Running In Your Head

I was doing a training run for the Around the Bay 30K race in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.  It was hard.  Maybe it had something to do with the fact that it was -19 degrees with the wind chill.  Maybe it was because I was doing one loop three times over.  I'd rather have new scenery the entire way.  Whatever it was, it made me realize once again how much of running actually occurs in your head.  When you're running for hours, you really have no place to go but in your own mind.  Sometimes it's not easy to have that much time to examine your thoughts.  Especially when your thoughts are going like this: "I'm so tired.  How much longer?  Why did I think this was a good idea?"  By the way, there is always a moment like this in a race, too.  It's how you react to it that counts.  You have to realize you're thinking negatively, and then try to change it.  Sometimes even closing my eyes for a few minutes and trying to focus helps me.  Then you start saying, "I am so lucky that I am able to run at all.  It's a beautiful blue sky.  I'm more than halfway done."
You have to do whatever you need to do to make sure your brain keeps making your feet move.  That's all it is really about, at the end of the day.  The ability to just keep going.

My Second 25K - Sulphur Springs Trail Race 2012

I ran the 25K Sulphur Springs Trail Race held in Ancaster, Ontario on Saturday May 26th, 2012.  The weather was pretty much perfect; it wasn't muddy at all like last year.  There were several improvements made to the trails.  It was a little warm but not too bad.

I came in at 2 hours, 48 minutes.  This made me happy because I took 30 minutes off my time from the previous year.  I'm not doing the races for speed; I'm just happy to do the distance and enjoy myself.

Even though I was pushing the pace a bit this year, I still took the time to enjoy the beautiful scenery on the trails and I didn't completely push myself because I didn't want to get injured.

I saw several people trip on roots and I almost fell myself.  My friend broke his foot on a root, unfortunately.

I saw a male runner peeing right on the trail; he was standing beside a tree but the tree was literally on the edge of the path.  Hmmm...can women take a minute or two off their finish time for bathroom breaks that men don't have to worry about?

I only grabbed water from the aid stations.  I would have grabbed some food near the end if there had been any there, but there wasn't.  I don't know why.  I was glad I had brought some electrolyte tabs and sport energy beans in a pocket.  However, it's not easy to get small items out of a back pocket while you're running and I wouldn't really recommend it.  Although it's easier to face Martin Road if you have a little boost!

Overall it was a great race.  Beautiful trails, a personal best, and hey - the flip-flops with the race route on them are pretty cool too.

Running in the Rain - There's Nothing Better

I just got back from a run in the rain.  It was fabulous.  And I mean that sincerely.  As I was heading out, my husband pronounced me a 'crazy woman'.  He says that a lot.  He's so romantic.

I always feel better after any run, even if it's a hard run and I feel like I'm dragging myself along the route.  I feel better emotionally on many levels.  But sometimes there are runs in which I am really feeling those endorphins, the 'runners high'.  Tonight was one of those runs.  It felt so easy and effortless.  Even the hills felt good.  I kept catching myself grinning as I ran along, despite the rain pouring down.  I had my music on and I was happy.

Running in the rain.  Good times.  You've got to take your fun where you can get it!

Running Rules I've Learned

I went for a long run today.  As I breathed my way through the humid forest, I started thinking about everything I've learned about running, and realizing it all applies to life. 

When you're a runner, you gain a whole new level of appreciation for gravity.  When you're running down a hill, it feels so good and effortless.  You can feel a breeze and it's so easy you feel like you could run forever.  When you're running uphill, however, it feels like your whole body has become weighted down, and you have to work so much harder and breathe so much deeper just to make it up that long incline.  So you learn to enjoy the downhills.  Don't think about the hill that's coming up.  Just appreciate the break you've been given, and make the most of it.

When you're running uphill, you learn to breathe.  You need to take deep breaths, relax, keep your head up, and realize it will be hard but that you can do it.  And you know that once you reach the top, it will become easier, and you might even get the reward of a downhill slope coming up.

