Frostbite

As I had promised myself, and the 2 or 3 readers of this blog, I did indeed run the Frostbite 5-K today.  It was quite a bit colder than I had expected, and in fact the temperature in Fletcher was colder and the wind stronger than in Highlands.  My report from the Newsletter:


February 15 – Annual Frostbite 5-K – Your Humble Editor drover to Fletcher, NC on Sunday afternoon and ran this aptly-named little 5-K.  The course is one of those “gently rolling” ones for which Western North Carolina is so justly proud.  It was 25° F. and the wind speed was 18 mph, which according to the chart Y.H.E. consulted later indicated a -2° wind chill.  But the sun was shining and the Lelia Patterson Center had hot soup afterward, so no complaints.  Y.H.E. took first place in his age group in a chip time of 29:55, winning a nice little locally-made cup and saucer from which to drink green tea.

It was one of the coldest races I have run, and there was not a single pair of shorts to be seen.  Wind chill is a serious business and this is the chart I consulted:

But there is a lot of meaning in that little phrase "the sun was shining," and after 100 meters or so I warmed up nicely (mostly because that's where the first mile-long hill began).  The sun does shine on runners, the light of life and fitness and strength lifting us all up.  And I was especially thankful, once again, to turn the barrel and run back downhill and see so many younger runners behind me struggling up that long hill.  That is not only gratifying to a runner's ego, but also makes me realize once again, as I always do when I race, how thankful I am to be turning 66 years old in a week or so and still be running this well.

 

Race Readiness

It was nice to be able to return to running again after several days of forced inactivity in January due to influenza.  But it seems to be taking forever to return to my former level of speed and distance.  I have to admit that I am an older runner now and returning to fitness is a steeper climb than I had anticipated.  What a struggle it is to complete even six miles now!  But Saturday's "long" run of that distance went well, and I was able to complete another mid-week six-miler Wednesday.  If I can go eight miles Saturday I will be a happy man.

And yesterday, for the first time in over a month, I attempted some "speed" work - a couple of 400-meter repeats.  It was exactly 32 degrees, mid-way between freezing and not-freezing, and a sharp westerly wind was blowing.  I felt as if I was teetering on the brink; but that's where real progress is made in any athletic endeavor.  I had new shoes on, and I was running in that familiar spot on Leonard Street where I always run my intervals, and suddenly I realized how exhilarating it is to run fast, even just a little bit faster than usual.  The scenery rushes by, legs a little wobbly at using those fast-twitch muscles again, breath sucking in the cool air.  And what a miracle!  I was able to run a 2:04 and 2:02, actually faster by several seconds than the last recorded 400s I ran on December 31.

Am I Race Ready?  Not a bit.  But that's never stopped me from toeing the start line before, and there is a race on the horizon that I am tentatively planning to run - the aptly-named Frostbite 5-K next weekend, which my little race book tells me I have run four times in the past.

 The 2014 Frostbite 5-K

Should I decide to go I have little doubt that my finish time will be my slowest ever on this course.  Which, of course, is not the point in running races at all.

Cold Weather Running

Cold weather running should not be a problem in Highlands - I see photos of runners in New England regularly getting out in MUCH worse weather than we have had this year. Yesterday I ran four miles at 2:00 p.m. - the warmest predicted time of day - and I was actually a little over-dressed.  Why run at 9:00 a.m. at 25 degrees when it is 40 degrees in the afternoon?  A little common sense and a good weather forecast can get us out on what initially seem to be miserable running days.  And we get to see a beautiful world transformed by ice and snow, like the hoar-frost that was icing on the cake earlier this week.  Beautiful:

Doctor's Orders

Recuperation:  late 15c., "recovery or regaining of things," from Latin recuperationem (nominative recuperatio) "a getting back, regaining, recovery," noun of action from past participle stem of recuperare "get back, regain, get again," in Medieval Latin "revive, convalesce, recover," related to recipere (see receive). Meaning "restoration to health or vigor" is from 1865.

 

 

After some recent 20-mile weeks, my running log showed a dismal 3 miles last week as I struggle back into some semblance of fitness again.  Almost all of my symptoms have disappeared, and I am thankful after all that I only missed 6 days of running, which I have to attribute to a combination of cross-protection from the influenza vaccine I had in October, the rest and good nutrition of last week, and the careful easing back into exercise. at the end of the week.  This hard-won "getting back, regaining, recovering" of lost ground after an injury or a sickness is one of the minor miracles that we as runners are perhaps too accustomed to experiencing.  But I am thankful for the beginning of the journey to "restoration to health and vigor!"

