Running, falling, and running some more

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Anyone reading this thinking that if I’m doing it, it makes good sense just doesn’t know me too well. I’ve made a career of not listening to the signals my body was sending me and ended up injured as a result. Having said that…

Rest is a good thing and there are sensible times to do it. One of them is when you’re sore and it’s not going away. Like right now, I’ve still got that lower abdominal/groin pain thing going on and I should take a couple of days off.

I should – but it’s a run day. And if it’s a run day, well, I just have to run. So that’s what I did.
I called home and told Jack, my 15-year old, that I was headed for the park and a run and he could join me. He said yes, which made me really happy because I like being humiliated by someone who trains by playing Xbox 360. He’s loaded with running talent, but to date, has chosen to ignore it. He’s planning on going out for track, which is a good thing since he was running a 57-second 400 in 8th grade gym class.

Another couple of inches of snow had fallen that day and the trails were covered, rutted, and crunchy. Jack was well bundled and looked curiously at my outfit – short sleeved t-shirt, running shorts, socks on the hands and a hat.

“People will think something is wrong with you, dad.”

“Yeah – and that has always really concerned me, Jack.”

He looked concerned – concerned that someone he knew would see us running together and know that I was his dad. Tough poopy.

The run would be slippery and slow, but promised to be a good workout. I told Jack he could run ahead figuring his pace would top mine, but he decided instead to draft me. He was worried about getting lost - something he can do in our driveway if he turns around quickly.
We passed a cross country skier, who, I suspect, didn’t like us messing with his ski grooves. I was slipping and sliding and busting ass so I figured he should too. Besides, this was an all-purpose trail and not groomed for skiing. Maybe he was just into his workout and didn’t have the energy to say ‘hello’. Maybe he didn’t like my outfit. Maybe he just didn’t like me. Nah.
The snow was coming down heavily when we hit the turnaround mark in about 18 minutes. I like to run negative splits (faster second half) and so picked it up slightly for the return trip. I realized this would get me back to the car in around 35 minutes and I was okay with that – not looking to top the 41-minute run from the last time out.

Jack sprinted ahead with a couple hundred yards to go. I emerged from the woods and bridle trail and could see his skinny butt disappearing into the swirling snow. I tried to pick it up too, but when my foot hit the walking trail, I stumbled and went, ever so gracefully, tumbling to the ground. I slid about ten feet, covering myself in snow, before slowly getting to my feet to finish the run. When I reached the car and checked my watch, I discovered that we’d gotten back pretty quickly – only 34 minutes of running time. This would not do. I decided to make a loop of Squires Castle and when I arrived back at the car and checked my watch again, discovered that if I did one more loop, I could break my two-day old record of 41 minutes. A little competitive? Maybe. A little stupid? Without a doubt. Seemed like a good idea at the time, though. So I kept running and ended up at 42 minutes and my calf was still healthy.

We fogged the hell out of the car windows on the ride home where I had set up the bike before leaving so I could do a double. My knees were sore from the fall and the cold, but I figured a good ride would fix all that. Sound thinking.

I climbed quickly aboard and pushed the ride for the next 30 minutes. I kept doing the calculations in my head. “Fifteen calories burned for every minute riding” was my mantra and along with the fact that I would be writing what I’d done kept me going. I was a sweaty mess at the end of the ride and thrilled to be finished. This was a good double and I knew the pounds would be coming off. Maybe tomorrow I’d weigh in again.

Run duration: 42 minutes. Bike duration: 30 minutes.

Training Heart Rate: 140 beats per minute for run. 125 bpm for bike.

Calories burned during workout: 700 for run. 450 for bike.