Breaking the One-hour Run Barrier

Monday, March 15, 2010

Holly just came in my office to talk about my blog. She loves to. About as much as she loved labor pains…

Anyway, I told her how I’d been in the parking lot at Microcenter during my walk yesterday and wondering how many of the 1,000 plus cars up there were within a mile of the place. It could have been an easy walk for them and they’d have had all the activity they’d need for the day.

“John – no one’s got the time to do that. Unlike you, they have to make dinners, do laundry, clean the house, run a business and now you want us all to read your *&%$ blog…”

“Umm…” I ummed as I searched for a rebuttal. And then I thought of one.

“I’ve been hearing that argument from fat people…like me…for too long. Either you get up off your ass and do something or you keep complaining that you don’t have time and stay fat.”

It’s the harsh reality – and don’t shoot the messenger. You can’t diet your way into shape. You MUST do something and it’s going to take some time. Every day. So face it, plan it, and then…do it. She told me that walking up to Office Max to buy something would leave her sweaty and not feeling like shopping. She’d rather walk in the neighborhood, clean up and then drive to Office Max. I’ve got no problem with that, but the difference is…she did make the time to do something and when she does it every day, she knows it makes a difference.

Enough of stuff for other people since we know it’s really all about me. It was a run day again – they have a funny way of popping up every third day. Still a light mist falling and temperatures in the low 40’s. This can go on for a week or two in Cleveland with no problem. So…time to run and the trails, though covered in mud that will suck off you shoe…were inviting. I didn’t know how I would feel, since the last run was such a disaster and I’d done no resting since then, though I had done my rides inside, which were easier.

I started with a long climb, which when your tired already, is just plain stupid. I’m a guy…that’s my excuse. Anyway, I was ready to park my cookies on the side of the trail by the time I reached the top, but shortly thereafter actually started feeling pretty good. By twenty minutes, I knew it was going to be a decent day. I’d increased my pace and was feeling comfortable. I knew the time to beat – 51 minutes.

Now…runners have certain milestones in their careers…and they do vary. Distance people tend to remember how long they ran. I can remember the first time I went over ten miles in a run. Then there was twenty (in Converse tennis shoes. I literally could not walk for two days after that fiasco). When I got into road racing, it became more about the personal records for a particular distance (pr’s) and most runners had them for training courses, as well.

Then, on a run in Chicago with my oldest son, Jason, in 2001, I pulled a muscle in my left calf and, from which, I have never recovered. Oh sure, I’d get running again, try to build up the mileage and always…always, it would pop again. Usually when I got between 30-40 minutes. I finally gave up on running – deciding that I could live without it and still stay in shape. Well, if you’ve been following this blog, you know I’ve made a bit of a comeback.

But today, as I finished the loop and found myself at 49 minutes when I reached the car, I decided to hit another 4-5 minutes. Well, I suppose you can imagine what happened next.

“I’m at 55 minutes – five more and I’ve got an hour,” the voice whispered…no…shouted in my empty head.

An hour is a milestone and there’s no sense in denying it. I’d been doing a physical inventory on the calf since the 40-minute mark. It felt good and so did I. I passed the car for the second time and added the necessary five minutes. I must admit I never expected this to happen so quickly. I’m only in my fourth week of solid training after being seriously out of shape and already I’ve run an hour non-stop. I know I’m nothing special…I’ve got Holly and others to attest to that…but I did it.

Well…there’s still a ton to do. The next step will be to put runs closer together and see what I really can do. For now…I’ll just savor it.

Run duration: One hour!!!

Training Heart Rate: 135 bpm.

Calories burned during workout: 1,020.