Boston bound or
Mark likes Ike
That Bowerman quote was my mantra this morning. First, I overslept last night. Or I slept too much last night. I went to bed to take a nap around 6:45. I woke up around 8 a.m. When I went downstairs to get the paper, I was surprised by the power of the cold air and the wind outside. I mean, it's not winter anymore.
I'd thought about going running before the sun came up and now those plans were shot. Still, as I read through the paper, the Bowerman quote kept going through my head. "No such thing as cold weather, just soft people. No such thing as cold weather, just soft people." And a little over an hour after I woke up, I was driving to the Sac River Trails.
It's definitely different running outside in the cold than it is running on a treadmill in a warm gym. I don't know how far I went or how fast I was going on the twisting trails out there but I was pushing myself pretty hard. At least, that's what my heart rate was telling me even though I thought I should have been running faster.
As I was running, I remembered that my friend Mark was supposed to be running his second marathon today - the Eisenhower Marathon in Abilene. We were probably running at the same time, hundreds of miles apart.
When I got home, just before I could step into the shower, the phone rang. It was my good friend Didi, Mark's wife. He'd just finished. I asked if he won. He won his age division ... and he qualified for Boston.
I guess it goes without saying that a marathon in Kansas is flat and fast.
Congratulations Mark!
Now, however, I'm thinking more than ever about how fast I could go if I pushed myself to train as hard as I can. Could I qualify for Boston? Only one way to find out. Train harder.
I'd thought about going running before the sun came up and now those plans were shot. Still, as I read through the paper, the Bowerman quote kept going through my head. "No such thing as cold weather, just soft people. No such thing as cold weather, just soft people." And a little over an hour after I woke up, I was driving to the Sac River Trails.
It's definitely different running outside in the cold than it is running on a treadmill in a warm gym. I don't know how far I went or how fast I was going on the twisting trails out there but I was pushing myself pretty hard. At least, that's what my heart rate was telling me even though I thought I should have been running faster.
As I was running, I remembered that my friend Mark was supposed to be running his second marathon today - the Eisenhower Marathon in Abilene. We were probably running at the same time, hundreds of miles apart.
When I got home, just before I could step into the shower, the phone rang. It was my good friend Didi, Mark's wife. He'd just finished. I asked if he won. He won his age division ... and he qualified for Boston.
I guess it goes without saying that a marathon in Kansas is flat and fast.
Congratulations Mark!
Now, however, I'm thinking more than ever about how fast I could go if I pushed myself to train as hard as I can. Could I qualify for Boston? Only one way to find out. Train harder.
posted by bl at 12:12 pm
2 Comments:
I don't believe that quote. There IS such a thing as cold weather! And you can be both tough by running in it, and soft by acknowledging that you were freezing the whole friggin' time!! I like the duality of it all...
Marathons in Kansas are indeed relatively flat, relatively flat, but also relatively WINDY! Nothing like a good solid 20mph prairie headwind to remind you who's boss for the last 10 miles of a marathon.
Don't necessarily train harder. Train longer. My race times (especially 5K) have plummeted since I went from 20-30 miles per week to 40-50. (Makes me wonder what they'd be like if I went to 60-70!) Everybody says that with distance comes speed, and this is one of those times when everybody's right.
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