Testing the Waters

Habits are pernicious things. It is so easy to fall into old ones, but difficult to start new ones. Anyway, it’s been my experience there are good habits and there are less good ones. I’m not sure where blogging falls along that continuum. I’m fairly sure where running falls though. 25 years of experience on the roads and trails has afforded me a bit of certainty, even authority in this area. Running is a good habit.

Over the years I have run in races of varying distance, although racing for me is not all that important. Being outside in the world breathing in the seasons is where it’s at. This morning I was up at 4, breathing in the cold moist air of Oyster Bay, the hamlet where I live on the north shore of Long Island Sound. I have a fairly regular 5 mile route that winds through Roosevelt Park. It’s an out-and-back course that, for a time, hugs the shoreline of the bay. At that hour of the morning you hear the water, rather than see it. Even with my headlamp on, the darkness is impenetrable. I’m reasonably sure they bay is there, because the cry of the gulls, sounds of the waves and the slapping of rigging against sailboat masts tends towards that conclusion. Plus, I’ve seen the place in the daytime.

Viewed from the perspective of a normal person, running in the dark at 4 in the morning is a weird thing to do. People can’t wrap their minds around why you would rather be outside fighting the wind and rain and freezing cold , rather than spending an extra hour in bed sleeping, all warm and toasty. While I  find it hard to explain to other people, to me the reasons are fairly self-evident. The solitude. The sheer joy of physical movement. The ability to be wholly present in each moment, with each footfall. The deep knowledge that you are part of the environment, not separate from it. All that stuff. Like most experiences that transcend words, the description of it is a pale imitation of the thing itself.

By the time I’m getting back, the world is starting to stir. To wake up. Coffee is being brewed and people are dragging their asses into the shower. I’m up, and alive, and thankful for another day.

Revision

It’s been a few days. Nothing to say, really. Running is going well, albeit I’m slower at ramping up the distance than I expected. Went out for 9 miles last Saturday and felt great. I think that is the biggest difference with my new proto-vegan diet; I have way better energy on my runs, whether they are long or short. This makes sense since the carbohydrate content of my current regime is significantly higher than I’ve been eating over the last few years.

I’ve decided to make a concession to my age and recalibrate my goals for the year. As things stand now, I doubt I will be in shape to run 50k on March 3. Instead, I have decided to sign up for the 25k on the same day, and run the Long Island Marathon as a training run for a possible attempt on the 50k Long Island Greenbelt run a few weeks later. Whether I actually attempt the 50k will in large part depend on what my recovery from the marathon looks like. If I’m not ready for the 50k, I’ll pick an ultra later on in the summer. There are plenty to choose from.

I’ve come to realize that going balls to the wall in training is something that was easy to get away with as a younger man, but harder to pull off now. That is all ok. One foot in front of the other.

Stalking

There hasn’t been too much going on this week. I’ve been continuing to get in the daily 4 and 5 and despite the fact that my weight seems stubbornly fixed at 188, I’ve been rocking the runs with great energy and few physical complaints. I’ll eather get out there for 11 tomorrow, or hold off until Sunday to give the old legs a rest.

Running on Long Island presents some great challenges in terms of weather, inattentive drivers and even some varied terrain, but at least you don’t have to worry about being eaten by wild animals. I came across this story in Runner’s World the other day. Runner Lindsey Grewe was out for a run in late December at Cheyenne Mountain State Park in Colorado when she happened upon a mountain lion chowing down on a deer. The mountain lion looked up from the buffet long enough to notice Grewe, whereupon it probably realized that meat on the hoof was tastier than a smelly old deer carcass. The Mountain Lion proceeded to chase Grewe, who probably set a PR in the 200 meter category as her jog in the park turned into a race for survival. Park rangers heard her screaming and came to her aid, chasing off the lion. Apparently this same lion had “approached” another runner a week earlier, but was scared off before it could get a nibble.

While I admit to feelings of jealousy when I read blogs by runners who are fortunate enough to live within close proximity of beautiful running trails out west, stories like this give me pause. This isn’t the first time I’ve written about this sort of thing, so I have to believe that being stalked and/or eaten by some sort of apex predator is part and parcel of running in the great American West. I think I’m learning to appreciate life on the coast more and more. Have a great week-end and be careful out there.

