Peaks and Whiskey

Warmups. Full story below.

Ran 10 miles yesterday. It was more of a core strengthening run, trying not to fall over or get completely soaked in the creek crossings. The trail was very narrow and difficult to see the rocky path beneath the twisted mass of vines separating me and the ground. Matt and Alex followed patiently behind. Slowest person first, so we never leave anyone behind. I'm always out front. Sometimes I feel like I slow them down too much, but they never complain. Today, Matt calls out, "Why so speedy today?" I look back to realize that even though I can actually see the beads of sweat collecting on my face, both of them are right there with me, huffing and puffing.

Three miles and three stream crossings later, I smack into a thorny blackberry vine crossing the trail. Blood trickles from a dozen scrapes on my shin. Moments later, I pass through a thicket of stinging nettle. My knee instantly swells up. It doesn't look bad, but it hurts and feels puffy underneath the skin. Fabulous.

The trail continues to climb, the entire five miles are a gradual uphill. Not enough to really notice visually, but my legs protest all the same. We hit the high point in the run at the turn-around and head back. I let myself sail down the trail, almost instinctively dodging all the tree roots and rocks at my feet.

Really cool (rare) open spot near the end of the run.

Mile seven, I brush against (presumably) the same stinging nettle, only with the other knee. It hurts, but is manageable. Matt caught a different one in the arm. (Does stinging nettle really grown that tall??) As we descend down the trail, Alex and Matt both mention that I really am improving. It's not surprising that I get stronger with more practice, but that got me to thinking : what happens when I no longer see progress? What happens when I peak? Will I still find motivation to keep running?

The remainder of our run turned to a discussion on how we all train and compete in races for different reasons:

Matt likes to race just a couple times a year, taking a long time to build strength and then give it 100%. Unless he runs with me, he always gives races his all, whether that was his original intention or not. He takes longer to recover from races because of this.

Alex is a former college cross country runner. He is used to racing only when he's in prime racing shape and hasn't run a race in years because he feels unprepared. He feels like his best racing years are still ahead, but is very picky about when he races and when he doesn't, based on his fitness level.

I like to race to test myself at that given moment. I don't race to beat others (although sometimes I use others to keep myself motivated : "Catch the girl in pink, you know you can"). I don't let PRs count unless they are in a race setting. I also race to keep motivated. Technically, this summer is the off-season. Run for fun. I just decided on a 50K at the end of the summer as a carrot, off in the distance to keep motivation to just get out there and run. All this trail running makes me stronger, and gives my racing brain a break, so it's a win-win. ((I still track pace, but I don't let it influence anything I do.))

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With three very different racing styles, it will be interesting to see how our running changes as we age.

We also discussed how professional athletes age. How is it that someone who runs since a child peaks in their 20s or 30s and someone who starts running in 40s and peak in their 50s with same peak times as the younger? Is it that they aren't burned out from lifelong running? Are they just that different genetically? Or is it that they don't have memories of how much effort it takes to run an 18:00 5K at 20 yrs old, so doing it at 50 feels normal, not like it's extra effort?


10 miles
1:49
10:53/mi.

Digging the new shoes. They're pink and red, although that really didn't play much of a role in the decision making process. I had to try them out due to my blistering situation. That combined with Moleskin (bandaids fall off realllllll easy), my blisters are healing rather than being re-aggravated. Horray!!

How do you treat blisters?

Ok, so the story on the first photo. While we were getting ready for our run, Alex rummages through his trunk and finds a bottle of whiskey. "I wonder how it tastes, it's been in the trunk of my car for almost a year," he remarks. "Only one way to find out," I said. "True," he replies, and takes a pull from the bottle, "yup, still tastes like crap." Then we make a few jokes about how it's probably a law to have a bottle of whiskey for emergencies when the car bears Kentucky state plates. Never know when your car is gonna break down, right? (My earthquake kit has a bottle of Amaretto, same type of thing..haha)