1=100

I finally got off the couch almost seven years ago having never in my life run a mile without stopping.  My modest goal at the time was simply to achieve that one feat before I turned 40.  I had never heard of an ultra marathon.

I first learned of ultra marathons three short years ago, reading books like Christopher McDougall’s Born to Run and Dean Karnazes’ Ultra Marathon Man.  My first reaction was incredulity.  A 100 mile foot race, over mountains!  Humans can do that?  From the moment I first learned of their existence I was fascinated.  No.  More than that - obsessed.  I knew that was where my future lay even though I had at the time only completed a single 5k.

This weekend at the Iron Horse Endurance Run I completed my fourth ultra marathon, my first 100k, and earned my first finisher’s buckle.  I doubled over as soon as I crossed the finish line exhausted, suffering, and overcome with emotion.  As proud as I was at that moment, I can’t say it was any more gratifying than that day in the fall of 2005 when I ran my first mile in the blisteringly fast time of 13:02 (remarkably close to my average pace at Iron Horse).

One of the great things about running is that it has a sliding scale of achievement with each milestone being as significant as the last.   When you are starting from scratch, completing one mile can be as rewarding as running 100 after years of effort.

There are many levels of competition in a foot race.  At the front of the pack there are the elites battling against each other to be the one to break that tape at the finish line.


Then there is the battle against the clock, runners chasing that personal record.

The most epic battle of all is internal. Runners challenging themselves, smashing through comfort zones to attempt to go farther than they ever have before and pushing themselves far beyond their perceived limitations.  Individuals trying to achieve things they may have at one time thought impossible.  It matters little whether the distance involved is one mile or 100.

Inspired by Caballo Blanco

Micah True, also known as Caballo Blanco, passed away last week while on a 12 mile trail run in the Gila Wilderness in New Mexico.  Micah True's story was featured in the book Born to Run but if you aren't familiar with him or his work with the Tarahumara in Mexico's Copper Canyon, you can read a great interview of him here.  (Thanks Brad for the great link) 

The cause of death is still unknown and autopsy results should be disclosed in the next few days.  He was found reclining by the side of a stream with his feet soaking in the cool water.  The image sounds peaceful but I found it eerily reminiscent of this photo I took just four months ago. 

It’s the kind of thing I do on virtually every trail run, take the time to stop and savor my surroundings – a beautiful vista, the sound of the wind through the trees or the sensation of cool water on my feet.

I’m a little surprised at myself by how much I have been touched by his death.  Many friends have been sending me news links about it.  I think part of it is because I do so much solo trail running, but you can easily see how inspired I was by his story just by looking at a graph of my monthly mileage.

Click to enlarge

It was a pivotal moment in my life and I know that I would not have accomplished the things I have over the past two and a half years without that spark of inspiration.  I think its rare in life that such a moment can be so dramatically illustrated.

“I just want to live a healthy life, live and love.  To do what I can with whatever I am blessed with.  I have no material goals of being wealthy.  I feel I am already wealthy in the ways I care about.”
   Micah True

100 Up Challenge

Have you heard about the new movement?  It’s called the 100 Up.

It started with an article by Christopher McDougall author of Born to Run, in the New York Times earlier this month.  In it, he described an exercise called the 100 Up that is supposed to help you master the “ideal” running style, if one exists.  The exercise is simply a modified running in place movement.

You can see a demonstration of the 100 Up in this video.

Faster than Usain Bolt, news of this miraculous exercise shot through the running blogosphere and has now morphed into the 100 Up Challenge.  Try the exercise every day for a month and see what effect, if any, it has on your running.

Seems simple enough.

I’m in.

Will it live up to the hype?

Stay tuned.

Look at me! I’m blogging. I’m somebody now!

I’m having one of my best running weeks ever, so I decided to start a blog today. I’m also going public about my plans to run my first marathon. There’s no backing out now.

Here is a brief synopsis of my running “career.” There was none for 39 years of my life. I spent most of my adult life with no athletic activity at all. I was a true couch potato. About four years ago I was inspired by a friend who told me she wanted to train for a marathon. I always admired endurance runners and had tried numerous times over the course of almost 40 years to become a runner myself, but I always failed.

I still can’t explain why this time was different. I did what I always did, ran as far as I could, usually less than ½ mile, and then hobbled home. After another very brief and embarrassing effort, I made the fateful decision to look up running programs online and stumbled across Cool Running’s Couch to 5k plan. The name says it all:

http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_3/181.shtml

Nine weeks later I was running 5 kilometers (3 miles) without stopping. It was euphoric.

I ran fairly frequently and consistently over the next two years, extending my longest run to nine miles and losing 50 pounds in the process. Then I suffered a set back and my running tapered off almost completely. I could give you 100 reasons why, but in the end they are all just excuses. Gradually, the weight started to come back.

Then, last fall I saw an interview with Christopher McDougal, the author of the book Born to Run. I was interested in his views on natural running styles and the story he had to tell of the Tarahumara Indians of Mexico. I found the book to be very inspirational and immediately followed that reading with Chi Running. Chi Running changed my entire perspective on running and I believe it is primarily responsible for the success I have had over the past six months. Using this running style I successfully trained for and completed my first half marathon and have nearly finished a marathon training program. I run more in one week now than I used to run in an entire month and I have virtually eliminated the runner’s ailments that plagued me in the past - like shin splints and knee pain. (knock wood!)

That was my past- now for the present.

I am having a great week. Saturday I completed my longest run to date – 17 miles. Tuesday I ran 5 miles, setting a new personal record of 48:23 and recorded my fastest mile ever 8:23. I followed that up with a strong 8 miles on Wednesday. This morning another 5, setting another PR at 48:18 and finished the final mile just seconds off the record mile pace I managed on Tuesday.

Here is a map of this morning’s run:

http://sportypal.com/Workouts/Details/311373?key=a8d0756fe5b05ebfa17f0c9e160fa24c33fc63c0&ms=1

I’m looking forward to an 18 miler this weekend, so stay tuned!