Zen: the art of long Distance Running.

Well Today was bittersweet on many levels. Yesterday I got in a 25 mile ride, ( didn't do the full distance I wanted and took a few wrong turns but eh whatever.) I did it at a spin lovely, where the hell am I going, watching out for gravel and grooved pavement sort of pace. I actually did but into some grooved pavement once again DOT is on my hitlist. Today started off good, crawled out of bed went to early Mass, got home ate mowed the lawn, got set to go out for a run, when the phone rang. My grandmother ( my mother's mother not the one with Alzheimer's ) has had a stroke. My mother bolted to the hospital to make sure she was alright ( alright being a relative term.) I took my youngest sister to her girl scout function, got home got a call from my pops, told him we'd call him at work if we got any more info. on how the G-ma was doing. I decided to continue with my plan for a long run. My family's been under a lot of stress lately and this healthcare crisis was like launching gasoline on a raging inferno. I decided I needed to get away for a couple of hours and let my thoughts fly ( granted I'm always off doing something anyway), ( so I prepped for a longer run..I decided on a 15-20 miler instead of my usual 10-15 miler, because starting next week begins my pre-half iron, pre-IM New Zealand transition to full IM training taper.) So I took off from my house trusty fuel belt on my hips, and made my way to Rte. 322, then shot past the golf course down the back half on Southington Mountain and then down Marion Rd./Ave. I ran past the cemeteries and I-84 merges to the Plantsville Dunkin Donuts, used the washroom and topped off the water bottles, and took off on the reverse route back to Wolcott. When I got to Southington Mountain, I decided to be cliche and resurrect a commercial form a long since retired local attorney's office and run up the mountain. Let me tell you 1.25 miles at 10% gradient is enough climbing for a month. I ran down Meriden Rd. my feet now starting to blister from a combo of no socks, shoe stiches, and road sand. I went down past the resivior I normally run by on my 7 miler and ran out of water as I passed the police sation. I made the familiar turn on to Woodtick and then Wolf Hill Rd. and then onto Brooks Hill and Hillside. I darted across 69 and up Potoccous ring rd. then on to Lyman and then took the familar turn on to Chesnut. all in all it was somewhere between 18-20 miles and a total time of 3:08.49. on the grand scale it was my first long run since the Country Music Marathon. My legs held up pretty well, I need to remember to use socks for my long runs, and I somehow have the closing scene from Rocky II when the Italian Stallion lays the smack down on Apollo Creed stuck in my head. ( seriously if they play the fight celebration song from any of the Rocky movies when I cross the line in Taupo I'm going to start a psychic friends network.) All the way when I ran I caught flashbacks of the Marathon in Nashville, The going out too fast, the bands playing and giving encouragement, Feeling good for the first 18 miles then falling on my ass for the next 5 before getting a second wind. I kept remebering the mistakes and how on this training run I was trying to avoid them ( accept I didn't bring enough fluids, next time all four bottles are getting a top off at D&D.) I kept imagining the finish line in Taupo, of my goal of trying to finish before sunset, I kept getting images of the future and started to think about crap from work, my grandmother, financial crap...then I brought myself out of it. As I ran I focused on the portion of road I was currently on. I tried to push out any thoughts that could bring me down..future races...family issues...my foot blistering up and blood staining my shoe....it worked for the first 16 miles until I ran out of water, and my heel started to tear up. But for 16 miles I was in running nirvana, before going through the last 3 trying to manage pain and dehydration. So all in all my run ws the best part of the day. I got in some mental clarity, LD training, and Rocky fight montages...for the price of a little dehydration and some blood stains on my old New Balances. ( which hey I need new shoes anyway.) It was worth it.

R.D.