Monday, October 12, 2009

Crewing, Recovering, & Converting

It’s been time to ease-off a bit and enjoy the Fall. I feel that I recovered well after IT50 and I have just been out and enjoying the Fall weather and colors. The nicest thing has been running with Joe and helping him to get ready for his Fall ultra, CanLake50(K), which was this past Saturday. Despite reports that the day was to start out rainy and overcast and that it would blow over early, it didn’t happen that way. The day started out with temps in the high 40s, raining, and overcast. It was actually pretty nice weather, if you were running. I, however, was crew for Joe this time around. It was great fun and an honor to do this job, but it did get a little cold at times as I was standing and waiting for Joe to come into the aid stations. I suppose I could have sat in the car, but I really wanted to watch the other runners and help out Lorrie, who was at different stages of the race than Joe. All in all, it was a really fun day with Joe finishing the 50K in 5:44:XX and Lorrie 5:08:XX. A warmer day would have been nice for the crews but definitely deadly for the runners.

I have been reading “Born To Run” by Christopher McDougal. It really is a great book and I am becoming a total convert. I am really seeing the light of less being more. It’s time to go back to “old-school” running, time to get rid of the straps and spending so much on the latest styles of sneakers. I have been running in an old pair of Asics Gel Trainers, which are a pretty flat running shoe and very light weight. I have been focusing more on my form and am finding out that running in these lighter less shoes has made my form better. Running is feeling less of an effort and much more enjoyable. And, much to my chagrin, I have to say that Joe has always been on to something. I am always after him to get new shoes and get more cushion under him. I am finding out that as long as the form is good and there are no structural parts altering your foot function, running in those old shoes is OK. It’s a neat concept and hard to explain, but I would highly recommend reading this book and seriously thinking about how you run.

It’s now time to start getting ready for the Stone Cat 50-Miler on November 7. This is a really awesome race. Last year was the first time running it for me and for Joe, who did the marathon (which he will be doing again this year). The course is a 12.5-mile loop which is run 4 times for the 50 miles. The volunteers are great and have a lot of fun out there and the amenities are totally excellent with a tech shirt when you get your number and a great jacket when you finish! And did I mention free beer?! It doesn’t get any better than this and you completely get back your $75 entry fee with all the stuff. And it will be another “family reunion” with Barbara, Greg, Karen, Rob, Will, Laura, and Jeff. Looks like this year we will also get to reunion with Aliza, Kelly, and Jack from Vermont. I guess it’s time to get back into training mode . . . I mean, it is a race, isn’t it? It’s just hard to think of it that way when you’re having so much fun.

And Heineken Cup rugby is back in action. My Munster team had a bad weekend, losing to Northampton. My man, O’Gara, had a bad day kicking, and I thought at the last minute the team might come through, but it just didn’t happen. Just as bizarre was the match between Leinster and London Irish, with London Irish beating the defending Heineken Cup Champions Leinster. Very Bizarre. But I’m not giving up on the Irish men of Leinster and Munster . . . they will come back.

So that’s it for this week; not much to report. Had to break-out the tights today for the first time . . . it was a whopping 34 degrees when we went out to run! I had the constraints of wearing tights, but I think I have a few more shorts-wearing days left.

Over-and-out for now. Have a great week and get out and enjoy the cool Fall weather and the great mosaic of colors!

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