No Run for the Weary

I have no fear of failure, provided I use my heart and head, hands and feet - and work like hell-- Charles Merrill

Yesterday I didn't run. That should be the end of this post right? Even on the days I don't actually leave my front door I still think about it constantly. I thought about whether or not I could go out for a quick run. I decided against it because of the four runs I did yesterday. I walked in after the fourth run and I felt horrible. I succeeded in pushing the limit but I paid the price. 

Although I didn't run I spent a good portion of the day thinking about this running life. I finished reading "Born to Run" which, I will give a book review later. I planned out some routes and I read tons of other blogs. I also learned more about humidity. I feel as though I didn't have to worry as much in New York or New Jersey but it is imperative that I am prepared for the onslaught of soggy weather.

I did go out for my morning run today on a short trot to a familiar place. I haven't really run the same loop twice until today. I wanted today to be a nice easy sort of deal that I didn't have to think about or struggle with the heat. I never want running to be a chore. I run when I want to and i push when I want to. On that same token, I relax when I want to.

Summer begins Fall marathon training and for all those running this Fall, the good news is, the really long runs start closer to September. I would say build your base now and get ready to crush the marathon this Fall. Find that joy in running over the Summer. Whether your joy is running with a group, crew, or club or if you like to take in the sights, try to get motivated by something other than completing the marathon in October or November. For some, that is motivation enough but for others it could be overwhelming to think that you will spend 16 weeks preparing to do something that many will think you are out of your mind for doing.

Four Times a Runner

Fortune favors the bold--Terence Phormio

Why in the world would I run four times today. I ran this morning because I love morning runs. I ran to Run Club. I did the Run Club route and then I ran home. If I can get somewhere on foot why not? The Run Club isn't very large so we all agree ona pace by feel and not time. Generally folks are happy to run a slower pace then they would on their own. I take a slow shuffle there and a slow shuffle back.

That isn't the only reason I ran four times today. I am trying to test the limits of the human body as Bill Bowerman once said. I'm running a Trail Marathon next year with an elevation of about 3,000 feet. I felt great this morning when I did 3.1 miles. I felt good on the 1.6 miles to a cafe near Grant Park. I felt solid on the first half of the run and then the heat and humidity coupled with hills took over. The good news is that this was my third run of the day.

One can't get better without taking risks and doing things that make them uncomfortable. Yes, I would like to get faster but that isn't what I mean by get better. I want to get better at running. I want to r longer with less effort. I want 3 to feel like 1 and 10 to feel like 3. I want to run EVERY DAMN DAY (see what I did there). The only reason for speed is in order to do more miles in less time with less recovery. It would be awesome to run 20 miles a day but how long would it take and will I be productive afterwards. I am not even sure if I ran 20 miles today that I could go and do it tomorrow.

I mentioned Bill Bowerman earlier and he has become my new muse of sorts. The Pegasus was designed to be the shoe for every runner, every day and I love that about it. I am every runner. I will never win a marathon or a 5k but I am on the streets and trails most days doing what I love. Bowerman didn't start running until later in life. He was a football coach and former player yet he is legendary in the world of running. He made me believe that I can impact running without being any good at doing it. There is an old saying that those who cannot do, teach. It is unlikely at o will ever cross the finish line of a marathon in under 3 hours but if I can motivate or inspire someone else to do it I've done something tremendous. Someone I know once said that if you inspire one person, you've done your job.

The Humidity Wins... The... Humidity... Wins!!!

The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science-- Albert Einstein

I was so excited today when I found the other side of the Atlanta Beltline. I had heard so much about it but hadn't seen more than a half mile stretch of it. Although I have found that short strip to be pretty much a place where I want to run every day, I am a long distance guy and I need at least a 6 mile out and back to stay consistent. I finally read a map properly and realized that on a recent run under the Krog Street bridge, in another 3 blocks or so is where the Beltline picks up. I saw the sign and took off gleefully up the paved path. There were a lot of offshoots but it was so humid and hilly I decided against getting lost today. 

I started to hit my stride and enjoy some more awesome street art.

That enjoyment ended abruptly... again. Once again my headphones choked under the pressure of my abundant sweat. I couldn't get them to stay in after about two miles or so. I had to place them in my pocket and continue on without a soundtrack. This time I did do the obnoxious thing and ran with music sans Yurbuds. I did turn it down when I saw other runners and particularly when Raekwon spoke about his $500 jeans on "The Morning".

