Tag: Training

Don’t Stop Believing

Sometimes life is hard.

It will be obvious from the long gap between posts that I haven’t been thinking much about the blog lately. It has been a difficult time on the personal front. I don’t feel like going into the specifics—maybe I will someday. 

Several times, I’ve tried putting my feelings into words, never sure if the result would end up in a blog post. Each time I’ve tried, it has been a failure. It’s frustrating, especially since I’m usually not at a loss for words. 

Music seems to help. As I write this, I’m listening to Car Wheels on a Gravel Road, a classic album by Lucinda Williams. This is melancholic music. It suits my mood and I think it makes me feel better—it’s hard to say. The lyrics of one of my favourite songs, Time from Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon, have been stuck in my head. This verse seems appropriate. 

Every year is getting shorter
Never seem to find the time
Plans that either come to naught
Or half a page of scribbled lines

My half pages (not literal, of course—they’re typed on my iPad) have been piling up, as I’ve grappled with anxiety. I’ve been feeling helpless against our overwhelming insignificance. Our impermanence. Our mortality.

North Glenmore Park pathway, April 2024

Then came a breakthrough of sorts. It was in a situation that might not be conducive to finding inspiration. But it was no surprise to me because I was running at the time. Anyone familiar with my story (Stroke of Luck is still available, by the way) will know that running has often been a source of consolation and positivity in my life.

To set the scene, I met a small but hardy group of my teammates at Carburn Park in Calgary for an interval workout. It was a ladder workout, which for those who aren’t familiar, is a session with increasing length intervals. This workout, with intervals of 400m up to 2000m, looked daunting. Each set totaled 5.4k, and Coach Janice had specified 2-3 sets. I had to go back to her to confirm the details because it seemed that she must have miscalculated. This was TOO MUCH!

To add another degree of difficulty, the weather was awful. The threatening sky opened up just as we finished our warmup jog around the lagoon. Clouds turned to rain, then snow. My eyes were being pelted with icy crystals. We were soaked in no time. The temperature hovered just above freezing. 

We ran south beside the steel-blue water of the Bow River, and I began to wonder what on earth we were doing. It didn’t help that I was the slowest runner in our group, meaning I also had the pleasure of watching my friends stretch out and away from me as the first set wore on. 

As I approached the turnaround point, now miles from my warm car, my mood lightened. I was enjoying this. Even as my vision was being obscured by sleet, my thoughts were becoming clearer. Then, as if on cue, the sun peeked out briefly, casting a warm glow on the wet pathway in front of me. (I didn’t bring a camera on this run—it would have been waterlogged—so I can’t even show you a picture of that special but fleeting moment.)

By now, I was totally on my own. My teammates were out of sight, and the pathway was deserted. I was enjoying the feeling of movement, of being in control. Running was proof of life. I was thriving in what had just a few minutes earlier seemed an impossible task. 

Then the following thoughts came into my head, without any prompting:

  • I don’t have all the answers
  • Sometimes there are no answers to find
  • All I have to offer is my best effort
  • I can only control what I do, not what anyone else does 

I eventually made my way back to Carburn, where I caught up with my teammates. They had waited for me—how nice! We were soaked, shivering, and content. We patted each other on the back for getting through this monstrous workout on a rotten night, together. On that day, we were all heroes. Of course, even heroes need to dry off and warm up, so we said our short goodbyes and headed home. 

With my mind clear, even if temporarily, I was ready to face whatever challenges were still waiting for me. Running and music and writing can help me figure things out, even if the answers themselves remain elusive. 

Look for more pieces and photography soon. 

Peace.

Arizona Dreaming – Part 2

Sedona, Red Rock Country

Straight from our successful morning at the XTerra Black Canyon trail run, our convoy headed north to beautiful Sedona for a week at the Seven Canyons resort. Our theme for the week was “Elevate Performance”, and our hosts, Bill and Janice, were exceptionally generous, opening their home and directing all manner of activities. 

We explored the extensive trail system around Sedona, which brought us awesome views of the stunning “red rocks” for which the city is famous. Sedona was much busier than what we remembered from our last visit, so we made sure to get an early start for our trail runs. 

Did you know that the unique red colour of Sedona’s geological formations comes from iron oxide? The rocks are primarily sandstone and limestone. Because these are relatively soft rocks, they are susceptible to physical and chemical erosion. Wind and water (think flash flooding) have played a significant role in shaping the landscape over millions of years. And the result is spectacular… it’s unlike any other place I’ve been.

Our first group run was on the Little Horse-Bell Rock trail. We could have legitimately said we were still recovering from the race a couple of days earlier. That may have been partly true for Deb, but I was definitely okay with an easy start as I was still feeling the effects of my fall (and knowing that we had a busy week ahead of us.) This trail was perfect, even for those in our group who were a bit more ambitious. We did an out-and-back route that brought us all to the trailhead at the same time, so it all worked out. And what views!

“Elevate Performance” – Adrenaline Rush hits the trails at Little Horse

A highlight of the week was a trail run starting from the Dry Creek trailhead. We went out on the Long Canyon trail and returned via the Mescal-Yucca loop. We knew this route from prior runs, and we stopped along the way to enjoy the breathtaking… in both senses of the word… views.

Taking a break on Mescal

We added a second trail race to our calendar, given that the Sedona Stumble was conveniently scheduled for Saturday March 23, at the Posse Grounds Park in town. The 5k and 10k distances were full of challenges, including sections on a narrow single-track circuit and a mountain bike slalom course. Wow!

