Final Countdown

We have been here for a little over a week, and this week is the "final countdown" to the half marathon, which I am realizing increasingly as I think about it that I want to run really, really well.  After all, I spent some cold days in Highlands this winter preparing for this, even though it was weeks and months away.  Goals are still important to me as a runner, and I will be thinking about those cold days this winter - like the time I stopped midway through my run in the Highland Hiker on that windy, snowy day to buy (on credit) a balaclava, and the day when I cut short an especially snowy run because the roads were simply getting to slippery.

Meanwhile, the amazing Dave Cockman seems to be in Raleigh this morning according to his live tracking link:

Only 200 or so miles to go, Dave!  13.1 miles on Sunday will seem like nothing considering how far this man has run.

Shaking Off Stiff Legs

Here we are at the Outer Banks, preparing to run the Flying Pirate Half Marathon on April 19.  My ten-mile run on Friday went well; although I had originally intended to go 12 miles, my legs felt plenty fatigued after only 10 miles.  But it was that good fatigue, all the stiffness done, all the little aches and pains and "niggles" - even the tight hamstring and that vaguely-documented ghost in the background called "piriformis syndrome" appearing to dissolve over the long miles.

This morning, after traveling 550 miles with my legs pretty much locked into a single position, and taking only a few breaks along the way, I feel like an old man, sore all over, my knees and my hips aching in places they do not ache when I run.  This is an understanding that comes time and time again to the distance runner:  activity is good for us, inactivity is just the opposite.  We are designed to be in motion, to be covering ground, to be moving and living and breathing.  Such a simple concept!  But it is a lesson forgotten by so many former athletes who have slid down the slippery slope from mere paunchiness to obesity, or those many men and women who do not even know what it is like to be strong and flexible - the young men and women we saw when we stopped along the road who looked as if they had never done any type of physical activity at all.  What a waste!

This morning I know that after running a few miles, the stiffness will slide away behind me.  Thank God for this wonderful gift of running and fitness.

Dave Cockman: Running Across the State of North Carolina in 12 Days

This week, I sent this e-mail to local members of the Highlands Roadrunners Club:

"Some of you may have heard about Dave Cockman from Mayor Taylor in the past day or two.  Dave lives in Cary, NC, and he contacted us both several weeks ago about an incredible running feat he is about to undertake – running across the entire state of North Carolina in 12 days.  He will be starting at the Tennessee border just west of Murphy on April 4, and he will be finishing at Jennette’s Pier in Nags Head, averaging 50 miles per day.  He is doing this as a fundraiser for wounded veterans.

Dave has a website you will want to check out that gives all of the details of his run:  http://murphytomanteo.org/run-across-north-carolina.  The website has a live tracking link so you can track his progress as he makes this epic journey. 

Dave will be leaving Hayesville on Sunday morning, coming through Franklin and on up the Gorge Road and into Highlands on Sunday, April 5, at about 6:00 p.m., and Mayor Taylor will be planning on meeting him at the parking area next to the Lake Sequoyah Dam.  Dave will be running alone, carrying everything he needs with him, and running about 12-minute miles.  Everyone who would like to meet Dave and run with him should check the live tracking link – the plan is to meet at Town Hall about 30 minutes before his estimated arrival.  Runners can carpool to the Sequoyah Dam and wait for him to arrive.  The Highlands Police Department will provide an escort into Town.  The Mayor has arranged for complimentary accommodations at OEI – it is really generous of them to do this on the busy Easter weekend.  He will then proceed to the Ugly Dog for dinner.  Everyone is invited and encouraged to dine with him (Dutch treat).  He will share with those present how they can donate to the Intrepid Fallen Warrior Fund.

On Monday morning Dave will meet the Mayor at Town Hall at around 8:30 a.m. as he begins the next leg of his journey, so this is a good opportunity to meet him and run with him if you can’t make it on Sunday evening.  The Mayor says there will be a signing of a proclamation in support of his run for wounded warriors, and after the signing he will run with him to the town limits as he continues on to Brevard.  The Mayor says that a car will be available at the town limits for the return to town hall, but he adds that "real runners will simply turn around and run back."  For those who don’t know, by the way:  Dave Cockman is a “real runner.”  Dave contacted me earlier this week and told me, “My training has gone well and I have completed two marathons and two 50-mile races in the past couple of weeks in preparation.  My legs are feeling strong and I feel now that I will be able to cover the entire distance in a little over 12 days.”

