Running Times, Online

Running has given me many gifts. The opportunity to make friends and race in high school; the ability to compete at the collegiate level and enrich my experiences during my years as a student-athlete; the experience of going to Athens to represent the United States at the 2004 Olympic Games; and now a life-long relationship. Adam and I met when we were both injured and were visiting our agent in New Jersey. Four years later, we are now engaged. Fitting that he proposed to me on a run!

Since last weekend, I have repeated the story of our engagement dozens of times. Almost every time, someone asks me if we actually finished running or if we ran straight back to the car to call our parents. Of course we finished running! We never a cut our runs short unless one of us develops an injury (and I did almost injure myself that day because I kept looking down at my hand to admire my new ring).

We were running up a particularly steep hill when he proposed. I have hated this hill since the first time I ran up it four years ago. That hatred vanished in just one hour – I find that I have this sudden love for a hill that I did not enjoy running just a week ago. This lesson was best summarized in a quote by Adam’s high school coach Clay Lewis (he borrows this quote, not claiming it his own): “The difference between an ordeal and an adventure is attitude.”

The summer in Palo Alto, California has been off to a slow start. Most of the month of June was unseasonably cool. Last week, we finally had some days in the mid-90s. The first day of the heat wave, I didn’t quite grasp how hot it had gotten. I did my morning run before the temperature had peaked. As soon as I finished, my boyfriend and I went over to our friends’ house to walk their pet dog Bentley.

We pet-sit often for Bentley. He has short legs, but he can move fast. He starts jumping up and down with excitement when he hears me take his leash out of its drawer. As soon as we step outside, he starts darting from side to side on the sidewalk, sniffing everything in sight. He always wants to start running ahead and looks back at me with an exasperated look on his adorable little face. I always imagine that he is thinking, “Why are you two so slow?”

On that particular day, Bentley started off with his usual level of energy, but soon he started to slow down. After we had been walking for 10 minutes, he lay down on the sidewalk. He looked up at us as if to say, “You people are crazy. Why are we walking in this heat when we could be sitting in a nice air-conditioned apartment?” We let him rest for a few minutes, but when he still would not get up I decided that I would need to carry him home. By the time we got home, I felt exhausted. (Bentley, on the other hand, was fine. He was re-energized as soon as he felt the air conditioned air on his fur. He immediately brought one of his chew toys over to me so that he could play fetch.)

When I went for my second run later in the day, I noticed that a few people driving past me stared at me as though I were nuts. It was the same expression that Bentley had given me that morning when he had refused to get up off the sidewalk. (Some people might not think that dogs can show expression on their faces, but I swear that they do.) Maybe I am crazy, along with all of you runners who have been toughing it out in less than ideal weather conditions. I think this summer craziness is okay, as long as we combine it with some smart planning.

• Stay hydrated throughout the day! You’ve probably heard this before, but it’s worth repeating.
• Water isn’t always enough. Try out some different electrolyte replacement products. My personal favorite is a Cytomax flavor called Peachy Keen.
• Look for cooler places to run. My sister and I always ran on trails in the woods when we were in college. We were almost always in the shade. As an added bonus, we could also hide our sports drink bottles behind trees. We would circle back to the bottles every half hour or so.
• If hiding a bottle isn’t an option for you, look for some routes that have water fountains. Athletic fields and public parks often have fountains. If you are going to be out in the heat for awhile, carry a gel with you and drink it during your water stop.

Of course the most important thing is to listen to your body. Don’t wait until you are tired and then insist on being carried home like Bentley.

I am sitting on my living room couch and feeling impatient.  For the past four days, I have been watching NBC’s coverage of track nationals and wishing that I was there.  Not watching.  (Although watching races in Track Town USA is a pretty unique experience.)  Instead, I wanted to be there as a competitor… in my Team Strands uniform… standing on the start line… poised to react to the sound of the starting gun… feeling fit and strong… with my competitive instincts alert and prepared to go….  Since the London Marathon last April, my fitness has returned, my mileage is back up, and I have been running three workouts per week.  I’m proud of the progress, but my speed was not quite where I wanted it to be for a 10k on the track.  I knew that I needed a few more weeks to sharpen up before racing again, so I decided to postpone racing until July.

Earlier today I had felt tired, but pleased with my long run (one hour and forty five minutes total).  I met up with Stanford star Teresa McWalters.  For the last half hour of the run, we did one-minute pick-ups.  We had begun early in the morning to avoid the heat, but by the time we started the fartleks, the temperature was already in the low 90s.  When we finally finished the run, I felt exhausted.  I drained my bottle of Peachy Keen Cytomax within 30 seconds.  Every inch of my skin felt like it was covered with a thick, slimy layer of sweat.  I was satisfied because knew I had put my maximum effort into the workout.

