How Much Discomfort Can I Tolerate?!

Weather - 33 degrees, windy, cloudy.

It felt like winter today, so I wore a lot of layers and trudged to the park and woods. After 2 miles my legs started to feel loose so I picked up the pace a bit. Just an easy 5 miles while admiring all the leaves on the ground.

I noticed that November 9, 2007 was my first blog entry at FRB, and I ran 5 miles that day. So I have made a full rotation around the sun, my commitment to running and staying fit not wavering. With a full year of consistent running behind me, perhaps this year more progress can be made. I certainly feel more confident because I remained injury free, and I can run a variety of distances, from 5k's to ultras. Not much is holding me back right now.

Running in the cold today, it was like I never left last winter. In a perverse way, I kind of enjoy winter running, the toughness acquired last year never left me, and I am ready once again to battle the elements in my quest to remain fit.

#359

Weather - 28 degrees, sunny.

Cold, but clear, and I seem already accustomed to cold weather trudging. Did the South Farms/MBK modified loop again. I actually saw another runner on the South Farms dirt road.

During my 2 mile warmup I saw 2 ginko trees releasing an endless stream of golden leaves. It was a spectacular show, it looked like the sky was dropping sunrays. I stood beneath the trees and listened to the leaves striking the ground, it was just like rain.

After my warm-up I stopped at the arboretum and did 3 sets of strength exercises and stretching, then started the South Farms loop.

#360

Weather - 36 degrees, cloudy, raining.

36 degrees and rain is normally not a good combination, but riding my bike home from work in the rain felt pretty nice, so I was looking forward to my run. 

I did not have a plan for the run, I just wanted to get out the door and enjoy the interesting weather. I first ran to the park and Busey Woods and did a loop, admiring all the colors of the leaves - on the ground. Especially beautiful were the bare ginko trees. Unlike other trees, the leaf of the ginko falls consistently straight, and the weight of the leaf prevents them fron being blown around. Thus a clean circle of yellow leaves surrounds the base of the trees. Today I saw numerous Ginkos surrounded by a ring of yellow color, which made me stop to admire the odd mixture of late autumn gray/brown with bright yellow. 

I was feeling good after the woods loop so I decided to run to the arboretum. Once there I decided to head to the South Farms, and I enjoyed the muddy starkness of the dirt road and empty fields. When I was cutting through the harvested corn field a flock of crows flew into the air and I stopped to watch them battle the wind and the rain. The gray sky and rain, the large black birds, the "caw caw" sound, the muddy muted colors, with me standing solitary in the middle of a large field, reminded me of Van Gogh's last painting, and I once again felt the heavy melancholy of the season. I shook my head in awe and continued on with the run.

I ended up doing a full loop of the South Farms, and I finished the run in front of Jimmy John's, so I stepped inside to get a #6 veggie sandwich. I walked home, sandwich in hand, eating and grinning in the rain, my hands getting cold, and the wetness finally beginning to chill me. I was looking forward to a hot bath...

#361

Weather - 48 degrees, cloudy, misty rain.

Today was similar to yesterday, only 13 degrees warmer, and not raining as hard. 

I went out the door looking forward to another run, and after only 3 blocks I found myself moving quick. It normally takes me 2 miles to warm up, so I was surprised to feel so energetic and loose. After 1 mile I realized that my feeling of lightness was probably caused by my loss of 2 or 3 pounds. Yesterday I was slogging around town in 2 pairs of soaked sweats, 3 shirts, 2 jackets, and a hat. Today was just shorts and 3 shirts, and I was only misted, not saturated with rain. 

Today was also the first day in a while where my lungs were at 100% capacity. No matter how fast I ran my breath stayed calm, and my pulse remained consistently low. 

The run went by so fast, and before I knew it I had already covered yesterday's route, but 8 minutes faster. I even finished at Jimmy John's and got another sandwich. It was easier walking home today because it was warm.

#362

Weather - 47 degrees, cloudy, windy.

"If we really want to live, we'd better start at once to try; If we don't, it doesn't matter, but we'd better start to die" - W. H. Auden

The above quote is from the opening page of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's book "Finding Flow". I was reminded of this book on my run today because I was reflecting on why I feel so good when running long distance.

