The Need For Speed

This morning I asked my kids what I should write about in my blog this week. My 8 year old son Rylan says quite earnestly, "You should write about me!."

Slightly amused,  I say, "Hmmm, I could write about you, but how will I relate it to running a marathon?"

Rylan responds with, "You could write about how I am good runner, because I am really fast."

In the "keeping it real" department, Rylan has just recently figured out that skipping is not the most efficient way to win a running race, so saying that he is really fast might be a bit of an over-statement. Rylan could be a good runner, but at this point and time, I wouldn't put it on his top 10 best attributes. But I am also not going to stomp all over his concept of self, so I tell him  that talking about his fast running skills really doesn't require much explanation so maybe isn't the best topic for my blog.

This got me thinking. At what point in our lives do we start eliminating activities that we decide we are not good at? And what makes us think we are not good at something? When I was 8, I bet that I thought I was good at running, but for 20 years somewhere between the ages of 12 and 32, I decided that running was not for me. Now at 43 years old, running is such a huge part of my identity that I write weekly blogs about it. Why did I, as a child decide that I wasn't good at running? I actually think that it had everything to do with what Rylan said. He said he was a good runner. How did he know he was a good runner? He knew because he was really fast. At some point in my early adolescence, I decided I wasn't "fast" therefore, I wasn't "good"  Many children come to this sort of simple conclusion, but it is actually quite surprising how many adults also equate running speed with running ability.

What I didn't know at 12, that I know now, is that being fast is completely relative. As with many other things in life, there will always be people ahead and there will always be people who are behind. The race is truly only with yourself. What "good" actually means is also up for interpretation. What are we using to measure what is good and what is not? Is it distance, speed, improvement, or just plain letting go of a sedentary lifestyle? Or is it just committment to the sport?  12 year old me didn't question what it means to be good or what it means to be fast, so I just stopped running.    I have to wonder what Rylan will think of his running abilities in 5 years?  I sure hope he doesn't let go of the idea that he is good.

I spent a lot of time this week thinking about how fast I am running. It seems everyone has theory on how fast your training runs should be to meet your goal time.  The Running Room has guidelines, but then so do about a dozen other organizations, and none of them have the same target paces, but all of them subscribe to the theory that "fast" is not always "good." There are those who use heart rate and lactate thresholds to measure your optimal training paces,and then there are those who just use your last race and do some simple math. Since I haven't gone to the trouble to get my lactate threshold and VO2max measured, I am sort of stuck with doing some simple math calculations.

For my goal time of 4 hrs 30 minutes, some organizations say I should be running faster tempo runs and long runs, but my steady pace is fine. Others say, I need to slow down my long runs significantly (by a minute per kilometer in some cases) and speed up my tempo runs. The Running Room has the best interpretation of all.  According to RR pace guidelines, I am actually on target for running a 4:15 marathon. Two other on-line calculators said my training is consistent with running a 4:30 marathon, while another said 4:45.Of course, anything can happen on race day, and these paces are just estimates, but  what does a person do with all this conflicting information? Well, my plan is to stick with my steady run pace on Fridays (6:26/kilometer), try my best to increase my pace on tempo runs, and stick to a slower pace on my long runs. Also, participating in hill training and speed work should help with the increase my strength over all.

I put in 55 kilometers this week (a record for me!). Some hills, one tempo run (5:44 min/km), two steady pace runs(6:26 min/km) and one LSD run (26.7 km) (7:06 min/km). Next week is a drop down week, followed by another increase in distance.

The emphasis for my training is actually not what the title of this post suggests. It is not a desire to be fast,  but in increasing my strength and ability to run for longer distances. This does not make me any less a good runner than a super fast sprinter . It just makes me a runner with a goal.







   

Pumped up Kicks

To begin this post, this 8th week of training, I have provided a link to the song "New Shoes" by Paolo Nutini to get you into the theme of the week. Are you ready? 

New Shoes

"Hey I put some new shoes on, And suddenly everything is right, I said hey I put some new shoes on and everybody's smiling."( Catchy song isn't it?)

