When You're Born to Run ....

As I woke up this morning, I turned the radio dial and locked in on an "oldie," Steve Winwood's "Back in the High Life Again." Even though it is quite mellow, I have always liked it and the lyrics struck a chord with me this time with talk of life going on too fast, doors that had closed, and eyes no longer watching.

Now that I am on a proper marathon, training regimen, I am trying to really improve. The Roadrunners' Group 8 pace leaders sent a nice email and I realized I am apparently classed at "Intermediate" level (based on days off they said to have and comparing it to the schedule. Yeah!

So, it was off to Clover Park for another day of training the Roadrunners way. I set out and tried to really focus on not being a sprinter ... running flatter and with shorter strides. A funny thing happened .... my first lap was fast, very fast. I was flying and actually had to in aviation-speak derate the thrust to follow the training manual for my remaining time on the run. It was a beautiful morning and for some reason despite some various pains, it felt like all systems were GO!

Wednesday had also been a solid day as well. Despite some physical and mental exertions the last few days, somehow my body got the idea it would like to run and run well.

Anyways, it felt great! Despite being "work" and exerting, it just felt so nice to be out there and giving it a go despite everything else at the moment. In fact I completed the assigned 30 minutes and had a little bit of a lap to complete and saw a nice, inviting open straightaway free of walkers, dogs, bicyclists, etc. and ... got off a very nice and fun all out sprint to finish the session. It was just such a welcome and needed rush.

Meanwhile, I am starting to look for a theme song. I tend to pick songs for things, especially retreat talks and sports. So, I would mark sprinting days with "Danger Zone" and intramural hockey ("non-contact" ...) was "Lunatic Fringe." I need one for this whole increasingly interesting journey. Gone are the days of playing "Back in Black," "Black Celebration," "Paint It Black," "Hell's Bells," etc.; I have an idea and will test it out Saturday morning.

Meanwhile, I am still working to adjust as Steve Winwood says, "When you're born to run, it's so hard to just slow down."

Adjustment Time

Today, I have been looking at the training manual the Roadrunners program provides to the participants. It is quite detailed on everything from the coaches to stretching to hints on the actual day, to obviously the training schedule for every day of all 27 weeks. It is broken into beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels.

Interestingly I actually am to reduce my weekday training at the start! I have been running sessions of 45 minutes (or more) each three days a week, some days of walking/other exercise, and then a longer run on Saturdays at the Santa Monica College track. Now, the first week has two off days, the first run is a slower 30 minutes, etc. The longer weekly runs scale up from three miles (last week), to four, five and then six miles and then it cuts back to three, which surprised me. I would have thought you just keep adding distance each week. Even more shocking was maintaining the pace alongside someone the entire way; I had been finishing with a good old fashioned sprint while running on my own.

I also received some very helpful information after the first long run from a pace leader. I had been talking about which group to be in and she asked about my running background. When she found out I shared a similar background, namely high school track, she mentioned that in marathon running the old mantras of stride long and run on the balls of your feet are gone! The goal is shorter strides and flatter steps. For a sprinter-mentality, this is really a shock; for my sprinter thighs, it is definitely new!

This has me again thinking beyond the marathon and about life. Sometimes may be we need to think beyond our prior experiences. Sometimes may be we have to realize others are smarter, or in my case most people are smarter, than ourselves, particularly on certain subjects new to us. With the situations in my life right now, this is starting to become more obvious.

I have sprinter instincts. I think of running on a 1/4 mile track of dirt, mud or synthetic material. I think of running on that track in terms of fractions of it (like a 220 ... 1/8 of a mile), a whole trip (a 440), or multiple trips ... my beloved 880, the mile or two mile. I think in terms of start lines, baton passing lanes, cut-in points for laps, attack angles if I need to make up ground on a relay leg, starts, blocks, listening for the gun, strong kicks for the end, and the other parts of being a track runner.

My mindset for a sprint is power and speed. Start fast and hard. I used to try and "get in the mood" before a race. In the morning I would get up early and watch the opening scene of "Top Gun," with the F-14 Tomcats along with A-7s and A-6s (sorry, too much defense aviation background) being launched by catapults off an aircraft carrier. Power. Speed. Go. After school or on the bus to a meet, I used music listening to heavy metal or rock songs and always finishing with "Danger Zone," also from "Top Gun." If it was a short distance, I would focus on that end point. For a longer run, I focused on moving from straightaways to turns and back to the straightaways. For the relays it was a focus on making sure I was literally IN THE ZONE (the passing area) and focusing on the STICK!

Now, I need to adjust my mindset. I now need to think of a flexible, different, not always flat course. The whole distance perspective is different. Water breaks? Nutrition? Constant pacing for the entire way? Running alongside someone deliberately? This is really new to me. No balls of the feet? No power strides? This is going to take a bit of practice!

Still, I believe I can still do this and make the necessary adjustments. Hopefully, I can also do this with life in general; I need to.

But, while there is obviously a need for change in my mindset and approach, may be, just may be, come March 21, when I see that Los Angeles Marathon finish line in view, may be just then ... I can go back to running on the balls of my feet, feeling the power strides, and like the old Servite days FEEL THE NEED FOR SPEED!