Cold Running

This has been an unseasonably cold winter. I look back at how many runs I had in minus 20 range weather and realize that my wind ravaged face has been well earned. Other runners from these hardy climes understand and go through the same seasonal temperature swings, but we can't forget the other folks who brave the cold for reasons other than running.

We all see them regularly, huddled shivering just beyond the ten metre mark from main entrances to public buildings, or in wind-protected back entrances. Rain, snow, sleet, fog... nothing keeps this group from their regular foray into the elements. These are the smokers, of course, that dying breed of determined adventurers, and one of the saddest of outdoor sights. But look objectively and you see that these people hate being outside in this weather and are driven by their addiction. It isn't choice.

Huddled on hot air vents or in doorways and alleys, beneath piles of dirty textiles if they're lucky, the homeless are another group of people seen outside in all types of weather. These are the ones your heart goes out to, the ones who need those emergency shelters and food lines, and the ones for whom I am most willing to help through the agencies that provide services for them.

Then there are workers. Parking lot attendants, construction workers, police... bundled up quite snugly in most cases, but you just know that the chill must inevitably work its way through to their marrow.

Compared to the above, runners have it pretty sweet. We generate heat as we run, and we're totally out there by choice. Even if you view running as an addiction, you can't argue that using a treadmill is not an option. I look at the snow blowing around outside the window right now, and I have to admit that it doesn't bother me. I love living here, and I guess the snow and the cold are part of the bargain.

If It Ain't Fun, You're Not Playing Fair

I keep getting faster. My regular 10km course takes me under 53 minutes consistently for a few months now, and recently it's far from unusual to do it in less than 52 minutes. Winter times last year used to be much closer to 60 minutes, consistently closer to 56 minutes. Why?

One reason is that I weigh less. Last winter I was between 165 and 170, and I'm now hovering around 160 all the time. That helps to increase speed, but so does the fact that I focus on increasing speed in pretty much every run. A tempo run is an average run for me.

This measurable improvement is infinitely motivating. It makes every morning exciting, an event to look forward to. It's all part of a game, a game that has infinitely variable rules that I can change whenever and however I like. Take a creative approach to it, never let it get stale.

There were quite a few runners out on the route when I ran in Ottawa a couple of weekends ago, and that is unusual for me since I always train alone at 4 am. I loved the challenge of trying to overtake the person in front of me. No I didn't stick my tongue out as I passed them or anything, just in case they turned out to be a tax auditor or something in that bureaucratic town.

So if I go out and don't break any records or come in a minute or two slower than usual, I don't sweat it in the slightest. As long as all systems are functioning ok, it's all good.

A Crash is All Relative

Watching American Idol, almost ready to crash for the night. It was a long day of commuting through a blizzard that was definitely oversold on the weather reports but was fatiguing nonetheless. It was the first day in a long time that I almost didn't run or work out.

This morning I awoke 15 minutes later than usual, sorely tempted to take my first day off in months. It was a rough weekend; ten kilometres of ice skating every day, 10 and 20 kilometres of running through greasy snow on top of that, and twelve hour days of standing at the motorcycle show booth answering insurance questions which can be less than inspiring. It gets challenging to keep it fresh, to stay enthused.

So this morning I compromised, went to the gym even though it's only been two days since the last gym workout. Oh well. If that's the extent of my crash, I think I can live with it. Keep on giving it all you've got and you won't be disappointed, because someday you won't have as much to give.

The Movement for Movement

It's all over the internet: pages and pages of well-designed, articulate sites that promote fitness, health, and nutrition. Loads of free, sensible advice and information. Example: FenrirFitness, a site that coordinates useful tweets with well written, highly useful articles. Another example: fytnessfanatik, where the links to Facebook are more predominant and the focus on fundraising for worthy causes such as multiple sclerosis is emphasized. Other sites such as prsfit offer highly professional training options from a convenient online perspective. The list goes on and on.

This is over and above the high volumes of excellent information you can get online from Runner's World and other fitness magazines.

Countless legions of people post their bios online, people who have conquered all sorts of physical and mental conditions and continue to triumph thanks to fitness regimes that they generously share with the world. So do some searching and see what you find; it's limitless.

Today's tip: wear proper gloves when you run. Frostbite is a real condition, and it can happen. Leave a little space at the tips of the fingers on the coldest days for warm air to collect and protect your fingertips.

The Ghost in the Machine

We are muscle and sinew, tissue and bone, blood, sweat, and tears. Complex, extremely complex systems and parts operate these bodies of ours, complex beyond absolute understanding. Some of our physical malfunctions are pretty straightforward and easily explained. What isn't so simple is knowing how much time is needed to heal, what the most effective method of treatment is, when to say everything is back to normal. And often diagnosis is far too simplistic, misleading, or too convenient.

What I'm saying is that you may have cold symptoms but you learn from experience how far you can push through without taking time off from training. If you have a sore ankle, it may not be enough to stop you. You can certainly make mistakes, just as doctors can be off in their diagnoses.

