My superstar running friend Jamie Donaldson tagged me via her blog - I have to answer the questions below and tag another 5 folks. I'm not sure what the consequences are if I don't, but if this is anything like those old chain-mail letters, I'm just going to comply to avoid a freak piano-dropping-on-my-head accident. You understand.
1- How would you describe your running 10 years ago?
In June of 1998 it had been over a year since I last went for a run. I ran Boston in 1996 on a bet (my first marathon), and I figured that was it for running challenges out there so I hung up my shoes and found other fun ways to occupy my time (coaching college softball). I didn't run again until 2003.
2-What is your best and worst run/race experience?
My first "run" after finishing chemotherapy qualifies as both: My old neighborhood loop was a simple 6 miler around the woods of Marlborough, MA. When I started regaining my strength a couple weeks after my last treatment, I was excited to get back out and run again. It was a perfectly sunny and temperate April day when I felt ready to embark on the first run. After about 1/4 mile my lungs were already burning. After 1/2 mile my legs were killing me. One mile into it I was completely exhausted. I'm not sure what happened between miles 2-5 as I was simply doing my best not to black out. I was literally shuffling my feet slower than walking pace by time I staggered around the corner a few hundred feet from my front door. When I crossed the finish line, I collapsed on the grass, looking up at the blue sky. I was extremely light-headed and walking a dangerously close line to blacking out. I was also smiling. It was the greatest feeling in the world to be looking up at the sky and not a buzzing fluorescent hospital light. I was back to being me, and it felt great!
3- Why do you run?
It's pretty much the only discernible "talent" I have, and I feel like I owe it to myself and the cancer community to use this ability to raise money and awareness for the cause.
4- What is the best or worst piece of advice you've been given about running?
Best: In training, always run the day after a long/hard run to teach your body to run while already tired.
Worst: You need to eat solid food in a 100 miler. Solid food lead to stomach issues for me every time. Once I switched to just Gels and Hammer Perpetuem for my drink, all the problems went away.
5- Tell us something surprising about yourself that not many people would know.
I can do about 50 different tricks w/ a yo-yo.
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Week Training Log:
This was an odd week for my legs. After rebounding from the 56 miles at Old Dominion last weekend and running the very next day (in the same 95+ degree heat), I thought my legs would be fine all week. I felt pretty wiped out on Thursday though and needed to take an unscheduled day off. No problem, I thought, since Friday I needed to run a 35 miler after work, and I figured the extra rest would be helpful. For some reason, however, I felt horrible during the entire 35 miles. I ran with a nice guy who works at the Canadian Embassy between miles 10-11, so that helped snap me out of my funk a bit, but after that it was a rough evening on the Mt. Vernon trail. Saturday was moving day for me and Elizabeth, and then I had to work and event at night, so I didn't get a run in at all. Again, probably for the best since I think I needed the rest. Sunday capped off the week with an easy run around Hanes Point - I felt a little better, so hopefully I'll snap out of it this week and have an easy 40 miler on the weekend.
Monday - Off
Tuesday - 8.5 miles - Hanes Point Loop
Wednesday - 8.5 miles - Hanes Point Loop
Thursday - Off (tired)
Friday - 35 miles - Mt. Vernon Trail
Saturday - Off (moving and work)
Sunday - 8.5 miles - Hanes Point Loop
Total Miles: 60.5 miles
2 comments:
2 questions...
How did you ever end up coaching college softball?
When do we get to see those yo-yo tricks?
1: I played baseball up until college and have always been a student of the game. When the time came to get back into it on a coaching end, the first offer was with a softball team, so I took it and applied my skills on that diamond. The mix of recruiting future student-athletes and coaching on the field was something I immediately fell in love with. I will go back to that some day...as soon as I can find a way to afford all these running shoes without my current job!
2: Maybe I'll break out the yo-yo every few miles while running the 192 miler as a way to check my mental state. If nothing else, I'm sure I could set some sort of distance record for the 'Walking the Dog' trick.
...and I'll definitely bring it along to the 24 hours of Ultracentric in November to keep myself entertained while running around all those 1 mile loops. I think the 'Around the World' trick will be appropriate for that venue!
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