On the schedule for today was a trial run after work and I couldn’t be more for it. Truth be told I was feeling a bit flu-ish and was mildly nervous about my performance for this run. Like prep for a race, I spent a large chunk of the day looking at topographical and trial maps of the area, reading hiking and running reviews, and trying to decide what distance I wanted to push myself to. I have been running 3 miles pretty steadily and was starting to feel comfortable with my foot’s progress healing and my ability to pick my distance back up I had been pretty concerned about “loosing” my mileage/ endurance with the month+ off running. So I kept bouncing back and forth between 3 miles and 5 miles. I finally decided that I’d bring my phone (which has a GPS tracker (Motion X GPS - Running) application on it) and keep tabs on my distance as I ran. I figured I’d do the best I could and if I had to turn back at 1.5, so be it. But between you and me I was hoping I could make it to 2 miles then turn around and run a total of 4 miles on this trial run. Waiting till I got off work to go run, was the hardest part.
Before long I was tying my laces and finagling with the GPS tool to get a signal and head out. I was joined today by my boyfriend, who agreed to run the same course as me, but we both knew who would finish first. Quickly the distance between him and I grew from a few yards to a quarter mile, and before it had been even 5 minutes, he had disappeared on the winding trail ahead. Leaving me plodding along with my thoughts and knowing that in the end there is no point in trying to keep up with him. When we first started running together, I’d try to keep up and run at his pace, But I’d almost always be left in the dust, disheartened and frustrated. At some point this past year I read a NY Times article entitled: “Run. Race. Beat the Boyfriend” and found it both immensely funny and annoyingly close to home. However, over time I have learned that this is just the way things are. He is faster than me, and that’s that. Once I come to grips with the fact that I just am not currently capable of running a 7 minute per mile pace for 5 miles, I was okay with “letting him go” on our runs. I stopped being irked by the fact that I couldn’t keep up and began to enjoy the run for what it meant to me. This of course means he always has to wait for me at the end of our runs, but he assures me he doesn't mind. While this may sound like a little thing, it was a big deal for me. Because it meant that I was finally basing my running ability off of myself and my past performances instead of other’s capabilities. There will always be someone faster, stronger, who can go farther/longer, more bad ass than you. The sooner you understand and are okay with that, the sooner you can actually work at improving yourself as an athlete. Another good approach to trail and ultra running in general is thinking, “what can I learn from this person? How can I utilize their skills and knowledge to build mine?” instead of “damn it look how much better they are than me.” You choose you’re outlook on life.
Once the gravel and pebbles tapered off to an actual dirt and roots trail, I was feeling like I was moving at a pretty good clip. I did my mental internals check in with my feet, calves, quads (hams and glutes too), core and arms. I felt no tension in my body and my prior injury wasn’t balking or complaining. I felt good and knew that this feeling was rare, thus a sign that I should keep moving like this as long as I could. The nice thing about trail running is that there is less time for your typical running thoughts. Instead you focus mostly on where to put your feet, if there are any major obstacles ahead, and ultimately your surroundings. If you’re running a dirt trail, chances are you are in some beautiful park with scenery you can easily zone out to. Then without much warning at all the trail turned up hill, climbing over rocks and roots. Over the course of the last few weeks, I have been following a strength training, muscle building, ass-kicking workout plan that the bf built for me to help make me a stronger runner with less over-use injuries. The plan had clearly been working, because I found that the climbing on this crazy route wasn't as hard as I thought it’d be. With “relative” ease, I was able to charge up the hill, traversing all of the knotty terrain, and then came slamming into a surprise dead end.
Now, between when someone uploaded the maps of the 3, 3.92, and 5.6 mile routes onto the web and now, there has clearly been some significant terrain changes. These, of course, altered the trail route. So there I stood in the middle of a wide fire-road trail in front of a map without a clue of where to go next.The map said I could go right and follow the trail along the water back to the parking lot. However, a quick trip to the right showed that the trail had in fact been closed due to both flooding and erosion. Fail. So standing alone, unsure of what to do, I made the most logical decision I could think of, go back the way I came. So back it was over the technical terrain, through the woods, to grandmother’s house we go.
On the way back I did another internals check and all systems were still functioning well. This honestly surprised me. I checked my GPS and saw that I’d in fact gone 2 miles and change and was maintaining a 10-11 minute per mile pace. I was thrilled by this, and in a brief moment of ‘Holy Shit, I am actually better!’ cockiness, I caught the tip of my shoe on a root and tumbled forward into the dirt. Classic MacGruber. I pulled myself together and headed back down the trail chuckling as I brushed off the dirt and leaves.
For me, one great thing about “out and back” runs is that I can pick off check points on the way back. This helps me feel like I am getting closer and closer to being done. Like anything in life, it’s a great feeling knowing that you’re closing in on your goal. Before I knew it I was back at the truck, cooling off, and stretching out. When I checked my GPS tracker, it said I went a little more than 5 miles. The Magic 5. And the best part was that I was averaging sub-11 minute miles on the trail. For me, that kind of news is like getting a pony for Christmas. Smiling and motivated, we headed off to a well-deserved pizza dinner.
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