Perhaps I'm old school; I believe the best way to run faster is to run faster. Sure, activities like biking, weight lifting, yoga, etc will help a person become more physically fit. But if one desires to shave minutes or seconds off thier racing times, or just see how fast they can run a set distance, some form of speed work is essential. For it trains a person physiologically to handle the discomfort that comes with pushing oneself. Plus it teaches the body how to better flush out lactic acid, and helps build certain type of muscle mass in the lower legs.
For me it had been since my days of running track in school since i had done any sort of substantial speed work. A few weeks ago I started to do so again on a more regular basis. Some days this is faster tempo runs as they are called, where i'll pick up my pace to a little under a 10K race pace for a few miles in the middle of a run. Or fartleking it in the woods in the state park. Sounds kinda taboo I know; if i'm not mistaken the word's origins are Sweedish, it means "speed play". Bursts of running fatser during a normal run, for say ten, twenty, thirty seconds... or to the next telephone pole, driveway etc. The beauty of it is you make your own rules, run fast when you feel like it, dont when you dont. Big key though is to not slow down much back below the normal pace being run in the work-out.
Yesterday I did repeats at the lake in Carolina Beach. I use a stretch on the path which i estimate to be a little over 400 meters. I run the repeat at about 85- 90% effort, then slowly jog for another 2-3 minutes, then walk for about 2 minutes until i've circled the lake... then BAM... off again running fast. Usually this fast segment takes @ 1:20- 1:25, and can get a little hairy when a mallard duck decides to cross my path, or a person's dog gets a little too jumpy. Yes, ideally I need to get to an actual track, but what ultimately counts is the exertion I put out. And the bucolic setting helps to take my mind of the physical pain. For its about a 1/4 - 1/2 way into the repeat that the lactic acid kicks in, the heart rate elevates rapidly, and the breathing gets quick and short. The mind says stop, your a damned fool. No not really, but it can be interesting the body/ mind connections. Near the end it can be the repititive thought "hold your form, hold your form," for it becomes vital to not break the natural running rhythm when fatigued.
I had the thought at some point in the workout that running/ training is one continuous experiment, the same as living life is. We learn what works, and what doesn't work by going out there and doing it. And then we adjust and try it again, and hope for the best.
And I'd like to say a special thanks to Guy's lovely daughter Katherine, who called out to me and said hello while I was stetching in the grass by the lake.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Thursday, February 26, 2009
"Aint it funny how the night moves..."
...is a line from an old Bob Segar song, followed by "when you just don't seem to have that much to lose." I seemed to have been hearing that the other day; the net result is that I decided to go for a run at nine o'clock in the evening, something (running at night) I hadn't done in awhile. By the time I was half a block down the road the life blood in me came rushing back to the fore, and the trials of this thing called life seemed once again to be just that, trials. And out there in the dark a smile spread across my face, 'tis but a dream anyway isn't it?' I looped the lake at Carolina Beach, guided by the faint glow of the lights that encircle the pathway and reflect softly atop the fresh waters. Then on past the elementary school and into the silent dark night of small town America. A calico cat suddenly appeared in a front lawn, it looked at me as if to say "ah ha mister! what per chance are ye doing out here amongst the critters of the night?" I just nod and wink and carry on my merry way. Everything seems to slow down the faster I run. This (the run) makes sense, perhaps nothing else that happened earlier in the day did. The road has a wonderful way of just not giving a damn why I am here, it doesnt care at all about love, money, religion, politics...none of that. And at times that's precisely the very thing that I am looking for, at least for an hour or so in the day. I ended my run on the beach. There was no moon, just a few distant stars way way up like miniscule golden dots in the sky. One of those nights when you have to almost strain a little to see the terrain of the sand ten feet in front. Where the ocean runs out and melts into the inky jet black sky, and it all almost looks a bit menacing. When realizations can jump up and almost sting me like a blast of salty air... that yes we all in fact have a hell of a lot to lose.
Monday, February 23, 2009
For Pre
I don't know where to begin. 'Pre' for those of you who may not know is the nickname of Steve Prefontaine, and is what most people called him or referred to him as. Some say he was the greatest long distance runner of all time; based not only on his talent and work ethic, but what he did for the sport of long distance running and track and field. "Pre Lives" is more than an idea, it's a kinetic life force that continues to propagate year after year.
Something came over me, or comes over me emotionally when i saw (on tv) or see (via the internet) the old Nike commercials "Pre Lives"; and/or the old footage of him interspersed with other athletes who wore Nikes over the last several decades that aired frequently during the Summer Olympics. Its like seeing an entity that lives deep inside of me and countless others come to fruition for a few brief fleeting moments...
