things i have learned so far

With week 6 about to wrap up, it seems like a good time to relay some lessons learned thus far during my training. Here are three that come to mind.

1) Things can improve mid-run.

One of my best runs of the year occurred in early May before official training had begun. I hadn't gone much further than five miles up to that point and I wanted to get a six-miler under my belt just to get a little more acclimated to longer distances. However, once I started I came to the quick realization that my legs were very tired and figured I'd have to cut things short. I kept going though, and by the end of the run I had covered almost seven miles and was feeling good enough to run the last mile at a sub-7:00 pace.

In short, each run is a dynamic experience. Things change from mile to mile and this will be important to remember during the ebb and flow of a 26 mile race.

2) It is stupid to not hydrate.

This is something I should know by now, as drinking water was a favorite topic of Bay High CC coach Dennis Sheppard. I always suspected that if one of us had lost a limb, Shep's prescription would have been, "drink plenty of water".

Water intake has been less of a concern with my mileage ranging from "low" to "microscopic" since high school, but in this marathon summer I am again convinced of its importance. Venturing out unprepared and telling yourself that you will drink up after your run is all well and good, until afterwards when your stomach is full of liquid and you are still thirsty. Bad times.

3) I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

I am not attempting to tout my body as some sort of wonderland. I more than anyone am aware that it is a relatively quirky assemblage of parts (webbed toes as Exhibit A). But you know, I like it, and it's served me well over the course of 27 years (and notably these last two months).

I don't have an extensive knowledge about 50 or 100 mile ultramarathons, but I get the sense that the general public dismisses the folks who run them as not right in the head. This may be true, but I admire them regardless. They themselves may not think this way, but these runners strike me as fascinating athlete/scientist hybrids, constantly searching for the limits of human endurance. And though I will never try it myself, I see a strange, stark beauty in that. They are living proof of the amazing capabilities of the human body.

I like to think that my regimen is allowing me to connect firsthand with this same thing, only on a miniature scale. I am plumbing the depths of my personal endurance. No matter the distance I run, my body is more than ready to stop by the time I get home. On short 3 mile days, this naturally leads me to wonder how things will turn out during the Saturday long run. But so far, it's almost as if my legs are short order cooks, all too happy (generally) to comply with whatever mileage is ordered. My body has consistently allowed me to run whatever distance is on the daily menu, and that's been one of the most rewarding parts of the process. There is real satisfaction in coming to the end of a task (be it a training run or anything else) and thinking, "you know, I wasn't sure I was going to be able to do that". The nine and ten mile distances that seemed so intimidating a couple of months ago are now little more than launching pads for even longer (but still intimidating) runs. I guess the incremental nature of the training is doing the trick.

Lead on, Novice 1 training schedule!