It’s election day, and I’m doing my best to put off permanently attaching my eyes and heart to the news coverage as the citizens of this country decide on the fate of democracy. It’s been a long, chaotic, vitriolic, and drama-filled election cycle, unlike any before it, and it almost seems surreal to have gotten to this point. It’s been close to 600 days since the first candidate declared (his) intent to run for president, and things have gone from unbelievable to downright preposterous as the campaign dragged on. I think it’s safe to assume that many folks are feeling some fatigue, so I hope you are exercising your right to vote, and then taking every opportunity to #optoutside and put a few miles between yourself and the frustration that may have been simmering just below the surface!
Chasing42 Log: 20161015-20161108
Run: First and foremost, the streak is still in play as I near the one year mark! After taking some time to ease back into longer distances, I’ve been slowly building up my training again, and decided to start adding a bit of speed work back into my weekly routine. Needless to say, after about two months of LSD running in preparation for the Grindstone 100, my legs were a bit confused when I asked them to go fast again! I had registered many moons ago for the Operation Warm 10K at Winterthur on the 23rd because I obviously couldn’t pass up a chance to run a race in such a beautiful place. The epicurean volunteered at the race, so we made a morning of it. I had done 20+ on the trails the day before, so I figured I’d make it a heavier weekend and see where my legs were at two weeks out. I ran the 6 miles from home to the start of the race, and then rested a bit before the start. Although this was the first year of the race, it was amazingly well-organized, and drew a crowd of over 1400 runners. They released us in waves and I had every intention of making it an easy training run, but the adrenaline got the best of me as it typically does, and I decided about 100m into the race to push it and see what I had. I’ve run at Winterthur enough to know just how hilly it is, so I knew what to expect, but I couldn’t resist the opportunity to test my legs. After a 6:47 first mile, my legs were screaming a bit, but holding up fine, and I kept pushing for the next 5 miles, up and down the undulating course. I thoroughly enjoyed the run, and felt surprisingly in control for how fast I was going. I pushed it up the final climb towards the finish and crossed the line in 45:08 (7:19/mile), which was good enough for 37/1400, but still only 14th in my age group!🙂 Afterwards, I ran back down to hang out with the epicurean for a bit and cheer on other runners, and then took off to run the 7 or so miles home. I was definitely feeling the effort by the time I got home, but I proved to myself that my legs were fully recovered. The following week was incredibly busy at work, so my runs were a bit more rushed, but I made up for on the weekend with two more fantastic runs, as well as a wonderful hike at French Creek State Park with the epicurean and the dogs. In all, I’ve been pleasantly surprised by how well my legs have adapted to daily running, and I am looking forward to keeping it going!
Thought: Everyone has had a bad race, right? Our friends are quick to remind us that there will be other races, that it doesn’t define us as a runner, and that we have plenty to look forward to and many other races to experience. I wonder what would happen if we took this attitude in other areas of our life? Instead of dwelling on past failures, arguing ad nauseam about previous mistakes, and resurrecting the past, what if we looked ahead to the future, and asked each other what we learned from those mistakes? The campaign rhetoric during this election cycle has focused so much on previous incidents, and so little on the ideas and actions that either candidate possesses for leading our country moving forward. I know at least one candidate has legitimate, well thought-out ideas for how to move our country forward, and it’s unfortunate that those ideas will not determine the fate of this election. Now, I’m certainly not saying we should ignore the past. Obviously, there are glaring differences in the past actions of our two major party candidates, and those past indiscretions in large part make them who they are, but history isn’t changing. We can read it, hear it, and then move on to the history that is yet to be written. I’m relatively happy with how my most recent training block turned out, and it left me with some amazing memories, but I’ll be looking forward now. It’s time to focus on the next run and the next race, and use the past to help us all keep #chasing42!
