The Long Run

I do one long run every week and today was my 12 miler. During my long runs I have a lot of time to think, listen to music, and try to entertain myself. The Long Run is not for everyone as it is 100% mental. I'm not sure a completely sane person is capable of doing much of a long run since there's just way too much time being spent in your own head. Let's just say the human brain is capable of some pretty strange things when let loose for too long.

I started up a long steep hill and was relieved to come out the other side, unscathed and heading downhill. I didn't see a lot of other runners out and about, but I did pass by some cyclists coming up the hill toward me. There's a certain etiquette required in everything you do. If you don't believe me, start a new sport and just be yourself. It won't be long before people are flipping you off. In running it's no different. I'm sure we all know that running downhill is a lot easier than running uphill. If you're running downhill and come upon some one running uphill, it's ok to say hi or give a brief nod and leave them on their way. Don't be offended if the uphill runner glares at you or completely ignores you.

I think the same applies to cyclists...with the exception that I'm sure cyclists don't really like runners and probably say some pretty lame things about us. That's ok, I don't mind cyclists too much, they're a hard working bunch and they get hit by more cars than they're due. So I say hi to any of the cyclists that come my way or at least give them a hello nod. I also realize that riding a bike up a hill is a lot harder than running up a hill... dowhill is of course, another story.

So I was running downhill, thrilled to not be going uphill anymore, and giving a little nod to the cyclists coming up the hill. Most of them had their heads down, cranking away at their pedals and probably cursing my existance. Needless to say, I knew better than to shoot a silly grin their way. But then something strange happened. A cyclist coming up the hill in a bright yellow jacket (hey, maybe it helps him not get hit by cars) actually smiled (a big smile) when I gave him a nod. Remember, he was coming up the hill, I was going down. It caught me off guard and I couldn't help but get some big silly grin on my face right back. The next 6 miles had me thinking about how my soul mate could be out there somewhere in the bike lane or on the running trail and how on earth would I know? I get 2 seconds passing by, and maybe that guy was it. Yes, this went in and out of my head for at least 6 miles.

I had planned on bringing 2 packets of GU with me (basically sugar, to recharge when you get fatigued) but I didn't have anything to carry them in. I was wearing a tank and a pair of short yoga pants, no pockets. On my 10 miler a couple weeks ago I put a packet of GU in my bra and took it at the halfway point. When I got home I realized I had two small cuts on my chest from running with this little aluminum packet in there, so I decided that was out of the question this time, especially with two of them. So instead I took a GU right before I left. What a bummer that it turned out there's caffeine in this GU. I purposely bought Just Plain GU because I thought it didn't have caffeine in it. Well it does. Fortunately for me, there was a small park at mile 4 that had rest rooms and even a drinking fountain to refill my water bottle. Here's another important point in running etiquette. While it is absolutely acceptable to pee behind a bush while running through the woods, it's sort of frowned upon to pee behind a bush in the middle of the city. Especially in a nice neighborhood. But at the same time, there's not a whole lot of public restrooms in the city, which presents a dilemma sometimes. But alas, there was a public restroom and life went on.

I was following a map in my mind that I had scoped out on the internet before setting off. I was wearing a Garmin Forerunner GPS unit that DOES NOT have maps uploaded into it. Although if I was a real techie I could figure out how to upload some maps to it. 5 miles into the run I realized I was on a different road than I thought I should be. The map in my mind didn't change. It just sat there screaming at me that something was wrong with the road. They put it in the wrong place.

I read in the book "Deep Survival" that when people get lost, the best thing to do is to turn around and retrace your steps until you get to where you know where you are. What happens when people don't do that, when they just keep going thinking they must be going in the right direction, is they get lost. And usually die. While death was not looming on my horizon, adding an extra 10 miles was. Did I turn around and try to find myself? No, of course not. Maybe because death was not looming, let's hope anyway. I swear I'm destined to one day be one of those statistics of stupid people who could have turned around and found their car (or house in this case) but instead kept going and froze to death. Fortunately I came upon the right road and it turned out I had been going the right way the whole time but just didn't think the road should have been that long. Miles are always longer on foot I'm beginning to realize.

Around mile 6 I finally hit what I'm going to call hopeless comfort. You just know that you're six miles from home regardless of the direction you go in, and the only reason why you keep running is because you just aren't home yet. So you settle in to a good pace and quit checking your GPS and no longer dwell on the miles that lay ahead. In general, the sooner you can come to terms with the reality of the journey you have already embarked upon (and are stuck in the middle of), the better off you'll be. In the first couple of miles your brain harps on how little you've gone and how much farther you have to go. But when you just learn to accept that you're still out there and you're going to be out there for awhile longer, you just start to glide.

When it was all over and I finally made it home, it didn't seem so bad and an ice bath sounded so inviting I had to give in. While I stretched and tried to replace my lost calories with an Ensure, I filled the bath tub with cold water and threw a bucket of ice in it. It was hell getting in, but my body is thankful now.

Long runs are not for the sane to say the least.