Pre brought a certain panache to running, he filled stadiums, he moved people to chant his name "Pre Pre Pre" during track meets in his home state of Oregon. Perhaps it was the innocence of sports back then some 35- 40 years ago. Someone who put on a show for his fans, not for the love of money, but for the love of doing something as good as, or better than anyone on the face of the planet could at the time. He made running cool, inspired thousands to strap on a pair of sneakers and hit the roads, trails, or tracks where they lived. It was about finding one's inner resources, one's inner child, and not giving a darn what the world around thought.
For me it was about cutting up old brightly colored t-shirts and making crazy bandanas to tie around my head and flying around a cinder track at break neck speeds at practices, feeling the wind at my back, challenging myself to squeeze every ounce I had out of my body, mind and spirit in order to run perhaps just a little faster in a race than i did the time before. In a way, the same now holds true today... whether on a much simpler scale it be the solitude of an easy jog in the woods, or lining up at the start of a race marshalling the courage and guts to give it my all. He was oft quoted and had a marvelous way with words. "To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the Gift," is perhaps his finest jewel of wisdom. To limit this to the world of running would be almost be a disservice.
Sadly our heroes have this penchant for dying young, and in Pre's case it would be naive to think that this unfortunate fact doesn't in some way contribute to his iconic status in the world of running and sports. His death at age 24 left everyone wondering just what more he could have done had he lived. He placed 4th in the 5000M in the '72 Olympics in Munich, as the youngest competitor (age 21) there in the distance events. He returned to the University of Oregon and never lost another race in the NCAAs, and held just about every American distance record at the time of his death. He was training for the '76 Olympics in Montreal.
"You have to wonder at times what you're doing out there. Over the years, I've given myself a thousand reasons to keep running, but it always comes back to where it started. It comes down to self-satisfaction and a sense of achievement." ~ Pre
"Some people create with words or with music or with a brush and paints. I like to make something beautiful when I run. I like to make people stop and say, 'I've never seen anyone run like that before.' It's more than just a race, it's a style. It's doing something better than anyone else. It's being creative." ~ Pre
Something came over me, or comes over me emotionally when i saw (on tv) or see (via the internet) the old Nike commercials "Pre Lives"; and/or the old footage of him interspersed with other athletes who wore Nikes over the last several decades that aired frequently during the Summer Olympics. Its like seeing an entity that lives deep inside of me and countless others come to fruition for a few brief fleeting moments...
Pre brought a certain panache to running, he filled stadiums, he moved people to chant his name "Pre Pre Pre" during track meets in his home state of Oregon. Perhaps it was the innocence of sports back then some 35- 40 years ago. Someone who put on a show for his fans, not for the love of money, but for the love of doing something as good as, or better than anyone on the face of the planet could at the time. He made running cool, inspired thousands to strap on a pair of sneakers and hit the roads, trails, or tracks where they lived. It was about finding one's inner resources, one's inner child, and not giving a darn what the world around thought.
For me it was about cutting up old brightly colored t-shirts and making crazy bandanas to tie around my head and flying around a cinder track at break neck speeds at practices, feeling the wind at my back, challenging myself to squeeze every ounce I had out of my body, mind and spirit in order to run perhaps just a little faster in a race than i did the time before. In a way, the same now holds true today... whether on a much simpler scale it be the solitude of an easy jog in the woods, or lining up at the start of a race marshalling the courage and guts to give it my all. He was oft quoted and had a marvelous way with words. "To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the Gift," is perhaps his finest jewel of wisdom. To limit this to the world of running would be almost be a disservice.
Sadly our heroes have this penchant for dying young, and in Pre's case it would be naive to think that this unfortunate fact doesn't in some way contribute to his iconic status in the world of running and sports. His death at age 24 left everyone wondering just what more he could have done had he lived. He placed 4th in the 5000M in the '72 Olympics in Munich, as the youngest competitor (age 21) there in the distance events. He returned to the University of Oregon and never lost another race in the NCAAs, and held just about every American distance record at the time of his death. He was training for the '76 Olympics in Montreal.
