Not the elitist jogger vs runner argument. Or technical trail vs jeep road vs gravel pathway argument.
I'm taking about attitude.
I live by my training schedule. I know on Sunday what my week looks like and do not deviate by it at all. Races are scattered throughout the year to track my progress. It's like dessert, after eating all the vegetables. For 12 months I had 1 goal that I set my eyes on: to qualify for Boston. After qualifying in December, 19 minutes and 35 seconds faster than needed (but who's counting?), I aimed to go faster. Training to PR at Honolulu in December with anything under a 3:19:59! So I hit the pavement 6 days a week, in which 3 of them are hard work days. I have learned that Tuesdays and Thursday are" bring it" days and Saturdays are long, but not as painful as Tuesdays. (Thank you coach for being consistent on "sufferfest" days.)
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| Graphs from my hills- with -tempo run this morning |
In the meantime, while Steve was training for the Pike's Peak Marathon last year, I fell in love with running trails. Steve and I have taken 3 vacations in the past 12 months and the highlight of each is to find trails. I have no desire to run on the road while on vacation. Maybe I look at trails as vacation?!?!
After watching and crewing for 2 ultras, the seed was planted and I wondered if I could ever complete an ultra on the trails. The seed festered for a bit, I ran more trails, and on October 19th, I'm tackling my first Ultra. I have no expectations. Well, I don't want to suck.
So once a week, I take one of those weekly training runs to the trails. And guess what. The Garmin SUCKS at calculating mileage/time when you are running switchbacks and climbing mountains.And guess what else? The "Trail Runners" don't care?!?! Like honestly, they don't wear Garmins. Have no idea...well maybe a little...how far we went. Or how long we were there. It's super amazing. And impossible to get out of them exactly how far we went.
I usually run trails with Steve and Makai. I will label them as "Road Runners' as well. We calculate how far we went, elevation, and pace. We still enjoy the trails and drink up the beauty around us. But, we're tracking every step. Twice I've run trails with the super fabulous HURT crew. And completed one race. Volunteered at two races that Steve and Makai raced. I love them. Nicest people ever. Fun to be around. But that's another post.
Do you know what these super nice fun people do at their races? 1. They don't have a large clock at the finish line! 2. If you are in the lead, they make you run more of the course than those not in the lead. 3. One race had a staggered start. Times are not adjusted so even if your time is faster, you may not "win".
I noticed no one even cares about their time. And for the most part, what "place" they got. Can you even imagine a bunch of road racers being told to run an extra mile just because they were fast? And then being compared to runners that didn't run the extra mile? Riots would start I tell you!
Looking back, my one solo trail race that I did...didn't care what my "official" race time was. And there was a clock at the finish. I was just so happy I navigated the rocks and jumped up after my fall and was able to complete the race. And I actually don't think they have an "official" finishing time. On the road, you have to wait to see what is official. :)
Early Saturday morning a group of us Kailua girls, headed to Peacock Flats to meet the HURT crew for a training run. Peacock is the home of my first Ultra. In this group are some amazing athletes. 50 milers, 100 milers, yeah, they do them. All the time. I felt super insignificant saying I was training for the 50k. Guess what, not one of them scoffed at me. Or bragged that they were running ANOTHER 100 miler in 2 weeks. They were excited for me. And although I don't have an Ultra race resume, up the mountain we went, like I was one of their own.
I ended up running, and I use the word loosely, because it was a mud fest, with some of the lead runners. We skied down mud laden trails in our trail shoes. Apparently one dude had hiking sticks but I heard they don't work well as ski poles. One of the girls knocks out 50 and 100 milers like I do half marathons. We chatted because it's easier to chat skiing down a hill than running sub 7's on the road.
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| Just hanging in the clouds. Garmin stopped, of course. |
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| Cannot find this on the road. |
Every so often, we stopped, and waited for the entire group to get together so no one would get lost. Of course, I stopped my Garmin. I believe I was the only one wearing a Garmin. Can you imagine running on the road and just waiting for the others to catch up? Uh no. Get home, shower, stretch, and brew some coffee.
As we were heading down the last couple miles of switchbacks, I asked one of the guys how far we'd gone? This was after he helped "train" me on how to run downhill on wet slick trail without falling on my ass. He said around 15 miles. Looked at my Garmin and it was CLEARLY more than 15 miles, and adding switchbacks, I'm thinking this is more like 16 miles. He honestly couldn't answer my question and didn't care what the mileage was. What nice little number am I supposed to put on my training plan?
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| Data from the trail. It didn't capture the fun though! |
Off the trail we ran to the car. Beer bottles were opened and fruit and snacks made their way to the tailgate of the truck. No one talked about splits, mileage, or even how long we were out there. Talk was of the next races, group runs, and food recipes.
It was so refreshing. In the back of my head, I still wondered how far I'd run. And knew it didn't matter. I ran about half of the course I am tackling in October and gained more confidence in my ability to complete the race. Every time I go up there, I feel stronger.
I wish I could turn off my road runner mind when I'm on the trails. When I'm on the road, I'm focusing on miles under my legs and splits to hit that marathon time. I need both "attitudes" to conquer my 2013 goals.
Split personality would be handy about now.
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