The race was very well organized by Run Sedona. Adrenaline Rush runners tackled both distances. Once around this technical loop was enough for Deb and me. We enjoyed the post-race snacks and festivities, especially the delicious donuts provided by Sedonuts. It was no surprise that Adrenaline Rush runners again made an impact on the podium. Congrats to Allison (1st in F50-59) and Al (1st in M60-69) in the 10k, to Doreen (1st in F60-69), Janice (2nd in F60-69) and Carolyn (1st in F50-59) in the 5k, and to the rest of our group on your strong results!

In addition to trail running, there was a lot of golf action on the beautiful Seven Canyons course throughout the week. Deb and I enjoyed a few casual games, although the glaring truth, for me at least, is that my game needs serious attention. A summer project, perhaps?

It was all smiles after the (cool and breezy) Adrenaline Rush golf game

Of course, I carried my Ricoh GR III with me on our runs and was rewarded with some good shots. From our vantage point on Rachel’s Knoll, I also got some amazing landscapes. The weather was cool and breezy, which meant some very interesting evening cloud formations. And the sunsets were outstanding.

Evening clouds roll in, Sedona

All told it was a magical week in paradise.

Thanks for reading,

Leap To It!

There are less than two weeks left in February, and time is running out for my online sale. Get your copy of Stroke of Luck (print or e-book) on Amazon for a tidy 24% discount.

Of course, there is one extra day to place your order, with this being a leap year.* Extra day or not, leap to it and save!

* Did You Know?

The tradition of inserting an extra day into February every four years is how the calendar is aligned to the rotational frequency of the Earth’s orbit around the sun.

But wait… one orbit takes 365.24219 days. That means if a whole day is added every four years, for an average of 365.25 days, the calendar would be lengthened a bit too much.

As a result, the schedule of leap years is adjusted slightly to reduce this mismatch. If the year is divisible by 100 and not divisible by 400, the leap year is skipped. The year 2000 was a leap year, but 1700, 1800, and 1900 were not. The next time a leap year will be skipped is the year 2100. This gives an average calendar year of 365.2425 days, almost exactly matching the orbital frequency.

Find Your “Why”

As I started thinking about this piece, I found a podcast on Todd Malcolm’s No Limits Triathlon website which helped me a lot. It’s Episode 151 (“Why do you train for triathlons?”) Kudos Todd, and thanks for the inspiration!

So, here’s a question for you: Have you ever thought about why you run?

(Feel free to substitute your own go-to activity for running, in what follows. I think it’s a valuable exercise, whatever the activity.)

There is a tendency to focus on the “what” of running, rather than the “why”. I might even go so far as to say that running has a “what” problem. 

I recently overheard two runners engaged in an animated conversation. Their talk was all about the “what”… upcoming races and new technical gear. Make no mistake, these are important topics of discussion, and I know they can be very exhilarating. If you were to include discussions about training mileage and pace, I’d guess you have the “what” of running totally covered. 

This is understandable, but in some ways unfortunate. 

We live in a society that focuses to a large extent on “what” questions, often in the realm of personal and professional achievements. So it’s hardly surprising that the running community sees the same reality. For runners, there’s always another must-do race, the latest shoe, or a new sure-fire workout. 

Here are a couple of recent product announcements that caught my eye:

  1. Adidas announced its latest high-performance shoe, the Adios Pro Evo 1. It’s a disposable shoe that is good for one marathon and sells for $650 CDN. Was it a coincidence that this announcement was made just before the B.A.A. announced its time cut-off for the 2024 Boston Marathon? Maybe. But there may soon be more demand for that shoe than Adidas can handle. 
  2. Garmin announced a series of luxury GPS devices, the MARQ smartwatches, that will go for about $4,000 CDN. They feature a lot of titanium and carbon fibre, and according to Garmin, they are “built for greatness, so you can achieve yours”. I’m not sure how they will do that, but I admit they do look nice.

If you compete or just follow athletics, you understand this pressure… the pressure to always be improving. Acquiring. Checking boxes. Maybe you even thrive on it. 

What’s my point? Well, I feel that for whatever good this pressure can do, it can also lead us to miss the whole point of running. We shouldn’t forget to consider the “why”. The “why” has nothing to do with equipment, races or training schedules. 

You won’t find your why by adding things to your regimen. Instead, you should consider subtracting things. The why is inward-looking. 

Ask yourself this: if you didn’t have a major goal race to motivate you; if you had to make do without the latest shoes or GPS watch; if you couldn’t track your training pace or upload your workouts to Strava, would you still run?

If the answer to this question is yes, then you are starting to get at the why. 

If you are willing to go further with this mental exercise, try writing down some thoughts on your “why”. Maybe you enjoy the intrinsic benefits of running… how you feel while you are doing it. Maybe running is a place of refuge when the stress of everyday life seems overwhelming. Maybe you relish the camaraderie of long, easy runs with your friends. Or the challenge of setting hard goals, and then methodically doing the work needed to achieve them. You know, the work that no one sees. 

I hope that by being able to define whatever special benefits you get from running, you will be better able to enhance its indispensable role in your life. 

For me, it’s quite simple.

Running makes me a better person. I think more clearly, I work more efficiently and I believe (hope?) I’m more empathetic in my dealings with other people after a run. I learned these things several years ago, when I faced the prospect of not having running in my life.

You may have guessed that I won’t be on the wait list for any disposable shoes.

Until next time, happy running!