To complicate matters, and as everyone knows, your mental state has an enormous effect not only on your approach to fitness and health but on your actual physical health. Mental and emotional stress, for example, greatly affect the healthy function of your body. It's almost like stereo feedback sometimes; is the mental angst causing the physical problems, or vice versa, and how do you stop the mad spiral?

Running helps to reduce stress. Reduced stress affects physical and mental health positively. Cardio health, muscle and bone strength... the list goes on and on. So even in complexity there are some pretty clear signs.

The Basics: My Inviolable Rules for Beginner Marathoners

There are a lot of variables in how people approach running. You would think it would be simple. After all, this is one of the most fundamental of human activities and we’ve been doing it as a species ever since we spotted the first sabre tooth tiger staring at us after we fell out of a tree. However, like all other activities, you need to adhere to certain basic rules when you begin and then get fancy after you know what you’re doing. It’s all about learning your body’s abilities and testing its limits gradually. Your mind and spirit also improve exponentially, and stress, although it never disappears, is far more manageable when you run it off.

I want to point out some rules that I think are inviolable for the beginning runner to ensure that he or she successfully reaches a level at which he (or she) can make informed decisions that should not cause huge problems.

1.Go to your local running store (The Running Room is an excellent chain of stores in Canada). Get fitted for the correct running shoe for you. The salesperson will explain pronation, stability, and such terms related to how you step, and will give you the appropriate selection of shoes. This is critical; go for the highest quality shoe you can afford. Most expensive isn’t necessarily necessary, but I use the top of the line Nike (which I buy cheaper at Nike Factory Outlet).

2.Soccer shorts are for soccer, not for running marathons. Cotton is rotten. Microfibre is mandatory. The clothing you wear when running is also extremely important. Again, if you get outfitted at the Running Room you will be correctly attired. This, too, is critical.

3.Start reading Runners World. They have charts for mapping out your marathon training schedule. (The Running Room has that stuff too, excellent books, etc.) Learn tons. Read a lot; iRun and Canadian Running are two other excellent Canadian running magazines, and John Stanton, owner of the Running Room, has some excellent books out there as well. Adhere to a training schedule religiously for your first marathon at least. And don't neglect blogs such as Richard's blog for motivation and solid advice.

4.Join the free group running sessions at the running store if it fits your schedule. Join the training group that costs about $75 at the Running Room if you like training in groups and if it fits your schedule.

5.Pay close attention to your diet. Read everything that running publications say about nutrition. You need carbs, tons of them. Protein, less so. Eat fibre as though you were bovine. And drink water, lots of it; other drinks don’t matter, except that you want to drink Gatorade on runs to accustom your body to that form of carbs, and for energy on those runs.

6.Make sure you have a good crap early in the morning every day; make sure this happens like clockwork. Come race day, this is probably more important than anything else.

7.Stretch appropriately. It is possible to stretch too much. It is also possible to stretch too little. Either can cause painful injuries.

8.Stick with it. Run through pain, but don’t run through injury. Increase mileage gradually. Don’t expect to improve dramatically overnight; you WILL improve dramatically over time if you stick with it for years. It’s going to hurt sometimes, but once you get addicted to the high, you will find that quitting is really pretty much impossible.

9.Join dailymile.com to track your mileage. The other folks on that website will give you instant feedback and support. You will be awestricken and amazed.

10.Time your routes; depending on your geek level, go with expensive Garmin watches or the much less expensive Nike Plus or Adidas Coach stuff. More info is available at Running Room. It all works just fine, so take your pick. Hell, use a stop watch or just a simple watch if you like. This will, more than anything, get you to edge up that speed just a notch.

It’s all about acting on your impulses. See you on the road!

Balance

Try running with your arms crossed, or in some otherwise inflexible, unnatural position. Doesn't really work, does it? Everybody knows that, but you don't really think about what the rest of your body is doing above your waist when you run.

Finding balance in what you do does not mean standing still or steering as close to the perceived mainstream as possible. To me it means finding ways to achieve my goals that are fun, achievable, and sensible to me, and that have the most positive outcome short- and longterm for my family. One must always search for little ways to tweak habits and practices, and I take enormous pleasure in those eureka moments that result in great gains in whatever endeavour it may be. That's what makes my job so much fun.

Stupid and weakly considered criticisms should be dispensed with as quickly as possible. The people who propogate that kind of shit should be pushed to the periphery of your life at the very least, unless they're immediate family members, in which case intensive, relentless education must begin. Cultivate relationships with hardworking, energetic, good people, people who add value to your life in some way.

You have to consciously live the above mantra and avoid slipping into poor habits and unhelpful relationships. A running lifestyle puts that into focus; would you continue to spend time with a useless coach? Would you run with partners who drag you down, have no goals to work with, don't help you or refuse to be helped?

Exactly.