So I managed
to get my two maintenance runs in this week which had me feeling fully prepared
for this 5 mile run. Like the week before I was hoping to get more cardio
workouts in, but I was kept from doing so as I had to work and make some money.
I also had the opportunity to interview Brit Marling and Hailee Steinfeld about
their new movie “The Keeping Room,” and that seemed like a good reason to avoid
a workout.
Furthermore,
I got to interview Eli Roth and Lorenza Izzo about their cannibal movie “The
Green Inferno,” and watching that gave me a good enough reason to skip
breakfast, lunch and dinner. I’m hoping I lost a couple of pounds as a result.
After last
week, Coach JC became increasingly concerned that many of us were not in the
correct pace groups. Many of us in the 12 minute pace group came to realize
that we were better off running in the 13 minute pace group instead, and to
that effect we changed our pace from 3:1 to 4:1 which sounded like a good way
to go.
This week’s
run was the alumni run, so I felt compelled to bring Bubba Eeyore back as he
did accompany me on my 23 mile run back in 2014. I was hoping to see a lot of
friends from previous years, but that did not prove to be the case. Jessica and
Annette, how could you two sleep in this Saturday morning? I hope you have good
excuses!
The summer
season has ended and fall has begun, but that doesn’t mean much when you live
in Southern California because summer tends to extend its invitation all the
way into November. If that doesn’t convince you that climate change is not
fiction, then what the fuck will?!
I felt like
I got off to a good start as I made my way towards the streets of Burbank with
my fellow runners, but it didn’t take long for me to start lagging behind to
where I found myself running by my lonesome. I started to feel like a water
skier who was impatiently waiting for someone to throw him the tow rope so that
he can rise from the water and race upon it. Or in other words, I just wanted
someone to pull me so that I could keep up with everybody else.
You know,
when a runner stops short of completing a run because he or she doesn’t feel up
to it, that’s not a bad thing. In fact, it’s smart because it means you’re looking
out for yourself and not pushing yourself too hard. This was the first T2EA run
ever where I felt like I should have stopped sooner, but there still exists a
part deep down inside of me that is out to prove to the world I’m no quitter. Whether
it was refusing to switch high schools because I was miserable Freshman year or
refusing to quit the wrestling team because it was too much work, I still feel
like giving up on something is an inescapable sign of failure. After all these
years (never mind how many), it may be time to seriously rethink that
perspective.
I did get
saved momentarily by the Bolivers who were on hand to give us their usual
display of running fuel, and those peanut butter and pickle covered Ritz
crackers are always a lifesaver. They also had a cooler of ice cubes which I
quickly shoved into my water bottles before taking off. But it was still a hot
day so those ice cubes disintegrated in no time at all, and my water and grape
Gatorade remained unrefreshingly warm.
I feel like
I more or less limped to the finish line at Griffith Park, but I was happy to
see that Coach JC and my fellow pace group runners were still there waiting for
me to return. I told JC that I wasn’t sure why my running was off this week as
I did do my two maintenance runs, and he admits that he is still trying to get all
the runners into the right pace groups. The goal, he said, is to have everyone
run at a pace which is comfortable for them to where they are not huffing and
puffing for no good reason.
I told JC that
my hope is to do cardio workouts outside of my two maintenance runs. Swimming
comes to mind, and he liked that and encouraged me to do workouts that didn’t
put too much strain on my legs. He also encouraged me to avoid stair masters as
they can be especially hard on the joints. I haven’t been on one of those
machines since I was in high school.
One of my
fellow runners said he remembered when I ran with Bubba Eeyore a few years back
and that seeing him always brought a smile to his face. Bubba later came up to
him to say thank you, but that same runner started laughing hysterically to
where Bubba felt offended. Oh well, Bubba does get strong responses from one
person to the next.
So next week
I need to keep up with those maintenance runs, and hopefully I’ll fit in some
other cardio workouts as well. If only we had time to do all the things we
needed to do…
