Remembering OBX

This week Kelly and Chris are visiting from Greenville, NC.  They are both training for the OBX Marathon in November, their first full marathon, although they have run the half marathon in November and the Flying Pirate in April in the past.  Kelly ran 14 miles last week so she is well ahead of schedule, and is supported by a large supportive running group in Greenville.  We took her up Bearpen on Monday and showed her some of our favorite routes, and today she was joined by Chris and we showed them some more.  It made us grateful that we do not have to start running at 5:00 a.m. to avoid the heat as they do in Greenville.  And we are glad, too, that they will not go back and tell their running club that they have lost any ground in training.  In fact, we were hoping we would see a bear so she would have a real story to tell them.

Talking to them brought back memories for me of this great race that I have run three times (and the Flying Pirate four times).  They were well familiar with that iconic bridge to Manteo!  Truly, is there not a bridge somewhere in every marathon which every runner must cross over to get to the other side?  That hard, difficult climb to greatness, and the passage to another shore.  As the Tom Hanks character said in that baseball movie A League of Their Own, "It's supposed to be hard.  If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. The hard... is what makes it great."

Good luck to them both!  There are few experiences more meaningful to a distance runner than completing that first marathon, seeing that finish line suddenly appear around the corner in Manteo, friends cheering, knowing that you have done your very best!  May their training go well and may they have cool temperatures and a good day.

Water Lilies

We have had more visiting runners than usual this summer, and it is always interesting to run with them.  Today we met Sonia, who found our website weeks ago and e-mailed me; she did not want to miss any training for her first marathon at Disney World in January.  We ran six mile with her, and in the process took her round and about Highlands - the quiet neighborhoods where we normally run, the Nature Center where we stopped for water, and the Biological Station where she planned to hike with her husband in the afternoon.  "What a beautiful place to run!" she said.

I have often found it interesting that, while showing visitors Highlands, we seem to see it more clearly ourselves; it takes the perspective we have when running with others to notice once again how cool and beautiful it is in the morning with the mist drifting away over Satulah Mountain, and the sounds of katydids and morning birds all around.  When my sister visits us, for example, I find myself noticing more than ever how nice it is to dine on our deck in the evening, and then watch the fireflies come out and slowly rise and fall on the evening breeze.  She doesn't want to do much else but sit and simply soak it all in, and I find myself thinking, "Yeah, it is pretty wonderful, isn't it?"

And today Sonia stopped short on Lower Lake Road and simply dropped her jaw at the lovely water lilies on Ravenel Lake.

How many times have I run by this lake, engrossed in conversation or lost in my own thoughts, and not noticed how many more there seem to be this year than in the past?  To take the time to pause and be thankful for living and running in this beautiful place.

Lifeboat Tea

It's not always easy balancing running and hard physical work, and as I increase my training this summer to 30-mile-weeks and spend some time doing real work, I can feel it.  By real work I mean working in the garden, mixing up concrete and mortar in a wheelbarrow by hand, tearing out that old handrail on the porch with a crowbar, all out in the 80-degree-plus heat.  This kind of work, which I have always done despite my white-collar background, gives me an appreciation for those men amongst us who work like this all the time!  The builders and roofers and lawn guys, many of them Hispanic, who do good hard "honest" work.  As I sit bone-weary and drenched in sweat to take a break in the shade, I have to think that this cross-training will eventually prove more beneficial than the afternoon nap that seems to be the prevalent type of cross-training for most of those in my age group.  What I need mid-afternoon, after nine miles of hills this morning, is something that is a staple of  the British - a cup of tea!

Our favorite tea this summer is Lifeboat Tea, which we stocked up on at the Outer Banks this April.  It's imported from the UK and, according to the box it comes in, every purchase goes to help the Longhope Lifeboat Station in Orkney.  That is appropriate because as far as I know the only place to purchase it in this area is at the Chicamacomico Lifesaving Station in Rodanthe:

My little lifeboat, saving me from the sea of exhaustion!  Highly recommended to focus the mind and refresh the body in a time-honored way (since 1869, according to its package).  Although I do not think it will catch on with the roofers in Highlands.

Running Log Guilt

I have tracked the slow progression of my mileage in my running log, and it is encouraging to finally reach 30 per week - a number that makes me feel as if I am suddenly in a higher gear.  The last three weeks I ran 25.24, 27.03, 30.23, and 30.00 miles.  But last weekend I missed my long run.  Instead, on Saturday we went to Snowbird Mountain Lodge in Robbinsville to celebrate our 36th Anniversary.

Although I managed to ride a mountain bike Monday afternoon on the Cherohala Skyway, and we had a lovely hike in the Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest on Sunday morning, my mileage suffered a setback.  I actually went five days without running.  So, consumed with "Running Log Guilt," I ran 9.00 miles on Wednesday, intervals on Thursday, and a long run on Saturday.  But the planned 12-mile long run was much more difficult than I had anticipated, even with nice cool breezes and lots of companions along the way.  I began to feel as if I was running the final mile or two of a marathon.  My worn shoes were not helping, either.  So I stopped at ten miles, feeling slightly disappointed at not completing the workout.

But should I really regret a long weekend with my beautiful wife in a beautiful place, eating good food and drinking good wine, and wandering amongst these towering giants?

What a foolish mistake it is to let one's life be dominated by running, and one's running life be dominated by the Running Log and its demand for more and more miles!  Instead, a runner should always listen to his or her body, and adjust accordingly.  So I took a complete rest day from running today, took new running shoes out of their boxes, and hit the reset button.  Tomorrow I am looking forward to running up some mountains again.