Shortest Fat Season Ever

We have a joke at the end of ultimate season that once you play your final game you start "fat" season (or fat week/fat month). It's more of an acknowledgment that you get to take a break from the last several months of working hard, giving up happy hours, and waking up early on Saturday mornings, etc. The end of September was my official start of "fat season" and I indulged it for the first few days. Until I went for a run, and I got hungry for running season. Then I saw this: Leadville 100.

There isn't much time to rest in between ultimate and running season. It's helpful that ultimate season keeps me in well enough shape that I can transition into running a bit easier, but mentally it can be a challenge. I'm basically trading one time consuming hobby for another. Add on the million other fun things to do in Colorado over the winter and the off-season of ultimate can be more of a time drain than the on.

I was lucky though to have a really good run first run so the mental hurdle of starting training wasn't too tall. It did get me thinking and I'd like to revisit a topic I've covered before; how to motivate your self to train when you really just want to sit on your couch, drink a beer, and watch House Hunters International on Hulu.

There are a few things that have helped me get out on a run in the past that I'm hoping to harness over the next few months. With the lessons I learned from the 50miler last summer I know I need to put in some longer hours on the trails and it's a bit daunting to think of the training road ahead. So this post is more of a self motivator, but I hope you can find something that may aid you going forward.

Sign up for a race

A great way to start running again is to sign up for a race. It gives you an end goal in mind, a finish line for training if that's what you need. It also motivates you to run for some higher purpose than just to run. I have a couple races on my docket for next year; Salida Run Through Time Marathon, Quad Rock 25mile. In addition to those I am hoping to get another crack at the North Fork 50miler and of course there's Leadville or another 100mile race. Those are all well and good, but they seem so far away. Even Salida, which is typically in March, seems far enough away that taking training seriously right now is difficult. I am looking into race that fall somewhere in the next few months to get me out and running, but sometimes even signing up for a race isn't quite enough of a push to get out on a Tuesday night.

Incentives. 

I've admitted before that podcasts are my guilty pleasure when road running. On days when I'm feeling really sluggish or unmotivated it's an incentive to catch up on episodes of Wait Wait Don't Tell Me. I typically only allow myself to listen to these podcasts on runs and I've found it to be quite a good motivator. I also recently picked up some great beer from Minnesota (Bells Two Hearted and a selection of Surly) with the caveat that I put in some miles before I can truly enjoy them.

Feeling shitty

While it might sound counter productive, whenever I'm feeling bad, especially stomach stuff bad, a run usually helps. I'm sure there's some sciencey stuff behind it, but all I know is if I'm feeling bad running it out often works. It's still difficult to go out on a run, but with the potential of feeling better and being able to do more fun things because you're feeling better is a nice perk. True, sometimes you don't feel any better, but I rarely feel any worse.

Being Weird

I read a quote that was posted by Grandma's Marathon on facebook "The days when you least feel like running are usually the days you need it the most". When all else fails I will sometimes, literally, chant "you're going for a run" in my car as I drive home from work. I don't let myself think about anything else and I just repeat, outloud, that I'm going on a run. I am not sure what people in the car next to me think, but it usually gets me focused enough on running that there is no other option when I get home but to put my shoes on. Perhaps by putting it out to the universe it's harder to say no when you unlock your front door?

Truth be told I'm about 50 parts excited and 50 parts terrified for what I'm hoping to accomplish next year so I'm also trying to harness that into a motivation to run. Right now I'm up to 8miles for a long run which means I have a ways to go, but I'll get there. If anything, I've started a google doc for Leadville so hit me up if you want to join my crew and I'll put your name on the list.

Desert Runners - Why we Run

I was lucky enough to attend a screening of the movie Desert Runners at the Denver Starz Film Festival a few weeks ago and wanted to take a moment to encourage anyone I can bug to see it when it comes out on digital media in December. If you want to check out the website and trailer here you go: Desert Runners. Don't accidentally try and download Dessert Runners, which would be an awesome movie too. If it doesn't exist yet I am willing to help make this happen because running and desserts go hand in hand in mouth.

