Running in the STL, and a Big Win for a Running Buddy

I spent Thursday through Sunday in St. Louis visiting a friend, David, who is rehabbing a really neat 1 up 1 down duplex. The place isn't in too bad a shape, and the neighborhood is pretty nice. He picked up the place for a song. But that's the way St. Louis is. You can buy great inner city properties in decent neighborhoods for not much scratch (as they say). The place is 2-3 br on each floor. The ceilings looked to be between 10 and 12 feet (they were really high). Closets and transoms could be found in most rooms. There was also off-street parking and a back pseudo butler staircase (something I love in old houses).

While he's putting lipstick and real tlc into the property, David's staying at another friend's house. His friend, Amanda, also has a cool old house with a butler staircase and high ceilings. It is in the Shaw neighborhood near Water Tower and Tower Grove parks. While Amanda will shortly be running the Chicago Marathon, she and I never had a chance to nail on the horseshoes for a run. She headed out for a weekend at Innsbruck (that's Innsbruck, MO., not Austria - and I may have misspelled that, but who really cares). Her friend, Meg was in town from Louisiana, and it seemed like a good weekend to get away.

Anyway, I had some great runs - mainly in the rain - through the parks and the Shaw and Compton neighborhoods. St. Louis isn't Indianapolis flat, but it is pretty stinking flat. So the runs were very fast. I was able to run between 7 and 8 minute miles for most of the workouts. That led to me going a bit longer in distance than I had planned, because I was trying to run based on time not distance. The parks and houses along the fabulous tree-lined streets made for really pleasant running. There were very few other runners out, so the workouts became pretty internal and zen-like. I'd hit the zone about 2-3 miles in, and then just cruise.

Speaking of cruising... My friend, Chris ran a race this weekend. It was a 5k in KC or Leawood or some such place. The race was put on by the heart, lung, cancer (I'm really not sure which) association. He popped out of the gate quickly and finished in 4th place - 1st in his age (30-35) division. Congrats to Chris for being a running stud. I'm thankful he lets me run in his wake every now and then.

Chris with his HUGE medal and his brother

My next race is this weekend's 9.5 mi. Sand Rat Race. Then, the following weekend, Chris, Eric, and I are running the Bert Nash 10k (after Chris' performance, it is safe to say that we won't be running that race together).

Anyway, until next week... too dah loo.

Under the Milky Way Tonight

I have only done one night race in my running 'career.' However, I run in the dark almost every day during major portions of the year. This morning, for instance, as my clock ticked over to read 4 a.m., I knew I wasn't going to be able to fall back into slumber. I don't know why, but I have a very hard time sleeping in. If it is 5:30, I will get out of bed. If it is 4-ish, I'll try to stay in bed until 5 or 5:30. So, I pulled out a book I had begun yesterday and managed to finish it before crawling out of bed, making coffee and feeding Lucas, my mentally-troubled kitty (who'd been bellowing at me through the door as he heard pages turning for the previous hour).

When it finally came time to run around 6 a.m., it was still very dark outside. I grabbed a headlamp. But instead of turning it on for the whole run, I left it off for parts of the run where I know there aren't potholes in the roads, and the sidewalks are relatively even. As I hit the turnaround point at two miles, The Church's 'Under the Milky Way' pulsed gently through my earphones. I looked up and could see not only the Milky Way, but some planets and the ever-present belt of Orion. It was absolutely perfect. I waved to several of the other early morning runners I passed in the dark (always women for some reason). It really was one of those experiences that you would love to share with someone when it is happening, but instead, remains an internal and fleeting joy, that only the person experiencing it will ever know.

The run this morning was undertaken as a bit of a recovery run. Yesterday, after weeks of doing my long runs on trails, I kicked out a big run on my old solitary (paved) roads and SLT trails. I was expecting heat, but when I awoke, my area of the city was shrouded in fog. I waited for an hour for the sun to come out, but it never did. So at 8:30 a.m. I set off into the mist. And what a lovely run it turned out to be. I hadn't done it in some time, so it seemed fresh again. The fog made the run a bit surreal as well.

