Bug Running

Look to the bug. Hmm, yuck, right? Anyway, it's my running philosophy.

The story so far...

One night, a slightly tipsy sergeant made a, hmm, influenced suggestion that I should run a marathon with him. Sober me took it and ran w...Let me avoid that pun if I can...Decided to pursue his suggestion with some zeal. 3 months later and a couple hundred miles of training and I'm ready to go for my run. Then the WLC (that's the warrior's leader course for those non-mil-types (NMTs) out there) bomb hits.

WLC sucks on oh so many levels that there's just no way to sugar coat it. Amongst the suckage, running is right there. Now, running was never fun in my mind. Even as I've gotten better it's not something I really do for pleasure, but there's a certain involvement and flow that makes it something you end up doing and even liking almost against your will. Now, imagine running along, nice and smooth. No cares in the world, almost like you're flying. Okay, now bunch up in a group of people and clomp along at a weird tempo while being yelled at. Now, don't swing your arms, and as a matter of fact, how about you carry a rifle in front of you while you run? And, oh, I don't know, instead of a nice long route, let's just sprint up hills for 20 minutes a day. How's that sound? Yeah, suck.

WLC was probably the slowest month of my life and after that I slid into the death of many a runner, apathy. Let's face it, WLC sucked the will to do almost anything from me.

So what was the turnaround? A magical little place called Hokkaido. Didn't have anything to do with running, but just getting out there and having some fun really invigorated me in more than one category. Add on the pressure of an upcoming PT test (Oct. 12 (Happy BD Jessica)) and it all spells time to start running for real again.

Knowing the way I work, a deadline is annoying but a goal is motivating. I went straight to my "coach" sergeant Lynch, or as no one but me calls him, Lynchasaurus, and asked if there was an upcoming race I could train toward. Good news! A 27k at the end of November. Hmm, yeah, 27k that's...5/8 or something...carry the 2?...that's, uh...well, a long way*. Sign me up.

But I'm sorry, we were talking about bugs? [Zat vas 10 minutes ago!]

How do you train for extreme distances? Andy G put me onto Hal Higdon and the info was invaluable in training for my first non-half marathon experience (stupid WLC) and his approach contains 3 basic things. Fast-slow work (sprints, intervals, hills, etc.), weekly looong runs (starting at 5 miles and working up to about 3/4 of the race total), and cross training. Lynch got me going on a killer hill workout for this one and I do a ruck march every few workouts to cross train, but how about that long run?

Last race I followed along with a few other runners. They had a pretty good route and knew the mileage of said route, but after a while I got bored. This time I decided to make it a solo venture and set out into the concrete jungle of Japan. At first I tried routes but I kept on getting lost, so now I don't even bother and just set out with a vague direction in mind.

Today my run had 3 goals. Leave out of gate 1, take 90 minutes, and return through gate 7. All goals were accomplished but along the way I ran through some rice fields, saw part of a little league game, found my way to Leon's house, and discovered some cows (it's all about the smell) that were definitely NOT on a farm. Not on purpose, it just happened, because (here it is) I run like a bug.

Bugs have no idea where they're going and if they run into a wall or something, they don't get discouraged, they just turn and keep going. I hit dead ends, am forced to turn in strange directions, and get basically lost every time I go out there. Like the bug I have every confidence that eventually I'll make my way to something I recognize as long as I have a vague idea of the direction in which the base lies. It's amazing how well it works and how fresh it keeps the monotony of the long runs. If you're constantly trying to figure out where you are, you don't have time to think about the pain shooting up your legs (no ma, I'm just fine).

Look to the bug.

* 16.777022 miles for anyone who cares