Tuning In ...

Dr. Seuss is credited with, “Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.”  That is how I feel about cross country season.  In fact, there are days when I smile because it’s over! The changing of the seasons is always a challenge for me.  I am never quite ready for it to be this hot, cold, or windy.  Running doesn’t escape the challenge.  I have to adjust from the very social and consistent running of cross country practice to a solitary and admittedly sporadic winter running regimen. It isn’t sad, it’s just different and it takes me a week or two to adjust.

I have rediscovered one of my forgotten running buddies, Alan Jackson.  Because I now have an iPhone, I use the MapMyRun app and have a very encouraging female voice in my ear every half mile to give me pace and distance updates. This week I changed things up a bit and included Brad Paisely in my tight circle of running friends.  Here is one of my new favorite tunes!

 

We can fight change, or we can embrace it.  The choice is ours.

The Lonely Run

It seems I’ve been training for a half marathon all year!  Actually, I began in March and hit a road block about the time I was due to run my first six-miler.  After recuperating from a couple of setbacks, I began again and reached the six-mile long run last weekend.  I had recruited a running buddy because long runs can get pretty lonely.  Unfortunately, there is a strange phenomenon surrounding the six-mile run.  Running buddies tend to disappear for six-milers.  I think I know the reasons.  It isn’t because they are wimping out (well maybe) rather they have reasons not to run six miles.

#1 – They are not training for a half, so six miles is just a random run.  It is not their goal.

#2 – Unless you can run a six minute mile (Most of us can’t) it takes a while to run six miles. Sometimes a long run just doesn’t work into your day.

#3 – Recovery.  Six miles takes more out of a body than three, or four, or even five.

This time my running buddy had something else come up and she had to cancel.  That happens, too.

That’s why I found myself alone on the road with only the voices of Alan Jackson, Sarah Brightman, Roger Miller, The Beatles, David Essex, and George Jones, to name a few.  I have an eclectic taste in running music!  I chose a route I had not traveled for many moons.  Long runs are typically done at an easy pace.  Their purpose is to build strength and endurance. I think they also have a purpose for building patience – something I need to work on.

Blooming Russian Olive Tree

 I started slow.  At 1.5 miles I was still slow and tried to pick up the pace a bit. Somewhere around mile three I got lost in my thoughts.  This was strange because somewhere around mile three I realized I had a 2 mile stretch that was bordered by blooming Russian Olive trees!  Like this one.

This was a problem because those innocuous yellow blossoms have a sickening sweet aroma that wreaks havoc on my head!  I dislike blooming Russian Olives with a passion, which is unfortunate because I am trying to bridle my passions! I thought, perhaps, this 2 mile stretch would be my undoing, but I just kept moving.  I ignored the trees and focused on … I don’t remember.  I think I let my mind wander, enjoying the assorted tunes bouncing in my ears and wondering what the uphill mile at the end of the run was going to feel like.

It felt fine.  In fact, it almost felt good!  The best part was the time on my watch at the end of the run.  It was the fastest I had ever covered six miles – 10K races included!  The slow start, the Russian olives, and the uphill mile at the end, were all a part of my lonely run and they combined for success.  I was satisfied with a sense of accomplishment afterwards, yet I had no buddy to whom I could brag, but then, if I had done the run with a buddy my time would have been slower because I would surely have been chatting along the way.

Innocuous Yellow Blossoms

Where Were You?

I use my iPod for two purposes. One is to pass the time on long airline flights (they are few and far between) and the other is to keep me running when I don’t have a running buddy along for a chat.   Some of the music is slow and I have to skip over those songs. I like Alan Jackson, The Beatles, Jason Aldean, and Broadway Soundtracks.  I use the shuffle mode because I like to be surprised when a new song begins to play.

One song that frequently tumbles in is “Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning?” by Alan Jackson.  (It’s an old album.) I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing when the Twin Towers were hit. I was in my lab bending wires for retainers while my children were getting ready for school.  I remember it like yesterday.  So too, I suppose, shall I remember the Boston Bombings as Monday’s attack has been dubbed.

Monday morning I was very interested in the Women’s Elite race. I had been casually following Shalane Flannagan and Kara Goucher as they trained for Boston.  I had a friend visit just as the race was ending.  She isn’t a runner, nor is she an avid fan, but I forced her to watch.  Congratulations to those two American runners!

Later in the day I was once again I my lab bending wires when I received a call from my friend.

“Are you still watching the Boston Marathon?”  She asked.  She then informed me of the blasts that had occurred.  I turned on the TV and began watching the coverage.  Here are some observations:

·         Innocent people always suffer from selfish acts of others.

·         Heroes always surface in the face of tragedy.

·         There is more goodness in the world than bad.

·         The world doesn’t stop turning. Our understanding of the world changes.

·         Boston Bombings did not have the magnitude of 9/11, but for a few the pains and suffering are greater because it affected them personally.

·         Everyday people suffer tragedies and nobody knows.  The rest of us go on our merry way.

 

Boston will remain vivid in my memory as does 9/11.  I am certain I will consider both when Alan Jackson begins to croon, “Where were you when …”