Lacing Up

What are you training for?

Many endurance athletes have a love/hate relationship with this question. "My sanity" or "my health" are common responses given by reticent runners...Do I have to be training for something? Can't I just run?

In my case, apparently not. At a certain point, most of us want to put ourselves to the test and enter a race. The goal may be just to finish, or it may be to run a certain time or finish in a certain place. In some extreme events, the goal is to survive. We may be training for our well-being, but having that secondary motivation of an upcoming race or races gives structure and purpose to the routine. Jogging 5 miles a day, while good for you, can get boring pretty fast. Variety and challenge...that's what life is all about!

This is just a long-winded way of saying that I have a few races planned for the spring:

St. Patrick's Day Human Race 8k, March 18

American River 50 mile, April 7

Superior Trail 50k, May 19

Should be fun! I've been running quite a bit, and have done a few workouts the last couple of weeks as well. I'm giving the "back-to-back" long run days a try, on an every other weekend basis. Having never done this before, I have no idea how it's going to go.

Two weekends ago, I did 18 on trails on Friday and then 17 on Sat. on the roads. I felt good on Saturday, but then was pretty tired for a couple days. Last weekend I did one long run of 22 miles with 15 at 6:00 pace,  and that felt a lot harder than it should have. However, I had a good session of mile repeats with short rest at 5:00 pace on Tuesday, so that was encouraging. 

This weekend I'll go back to FRI/SAT longer, easier runs. I'm not sure exactly how far I'll go, but I'm thinking I ought to build up to a weekend where I get in 50 on the two days, given that I'm going to be racing that far. So far the only thing I've learned in my previous 50 milers is that I have no idea what I'm doing. American River is about half on a paved bike path and half on trails, so I'm trying to keep a mix of terrain in my training. Currently, Minneapolis is covered in about 6 inches of slush, so that's the only option right now. 

The way this winter has gone, it'll be clear again within a few days, and we'll be running in shorts before you know it. 

Now what?

Everyone deals with the aftermath of a big race differently. My typical approach has been focus on the next goal at hand before the soreness from the race has even started to subside.

I'm rolling along a little differently this time around, and have been taking it a day at a time, running as much as I feel like on any given day. My running has been more social than usual recently, as I have been meeting up with someone different almost every day. That makes for great variety, and has helped me get back in the groove without thinking much about it.

That said, it's already apparent, just three weeks after the Trials, that I need more than just easy running. Whether that's racing or something else, I need to find activities that challenge me physically, and engage my mind and emotions. I'd go nuts without it. We joke about running as an addiction (a mostly positive one), but seriously, I thought a 40 minute run should give me my fix. Apparently not. A few miles is better than nothing, but it still leaves me antsy and a little bit ill at ease.

So...where to go from here? I do feel that I have really explored the marathon thoroughly, and I don't have much enthusiasm for doing another one. At some point I probably will. But for now, I'm looking for enjoyable running experiences.

Part of the enjoyment of running, for me, comes from pushing myself hard and finding ways of dealing with difficulty and adversity. It's an odd juxtaposition. I feel like I'm in danger of becoming one of those guys who shows up to races and says "I'm just doing this for fun," and then proceeds to drag himself around the course like a maniac. I'll try to keep my mouth shut before races, and just do what I can out there...no excuses!

So I'm still going to compete, hopefully just as hard as ever. It might not be as much of a priority as it once was, but I hope that for many years to come I can still stand on the starting line feeling as alive and excited to run as I was at age 16 or age 25. And I hope I can continue to find some fulfillment in doing the best I can on race day.

Things I'm excited about...the USATF MN Team Circuit (go TC Running Co.!), running some trails, and lots of long runs with good people...