Tag Archives: Running

Day 32: Sluggish

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I have a friend who has run lots of distance races. And he is serious about it. He sometimes wins and stuff. He trained for the Olympics. He has put in some work and some time. I asked him one time how he stays motivated. He said that he sometimes just gets out there, even if he doesn’t feel like it. Rain? Cold? Not enough sleep? Tough. Get out there and run anyway. It was over a decade ago he said this to me, but his words were sticky enough that I think about it on days like today. I was just plain old sluggish.

Someone asked me recently, “Are you a runner?” I used to think of myself as a runner, but my running has been so sporadic and so without accomplishment the past few years that I don’t think of myself the same way. I said something wishy washy like “I guess so,” and the conversation moved on. I guess I can say again that I am a runner, but I still feel like I should do more as a runner to call myself that. I should run far, or fast, or at least enter some events now and again. All I’m doing these days is poking down the road. Every day I’m shuffling.

I guess my accomplishment is 32 days of running in a row. That is something anyway, although it feels like a sideways way to accomplish something. It feels easier this way. I mean, I just go for a run, today and every day. I don’t worry about training plans or regimens or rules about when to run. I just go every day. I don’t go all that far, mind you, but the miles add up. Today I managed 5.6 miles. Not five and a half miles, since my house to the pond is 5.6. I’ll take the extra tenth. Like I said, it adds up.

I got plenty of sleep last night and even ate breakfast before I left, which I typically do not do. Still, I felt like a slug. I was dragging my feet. I was oozing down the road. I was pokey. It felt a little silly. I had to keep pushing myself forward and telling myself how ridiculous it was that I was going so slowly. I called myself some bad names. But I put in the miles and called it day 32. I thought of this friend of mine all those years ago and how he just got out there, whether he felt like it or not. The rest of what he said was this: “No matter what, I always feel better once I get out there; it is always worth it.”

On this point, he was right on the mark.

Day 30: Chased by Wolves, Plus Snow

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OK it wasn’t really yesterday I was chased by wolves, but the day before. Not literally, of course, but in the dream I had a couple nights ago, I was getting chased by a huge pack of these canine beasts, and they were not friendly. They were not out to eat me, mind you. They were the puppets of the evil master who was trying to take over the world. This nasty dude used the wolves, who he had somehow managed to convince to follow him, to subdue the populations of every place he wanted to rule. I was fuzzy on the details, but that is the way dreams are.

I saw the wolves coming from far off, being on the roof the huge Victorian house I had never seen in real life, but they were too fast to avoid. I warned everyone–and there were lots of people in this house–but we all were held captive once the wolves arrived with their bared teeth and threatening growls. The dictator who wanted to rule the world had wolves as minions. It made me think of Germany in the 1930’s and 1940’s, or Sudan in the 1990’s. This is what I thought about on day 29 of my running-ever- day experiment. I wondered what it would feel like to have your world turned over because one man is crazy for power. I was scared in the dream, but it was only a dream. I ran in the dark, early morning, before the sun got around to making the sky light, and thought about fear. It was a beautiful morning, but every run can’t be filled with wonderful thoughts.

Today I hit the 30-day mark. It felt good to do that. It snowed last night and snow crusted the ground in spots. It was slippery and I had to be careful. I thought about the snow. Then I ran into a friend and we ran together for a while. We had a conversation. We caught up. We didn’t talk about dictators or drooling carnivores. We talked about kids and running and weather. That was a little more like it. I plan to run again tomorrow morning. We made a plan to run together on purpose this time. Maybe we will talk about the dreams we had. Let’s hope the wolves don’t come back. Like I said, they were not friendly.

Day 28: Caballo Blanco

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I read recently, somewhere, in an article I have since lost and forgotten, about a runner who decided not to take days off. Why think about whether today or tomorrow will be a rest day? Why consider whether running today makes sense or if a day off would be better? The author just ran every day. It made a lot of sense. I find time to run most days early in the morning, before everyone else rises for the day, and if I didn’t take days off I would not be able to make excuses. “I am tired and it is dark and I am still sleepy and the bed is warm; I need a rest day anyway, so I’ll just stay in bed.” If I ran every day I would just get up and go. I would have to.

I am on day 28 of running every day. I started off small–two milers. I have been building from there. Today I only ran three miles. It does not seem very far. I used to think of five miles as my minimum run distance. But after a couple kids added to the mix, and too much time away from real running, and back surgery, and making a living and other sorry excuses, my distances have shortened. My longest has been about seven miles in those 28 days. Not shabby but I hope to go farther. It is hard not to imagine running 100 miles at some point.