You can reach the Mayor at 828-506-3138 for more information.  As it happens, I will not be here to meet Dave because Martha and I are headed to the Outer Banks to run the Flying Pirate Half Marathon on April 19.  I told Dave we would plan to meet him when he arrives in Nags Head at Jennette’s Pier on April 15 or 16.  When I told him this, he said he was planning on running the half marathon, too – three days after running a 600-mile warm-up.  My plan is to locate Dave at the race, stay right behind him, and hopefully stay with him for as long as I can, probably about a half-mile.

Please don’t miss this opportunity to meet an incredible runner who is also running for a great cause.  Tell your running friends and your veteran friends about him, and give him a good Highlands welcome from our running club and entire community."

That is indeed an amazing and inspirational feat, and I am looking forward to meeting Dave in Nags Head and running the Flying Pirate with him!

 Dave Cockman

 

Remodeling

We are in the midst of remodeling out kitchen, bathroom, and laundry room, which explains why this blog has not been as regular as it has been n the past.  Long hours of hard work result in tired backs and sore muscles, but also in weight loss - good cross-training.

As part of the project, we removed all of our cabinets, and at one point there was absolutely nothing in the kitchen except the upper cabinets.  Now we are putting it all back again.  It occurs to me that this is similar to physical training, both weight training and running:  we tear ourselves down, and then we build back strength again.  We can remodel more than our kitchens if we are willing to do the work.

Oskar Blues Brewery 4-Miler

From next month's newsletter:

Your humble editor and his wife drove to Brevard in light but steadily diminishing rain on a mild Saturday morning.  Arriving at the Brewery (great venue for any road race), it was still raining, but literally as soon as we signed the race day entry forms, the rain stopped, and by the end of the race the sun was shining.  It just goes to show:  if runners merely show up and persevere, conditions often improve dramatically.  Or worsen dramatically.  We saw Miguel Rosas at the finish line; Miguel just started running with us last week and ran a good race.  This is a well-organized race on a relatively flat course at an easy-going time of day (11:00 a.m.), and we will put it on our personal race calendars for next year.  It’s a good time of year to knock out the cobwebs after a winter of low mileage and spotty consistency.  And after all, it’s the Lenten season, a time for humility and repentance, and it is always humbling to get beaten by a nine-year-old and three eight-year-olds, as this extremely humble editor soundly was.  On the other hand, it was the first 4-miler I had ever run, and thus I set a new PR, as did Martha.  Not something we do very often these days.

That Winter Five Pounds

There is not a runner in our running group who has not gained at least five pounds over the winter, and most of us are a little worried about it.  Will this little bulge above the belt stay with me from now on?  That age-old, tested formula comes to mind:  two seconds per mile per pound.  That is the amount of time over distance one can expect to gain by losing weight (or lose by gaining weight), down to the optimum weight, below which diminishing returns can be expected.   You can do the math yourself - that is a huge amount of time whether you are running a 5-K or a marathon.  Even the current issue of Runner's World which came yesterday is called the "Weight Loss Issue," and features an article optimistically entitled "Run Your Way Lean."  On the cover is a woman having absolutely no fat and displaying very well-developed abs.

I am not worried.  I have been a runner for a long time, after all, and I know that I can gain an extraordinary amount of weight, especially when that December post-marathon binging segues smoothly into the Christmas holidays.  And it all starts to melt like a lump of butter on a hot griddle when serious training begins, like double-digit-miles and hill training.  

Christopher Robin nodded. 'Then there's only one thing to be done,' he said. 'We shall have to wait for you to get thin again.' 'How long does getting thin take?' asked Pooh anxiously. 'About a week I should think.' 

Well, a bit longer than that.

March Running

It's that most changeable of all months, and whether or not I believe that old saying about the Lion and the Lamb, it is true that both of these creatures are likely to visit at the most unexpected times.  So Saturday the temperatures soared into the 50s and we had a good morning turnout of our running group, enjoying the sunshine and the mild (i.e. lamb-like) conditions, nary a pair of tights to be seen and only a few pairs of gloves.

Nine miles!  My running log tells me that this is the longest I have run so far this year, and that is a nice feeling.  Our half marathon is only six weeks away now, and it seems as it does every Spring in Highlands that my training is behind.

This little fellow was sighted Sunday on a hike to Anna Ruby Falls (and ours are almost blooming) blowing that trumpet that heralds Spring.  Spring and warm running, fragrant breezes - surely the most blessed time of year to be a runner.