Foot Notes*

Archive for the ‘Motivation’ Category

Adrenaline Rush!!

OK, so not much is happening.

Did you notice I missed last week? Yeah. I didn’t think so. 

I was heavy into grandma mode last week; babysitting four straight days.  I’m not complainin’…  I’m just explainin’.  Mother Nature sure knew what she was doing when she decided that having babies was something you should do when you are young. 

When last we spoke, I was getting ready to slap on the old Gel Kayano’s and head downtown for the Komen 5K on June 5.  I thought I’d wrap that up with a little race report for this week’s topic.

I had a heads up that the metro wouldn’t be running between East Falls Church and West Falls Church that morning, due to construction on Rail to Dulles, so I drove in to the East Falls Church metro to start my trek.  Everything went very well, and I arrived downtown about 6:30. 

I met up with some friends and wandered around for about an hour then headed over to the Runners’ Start line.  There was a lot of anticipation in the air and people were moving around and stretching.   The countdown clock showed 5…  4…  3…  2….  1…  and then BOOM…

Nothing.  Well, some cheers.  I looked up at the jumbo-tron TV monitor and I could see that people HAD started running, but I was far enough back in the pack that nothing was happening where I was.  By the time I crossed the start line, the run clock was approaching 5 minutes.  At least it wasn’t a crushing stampede.

Undeterred, I pushed the button on my own little stop watch as I crossed because I was anxious to see how my personal time compared to the official time from the chip on my shoe (my first time ever!!).

Shortly after I started off, I happened to look down and see a lone car key on the ground.  Ouch.  Someone might be running much further than they anticipated!  I thought briefly about stopping to pick it up with the intention of turning it in somewhere so it might perhaps find its way back to its rightful owner, but almost as quickly, I thought about the crowd pressing forward behind me, and I abandoned the idea.  Sorry, pal..  some one else is going to have to get it later, or you’re going to have to call AAA.

The most difficult thing about the race for me was weaving in and out of the crowd, trying to find a place where I could run at my own pace without having to constantly slow down and veer off to the side. 

Never happened. 

Note to folks running as a group:  When you stop to walk, could you think about single file so you don’t block 10 feet out of the middle of the road?  Just a thought.

I was doing pretty well at the One Mile mark.  Around 11 minutes.  Not bad for me.

The second mile seemed a lot longer — probably because it was getting a lot hotter and more humid.

I was chugging along and my stopwatch said 32 or 33 minutes, and you may remember I was trying to beat 37 minutes.  I kept thinking that surely I was almost to the Finish line, and I kept looking for the Three Mile marker and never did see it. 

I saw something in the distance that I thought was the Finish line, but then the crowd turned a corner and I realized it wasn’t (I had taken my glasses off, so I have no idea what it actually was). 

My stopwatch said 35 minutes, and I began to get discouraged.  It looked like it wasn’t in the cards to break 37 this year.

Then the crowd turned the last corner and there it was in all it’s glory — FINISH.

Holy Cow…  believe it or not, I had a brief flash to a Saber Toothed Tiger chasing me, and I kicked it into gear! 

Official Time:  36:43 (which compares favorably to my stopwatch time of 36:45).  I finished 2701 out of 5067 women runners, and 69 out of 196 in my age group.

I’ll take it!

I made my way to the nearest Metro station, sat down on the floor and created a little sweat puddle while I waited for the next train — conscious not to be seen drinking any water, lest I be detained and arrested for doing so.

Next year?  Maybe 35 minutes. 

Or maybe not….  But I’ll be there…  Doing what I can to help.

Weekend Runs

Tuscarora Creek Park looks good for Saturday — and remember that the runs start at 7:00 now (WOOOHOOO!).

It must have been "the style" at some point

When I was growing up, we had an old upright piano in our basement that had been painted purple.  (No, this isn’t a picture of it, but I guess there were at least two of them in the world.)  For several years, I had to take piano lessons and practice on it on a regular basis.  I guess it was good for me to learn to read music, but I didn’t ever get to be very good at playing the piano.