And today I was ready for some therapy of a more intense kind, so I turned to my trusted friend Dr. Bearpen for a little consultation.  He prescribed four miles of relentlessly-climbing mountain, capped with a bracing dose of spectacular view:  the lakes of South Carolina gleaming brightly on the horizon, the afternoon sunlight warming my shoulders.  Doctor's orders.

 

Staying Indoors

Hard upon the heels of "Staying Outdoors" came this miserable week of "Staying Indoors."  Martha and I both have the flu and so have been forced to stay inside, sleeping in my chair at night, drinking copious amounts of chicken soup, and resting, resting, resting.  I am not often sick (and that is not unexpected - all of the evidence shows the benefits of  frequent exercise and good nutrition in staying well), and being down for a week is perhaps even more difficult for an active person.  How will I ever get back in shape again?  How much fitness have I lost, not having gone to the gym in eight days and not having run since last Sunday?  Will I be ready for that 5-K on February 15?  It makes me identify with those who are frequently sick, seriously sick, and some who will never get well.  Is there anything more precious in life after all than good health?

But last night I slept deeply and dreamed with exceptional clarity about distant vistas and beautiful cities.  And today I was able to go outdoors and do my morning Tai Chi on the deck (despite one or two treacherous patches of ice), breathing deeply the fragrant air, and the view of Satulah Mountain was surely even more starkly beautiful here in the actual wonderful joyful world itself, standing high and golden in the morning light like a lopsided Mt. Fuji. 

My fellow blogger J. P., high up there on Mt. LeConte (that neighboring Mt. Fuji), posted this wonderful quote today:

"If the day and the night are such that you greet them with joy, and life emits a fragrance like flowers and sweet-scented herbs, is more elastic, more starry, more immortal — that is your success." -  Henry David Thoreau

Staying Outdoors

January, for some runners, is a stage where a genuine struggle with the cold takes place.  It's one thing to run in the 30s and 40s, another to get outdoors at all when it drops below freezing, even plunging into the single digits as it is predicted to do tonight.  In what our local weatherman describes charmingly as "the wee hours," the temperatures will become "wee temperatures," too, dropping to only 2 or 3 degrees with sub-zero wind-chill.  If any runners in Boston or Minneapolis are reading this blog now I know they are howling with laughter.  Being a wimp is not an option in Boston.  (I grew up in Connecticut and I do, honestly I do, remember what real winters are like.)

Monday morning found me running six miles up in Highlands, down Main Street, passing the friendly waves and greetings from the Town's electric crews as they removed the holiday decorations for storage until next year.  The leaves of the rhododendron were beginning to curl up tight, and there was a serious patch of ice on Wilson Drive just below Satulah Ridge Road.  But the wind had not yet mounted its mighty steed and I was dressed warmly, and by mid-morning the sun even made me a little warm. 

This morning is another story - the wind is howling, the tall trees all around are swaying dizzyingly all around the house, the rhododendron leaves are curled up as tightly as No. 2 pencils.  It is a good day to go to the gym and cross-train.  I have run in single digits before - as low as 8 degrees on one memorable run with Art - and it does not do a runner any good to plod along in such conditions, risking frostbite or a fall on a patch of ice, simply to prove one's hardiness, or driven by a compulsive feat of missing a day or two.  It is far better to wait a day or two until it warms just a little.  And a little core work might do a runner some good after all.  Let the temperatures climb up merely into the teens and you will find me outdoors, nature all around me, the winter sky resplendent with color, simply soaking in the glorious tableau of winter.  I may not be a Boston runner, but I am a mountain runner.

I found this quote on J. P. Krol's wonderful blog, High on Mt. LeConte, this week (http://www.highonleconte.com/daily-posts:

"Such feeling, such longing, most of us have experienced in passing moods; but in the highlander it is a permanent state of mind, sustaining him from the cradle to the grave. To enjoy freedom and air and elbow-room he cheerfully puts aside all that society can offer, and stints himself and bears adversity with a calm and steadfast soul. To be free, unbeholden, lord of himself and his surroundings - that is the wine of life to a mountaineer."   Horace Kephart

New Year's Resolution Run

What a beautiful morning in Highlands for our annual Resolution Run, which the Highlands Roadrunners Club has been organizing for the past 20 years or so.  The weather cooperated, although it may have been a little chilly for some - just below freezing, bright and sunny, and almost no wind.  It was a wonderful way to re-connect with fellow runners (and walkers) and meet some new ones, all of us striving for the same thing in 2015 - health and fitness, good miles out on the road, and thankfulness for this special gift of running.