Found the Carolina North trail View Comments
When Mala and I started looking for homes, we listed on a yellow notepad all the things that were important to us. Like most little notes in my life, it got lost. I found it a few days after we moved into our home and was pleasantly surprised that we had gotten everything on our list, except a lake view. Not bad, and there's a lake about a half mile from our door. One of the things on that list that we "kinda" got was "running trails nearby". I say "kinda" because there is a trail which is just behind the back of our property, but I wouldn't call it a running trail. It is a paved trail which runs behind the houses in our neighborhood and extends about 1 mile in total length. It is mostly through woods or along the lake, so it's nice, but it's not a running trail. A running trail is not paved. More importantly, a running trail goes for miles and miles, so that you can feel like you are away from (sub)urban life.
So this was one of those things on our "list" that I would say we checked off, but, not really, you know?
I went for a run recently and I can now say with certainty that this is my dream house. That paved running trail which I had been so ambivalent about eventually ends at a main road. And that's where I thought it ended. On Thursday, I crossed the road and found a little mowed path which takes you to the local high school. And then you take a right and WOW! A huge forest with a 10 foot wide rock and dirt trail opens up in front of you. I started down this trail, expecting it to end at someone's private property, but it kept going and going and going. It ran next to a bubbling stream with water clear enough to see the river's bottom. There were countless little paths snaking away from the main one. I just kept running and it just got more and more beautiful. I wish I had brought my camera. It felt like a religious experience. I couldn't believe that this beautiful, seemingly endless trail - the type of trail that I would have driven miles to get to in the past - was in my backyard. I ended up running 11 miles, which is longer than I have run since moving to North Carolina. I can't wait to run there again. This is just another example of how I am the luckiest man in the world. I always wanted to live in a house near trails like this, but didn't think it was possible, so I settled for a little "running trail". Just my luck, it turns out to be the trail of my dreams :-)
I've been a runner for a long time. I started running in junior high school, so I could be on the track team. I've had a few long stretches where I didn't run, but for most of the past 25 years, I've been a runner.
It wasn't until the 2005 New York Marathon though, that I really felt like a runner. I had already run 2 marathons, but I had walked a lot in both of them. I ran the entire NYC Marathon from beginning to end. That, to me, was a huge deal. Before 2004, I don't think I would ever have believed that I could do that. I don't necessarily think that using walk breaks makes you any less of a runner. But, for me, using walk breaks was a crutch. I'd gotten to the point that running 3, 4 or even 5 miles was easy. I dreaded anything longer than that. If I was planning a 9 mile run, I would start doing math in my head around mile 3. "OK, I've done 3 miles, now I just need to do that again... and then again..." And that's where I would defeat myself. I mean, I was already tired at mile 3! How was I going to do that same distance twice more?
Sometime around 2004, that changed. I was working at Metropolitan Hospital, which is on 96th street and 1st avenue in NYC. I had decided to run the NYC Marathon in 2005, but I wasn't training enough. After the subway ride home from work, I would be drained, and going out for a run at 6 or 7 PM was just too much to even think about. I'm so glad that I had made the decision to run the marathon. I hadn't even signed up - it was way too early - but that decision in my brain was firm. I knew that I had to find a way to train. Running in the morning was an option, but if you know me, then you know that it wasn't. :-) Ironically, I'm now up before 5AM every day these days because of my 2 precious little ones. But, back in those bachelor days, mornings didn't exist.
I decided to make running part of my daily commute. I would take the subway to work and then run home after work. I was living on 22nd St and 3rd Avenue, so it was a 5 mile run along the East River. Living in NYC was so convenient in that way. I never had to worry about leaving a car at work or figuring out what to do if I couldn't run all the way home. The subway was always there. I started out by running every couple days, then every other day, and then, as many days as I could. It was great for training and for my peace of mind. There's no better way to release the stress of a workday than a long, easy run. I got much faster during the summer of 2004, and in September, I ran the Staten Island Half Marathon in 1:41:56, which is much faster than I ever dreamed was possible at that time.
But getting faster is not the point of this article. Running longer is.
