1. Training — Obviously one needs to train for these races. But it is not that simple. There are apparently good ways to train and bad ways to train. There is over-training and under-training, speed training and distance training, cardio training and cross- training. There is hill-training and track-training and even stair training. There is day training and night training and elevation training. Running too much is bad, but how much is too much?... and that too much is a running (moving) target. Increasing your distance is a good thing, sometimes. Running too little is a bad thing, but your muscles need rest and recovery. It is exhausting to manage all of these aspects of training. But they must be managed in some way or one will get injured and/or perform poorly.2. Weight — another deceivimgly simple aspect of running. That is to say, it seems like it should be simple, but it is just not. On the surface one might think the skinnier a runner is, the better. Does it not seem like all of the good distance runners are super thin, if not from Ethiopia or Nigeria or some place like that? In my race last month, I was taking with a guy about mile 6 and he told me I was a big guy, so clearly I have not managed the weight aspect. I will cover this further in the “diet” category.
3. Diet — ok. I’ll just cover diet now then. This one is possibly long-winded. Thinner is better, right? It stands to reason that the heavier one is, the harder it is for them to propel all of that weight forward. Makes sense, right? So, let’s go on a diet. No. Running every day and a long distance (for the sake of argument, I am considering a half marathon or more a long distance) every month is not conducive for decreasing calorie intake. No matter what diet you choose, the old mantra of eat less, move more does not work for a runner. Most of the running magazines suggest that you should eat more. Then there is the whole inigma of what to eat. More protein? Less carbs? More carbs? All- natural? Organic? Vegan? Keto? Prolon? Seriously. How does the average person decide what is best for them? Which brings up another point. Is there one that is better for all, or is everyone different? Is it possible that greasy hamburgers and French fries is the best diet for some, and a rabbit’s diet is better for others? Who really knows? Then when you do decide the best diet for you, is it still appropriate when you run 30-40 miles every week?
4. Time — To run a half marathon takes me somewhere between 1 hour and 38 minutes (so far) to 2:10. Once a month on average is not that much time. Most people would likely be able to swing that. Training (back to training), however takes more time. Some quick math tells me that 30-40 miles per week at an 8:00/mile pace takes somewhere between 240 minutes (4 hours) and 320 minutes (5.33 hours). — per week — every week. Times 52 weeks = 208 hours (8.67 days) and 277 hours (11.5 days). That is not even calculating cool-down time — which is significant. It takes a good 30 minutes at least to stop sweating after running 3 miles. Trust me when I tell you that I have tried very hard to decrease that time frame, but I still end up sweating through my clothes after my shower if I rush it, no matter what method I use. Add a half of an hour each day for cool down. That is another 182.5 hours (7.6 days of cool down). Exhausting.
5. Meals — On the surface, this one looks like diet, but it is different. One must plan not only what to eat, but when to eat and how much to eat. If your only time frame to run for the day is from 5-6pm and dinner is planned for 5:30 or 6:00. What decisions do you make? Even if dinner is planned at 7:00pm, you still must plan the run to only take a certain amount of time — and don’t forget to plan for cool down. Nobody wants you sweating all over the table while they are trying to eat. Or imagine that you can’t seem to make the time until after dinner. Now you have to wait an hour or two before you run, unless you want to see your dinner again, plated slightly differently. Or what if it is late on Friday evening after you have taken an hour or two to digest your food, now you have to alter your running plan, because Saturday morning was your planned long run. There is also the matter of what you can eat. You can’t effectively eat a heavy, greasy, spicy meal before you go run... or maybe dairy products make your runs (no pun intended) more difficult. This is an every day consideration. Exhausting.
6. Muscles — How much aching is ok? How much pain is ok? Should it ever not hurt? I am not even taking about injury. That is a whole other topic. I am talking about every day, “normal”. Waking up in the morning. Should the first steps to the potty be totally pain free? When one works out, they get sore, right? But when does that soreness stop? And when is that soreness more than just normal soreness and a sign that you should do something differently. Before running, I never gave my Iliotibial band any thought at all. Now, I think about this muscle/tendon regularly. Calf pain. Always. My calfs hurt every day. Every day... to some degree.
7. Injury — Injuries happen, right? But you still have to run, but you cannot run and train in the same way, so each injury derails your training. How many “rest days” cause you to lose your gains? For me the answer appears to be 3 days. If I do not train well for three days, I lose what I have gained. When I injured my calf, after I was properly healed, it took me 4-6 months to regain where I was prior to the injury. When I injured my hamstring, it has been a little over a month now and I am
30 sec per mile slower than I was before injury.