Of course, this morning I was not ready to run 100 miles. If I was still in the habit of making excuses I probably would have stayed in bed. I was tired. My back was sore. My calves were sore for criminy’s sake. But I tell you, walking out when the sun is just coloring the horizon, and the woodcocks are dancing over the fields, and the song sparrows are just warming up their voices, and the mountains are silhouetted on the horizon, it just can’t be beat. So I ran three and got the miles in and added a day. I hope to hit 100 days in a row.

I need to think about things as I run. Well, perhaps I do not need to think about things, but it is hard not to think about things. Today I thought about Caballo Blanco. He is the ultrarunner who was featured in Christopher McDougall’s Born to Run.  Two days ago the New York Times reported that he had died. If you have not read the book, I recommend it. If you are a runner you will be inspired to run more. If you are not a runner, you will be inspired nonetheless. It is a terrific story. Caballo Blanco, or “White Horse” lived to run. He, and his adventures, made me want to live more simply, and to run because it is just plain fun. He went to the desert canyons in Mexico to learn from the best, and he died on a run in New Mexico. Quite a life.

So I thought about this man as I ran this morning. He wanted to be remembered as being “authentic.” It seems he was. How will I be remembered? What mark will I leave? How will I impress my children with how to live authentically? These were some of the questions I thought about as the sky grew light and Jupiter faded into the dawn. And then I ran home.

Critters, No Pics

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Yesterday afternoon I was out for a run. On my way towards home, on a narrow stretch of class IV road (dirt, minimally maintained, for those of you with only pavement around you), I was startled by a loud blast of noise. It was a fluttering, blustery, croaking flapping.  It was a turkey. Some think turkeys can’t fly, but that ain’t so. This turkey flew from the field next to the road up into a maple tree. It sat there hiding, as if I couldn’t see it, although I clearly could. People are called turkeys for nothing.

Out where it came from in the field there was… something. That something was a coyote. Its head was poking out of the tall grass, ears pointing up and listening. It looked at me. I looked at it. It had flushed the turkey, the one that got away. The thing is, there was another turkey there. It was meandering through the grass slowly, just its head above the grass, a short distance from the coyote. The coyote eyed it, followed it a little, but the jig was up. There was a human in the picture, and the turkey still on the ground knew it was being pursued. So the canine turned around and headed into the woods on the field’s far side.

I have to admit I was a little elated to see such an event. Nothing happened, but still, these charismatic fauna were playing out the ancient game of predator and prey.  One doesn’t see that every day, and I certainly wasn’t expecting it on one of my usual runs. But there it was. I watched it. I’ll take it.

Chilly End of the Year

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Midday and it is only 12 degrees. I wait at home for the “sanitation” truck to arrive. After lots of moisture in our basement and lots of ruined stuff, we are ready to dispose of things. I hate to just pitch all this stuff, even if it is mildewed and too soggy to salvage, but here we are–the American Way, baby. The truck was supposed to arrive some time before 1:00. I’m still waiting. It was 0 degrees when we rose. The sun warmed things a little but now that is hiding.

Yesterday our high temperature was 8 degrees. I blew off running. The wind was, I don’t exaggerate, howling. It was blowing snow around and generally cooling things off in a frigid like manner. It was dangerous weather. I have run in weather like that, but I was warm inside, reading a good book. I had tasks to do. I didn’t go anywhere. I was going to run by now, but the trash pick up is still pending. Once that happens I will suit up and head out. Maybe it will be 15 degrees by the time I go.

We had snow a couple of days ago. See:

Falling Thick

Things have calmed down a bit. We may get some more snow. I was hoping the Nor’easter that has been shaping up would slam us with snow, but that looks unlikely now. We are considering skiing tomorrow. Squeeze in some runs on my new skis before the year turns. We’ll see. Friends are coming to ring in the new decade (or the last year of this one, depending on how particular you want to be). I am hoping that they will get a fresh blanket of white. That would good of us as hosts. Their arrival time will determine whether we have time to ski.

In the meantime I wait for the truck to haul away our American waste. And wait. At some point I will run. At the moment I am going to toss another log on the fire and pick up a magazine. Once I am comfortable I am sure I will have to get up.