I have this odd thing where I'll think about what can happen to runners out alone in the country. I'm never worried about heart attacks or getting hit by a vehicle. But I do worry about stray rounds from hunters and being run down by the oft-doubted mountain lion. And yesterday, running in the fog, I kept looking over my shoulder to make sure that no larger version of Lucas was skulking along in my wake. I do know of an instance in our county where a woman triathlete was doing a training run and saw a mountain lion that seemed to be following her. But in my case, yesterday, it was just my mind going places in the fog where I didn't want it to go.

I passed a few other runners and cyclists. They would emerge out of the whiteness and sort of float on by. The moisture in the air was so thick that the hair on my arms and legs developed droplets that gave off a silvery sheen. I hadn't taken any water, but at mile 4 did a shot from a packet of Accelerade gel. It always takes those shots about 15-20 minutes before I notice a modicum of increased energy. At the 10K mark I checked my watch and realized that I was going too fast. I ran through it at 48 minutes flat. It was somewhat hard to keep a correct pace of 8:30 - 9:00/mi (which is what I usually shoot for on training runs) because I couldn't gauge distances.

I finished the run feeling relaxed and refreshed. For the first time in weeks I didn't have to shower using poison ivy soaps. My blisters weren't screaming. My hip (which continues to have problems when I play tennis) was also without pain.

So, my plan for this week is to only do 25-30 miles and simply enjoy some solitary runs. After next weekend, I have two weeks of races coming up - one road and one trail. Then it is back to simply cruising the various roads and trails in my neck of the woods until another race grabs my fancy.

Blistering Runs

I don't have a whole lot to report re: running this week. I spent most of the week not running due to the extreme blisters I had gotten during the Clinton North Shore Race the previous weekend. I did get to smack some tennis balls with the Saturday morning crew for the first time in over two months. I still felt a bit of tenderness in my hip (the injury that had killed my Summer tennis season), but it was manageable.

I did learn about excellent (and seriously expensive) bandages that are blister specific. I didn't know that such a thing existed. They work great. I was able to get back into running on Thursday and Friday for a whopping 6 miles (total). And then, on Sunday, Chris, Eric, and I went out and did the same route as the North Shore Race. Chris hadn't done those trails before, and for Eric and me, it was nice to have a third runner to rotate off the front and share in the spider-web-in-the-face duty. Every mile one of us would switch out to the lead, waving a thin stick in front of himself like a spaz as he ran. Even with the stick, we all got faces full of webs. But all in all, it was a great run on a beautiful day.

This morning, after a short 2 mi. recovery run, I signed up for the Bert Nash Dash 10K. It looks really good and hilly. It starts in downtown Lawrence, and wends its way around and through the KU campus. I don't foresee any speed records being set on this course, but it should be fun.

I'm still deciding whether or not to do the Sand Rat race on October 3. I don't like to focus too much on races. I don't run to race, and am happiest when I'm out alone or with friends in the countryside.

Clinton North Shore

As I sit down to write this morning, my left foot is throbbing from a large blister which is situated over an even larger blister. I couldn't run yesterday or today, and probably won't be able to knock out any real mileage for the next few days as I recover. The cause of this pain?... The Clinton North Shore Trail Run put on by the Trail Nerds. The course was said to be an 8.5 mile loop, but in reality stretched over 9 miles. I also got slightly lost by meddling with my sunglasses and missing a sign; a move that caused me to add somewhere between 1/4 and 1/2 mile to the excursion (as well as a trek through a nice patch of poison ivy to get back on the correct trail). I haven't mentioned the mirror image (but slightly smaller) blister I have on my other foot, or the blister that straddles the majority of the top of my pinkie toe.

Let's just finish all of this nonsense now... the discomfort I'm feeling presently is in direct proportion to the amount of elation and fun I had running the wonderful race. I loved the run so much, that even as I felt the monster blisters making their way across my feet like Sherman marching across Georgia, I didn't want it to end. I mentally focused on the endorphin-release that the blisters would add to those already churning as a result of the exertion .

The day was cool and sunny. The runners gathered for a rather late, 9 a.m., start. I had a friend, Jeanne, visiting from Boulder. She's training for a half marathon and thought the trail run would be good to incorporate into her schedule Eric Henry, my regular trail buddy, was also present, having driven himself over to the race from where he and a bunch of other friends had been camping the night before.