8. Feet — My feet are not great. Particularly my toes. Calluses, blisters, blood blisters, purple, lost toe nails. Some times seem better than others. Finding the right shoes is important, but even after you find the right shoes and all your toes heal up and toe nails grow back, something changes and your toes get beat up again. Who knows why or when? Plantar fasciitis, heal pain, tendinitis, etc. Running is bad on feet.9. Restroom — This will not be too gross, I promise, but going to the bathroom needs to be managed... particularly on race day. The race today started at 6:30am. So, I had to get up at 4:00am to get food with enough time to digest and enough time to go potty prior to leaving for the race. That sounds easy, but our bodies develop routines and 4:00am is not my normal potty routine. So, sometimes I am frantically hunting a porta-potty so I can manage things prior to the race start. Every race I see someone running into the porta-potty in the middle of the race. That will slow you down. Not to mention, it is important to hydrate properly for the race. Of course, what happens when you are properly hydrated? One must go pee. These things must be managed.
10. Travel — I won’t belabor this point as most of you have traveled and are aware of the difficulties and stressors and the general difficulties associated with traveling. Traveling to a different state at least every month, I am traveling a lot, and most of these trips are quick one or two day turn-arounds. Seems like constant travel.
11. Nipples — I know, it sounds weird. But yes, one MUST manage their nipples when running. When the shirt gets wet, the nipples chafe. It is as simple as that. And it HURTS!! It can make you stop. I use body glide and that is super helpful for other parts of my body that are prone to chafing, but when you use Glide on your chest, it ruins your shirt. From that day on, every time you sweat while wearing that shirt that has Glide on it, it leaves a dry spot on your shirt that accentuates where your nipples are under the shirt. It looks very weird. Ok so this point maybe should have just been titled “chafing” in general because chafing is a big deal. I have mentioned before, numerous times that I have special shorts that are super expensive. I have special socks and special shoes. All of which are designed to improve performance in some way, but much of their job is to prevent chafing. There is a lot of friction going on and something has to be done to manage the friction. Maybe I should have titled this point “friction”.
12. Clothing — This one is another one that seems easy on the surface. I have already mentioned several things that need to be managed with regard to clothing. Friction, in particular. Sweat is another big deal for clothing and running. The more sweat, the more clinging, the more chafing. So, all of your clothes must be wicking in nature, so they do not get extremely wet and heavy and clingy. Sweat will also commonly travel down your head and in your eyes, nose, mouth. Each of these have their own issues, like seeing and breathing... you know, the minor issues. So, I wear a visor. I would wear a hat, but then the heat does not escape properly off the top of your head. And sweat bands are so... 1980’s. Maybe they will make a comeback. Nobody really cares if you match or not. Nobody really cares if your clothes are stylish. When your mouth is gaped open and you are dripping with sweat and your clothes are all stuck to your chest anyway, who cares if it is the latest fashion? (Are you supposed to use a question mark when the question is rhetorical?). One other bit of management when it comes to clothes, is laundry, from a few different respects. To be clear, giving all the due praise and respect to my wife, I do not do the laundry. She is wonderful... and she does my laundry for me. Thanks Valerie. Still, it is an issue. Wet, smelly clothes do not belong in a suitcase, but ya gotta get them home, right? So, that must be managed. Also, after several good sweats, your clean clothes take on a bit of odor that rears it’s stinky head again the next time you wear them. My daughter REFUSED to come near me, much less hug me one evening because she barked, “you stink!!” OUCH! One other thing that I just remembered that maybe does not belong in this category is the sweat pool that is daily left on the floor during the cool down period. The reason I included it here is that sweaty, wet clothes have to be managed differently than your other worn garments. One cannot simply toss them on the floor or in the corner and deal with them later. That could damage the marriage.
13. The brain and/or motivation — Some of the difficulty is in mid-race. Sometimes it is simply mid-week or mid-day. While training with my children, I have often remarked that the biggest “muscle” that we are training is our mind. Training one’s self to continue, much less go faster is tough work. Training one’s self to continue through the pain is very difficult. It is very easy to stop, to rest, to slow down, to skip a day, to walk a few miles, to run fewer miles than planned. And it seems the more you “quit”, the easier quitting becomes. Your brain must be managed... constantly.
14. Expectations -- I discovered the hard way that it is extremely important to manage your expectations. Apparently not every race is a personal best. Maybe not even a decent race. It simply isn't your day some days, I am beginning to learn. Your training, your diet, your hydration could all be good and you cannot seem to perform to the level that you anticipated or hoped. It is sometimes a major disappointment.
I am certain there are more things that must be managed in this process, but I think you are getting the point. I suppose everything in life requires a degree of management, maybe even constant management. It has been my experience that nothing of value in life is easy. If it were easy, you would not likely value it any longer. Ipso facto, this project/goal must be quite valuable, because it has proven to not be terribly easy.
Today’s race was the Goodyear Akron Half Marathon. I will write about this race specifically in a separate entry.
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