Baby's, It's Cold Outside (Jan 30 training run)

This one was for Laura . . .

I have a great colleague named Laura. Laura has run the Boston a few times, always for charity and always training with a quiet, steady excellence that I found impressive and inspiring. All runners, of course, have their quirks, and Laura shares one with many other strong runners:  she can’t stand to run indoors. I was always amazed by the way Laura got her mileage done outside through the long Boston winter no matter what Mother Nature threw at her. Oh, and she had a demanding job in the brokerage business, meaning her runs were often in the bitter, icy dark of that long Boston winter.

I on the other hand, don’t mind the treadmill. I like the fact that it’s never icy. I like the fact that it creates a mechanical way to push my speed.  It’s softer on my joints and bank. And I get cold easily, so I have to plan winter runs carefully with lots of layers to make sure I don’t freeze up early and get irretrievably stiff.  I’ve done 10-11 miles on the treadmill no problem.  I’d rather run outside if it’s decent, but whatever.

Recently when the our group training schedule called for a group run on the Charles of 13 miles, I was pretty psyched to run with everybody after missing several due to injury, travel and illness. Until I saw the forecast. The Internet Weather Dude was calling for temps that weren’t merely cold. It was going to be frigid. I set my alarm clock with trepidation and laid out a veritable Noah’s Ark of clothing (2 of every kind!).  I posted on facebook a plea for some moral support, and got lots from my friends, and even a couple of donations. THANK YOU!! When I woke up (see video below) the thermometer outside my kitchen window delivered the news without elaboration: 4 degrees.  Off I went, walking like a penguin to my car.

The team convened in the Back Bay, and we got lots of encouragement from Coach Rick and a visiting sports pyschologist, Grayson Kimball.  Rick and Grayson made the excellent point that every tough challenge you meet in training is money in the bank when you get to race day. I learned this lesson the hard way in my first marathon, the Baystate, back in October, in Lowell, MA. I trained diligently for that race, but I was a little naïve about conditions and tended to cherrypick  my weather. If Saturday was rainy, I’d do my long run in the Sunday sunshine. Unfortunately, race day came and we all went out there and ran in a northeast gale, that began with low 40’s temps and steady rain and finished with driving rain, 30 knot gusts on the nose and dropping temps. It was snowing shortly after I received my medal and the shiny blanket, which sustained me as I hobbled and shivered my way back to the parking lot. While I did OK that day, I am quite sure I would have done better both mentally and physically if I had trained more often in cold rain.

So if Coach Rick said it was OK to run in 4 degree weather, I was going to give it my best shot, and I headed out into the cold sunshine. As it turned out, the effort was well worth it and, believe it or not, a lot of fun. We had some awesome support from Heidi and Katy on the coursewhich was great because my water and coconut water froze in my bottles as I ran. The sun kept me happy, and my layers kept me warm. Fortunately, the winds weren’t too bad, so my feet hung in there great. I ran for a while with my wonderful teammate, Naomi, (sorry the video of you  didn’t come out, Naomi!) and enjoyed running along the river in Boston, where I used to run casually in college, sometimes dreaming idly of running a marathon someday. Knowing I had friends who were with me in spirit made all the difference!  And Laura, this one was for you!

A Wicked Frosty New Year

A quiet weather day between storms gave me a great opportunity to try a road race for the first time since the Baystate Marathon in October (although I did run the Larry Robinson 5K with my daughter just for fun). Can you believe that about 450 runners turned out on New Year's Morning to hoof it through the streets of Salem for the well-run Wicked Frosty Four-miler? A good-looking bunch, as you can see here, trying to stay warmed up before the start at the Old Town Hall:

I have to be pretty happy with my watch time of 35:06. This pace(8:43) is 10 seconds better than my previous best 5K pace back in late June at Appleton Farms and I just felt SOLID all the way through. My idea was to start out with a 9 min mile and see what happened and, indeed, I ran slightly faster than that through 3 miles and then was able to crank it up in to the finish. According to my new friend, Mr. Garmin, I was running 6:30 pace at the end. :)

Full race results here.

10 miles tomorrow!

