Monday, March 30, 2009

Walking the Talk

Man, why couldn't I have done my longer run today rather than yesterday? My schedule, that's why. When I headed out the door around 1pm yesterday, the wind was whipping, the drizzle was turning to snow, and while part of me looked forward to the training effect of running in such conditions, another part of me wanted nothing more than to go hit the dreadmill at the gym.

I chose an out-and-back route with the first half of the run dead into the wind and a 6.5 mile false flat (no joke) that also has several rolling hills. Anyone who tells you that running into a 10-15mph wind with gusts of 30mph isn't similar to running hills has never run into that kind of wind. The run out was very challenging and demanding, yet it was pretty blissful as well. It takes me about 45 minutes or an hour of running before I can really switch off the ego commentary, yet once I can hit that point, it's great. On the way out, I kept thinking, "man, I shaved my beard off too soon. Sure wish I had it today...", as my face became numb and peppered with sleet.

After the turn around, it was pretty sweet with a strong tail wind that, at times, threatened to push me down if I didn't keep my legs turning over fast enough.

Finishing strong, I decided to "mapmyrun.com" my route and check out the stats. Turns out I covered almost 13.5 miles at a pace faster than I ran any long road runs last year and I felt like I could have gone much harder if I would have been going for a hard run. I like long road runs for the endurance, but man are they boring compared to trail running!

Walking the Talk:
I've encouraged the Project Recruits to seek some external motivators to keep them active once the Project wraps up (2 weeks) and pointed to many of the 5K events, fun/charity walk/runs, half marathons and so forth. Along with the motivation to train, these events can also test our edges if we are seeking personal growth. I'd feel like a hypocrite if I didn't toe the line for a race, so last Friday I registered for my first race of 2009. As much as I would love to do several events each year, they always fall on Saturday's and I'm "otherwise engaged" each week with my yoga class. So, I figured 3 events each year, plus my own adventures, was reasonable.

Here's to the 2009-2010 season!

Peace,
Chris

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Hey Chris,

Last week I did the interval training in 35 mph winds. Talk about hitting a brick wall. But running in the wind is a special kind of challenge that only improves performance. I am convinced of that. I simply could not do my Sunday run in that weather. I will run in the very cold, I will run in rain, even pouring rain, but rain and cold... hmmm, you are one special guy for sure. Congrats on breaking down the wall. Alison