Can Do.

Can Do

Whenever I run to work in the mornings (braving the cold and windy elements this morning, I’ll add) I make it a point to run by as many of the memorials and monuments that DC has to offer. My more usual, pre-work early morning runs and my long run on the weekends rarely take me by these historical spots so getting to run by them one day a week as I commute to work is motivating.

Some of the notable sites I run by are the Marine Memorial (aka the Iwo Jima Memorial), Arlington National Cemetery, the Lincoln Memorial, the Vietnam Memorial, the WWII Memorial, the Jefferson Memorial, the Washington Monument, the National Mall and the museums that partly make up the Smithsonian, and the US Capital Building. I still get a little giddy when I come around a turn and the Washington Monument or the Capital Building pops in to view.

However, this morning, there was one particular memorial that made me start to think – the Seabees statue at Arlington National Cemetery

I’ve run by this statue dozens of times but this morning I made note of the large inscription: Seabees – Can Do (as I learned from Wikipedia, it is one the Seabees most commonly used but informal mottos). Two things struck me as I paused to take a picture: 1) the upper body muscles of the statue are totally disproportionate and 2) what a wonderfully simple but completely to the point phrase. Not questioning or hesitant – might do? Not even declarative or forceful – will do! Rather a simple statement of will and intent. Can do.

I think I’ve let myself get away from the “Just Run” motto and that’s why I ended up injured (too concerned with pace and speed) and why it took me so long to get back in to a groove (kinda being lazy). There were so many strings attached to running – pace, distance, training, racing, weekly mileage – I forgot to just run.

Run. Can do. Yeah, I like that.

Daily Dozen:
7.3 miles commute to work
Strength Training @ lunch hour

These Runs Are Real

Five miles in the cold, early morning – this is my bread and butter run. This run is my base, my confidence boost I cherry-pick each week, knowing I can easily complete the distance. I let myself just run it at the pace that felt right, leaves crunching under my feet, past the quiet, dark houses. It was just me a few other runs and some cyclists. We were the only ones in on the secret.

These runs can feel a bit surreal at times. I get home, stretch, grab some water or strawberry milk if I’m starting to get hungry, and then jump in the shower. By the time I’m walking to work an hour later – when the sun has come up and the neighborhood is collectively on its way to work – it can feel like the cold, dark morning run wasn’t really a part of the morning, it feels like something that happened a long time ago, something a dreamed.

As I cram myself on to the train, make my way in to the city and get to my desk, there is no evidence that I even ran this morning. The sweat has been washed off and the tangles brushed out my hair. My running clothes are drying in the hamper, my shoes put away neatly and my Garmin is recharging in its dock. All of those things are at home and here I am part of the morning commute in to the city without any proof that this morning’s run was real.

The only reminder that I didn’t make it all up is the wonderful tired feeling in my legs as I walk up the stairs in the metro station or get up to make a copy at work. I love that feeling – not soreness or pain or fatigue, just the feeling you get when you know you’ve had a good run. My legs feel tired but ready for more. It is the little love note I leave to myself to make sure I remember the run was real.

Daily Dozen:
5.07 miles easy (10:03 pace)
Core work @ lunch hour (planned)

Fun Runs

I am bouncing back from the cold I was fighting and the break from running it forced me to take. Actually, I am more than simply bouncing back…I have had so much fun the past three days.

Monday, since I had the day off of work I slept in for a little bit, took my time getting ready for my run and didn’t leave the house until after 9:30. I was aiming for 12 miles that morning and decided to add a little twist to the run – push ups!

I set my Garmin to beep every 30 minutes of the run at which point, I would stop running and do 10 push ups followed by 10 reverse crunches and then 10 more push ups. Over the course of the run I would take a mini strength training break 4 times and do 80 push ups. I was excited to be doing something a little different on my long run.

The plan worked great and was so much fun. I looked forward to the push ups and it broke up the long run nicely. I had something to look forward to. I wanted to see how far I could get in those 30 minutes before I had to stop. The last two stops, on the way back, I could only manage 5 push ups in the second set but I felt strong and tough.

Ok, and a little silly doing push ups as people walked, ran and biked past me but it was silly and buff blended together. It really had me pumped and I definitely ended the run with a smile on my face. Since I’m not training for anything at the moment, I’ve decided to break up all my long runs in a similar fashion – keep the running fresh and build some strength in the process.

Tuesday morning before work I ran 8 miles and I loved every minute of it. There is something about running that far, that long before work that makes me happy for the rest of the day. It was a crisp and cool, almost cold, morning and the lower temperatures felt good. It is the first time I’ve been able to see my breath as I walked to the trail. The summer heat was behind me for good; welcome fall and winter

Running in the heat and humidity of summer feels wrong when I compare it to how natural it feels to glide along the bike trails on a fall morning. It just feels right. Tuesday morning, I felt like I was exactly where I was supposed to be on that morning; like all the pieces were in place and as long as I kept going they would remain in place forever and ever.

As I hit the final mile of the run, I cam upon a group of women – four or five of them – running along the path. They were going just about my pace and I probably should have just tucked in behind them and finished my run at the intended effort – easy; and, that is exactly what I did for about a minute and a half. Then, I just couldn’t take it.

The desire to pass them; to show them just how smooth and effortless and easy it was for me to pick up the pace, pass them and then keep going, even when they were well out of sight, it was too much for me and I gave in. I picked up my pace, swung around them – Ah, running fast felt great – and kept going until I got home.

Today was a planned short recovery run – only 3 miles. I did manage to hold down the pace, taking it nice and slow but I couldn’t help myself and extended the run just a little. I didn’t want it to end so quickly.

