JIM RYUN: my childhood hero...

Jim redefined what it was to be a distance runner in the 1960s. He had crazy speed (47 on the 400) and an unsurpassed work ethic, even as a 16-year old HS student in Kansas. By the time he was 20 he held 3 world records (3:51.1; 1:44.9-880; the indoor 880) and had run HS times( 3:55-mile) that would take over 30 years to surpass.

He was a 1968 silver medalist and had good reason to feel cheated at Munich(1972), where he was tripped in a heat, and though he was the fastest miler in the world, never had the opportunity to run for the gold.

Beyond that, he was a good guy. He took the time to counsel me at length in 1974 at his running clinic, though he could have cold shouldered me in a heartbeat. For an hour we ran together, talking over running and goals outside of the track.

What is strange to me is to realize that even then, he was only 26 years old. He and his wife, Anne, were like parents to all of us HS distance runners. As a runner, I understood what it was to be humble after our chat. It was a valuable lesson; I left running for awhile, which was the right thing.

At 26, I was a grad student who had no clue what to do....At 26, he was a three-time Olympian with a tumultuous career behind him, trying to be certain we didn't repeat his mistakes. He'll always be a big part of my running.

FASTER THAN I THOUGHT!

I ran an easy 8.2 miles in under an hour! I don't have my pacing down yet. But it's nice to see some fast running when it's totally unplanned. I was trying to go at an easy pace in the rare Timmins sun. Tomorrow I'll go at Recovery pace....promise! Also I'm down to 157lbs....a good sign for next month's race...

ENDORPHINS
Time keeps slipping by without my training shifting into pre-race mode. So today I did a tempo session after a 2 mile w/up, followed by a 2-mile cool down. Pace was around 6:30/mile, which I ran for 3.5 miles. This is around my LT pace. I felt so good afterwards, I posted the following on RW marathon training forum:What does it for you? We're always told that these magical mood elevators are connected to running. Any workout do it for you? Or is it just running in general?
For me, the tempo run, once completed, gives me a relaxed, hopeful, giddy feeling. I suspect being at threshold pace without battering the legs does the trick.
How about you?
workout: 2 miles at 8:45
3.5 miles at 6:30
1 mile at 8:30

How stupid am I?

Today I ran 10.5 miles outside. I'm trying to run on the streets more than on the treadmill, and I'd planned a 10-plus miler this weekend.

But hey, why not today? My computer said 25 degrees out, but often those readings are an hour old. The wind was howling, but we live in a windy gulch where the wind often sounds worse than it is. The sky was gray, but it often brightens up in the mornings. Besides an inspector was supposed to check out something in our place, and I didn't particularly want to be around when readings were taken.

So, on went the thin running pants, the thin fleece over shirt, the thin gloves and my thin hat. Then, out I went on a there-and-back run. It's April right? How cold can it feel once the old engine is warmed-up? In Timmins, 25 degrees and windy is nothing compared with an average January day; on average January days, however, I ran on the treadmill rather than on a rural highway with no windbreaks and snow blowing like the backdrop for Dr. Zhivago.

At the 6-mile mark my fingers were losing feeling and the tears on my face were frozen. My ipod ceased working: something it does out of anger when it's feeling abused. But that's OK, I could no longer hold on to it anyway. I put it and the icy earphones away.

But it's APRIL! Right?...

Anyway, I finish up the 10.3 in around 1:22, which is good considering how slow I felt out there. So I get in the bathtub and start thawing out. KNOCK, KNOCK..."Inspector here!" Since I was indisposed he said he'd come back. 3.5 hours later, no inspector. I guess I fell to the bottom of the queue. The good news is that I'm thinking I'll get to keep my nose. It's warmed up to 27 with a chill around 10f. In three days it'll feel like spring again...Where is that cursed inspector, anyway?
workout 10.3 miles at 9:20 first 1.5 miles, 7:48 next 8.7

Starting to Train:

Now that the streets of Timmins are clear of snow(I won't go so far as to say "clean") and I'm able to get in some longer runs, things are changing. Now, like any distance runner I'm able to run long outside. This weekend I'll probably go 12 miles or so on Saturday. This makes it possible to get in the proper variety of workouts.