That feeling of satisfaction has been replaced with a new sense of energy and urgency.   I still know, without a doubt, that I ran my heart out, but my legs no longer register the fatigue from this morning’s effort.  In fact, I’m fighting a temptation to lace up my shoes and go for a second run.  My head knows this would be a terrible idea, but my heart is inspired to test my legs again.  I’ll do the smart thing and listen to my head.  (Plus, I couldn’t go for another run if I tried.  I’m starting to realize that I really am tired… too tired to even get up for a glass of water… but I’m really thirsty… I’m hoping that if I yell loud enough, my boyfriend will hear me and bring me glass so that I don’t have to use any of my own limited energy… he hasn’t heard me yet, would it be obnoxious to call him on his cell phone even though he is just in the other room?)

Rather than going for another run, I’m looking with enthusiasm at my upcoming week of workouts.  I’m imagining hitting my goal times with ease; improving on my workouts of the previous week; growing stronger and stronger; and arriving closer and closer to my first race of the summer.

Earlier this week, I was flipping through magazines while I stood in an ice bath after a workout. I came across a short article on Dachshund racing. Greyhound racing seems to be a fairly well known sport (although I did have a friend in college who heard a group of people talking about it and thought they were talking about racing Greyhound buses), but I had never heard of Dachshund racing.

Naturally, I was curious to learn more about this sport. Personally, I’m against Greyhound racing. The horror stories of the mistreatment of these animals during their racing careers make me sick. I wish the sport could be banned. Greyhounds are, however, amazing to watch in action. (I would rather just watch one chase after a ball at the neighborhood park than chase after a fake rabbit on the race track.) When they spot something to chase, they will not let anyone or anything distract them as their powerful legs propel them forward. Dachshunds are enjoyable to watch, but in a different way. Their playful demeanors, goofy bodies, and stubby little legs make them irresistibly cute. For some reason, I couldn’t picture them possessing the same singular focus that Greyhounds display.

When I arrived home from icing my legs, I immediately looked on YouTube for footage of Dachshund races. (Here and here are two of my favorites.) It appears that some of the events are less formal than Greyhound races. The entrants are family pets and they usually have not been bred or taught to race. Some dogs become distracted after the race starts and wander off to visit with other dogs. The dogs who finish the race are usually bribed to the finish line where their owners await them with toys and food.

The wide variety of reactions by the Dachshunds made me start thinking of competitive instincts. Certain breeds of dog seem to have a more uniform drive to compete. The story of Seabiscuit suggests that horses know when they have lost, will have a spring in their step when they win, and have some innate form of drive to compete and win against their opponents.

I think that humans resemble Dachshunds more than Greyhounds or purebred racing horses. The degree that people are innately competitive varies, whereas some people choose to run for fun rather than to win races. For the next four or five years, I am certain that I will find myself in the former category, possessing a drive to compete against other elites. Yet, there is something to learn from the playful Dachshund. The sport of running is fun, provides a good activity to enjoy with others, and is rewarding in itself. Someday I hope to go the way of the Dachshund, but for now I will train and compete like a Greyhound.

Now that summer is almost here, I have started going to the pool a few times a week to cross train. Even when I am injury free and running 90-100 miles per week, I like to supplement my training with some form of cross training. During the colder months, I usually cross train at the gym on a stationary bike or an elliptical, but over the years I have found that pool running is, without a doubt, the most effective form of cross training for me.

Bear in mind that pool running does not equal running, but also consider that more running will not always bring you more improvements. Sometimes your legs grow tired from the pounding or you are fighting off nagging injuries. Supplementing your training with a few workouts in the pool can rejuvenate your sore legs and keep your body healthy.

Here are some tips on getting started:

• Find a pool with deep end. You don’t want your feet to touch the bottom.
• Start pumping your arms and legs as though you were running. Keep your body upright as much as possible. You might be tempted to lean forward. Fight that impulse! You don’t want to do the doggy paddle.
• If staying afloat is initially too challenging, you might want to start out with an aqua jogging belt. This will support you so that you can maintain better form.
• You might be surprised at how slowly you are moving. Don’t concentrate on the distance you travel. Just concentrate on your form and getting a good workout.
• Measuring your effort level in the pool is challenging. You can make your time in the pool into an easy recovery day or you can make it more challenging by doing fartleks or a steady hard effort. Check your heart rate periodically so that you can monitor your effort, but bear in mind that the temperature of the water will have a big impact on your heart rate. When the pool’s temperature is low, I have trouble reaching the heart rate that I would reach while running on land.
• Going up and down the pool can grow tedious. Liven things up with some music or meet up with some friends. My college team met every Monday and Wednesday morning for a pool workout. We had the pool to ourselves so we could blast music as loudly as we wanted. My sophomore year, everyone loved U2. To this day, I can still smell chlorine whenever I hear “Sunday Bloody Sunday.”
• Be prepared for some comments from onlookers. People might ask you questions or give you strange looks. Try not to let this bother you.  Instead, just concentrate on your own workout and have fun!