I once again ran the same loop I have been traversing for the past two days. In the hours leading up to these runs I can feel my body/mind craving the experience which occurs at about the 70-90 minute mark of the run - when the energy level begins to swing back and forth, and my being becomes wholly immersed in the experience.

"The metaphor of 'flow' is one that many people have used to describe the sense of effortless action they feel in moments that stand out as the best in their lives. Athletes refer to it as 'being in the zone', religious mystics as being in 'ecstasy', artists and musicians as aesthetic rapture."

I have found various activities which  produce this flow-like experience - photography, reading, chess/poker, and of course, running. I have also found activities which produce the opposite reaction to flow, which is when time seems to stand still, for all the wrong reasons. I will admit that so called "parties" have always had a sobering (even when drunk) effect upon me, and is an activity I place in the anti-flow category - time slows down to a crawl, I feel mental discomfort, and I look for any excuse to get out of the crowded room.

Some people would call this outlook anti-social, but that is a negative term which does not fit. It is not the people I don't like, it is rather having to endure gossip and idle chit chat. "Pro-solitude" is perhaps a more accurate word.

But to get back to my recent training days, I have found that once the run extends long enough, flow, which was already present from the beginning of the run, becomes more intense, and could be called "flow squared".  It is such a potent experience that I very well could be addicted to it. I can think of worse addictions, I suppose.

After the run I wanted to do some strength exercises, but instead I stopped at Jimmy John's and ate a sandwich as I walked home.

#363

Weather - 49 degrees, cloudy, raining.

A time in the not so distant future :

Will : "Hello, my name's Will"

 Crowd : "Hi Will"

Will : "I'm a runaholic, and I haven't had a training run in 24 days.

Crowd : claps

Will : "umm, sometimes when I am at work, I read running blogs when the boss isn't in the room. I am trying hard to kick that habit. I find myself having trouble listening to people because my mind constantly daydreams about what it feels like to run a 5:30 mile. In my closet at home I have 9 pair of running shoes and 46 race tshirts. I know I should throw them in the trash, but if I ever have to paint the house, they could be put to use.  It is my hope that with the help of this group, I can kick my running addiction."

#364

Weather - 38 degrees, cloudy.

I was finally able to run a short distance today, although if I had not overdressed, and was bothered by nipple chafe, it may have been a different story.

Yesterday was another great run, a steady rain fell for the first 9 miles, then it just misted for the final 8. I was so into the pleasure of running that I did not notice that my left nipple was bleeding. Usually that can be a painful experience, but it wasn't until I saw the round red stain on my bottom running shirt when I got home that I realized the heavy soaked clothing had caused problems.

Today my nipples were sore, and I thought it was going to be colder, so I was sweating a good amount. Those two things made me stop at 4 miles.

It is hard to believe how well my legs are holding up with all the middle-distance long runs I did this week. I thought for sure that I would be a little sore from yesterdays 17 miler, but instead my legs were lively and felt fine.

365 consecutive days of running. I didn't know if I had the type of body that could withstand the strain of everyday running, but I had no injuries, and there was rarely a day that I felt like I couldn't go. I was sick only 2 or 3 days, but I was still able to get out the door and run a mile or two.

This week I have been running as if in a dream. I have two types of running dreams, either I am going so slow that it feels like a crawl, bending over, even, to claw my way to the next step, or I am moving effortlessly quick, and for a long distance. These fast runs usually occur along the Chicago lake shore, probably because I lived there for 6 years in the 90's. This week I was going effortlessly long, and although it wasn't very quick, it felt fun and good. The fact that I am not tired at the end of the week from doing 75 miles in singles lets me know that I wasn't overdoing it, or trying to reach some mileage goal come hell or high water. It was just running in its purest form, to get out the door, to live life for the joy of it, to see and to be in the beauty of the world.

Without the 365 days of running, perhaps this week could not have been possible. It took a whole year to get to the point which my dreams declared was possible. A year is long time, but then again, it is not. May year two be just as long, and short....

#365

Now that I am making photographs again, I will sometimes post new pictures here. It does not have much to do with running, but it shows what I see when I am out on my training runs.