How Much Discomfort Can I Tolerate?!

Weather - 0 degrees, cloudy, very windy.

I ran 4 miles to the Zendo this morning, straight into a 25-30mph wind. It being 0 degrees, the wind chill was off the charts.

I wore many layers, 2 hats, face mask, etc, so it was not too bad. In some open areas of the run I was almost at a standstill from the wind pushing me back.

I saw 2 other people outdoors, and a few cars.

At mile 2 my groin started to hurt from the cold, even though I had 2 pair of long underwear on. Seeing that there was nobody around, I ran for 5-10 minutes with my right hand covering my crotch. It worked, the pain went away for the remainder of the run.

After meditating for 2 hours, I ran 4 miles back to town. It was much easier, the wind pushed me along, and I did not have to worry about frostbite.

Last night I realized that my fall yesterday bruised the center of my left knee cap.  It is a bit tender when I walk up and down stairs, but when I run I don't notice it much. I am hoping it is just a bruise, and nothing serious.

I iced the knee last night with a frozen bag of corn held in place with 2 rubberbands. Will do the same today.

#401

Weather - 8 degrees, clear.

Because there was no wind 8 degrees seemed warm in comparison to yesterday. I know I'm getting tough when 8 degrees seems easy to work out in.

Since it will be warming up for the rest of the week, I decided to run short today, and do some strength exercises along the way. The final mile was high intensity, it felt good to run fast and get the heart rate into the red zone.

My knee did not bother me on the run, and although it is still a bit sore, I think it is nothing serious.

When I was in my early 20's I used to run at a local forest preserve. I had never heard of ultra marathons, and was not aware that people were capable of running longer than 26 miles (these were pre-internet days). But when I was out running the trails, an idea kept nagging at my heart. It seemed that if a person was capable of working 8-12 hours in a warehouse or factory day after day, why could not a person be capable of running for the same amount of time? It seemed like a sensible idea, but because I knew of nobody who did this, I thought perhaps that it was not possible. But if it was, I believed it would be a great thing to run from sun up to sun down. I remember trying my best to do this during the long summer days of 1988/89, but I always stopped running by late morning. I would get some lunch, return to the forest, do some strength exercises, then run up and down the large hill for a couple of hours as the sun set. Although I never achieved my goal, being outdoors all day exercising was a great way to spend a weekend.

Today I signed up for the McNaughton Park 50 mile Trail Race on April 11, 2009. It is only 2 weeks after the Clinton Lake 30 mile race, but McNaughton is close to home (2 hours away by car), and a few   local runners do both of these races. I am guessing that it will take me 10-12 hours to complete the race, which is pretty close to running from sun up to sun down.

20 years after setting the goal, I just may achieve it in 2009. I can't wait for the fun to begin!

#402

Digital picture made a few days ago :

Night Alley

Weather - 28-30 degrees, cloudy, sleeting, windy.

Today's run was more difficult than usual, but also more satisfying because of the multiple challenges which I had to confront.

The one positive thing - the weather was warmer, so I did not have to concern myself with frostbite.

The roads and everything else were slick and icy. Even though the air seemed to be below freezing, the sky refused to snow, and instead dropped devious ice pellets during the entire run.

The wind was not so bad in town, but once I got to the South Farms road it was unhindered, and blew directly into my face at 25-30 mph. The ice/rain also seemed more intense out on the road, and this is when my clothing became saturated with wetness. I wore a lot of layers today because of the wind, and each layer eventually became soaked.

Every mile or so I stepped into a deep ice puddle.

My hat was covered in ice, but when it started to rain harder, it became a wet, heavy headband which sometimes dropped over my eyes.

The ice/rain stung my eyes.

I never hit a good running stride because of the icy pathways and roads.

I slipped and fell atop the arboretum hill, landing on my already bruised knee.

When I got off the South Farms road my mind and will disintegrated, and I decided I could not finish the route, as I was too miserable.

I entered MBK and decided to turn off onto Anderson for a short cut home, but when I reached the female statue, my body felt strong and good, and tried to convince my will that it could finish the full route if my spirit could stand the elements. 

This was startling because usually my body is the weak one, never reaching the expectations of the will, so my will got to eat some humble pie today when it realized it was the weak link.

I spurned the short cut and completed the full route (minus 800m which I cut short on the South Farms road, when I could not stand to go any further into the wind).

It took me almost 3 hours to go 12.50 miles.

My body felt fresh after the run, and desired more, but my mind was fatigued from its constant attention to the dangerous elements.

Today my will became tougher, and it will need to become even stronger if I am to have a chance to finish the 50 mile race in April.

#403

Digital Picture made last week :

Main Street, Urbana

Weather - 28 degrees, cloudy, windy.

The ice on the roads cleared a bit, but it is still treacherous, so I decided to go easy and just run a few miles.

My knee is slightly sore when bending, but not while running, so taking it light today and tomorrow will hopefully help.

#404

Weather - 26 degrees, clear.

No wind today, it felt nice to go out for a few short miles followed by some strength exercises.

Knee seems ok, it will probably take another 5-7 days to heal if it is nothing serious.

#405

Weather - 37 degrees, cloudy, misting, windy.

A rare, beautiful day and night.  Ran my usual South Farms loop. There was a medium grade fog with a light mist. The South Farms road was a sheet of thick ice. The corn fields were flooded with icy slush. The trees wee isolated in the pearl gray fog.

After running I had an hour of daylight left, so I quickly ate a banana and nuts, then headed out the door with the digital camera and tripod. I had a spectacular time, making about 50 photographs, everywhere I looked a new picture surfaced for my eyes.

Running free and photographing with passion - things are moving nicely along....

#406

Night Alley Study

Weather - 62-55 degrees, cloudy, rain, heavy wind.

A respite from the cold today! I dressed in shorts and 2 light technical shirts, which meant I felt light and energetic. 

I ran the usual South Farms loop, there was a big difference from yesterday, as the sheet of ice on the road had melted, and the corn fields now had ankle deep water in various places.

The wind on the South Farms road was the heaviest yet, 30-35mph, it felt like running up a mountain. On the turn-around I went from crawling to sprinting, as the wind pushed me to a fast pace whether I liked it or not.

I stopped at home to end the 13 mile loop, ate fruit and nuts, drank juice and water, then headed out to run another loop.

After getting through Busey Woods the wind direction changed and now pushed cold air from the west. The temperature dropped about 10 degrees in 5 minutes, and it began raining heavily. I was dressed too lightly to withstand the temperature drop, so I called it a day at mile 18.50.

The previous 3 weeks have been the highest mileage I have run all year (73.50, 98.50, 64.50), so next week all runs will be under 1 hour, most days probably 4 miles or less. My left knee is still bothering me, and although I can still run big miles on it, it is probably best to get it 100% healed before beginning another cycle of medium and long runs.

#407

Digital Photograph made last night :

Self Portrait in Someone's Yard