I really did get new shoes this week, and here they are!

This purchase could lead me to talk about running shoes, different kinds of shoes, or the people who think that true running should happen without shoes, but I'm not. Runners go through many pairs of shoes, so each new pair usually isn't really a reason to sing. Except for me, today.

Why?

Well, it isn't because I got them for a good price ( which I did), or that the fact that they only had my size in stock of my favourite shoe ( which is true), or that I managed to get the shoes with my kids in tow AND they didn't destroy the store ( which actually happened).

It also isn't because yesterday when I took them for their first run, the rain actually stopped.Which, honestly, with the rain that we have been getting lately, seemed like a miracle brought on by my magic shoes. When I looked out the door before I went, it was pouring rain( as it has been for what seems like a eternity), but after I ran for about 200 meters, the rain completely stopped. and 200 meters later, the sun was shining.  It was like that scene in Forrest Gump, when Forrest describes all the different kinds of rain in Vietnam ("Little bitty stingin' rain,..and big ol' fat rain. Rain the flew in sideways. And sometimes rain even seemed to come straight up from underneath"), and then suddenly the rain stopped and the sun came out and then they get ambushed.  It was just like that (only without the ambush).

The real reason I am singing about my shoes  is because on the drive home from the store,  I realized that these are the shoes that are meant to take me across the finish line of my first marathon. These are special shoes.Never again will I have a first marathon.  Last week, I finished my 9th half marathon in good shoes. But this week I head to the marathon, and these are the shoes that will (knock on wood) help me get there.

And, when I listen to Paolo Nutini's song, "New Shoes"  I don't think of his, probably materialistic, intent, instead I think, "This is right. This journey is what I am supposed to be on." And, because of that, I am "smiling" just like in the song.

This week's training took me 41 kilometers. There was no LSD run because of the race,no Tuesday run because of family commitments,  but I did some hill training on Wednesday, and went for a fabulous 10km run in my new shoes on Friday.

Tomorrow I will run the farthest I have ever run in one day with my new beginning shoes (26km) and I am looking forward to seeing how my body reacts because, (sing it) "I "don't need an excuse, Cause I'm wearing my brand new shoes."

The Race with Myself

It's very hard in the beginning to understand that the whole idea is not to beat the other runners.  Eventually you learn that the competition is against the little voice inside you that wants you to quit.

George Sheenhan

Oprah Winfrey once said that "running [was] the greatest metaphor for life: you get out of it what you put into it."  Now, while I can see what she is getting at, you often get good results in running and life if you work hard, this metaphor is a little "life is like a box of chocolates" for me. What I mean is, it seems a bit trite and overly simple to be anything more than a catch phrase. (But then again, maybe I shouldn't be so critical- Oprah is very, very successful with a net worth of 3 billion dollars and I am just a running blogger with a current net worth of about 5 dollars. ) Don't get me wrong,  I like the metaphor. Running is a great metaphor for life, but I think it is far more than matching up effort and outcome. Sometimes all the effort in the world is not enough in both running and life. You are born with a body and a mind. Some bodies are more suited to some things than others, but I don't think this is the biggest obstacle in being successful.  The biggest obstacle to long distance runners is by far, the mind.  On some days, the argument I have with myself to keep going can last the entire run. It is not unlike the good angel and bad devil that used float above the head of my favourite cartoon characters as a child. One side of me, says "Who cares? Nobody cares if you stop, it is no big deal to stop,you can always start up again, common, just stop, I am tired, my legs hurt..." While the other side of me says "Common, I am stronger than that, I will feel bad if I stop, Its not much farther, I can rest later today... etc. etc." All the training and hard work in the world will NOT help you if you are not mentally strong- just like in life. Life is full of ups and downs, good luck, bad luck, unexpected events, easy and challenging moments. Sometimes it is just about putting one foot in front of the other and finishing the race. Other times, you feel like you could run the race twice. As it is with life. Sometimes you barely get through the day, and other days you feel like you could conquer the world.  