A Little Light Buddhism

I was grazing at the internet buffet today and came across a blog that featured something titled “The Five Remembrances.” Attributed to Vietnamese Zen Master Thich Nat Hanh, they go something like this:

• I am of the nature to grow old. There is no way to escape growing old.
• I am of the nature to have ill health. There is no way to escape ill health.
• I am of the nature to die. There is no way to escape death.
• All that is dear to me and everyone I love are of the nature to change. There is no way to escape being separated from them.
• My actions are my only true belongings. I cannot escape the consequences of my actions. My actions are the ground upon which I stand.

Really profound, but pretty basic Buddhism. Buddhism 101, if you will. Everything changes, nobody is free from the law of cause and effect, nothing to hold on to, you are what you do, no-one gets out of here alive. Basic stuff, but it bears repeating now and again, because it is our nature to forget such things. Sometimes we consciously forget, and sometimes they forget us. They are universally true; both my experience and the marrow in my bones tell me that, but they are uncomfortable truths that don't sit well within our culture. We prefer afterlife to oblivion and prefer to excuse, rather than own, our behavior. 

I just had a birthday last week, so I have been especially cognizant of the first and third Remembrances this week. At different points in my life I've wrestled with the others. They are useful meditations when things get hairy, and things are almost always hairy.

Meditating on the transient nature of the universe may help you to understand how the pieces fit together, but that knowledge is cold comfort when disaster strikes. Understanding the nature of change and accepting it doesn't stop you from feeling the pain, but it helps you soldier on. I think a really deep understanding of change and loss inevitably leads to a much greater empathy for our friends and loved ones who are walking their own path and shouldering their own burdens. In the end, we're all in this together. 

Monday Check-In

Not a bad week-end overall. Saturday morning I rolled out of bed and hit the road for a 10 miler. My week off from the long-runs set me back some. I was starting to feel every one of my 45 years towards the end of that run, mostly in my calves and left achillies tendon which is something I've not experienced before. I'm hoping as I get more glycogen into the muscles and reduce my intake of inflammatory foods I'll have an easier time of it. Dropping 10 pounds would also help. (I'm working on it). Sunday I hit they gym for an easy treadmill run to spin out the lactic acid and I found that my energy levels were actually better then they were the day before. I don't know what's up with that. Maybe the higher-carb, more nutrient dense diet is finally having an effect on my performance.

Another possibility is the dinner I had the night before at Pure Food and Wine in Manhattan. Erin and I headed in for a date night/late birthday dinner and the food was really spectacular. Pure Food is a totally raw, vegan restaurant that consistently produces quality food with only raw organic ingredients. In this case, "raw" means that none of the food is heated to beyond 114 degrees. Erin was worrying all week that the place would be freezing cold and she had me call up to verify that yes, they do serve hot tea.  If you haven't tried gourmet Raw food, a stop here is definitely in order. The kitchen is very creative and some of the stuff coming out of there is pure magic. I'm not convinced the raw foods diet is the best option for me-it's amazing how long it takes in the kitchen to produce some of those dishes without any actual cooking-but I think incorporating more raw food your diet can really help support health and immune function.

I made a big pot of home-made miso soup yesterday as well as a quinoa/tofu pilaf. It only took, oh, 6 hours or so. The big problem with making tasty vegan food is the prep-time. All that chopping. I suppose I could have had a bowl of Captain Crunch with almond milk. Maybe tonight.

Finding Ultra

I've been reading a lot of running-related books for inspiration lately. One book that I find particularly inspiring is Finding Ultra, by Rich Roll. Rich is a 40-something father of four who decided a few years ago that meandering through life as a fat, drunk, entertainment lawyer wasn't a sustainable lifestyle, even in Los Angeles. (Pics at left). Over the course of a few years he overhauled his diet, lost 50 pounds and ended up with a Day 1 stage victory in the 3-day double-ironman distance triathlon known as the Ultraman Hawaii World Championships. A "double-ironman" for those unfamiliar with the term, consists of a 6.2 mile open ocean swim, a 261.4 mile bike ride, and a 52.4 mile run. That sort of distance might be a little beyond what most of us aspire to, but I'm glad there are people out there who do it.

