Devolution

Asics Gel 1150

Saucony Kinvara

Merrell Trail Glove

Huaraches

This is more of a proof of concept than a serious attempt at making huaraches.  For an investment of $3.00 (Walmart flip flops and some cord from my garage) I was pleasantly surprised at the result.  I did take them for a quick run up and down my street and they were comfortable and stayed firmly affixed to my feet.

 The flip flops are more than double the thickness I need and way too spongy for serious running, although with use they may compress.  I have some ideas for some “found” materials that might make a better sole.  If they don’t work, Vibram Cherry Soling seems to be the preferred material and can be had for about $25 a sheet.

I like them enough that I plan on doing some experimentation, after the Marine Corps Marathon of course.

. . . . and yes, I am aware that I have now officially gone insane.

It was a dark and stormy night . . . .

The dense clouds ushered in an early dusk on a late September evening.

A determined figure fast approached through the deluge, eerily silhouetted in the relentless sheets of rain, head hanging low under the fatigue of miles, body contorted in an effort to slice through the unyielding wind.

Lightening crashed in a blinding strobe leaving in its wake a seemingly impenetrable void.

Unbeknownst even to him, plodding through the darkness stride after unending stride in leaden shoes soaked far beyond the point of saturation, quietly and without fanfare, Running Bird ran his 3,000th mile.

Restless Legs

Anyone else get restless legs when you taper?

I’m taking a light week in advance of the Miracle Miles 15k this weekend, kind of a mini-taper.  My legs were bouncing up and down so hard during dinner last night that I almost toppled the wine glasses.  This was despite the fact that I ran 20 miles Sunday and had a vigorous speed workout Tuesday.  Missing a single mid-week 8-10 mile run has left me bouncing off the walls.

The last two weeks of October are going to be misery.

Am I an athlete?

Because I’m old and nostalgic, I reached for the dusty dictionary I keep within arm’s reach of my desk:

ath-lete (ath-leet)  n.  a person trained to compete in contests involving physical agility, stamina or strength; a trained competitor in a sport, exercise, or game requiring physical skill.

and because I’m not completely technologically inept, I also referenced dictionary.com:

ath•lete  [ath-leet] 
noun
a person trained or gifted in exercises or contests involving physical agility, stamina, or strength; a participant in a sport, exercise, or game requiring physical skill.

I’ve seen this term bandied about recently, even by myself, but never in reference to myself.  I don’t consider myself an athlete.  Never have.

I played organized sports as a kid, swimming, soccer, baseball, etc.  By the time I reached high school those days were behind me, save for the occasional pick-up game with friends.

30 years later I find myself accomplishing things physically that I never dreamed possible. Does that make me an athlete?

I train.  I train hard.  4 to 5 days a week.  Speed work, hills, long runs, tempo runs, progression runs.  I put in the miles.  I improve.  Does that make me an athlete?

I enter contests.  I’ve even won a few awards.  Does that make me an athlete?

At what point do you become an athlete?  Is it when you enter your first competition? How about your 10th?

Could it be earlier than that?   Maybe it’s when you first start measuring your performance, striving to improve.

Is it a state of mind or something quantifiable?

I think it’s words like “skilled” and “gifted” that appear in the definitions that give me pause.  Those are the qualities of an athlete that I believe I lack.  A friend of mine recently pointed out that people like us are not “genetically endowed” with the qualities necessary to easily compete with those so gifted.

Ouch!

At least he didn’t shatter my dreams completely.  He qualified his comment with this:

. . . unless you want to hire a professional coach and do nothing else but train all day in a feeble attempt to improve your aerobic capacity beyond its natural limit.

Feeble?  Did he really have to say feeble?

He has a point though.  Skills are achievable with training, dedication and hard work.  Skills are still within my grasp.

Gifts, on the other hand, are by definition given.  “Genetically endowed,” as my friend would say.  Gifts are not a guarantee of success, but when combined with the work ethic required to hone skills . . . great things are achievable.

In my mind, that is the stuff of athletes.

I have been privileged during the course of my feeble quest for running skill to run with true athletes and the experience has always been inspiring.

Weird Stuff in my Running Kit

Things that might be hard to explain to a non-runner without them questioning your sanity:

Band-Aid Dots

Bandana

Towel

Body Glide

Duct Tape

Dr. Scholls Shoe Shot Powder

Gel Packets and an assortment of electrolyte tablets/powders/gels . . .

Ziploc baggies

Head Lamp/LED Flasher/Reflective Vest

and to think I used to believe all I needed for a run was a good pair of shoes, shorts and a shirt.

Happy Anniversary!

Whew, that was close!  

I almost forgot this one.  If I had missed this anniversary there would have been no avoiding those passive aggressive stares looking back at me in the mirror.  I would have never let myself live it down.  I can be so difficult to live with sometimes.

Happy 6^th running anniversary to me!  I hear the gift theme for this one is sugar.  That should be easy enough.

Here’s the first entry in my running log from August 15, 2005. 

I ran a whopping 6/10 of a mile.

That was 2,813 miles ago.

From humble beginnings . . . .

Going Streaking

Not quite as consistent as I would like, but I squeaked
past 100 miles during the last workout of the month.

I finally broke the 100 mile/month barrier again.  After a streak of 13 consecutive 100 mile months I decided I needed a break.  I was feeling a bit battered and suffering from shin splints and general aches and fatigue after training for the Croom 50k.  I reluctantly cut my mileage back to about 60 miles/month for two months.

Cutting back was a tough decision and one that made me feel surprisingly guilty.  I tried to console myself by recalling that not too long ago I would have been ecstatic about a 60 mile month.  It didn’t work.  I also tried to remind myself that my original goal was to maintain that level of training for a year – and that I surpassed that goal.  That didn’t work either.  There was no assuaging the guilt, but it was the right decision.  I did suffer a decline in my fitness level, but my legs feel healthy again.  I’m reinvigorated and excited about ramping up the mileage again.

I’ve got plenty to keep me motivated over the next few months.  The Marine Corps Marathon in October, the Space Coast Marathon in November, the Key West Ragnar Relay and a Doppel gathering at the Miami Marathon in January, a possible attempt at a 50 mile ultra in the spring, and probably a few other treats along the way.

So let the streaking begin.  I’ve got a 13 month PR to break. 

And for those of you that I lured into reading this post with a deceptively prurient title: