Running Point A to Point B

I'm back to thinking about running, which often inspires me to write. I have a boy who is running cross-country now and he really enjoys it. Recently, though, I asked what about running cross-country does he enjoy? He's in middle school, so perhaps my question is just too lofty for him to have a response, because he simply responded, "I don't know." So, naturally, I worked on responding to the question and it wasn't as hard. It's free, it's flowing, you can go fast, you can go far, it's an accomplishment. There's something to be said for getting up in the morning to face another workday where your time is not yours and the demands are not always reasonable, and hitting pause. There's something to be said for deciding for yourself to...run. There are mornings when, even as I get dressed, and go through a prolonged warm-up of stretches, that my mind rebels against the foot-pounding I'm setting my self up for. Lucky for me, my body has a muscle-memory that ignores my mind once I start that foot-pounding. Because, there's something to be said for a morning that starts with a run outside, with just me and my thoughts or my music. Even when my mind is the worst kind of coach in the world (that last step, didn't that hurt? wait, is that a shin-splint coming on? are you sure you should be breathing this hard?), there's something to be said when my body ignores the chatter and the clatter and just moves. It's an amazing thing to think about. God gives us the tools and with a little sharpening, they move in a way that is also simply amazing. Point A to Point B, or Point A, around the loop and back, or Point A to Point B to Point A. Maybe that's what I enjoy about running: getting to the point.

Toe Touches

You haven't read too many of my running musings lately because, well, there haven't been any! I'm still nursing the remnants of a herniated disk and not running. I have taken up "the gym thing." And, I've learned that hanging out at the gym just doesn't result in those brilliant ideas that happen on a run. As much as I enjoy cycling, that sport doesn't lend itself to the same sort of musings that running does either. Perhaps it's the insanity of running that causes the brain to open up it's part stupid, part creative, part genius side. When I'm in the gym doing those toe touches, my musings lately have to do  with germs. It's winter here, you know. I regularly muse over stomach crunches just how many germs lurk in the gym. I must confess to not being one who "wipes down" everything I touch in the gym. I don't sweat much there (does that mean I'm doing it wrong?) and I don't see the point. My gym stocks tons of spray bottles with half-towel cloths...I'm thinking the germs are lurking in those towels! They are always wet and they drape over the spray bottle or lie on the floor..ew! Unlike some of the other gym patrons, I also remain fully clothed while there. I wear yoga pants, sometimes cropped tights, a tshirt (no tank tops, ever!) and usually a sweatshirt (I'm cold alot). And, yes the sweatshirt does make me hot and yes, I am working out, but no, for the last time, I'm not sweating buckets. So, wiping down those machines. Yeah. I don't do it too often. I had a cold this week,  so I wiped down more than usual. But still, who else is bringing in germs?! Not too mention all the people that don't change shoes and come in with the salt and crud from the winter streets. Yuck. When my germ musings get too strong, I usually leave the room with all the machines and touchy stuff and resort to stretches and yoga kind of stuff in the open room in the back. But, that's where the street crud is now. I've never, not once thought about germs on a run even when I run with someone who blows their nose mid-run (in a runner's sort of way..ew!) I've just provided you with another great benefit of running - no germs, no germ musings. Well, as long as your running partner doesn't have a cold! Now if you see me lurking around with a spray bottle and old rag, please, please, just help me lace up my shoes and push me out the door - those toe touches finally put me over the edge and I really need a run!

Seasons of running

Since my marathon training, I have come to a far greater appreciation for the process of running.  I find that I am noticing my progress (or lack of) differently, finding my "mood" or running gait to "feel" differently and I am paying attention to different details with every one.  The detail I'm thinking about today is "running seasons."  If you aren't a runner, you might be thinking of spring, summer,winter,fall; but I think most runners measure seasons differently.  It might even be that every runner has their own definition.  Here in Iowa, among the groups I run with most, we seem to have these seasons: training season, race season, fall season, holiday season and January/February season.  There might be a sixth season in between training and racing and fall called vacation season and all those might mesh together a little.  But, each has a distinct mindset.  For example, I happily did NOTHING during holiday season (November/December).  Well, at least "nothing" as defined by a runner:  I ran a 4-mile race on Thanksgiving day and did not "really" run again until New Years Day (that means that I might have run a couple times but no more than 2 miles and probably not outside).  Today, I am thinking about running in the dreaded winter season.  That's because today was a perfect winter running day.  It's in the 30's and the sun is shining.  The roads aren't quite clear, so sometimes you find yourself running in a sort of slush-like "sand" and everything is wet.  Running on a day like today is a double-hitter for me because I not only get the outdoor run endorphin hit, but I also get a great big dose of outdoor vitamin D, which I am sorely lacking.  My run today wasn't even a very good run.  I felt sluggish, slow, thirsty and out of breath.  But, here I am, post-run, basking in how awesome it was to do it.  Relishing even my very slow gait up 1st St hill and cursing that I let myself walk up "the bump" before that.  I'm smiling over the fact that our trio today included Heather, who hasn't been out with us since early fall.  And, I'm tickled that these running friends of mine share little pieces of news from their lives with me as we pass through the miles.  Running in Iowa on a day like today is glorious, no matter how good/bad the run is.  After all, tomorrow, the winter running season may actually feel like that and each of us will choose to either skip it altogether or forego the midwest elements for some mindless indoor alternative while we dream of what training season will need to be.  After all, the January part of winter season is for dreaming' not until the February part of winter running season do we need to commit to actual goals.

My journey to Des Moines

I recently went to Des Moines, IA for the sole purpose of getting out of my car and running 26.2 miles.  In case you didn't realize it, that is just a really long way to run.  And, getting to that point isn't so much a training program as it is a journey.  I almost think of it like that show The Amazing Race.  I could not have gotten from point A (capable of finishing -slowly - a half marathon) to Point B (twice that) without a little; okay, a lot of help!  I had friends who would run with me, relatives who made sure my kids were taken care during my longest training times and/or shuttled me around so I could start and finish in just the right spot.  It was pretty amazing.  It was humbling. Eventually, it was also painful, but the pain was part of the journey, part of the learning and in a sick, runner sort of way, I'm grateful for it.

I could expound on all sorts of details and the people who helped me experience them and yet, I don't want to create this long list. My first marathon wasn't a list, a checkbox; it was more.  I am truly amazed at what it took to get there and feel like I need to give some of that back - back to running.  I want to help others run their first; their first mile, their first 5K, their first whatever; or maybe the one after that. I'd like to give back by appreciating every single run, even the ones that suck. Right now, with some lingering back pain, I am giving back by being patient with the healing and strengthening and not pushing myself too hard and knowing someday, I'll be able to push hard again.  Most of all, I want to give back by encouraging those who run.  Some need cheers, others need someone to listen to their story, a few need someone to run next to.  I hope I can be all that and more because it was all those things that got me through that journey to Des Moines.  And, I am sure that I will ask for some combination of those things to keep me running for years to come.

Why do I run?

Why DO I run?!  Lots of reasons, really. To eat more, to smile more, to feel more, so I can run more, so I can bike more....I suppose the reason changes depending on the run, or where I am in the run. All of those reasons have certainly kept me running through my 20's and 30's, but now that I am north of 40, I have come to believe that I run now because I can. It surprises me.  I have yet to complete a marathon, but have done half that distance and I am still amazed when I can run longer than an hour.  I am still just giddy that I can pull a 5K in under under 30.  As I run, I can still get misty-eyed at the sunrise or the wonderful view from the top of the hill when I stop to drink my water.  I run for the silence, I run to be with friends and I run to keep up with my kids.  In the end, is i suppose the run is something I have that is mine.  No one sets the deadline and it isn't something I owe.  I just go out and do it, on my own terms. With all the demands of being a mom, a wife, an employee, a volunteer, the run is something that I is consistent and always there, waiting for a reason.  And, sometimes that reason is simply because I feel like running.