It is a 50 minute walk from Pittsford to Bushnell’s Basin
along the Erie Canal; long enough to contemplate many things. It takes me 25 minutes to run that same
distance. From that evidence I deduce
that I run twice as fast as I walk. It
is an odd dichotomy. I’m no Ryan Hall,
but I run relatively fast compared to other guys in my age group, but I feel
ungainly when I walk. Maybe it’s my long
legs. The effort it takes to swing my
legs forward and the time that it takes to stride are so great. The small electric impulses that leave my
brain to contract my muscles and move my joints must be traveling on a very crowded
highway. Maybe I’m over-thinking it.
On this recent trip I walked a fair amount. The hotel I stayed at was less than a half a
mile from an access point to the Erie Canal.
On an early morning run I sensed a presence and looked over my left shoulder. There were two bucks running just behind
me. The turn of my head startled them
and they bolted into the woods. On two
of my runs I saw an old timer like me rowing a single scull on the canal. If I lived there, I would be that guy.
For several years I have been running many days a week and
my grasp of why I run continues to grow.
I find running, whether I am running well or not, deeply satisfying and this
blog has been an attempt to express my thoughts. On days like today where I am completely
taxed, running brings more pleasure than easier pursuits.
Well, that was fast.
My replacement Garmin Forerunner 205 was waiting for me when I got home
from my trip to Rochester, NY.
Today was the first installment of the RMRR’s Fall Marathon
Training Series. The races start and
finish at the Westminster City Park. The
course runs on the Big Dry Creek Trail.
It is mostly flat with a few, rolling hills. The course surface is a combination of smooth
dirt path and paved bike path. Today’s
event was cannibalized by yesterday’s Georgetown – Idaho Springs ½ Marathon and there were only about 40 athletes in the 10 and 20 mile races combined. I felt the effects of a week at sea level.
I have some family in town this weekend and yesterday we
took the cog railway to the top of Pikes Peak.
It was a beautiful, clear day. It
is hard to believe the temperature swing of 50 degrees from the station in
Manitou Springs to the top of the mountain.
The last time I took the train was with my parents on the 4th
of July, 2007. When we got on the train
to make the return trip down the mountain, Matt Carpenter was sitting in the
seat next to the conductor. For those
who aren’t familiar, Matt is one of the greatest trail runners of all time. Among his many running successes he is an 18
time winner on Pikes Peak (6 Ascents, 12 Marathons) and course record holder of
both. He won them both (the Double) in
2001 and 2007. His web site “Oxygen is Overrated”
has a lot of information about the Pikes Peak marathon and other writings on
the sport of trail running. The Pikes Peak Ascent and Marathon will be held next weekend, having been postponed due to the savage wildfires that swept through the foothills a month ago.
When I saw Matt, he had just run up the mountain and was
taking the train down. He was wearing a long
sleeve technical shirt and shorts. The
temperature was in the 30s and he was convulsing from the cold. I offered him my wind breaker, but he
refused. I couldn’t bear seeing him shiver,
so I started to take my jacket off, but he was adamant. He is much tougher than I am and it shows in
his signature line: go out hard, when it hurts speed up!
No comments:
Post a Comment