All winter I ran 7.25 miles a day on the treadmill without exception. Some runs were faster than others, but there was little variation. Now, I can go easier on some days and longer on others. My body's nearly adjusted to running outside. It took nearly 10 outdoor runs to get to this point. But yesterday's 8-plus miler at sub 8:00speed outside followed by today's TM 7.5 miler with 4 at sub 7:00 pace gives me the confidence to start up with marathon training for the fall.

Now if it would just warm up a little...

I'm often humored by the preponderence of excuses you will hear runners make before their races. One weekend before a HM in Korea, there were 4 of us from the club at the start line...
Runner 1: "I've already run 55 miles this week."
Runner 2: " I hurt my knee playing soccer."
Runner 3: " I ate like a pig on my vacation last week in the USA and gained big weight."
Runner 4: (that's me) "I'm not in race shape" (because Runner 2--Korean-- did not understand English well enough to sign me for the 10K as asked, and I'd only run over 5 miles once in two months).
Sure enough, Runner 1 was the only one who ran well; non-tapering is NOT an excuse.

Last year, I ran a Half-Marathon after running only around 15 miles a week for 10 weeks due to a back injury that totally disabled me. I ran 10 minutes slower than I'd normally expect, but was happy to be able to run at all.

I hope this year I won't have any excuses except the same ones that effect everyone, like bad weather.

Today, I ran 8.5 miles outside without as much of the soreness I've talked about in earlier posts and kept a sub 8:00 pace after the first mile without any struggle. Just a little soreness. No excuses necessary...

Yikes!!!

If any of you have ever spent a winter either cross-training or running on the treadmill exclusively, you might have gone through the muscle and joint pain I'm experiencing right now! Since November I've run around 1,000 miles on our treadmill and maybe 30 on the streets. Now that Spring is hear I'm paying for it.

What do I mean? Well, in the past week I've gone 32 miles on the wet streets of 50-degree Timmins and my legs feel like they belong in a trauma unit. It's slowly getting better, but my runs still remind me of the last 6.2 of my last marathon. I was wincing the whole way. But that's what Ibu was invented for...Rather than fantasising about a cool Gatorade and a Cliff bar, I'm seeing the plastic Advil container and those brown 400mg pills. I wonder if our neighbor's black lab is going through this? It was a long winter.

RUNNING IN SPRING
For the first time in months, I ran outdoors in the Spring air of Timmins. It was 50 degrees and the sound of melting snow cascading into street drains pervaded the air. The bluish sky gave color to the houses, cars and even snowbanks that had all been a sepia mixture of deadened earth tones for so long a time. In truth, I forgot about much of the life that exists up here.

It's a good thing I ran around 20 of my miles in the heat of Panama last week. My quads are going to need some time adjusting to asphalt. I'd say, treadmill running is close to real running, but it's not real running in terms of muscle group demands.

I went around 7 miles, though I don't really know precicely since I was playing "dodge the icy streets" during parts of the run. People are out now...Dogs are walking with their masters who smile at me. The playlists on the ipod sound as if I'm hearing the songs with fresh ears.
Tomorrow, I think I'll go outside again...

Treadmill Withdrawls...

Last week, I had a chance to run on the terra firma of Panama. It was hot out, of course, and the roads felt different than the treadmill I've been training on all winter. Though I really didn't know my exact pace, I felt the runs in a big way after a couple of days. My quads were burning the way they do after a marathon. So I had some DOMS as the mere result of running on streets.

It was the first time as a runner that I ran so many consecutive days on the treadmill, so I anticipated some readjustment to outdoor running. But that was harsh! Now that it's April I'll start running outdoors here in Timmins, though there's still a 30-inch snow cover on the ground as of today. Besides, I don't want to lose my tan! But it'll take some time to transition from the TM to the great outdoors.

This little guy came onto our boat...










I just got back from Panama....

I'm so tired! It took Mrs. Ronster and I 2 1/2 days to make the trip home. One day for the 6-hour flight from Panama City to Toronto; one day to get from Toronto to the closed roads north of Kirkland Lake, where we get one of the few rooms left in town. And today, on April 2nd, we drove the last 2 1/2 hour stretch on the snowy highway back to Timmins, which is still as snow covered as it was in January.

But the temps are warmer and I'll be on the roads soon.

Here's a preliminary pic from Panama...