4 Miles - 39.x1 minutes.
Today I think I outran my GPS satellites. I will have to talk to Garmin about that. I just kept running and my watch never beeped - Chat just kept going (but the secret is that Chat will just keep going and cares not for the beeping watch that the foolish human wears).
I have figured out one thing about running in general. Every day it is you versus you. It does not matter if I am out running in the middle of the night or at the break of dawn. The person I am always competing against is me. Sort of simple. No grader is as hard as I am when judging how fast, how long, how quick, how lazy, how springy my step is, or worst of all - if I am loafing through the first mile and then have to catch up in the home stretch (which does not happen most of the time).
Think of it as you running against all the times that you have ran before. Ghost images of yourself running the same path and going the same distance and eventually getting to the same destination. All of these mirror images constitute your running form in different conditions, cold, hot, snow, or rain. But all of them are there and you compete against them each and every time. It is like you wake up in the morning and all of your past "you" get up too. They strap on their shoes and grab the dog collar, walk up the hill (rain or shine), and you begin to run. When you begin the run you are all together for few strides, and then the pack begins to break up and spread out. The "you" from six months ago and five pounds lighter pulls ahead and begins the ascent leaving the current "you" lagging.
I think that some of my fat selves lie gasping at the bottom of the hill wondering if they will ever climb to the top and see the view.
The "me" is already there.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
The individual
6 Miles - 1:01:30.
Today was my mid-long run of the week. Running goes along with training and the training builds from short, to medium, to short, to a long run on the weekend.
Chat came with me today - no deer up in the canyon for him to love.
I use running as a time to puzzle things out and to get things sorted into bins for the day. I think about work, God, family, and processes and not in any certain order. I think today was one of those picturesque, thoughtful days. I began at the stop sign by the capitol building and began my run up the canyon. Past the rangers station, and up to mile marker two. In the morning, in the winter, you start in the dark and end in the less-dark time of the day. It is also 25 degrees and if you don't move you freeze. But I digress. In the summer months I have found that you start in the nearly dark, almost dawn, and end in the full blaze of the early morning. Which is not bad. Going north into City Creek canyon, right about mile 1.75 past the gate I saw something that was fairly beautiful and was really moving. I was headed north, and at mile post 2 is where a large field opens up. But it was not quite there. Like I said it was .25 short of that. The sun began to show directly onto the road and it was if the road was golden in color and drenched in flaming fire. I won't compare it to the Wizard of Oz because that would be just sacrilegious, but it was close.
Running on a golden road of sun and earth you wonder if there could be anything better than that.
My wife has a quote about "peak experiences." All along the way in life you need to strive for those peak experiences and really put your all into it.
The Golden Road day was one of those sublime experiences that would never have happened had I stayed at home and not gone out to get that experience.
Even Fat Men running have good days.
Today was my mid-long run of the week. Running goes along with training and the training builds from short, to medium, to short, to a long run on the weekend.
Chat came with me today - no deer up in the canyon for him to love.
I use running as a time to puzzle things out and to get things sorted into bins for the day. I think about work, God, family, and processes and not in any certain order. I think today was one of those picturesque, thoughtful days. I began at the stop sign by the capitol building and began my run up the canyon. Past the rangers station, and up to mile marker two. In the morning, in the winter, you start in the dark and end in the less-dark time of the day. It is also 25 degrees and if you don't move you freeze. But I digress. In the summer months I have found that you start in the nearly dark, almost dawn, and end in the full blaze of the early morning. Which is not bad. Going north into City Creek canyon, right about mile 1.75 past the gate I saw something that was fairly beautiful and was really moving. I was headed north, and at mile post 2 is where a large field opens up. But it was not quite there. Like I said it was .25 short of that. The sun began to show directly onto the road and it was if the road was golden in color and drenched in flaming fire. I won't compare it to the Wizard of Oz because that would be just sacrilegious, but it was close.
Running on a golden road of sun and earth you wonder if there could be anything better than that.
My wife has a quote about "peak experiences." All along the way in life you need to strive for those peak experiences and really put your all into it.
The Golden Road day was one of those sublime experiences that would never have happened had I stayed at home and not gone out to get that experience.
Even Fat Men running have good days.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Fat Man June
When I was growing up in Missouri - Springfield to be exact - TNT had this great idea. It was to put all the great Kung Fu movies of all time into their lineup. They called it Kung Fu June. So since that is in June - then so is my first run of the week.
4.12 Miles. 10.02 m/hr average - best was 7:26 m/hr.
I ran this morning from the stop sign by the Capitol here in Salt Lake City. To the Ranger Station in City Creek. Mile 1 - up to mile marker 1 (two miles) then back to the Ranger Station (three miles) and then back into the canyon and back to the stop sign, past the stop sign and the to Cortez. 4.12 Miles total. 41.23 blissful little minutes of me puffing up and down hills, taking my faithful dog Chat (who wanted to chase the Mule Deer in the canyon) and then home.
I sometimes wonder if the pavement is laughing at me. Taunting me. Asking if I would like to take a seat and wait for the fire trucks to come rescue me.
Not this fat man.