On my turnaround I felt really weak. The humidity started to kick my butt. As I reached the hills it became harder and harder to maintain my pace. I looked at the forecast and it said 72 degrees and cloudy. I threw on my old reliable Miler and went for the run. The weather people lie I tell you, all lies. Going up the hill I felt like it was Harlem Hill in Central Park New York on the third loop of an 18 mile race. In reality the climb was maybe half of Harlem Hill and it was closer to mile 5 instead of 14.

My fitness has suffered a little with the move but Atlanta has delivered somewhat of a rebirth for my running career. My fitness will return but my love for running has only grown and continues to do so. I don't know what tomorrow will bring but I can't wait for my alarm to go off and spring out of bed to hit the road on my next adventure.

Wet Peaches

Innovation can best be defined as man's attempt to create order, in his own mind and in the universe around him, by taking risk and creating risk.-- Peter Drucker 

Ah, the Fourth of July. Cookouts and fun in the sun with fireworks. Not this year. I spent it running the AJC Peachtree Road Race. The Peachtree Road Race is the most popular race in Atlanta. It had over 54,000 finishers. The main reason for the lack of cookouts and fun and n the sun was because of the torrential downpour that ensued upon the beginning of my wave.

I've run in the rain before but this one was a distraction. It could be because I was moving at a solid pace in a new city before the sky truly opened up and I couldn't rely on familiarity to pull me through the course. The Yurbuds headphones whose motto is a guarantee not to fall out, fell out at the 2.5 mile mark of a 6.2 mile race. Needless to say I was really upset.

A little sidebar about my love for music and the combination of running and music. I am actually writing this post to Mozart's 40th Symphony to give some clarity to my thoughts. I very rarely, if ever, run without music. Lots of people feel that runners shouldn't run with music but I feel like Eminem when he responded to Will Smith and cursing in one his songs. I run to escape and enjoy the view. I wish I could do everything with music in the background. Imagine if someone did a movie about you. What songs would play for graduation day or the birth of a child. What song would play after your first marathon or while you binge watch Breaking Bad n Netflix. What music would accompany every moment in your life. Everything from that 750 millionth trip to Starbucks or that moment right before you interview for your dream job? Amazingly, at this moment, my shuffle went for Mozart Symphony no.40 to Aida: Marcia E Ballabile by Verdi. That just shifted my mood so I'll get back on track.

After I slowed to get my headphones to not keep falling out I figured that I could drop 20 seconds per mile to get back to the previous pace (I know, bad math). The stupid headphones were so slperh after the sweat that they wouldn't stay in for one step. I had to just carry them and run without music to a dud screaming Beer and T-Shirts. That is another reason I run to music. That, plus the incessant, your almost there, when you are 40% complete. In any event, I then ran into the first of a series of hills, after losing my tunes. Then the rain picked up and I could no longer avoid the massive puddles and streams of water cascading towards me because of the downhill and the amount of rain.

I know it sound like I'm complaining but I'm just giving a play by play. The rain was a welcome relief from the heat. If not for the rain, it would have been 95 degrees and humid. I would take rain over that any day. I'll give the headphones one more shot with the different size that came with it. On top of that, I am only tech savvy enough to write a blog and take photos on the run. I might have just put them in wrong but after my next run, if they fall out, I will be upset and think of some analogy to describe what I will do to the salesperson at Best Buy and to the exhibitor at the Health and Fitness Expo.

I met a few good people before and after the race that I may or may not see again (I didn't take names) and I truly enjoyed the race. Although my performance wasn't what I wanted, I felt good and sort of fast on my trip on Peachtree Street in Atlanta, GA. 

Pre-Race Jitters

Successful people have a bigger fear of failure than people who've never done anything because if you haven't been successful, then you don't know how it feels to lose it all.--Jay-Z

Tomorrow I will run the largest 10k in the works with approximately 65,000 other folks. The AJC Peachtree Road Race on July 4th is kind of a big deal. The weird thing for me is that I don't typically get that serious race day feel unless it's a half-marathon. Recently the feeling only comes up when it's a full marathon. I felt that way right up until the point that I walked into the Expo. There is something about this race that gave it sort of a marathon feel. I started to get my game face on.