The movie follows 4 runners as they attempt to complete the Grand Slam, running all four desert races in a single year. This was the first time I had ever heard of any of these races let alone that there was an added challenge to doing all four in a single year. Each race is 250K (155miles) and goes across the Atacama Desert in Chili, The Gobi Desert in China, The Sahara Desert in Egypt and a specialized loop course in Antarctica.

I'd rather have you watch the movie to see how it all plays out, but something that really stuck out for me was the one woman they followed throughout the movie. Samantha from Australia is a badass. Plain and simple. She was the most exciting person for me to watch throughout the movie and had to overcome some huge hurdles that touched the core of what it means to be a runner. There was an incident on the race course in the Sahara that changed the tenure of the rest of the challenge and no one would have questioned her dropping out. The story is best left to actually watching the movie so please do if you are able.

After the movie, the director did a short Q & A for people in the audience. One question really stuck out for me, someone asked her if she's signed up for a race yet herself. She acknowledged the feeling you get with runners at races, being part of a family, and that she got about 60% there to signing up for a race but hadn't. Her main reason; she said she lacked the "why". Following the runners that she did during this movie, she said each had a very compelling "why" that came out during the most difficult parts of races and that why helped them keep going or make the tough decision to stop. She said without that why she didn't think she could muster up the toughness needed to finish a race.

It got me thinking about why we run and why I run. I know I've touched on it some, probably in every post. But her answer made me think about what my "why" was.

Running isn't something I did when I was in high school or college. Running was a secondary thing I did to further some other athletic goal; tennis, softball, ultimate, etc. I ran my first race in 2002. I was living in Washington DC at the time and my roommate invited me home for Thanksgiving in Connecticut. We ran a 5 mile turkey trot, further than I had ever run in my life. I cannot remember my time, but I remember feeling like that was the hardest thing I had ever done. Flash forward to 2006, I was living in Breckenridge and started participating in the Nike Summit Trail Running Series. I wouldn't say I enjoyed the running, but I did enjoy the happy hour deals on snacks, the drink tickets, and the raffle. In 2007, as I was finishing up my internship and trying to plan my next steps I decided that I was going to run Grandma's Marathon. This was a race that I grew up with so it seemed like a fun adventure, besides it was in my hometown and I was going to be home anyways.

Choosing to run a marathon because you're going to be in an area anyways seems sort of silly. Marathons takes months of training and do a number on your body. Plus I had never done a race longer than 5 miles so I tacked on some additional shorter races to do to see how it felt. Side note I still cannot run through water stations to drink, I have to stop walk and gulp. But I ran that marathon and have been racing/running consistently ever since.

There are a lot of people in the racing community who run because they lost someone to a specific disease, or they are battling internal demons, or they wanted to get in shape and running transformed their lives and their health. A lot of people run to give back, to raise money for a charity, or to prove to themselves that they can do it. I cannot pinpoint a special moment or inspiration that made me start running. Beyond the convenience of a race being in my home town and having several months of unemployment to occupy my time.

But why do I keep running?

This question is harder for me to answer because there is not one thing that keeps me running. There are many things and most are tied to a specific race or goal which is constantly changing. That being said, I was able to come up with a sort of list on why I run.

1. Tradition

I run Grandma's Marathon because it was my first exposure to a race. I remember cheering for runners as they passed. My favorite memory is leaving an all night frisbee tournament to go down to the corner of 21st and London Road with my friend Matt to pass our friend James some Jolly Ranchers as he ran by. The crowd at this race is one of the best crowds ever and I keep coming back because being there feels like tradition. I give a nod to Lombard street as I run by in memory of my grandma and boompa, and I am still chasing the illusive sub 4 hour marathon on the way to Duluth from Two Harbors.

2. Fitness

I've always been athletic. I started playing sports so early I don't really have a memory of not being on some sort of organized team/league. Therefore I never took up running to get in shape or lose weight. However...I've never felt in better shape for life then after I started running. The year I started training for my first marathon I noticed a considerable improvement in my ultimate game, especially with defense. Running has helped me stay in shape in the off season and has kept me focused on being active year round.