Rich attributes his success largely to the fact that he adopted a "plant-based" (vegan, for all intents and purposes) diet. Adoption of the diet led to significant weight-loss which permitted him to engage in the kind of intense training required to complete his race. I was a vegan when I ran my first marathon in 1993, and my experience was similar. I clocked a 3:34.01 for the race, not bad considering where I was coming from. Over the year prior to my race I quit smoking and lost about 75 pounds, which made running a lot easier. When I started I could barely make it around the block but as the weight came off I was able to extend my runs with little effort. I've since changed my diet around a few times, but I always notice when I'm up a few pounds; I can feel it in my joints before I even think to step on a scale.

I've been toying around with the idea of training for this year's racing by going completely vegan, just to see whether I can drop this 10-15 pounds that stubbornly remind me that my metabolism ain't what it used to be. I might try the Mark Bittman route and go "vegan before dinnertime". I'm not really sure yet.

Maybe I identify with Rich Roll because his story is broadly similar to mine, I don't know. I do know that his podcast is totally blowing my mind. A few months back Rich and his wife Julie Piatt took their four kids and moved to the island of Kauai, where they took up residence at an organic farm community named "Common Ground". Common Ground is the brainchild of internet entepreneur Chris Jaeb, founder of the website Broadcast.com and creator of click advertising. (It's mission, near as I can tell, is to create a model for sustainable living in the digital age that is accessible to all through the advocacy of farm-to-table and local food networks.) Ostensibly about health and fitness, the podcast is really more a meandering thought experiment, where Roll and Piatt hold forth on topics ranging from nutrition to sustainable living to the challenges of forging strong male/female relationships and seeing the divine in other people. It's a pretty fascinating approach to podcasting, I can tell you that. Give it a listen. Rich's wife Julie is a dynamic personality in her own right and is a yogi, musician and chef, among other things. Her and Rich have a company called Jai Lifestyle which sells a few products that support their lifestyle, including a pretty good vegan cook-book.

I think tomorrow morning I'm going to get out there for a 10 miler. I need to spend less time writing about running, and more time doing some actual running. 

45 Years Old

Yesterday I had to stop after 4 miles on the dreadmill. Maybe it was the first day back to work or the fact that I'm dicking around with my diet, but I felt pretty blah. It happens. Bad days follow good just as the sun comes after the moon. I haven't been sleeping too well either. I'm hoping that after a few more days on a mostly vegan diet I'll finish whatever changeover my body needs to adjust to the new nutrient intake and be back to some semblance of normal. It is a little depressing reading about Scott Jurek blasting through the 100 mile Western States race fueled on a diet of raw lettuce and hummus while I'm feeling like abject crap grinding out a few miles on the treadmill, but our circumstances are pretty different so I'm not letting it get to me too much.

Today is my 45th birthday. I've always been pretty ambivalent about birthdays. There's nothing I can do to stop them so I don't see the point of getting that worked up about them. The passage of time is inevitable. Ageing is inevitable. What is most certainly not inevitable, is letting the passage of time or the aging of the body turn into an excuse for inactivity. Many of the really hardcore ultra-marathoners are middle-age and they regularly accomplish feats that would send most men my age who live a sedentary lifestyle right to the cardiologist.  As long as I can stand, I'll either be running or walking. I consider the time spent moving my body to be an  investment in my future. I don't want to spend the last few years of my life on medication, hobbling around with a cane. With any luck I'll die with my running shoes on, hopefully of old age. (Not as a hood ornament on an Escallade.)

One of my resolutions this year is to run an ultra. It might be Caumsett, it might be something later in the year, but I WILL do it, if only to prove to myself that I CAN do it. We live in an age of pre-digested experiences. With all of our modern technology and predilection to risk-aversion, our environment is so managed and controlled that it is as if we exist in a cliff-notes version of our own lives. How often do we get the chance to push the envelope? To see what we are really capable of? I think that the human brain really does it's best work when it is confronted with a challenge that initially seems insurmountable. Only be confronting the impossible do we learn what we are capable of achieving. So where can we find physical challenges these days that will test the limits of our endurance? I suppose with enough money and time you could join an Everest expedition or ski to the North Pole or some such thing. For most of us that isn't an option. I have three kids, a job, a family, etc., etc. However, the ultra-marathon is something that is relatively accessible to everyone who has 2 shoes and a place to put feet to pavement to train for it. I'm  going to give it a shot this year.