The Challenges That Lie Ahead

When we come out here to the Outer Banks, it tends to give us a perspective on the Mainland of our lives, the part of our lives back home, across Currituck Sound and up the mountain to Highlands.  We reflect on what we are doing with this precious time we have, and we give thanks for life, health, strength, and fitness, and especially this wonderful gift of running which we enjoy so much.

I have been running four times since last Sunday's race, the longest distance 4.03 miles on Thursday.  This morning I struggled through 2.61 miles.  Everything hurts!  Some mornings I wonder if I ever will be able to run again, and this morning was one of them.  How did I ever race 13.1 miles only 6 days ago?  But a couple of days off and my body has never failed to respond to the magic medicine of rest, and then it will be ready for more - more miles, more races, more challenges.

So what did I do today, while my legs are still sore?  I signed up for the Richmond Marathon on November 10 - 195 days from now.  Martha signed cup for the Half Marathon.  I ran this marathon several years ago, in 2004, and remember that it was a great race - nice course, nice downhill finish, and I ran one of my fastest times.  But no matter what the result, we can only do our best.

So it's on to Rest, Recovery . . . and  Richmond.

Arggghh!!!

April 22 – Flying Pirate Half Marathon

The weather forecast called for a 100% chance of precipitation at this year’s Flying Pirate, and they did not miss it at all; it rained the entire way.  One Facebook visitor amused your humble blogger by posting on the day before the race, “I am so hoping the rain holds off till later in the day! My costume will be such a mess! :(“  That wasn’t the only thing that was a mess by the end of the morning, as ankle-deep puddles took their toll, especially in the final three miles of sand roads  in Nags Head Woods composed of rain-filled potholes.  My quads took quite a beating, and my rained-out glasses kept me merely trying not to stumble and fall in the final half-mile mulch-path across the sand dunes in the woods.   I soon gave up any idea of bettering my time two years ago of 1:55:36 (and placing third, no less) – it was a simple matter of survival, and I was thankful to cross the finish line in 2:07:28.  No sooner had I staggered over and grabbed some water and a banana than I heard the announcer call out, “Martha Betz,” and sure enough, my better half had been hot on my heels the entire way.  Not only that, we discovered when they scanned our bib numbers that her unofficial time was 2:07:09.  How can this be?  The answer, we realized, was that I started in Corral A and she started in Corral B, which was released a full minute after me at the start.  While I had been busting my quads, she had been gaining on me the last three miles. 

Dusted by my wife – an eventuality I have been expecting for a long time!  I am so proud of her for running such a good race!!!  She also apparently bettered her time from two years ago, and in conditions that were the worst we have experience in any race at the Outer Banks, including the rainy inaugural OBX Marathon in 2006.  On dry, paved roads, this would have been a huge PR for her.  Next year Martha starts in Corral A for sure!

Am I upset about being beaten in a race by my wife?  Not at all - I'm proud of her.  Isn't that what it's all about, really?  To want to see those you love excel, to see them do the best they can. What more reward can a man, or a runner, have in life than that?

Flying Pirate - Arrrrgh!

We are scheduled to run the Flying Pirate in the morning, and there is a 100% change of rain. It is rare for meteorologists to be so precise!  I recall that the last race I ran, posted on this blog, was also a rain event.  I blamed that on the Methodists who ran with me, but now it is beginning to look like I am the culprit and am standing in the need of full-immersion baptism.

That lovely band of green is headed inexorably in our direction, and barring some sudden shift in the upper level atmosphere it will arrive in the form of 1" to 2"of rain during the race, with the full 100% likelihood happening when we should be at the finish line.  It does not sound like we will be sitting out in a big field in the morning sunshine listening to the rock-n-roll band at the end of the race as we did two years ago!

Martha's daily calendar for today had this lovely sentiment:

"The changes in the weather and the seasons do affect us, whether we want to admit it or not.  Notice what  the weather is saying to you today."

I know what it will be saying to us tomorrow:

"Stay home!"

"You don't have enough sense to get out of the rain!"

Or maybe just:   "Arrrrgh!!!!!!!!!!"

The Older I Get

It's only been a few days since my last race, but I still seem to be sapped of any speed whatsoever.  I have been remembering that old adage:  "The older I get, the faster I was."

Steve Prefontaine famously said:  "A lot of people run a race to see who's the fastest. I run to see who has the most guts."


These days, I run to see how old I am getting . . .

