Friday morning I ran 20 miles. In
the old days I saved my long runs for Saturday morning, but lately I’ve been on
childcare duty Saturday mornings so I’ve pushed them to Friday. I got up with
Cyndi at 5:00 AM, and left around 5:30. Cyndi had to get up to teach Body Pump
at Gold’s Gym, making it easier for me get my body out of bed. I needed to get
started early so I could finish before the temperature hit 80*F.
I had been laying awake in bed for
about thirty minutes going over my gear list for the run. I’ve been running now
for over 32 years, more than 35,000 miles, and I have a pretty good handle on
what I need to carry with me on a long run. It isn’t much: (a) Preemptive
band-aids, moleskin, and Advil; (b) Interval timer; (c) Garmin 405 GPS watch;
(d) iPod; (e) Camelback; (f) Sunglasses; (g) Handheld digital recorder; (h)
Money; (i) ID; and (k) Shorts, shirt, socks, shoes. Anything else has to earn
its way into my kit.
This time I didn’t take any energy
gel blocks or GU or electrolyte chews or any of that. I did take some Jolly
Ranchers, but I ended up eating those only out of obligation since I had them.
I couldn’t tell if they helped in any way. So far, in my experiment of one,
energy and electrolyte supplements haven’t made a noticeable difference nor
have they been worth the effort. Maybe it’s because I am moving so slow? But I
am open to being proved wrong about the subject, I will keep reading the
articles in running magazines. I need all the help I can get.
I do, however, enjoy wearing my new
Garmin 405 GPS watch on long runs. It is great fun after the run charting my
route and studying the data and printing a map. My actual distance from Friday
was 20.86 – how would I have known that without my cool watch? I also carry a
clip-on interval timer that I bought from Jeff Galloway so I can do my
run-walks. It helps keep me on pace, on task, and I don’t have to look at my
watch until the run is completely over.
There is a potential vulnerability
with carrying a GPS watch, however. A few weeks ago during a 10-miler, about
8.5 miles in, as I was turning north under the overpass at
250 to head home, I looked at my GPS watch and it was completely blank. The
battery had died. I felt empty since I had been following that watch all
morning. I felt erased, blank, and non-existent. Well, only briefly, then I ran
on home.
The toughest part of my run is the
first mile. My legs are stiff, my shins are sore, and none of me wants to move.
But I’ve learned if I keep going all of those pains will fade and I will be OK.
It is sort of like hiking the
past the first bunch of switchbacks it actually becomes fun.
The only time I was really tempted
to quit and turn around and walk back home was about 8 miles into the run when
I was passing
I went inside to refill my Camelback, being careful not to disturb the Friday
morning men’s prayer meeting, and it took all my powers of persuasion to
convince myself to keep going. But after I turned west toward the TXU
hike-and-bike trail, I felt better. After that, I just kept going. I didn’t
hurry or push the pace. My goal for the long run was to keep moving on my feet
and not worry about pace or time.
At the 7-11 at Thomason and
most of it into my Camelback to mix with my remaining water. It was a nice
treat. I had $20 with me with the intention of doing exactly that, which means
I drank from my Camelback more liberally than usual knowing I would refill it.
Unlike previous long runs I never worried about running dry.
Afterwards, after a shower and after
lying on the floor of my closet to recover, I enjoyed my traditional post-run
vanilla milkshake. What a great reward. I savored it down to the last slurp
because I’d earned it.
My friend and fellow
marathon-runner,
the secret doesn’t seem to be the training pace but rather how soon you can
recover. I was pleased after this long run. By Monday, three days later, I was
able to run 5 miles and I felt fine. That was encouraging.
My bum left knee felt fine and my
right foot with goofy toes was fine and never bothered me at all. I haven’t had
any problems with blisters on my toes since I started wearing Injinji socks. I
may lose a toenail or two, but I am used to that.
So you may be wondering why I bother
to write all this stuff down? I do it partly because running is the root of my
writing. The first pieces I wrote as an adult were for a running club newsletter.
But I also write it down so you can
join me on this journey. I am trying to live up to Habakkuk 2:2, Then
the Lord said to me, “Write my
answer plainly on tablets, so that a runner can carry the correct message to
others.” I hope you have
stories of your own, and I hope you’ll share them with me.
“I run in the path of Your
commands, for You have set my heart free.” Psalm 119:32
To learn more about
With God:” www.runningwithgodonline.com
Follow
Berry directly: berry@stonefoot.org
To
post a comment or subscribe to this free journal: www.journalentries.org
