Country Roads, Take Me Home

May 30, 2020

Days until Lean Horse 50 mile race: 75

Days until Javelina Jundred 100 mile race: 152

Days until Cocodona 250: 336

This past Saturday was my first long run in 2 weeks. I had run a half marathon for Bigger Than The Trail Block Party on May 15th, then proceeded to get sick over Memorial Day weekend with chills, body aches, cough etc. that saw me getting a COVID-19 swab-to-the-brain test. I got the result a few days later; A positive result that I still had a brain (thank God) but fortunately negative for COVID – whew! This is especially good since I am in contact with patients and staff all day long and I do not want to risk exposing people to the virus if I was positive. That meant staying out of the office until I got my results back, but better to be safe in these pandemic times.

Coach Megan Roche had a 90-120 min run on the schedule; we were going to do 15 miles, but due to the illness we decided to scale it back. On my long runs I try to average 12-13 min/mile (perfect back-of the-pack-pace!), so that would put me around 10 miles for the run. When I run, I do so using a run/walk/run method that Jeff Galloway has popularized over the years. It is seen as well in most couch-to-5K (and longer) apps and schedules; this involves running a certain amount of time, followed by walking for another amount of time. Rinse and repeat. According to Jeff’s Training website:

“Why do walk breaks work?
By using muscles in different ways from the beginning, your legs keep their bounce as they conserve resources. When a muscle group, such as your calf, is used continuously step by step, it fatigues relatively soon. The weak areas get overused and force you to slow down later or scream at you in pain afterward. By shifting back and forth between walking and running muscles, you distribute the workload among a variety of muscles, increasing your overall performance capacity. For veteran marathoners, this is often the difference between achieving a time goal or not. Walk breaks will significantly speed up recovery because there is less damage to repair. The early walk breaks erase fatigue, and the later walk breaks will reduce or eliminate overuse muscle breakdown.”

http://www.gallowaynyc.org/walk-breaks–the-long-run.html

I started using Jeff’s training methods during my training for the Disney Food and Wine Half Marathon in 2016 via a coaching app, then worked with him (though his website coaching) for the Chicago Marathon. I found that by running in this manner I was able to run longer and farther. This allowed me to enjoy running more, and eventually helped me to complete the Chicago Marathon in 2017. When I found out that this is a common tactic in trail ultras (run the downhills, hike the uphills, run/walk the flats) I knew they would appeal to my running style. Not to mention that they are usually run in the mountains, in the desert, over the hills and through the woods – all places I have grown to love!

So back to my long run. The morning weather was beautiful: 62 and mostly sunny, with a light breeze. I started on one of my usual routes along the edge of the city; one that has larger soft shoulders I can run on to better mimic trails. The trails we have around my town are mostly paved bike trails; great for biking and running shorter distances, but I prefer the softer trail-like areas which are much fewer and farther between here in North Central Iowa. We do have many county roads, some of which are gravel, dirt or a combination of the two. On a whim, I decided to turn left instead of right after 2 miles and take a county road that becomes a dirt/gravel road after a quarter mile. After a half mile and a small hill, you cannot see anything but farm fields and groups of trees. It feels like the middle of nowhere; as if you are the only person for miles. So tranquil and peaceful. I turned my music off and soaked in the sights and sounds of nature; bird calls, wind rustling through the leaves of nearby trees, rows upon rows of newly emerging corn plants heading off into the distance as far as the eye can see. Wow. My legs turned over effortlessly and I moved smoothly over the dirt and gravel roads, enjoying the miles as they went by. As Rob Steger would say, I had achieved flow state – at least for a bit.

Too soon I came back to a paved road and followed it in to finish my 10 miles for the day. Feeling a bit sore but relaxed after such a cathartic run, I packed up and headed back home, having enjoyed my alone time in the country solitude. What a wonderful way to spend a Saturday morning!