As I took my time this morning, I thought about the past couple days of running and how lucky I am to have found something I enjoy this much. I thought about my future running plans – the base building months ahead of me and how I’m hoping it will put me in a good place to start training for a marathon in April, the possibilities for a race next fall (maybe finally doing Richmond or *eek* an ultra?), my hope to make 2011 the Year of Maryland marathons – Frederick and Baltimore in one year, and maybe just maybe one day running a sub-4 marathon…and then a faster marathon to qualify for Boston, could I do it in 3:40.

But those things are long range goals, plans, hopes, dreams. I kept running and reminded myself of my new mantra – Just Run. Well, if the future is too far away and too complicated, what about tomorrow? What can I do tomorrow to ensure running remains fun?

Answer: Hills!

Daily Dozen:
3.9 miles @ recovery pace
Core work @ lunch break

Continuing to "Just Run"

“Just run” as a running/training philosophy continues to serve me well.

Thursday I had something weighing on my mind, something that couldn’t be solved (by me anyway) and I let my legs take it out on the bike path. I couldn’t help it. I pushed and I couldn’t do anything to stop it so I went along with it.

As I played out different scenarios – good, bad – I just ran. And I ran fast and hard.

It felt good to run fast, let it out and feel strong. As I ran through the dark morning, I formulated a theory: if I ran strong this morning without fear or doubt or hesitation, put that strength out there in to the world, maybe that strength would somehow permeate the air and finds its way to the person who needs it. It’s a nice thought, isn’t it?

With that idea in mind I couldn’t possibly slow down or hold myself back. For a few moments as I pounded the pavement, I didn’t feel as helpless. Of course, it didn’t really change anything but it felt good to have some sort of control, some say in the matter.

I ended up running 5 miles at a 9:36 pace, race pace. I wonder if I had listened to my schedule and took it easy that morning, would I have felt better? The same?

Just run.

This morning, Friday morning, again I set out under the cover of early morning darkness but this time I was on a mission. I ran to work but I was concerned with how yesterday’s faster running would impact this morning’s longer run. The good news – it didn’t seem to.

I took the longer route to work – 8.25 miles – and went at the pace that felt right. I was a little tired when I started but by the end I really didn’t want to stop. For an hour and a half, I had let the world slip away and only worried about the here and now – my body, my breathing, my legs, my running.

I got to work in good time (10:45 average pace…the first few miles were around 11 minute miles).

I’ve always heard people talk about running as a cheap form of therapy. When these people have a problem they want to work through, they run, they think, they solve. For me, I can’t say I ever solve any problems on my runs but they definitely make me feel better. I don’t think and maybe that’s the blessing for me.

Daily Dozen:
8.25 miles run commute to work

Just Run

When did running get to be so complicated? Wait, better question: why did running get so complicated?

When I started running three years ago, I just ran. Sure I had downloaded a training plan to get me from the couch to finishing a marathon so I knew the mileage I was supposed to run on that day but I never gave any thought to how fast I would run or the purpose of the run. Tempo? Intervals? Hills? None of that matter. The purpose of the run was the run. All that really mattered was that I stepped out the door with the intention of running and then I did it.

Heck, I didn’t even own a Garmin at that point so I don’t know if I was even running the “correct” distances. I knew I ran at about a 12 minute pace so I looked at the schedule, multiplied the number of miles by 12 and then divided that in half. If I was scheduled to run 7 miles, I would run for 84 minutes. Divide that in half; 42 minutes out, 42 minutes back, run done. If I felt good, I ran fast and if I didn’t, I ran slow. I just ran

That’s how my first round of marathon training was run and I had a great first marathon experience. In fact, it was my best marathon experience in terms of finishing strong and happy. Some where along the path between then and now complications have been added, including a Garmin to track pace and precise distance, specific types of runs with a purpose, and a goal to get faster, faster, faster. But really, I haven’t gotten that much faster. In the two years since my first marathon, I’ve only taken 25 minutes off my first marathon time and both times, I was hurting when I crossed the line.

I’ve run with purpose…run a faster marathon but I haven’t run a strong marathon like my first.

But what if running with a purpose isn’t the way to achieve my larger goal of being a lifetime runner, literally running through each phase of my life? What if the injuries have stemmed from these complications and the feeling down about bad races and slower than intended runs? Can I go back to that way of running?

OK, it might be hard for me to give up my Garmin but what if I didn’t let the distance and purpose of the run rule my running. What if I woke up in the morning, looked at my schedule and told myself today is x miles, that’s x minutes, let’s do it.

Time on my feet and miles on my legs, that’s the name of the game.

Almost all of the beginner’s running plans I’ve seen, leave out “quality” runs (the runs with names…fartlek, intervals, tempo, etc.) with the exception of the long run. Every weekday, there is a prescribed mileage or time and you are meant to simply run them. Don’t run fast. Don’t run slow. Just run.

However, the minute a runner moves beyond the beginner phase all of the complications start getting added. A runner must to do strides at the end of the mid-week long run every other week and intervals once a week starting with three and working up to eight, and run a tempo run that is “comfortably hard”…and, and, and….blah, blah, blah.
Why so many rules and guidelines? What happened to just running?

Today, I read an article in the Wall Street Journal about Kara Goucher, an inspiring and up-and-coming American distance runner who seems to have done just that – thrown out the rule book and just runs (although I have a sneaking suspicion that that isn’t entirely true…regardless it is a nice idea). I’ll never be a runner anywhere close to that level but I’m motivated by the idea of “just run” because it can mean different things to different runners and still get us both to the finish line strong and happy…and ready for more running.