Jeanne with the crazy socks and her friend (also named Jeanne)

Eric and I have run these trails on a number of occasions recently. We usually ended up covered in mud. I usually end up with bug bites galore. But the race day was different. For some reason (even though it had rained a lot in the days leading up to the run), there was little or no mud. I also am happy to report that I didn't get even a solitary bug bite. I showered with poison ivy preventative soap after the race (having run through a large patch, as I mentioned previously). And, other than the raging blisters, I suffered no ill-effects from the race. I didn't even feel too bad about missing a sign and doing a side excursion during the run, because my friend, Kurt, who finished 9th, also mentioned that his group had run into a couple of confusing stops in the course of the competition.


Eric on the run

All in all, it was a great experience and enjoyed by almost everyone I spoke with after. This included the woman who edged past me in the last mile. I saw her take two spills (apparently these two accounted for one third of her total falls). She just kept bouncing back up and cruising - like those birthday candles that continuously re-light once they've been blown out.

So a big thanks to all who put the race on and to those who participated. The combination of the excellent course and the participants made for a great day.

Indianapolis City Running

I'm posting this on Tuesday rather than the usual Monday because I was flying back to Kansas from Indianapolis yesterday. Indianapolis is a nice city...nice and flat that is. Coming from Kansas, I've seen flat (though Eastern Kansas where I reside is actually quite hilly). But Indy is seriously flat. And seriously flat means seriously fast running.

My friend and co-worker, Marisa and I have been going to Indianapolis for the past few years for a late Summer trade show. In our wanderings around the city, we've found that Indianapolis has a couple of places found where the running is great. The first is in a neighborhood called Broad Ripple (near Butler University). It is an interesting place where almost every house is actually a business. A creek runs through the neighborhood, and a nice trail crosses it as well. The only potential issue I saw with the place is that the trail is so popular with bicycles, runners, and walkers, that there really did seem to be a slight danger of collision.

Indianapolis bills itself as a bicycle friendly town. And it really is. I can't recall being in the center of a city and seeing so many places devoted to bicycling. And with cycling being highlighted, running benefits as well. I spent two mornings running with the lightning fast Chris Ford, who had driven in to meet us, and to hang out with a friend, Christine, while Marisa and I worked.

Chris and I ran in the early a.m. in the second great running area along the canals and river near Lucas Oil Field and the Convention Center. As I mentioned, the runs were flat and fast. We were able to cover a good amount of ground as we set off and circumnavigated the Indiana State Capitol Building. We then cruised through Purdue and U of I's Indianapolis campus to the river. The river is pretty with bridges crossing it every few blocks. Early in the morning there wasn't any traffic to speak of. Along and above the far shoreline, we ran by a wall built of huge slabs of cut stone. It was really kind of magnificent. We also ran by a pedestrian bridge that has a lot of nice sculptures on it, and then by the Indians (minor league) Victory Field. We ended the run on the last day with a run through the native botanical garden that flanks two museums across the street from the hotel complex where we stayed. All in all, Indianapolis really puts on a good show for cyclists and runners.
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Before heading to Indy, I did a mid week training run with my other running buddy, Eric. We are planning to do an 8.5 mile race on trails next week, so we've been trying to get in 1-2 runs on the trails each week. The run was interesting. Since it was pretty dark when we started, we ran out on the levee, then back on the trails. I'm not a fan of spiders, so I made him run ahead (and I'm glad I did, because he ran face first into one or two really good webs). I feel pretty fit for the race this weekend. I'll have a report in my next post.

Correction, A Long Run, and Competition

Me trying to catch another runner - Feb 2010


First things first. I need to make a correction of an earlier posting. Yesterday, while coming back from a shorter run (which was a recovery run from a much longer run the day before), I chanced upon my friends and neighbors, Sandra and Renee. They and two others were on one of their last training walks for the Susan G. Komen Walk for the Cure for Breast Cancer event in August, 2010 in Denver, CO. After catching up, Renee and Sandra mentioned that they have read this blog recently. It was pointed out that I mistakenly referred to Renee as a 'former' Pilates instructor. Well, as I know (and should have written) she is a current Pilates instructor as well as a physical therapist. If you live in or near Lawrence, KS, you can enroll in one of her classes through LMH South. As someone who has done some early morning workouts with her, I can promise you that your money will be well-spent, and you will get a seriously great workout.

