Remember, the feeling you get from a good run is far better than the feeling you get from sitting around wishing you were running.
-Sarah Condor
A week from this Monday, I’ll see all of you for the first practice of the 2016 Cross-Country season! It is unreal how fast this summer is going…yet I miss you all and can’t wait to see you.
As I was running today and looking forward to seeing you, I was also thinking about all the running I have been doing up here in Oregon. I don’t know how many of you know, while you are training for MVXC16, I’m training for a race myself. Mike, a running partner and friend of mine, asked me to run the Marine Corps Marathon with him this Fall, and I said yes…so I’ve been running to prepare myself for that race.
I’d like to say that every day my training is easy, but it is not. Sometimes it is hard to get out the door for my run, especially since I’m in Oregon and running on my own. While it is beautiful here, I miss running with MVXC/MVTF or my usual old-people running partners. Some days, it just feels like work to get out the door and run. But I still get myself out there because those days are necessary for the good days.
And most days, running is not work for me–running feels good and running feels satisfying. Today I ran ten miles with some hills, no particular target pace, I was simply out running a medium run. The run felt great as I went along hills and through a small Oregon state park. As I went along, my mind wandered from my own marathon training, to the first couple weeks with you guys, to thinking about a few individuals on MVXC with questions and concerns about their training, to thinking about the race up here that 20 of us will be competing in…I was thinking about all sorts of stuff. It was just a really relaxing 10 miles of running. I enjoyed myself. Yet that 10 miles would not have been as fun if I skipped runs every time I was not in the ‘mood’ to get out the door, or just didn’t feel like it.
I think that is one of the challenging things about running for people just getting started, the fun stuff comes later. For new runners, the idea of a relaxing 10 mile run sounds crazy. Yet after a while, if someone new to running is willing to put in the time, after a while they will understand; they will be out one day, running with friends and talking, and suddenly realize that they are just running, not thinking about how hard they are working. The run is just fun, the run is just something that we runners do. And even for experienced runners, some days we don’t feel like getting out there, but we do because we have a goal, or we know that in order to be ready for the next long-fun run with friends, or the next race, we need to get out there anyway some days we don’t feel like it so much. (By the way, this is true of a lot of things, not just running. For example, starting to learn a foreign language is usually not a ton of fun for a long, long time. Then you go to France and break out your French, or to Peru and realize you are fluent in Spanish and you can get around the country like a native, and your years of learning a language are all worth it. Music, math, art, fixing a motor or cooking a great meal…there are a lot of things that are not always fun at the start, but if we hang in there and work to become an expert or at least competent, we find out the activity IS fun!)
And when it all comes together, when we feel fit and have a good race, or we feel fit and have a really nice run with friends on REI or Up-and-Over+Seven Springs–when it all comes together on a day like that, all the miles feel worth it to me. I hope it does for you too.
I ran ten miles today just because it felt good…but I started out just like you in high school, running the first mile and thinking about how hard that mile felt. I felt like there was no way I’d ever be able to run with the seniors on the team, Tad Cruz and Jack Dujmovich and Bob Schmidt. But…today I can. You can follow the same path, too.
I know I am rambling a bit here. This morning I just wanted to put down the way I feel in a stream-of-consciousness blog post. Yet, I hope you get the point. I am hoping that you have been having a good summer of running, and that you have improved and gotten fitter and ready for MVXC16. But more than that…I hope that you enjoyed your running! Running is really not work, it’s really not a grind…it’s just what we do and we feel good!
A runner must run with dreams in his heart.
-Emil Zapopek
Some Reminders While I Have Your Attention
Fifteen boys and ten girls have already filled out their on-line clearance information completely! Don’t forget…instructions are here. On August 4 at 9am at the trainers’ room at Monta Vista, all these athletes bring their physical forms A and B to Mr. Bonacorsi and they are ready to start practice with MVXC! First practice…4pm on Monday, August 8, at the track after Running of the Bulls.
My Own Personal Summer Running Report Card
I’ve asked you all to get some miles in this summer…I guess I should give you my own report card as I train for MCM and also train to be able to run with you this Fall! Here is my running (I record weeks starting on Monday, some people start on Sunday). By the way…as you can tell I keep a running log. I really hope that most of you track your own running too! A running log is useful both as a motivational tool, and also a training tool.
If you have been running to your plan also…great! If you have not been getting your running in…start now! You should not be a hero–if you have not been running, don’t go out and try to bang out 40 miles this week. But if you have been on the couch all summer, you can get out and run 20-40 minutes today, and every other day at least until practice starts. If you have been running but wish you have been running more, then you can add 15-20% to your mileage this week. Every mile is another brick in the wall!
Week of June 6: Total Miles 47.25. Workouts/Quality Runs: 800-1600-800-1600-800 on track. Long Runs: None, but lots of hills this week.
June 13: Total Miles 42.20. Workouts/Quality Runs: Race! Bald Creek Half Marathon. First in age group! Long Runs: The Bald Creek Half Marathon + warm up/warm down was a 16 mile day.
June 20: Total Miles 50.05. Workouts/Quality Runs: 6×1 mile @ tempo with 1 minute recovery on road. Long Runs: 12 miles on the beach.
June 27: Total Miles 51.40. Workouts/Quality Runs: 8×600 with 200 jog recoveries on track (with Mike). Long Runs: 14.30 in Los Gatos (with Mike).
July 4: Total Miles 42.70. Workouts/Quality Runs: 3×1.75 mile @ tempo with 2 minute recovery on bike path loop in Nehalem State Park. Long Runs: 14.5o miles on road.
July 11: Total Miles 50.20. Workouts/Quality Runs: 6×1 mile @ tempo with 1 minute recovery on road. Long Runs: 12.5o hilly course in Ecola State Park.
July 18: Total Miles 47.00. Workouts/Quality Runs: Race! Manzanita Beach Run, 10km race on beach. First in age group! Long Runs: 15.50 in Nehalem.
July 25: Current week.
Everyone…I want this to inspire you. All of you can run like this! It took me years to get to this point, but I’m old–you are young–you can get to the top of the hill faster than me. I want us all to do this together, and share the great experiences of both success and the tough days together. Let’s do this, together!
Out on the roads there is fitness and self-discovery and the persons we were destined to be.
-Dr. George Sheehan
