Bear in mind…
…that this is that sort of drunk stream of consciousness bullshit that tends to appear after blog writers get drunk as fuck…but I will try to address as much as possible.
1. Status report-ITBS is totally gone. Well, I guess not totally. It does crop up from time to time when I feel the need to run faster than I am physically ready for…that is to say…if I try to run faster than an 8min/mi I can feel my knees just get crazy though I really suspect that it is just a psycho-somatic thing. I can run faster on the treadmill but somehow on the street I have this mental barrier of 8mph that I just can’t break. Not bad considering that professional marathoners can run 12mph. I am only 4mph behind them. But still, those last few minutes of time/per mile are killing me. I would love to close that gap but it is hard as hell.
2. Status report 2: I have been trying to classify myself as a runner for the last few months and I think I have it figured out: I would classify myself as a “lazy runner.” For a while I thought I was a “zen runner” until I realized that I care about too many outside variables, namely my speed. I don’t really care that my speed increases but I certainly don’t want to see a decrease either. Also, zen runners are, for the most part, nuts: they are inspired by the Tarahumara tribe of runners who regularly eat rice and beans and drink copious amounts of alcohol and then run 300 miles non-stop the next day. They are animals who are now leading the international pack in ultra-marathoning and have cause quited a stir in the world long distance running stage, as they usually wear sandals that they fashion themselves for running shoes, causing the world to realize that, yes, we (humans) were designed to run. Our evolution is to run from predators to survive and so maybe we don’t need $150 shoes to train for marathons. Hell, they sold me as my next pair of running shoes will be the Nike Free shoes. I have also learned to forefoot strike, which is actually a big no-no when wearing modern running shoes. But it’s the way you (humans) naturally land when running in the wild (running from predators) so why shouldn’t you run like that all the time. Of course, after reading books by Michio Kaku and Ray Kurzweil, I am inclined to believe that man will develop a technology that will overcome our DNA and heritage faster than we are expected too, but that will lean on a term known as “hyper-modernism” that I am still formulating as a movement of technological and hereditary evolution.
3. so to expand upon my previous point…I am a lazy runner….that is to say, I am not particularly pushing myself. I am, for the most part, enjoying running day after day, and am doing so without injury, which is always a good thing. I think I am accomplishing this through increased strength and ability after the LA Marathon, as well as not pushing the tempo too hard on my runs. Also, I haven’t done a “long run” in at least 2 months. I would now classify long as anything over 10mi. and I have not done anything longer than that since May/June.
4. To tell the truth, I am a little afraid to find out what will happen when I attempt a long run. 8mi runs have become so pedestrian to me. It’s weird…pre-marathon I had a system….
short run=3-5mi
medium run-6-7mi
long run-8-10mi
Really long run 10-20mi
So now my system has been revamped….
3-5mi=nothing.
6-7mi=short run (seriously it’s weird but I barely get warmed up after a run of this length)
8-10mi=medium run
10+ = long run
It’s now a fairly regular occurrence to have 13mi days (when added between my training and Alyssa’s training). All this extra mileage has given me the confidence to announce that…
I will run a 50 ultramarathon in the next 2 years!!! I would love to do it next year because, as lys has pointed out, I turn 30 and I can do ANYTHING!!!! but if it takes me 2 years then I don’t mind. What I will need though is to put together a crew for the race. You see, a 50 mile race will take me in the vicintiy of 8-10hrs of non-stop running and during that time I will not only need water and gatorade but FOOD as well. I need a crew who can follow me for the day and give me food to keep my legs going. This is gonna be a huge effort from me as well as anyone who crews for me and I will appreciate it for the rest of my life so sign up now (I know I made it sound oh so appealing).
The scariest part of this is that the height of the training has me running 3-4 marathons a week. You heard me right….I would be running over 100 miles every week to prepare for a race of 50 miles!!! This is the race I have been waiting for though.
Not to be a total and complete ass but, since I did the Pasadena 1/2 marathon, I absolutely knew that I would complete the LA Marathon, and even beyond that, I knew I would do it in a fairly good time. So crossing the finish line at the LA Marathon, as cathartic an experience it was, was not what I was looking for. I need the truly unknown…something about the book Nacho bought me for my training and the fact that I raced and did well in March let me know that I would finish the LA marathon. I now need something that is totally unknown and a 50mi race is just the ticket.
Now this is the hard part….
Running speaks to me in a way that nothing before or since has really spoken to me…
It’s really hard to admit that even though I am sure that every regular reader of my blog already knows that. Something about being alone out there on the pavement night after night, day after day, makes me a whole person…it makes me feel like I can accomplish anything even if I can’t possibly do it alone. I love that feeling of hitting Sherman Way night after night and day after day, slapping my hands on all the payphones from that street back to my apt, taking off my hat and waving to the family owned businesses cooking up steak night after night and day after. I miss being 10 again, when I took home the silver and gold medal in the long distance events.
Truth be told, I miss that simplicity and I have been racing towards it ever since. The simplicity of a happy home and loving parents and the crutch of being larger than life and smaller than a mouse all at the same time.
It’s the soul crushing expectations that hurt the most….