wanted to do.  So I backtracked the way I came and headed back down the rest of the Low Gap trail off of the Tecumseh trail.  I made it to my car way under the mileage I wanted and headed north from the parking lot to the Hardin Ridge Trail. 
      On the Hardin Ridge Trail my hips started to bother me.  I think running the same pace for the past 13 miles or so were just tiring specific muscles.  I found that increasing my pace alleviated this problem.  The only problem was that the quicker pace caused my heart rate monitor to go off.  Walking to lower my heart rate helped the aches too.  When my HR went back into the desired zone I went back into my normal pace which caused the aches to happen until I slightly boosted my pace.  For the last two miles I got into a pattern of boosted pace to max HR then walking to get through the run. 
     My run ended at 16.10 and I was glad to get through it.  I'm not concerned about the aches I experienced.  I attribute them to just chugging along for two and half hours at the same pace with little variance.  I think this is one issue that I have with heart rate training.  Today, I believe, some pace variance might have prevented those aches.  This is the first time I've had this problem though so, hopefully, it was just a fluke.  I'm just glad I found a solution to it on the fly.

"A wise man has enough sense to get in out of the rain"

     I usually have one day off in the middle of the week that I use as my "long run" day for the week.  I woke up and the first thing my wife tells me is "It's starting to rain."  Of course, it is.  I looked outside and it was merely a mist of rain.  Something that could go way once the sun gets up.
     So I optimistically get in my car and start driving towards Brown County State Park.  It'll stop raining, I keep thinking.  By the time I get to the park the rain is steadily coming down.  Not heavy, but steady.  I park at Hesitation Point and figure I'll check out the trail conditions.  If they're not to bad I'll run....if they're muddy and there's a chance I will damage them....then I go home.  They look fine so I put on my camel back and head south towards Ogle Lake then up to the lollipop shaped trail 9.  So far the forest canopy has kept most of the light rain fall off of me.  This is where I spotted the first turtle of the run.  I took his picture and continued on my way.
     Then somewhere around mile 6 the rain really starts to come down.  I thought of the movie "Big Trouble In Little China" and the exchange between Jack Burton and Egg Chen where Jack refuses to use Egg's umbrella.  "A real man likes to feel the rain on his back," Jack says.  "A wise man has enough sense to get in out of the rain,"  Egg replied.  And here I was in the rain.  Running.
      I kept running on back to the lake and then south with a route my wife had gotten from a friend.  It went up a hill and down a trail to one of the campground entrances where I crossed to go to the Limekiln trail (one of the mountain bike trails on the park).   It was along this trail I spotted the second turtle of the day.  About a mile or two later I spotted some little things scuttering across the trail.  "What the fuck are those?" I said aloud as they disappeared into the brush.  Then a mother hen came out of nowhere and then I realized that they strange little creatures were baby turkeys !!!  I had never seen the little guys in the wild before.  This trail eventually came out by a fire tower and I crossed over to run trail 10.  A mile or so in is where I took that and took an odd turn that took me off the trail and ended up by a roadside parking area.
     At this point I merely told myself "I'm not lost, I have just never been here before."  (I think I would attribute this reaction to my rereading "The Tao of Pooh" earlier in the week)  My intuition told me that if I took a left on the road and went uphill I would find the fire tower.  I was right and then headed down the walnut mountain bike trail.  It was then I realized that my run would probably be around the 18 mile range....I was feeling good so thought about going 20.  Somewhere around here I was passed by some mountain bikers where one exclaimed "The sun finally came out !!!"  Is it strange that I didn't notice that it had stopped raining?  I was starting to dry out and shed my soaked long sleeve shirt and stashed it in my pack.
     Eventually I came upon one of the Schooner trail trailheads and thought "If I take this it will get me to about 20 miles for the run" so I decided to take that.  The Schooner trail is a mountain bike trail that is marked extremely difficult and is very technical.  I figured it would be a good way to test my trail mindfulness while being tired.  I knew that I was shoving common sense aside but I had nothing else to do this day. About twenty feet down the trail I came across the third turtle of the day.  Definitely a good omen and I convinced myself that I made the right choice. I didn't feel quite tired.  I felt like I ran 20 miles but I also felt like I had a decent amount of fuel left in the tank.  The heart rate training I have been doing since early March seemed to be paying off !!!  Physically I felt fine.  Then as I finished the 4 mile Schooner Trail loop I realized that I when I got on the trail I actually backtracked away from my car.  Oop.  Now I had about a two mile or so run back to my car which would put my mileage at about 24 for the run.  But I still felt good.  I wasn't feeling great but I was feeling good.
     So then I spotted my car I was at 24.75 miles.  Soooooo, I decided to go for a marathon distance.  I headed down Hesitation Point and decided to do the trail that went around Ogle Lake and then back to my car.  Somewhere in this part my camel back was running low on water. The two liter bladder is shaped like a stingray.  This strange shape lets the water lay comfortably on your back for a run but now that the water was low it proved to be an annoyance. I had to lift the pack so water shifted toward the drinking hose.  I wasn't happy with this discovery and figured this pack would be better for a run less than 16 miles or so.  I've only had it for a couple of weeks so this was a pretty good test for it.  I ended up finding a drinking fountain in the parking lot by the lake and headed back to my car.  A grand total of 26.70 miles for the day.  Just about double what I had intended to do. 
     

Running recovery week means working on other things......or something

     So I just finished an "easy week" in my training.  I created a training schedule to help build a good running base (I spent the first couple months of the year recovering from an injury)  I took Memorial Day and the following day off.  Ran about three miles on Wednesday and then took Thursday and Friday off.
      Giving my legs an easy week of running means I get to do the exercises that helped me get back to running the trails.  At the beginning of the year, the owner of the business I manage gave me permission to do the exercises my physical therapist assigned me to do at work (as long as they don't interrupt my duties).  I have taken full advantage of his generous offer ever since.  When there are no customers I throw in a set of squats,lunges, planks, or pull-ups.  I'll even stand on one foot to work on my balance when showing customers jewelry.  Doing this has improved my balance and makes standing and showing rings more productive !  I have yet to have someone say anything to me as I slightly wobble while reaching into a case for another ring.  One of the cool side effects of doing these exercises at work is that I have inadvertently inspired one or two co-workers to think about and start exercising themselves. 
       Maintaining my core was one of the big pieces of advice my physical therapist told me the day I was discharged from their care.  They emphasized to focus on the quality of the exercises and not the quantity.  I have kept it up these months and have improved my strength, balance, and endurance.  It also helps that I find the "non-running" core upkeep enjoyable.
      Have these exercises made me a better runner?  I think they have.  Not in terms of speed but just in stability and strength.  Rocks and roots that used to make me trip and fall on my face have turned into upright stumbles.  My lower back doesn't get fatigued as quickly on long runs.  My hydration pack seems less of a burden as well. 
      I dwelt upon how much that injury changed my attitude towards running while writing this post.  The injury was an event that gave me something to overcome and I successfully did so (at least 99.12% recovered).  Last year I ran and ran and ran.  Never really giving my body a chance to recover from the miles I was putting on it.  My wife, who is an experienced runner, would offer advice and warnings about doing too much without any recovery time.  I didn't listen to her and, worst of all, I wasn't listening to the warning signals from my own body
      My "rookie" year as a long distance runner had it's peaks and valleys and ended in a fairly large valley.  With help, I climbed out of it and gained the knowledge and wisdom to use my resources around me. This includes listening to my body, my wife, and others who are willing to share tips, ideas, and their own wisdom.  I have begun drawing inspiration from running and  non-running sources and hopefully will be a healthier and happier runner in the years to come.