A Tale of Two Runs

It was the best of Runs, it was the worst of Runs, it
was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness. . . .

Run number 1:  I was in a great mood for a run.  Mostly because this was a bonus run.  You see I had to pick someone up in Augusta, GA on my way to Charlotte,NC for an 11 am meeting.  That's a lot of driving, which means I would have to get up early and I would be in my car all day because I had more meetings...which means no run.

But I outsmarted them.  I drove to Augusta the night before so I could get up early and run.  Sure I got in late and sure I didn't sleep well in the hotel, but I was in a great mood.  Out side it was raining...but not bad at all.  I was in a great mood.  Well, OK, there was a busy road outside the hotel and not a sidewalk in site.  That's OK, I'm in a great mood.  I ran a half mile and had to doge my way through a construction site that was covered in mud.  That's OK, I'm in a great mood.  After a mile I had to turn back because I almost got hit by a car that ran a red light...and now, I'm not in such a great mood.  Damn, back through the construction site again...just how much mud can collect on my shoes.

OK, this is a horrible place to run; the weather sucks, Its too dark and the road is too busy.  I'll duck into the fitness center at the hotel and finish up on the treadmill.  OK, now I am wet from the rain, it is stifling hot in the fitness center and the guy next to me smells funny and insists on watching CNBC at a volume that I'm sure the entire hotel can hear.  I'm in a bad mood.  This run sucks.  How am I going to get all the mud off my shoes when 3 miles on the treadmill wouldn't get it off.

Run number two:  The next day I'm still in a horrible mood.  I have spent the past two days in the car from 6 am until 10 pm and tomorrow I will have to do the same.  I don't even know what the city I'm in looks like because I drove there in the pitch black through twisty little country roads covered in mist.  While I was driving I developed a sinus headache that felt like my face was being swallowed by some prehistoric beast.  This sucks.  I got up in the morning and said screw it...I'm not going to run.  Well I'm up already, I'll just look outside.

After the lesson of yesterday, I asked at the front desk where I could run near the hotel.  "Oh you can't run here.  The road is too busy and there are no sidewalks."  That sounds familiar.  "I would drive five min. away."   This sucks...I hate driving to run, I'm in a bad mood.  So I steal barrow a hotel towel and hop in the car trying to follow the directions given to me.  This sucks.  It's a lot colder than it was yesterday and I made the mistake of wearing my warmer close during my last ill fated run that left me wet and sweating in a heated fitness center.  So now I'm shivering in shorts and a windbreaker.  This sucks.

I get to the end of the street and it is really dark out, but as I get out of the car I notice a boat heading out to the ocean.  Kind of nice...but it's really cold out and this still sucks.

The wind is whipping around me as I run through some really cool looking houses.  I kind of wander through a neighborhood lacking in streetlights, but I can see from the quaint porch lights of the houses.  Every now and then I am rewarded with a view of the ocean and a burst of cold wind that by now I am getting used to.  This doesn't suck so bad.

OK now the sun is up and the biting wind kind of feels...refreshing.  I am running pretty slow and without direction because I am taking in the sites.  With the sun up the waterfront looks beautiful.  I stop to read some historic markers and trot out on a little boardwalk over the march.  The view of the sun coming up through the masts of the boats in the harbor takes my breath away more than the biting wind could.

These pictures from my non-working phone don't even come close to doing the view justice.  I snapped them after I got back to my car and the sun was already up and I didn't have time to drive to some of the best view I saw, but I had to try to capture the moment.  Because, by now I was in a Great Mood.

Walk a mile in their clipless peddled shoes

I has been said that,"Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes. That way, you'll be a mile from them, and you'll have their shoes." 

Or something like that.

Us runners are a friendly bunch.  It is tough to go out for a run on a local trail without getting a wave, a nod, or a hello.  We are quick to make friends and to offer advice to new runners joining our ranks.  I have run on my local trail so often that when I am not there for any length of time, many people ask me what was wrong when I return.  After my last injury kept me off the trail for a while, I had to explain about 10 times that I was out with an injury, while sucking in lung fulls of air because I was out of shape due to said layoff. 

I nod and wave to the runners and walks I see and usually have a word or two with the regulars.  But not the Bikers.  I have been operating under the assumption that most bikers are rude, stuck up or both.  I mean there are the few that return my wave, but that is the exception not the rule.  Not to mention the guys who zoom past you about 3 inches away from your shoulder shouting, "On your left," loud enough to make you jump three feet to the right.  Even people I know seem to act a little different when they are on their bike.  I have just decide not to wave or nod at the bikers, because it will most likely be wasted energy.