But Oprah is right about the hard work thing. Hard work will definitely increase your odds at success. 

I am racing tomorrow in the Pacific Road Runners First Half Marathon. Will it be a struggle, or will it be comfortably challenging? Will I spend the entire race refining my debating skills with myself? At this point, I think it could go either way. Forecast calls for rain, but I am normally good in the rain. I am fighting a bit of a cold as well, but as the day goes on, I do feel better. No matter what happens, I will continue to be grateful for the opportunity and the mental and physical wellness to participate in the event.

My training this week was significantly reduced. I ran on Sunday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Only my Tuesday run was tempo and I accumulated only 17 km of running. Next week, back to the grind of training for the BMO Vancouver Marathon.

That's the thing about running: your greatest runs are rarely measured by racing success. They are moments in time when running allows you to see how wonderful your life is.

Kara Goucher

Individual Pursuit of Happiness

"No man is an island entire of itself "

John Donne

In 1776, Thomas Jefferson drafted the famous words for the American Declaration of Independence that said that all people have certain unalienable rights: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. There is much to be said about these words and how they are to be interpreted. Some say that they simply mean that all people have the right to pursue their own happiness.  However, this interpretation is somewhat problematic. Does this mean everyone has the right to pursue what ever their heart desires, no matter the cost to others? It is not hard to find examples of those who feel their individual happiness goals supersede others,but that is a subject for a different blog.  Others argue that the intention of the word "happiness"  at that time referred less to pursuits of self-gratification, and more to the "feeling of self worth and dignity you acquire by contributing to your community and to its civic life." ( Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, 2005).  No matter what interpretation of these words that you choose, it is hard not to see how they became the foundation of American identity.  

Running is a very individual sport, but like (or unlike, depending on your perspective) Jefferson's famous words, it is not solely about the individual. It is impossible to separate what we as individuals do, and the rest of society. We are constantly interacting with others and our environment. 

True, I do the running, but behind everything I do are countless people.  For starters, I run with a group at the Running Room. This week, on yet another rainy Wednesday evening, no one from marathon group showed up. It could have been the rain, the darkness or the fact that we are at the peak of flu season, I am not sure, but it left me with a decision: run the route on my own or join a different group.  I could have run the route on my own, but instead I ran a shorter distance with the 1/2 marathon group. I need the people. It is not just the encouragement I get from people like Tara Visser ( who, while running her own tempo pace across the street and going in the opposite direction, thinks to yell, "Looking good, Sara!"), but it is the feeling of doing something together. With the group,  I run faster, stronger and with better form. With the group, I will often forget about the distance, the cramp in my calf , or that I am running faster than I would have on my own. My individual pursuit collides with others and we work together, not against each other, to reach our goals. Even on race day, while we technically race against each other, in the end the race is just with ourselves, and in order to get there, we need others. 

It is not just fellow runners that help me in my individualistic endeavour.  Behind absolutely everything I do are these fine people:

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If for one second, I thought that my running would hurt my family, my individual pursuit to complete a marathon would be over. But instead, they are my biggest champions and for that I am truly grateful.  

 And, this time, I have dedicated this training to two other people (my father and Aunt Mary-lynn) who are serving as my inspiration. They are keeping me accountable more than they will ever know.  My individual pursuit once again collides with others.

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We are not alone. Even if we pursue out individualist dreams and desires for the ultimate goal of happiness we rely on others and others rely on us. It is not a right to simply pursue self-gratification, as this is not happiness. There is symbiotic relationship between your happiness and others. You cannot sacrifice others happiness for your own.  What happens to others happens to all.  No one is an island all by themselves. 

This week my pursuit gave me the following runs:

Sunday LSD:16.70 km 

Tuesday Tempo:6.26 km; 5.52min/km

Wednesday Tempo: (with 1/2 marathon group)5.12 km ; 5.52 min/km

Friday:  steady: 9.11 km. 6.26min/km

Total:37.2 km

Next Sunday is the First Half Marathon, so this next week will be a bit of a taper before vamping up for the remainder of the Marathon training.

Lets Work Together