Bitter

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That’s what it was–bitter. The wind, I mean. At 6:00 in the morning, eleven degrees, the wind came out of the north and bit. So maybe biting would be a better descriptor. It certainly was nibbling at my cheeks. My run today took me west, then north, then back the way I came. So the first quarter meant wind on only my right side. Then it came right at me. Then my left side took the hit. At least it made me move a little faster. I have to admit I was concerned about frostbite, and so I was ready to head back home at any point. I had no neck gaitor. But it worked out.  I was moving fast enough that my face was flushed the whole time. And the rest of me was covered. Duh.

Here is the thing. It was crazy beautiful this morning. All those bright stars on the deep blue sky. The moon was long set so they glimmered. Mars and Saturn danced up there, too. And by the time I got home a hint of pink was spread across the Green Mountains to the east. OK, it was cold. And dark. But daggone, I love being up at that time of day. It isn’t easy to get out of bed, but it is way worth it. I think I’ll do it again tomorrow. Of course, if I want to take the time to run I kind of need to run that early, but I will enjoy it once I get out there. That is pretty much what always happens. I am hoping it won’t be quite such a face pincher tomorrow. But at this point, what does it matter? I seem to have gotten used to it. I do look forward to more light in the early hours but for now, this will do.

Shortest Day

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It was hard to get up again this morning. Of course, I had stayed up late to watch It’s a Wonderful Life, the annual viewing that couldn’t be put off. And I did get up at 5:30. And it was dark on this solstice morning. But I did it, and was rewarded with bright stars and a good run, despite the dusting I got by a few passing cars. After I got home, the sky turned pink before the sun peeked over the mountains at about 7:40.

The sun stayed out most of the day. It was a cold one but it did get up to 23 degrees. Heat wave. It was bee-yoo-ti-ful in the afternoon, short as the afternoon was. The sun shone on the snow in the mountains. And the sky was clear. It was good for a peramble out into the field with my son. We ogled the view:

A Little Snow Close, A Lot of Snow Up High

Camel’s Hump was wearing her finest. Here is what she looked like a little closer:

Snow on the Hump

We followed some coyote tracks for a while. They were old and faded and disappeared on us. And we saw turkey tracks as well:

Prints in the Snow, Turkey

The days get longer every day now. I was envisioning, literally, running in the morning without a light. It will be nice to be able to run faster since I won’t be afraid of slipping on ice. It will be nice to not worry as much about being seen by drivers. It will be nice to see what is around me a little more. I love the darkness, and heck, I’ve got lots of it left. It will be a couple of months before I’m looking at brighter mornings at the hour I get up. The sun will rise again tomorrow. The days will go on. Happy solstice. Let’s celebrate some light.

Another Cold Day

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OK, I should have taken a trip to the dump today.  I should have gone to the hardware store to get some salt for our water softener. Some new wiper blades would be a good idea, too. But I did not get in the car today. I stayed home, stoked the fire, and went for a run. I read for a while, I ate breakfast, I drank coffee. I played with my kids. But I did not go anywhere. It was too cold. It was one degree when we woke this morning. The high temperature for the day was 16.

Saturday usually is my day for a long run. I would have preferred to go in the morning but I thought it prudent to wait until the temperature got to at least ten. I ran during the warmest time of the day which, as I mentioned, was not especially warm. I had a good run, however. I had to keep taking my gloves or my hat or both off and then don them again. I was cool at a couple of points, where the wind cut across a field, but mostly I was good to go. The danger was not the cold but the dust. Every time a car passed, and there were more cars than usual of course, a cloud of fine dust would rise and hover over the road. I used my hat or a glove when they were off as a mask but otherwise I was sucking in particulates.

Tomorrow will be cold again. And the next day. And the next day. I got my nine miles in today but I will run again in two days. It will still be cold. Tuesday’s high is forecast to be 11 at least. Winter has, indeed, arrived. Monday is the start of celestial winter but December 9th was the start of meteorological winter–the first of the 91 historically coldest days of the year.  A little snow would be nice. They are getting slammed down south, but we got diddily squat. Maybe next week, if weather tracks north, we will see some white stuff.

Right now we’ve just got ice. And dust. Despite this, in the darkest time of the year, we are doing well in this house. The solstice is just about here, and Christmas. In this warm house, amid the cold and dark, we are happy campers.