"You have to wonder at times what you're doing out there. Over the years, I've given myself a thousand reasons to keep running, but it always comes back to where it started. It comes down to self-satisfaction and a sense of achievement." ~ Pre
"Some people create with words or with music or with a brush and paints. I like to make something beautiful when I run. I like to make people stop and say, 'I've never seen anyone run like that before.' It's more than just a race, it's a style. It's doing something better than anyone else. It's being creative." ~ Pre
Sunday, February 22, 2009
22 Feb 2009
Holy Sunday and i'm up and down to the beach there's a guy there with his two dogs on this cloudy windswept damp morning good for dogs cause they're always happy to be outdoors humans less so when the weather is not so agreeable. Set out to do the longer state park loop as I have named the run, about 7.5 miles in length. Headed down the back street Ken calls to me off his balcony out there drinking a cup of coffee say hello and continued on with no particular pressing thoughts early in the run just running. Later pass a guy with red sweatshirt he's on the greenway and i'm on Spencer Farlow Rd he catches my eye and waves and I wave back. Started thinking at some point after i ran under Snow's Cut Bridge along the bike path about a George Sheehan quote, Dr George Sheehan..."I run because i have to"... and i wonder if thats why that guy in the red was running cause for me it can be a thousand reasons at any one particular instance that culminate, or better yet synthesize into the thought/ statement "I run because i have to." He's there I'm here I run he runs it starts to rain lightly the drumbeat of life bangs and beats on in every corner of the globe. But then i'm back in the woods along the ATl waterway thoughts of writing...Jack Kerouac the Beats let it blow man like the jazz greats Charlie Parker spontanoues words sounds that capture the feelings ecstacies highs lows and all that stuff that cant perhaps ever be captured in its purest essence in any art form and I run run run on thru the ancient woods. Darn near then run into a lady coming along a bend in the trail out walking her dog she smiles at me as i do we say hello and continue on our own ways following our own Gods course maybe she's an atheist i confess though i didn't think that at the time. But i do wish i could record the thoughts that i do get more precisely as they occur when i'm running. Emerson or Thoreau once said they never trusted 'sedentary thoughts'.
And then later on the Nature Trail as its named in the state park lo and behold here comes the guy in the red sweatshirt and we pass each other on the trail exchange pleasantries some two, three miles after out first encounter out in the more civilized part of the island.
Got an occasional sharper pain once in my foot and once in my lower back the body's way of saying be careful dont over do it, two weeks a go or so i was more concerned about my right foot and thought i may have a stress fracture. So what do I do? After one day off/ rest i ran real hard the next week (on top of having to do some tougher work during the days that required me to stand alot) just sort of to see what if anything would happen...either the body will break or find ways to get stronger. One of the days while in the woods i imagined a healthy body or the silhoutte form of a body yellow in color (not sure why yellow) moving relatively pain free and unencumbered as if it was outside of myself, yet simulataneously inside of me. Hard to explain, and i did this while repeating a mantra something of the sort "i want to be healthy i want to be healthy and be able to run free." Injuries/ pain is a by-product of the sport and unfortunately inevitable from time to time. I had my freind Neva check it out then at the end of the week... she's a retired nurse with a masters from John's Hopkins so i assume she knows her stuff, plus i trust her judgement...she told me it was doubtful i had bone/ stress damage, and that it was likley an arch issue that i should have checked out by orthopedic surgeons, and she also told me a place to go on Shipyard Blvd. Though i can be a stubborn SOB and only want to go to a doctor if i'm about to die or something is about to fall off.
Got done with the run on the boardwalk felt good that last stretch past the small hilly dunes and scrub vegetation, little palmetto trees and plants...down the ramp and onto the beach went for a short walk after i untied my shoes took my socks off and slipped my shoes back on over my bare feet. Cant wait for warmer weather and wading into the ocean after getting done with runs. Such a high taking the shoes off after a real good sweat filled effort and wading out into the sea feeling the waves soothe the tired body.
And then later on the Nature Trail as its named in the state park lo and behold here comes the guy in the red sweatshirt and we pass each other on the trail exchange pleasantries some two, three miles after out first encounter out in the more civilized part of the island.
Got an occasional sharper pain once in my foot and once in my lower back the body's way of saying be careful dont over do it, two weeks a go or so i was more concerned about my right foot and thought i may have a stress fracture. So what do I do? After one day off/ rest i ran real hard the next week (on top of having to do some tougher work during the days that required me to stand alot) just sort of to see what if anything would happen...either the body will break or find ways to get stronger. One of the days while in the woods i imagined a healthy body or the silhoutte form of a body yellow in color (not sure why yellow) moving relatively pain free and unencumbered as if it was outside of myself, yet simulataneously inside of me. Hard to explain, and i did this while repeating a mantra something of the sort "i want to be healthy i want to be healthy and be able to run free." Injuries/ pain is a by-product of the sport and unfortunately inevitable from time to time. I had my freind Neva check it out then at the end of the week... she's a retired nurse with a masters from John's Hopkins so i assume she knows her stuff, plus i trust her judgement...she told me it was doubtful i had bone/ stress damage, and that it was likley an arch issue that i should have checked out by orthopedic surgeons, and she also told me a place to go on Shipyard Blvd. Though i can be a stubborn SOB and only want to go to a doctor if i'm about to die or something is about to fall off.
