I have to say that two recent posts -- one from Agricola who braved the raw, wet weather to get in a run, and the other from FreeArtist, who's getting ready to spin for hours on end in his living room -- inspired me to quit with the excuses and get back out on the road for a run. So, after work I went for a quicky, and it felt great. It was about 3.1 miles, 25 minutes or so. My legs felt fresh from a combination (I think) of time off the roads and cross-training via the snowboard.
I have one funny story from the run. At one point on this particular route, I transition from the road to a bike path via a set of stairs. When I got to the top of the stairs today, a runner buzzed by me. There was enough space that I could have cut out in front of him, but he was going at such a clip that I paused for a second, let him pass and fell into my pace behind him. He pulled ahead but stayed in site, which was fine. We went our separate ways about a mile later as I cut back to the road to make my final push back to the office and he continued on the path. Now here's the funny part. As I approached my final turn that would take me the last quarter mile of my run, I saw the runner who cruised by me earlier approaching from the opposite direction. While I honestly didn't care that he left me in his dust once, I absolutely was not going to get beaten twice in the same three miles. I literally thought (and might have actually said), "No way this joker's beating me twice!" I never met the guys' eye and never looked over my shoulder to see if he made the turn behind me. I just kicked up my speed a notch or two. A few strides in, I heard him approaching and stepped it up even higher. Ten yards later, I convinced myself that he was probably catching me, and I kicked it up yet again. By the time I reached my stopping point, I was at a full on near-sprint-but-trying-not-to-look-like-I'm-really-trying-that-hard pace, and I was very pleased to have won my own personal race. Only then did I casually turn and glance over my shoulder, only to see an empty road. He never even made the turn.
Anyone who claims that running is primarily a physical event has it all wrong. This sport/activity all happens above the shoulders. Play the right mind games and you'll push yourself harder, run longer, and feel better for it.
The joker on my run today has no idea that he was schooled today on the "course", but I know it and I feel that much better for duping myself into believing he wanted the win as much as I did.
What games do you guys play to keep it interesting?
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Quick one
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3 comments:
I try to stand up every five minutes or so to keep my johnson from going numb.
I try to reel in runners up ahead of me . . . I look at the grass and the trees for signs of spring (now), I try to soak in my surroundings -- I think I have a different understanding of the topography of where I live from running -- I understand it differently than someone who only drives and I think about "Place" when I'm feeling philosophical.
I do a lot of dissociation, just think about other things -- it's really a time to get my thoughts in order, think about the day etc.
Under the dissociation and philosophizing though I'm thinking about my pace and my stride and looking for comfortable/different ways to carry my arms. I think a lot about running. I watch other runners to see how they run and think about their form versus what I think my form is.
I saw a guy yesterday who was totally in shape, running in shorts, his legs were ripped -- a real runner. However, he had this funny stride where there was a very pronounced upward bounce at the top of his stride -- after the foot flex. I don't know if it was some sort of training thing or if it was his natural stride but it seemed like he was using lots of energy with the hop . . .
A little free association...Agricola, your remarks re: the fellow runner with the bouncy stride recall my awe at Michael Johnson at the 1996 summer Olympics. A dominating sprinter, but remember how his erest posture ? Big contrast to the typical sprinter's lean forward.
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