I've learned that having a running partner or partners makes running much more fun.  And they might drag you out for a run on a day when you wouldn't have gone alone.

Setting goals is helpful in running, like signing up for a race, because it adds motivation to train and to improve before the race.  It's easy to get lazy about training but if you've paid money and entered a race, you generally want to do your best.  Not 'the best', but your own personal best.  I try to remember that I'm not running against anyone but myself.

When my friend and I have run races, we always say we don't care about getting the fastest time.  Our main goal is just to do the race and cross the finish line upright and smiling.  I think it was John Stanton who first coined this phrase.  I love this motto, because it means we try to enjoy ourselves.  We're not in it to completely wear ourselves out.  We want to be able to run again soon, uninjured. 

The other night we went out with friends and my friend said our motto for the night should also be to end the night upright and smiling.  Always a good plan in general!

Sulphur Springs 25K Trail Run 2011 - Done!

I did it!  Yesterday I ran the Sulphur Springs 25K trail race.  The only other 25K I have done was last year's Run For the Toad (see earlier post).  It was raining for that race, and the conditions were extremely muddy.  The only thing I wanted for this year's Sulphur Springs was that it not be muddy.  Well - so much for that.  With all the rain we've been having and the cold weather, there were some very muddy parts.  It looked like the race organizers had tried to help by putting some gravel down in certain patches, but they couldn't cover all of the patches.  At least it didn't rain hard during the run - it was more of a light mist to start off with, which eventually disappeared.  The mist actually felt very good as I ran.  And it wasn't as muddy as the Toad, because there were lots of long sections which were perfectly fine to run.  But there were some long patches where the mud was so deep you were afraid you would lose your shoe to it, and then the mud would build up on the bottom of your shoes and you would be skating instead of running.  I saw one guy slide backward at least three feet and then fall on one hill.

Anyway, at the beginning of the race I came up with a slogan for the day: 'Embrace the Mud'.  So that's what I tried to do.  I just ran right through it.

Initially I was worried I wouldn't even be able to run the race, because my shins had started getting sore about 10 days prior, and they seemed to keep getting worse.  I was resting them from running, but I was still doing other things like boot camp.  Anyway, luckily my MMA and runner friend showed me how to tape up my calves and told me to get some Tiger Balm, and that felt so good - I highly recommend it.  The tape really helped and I ran the whole race feeling great.  My goal was not to get a fast time (which, okay, I probably couldn't get even if I wanted to - I'm not there yet!), but just to finish the race and not be injured afterward.  I like the idea of crossing the finish line feeling good and strong and still smiling.  I wanted to feel good and be able to dance at Lobsterfest that night and that's what happened.  I finished in 3:19 hrs.

I have some great memories from the race.  At the beginning of the race, the whole forest was very quiet except for the sound of runners breathing and the different noises our feet made when we would go from running on the hard-packed trail, to the mud, and then on to the gravel.

All the rain had made the forest very lush and green, and there was dark green moss and light green ferns everywhere, and huge blankets of blue and pink flowers around all the trees that were beautiful.

The mist made it feel like I was running through a rainforest, and it darkened all the bark on the tree trunks and etched out the lines on the green dripping leaves.

I really like how runners are so kind to each other; many of them yell to others as they pass: "Good job," or "Well done!"

We met one man who said he had run the trail previously as a blind runner but had just received a bionic eye and could see the trail well for the first time.  He said the trail was beautiful.  He was almost 70!

I met another man who was beside me as we ran/walked up Martin Road hill.  He puffed, "We're almost done.  We'll feel normal again in a week!"

I said nonchalantly, "Oh, a week - is that all? Pffft!"

The best remark came from another woman (who I can only assume was a mother) as we huffed and puffed, sweaty and muddy, up an incline.  She muttered, "There's got to be a better way to get some time for ourselves!"

I mean, some women go shopping.  And I guess some would compare the thrill of achievement of finding a great pair of shoes on sale to a 25K.  But although everyone can buy a pair of shoes, not everyone can run a 25K.

So I'll take my second 25K.  It was a great race!