Awake Before the Sun

It’s 4:15am, and the absolute last thing I want to do is put on my shoes, walk down three flights of stairs, and put in my mileage. But, I do. And, I did yesterday. And, I will tomorrow. That said, I’ll be honest; my enthusiasm for running comes and goes. Some days, I want to run 25 and 30 miles. Others, I’m lucky to jog two or three. Today, I managed 7. Since I started my new job about two months ago, I’ve been fairly consistent, usually about 40 miles a week. Hardly, the 100+ miles I was doing a summer ago, but easily twice the mileage I was doing this past spring. It’s fair to say, I like running, and sometimes I even love it, at other times, well, not so much.

 Anyway, the reason I run before the sun comes up is because I work a pretty demanding job, and it’s just about the only time I get to run. Of course, I could run after I get back to my place, if it’s not already 10 or 11 o’clock, which is not always the case. I mean, it’s true; New York has a great nightlife.  Besides, Central Park is quiet and peaceful in the morning, and running at the time I do, I get to see the city wakeup. Not to mention, the boost from a morning run really wakes me up and starts my day off right. So, I keep running.

 Currently, I have no specific goals except to keep running and maybe to bump up my mileage a bit. Although, if I could whip my life into any kind of routine, I would like to try to push myself a bit more. It’s really just a matter of time and motivation. I mean, even though I haven’t raced in what seems like years, I don’t miss it too much. I’ll probably jump into some races this fall, just to keep myself honest. But until then, it’s more of my 4:15am runs.

Ice Cream Might Just Be Good For You

 Today on my morning run, I was thinking about something that I’d bet 90% of runners think about at one point or another. I was thinking about running fitness and specifically proper body weight. To speak to this point, I want to look at it from a couple perspectives. First, for the average non-competitive runner, running is often a tool to maintain proper body weight or work toward that goal of losing 5 pounds. And, that’s great. I think running is one of the best sports for overall fitness. Especially, since I am of the camp that does not believe that running is harmful, when done correctly. Here, I specifically mean with proper rest and proper form. In fact, running has been shown to improve bone density and fight osteoporosis. So for the average runner, running can be a great way to lose weight and improve overall fitness.

Now, for those of us competing, proper body weight plays a fairly significant role in both training and competition. Many veteran and professional runners know first-hand how to manage their body weight both in-season and out-of-season to maximize their efforts. Just to speak a bit more to that point, it’s common for male professional milers to drop 2-5 pounds in the lead-up to championship season, resulting in a 2-6 second drop in their mile time. It just makes sense that on race day you want to be your lightest. Now, with that in mind, a proper training weight is typically 4-8 pounds above competition weight. Maintaining this buffer is probably the most important aspect for competitive runners.

 In preparing for any competition, training always comes first. The competition is just the icing on the cake. So for purposes of improving performance, a proper body weight for training should be significantly above that for competition. You spend more time training than you do competing and your body needs more to recover from all the training than a single race. I like to think of this as a cushion against injury. Now, my experience may be anecdotal, but I have yet to suffer from a stress fracture, bone spur, tendonitis, or any other overuse injury in my running career, and I believe it’s because relative to my cross-country peers, I am the bigger guy. Through the course of the season, I simply have more to give. Now for other competitive runners, this may mean gaining a few pounds during the training season to keep up with the pack and avoid injuries. And, for others this may mean trying out some lower body weights for racing. The important thing is to maintain the buffer between training and racing body weight. For the lucky, that means eating an extra bowl of ice cream during season.

Run Like Ryan 

It’s been a while since I last wrote. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. First though, a quick update. Work is finally slowing down. The past month was incredibly busy, with 14-hour days in the office, a new apartment, and a few trips to the hospital. Thankfully, everyone is okay. But, just now am I getting sorted and starting to get everything into balance, which is really what I want to talk about. Running taught me a lot about relaxation, stress management, time management, and so many other life skills. A good friend of mine used to posit that running served as his “sense check” to know just how hard he was working and how well he was taking care of himself. Did those last 2 miles hurt because of that steak burrito for lunch or because of that all-nighter? Was it the excess caffeine and sugar or the hill repeats?

I’m guilty as any of semi-addicted use of caffeine. I like, at times it borders on love, a good cup of coffee. I’m not the same person in the morning without it, but I also have learned just what is that balance between the right amount and too much. Running has taught me that, and as things start to shape-up, I will definitely lean on running, so to speak, to maintain balance. To that point, let me say that this is not just running to feel good either. This is running to train. This is running to win. And let me be clear, there is a difference. That said, with two races in the next seven weeks and a series of races coming this spring, I am officially back in the game. A 5k and a string of half marathons should get me on the right track.

I’ve never been the type to race without a purpose or without a goal, and this will not be any different. Sure, my first race won’t be my best, but it is going to happen, and I will get better, which is all I expect. To speak a bit on different mindsets for running and for training, it’s said that Alan Webb, while amazing for all he has done, is a stickler for hitting every split exactly on the dot and never accepting anything else. While it’s clear that Ryan Hall, who runs with the best of them, is a bit more open to swings in pace and in training. I’m no Alan Webb and certainly no Ryan Hall, but I like to think that although I used to be much more like Webb in terms of training, that is just not sustainable, and so have become a bit more like Ryan Hall.