Well now that the Clipless peddled shoe is on the other foot (lets see, do I know any other shoe puns), I think a little differently.  To understand these cyclists you have to get an idea of their situation.  First of all, while us runners and walkers love the trail...Cyclists need it.  I mean even though we don't want to, we can run on sidewalks and if we are running on a narrow road we can always retreat to the shoulder if a wide load comes by.  These things are not so easy to do on a road bike.  While many bikers brave the roads and the traffic to get a workout in, I'm sure they also appreciate the safety of the trail from time to time.

As for friendliness, lets look at it from both sides.  While running you can see things long before they happen. 

I'll often see one of my friends coming up on the bike while yelling, "Hey Chris, how's it going," as I wave franticly. 

Then when they don't acknowledge me I just assume it has to do with that uppity bike syndrome.  Now however I can see it from the other perspective and it goes something like this:

Me on the bike zooming by at 25 mph:  "What is that idiot doing?... and did he say my name...Hey, Maybe I know him," as I am now about a half mile away.

So it is less to do with unfriendliness and more to do with speed and time.  While on the bike I still try to nod as I pass by others.  I'm afraid if I risk a wave I might swerve and crash into them...I'm pretty sure they would rather me be rude at that point.  And when I do nod, I don't know if I get the timing down right...I might get the nod off before I pass them or I might be nodding like a complete idiot to no one at all.

So these bikers might be the friendliest people in the world...it is just really hard to be friendly at 20 mph.  (Who am I kidding, I'm still closer to 15 mph).  As a matter of fact, I got a crash course in friendly bikers when my chain broke last weekend.  I passed a bunch of people while hobbling along side my bike.  Everyone of the bikers asked if I needed help.  Only one of the runners stopped to ask what he could do:  He explained that the same thing happened to him last month.  Even though he was running right then...he was really a friendly biker.

The Perfect Day

Well I finally decided to stop messing around with the cycling thing. It was obvious that it was least favorite of the 3 sports and I was making any excuse to avoid doing it (too cold, too helpless. But this weekend I said enough is enough. To get better at cycling and therefore enjoy it more, I just need to spend more time on the Bike.

So I went to the local bike store and finally bought the neoprene booties to cover my very breathable shoes. I also got an areobar because you might as well go big, or go home. I spent Saturday putting on the areobar and testing the booties around the house, incidentally my daughter thinks they look like elf shoes.

So Sunday morning I rose with the sun (actually I got up a lot earlier and waited in my garage until I thought there was enough light to see, but rose with the sun sounds better) and drove to the trail. You see, I thought I would drive to the trail so that I would avoid all the hills and stop signs and stop signs on top of hills. This way I might enjoy the ride a little more and worry a little less about clipping in and out and about traffic. The plan worked great, I could put on my shoes and booties, clip in and off I went.

I was zooming along and the booties kept my feet from going numb. I was a little worried that they would make it harder to clip in and out, but strangely they made it easer. The areobar was great, on a straight-away I would lean down and really tear into it, zipping through the air like a rocket. I had to be home in time to meet the family for church, but I went just a little farther because I was going so fast I knew I could make up the time on the way back. The sun was shining, the weather was pleasantly chilly and little cartoon birds were singing a medley of my favorite songs.

Sure, things are going so great that even you, dear reader, can tell something is going to go wrong...but at the time, I just thought it was the perfect cycling day. Well I stopped at a light and got off the bike for a second to stretch my legs and have a drink. I then got back on, clipped in and started to peddle off only to find the peddle wouldn't turn. Was I between gears? Was I not clipped in? I kind of pushed off with one leg to get to the other side of the street then got off to assess what the problem was...Broken Chain.

I don't know how it happened. There was no warning, no sudden jerk, just resistance then a chain dragging. I had a sudden movie-like flashback to my friend Brett, after tuning up the bike for me saying,"The Chain is a little old, and you might want to have that looked at sometime...but otherwise she's in great shape." Well he might not have called the bike a she...but it seemed a lot more movie flashback that way.

So I called my wife, like a helpless child, to come and pick me up. Oh sure I had a nifty swiss army like bike tool, that I remember the directions (which were sitting back at home) mentioning something about a chain tool. But who was I kidding, when my car gets a flat, I call AAA.

I limped for about a half mile trying to decided if it was easier to walk in the grass with the shoes on or take them off and walk on the trail...and by the way Ains was right...they did look a little like elf shoes. I made it to the bike Depot and tried to call Sheryl to see how far away she was, only to discover my phone was not working (I had some sort of reverse midas touch this weekend, where everything mechanical I touched seemed to break...I even found a way to mess up a kite).

After Sheryl picked me up and we raced to make Church on time, I couldn't help but think..."This sort of thing never happens to me when I run."