I never could sight-read well at all.  It seemed there were just too many notes up there and not enough time to process them and decide which finger was supposed to do what..  when.

I am in awe of people who can sit down at a piano and ..  just play.  It seems so graceful and effortless.  Even though I know they have spent many, many hours practicing scales and cadences, they somehow seem to have a gift that I do not.  I don’t think I would ever have been able to play like that, no matter how many hours I spent pounding out the notes on that purple piano.  I think I wanted to be able to play well.  I just could never get beyond…  “struggle.”

A few nights ago I had a dream that I could run.

I wasn’t having any trouble breathing, and I wasn’t getting tired.  I was just feeling good stretching my legs out and moving gracefully and effortlessly along a trail in the woods.  I had finished a run of maybe 5 or 6 miles and then had the opportunity to run again, and..  I just did.

And then I woke up and realized it hadn’t actually happened, and I was a little sad.

Is it supposed to be effortless like that?  If I keep plugging along and trying to run further…  will I ever get there?

I dunno, but it was a very nice dream.

Weekend Runs

I’m looking forward to the Memorial Day run at Point of Rocks on Monday.  Nice flat trail through the woods.  When I get tired, I’ll turn around and come back for the informal pot-luck brunch in the parking lot.  I’ve got a hot date with a three-year-old tonight to bake some cookies, so I’ll have something to contribute.

How far is too far?

This week on one of my morning runs,  I listened to a radiolab podcast about  Limits. 

The first section — Limits of the Body, focused on  Julie Moss, who competed in an Iron Man competition in Hawaii in 1982, and was actually in the lead near the end of the marathon when, during the very last stretch,  her legs gave out several times.  Over an agonizing few moments, she willed herself to get back up and keep moving even though her body obviously had other intentions.  The second place runner passed her just a few yards from the finish as she collapsed again.  In the end, she crawled across the finish line.

The program investigated a theory that the body has a secret store of energy that your brain tries to hold in reserve (in case you find yourself tapped out…  and faced with a hungry Saber Toothed Tiger).  The theory says if you can push past the pain and the exhaustion that your brain sends you as a deterrent, you can force your body to let you access that store.

Interesting theory. 

I’m sure most of the ultra-marathoners in the club are nodding as they read this.  They’ve been there.

For now, I’m content to just trust that it’s there and hope I don’t encounter any Saber Toothed Tigers while I’m out on a run. 

Weekend Runs

I’ll be taking the short loop for the Round Hill run on Saturday.

I don't want to run Old Waterford Road!!

After the run on Saturday there was a voice mail from my son that his wife was having some contractions and they were going to go into the hospital to have things checked out.

About noon the word was that they were going to go ahead and induce labor.

By 5 pm he said things were progressing slowly and that there was no hurry.

I got to the hospital around 9 pm and settled in with the other grandparents for the vigil.  It was slow going until around midnight.  By 1 am the urgency in the steps of the nurses back and forth from her room had increased and the doctor was called.

At 1:48 am Sunday morning, Amelia Elizabeth Wiley came screaming into the world with ten little fingers and ten little toes.  She is my fourth grandchild and (of course) she is beautiful.  Everyone involved is doing fine.

It just doesn’t get much better. 

Weekend Runs

Saturday looks perfect for a nice little out and back on The Woods Road.

Just watch that first step...

My shrubs are starting to re-emerge from under the mounds of snow that were heaped upon them as I shoveled out my driveway weeks ago and for the most part, they seem to be in pretty good shape.   The ones that were directly under that monster icicle that fell last week are still buried so I’ll have to wait a little while longer to see what damage might have been done to them.

I see a few little flakes on the weather map for Saturday, but I haven’t heard any warnings of impending doom — at least for the DC area.  Is it possible it might be OK to try and come out to run with the club this weekend?