Fortune's Darlings

came across this today from the Nobel Lecture of one of my heroes, the Polish poet, Wislawa Szymborska (approx. pron.: zhim-BOAR-ska -- not as hard as it looks, really), and I think it's really the best description of how I feel about my day job as well as the hard work and great joy of running.

I've mentioned inspiration. Contemporary poets answer evasively when asked what it is, and if it actually exists. It's not that they've never known the blessing of this inner impulse. It's just not easy to explain something to someone else that you don't understand yourself.

When I'm asked about this on occasion, I hedge the question too. But my answer is this: inspiration is not the exclusive privilege of poets or artists generally. There is, has been, and will always be a certain group of people whom inspiration visits. It's made up of all those who've consciously chosen their calling and do their job with love and imagination. It may include doctors, teachers, gardeners - and I could list a hundred more professions. Their work becomes one continuous adventure as long as they manage to keep discovering new challenges in it. Difficulties and setbacks never quell their curiosity. A swarm of new questions emerges from every problem they solve. Whatever inspiration is, it's born from a continuous "I don't know."

There aren't many such people. Most of the earth's inhabitants work to get by. They work because they have to. They didn't pick this or that kind of job out of passion; the circumstances of their lives did the choosing for them. Loveless work, boring work, work valued only because others haven't got even that much, however loveless and boring - this is one of the harshest human miseries. And there's no sign that coming centuries will produce any changes for the better as far as this goes.

And so, though I may deny poets their monopoly on inspiration, I still place them in a select group of Fortune's darlings.

Read the whole, wonderful speech here.

Here's one of her most famous poems full of her trademark wry humor and concision in a graceful translation. I can only imagine how elegant it must be in the original Polish.

Is there anything as peaceful as a sunset run?

Christmas greetings! I am grateful to be able to run on roads again, but most of all for the joy of being with family and friends.

We interrupt this winter training regimen . . .

to bring you an idyllic run from the City of Angels! A big shout out to Geneva Overholser, David Westphal and Geneva's colleagues at USC's Annenberg School for creating the opportunity for me and Tree Swenson to share what the Academy of American Poets is up to these days with some fellow Angeleno art lovers. I can't wait to go back and check out Heather and Alex's gallery, and catch with up friends I missed this time out.

more fire . . .

Big week of progress for me. Yesterday I was able to run 5K on the 'mill, before the Admiral and I hosted our company Christmas party. SO MUCH FUN to be with my fellow team members + I managed not to overdo it on the delicious food and wine.

Today after riding, I still felt great and thought about the fact that Coach Rick's plan calls for a 7 miler today. I hopped on the 'mill today with a flexible but optimistic stance and was able to make it happen! I'm a bit sore now, but really ecstatic to be really running again (albeit slowly). The sheer desire to run and run well that I felt today reminds me of Toby Tanser's book about training in the Rift Valley with the elite Kenyan runners. What do they have that brings them to the doorstep of really great running? The Good Lord knows it's not money, since the vast majority of them grew up very poor. One told him, it's simple. More fire.

I am really thrilled because I don't want to be a drag on the team, and I think with further judicious training I can get back on track in the next couple of weeks. Really looking forward to some x-c skiing in ASAP, too!

Could be time for an infusion of new tunes so if anyone has any suggestions, I'm all ears.

Miles logged: 7.2 (+ 3.2 yesterday)

Back on the (shortest) trails!

After some tough days last week, it became clear I was actually going to have to take Coach Marnie's sage advice to really COOL IT. My new pattern is 2 days of no exercise beyond light walking and stretching followed by a moderate effort on Day 3. This seemed to pay off today, as I felt really good this morning and managed a 1 mile jog on a wee trail in the Great Marsh of Ipswich. :) Of course, I would much rather have been logging 6 miles on the Charles with Coach Rick and my awesome teammates, but if I can keep this up I will be able to participate in at least partial workouts with them by New Year's. Wahoo!

One of the things I am hoping to do through this blog is share some of the gorgeous trails that I love so much at the special places cared for by the Trustees of Reservations. So here is a peek at what I dearly hope is the shortest one I'll run for you and for Team Debate! My videography skills are, ahem, nascent, so bear with me.

Thanks to everyone who has been putting up with me as I begin to heal from this fall. Clicking here and donating to my run is one way to show your support! THANKS!!!