Can you ride a Kangaroo?

As I continue my training I have been doing a bit of swimming...one of the better exercises as it does not repeatedly pound my 200 lbs frame on my feet like running does.  I enjoy swimming because I am not relaying on a machine such as a bike that could possibly break down.  Unless Archimedes was wrong, I think water will pretty much behave the same way all the time.

Swimming also has a lot in common with my chosen sport of running: it is usually a solo endeavor and I can paddle away lost in my own thoughts.  Of course therein lies my problem.  When I am running it is pretty easy to measure my accomplishment, even while daydreaming.  I'll be singing some little ditty in my head:

"G-L-A-M-O-R-U-S..." (because in my head, I'm quite the singer)

and look up and notice I am about 4 miles from my house...OK turn around here and it will be an eight miler.  Not really Archimedes' principle (I'm on an Archimedes kick today).

Swimming laps, however, goes more like this: 

"OK that was three, three, three, four coming up...burp, ooh what was that...what did I have for dinner last night.  Hmmm, OK that was two, two, two.  Wait that can't be right I've been here for 30 minutes and I'm only on two."

So I did a little bit of research and apparently I'm not the only one with ADD while swimming laps at 6 am.  Many people use letters because they are a little easier to remember than numbers.  I even read one post where people think of word in a category.  For example they did animals: first lap: A...anteater, aardvark, armadillo...you get the idea.  It was actually kind of fun.  It gave me something to think about during the endless procession of that black line at the bottom of the pool.

"OK now I will do modes of transportation:  First lap Automobile, Airplane, Air Balloon"

Well I cheated a little bit and it probably should have been a Hot Air Balloon but that was nothing like when I decided on lap K that you could indeed ride on a Kangaroo, so that could be a mode of transportation.

I've done foods (apple, bread...) and things around the house (armchair, breakfast nook...) as a matter of fact I find myself thinking of categories that I can do during my next swim.  I feel like a writer for Family Fued..."top five answers on the board..."  If you have any suggestions for a new category, by all means let me know.

I do sometimes miss the mindless daydreaming, but you'd be surprised at how much daydreaming you do while trying to think of a food that starts with a U.

She's a Brick...House

  

Well I did my first Brick today and it was an eye opener.  Every time I look at the parts of the Olympic distance I am not really all that intimidated.  I mean I can swim 1500 meters and  as long as I don't fall, 40K on a bike is not so bad.  A 10K is barley breaking a sweat during my marathon training so it's hard to get worked up by that.  But I know it is the sum of the parts that make it a challenge, so I thought I would teach myself a lesson in humility today.

I got up early and waited for the sun to rise enough so I could see. Then I road a quick 18 miles, only to return home switch into some running shoes and run 5 miles.  Not really very intimidating distances, but not too far off from what I will have to do.

Now my transition was no where near what you will see while watching an Ironman on a Sunday afternoon.  Instead of leaving my shoes on the bike and hopping off already at running speed...I causally stopped and walked off my bike.  I then went into the kitchen to listen to a riveting story from my daughter about the mischief her stuffed animals where getting into during the night while I put on my running shoes and sipped a Gatorade.

Really to be honest the reason the Brick was such an eye opener was because I still haven't solved my freezing foot problem.  You see, after all of the expenses I have incurred with my new sport, I am too cheap to buy the neoprene booties I need.  I figure it will only be cold for a little while longer...and today it was a whole 10 degrees warmer than last time.  I thought the 2 sox and a plastic bag trick would be fine today.  Maybe I need thicker bags.

It was a solid 4.5 of my 5 mile run before I had feeling back in my feet.  One of the strangest sensations I have ever experienced was running on feet that were completely numb.  I could not feel anything and they were moving like flippers, occasionally scraping the ground and flopping around with a mind of their own.  My first mile was slow as I learned to run without the use of my feet, I even got a few sympathy nods as I'm sure people thought I was training for the Special Olympics.  But eventually I got used to it and my pace picked up to respectable.  I didn't break any records, but now I know I need to work on some speed...maybe Ainsley can shorten her story next time.

Got Balance

The thing that intimidates most about a triathlon is the swim. Being out in the open water getting bumped by others with no wall to grab on to between laps is indeed a bit frightening. But the thing that always kept me from trying a tri is the bike. This surprises most, I mean we are not all Lance Armstrong, but the phase, "like riding a bike" is there for a reason...we all remember how.

The strange thing is, I loved to ride my bike as a kid. Even at an early age I was more into distance the speed. I loved to watch the Tour de France on Saturdays when they recapped the whole weeks events in the days before VERSES gave us live coverage. I was probably one of the few kids who even knew who Greg LeMond was let alone what Bernard Hinault did to him. I was never into BMX stunts or jumps, I preferred instead to go on long rides with my Dad past the Ostrich farm miles away from our house.