3. Identity

Running has become part of who I am. It's more than just putting on shoes and putting one foot in front of the other. I've encouraged friends and family to start running. I volunteer at races or help crew/pace. A lot like ultimate, running has become a community that I am thankful to be a part of. I keep running not because I'm afraid of what would happen if I stopped, I keep running because it's just part of me now. If I wasn't able to run, I'd still be a part of running in some capacity. Much like an artist will always be an artist, once a runner always a runner.

To conclude, the director of Desert Runners is right that having a "why" to get you through the tough part of races is important. But lots of us runners make that why up on the spot in the race. Whether it's something deep like doing it for a lost friend or something superficial like "I don't want that person wearing the barefoot running shoes to beat me". Heck, sometimes you keep going because it's shorter to just finish than it would be to drop out. And sometimes, you don't keep going. You drop out (DNF) and no matter what your inspiration is that got you out there, sometimes you don't finish. But that doesn't mean you hang up the shoes for life.

In conclusion; the why isn't what helps you finish a race, the why is what keeps you going out for runs whether you're wearing a bib or just out in your neighborhood for a short jog.

Home

Home isn't the first thing you think about in regards to running. Actually home is usually referenced as a place to run away from. Despite the initial disconnect between home and running, I've been giving a lot of thought to the sense of place and what home means on a larger scale; both in terms of running and life in general.

I recently traveled home for my grandpa "Boompa"'s funeral. As I typed that I realized that I still reference Duluth, Minnesota as home, despite having lived in Denver now for nine years.

Duluth, MN just a little village on a hill next to the greatest lake of them all

I've been away from Duluth for most of my adult life. Yet I still always say I'm going home when I travel to Minnesota and I always label it as home in conversations. The message of home popped up a lot in the few days I spent with family. My nephew Braden asked when I was coming to see his new home, my mom asked when my sister and I would be home after drinking at the local watering hole with my shiny headed friend Matt, the priest at St. Paul's read a passage from a small bible given to Boompa before he went to war about home, and everyone asked if my home in Denver was underwater.

I feel blessed that I have a lot of places to call home, but I also feel like home extends to the people and activities I am lucky enough to be a part of. They are not always in the same place, but the act of being there or participating in it feels like home to me.

For many runners the act of running is home. The feel of moving your legs, pounding your feet on pavement or trail, it has a familiarity to it that evokes the idea of home. You can be running anywhere in the world and the constant will be the simple act of running. When I struggle in a race or training run I find the most success focusing in on the simpleness of running. One foot in front of the other, lift your knee up, keep your torso straight don't hunch over! The repetitiveness and expected helps tune your body back to what it needs to do to accomplish it's task. Sometimes we all need to go home to the mundane and expected to re-tune ourselves to the task at hand.

There are moments in races that feel home to me. Just like home, which can sometimes feel unsteady or exciting, the start of a race brings up the same feelings. For example, the start of Grandma's Marathon has been in the same place every year I've run it. You get on a bus and it drops you off at the Sonju Two Harbors car dealership and you slowly make your way from the biffys to the starting corral. Every year I'm nervous, excited, a little unsteady. But all those feelings are comforting in their familiarity. Home isn't always rainbows and sunshines, but there is comfort in its familiarity.

Beyond running I find home in lots of things in my life. Molly Brown is my ultimate home. Dale's Pale Ale is my home beer whenever I am at a liquor store or random bar in Frisco, Texas. My purple Patagonia Hoody with thumb holes is my home apparel whether runnings, skiing, frisbeeing, hanging, working, etc...

At the closing of Boompa's service, the priest described Boompa's home as being in his chair, with his pipe, and a dog at his feet. Home can mean a lot of things, but it's often the place you feel the most able to be yourself. Or rather you don't really think about yourself because you're able to just be. There's no limit on how many "homes" you can have, and if you are lucky you have many.