Hills in Manhattan... I don't think so

I am traveling this weekend. I packed my shoes and shorts, but I am kind of dreading the fact that I will have to run.

I will be in Austin. Austin is in the "Hill Country". I live in Manhattan. An island next to the ocean. Needless to say, I am not in any condition to be running on hills.

I guess I will have to look back at my last post before I head out to run.

4 minute mile

what motivates us?

what is the difference between a 5 mile run and a 5 1/2 mile run?

how do we know we can't shave off just one more second?

roger banister broke the "unbreakable" barrier of the 4 minute mile in 1954. no person had ever done this and it was thought to be impossible. in the 2 years following this feat 10 other men finished below 4 minutes. now, you won't even qualify for a professional race if you aren't well under that.

where do guts like that come from? it is obviously mind over matter to some extent. Physical evolution does not take place within a matter of 50 years. does technology really help us that much? new training techniques?

or is it simply that mankind was unaware of the human body's potential. was it the fact that all it took was one man to push himself to the brink of death for everyone else to realize that it was possible... and follow suit?

how far can i push myself? what is this body capable of? do i have the guts to go there?

Simple yet Complex

One of the things I love about running is the unbelievable simplicity. It has to be the most basic athletic endeavor that we know of.

I have always loved the Summer Olympics because I can imagine how it all started. A bunch of Greek dudes were sitting around and one of them said to the other, "I bet I can throw this stick farther than you." Hence... Javelin. Carry this line of thinking out over the basic Track and Field events and you have rock throwing, wall jumping, wall jumping with a stick, moat leaping, and of course... running. The best of all is running because it is simply a result of one man (or woman now) looking at the others and saying, "I bet I can run from here... to there... faster than you can."

I love all kinds of activities, but when I am running, and I mean really running, I like to think it takes me back to that original mindset. Just me and the Greeks contemplating athletic supremacy.

Marathon bound?

Nothing exciting about today's run. 40 minutes. Slow pace. East River.

I find that even though my longest run I have ever completed is just over 10 miles, I almost always have the thought of marathons when I run. In fact, I am not sure if there has been a run in the past 9 months (when I started running again) that I have not had, at some point in my run, the following thoughts:

- I wonder what my mile split time is.

- I wonder if I could keep this pace up for 26.2 miles.

- I wonder what that marathon time would be.

I haven't even seriously considered training for a marathon... or a half marathon for that matter. At this rate, I am going to have to run a marathon just so I don't go crazy.

Harder than it should be

2nd post. Same situation.

I still don't feel like I know what the hell I am doing.

I could feel it in my legs today. I pulled the "I feel sick and I should give my immune system a break" card on Saturday and skipped my long run. It was like my legs were telling me how badly I needed to get back out there on the road. They were achy and felt stiff all day. Some sort of withdrawal symptoms from activity.

Well, I got back to it this evening. As usual, I developed a plan as I stretched. The air was a bit cooler today, so I was going to just do a nice, easy jog for 45 minutes along my favorite E. River route.

21st to 14th along 3rd Ave. Over to Ave. D. Back up to the FDR. Under the bridge and down to the soccer field and then reassess once I got there. I was planning for about 7:45/mile, but checked the watch and had actually been running closer to 6:45/mile. It felt pretty good, but was it good for my body? I hadn't run as consistently since Miami. I am getting over being sick. Would I have done myself more good by keeping a slow pace? That is just the point. I had no idea.

So, instead of putting my body at risk, I did some sit-ups and jogged home at a decent pace. Overall it was a good workout, but I still feel like I am not maximizing my time spent running.

Back from Miami... Back to the grind

After a long weekend in Miami, I got back into the routine this week. I took Monday off, with the justification that I needed to give my body time to recover after a weekend of torture.

Wednesday it was back to my normal routine. I started back with a 30 minute jog on the E. River. Nothing too fast, nothing too slow. I tried to make up for my missed run on Monday with an ab workout at the soccer field.

Each time I begin one of these runs with the mental inventory of what my last few runs was. Once I determine, based on previous runs, whether this one is going to be long or short, fast or slow, I realize that I have no idea what I am doing. In theory I would like to build towards something. Get the most out of each run. Gain some sort of physical equity. However, I think I am just continuing run for the sake of it. Perhaps I will seek out some answers to these questions I have.

AN INTRODUCTION: I RUN

I have always heard about the runners high. The mystical place where running become euphoric and the endorphins carry you along. after years of athletic endeavor, it was not until recently that I understood what this meant. When I was young I worked out because I had to for sports. It was a necessary evil to be able to compete at a high level. I ran the 800 competitively, but it was all about the thrill of competition, not a love of running. However, when I finally gave up competitive sports and put on my shoes for a run, I realized how compelling it really is. I wasn't running because I had to. Rather, I was running because it offers exercise, thrill, pain, pleasure, therapy, and competition simultaneously. Each run is an experience, and no two runs are ever the same. My goal is to complete a marathon, and ultimately qualify for Boston. However, the real thrill is the many experiences that come beforehand.