Two Cold Mornings

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Two days ago I one again got up in the wee hours and donned the old running duds and ran in the dark, before everyone else in the house was awake. It was cold, the coldest morning yet this winterish season–18 degrees. I dressed warmly and got out quickly. Too quickly it turns out. The thing you need to know about our house is that it is open. I get everything set up the night before in part to save time but more importantly to be quiet. I leave my toothbrush on the counter so I don’t have to open the drawer (it squeaks) and I don’t want to be pulling anything out of anywhere since every noise seems to clang throughout the house when it is dark.  So there’s that, plus it was cold.

I knew it would be cold, of course, since I pay attention to the forecast. I have run when it is cold many times, but this was the first cold morning I would be running. I made sure to dress appropriately. Unfortunately I forgot one important thing. As I was walking down the driveway, guided by the beam of my headlamp, things seemed to look fuzzy. I blinked. Still fuzzy. I closed one eye–clear as can be. I closed the other eye–blurry as a painting of an octopus in a mud puddle. I had forgotten to insert one of my contact lenses.

So what to do? Go back in and make all kinds of noise to put it in? Or run with only one good eye. I did not go back inside. It was an interesting run. It was chilly but I was dressed for it, so that wasn’t an issue. I was too distracted by my eye sight to be cold, anyway. I kept closing one eye, then the other, back and forth. And it was slippery. I was afraid I would miss something. My binocular vision was compromised, so I had to be careful. I did make it home safely. I found my contact lens in the case. And I put it in for the rest of the day.

I took yesterday off but ran this morning. I took yesterday off partly because it was going to be a lot colder. It was a lot colder–two degrees at its lowest, and that was right when I would have headed out to run. So I waited a day. It was forecast to be slightly warmer at first, but then the forecast was for possible sub-zero temperatures. Screw it, I said to myself, I’m going anyway. And I did. I dressed for a cold morning, too–several layers but not too many, I hoped. The last thing I wanted to do was sweat a lot, then have my sweat freeze me right up. So I was ready.

I remembered to correct my vision before I left this morning. Then I checked the temperature. Sure enough, it was cold. Five degrees. So it was a little warmer than yesterday after all. The wind blew, however, so I had to be ready for the old wind chill factor. I was good–warm enough and feeling healthy. But the run was not without its own issues.

Our driveway is icy. A little snow, a couple of cars smashing down that snow  a whole bunch, some wind and not a lot of sun–that is how one creates the old icy driveway. I knew this, so I was careful to stay to one side, out of the slippery ruts. I mean, it was dark this morning. Even with a headlamp, we’re taking limited visibility. So, trying to be extra careful, I decided to walk in the middle of the driveway, where it might be least slippery. On the way from the edge to the middle, however, I managed to slip, fall hard, and hurt myself.

I didn’t hurt myself badly, mind you, so I kept going. My had was stinging underneath my sandy glove, and my elbow was sending nerve impulses to my brain warning of a bruise to be expected. My ego was bruised as well, so I grumbled slightly. But I just started running and hoped to forget about it. That didn’t happen right away, of course, because I noticed, in the meager light of my headlamp and through my black glove, blood seeping through. That blood had turned to frost by the time I got back home, and it still hurt then, despite the cold.

Sure enough, I had a fine abrasion on my hand, along with a small avulsion. When my son saw it he backed away with a look of horror, asking “What’s that?” The price of glory, my boy, the price of glory. The had still seeps and the elbow still throbs, but I went running this morning. Five miles. At least I can say I did that, eh?

December in its Glory

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Snow in the Fields

It snowed again today. Not much, but it was coming down. It felt more like the holidays. Of course, now that it is dark, I can hear the rain drumming on the deck. Rain. Perfect November night.

It was a cold one today. And yesterday. Windy. The wind was what made it feel cold. It was in the twenties today, so fairly typical of the month. But bitter with the breeze cutting through it all. I (finally) hammered in our snow stakes so the plow guy knows where the driveway is when the snow gets deep. Only a couple were trouble in the frozen ground. In most spots the frost isn’t that deep yet. If we do get a storm at least that will be done.

No running today. Or yesterday. An off week I guess. This head cold had me with a full head, pounding with sinus pressure. I registered for the marathon in Burlington on May 30. I should have time to be ready. I will get out there in the morning, in the dark, whatever the weather.

The kids got out into the field yesterday. They romped across the semi-snowiness. They were tuckered by the time they got back into the house. Made me proud.

Exploring the Frozen Wastes