Got done with the run on the boardwalk felt good that last stretch past the small hilly dunes and scrub vegetation, little palmetto trees and plants...down the ramp and onto the beach went for a short walk after i untied my shoes took my socks off and slipped my shoes back on over my bare feet. Cant wait for warmer weather and wading into the ocean after getting done with runs. Such a high taking the shoes off after a real good sweat filled effort and wading out into the sea feeling the waves soothe the tired body.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
21 Feb 2009
First blog- off the cuff no regards to grammar
Cold morning, got out about 8am and walked down to the beach said my pre -run prayers. Dressed in long pants, my black Eagles beanie and gloves...I knelt in the sand, no-one on the beach the sun rising up out over the horizon to the east infinite waters topped by glimmering shiny bits of light unfurling over the gentle waves. Alone but for one seagull who swoops in and lands in front of me and glances back at me i acknwoledge him or her and we share a view of the Atlantic for a few moments in the eternal dream...then i'm out and off hit start on stopwatch after I walk back off the beach. Set out to do one of my standard loops about 6.5 miles...down first past the condo complexes and smaller beach houses on the narrow road parralel to the dune line. Air is crisp fresh no wind which makes the 25 degree or so temps. palatable easy pace I take on across then the main drag S. Lake Park Blvd... up on and thru Carolina Sands neighborhood, out the back way spilling onto 6th street, then up Sumpter Rd and past Chappelle Park. On by a morning tennis match and some teens skating on the cement banked ramps. Steady moderate pace probably about 8 1/2 minute miles legs need some recovery from tougher run in state park yesterday w/ Colin and Echo (the super running dog, could win Boston) and repeats/ speed work thursday.
Run today takes me eventually on the length of the greenway then pick up old dirt bike trail that meanders roughly parallel to the Atlantic Intercoastal Waterway before it spills into the mouth of the Cape Fear River...then up thru more of the woods deeper into the thick deciduous trees away from the water into the campgrounds of the state park, down some park macadme roads, two more trails, then back out thru the main entrance of the park. Run then thru some back residential neighborhoods to the boardwalk run the length of it 1/4 mile or so view the ocean on the left...Kure Beach pier two miles up the beach...then down the ramp onto the beach hit stop on the stop watch and the run is done in 55 minutes and change point to the sky give thanks and take cool down walk. Good run, smooth easy effort.
PM: Ran the course that's going to be used for the Lo-Tide 5K in March. Moderate effort, held good consistent pace throughout ran it in a little under 22 mins. Good workout especially after run this morning.
Cold morning, got out about 8am and walked down to the beach said my pre -run prayers. Dressed in long pants, my black Eagles beanie and gloves...I knelt in the sand, no-one on the beach the sun rising up out over the horizon to the east infinite waters topped by glimmering shiny bits of light unfurling over the gentle waves. Alone but for one seagull who swoops in and lands in front of me and glances back at me i acknwoledge him or her and we share a view of the Atlantic for a few moments in the eternal dream...then i'm out and off hit start on stopwatch after I walk back off the beach. Set out to do one of my standard loops about 6.5 miles...down first past the condo complexes and smaller beach houses on the narrow road parralel to the dune line. Air is crisp fresh no wind which makes the 25 degree or so temps. palatable easy pace I take on across then the main drag S. Lake Park Blvd... up on and thru Carolina Sands neighborhood, out the back way spilling onto 6th street, then up Sumpter Rd and past Chappelle Park. On by a morning tennis match and some teens skating on the cement banked ramps. Steady moderate pace probably about 8 1/2 minute miles legs need some recovery from tougher run in state park yesterday w/ Colin and Echo (the super running dog, could win Boston) and repeats/ speed work thursday.
Run today takes me eventually on the length of the greenway then pick up old dirt bike trail that meanders roughly parallel to the Atlantic Intercoastal Waterway before it spills into the mouth of the Cape Fear River...then up thru more of the woods deeper into the thick deciduous trees away from the water into the campgrounds of the state park, down some park macadme roads, two more trails, then back out thru the main entrance of the park. Run then thru some back residential neighborhoods to the boardwalk run the length of it 1/4 mile or so view the ocean on the left...Kure Beach pier two miles up the beach...then down the ramp onto the beach hit stop on the stop watch and the run is done in 55 minutes and change point to the sky give thanks and take cool down walk. Good run, smooth easy effort.
PM: Ran the course that's going to be used for the Lo-Tide 5K in March. Moderate effort, held good consistent pace throughout ran it in a little under 22 mins. Good workout especially after run this morning.
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