So best of luck to Sandra, Renee and co. for next weekend's walk (it's 20 miles/day for three straight days).
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Now on to running: My trail buddy, Eric, wanted to pop another decent run on Saturday. We had looked at doing the river trails again, but opted instead for the more challenging Clinton North Shore trails. We met up with five other hearty souls at 6:30 a.m. and set off. I had run a bunch of days in a row (6), and was hoping to do a pretty easy run. Well, 2 hours and 20 minutes later we finished. That was about an hour longer than I had wanted to run, but what can you do? I can't recall ever having sweated so much during a training run. And since I normally sweat like a 10 foot breach in a levee, that is saying something.

The run reopened a few blisters that I had gotten the week before. I've never had blister issues in any run until the last two jaunts at Clinton. I'm trying to figure out what exactly is going on down there (on my feet). The shoes (my beloved Brooks Cascadias) are the same ones I've worn for all the hikes and trail runs I've done over the past year, so I doubt they are the sole cause (honestly, no pun intended there). If any reader has a suggestion for some product or procedure to chill out blistering (just at the front inner side of my arches, behind the balls of my big toes), I'd greatly appreciate it.

After the run, Eric and I were standing around chatting with a seriously awesome running friend named Kurt. He's an ultra type who's also nice and fast. He mentioned that he does a shorter, slower (for him slower means 7-7:30 minute miles) run the day after a long run in order to more quickly get the lactic acid out of his legs. I have almost always just taken the day off after runs of 10+ miles, but I thought I'd try it out.

So yesterday I got up relatively early and threw down 3.5 miles at an 8:30 pace. Other than the blisters and some crazy chigger bites, I hadn't experienced even a stiff muscle from the previous day's run. Still, I thought I'd stay slow and steady for a couple of days in order to make certain that there would be no ill effects. And I'm happy to report that Kurt's suggestion was spot on. The shorter run did seem to make the run recovery easier. I went for another run this morning before sitting down to write this, and still feel fine and full of energy.
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New Subject: Competitiveness

I have been thinking a lot about competition and what it means to compete lately. Over the years, I've been labeled as a pretty competitive person. And, while I think in some instances I am, I also can say that I can't think of anyone who fights the urge harder than I do (hmmm... if I fight the urge harder than anyone else, does that mean I'm more competitive about being non-competitive?). I'll give some 'for instances.'

I love raquet sports; ping-pong, tennis, raquetball to name the main ones I play. I don't like losing to people I don't think are as good as I am at those sports, but it doesn't destroy me if I don't walk away with a win. A lot of times when I'm playing someone who's falling behind, I ease up in order to get them back in the game. I seem to lack the killer instinct to really take someone down. I also have no issues in being beaten by someone better than I am. I feel as though it raises my level of play, and I have a real opportunity to learn whilst I'm being schooled.

I usually gravitate toward sports that involve just me, either going for personal improvement against myself (running and biking), or against one or two other people (raquet sports). When too many people get involved on a team, I get uncomfortable with the testosterone level, and the heightened, shared expectations and pressure. I stopped playing World Team Tennis for just that reason. People seem to care too passionately about something that really doesn't matter all that much.

I'm also not a fan of team sports that rely on a country or a specific location. In tennis for instance, I love the smaller tournaments and Grand Slam, but can't stand events like the Davis Cup. I like seeing the individual players perform well, but don't see why I need to root for one country over another. I like seeing Rafael Nadal, Stanislas Wawrinka, and Andy Roddick walk away with wins. I don't care what country they are from, and don't see why that should matter. I feel the same way about the Olympics. I am always thrilled by the individuals competing. But when the commentators begin to talk about country-specific 'medal counts,' I head to the kitchen for a snack.

It makes me a bit sad as well that pro sports have become mainly about who will pay the most $ for an athlete. I don't get why fans root for the 'home' teams anymore when their top players are just going to gravitate to the larger markets with the biggest paychecks. And I don't blame the athletes for doing this. If I were in their position, I'd do it as well. But at some point, these sports start to lack any real meaning for those pulling for small market teams. When your 'home' team is competing against a team comprised of superstars that your team developed early-on, what's the point? If you can 'purchase' a real shot at a pennant or championship, are you really being competitive? It seems to me that the pennants and championships are diminished when that happens.