Hot Chocolate at the Finish Line

On Saturday, January 21, I ran the Hot  Chocolate 10-K in Asheville.  It was billed as the flattest course in a city notorious for its hills.  And except for the downhill start and the uphill finish (on “Hill Street” – what else could you expect?) it lived up to its word, with pancake-flat miles for about five of the miles.  Rain, predicted at 100% all morning, miraculously held off, and there was even some blue sky and sunshine just before the race.  (Some thought this was because of the presence of the Methodist Preacher and his influence over the weather!)  It did eventually begin raining half-way through the race, and there were many puddles on River Road (appropriately enough), which may have slowed times somewhat.  But it was a good race, well-organized, and the promised hot chocolate at the finish was a welcome beverage to the cold, rain-soaked participants.  Fred Motz ran especially well, taking first place in his age group in a race with over 1200 participants.

It was very moving to me to run this race on roads that, in my past, I used to commute to work on when I lived in Asheville in another life.  I was an unhealthy person then and a non-runner, so it was especially meaningful to return nearly four decades later a healthier and more positive person:  in other words, a runner.

  

Although I did not see him, Martha talked to the legendary Charles Dotson before the race.  This 89-year-old runner (yes, that’s not a typo – he will turn 90 this year) ran this race in an incredible 1:14:35!  What an inspiration to us all.  Growing old is indeed not for sissies!  

We Do Have Some Fun!

This morning it was 20 degrees in Highlands, and only three of us showed up for the Saturday morning run.  What a great opportunity for some fun!  I sent this e-mail after I had returned home, taken a hot shower, eaten some warm soup, and persuaded my fingers to work again:

Esteemed Local Runners:

I am afraid I have to bring to your attention a serious problem that has affected our running club recently.  I’m talking about attendance.  Yes, I know it’s winter, and some of you formerly lived in  Florida, Alabama, and other third World countries where you were accustomed to warm, tropical breezes rustling through the palm trees this time of year.  But now you are in Highlands and members of a running community that does not shrink from hardship.  In fact, we laugh at the cold . . . some of us, anyway.  We also laugh at the rain.  And we laugh at pain, which as we all know is weakness leaving the body.

What happened to all of you on Wednesday at 4:00 p.m.?  Rumors were that some runners ran earlier in the day because they were afraid that it might be too “windy” in the afternoon.  And what about Thursday at 4:00 p.m.?  Again, not a single runner showed up – I saw Morris in the grocery store earlier and he said that he and Skip had run earlier to avoid the chance of getting rained on.  (Isn’t this the same runner who patiently explains to Steve Hott and other rainophobes that he has “waterproof skin?”) 

So when I awoke this morning to bright, sunny, cheerful skies – a glorious day in Highlands, and one that makes a runner glad to be alive, especially if he is President for Life – I expected at least a dozen runners would already be gathered at the Town Hall at 9:00 a.m.  Much to my astonishment, there was nobody there except Carl Norman and Dixie Stewart.  We even waited the requisite five minutes, thinking that perhaps a power outage had occurred overnight and prevented alarm clocks from working, but nobody else showed up. 

What a disgrace!  As you know, Dixie Stewart has begun to run with us regularly this year, and it was embarrassing for Carl and I to attempt to explain the absence of so many famously awesome runners – runners who extol their hardiness and strength (some of them to such an extent that their heads have become too large for their bodies and are affecting their running form, I fear).  Where, for example, was the legendary “Morning Stud Group”(sic)?  Surely Paul has not waited until Saturday morning to begin preparing his sermon?  Doesn’t he know that Procrastination (if I remember correctly) is one of the Seven Deadly Sins?  And what about the “Every Day That Ends With a Y Group?”  Don’t “Saturday,” “Sunny,” “Breezy,” and “Chilly” – admittedly, these conditions were all present this morning – all end in “Y”?  I think the MSG and the EDTEWAYG need an additional description to attach as a suffix to their acronyms – “When it’s Mostly Pleasant Or Unusually Temperate,” OR “WIMPOUT.”

Between us, Dixie, Carl, and I ran 32 miles.  Here’s my watch at the end of my run, as I was basking in the warmth at the Town Hall parking lot, congratulating myself for being so awesome:

12.05 miles.  I’m already on my way to the Most Mileage Award, and it’s only January.  How will the rest of you ever catch up to me, Carl, and Dixie?

Now aren’t you ashamed at yourselves for not showing up to run this morning?

:Richard Betz, President and Chief Scold

Highlands Roadrunners Club

Let's Go Exploring

As we begin a New Year, it is a time to reflect on what we accomplished last year and what we would like to accomplish this year.  This applies to all areas of our lives, not just running, but for runners it is a time to decide to eat better, to work on those area of weakness we may have, to begin new workouts and new kinds of training, and to plan our race schedule for the coming year.  What are the goals we would like to accomplish in 2012?

I'm reminded of this cartoon by Bill Watterson, creator of the immortal Calvin and Hobbes - his very last one before the strip was discontinued.

It's a year full of possibilities - let's go exploring. . .