I got out my Winter Run Schedule, dusted it off, and took a look. Taylorstown! Oh boy! The last two miles of this run is a really cool out and back walk (up) and run (down) opportunity. And the W & OD trail from Tuscarora Creek Park on Sunday should be pretty well clear!

Hey.. it could happen!

I hope I’m not setting myself up for a big disappointment here.

Saturday:

Directions to Taylorstown run

Sunday:

Directions to Tuscarora Creek Park

I’ve got my fingers crossed for a twofer!

My son -- 1982

My son is 30 years old today, and I don’t know how that happened.

How did he manage to go from being this adorable little boy, peeking into the hospital nursery to get his first look at his baby sister, all the way to being a 6’4″ law enforcement officer who knows how to break down a door and clear a room — when I haven’t changed at all?!

My grandson -- 2010

Last weekend I baked some chocolate chip cookies with my grandson, and now looking at these two pictures, I’m having a serious bout with deja vu.  I have to realize that the next 30 years are going to zip by even faster than the last 30 did.

I want to be around (and able) to teach a great-grandchild or two how to lick a beater properly.

And that’s why I keep running.

Weekend Runs

How nice it was this week to get back outside for a couple of days.  Still a bit nippy, but at least without the wind it’s crossed over into the wimp-acceptable zone.  And by golly, the forecast for Saturday looks down right half-way almost  kinda pleasant (in comparison, of course). 

Sunday?  Not so much.

So I’ll be aiming for Saturday at Hamilton:

– for some kind of out and back modification.

What color is the sky in your world?

On Friday, for the social at the Dry Mill Winery, I was running a bit late, and then the traffic on Rt. 7 was the pits, so I didn’t make it to the winery until about 4:20.  I figured that would fit in with the general tendency of the club not to really get things going until about 15 minutes after the hour, so I wasn’t that worried about it.   When I walked into the tasting room and didn’t see anyone from the club however, I figured either I had screwed up on my date/time, or that the club was meeting in a private room somewhere at the winery.  When I asked the owner where the Loudoun Roadrunners were and he looked at me like I was from the moon, I began to lean more towards the first option.  Then, after a few minutes, he got out his calendar and said, “Yep…  Loudoun Roadrunners,  4:00.” 

I decided to just make the best of it and I ordered myself a glass of wine.  A musician was about to get started playing some acoustic background music, so it looked like worst case scenario was still going to be a pleasant experience.  I settled in to accept what was.

After maybe 10 minutes, Tom Simonds showed up.  OK then…  I wasn’t the only one.  It was probably another 20 minutes before anyone else arrived.

It turned out to be a really great opportunity to visit with Tom and ask him questions about the Arkansas 100 mile race from a couple of weeks ago.

What kept him running for 8 hours in the rain?  Why didn’t he get hypothermia?

Now that he had completed a 100 mile run, was he going to scratch it off his TO DO list, or did he want to do it again?

How long did it take to recover from that experience?

If the farthest you’ve ever run before is about 60 miles, how can you just tack on another 40?

Tom had some very good answers for these (and many more) questions that I had, but I still feel like this is a world I know very little about.  I really enjoyed spending time getting to know Tom better, and learning more about what makes a big dog tick.  

I run because I think it is a more efficient form of exercise (more work in less time) than walking.  For me..  that’s pretty much it.  When I think about the possibility of me ever running a marathon, I know absolutely that if I wanted to run a marathon there is no doubt I could train for and achieve that goal.

The thing is — I don’t want to run a marathon.  And I’m OK with that.

I joined the club because I wanted to make some new friends, and run somewhere besides the same 4-mile stretch of the W & OD trail that I run by myself during the week. 

It’s working for me.

Checking the 7-day forecast as it exists today, and it looks like Sunday is going to be the better day this weekend, and since I tend to run with the club on Sunday, I’ll aim at the Lovettsville Community Center:

http://loudounroadrunners.org/maps/Lovettesville.pdf

I doubt I’ll go for the whole short loop — I’ll probably turn around somewhere between 2 and 3 miles out.  And I’m OK with that.