The other thing that happened that summer was that I met and fell in love with Mala. By the next spring, we had decided to move in together, and we were both living in her tiny little apartment in the Bronx. At first, this curbed my running a bit. But, eventually, I came to the same conclusions that I had made the year before. I had to run and the only feasible way was after work. But, the commute was now 8 miles instead of 5. And instead of a leisurely jog along the East River, I now had a somewhat exhausting urban trek through some shady neighborhoods. I never had any real problems, but I always felt a little fear during parts of my run. Every once in a while a teenager would see me running and shout something at me, or run along with me for a few steps. But, it always seemed playful, so I never felt too threatened. Running with a backpack through the South Bronx probably made me the craziest thing in the neighborhood, so I didn't need to worry :-) Anyway, the point is that my run was now longer and subway stops were fewer and further between. In addition, I had all that fear, so I felt that I needed to conserve energy in case, you know... I needed to sprint!
So, I ended up running a lot slower. Even though I was pretty sure I could make it 8 miles, I started a lot slower and didn't start speeding up until I was within a mile or two of home. And I don't mean just a little slower. I would run so slow that I felt people were thinking, "Why doesn't he just walk?". That was tough for me. As much as I hate to admit it, I do think about what other people think, and the last thing I want anyone to think is that I'm a slow runner. But, I purposefully shed those superficial inhibitions in the name of survival. I would slow WAY down. This eventually served two purposes. The most important immediate purpose was that it allowed to me to get home safely each night. The more lasting purpose was that it gave me the confidence that I can always build up energy by slowing down. No matter how tired I was, if I slowed down enough, I would build up energy again. I know it makes sense, but I didn't believe it until I tried it. And I guess I thought I had tried it before, but the problem was my ego. I had never let myself really slow enough to the point that it was valuable. Slowing down was the best thing I ever did as a runner.
So, that's how I was able to run the NYC marathon without stopping in 2005. Now, even when I haven't been training regularly, I know that I can run 10+ miles on any given day. Just by slowing down. They won't be the fastest 10 miles I've run, but it's such a great feeling to know that I can do it. It gives me freedom in my runs, too. I know I can take any hill, just by slowing down. I can speed up at any point in my run, just by slowing down before and afterwards.
So, if you've gotten to the point that you can run 3 miles comfortably, but couldn't dream of running 10 or 20, slow way down. So slow that you feel like a fraud. See if that doesn't let you run longer. And if that fails, try running in the Bronx :-)
Running is good for your knees View Comments
At the minimum, there is no evidence that it is bad for your knees.
I've been meaning to thank Deepu for giving me a list of some cool podcasts to check out. My commute is about 30 minutes each way, and listening to podcasts I enjoy helps keep me sane. I added the Moth Podcast, NPR Selected Shorts, and RadioLab to my podcast list and have been enjoying all of them. NPR Shorts is my favorite of the bunch. It's usually 2 short stories being read live somewhere in NYC. I love short stories. I thought I loved them because they're short. Reading a novel just takes too much devotion sometimes. But there's something more than that, too. I just love how a good short story starts with a simple premise or a few simple characters and then draws you in, so that within a minute, you feel completely involved.
I was running today even though I didn't want to. I figured I'd just go around the block, maybe a mile. I strapped my nano Ipod to my arm and started off, feeling completely unmotivated. A minute of slow jogging later and I was deeply engrossed in a great story about a middle-aged long distance runner in NYC who jogs back to her old neighborhood and gets accosted by the new neighborhood kids living there. I couldn't stop now! So instead of turning right, I turned left and took the long way home. (Well... 3 miles long).
Podcasts - they'll make you healthier!
Long Ride, Long Run View Comments
I did something yesterday that I haven't done before. I took a ride on the subway from one end all the way to the other end. I took the D train from 205th street in the Bronx to Coney Island/Stillwell Avenue in Brooklyn, passing through Manhattan on the way. Left at 6:04 AM and arrived at 7:46 AM, just in time to make it to the start of the Brooklyn Half Marathon. It was a beautiful day to run.
I've only been running for a few weeks since taking a "long" time off, so I was happy with my 2:00:50 finish.