The longest run.

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Our church, St. Bartholomew’s in Mayfield Village, backs up to the North Chagrin Reservation. I plant myself in a pew next to the windows that look out towards the park and can see the runners, hikers, bikers, and bladers as they cruise down the all-purpose trail. Of course…I’m thinking heavenly thoughts as I’m doing this, but I do notice them. I’d driven separately to church with the intention of running as soon as service was over. I was going over different courses I could run and was getting it into my head that I’d do something really long – like maybe a 90-minute job. I was inspired.

Today was the 33rd running of the Cleveland Rite-Aid (was Revco) Marathon and there were a record 17,000 people registered to run – the largest participation ever. Apparently, marathoning in this country is up 10% over a year ago and all road racing is on the increase. Research into the reason for this has uncovered an interesting fact, as noted by the Chairman of the Institute of Weird Running Trends and Fitness Related Stuff in a recent CNN interview with Walter Cronkite.

“It would appear that the blogging efforts of John Rolf, one of this nation’s leaders for fitness innovations, is responsible for this exciting new trend. He has inspired a nation, nay, a world… to get up off it’s collective duffs and head out the door for the running trails. We owe him more than can be easily put into words…”

Holy machinoly. Let me tell you that I was overwhelmed by this revelation and pleased with the acknowledgement. Anyway, it was the Revco that got me back to running in 1978. I had been a high school runner of average ability, but had given it up after school. The running craze had taken hold in America by then and when I heard of the Revco Marathon, decided it was the thing for me and began running in earnest. I’d put on about 20 pounds since my high school running days, but thought that, if I ran 8 miles a day every day, I would quickly shed it. I purchased some fancy Brooks running shoes and headed out the door. In two weeks, I was suffering from plantar fasciitis and knee pain. I ended up running the 10K instead, but would eventually got to the marathon.

I figured I’d run long to honor the racers in the marathon. Actually, as I ran along the trails, I was feeling sorry for the marathoners. They were pounding the pavement on the streets of Cleveland while I was enjoying the serenity of the woods. I was so glad I was here and they were there. The day off and the cool, dry weather was having the perfect effect. I was cruising effortlessly and the first time I looked at my watch, 33 minutes had passed. As I neared an hour, I marveled at how easily it was going. I’ve been over an hour on around 10 occasions since March, but this was by far the best I had ever felt. I was heading down a heavily rooted trail, where foot placement to prevent twisted ankles and falls is critical, when I noticed a hiker with a canine on a leash coming towards me. In the moment it took to look at them, I found myself sprawled on the trail. My hands were neatly sliced and I had a nice cut on my right knee. The hiker asked if I was alright, which I really was and I told her so. I started off again with a slight limp, but in no time I was moving comfortably along.

I stopped in a creek to clean up and assess the damage before heading off again. When I reached 75 minutes, I was starting to slow and feeling the accumulated minutes. I was in the valley and the car was on top, so I had to do some climbing over the last couple of miles. As I got to the last mile, I decided to pick it up – if I could. I managed to do the last mile under 8 minutes…not too shabby for the end of the longest run I’d done in 15 years.

So…there. I did a long run. It’s been a really long time and I’m feeling pretty good about it. I’m sore now, but everything feels completely healthy. Tomorrow could be miserable, but we’ll deal with that with some serious whining then…

Run duration: 92 minutes.

Training Heart Rate: 140.

Calories burned during workout: 1550.