First trail run of 2014! ..and it hit! ...I WILL be running a 200 mile mountain race this year! either Tahoe 200 or Tor Des Geants. This has already spurred me to think a little different about training and paying attention to different things as I run trails. Normally, I look at my long trail run for the day and base my effort on how long THAT run is. I often treat my long runs like races, “Ok how fast can I go in that amount of time” or “I want to stay high in whatever hr zone is designated for different segments” Even if the run is intended to be “easy” I will find the “upper end of easy”.My focus was on form as I ran, but only to sustain me for that run...and if I got a little sloppy toward the end or when I was tired, I didn’t feel the need to stay focused..the run was almost over, or at least I knew the consequences wouldn’t be significant. If I want to complete a 200 miler, I’m going to have to learn a few things, some things I am aware of and but most things I will learn I cannot predict and don’t want to.
My biggest fear? Injury. I have yet to finish a 100 miler that was not significantly hindered by R knee pain...IT band. How the Hell am I going to do 200? with over 70,000 feet of elevation gain if I get into TDG? The climbing doesn’t scare me...as much….it’s the descending. That’s where my knee has been the issue. The last 50 miles of Leadville were spent limping any downhill.
Today on the trail I was thinking as I climbed, “how do I climb and keep it comfortable all the way, how do I hike efficiently?”. I made myself descend easy enough to be able to keep my feet under me, refusing to reach, refusing to plow...which I think is a lot of the knee/IT issue. Running down comfortable, not banging around trying to make up speed or see how fast I could get to the bottom to make up for how long it took me to get to the top. Just starting to think...beyond the realm of today’s run. ...To think like I’m going to run forever.
I thought a lot about the runners racing for 6 days in Arizona. Joe Fejes ran over 555 miles, Yiannis Kouros just behind at 551. With that close of a finish after 144 hours of racing, you know they gave everything they had all the way. Liz Bauer, 54, first female with 415 miles. And why do we run? Look at these folks...Joe age 48, Yiannis 57 and Liz 54….running is OBVIOUSLY bad for you, you know. They will surely need knee replacements by the time they are 112. Why do people who don’t run and some who do think we must be punishing ourselves for some reason, or running away from something or desperate to lose weight? We can’t possibly be running for the simple joy of it, to connect with nature or humanity or ourselves or whatever the Hell we want to connect with? Oh and then running is ok, but not running 200 miles, or 6 days! Ha...it may take me 6 days to run 200 miles, and much of what I may be doing might not actually look much like running, it may not even look like walking at some points!
The trails invited me in with the twinkling dry snow, glistening in the breaking dawn. The trees rustled, as if to say, “Oh good!, someone to notice and enjoy what we have to offer today, come! Look around!”. Frozen mountain bike tracks on the trail, rocks and roots and leaves. Icy cold breath under a buff, twisty upward trails, cold eyelashes hitting my cheeks when I blinked hard from eyes watering in the wind. My thoughts drifting here and there. Oops, my second pair of tights slipping down to mid thigh-forgot to pull the second pair up good after hitting the FREEZING COLD parking lot potty...Snot...lots of snot, good snot rocket practice...and, purpose number 103 for the good ole buff. Sunlight flickering and dancing between trees, squirrels scurrying. Smooth flats where I got to open up my hips, stretch out and fly.
Comments