4.12 Miles. 10.02 m/hr average - best was 7:26 m/hr.
I ran this morning from the stop sign by the Capitol here in Salt Lake City. To the Ranger Station in City Creek. Mile 1 - up to mile marker 1 (two miles) then back to the Ranger Station (three miles) and then back into the canyon and back to the stop sign, past the stop sign and the to Cortez. 4.12 Miles total. 41.23 blissful little minutes of me puffing up and down hills, taking my faithful dog Chat (who wanted to chase the Mule Deer in the canyon) and then home.
I sometimes wonder if the pavement is laughing at me. Taunting me. Asking if I would like to take a seat and wait for the fire trucks to come rescue me.
Not this fat man.
Where do two feet begin?
So, you can look at the title and see what the content is going to be about. Fat Man Running. Of course Blogger said I could not have the title but there it is so who is to fight it?
I am David Lamb - and I run.
Those are two things that really would have not gotten together in a sentence in a very long time. Running and Lambs just don't mix. If you know me, and you are likely to know a lot more about me - you will know that I was never much of a distance runner. Distance was measured in the length of my foot connecting with the pavement and thus propelling me forward. The goal was to get to another place different from where I was or maybe the same depending on my mood.
Lets talk about running. Running (or for purists - jogging) is something that would not be entertaining or theraputic.
I have found out that it is both.
I have found out that there is something found amongst your soul - when you are out on a trail or a road and you are just with you.
I am not talking about the running club or the training group. What you meet out on the road of the run is you. You.
I meet myself every morning when I roll out of bed strap on my non-"Five Fingers" shoes of which I cannot remember the actual line but it comes to be that it is "Brooks Adrenalin" and we go off on our way to another distance. We is me - and the only one that can beat me is me.
I live in Utah - so it seems that one would find runs wherever he might happen to take his clothed feet.
That is truth. Running is everywhere you look.
I think that I can put most of the responsibility on me. I realized that when I was fat - and how that felt and how was I going to deal with me. I could let the pants out, visit the doctor for cardiac drug, start with the insulin pump, and eat red meat to my hearts content.
Or.
I could do something about me. I could do something about what I was and what I wanted to become. You see I am responsible for me and you are not. I am the one that is vested with my interest. You are not. It is the same for you as it is for me. I have no power over what you do and what you become. That is your trip and you are the pilot. So getting back to me.
I figured out that if I could go and run that that would be good for me. Nobody ever told me that running was good for you and I had the same thoughts you have. "That guy is running in the: A. Rain B. Snow. C. Both D. Heat or in Utah E. All of the above. And it seems that he is enjoying it and has lost all connection with the real world."
That is all true. You see me and I see you but the difference is that I am with me and I am telling myself that I should: "Quit being a baby" or "hey if you push it a little bit around this corner for the last mile you might crack a 7 minute mile."
I might have done some things in my short trot on earth - but running is not one of them that I can take back.
So if you are willing to sit with me for a bit I will tell you some tales and bring you back some stories of myself. I don't intend to inspire or to help you in anyway. I am getting this off of my chest - out of my head, and onto a medium that you can read.
Welcome to Fat Man Running.
I am David Lamb - and I run.
Those are two things that really would have not gotten together in a sentence in a very long time. Running and Lambs just don't mix. If you know me, and you are likely to know a lot more about me - you will know that I was never much of a distance runner. Distance was measured in the length of my foot connecting with the pavement and thus propelling me forward. The goal was to get to another place different from where I was or maybe the same depending on my mood.
Lets talk about running. Running (or for purists - jogging) is something that would not be entertaining or theraputic.
I have found out that it is both.
I have found out that there is something found amongst your soul - when you are out on a trail or a road and you are just with you.
I am not talking about the running club or the training group. What you meet out on the road of the run is you. You.
I meet myself every morning when I roll out of bed strap on my non-"Five Fingers" shoes of which I cannot remember the actual line but it comes to be that it is "Brooks Adrenalin" and we go off on our way to another distance. We is me - and the only one that can beat me is me.
I live in Utah - so it seems that one would find runs wherever he might happen to take his clothed feet.
That is truth. Running is everywhere you look.
I think that I can put most of the responsibility on me. I realized that when I was fat - and how that felt and how was I going to deal with me. I could let the pants out, visit the doctor for cardiac drug, start with the insulin pump, and eat red meat to my hearts content.
Or.
I could do something about me. I could do something about what I was and what I wanted to become. You see I am responsible for me and you are not. I am the one that is vested with my interest. You are not. It is the same for you as it is for me. I have no power over what you do and what you become. That is your trip and you are the pilot. So getting back to me.
I figured out that if I could go and run that that would be good for me. Nobody ever told me that running was good for you and I had the same thoughts you have. "That guy is running in the: A. Rain B. Snow. C. Both D. Heat or in Utah E. All of the above. And it seems that he is enjoying it and has lost all connection with the real world."
That is all true. You see me and I see you but the difference is that I am with me and I am telling myself that I should: "Quit being a baby" or "hey if you push it a little bit around this corner for the last mile you might crack a 7 minute mile."
I might have done some things in my short trot on earth - but running is not one of them that I can take back.
So if you are willing to sit with me for a bit I will tell you some tales and bring you back some stories of myself. I don't intend to inspire or to help you in anyway. I am getting this off of my chest - out of my head, and onto a medium that you can read.
Welcome to Fat Man Running.
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