So I'm walking around this place and I'm talking to the exhibitors and then I see a booth for Jeff Galłoway, legendary running author and coach. It was super exciting to meet a guy in his seventies, whose written over ten books about running and can still do a marathon a month. 

I've not trained for this race nor will I attempt to PR here because it's hot, there will be 7 million people running, and I just want to enjoy my first race in Atlanta. That said, I feel as though tomorrow will not be a run of the mill 10k. I want to go out strong and finish strong and pick off as many as I can.

One last note about Jeff Galloway. Just in the brief moment that we spoke, he encouraged all types of runners to get better at their running. He walked people over to other places just to help them out. He spoke with such joy with everyone about running it became contagious.

Beautiful Sights and Uphill Battles

If music be the food of love; play on.-- William Shakespeare

Today marks the unofficial beginning of Fall marathon training with the Chicago And Marine Corps Marathon in October and the New York City Marathon in November. I have no intentions of running a marathon this Fall but I'm conditioned to get in gear in early July.

Atlanta is a cool running town. It's big enough to have tons of things to see and small enough to get there on foot. I did a 6.28 mile run and I had to control myself from taking more pics. Skybiew Atlanta was cool last week when I visited with the family but seeing it with lights in the dark was downright artistic. 

I do wish that I had known about the less than gentle incline along Auburn this morning. I didn't expect that much work today but seeing some is this stuff was worth the extra effort. I also wish I did a better job at choosing a playlist. I ran past the Ebenezer Baptist Church where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Was a preacher. As I ran by, the I listened to Pusha T, My God. It was almost disrespectful. Maybe disrespectful is extreme but it certainly did not fit. 

I want to build a playlist with Classic Western Music but it has to work with my route and my intensity. I probably wouldn't shuffle a list like that. It would have to be precise, almost surgical where the surges in the music match the surge in effort. Or even those moments where one needs to reign themselves I the music could match with calming, serene melodies like Fur Elise by Beethoven or uphill runs could be soundtracked by Promontory from Last of the Mohicans. It always seems like that song is for battles or going uphill.

Despite the score of this particular run would have been best served by classic western music, as I approached my turnaround I felt that "We gon' make it" by Jadakiss and Styles P would have bought me into the halfway mark strong and ready for a good kick back home. 

For now, it's foam roller time and learning more about my new running headphones. The wireless bud from Yurbud. I read reviews and it said best fit. After that I was sold. I just spent the last six months or so running with the Apple headphones. Those are great for anything but running. I sweat like Patrick Ewing back in the days and after half a mile, I'm tucking those things back in my ear every hundred yards. I'll report back Saturday how they felt in the AJC Peachtree Road Race.

Soundtrack

To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift-- Steve Prefontaine

I didn't actually run today. It was an off day although I love running on the first day of the month. After the trifecta yesterday I didn't want to cheat my system of one off and one on. Bill Bowerman believed in going really hard when it's time to work and resting effectively. I did calisthenics today to strengthen my body. I never lift weights because I was oft injured and without having to tackle anyone I lost interest in being massive. That said, the gym in my building has a machine leg press and I do high reps to get my quads stronger and strengthen my knees (if that actually works).

Although here was no pavement pounding or trail blazing today I did register for two of the twelve marathons I plan to run in 2016. It was like a moment of truth signing up for the first one for January 30, 2016. The Callaway Gardens Marahon in Pine Mountain, GA will be the marathon I actually train for while the others will be an adventure in figuring it out. I imagined some sort of music in the background as I clicked and swiped and added emergency contact info. Maybe Vivaldi Four Seasons played with the anticipation and anxiety. Amazingly this step isn't the easiest. It is the hardest. Once I register for a race my record of completion is impeccable. As much as I talked about twelve I twelve, it wasn't real until today. There is money on the table and bibs to be set aside for me. The other race was the Publix Georgia Marathon on March 20, 2016 which, will begin 10 minutes from where I live. 

I'm not sure if music for anxiety or anticipation fits or if a joyous tune like Night in Tunisia by Dizzy Gillespie is more apropos or music to express relief like Vincent Guaraldi Christmastime is Here (don't judge me just listen to it)