Every runner has a time in the year when their serious training and focus begins. Today was mine. When I was a young lad, living in Stevenson , AL my season began in the Spring. I remember the first runs in March. How the lungs burned, the Quads ached. By the end of the Summer, my 10k times were where I wanted them. Low 40's. As the years have creeped up on me, my body and attitude have changed.
Now the hot weather takes a toll on me. I no longer look forward to the long grueling runs in the heat. I now look forward to the long runs in the cold biting cold of winter.
Today, I ran a long trail run with a friend I have worked with for over 5 years. He has run races up to the marathon distance over the years but, recently he was working towards the half marathon distance. This past week, I saw him at work and after exchanging some stories about a recent race had had done, we decided to run a training run this weekend. He was only trained up to about a 12 miler but with a little encouragement, I talked him into a 20 mile training run.
My plan was simple, we would go out as slow as we could, stop and hydrate and eat as often as we needed to make sure he ( we) would be successful. We started the day with coffee at Mickey-D's. We dropped his car at the top of the mountain we were running, so we would have the option to quit after 10 miles.
He brought along all three of his "babies" to run with us. He has 3 beautiful Ridgeback dogs. These dogs apparently come from Africa and have a distinctive raised ridge of hair on their backs. They are not good swimmers. I will elaborate later.
We started our day at 08:00 as the sun was coming up. My goal was two fold. Get in a 20 mile training run (something I haven't had in over 2 months, which I need for the upcoming 50 miler in November) and get my friend through a 20 miler. The trail is fairly technical ( rocky, lots of roots, etc).
We started slow with no time limits on our run. We stopped several times to purify water, and eat and allow the dogs to drink and cool. The dogs probably ran 30 miles with all the run ahead and come back. By the end of the run, they were content to follow us. We ran them into the ground.
Were took an extra longer time to reach the halfway point because of running very conservatively and allowing the dogs drink and cool. I also wanted to gauge how my friend would adapt to running on trails for such a long distance. He is a tough nut and I am encouraging him to pursue running ultra distances. I think he is capable of doing the long distances.
The run was very invigorating for me, because I was sharing my limited experience with him. I needed this run to reinforce that I can still run longer distances, even though it has been since August 9 that I had run any distance to speak of. I keep telling myself that distance is run in your head, not on your legs.
The run back down the mountain was more fun and faster than the run up. When we got to a long suspension bridge about 4 miles from the end, one of the dogs had a problem swimming across the creek. It appeared that he would drown. Ron, my friend told me that Ridgebacks are not very good swimmers. Two of the trio did ok but I had to talk Bo across a stretch of creek where he could walk across.
We cruised through the last 4 miles without a hitch, except for the fact that I stumped my little toe on a rock. You remember the one I hurt on my stair incident. It brought on a new pain in the foot resembling when I first injured it. After icing it tonight, it is OK.
We met some older folks hiking at about 2.5 miles from the end and they asked us how far it was from the bridge. We told them about 1 mile, they seemed like it was an impossible task for them to make it and was talking it over whether to proceed. I didn't want to discourage them, but I only told them the truth. They were about 2.7 miles onto the trail. These folks were into their 70's and 80's. I admire their determination to get that far. This is not an easy trail. I hope that they went on to their goal and made it out safe. I hope when I hit 70-80, I will still be able to hike and explore life.
As for my friend, He made the 20 miles with ease. I hope I can convert him into the dark world of running past what is accepted as normal running.
I must build on this run for the coming running season. As you age, you can never rest or take anything for granted.
I have always said. Mother Nature has taken care of you for the first 25 years. Then one day, She says alright, you are on your own.
Then comes the weight gain, the stiffness and the soreness. It is a constant battle. I know I will lose it, but when I die I want to slide in sideways to the grave and say " Man what a ride".
Now the hot weather takes a toll on me. I no longer look forward to the long grueling runs in the heat. I now look forward to the long runs in the cold biting cold of winter.
Today, I ran a long trail run with a friend I have worked with for over 5 years. He has run races up to the marathon distance over the years but, recently he was working towards the half marathon distance. This past week, I saw him at work and after exchanging some stories about a recent race had had done, we decided to run a training run this weekend. He was only trained up to about a 12 miler but with a little encouragement, I talked him into a 20 mile training run.
My plan was simple, we would go out as slow as we could, stop and hydrate and eat as often as we needed to make sure he ( we) would be successful. We started the day with coffee at Mickey-D's. We dropped his car at the top of the mountain we were running, so we would have the option to quit after 10 miles.
He brought along all three of his "babies" to run with us. He has 3 beautiful Ridgeback dogs. These dogs apparently come from Africa and have a distinctive raised ridge of hair on their backs. They are not good swimmers. I will elaborate later.
We started our day at 08:00 as the sun was coming up. My goal was two fold. Get in a 20 mile training run (something I haven't had in over 2 months, which I need for the upcoming 50 miler in November) and get my friend through a 20 miler. The trail is fairly technical ( rocky, lots of roots, etc).
We started slow with no time limits on our run. We stopped several times to purify water, and eat and allow the dogs to drink and cool. The dogs probably ran 30 miles with all the run ahead and come back. By the end of the run, they were content to follow us. We ran them into the ground.
Were took an extra longer time to reach the halfway point because of running very conservatively and allowing the dogs drink and cool. I also wanted to gauge how my friend would adapt to running on trails for such a long distance. He is a tough nut and I am encouraging him to pursue running ultra distances. I think he is capable of doing the long distances.
The run was very invigorating for me, because I was sharing my limited experience with him. I needed this run to reinforce that I can still run longer distances, even though it has been since August 9 that I had run any distance to speak of. I keep telling myself that distance is run in your head, not on your legs.
The run back down the mountain was more fun and faster than the run up. When we got to a long suspension bridge about 4 miles from the end, one of the dogs had a problem swimming across the creek. It appeared that he would drown. Ron, my friend told me that Ridgebacks are not very good swimmers. Two of the trio did ok but I had to talk Bo across a stretch of creek where he could walk across.
We cruised through the last 4 miles without a hitch, except for the fact that I stumped my little toe on a rock. You remember the one I hurt on my stair incident. It brought on a new pain in the foot resembling when I first injured it. After icing it tonight, it is OK.
We met some older folks hiking at about 2.5 miles from the end and they asked us how far it was from the bridge. We told them about 1 mile, they seemed like it was an impossible task for them to make it and was talking it over whether to proceed. I didn't want to discourage them, but I only told them the truth. They were about 2.7 miles onto the trail. These folks were into their 70's and 80's. I admire their determination to get that far. This is not an easy trail. I hope that they went on to their goal and made it out safe. I hope when I hit 70-80, I will still be able to hike and explore life.
As for my friend, He made the 20 miles with ease. I hope I can convert him into the dark world of running past what is accepted as normal running.
I must build on this run for the coming running season. As you age, you can never rest or take anything for granted.
I have always said. Mother Nature has taken care of you for the first 25 years. Then one day, She says alright, you are on your own.
Then comes the weight gain, the stiffness and the soreness. It is a constant battle. I know I will lose it, but when I die I want to slide in sideways to the grave and say " Man what a ride".
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