And my main sport, running, isn't immune from that either, but there is a difference. Most runners entering a big race (let's just use the New York Marathon as an example) have no expectation of winning. The major stars of the sport will probably be back at their hotels napping by the time most of the field crosses the finishing line. The average runner won't ever see the Bill Rodgers, Alberto Salazars, Greta Waitzes, or Toshihiko Sekos (boy am I dating myself with these references), and it won't matter a bit. Most of the runners in the race are going for PRs. Runners mainly compete against themselves. And, while it is great that Joe and Jane Average can actually be entered in the same event as a superstar (unlike in almost any other sport), they have no expectation of victory against a pro. The clock is their true competition.

I try (and often fail) to keep that in mind as I run. I fall into the trap every now and then, where I focus more on the clock than on enjoying the run. I love to run, and got into running because 1) it keeps me in shape, and 2) because I love achieving a kind of zen-like state of euphoria where I'm really in a kind of zone that can't be described unless you've experienced it. The second I start to think about PRs, my fun-level drops, and I've lost what I'm really looking to get out of the sport. In races, I enjoy setting new PRs. But for me, PRs should never be the goal. The journey is the goal. And winning is just a pot of fool's gold at the end of a rainbow.

Coyote Ugly

Last week was a great week for running if you like getting up early. The weather was hot but manageable around 6 a.m. each day. It was the first week since I was injured that I was able to move my mileage back into the 30+ range. After the Psycho run on Friday, I took Saturday off, and then did a 7.5 miler on Sunday before it hit 100F. The rest of the week went smoothly with runs of 3-5 miles a day; with one exception.

On Friday I set out for a short 3 miler because Eric and I had planned an 8ish mile trail run for Saturday and I didn't want to overdo it. I was cruising back to my house through a fairly rural area when what I thought were two dogs came toward me out of a lawn. I quickly realized that the pair weren't dogs, but were in fact, coyotes. If you recall my coyote run-in from a couple of months ago, these critters in my neck of the woods really aren't scared of people. When the pair were about 20 feet away from me (to my left), I started yelling and clapping my hands to at least halt their advance. They paused and then retreated a few feet. One then took off on a circuitous course ahead and around me across the two lane road. So with one coyote on my left, and one on my right, I had no choice but to run between them. I continued looking at them, talking loudly, and clapping until I felt I was safely away. A couple of cars also passed me. Normally I hate running with cars on that road - it is a small two-lane with no curbs, just ditches, on each side. Friday, however, I was glad to see them.

I've never been afraid of coyotes, but the ones in my neighborhood really seem to be fearless. I spoke with a friend on Sunday, who knows about such things, who told me that there had only been one recorded instance in history of a coyote attacking and killing a runner. Interestingly, it happened this year. A woman was running while listening to an ipod and probably wasn't aware of their presence until they set upon her. I always run with an mp3 device, but am usually pretty aware of my surroundings due to run-ins with deer in my back yard (and the earlier coyote incident). Older coyotes are much more skittish around people. Younger ones that don't know better are much more likely not to look upon us as predators. I've said enough about this now, but if anyone is interested in why efforts to rid areas of coyotes don't work, I can go into it on a future blog (I learned a whole lot about these wonderful creatures yesterday).

Back to running... On Sunday, I got up at 5:30 a.m. Eric cruised by my place at 6, and we drove out to Clinton Lake to meet with Bad Ben and some other trail types for a run on the north shore. I had actually never done a trail run there (even though it is very close to my house). I usually take the SLT paved trails on my runs in the area. This past Sunday there were 9 people who showed up. It was a stunning day for a run. The trails were a bit more technical than the river trails Eric and I usually do which made it more interesting. We turned around after going out 4 miles. When we completed the run, we found that Clinton has some really nice facilities for washing off the mud and plant detritus. I plan to do the runs whenever I'm in town on Saturdays. They do them all year. And again, the trail running community overall seems to be made up of the nicest people I've ever met. To a person, they are fit, enthusiastic, and friendly.

Now for a movie plug: I ordered a French film called Welcome last week. It is a small movie about illegal immigrants in Calais, France who are trying to make it across the channel to England. The direction and acting are excellent, and the screenplay is very well-written (in three languages). I'm a big fan of French cinema, and this is one of the best I've seen recently. I'd highly recommend checking it out of you have a chance.

Until next week, bon chance.