....one giant leap for Michael. Wow, pretty bold of me to use a quote from the 1969 moonwalk to describe my run today isn't it? I mean it isn't like I walked on the moon or anything - THAT was huge. That was Neil Armstrong, steppin big on July 20th 1969. With America behind him he did what no man before had ever done - that must have been some feeling. Can you even imagine the excitement? I might have peed. Zero gravity and no Depends...not a pretty picture.
He didn't do it alone though. Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin was on the surface with him and Michael Collin was in the command module orbiting the moon. Each of them had specific functions to perform and working together they made history. I remember seeing it on TV and then looking at the moon and never seeing it the same again. We forget sometimes the bravery of these men. Shove them in a rocket and blast them to the moon. Slide on down to the surface, have them walk around, then zip back up to connect to the main ship and then haul booty back to Earth. Sure, that doesn't even remotely sound crazy does it?
Today the giant leap was mine. Over the past few weeks I have been increasing my Sunday run from 5 miles to 6 miles and last week 8. The goal today was 9 miles and three hills. Nervous - yes. Excited - yes. Pack of Depends on standby - no (I'm not 50 yet). What a beautiful day to run. Slightly warm and nothing but blue sky. I fueled up, covered my head with sunblock, and met up with Sharon and Albert for the three lap wonderland that had already increased my heart rate in anticipation.
Lap one wasn't too bad and the first hill actually felt a tad easier than the week before. Maybe my fitness is a little better or maybe I simply don't fear it any longer - I'll take both. Sharon was my Buzz Aldrin today. However I'm sure Buzz never ran in a sports bra with "Just Do It" across his, ah...his, ah...spacesuit. Sharon stayed out front for most of the run and hitting the hills I could focus on her and not look beyond at the length of the hill in front of us. Mentally it was a big help and the only downside is that when I close my eyes I still see "Just Do It".....
Mission Control was Albert. He was at my side talking me though the run. Whether it was a hill, flat, or decline, he was the voice in my ear making sure I stayed on track. "Drop the pace....run on the balls of your feet (uphill technique)....relax your shoulders....you're doing great....good form"....Astronauts never had it so good.
So with the help of my "Buzz" and "Mission Control", I covered 9.58 miles at an average pace of 9:15. I would have jumped for joy at the end of the run but my legs felt like lead and we have gravity down here. Once again I thank my partners. They could have ran faster today. Could have ran further today. Could have but didn't. Instead they gave their run to me. Two things came clear to me today. Running buddies can get you through anything and I'm a lucky guy....
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
8 Mile
This is not to be confused with the 2002 rapper movie starring Eminem. Incidentally when I first heard about him I thought it was M&M....as in plain or peanut. Can you blame me? There's Vanilla Ice, 50 Cent, Poof or Puff Daddy, so M&M makes sense if you really think about it.
This is about my 8 mile Sunday run so there is really no comparison. Of course the Eminem movie had a run time of 110 minutes and my 8 miles spanned only 71 minutes so you could say I kicked his butt by 39 minutes. This is where I would toss in some rapper jargon if I knew any....
8 miles - so what. So it was a hurdle for me. The last time I was able to kick out 8 miles was July 2008. Humm, Eminem was a young rapper struggling with his life and I'm a "young" runner struggling with his pace. Maybe we should do lunch. You're right, a little more focus here - so let me get back to my point if I can find it. I'm a goal setter. I believe that if you don't set goals you'll never push yourself to the level of success you are capable of. Often we don't know what we are capable of so we settle. Or is it because we're afraid. I think fear plays a larger role than we think.
I'm a few weeks away from turning 50. It's just a number right? Sure. Then where did my hair go and why do my abs look like a pony keg instead of a six pack? You wash your face to get the dirt off only to find it's a liver spot. Should I floss if they're just going to fall out anyway? Really, 50 is not a big deal for me however I am focused on having a great 5K a couple days after my birthday. That's how I'm celebrating my big day - running. I'm not big on parties and as for drinking, take the cap off the beer and I'm half way gone.
In April the Bellevue 5K hill kicked my booty. It was clear that hill training had to creep back in to my training. Oh sweetness. A week ago I ran 6 miles with a couple hills and Sharon sold me on bumping it to 8. "You can do it"....."it's eeeasy". Ah, the words floated out so smooth that before I knew it I was committed. So 6 became 8 and 2 hills became 2 1/2. Actually it was better than I thought. Sharon is a good pacer and better yet she can talk. She is a very intelligent person - you know the kind that will use words that you have no idea what they mean but she's smiling so you smile back and nod your head. Inside you're thinking "what the hell did she just say." She did talk and in fact she told stories over the last hill and 2 miles which kept me from focusing on how far I had run.
We averaged a 9:00 pace and other than the 200 yard sprint we did at the end of the run, I might have been able to go a bit further. If I ran alone would I have pushed myself those extra two miles? Increased my confidence? Or would I have been afraid to go too far too fast? I'm glad I'll never know. I took a step forward. We should all take that step. So turn the light back off, spit out your binky, put on your shoes and get out there. It's time to run....
This is about my 8 mile Sunday run so there is really no comparison. Of course the Eminem movie had a run time of 110 minutes and my 8 miles spanned only 71 minutes so you could say I kicked his butt by 39 minutes. This is where I would toss in some rapper jargon if I knew any....
8 miles - so what. So it was a hurdle for me. The last time I was able to kick out 8 miles was July 2008. Humm, Eminem was a young rapper struggling with his life and I'm a "young" runner struggling with his pace. Maybe we should do lunch. You're right, a little more focus here - so let me get back to my point if I can find it. I'm a goal setter. I believe that if you don't set goals you'll never push yourself to the level of success you are capable of. Often we don't know what we are capable of so we settle. Or is it because we're afraid. I think fear plays a larger role than we think.
I'm a few weeks away from turning 50. It's just a number right? Sure. Then where did my hair go and why do my abs look like a pony keg instead of a six pack? You wash your face to get the dirt off only to find it's a liver spot. Should I floss if they're just going to fall out anyway? Really, 50 is not a big deal for me however I am focused on having a great 5K a couple days after my birthday. That's how I'm celebrating my big day - running. I'm not big on parties and as for drinking, take the cap off the beer and I'm half way gone.
In April the Bellevue 5K hill kicked my booty. It was clear that hill training had to creep back in to my training. Oh sweetness. A week ago I ran 6 miles with a couple hills and Sharon sold me on bumping it to 8. "You can do it"....."it's eeeasy". Ah, the words floated out so smooth that before I knew it I was committed. So 6 became 8 and 2 hills became 2 1/2. Actually it was better than I thought. Sharon is a good pacer and better yet she can talk. She is a very intelligent person - you know the kind that will use words that you have no idea what they mean but she's smiling so you smile back and nod your head. Inside you're thinking "what the hell did she just say." She did talk and in fact she told stories over the last hill and 2 miles which kept me from focusing on how far I had run.
We averaged a 9:00 pace and other than the 200 yard sprint we did at the end of the run, I might have been able to go a bit further. If I ran alone would I have pushed myself those extra two miles? Increased my confidence? Or would I have been afraid to go too far too fast? I'm glad I'll never know. I took a step forward. We should all take that step. So turn the light back off, spit out your binky, put on your shoes and get out there. It's time to run....
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