But today, when I get on a bike, I feel like I am giving up control. I prefer the crunch of gravel under my feet as opposed to the hum of tires. Probably a lot of my fear has to do with clipless pedals.

I knew it would be a challenge to learn to ride while clipped in, so I bought some pedals and attached them to my old cheapo bike before I had picked up the new one. I hoped that by practicing on my old bike, I would get all of the falls out of the way before I was attached to anything of value.

I did fall a few times, but not the way most do. Most people fall because they forget they have them on...I fell because I could not get my foot out. I have since adjusted them a hundred times and I am getting used to them...but I don't think my falling days are over.

I still dread coming to a stop and absolutely fear a stop sign on a hill. I am convinced that the pedals freeze up in the wind chill as they seem to get progressively worse near the end of the ride...or maybe that is because my feet are just numb.

I think I'm going to lose a toe

I've run in some really nasty conditions. As a matter of fact I kind of revel in it. Runners love to brag about the time they went out in a monsoon for a quick 10 miler, or about the time they couldn't even see through all the snow falling. I love to tell the story about how I couldn't drink from my fuel belt because my bottles were frozen at the end of a one 20 miler. So when I wanted to try out my new bike, I didn't really think 27 degrees was all that bad.

I mean I understood that the wind would make it feel a lot colder and I dressed MUCH warmer than I would have if I were going running. But I had a brand new bike that was just sitting in the garage, so off I went. After about 2 miles I had to turn back for home.

I had to trade my 2 pairs of gloves (running gloves under fingerless bike gloves) for a pair of ski gloves. I already had two pairs of sox but I added a plastic bag between the two for wind resistance. Then off I was again. Well the new bike was great...and indeed it was really fast. So fast in fact, that the wind blew right through 2 pairs of sox and a plastic bag. By mile 10 I had lost all feeling in my feet. I turned back for home only to realize that it was even colder on the way back.

When I got home, my feet were bricks. I could have walked on fire and not felt a thing. My wife quickly filled the bottom of the tub with very hot water and I soaked them for 10 min. before I started to get feeling back. They looked a little black and blue and on the way to the shower I told my daughter, "I think I'm going to lose a toe." She was very concerned. But after the shower, feeling was restored and they looked a lot better too.

I have since told some of my biking friends this story and they all laughed. Brett told me that he rarely goes out if the temp is under 50 and Misty couldn't believe I didn't know about the biking booties that apparently all bikers wear...great another biking expense. As if I hadn't already figured out...I had a lot to learn about Biking.

It's all about the Bike

Running is a cheap sport: Pair of shoes, some shorts and you are off. Of course me being a gadget guy I always have to add more. Instead of just a t-shirt and shorts, I have to get a tech shirt and running shorts. I could make due with an old Timex, but why would I do that when there is a GPS watch from Garmin that does everything but run for you. But even with all of the gear and race fees, running is still even cheaper than most Gym memberships.

The sport of swimming is similar, in that you only need the bare essentials. I already have running shorts that make great swim trunks. I did have to replace my goggles when the strap broke, but at $10 for years worth of use...I think I can manage that. Our county pool charges either by the month or by the visit, and since my travel schedule is rather tight, I opted for 10 visits for under $20 bucks. All in all still a very cheap sport.

Then there is the bike. I know I could make due with my old cheapo, but it was in need of repair, and to throw $50 into repair would be about 50% of what the bike was worth. Coincidentally my friend Brett is an avid Biker and an avid fan of eBay. Well Brett from time to time sends me a deal on a bike on eBay that he thinks would suit me and I always decline. Well this time he got me at just the right time and we purchased a new Marin Road Bike. I say we because all I did was send a check. He found it, bid on it, picked it up, cleaned it, repaired it and adjusted it to my build. Its great to have friends.

This bike is no carbon fiber dream. It is not even aluminum. But for me it fits the bill perfectly. It is tons lighter than my old bike. and it is a true road bike with thin tires and real components. Very different from my old pseudo mountain bike, with witch I peddled furiously to keep up with my friends on the trial. The only problem is, even though I got the bike cheap…there are a lot more costs involved with biking than swimming or running. You have to have the pants so your butt won’t fall off after a long ride. You need the gloves, the helmet, water bottles…not to mention the pedals and shoes that are the bane of my existence and are worth a post all of their own.

Now a lot of these items I already had; and most of them can be picked up inexpensively. I have also tried to keep myself from going overboard and getting things I don’t need (which is awfully hard for a gadget addict). But in terms of costs, Mr. Armstrong had it right…it is all about the bike.