50/50 (23 page)
Of course, running loosens up phlegm as well. Do I run when I have a cold? Yes, I do. Okay, go ahead and scold me—shame, shame—but I think the notion that you should avoid running when you’re sick (unless a high fever is present) is an old wives’ tale that’s been perpetuated throughout the years without much validity. The one thing I am always cautious about, however, is blowing snot out one nostril while using my knuckle to clamp the other (commonly referred to by runners as the farmer’s blow). Doing so can blast infected mucus back into the sinuses and ear canal. Better to carry a tissue and wipe when necessary. It will gross out the folks around you a lot less too.
Goo streaming down your chin is one thing; muscle and joint aches and pains are an entirely different concern. Learning when not to run through pain in your muscles, bones, or joints is an important way to prevent injuries. While I might not have had the choice to obey this rule on Day 31 of the Endurance 50, you always have the choice in your normal training runs. How do you know when to stop? It really comes down to experience and common sense. Experience gives you deeper insight into determining how far is too far. Common sense allows you to apply this insight to prevent injuries by telling you,
There’s a
real
problem here. Stop running
.
Correcting Muscle Imbalances
One of the most effective ways to prevent running injuries is to regularly perform exercises that strengthen important stabilizing muscles. Here are three such exercises. I recommend that you try to do them every other day.
Single-Leg Squat
This exercise strengthens the stabilizing muscles of the hips.
Stand on your right foot with your left knee slightly bent and your left foot elevated an inch or two above the floor. Bend your right knee and at the same time bend forward at the waist until your chest touches your knee. Use your arms and your elevated left leg for balance. Return to the start position. Do ten to twelve repetitions and then repeat with your left foot planted.
Side Step-Up
This exercise strengthens the stabilizing muscles of the hips.
Stand with your side next to a twelve- to eighteen-inch platform (such as a weight bench or tall aerobics step). Place your right foot on the platform; keep your left one on the floor (your right knee is bent and your left leg is straight). Shift your weight onto your right leg and stand on that leg, lifting your entire body twelve to eighteen inches. Pause briefly with your left foot unsupported in the air next to your right foot, then bend your knee again and slowly lower your left foot back to the floor.
Cook Hip Lift
This strengthens the lower abdominal muscles.
Lie faceup with your legs sharply bent. Place your left foot flat on the floor and draw the right leg up against your torso, keeping the knee sharply bent, holding it in place with pressure from your hands. Now contract the hamstrings and buttocks of your left leg to lift your butt off the floor two or three inches. Concentrate hard on keeping your deep abs contracted and your pelvis neutral. Hold this position for five seconds and relax. Repeat five times, then switch legs.
Having to take time off from running to manage pain is disappointing and frustrating, though sometimes needed. To minimize the temptation to continue running despite pain, I suggest you find an alternative form of aerobic exercise that you can do pain-free and rely on to maintain fitness whenever running seems ill advised. Bicycling, using indoor cardio machines, in line skating, and pool running are all potential options.
Condition your body as well as possible, and closely scrutinize aches and discomfort to determine whether a temporary reprieve from running is needed. It’s a fine line we runners toe, forcing us to carefully listen to our bodies. Someday there’ll be a cure for pain; that’s the day I throw my shoes away.
The Long Run
Day 32
October 18, 2006
New Hampshire Marathon
Bristol, New Hampshire
Elevation: 466'
Weather: 60 degrees; cloudy
Time: 4:14:13
Net calories burned: 101,984 (cracked 100K!)
Number of runners: 5 (filled to capacity; we could only obtain 5 permits)
M
any of the challenges
I’d face during the Endurance 50 were foreseeable: the need for accelerated muscle recovery, the ability to withstand exhaustion from the long miles of driving, and missing Julie, whom I primarily saw on weekends. One hardship that surprised me, however, was how much I missed home cooking. While we were able to grab some tasty local culinary favorites in various states—the salmon jerky in Alaska was unbelievable, and the pickle okra in Texas was to die for—and while Koop did a fine job of supplying me with fresh salads on the bus every night, there’s just nothing quite like a nice home-cooked meal to nourish your body and rejuvenate your soul. Though by the time we arrived at our accommodations in Bristol, New Hampshire, on the eve of Day 32, finding such a meal was the last thing I ever imagined.
QUICK TAKE:
Go raw. Cooking vegetables has been shown to drain them of nutrients. It’s best to eat them raw.
The entire town had already closed for the evening. I was burned out, my lingering cold symptoms showed no signs of abating, and it looked like there would be no choice except eating another cold meal on the bus. But when we met the innkeepers, they offered to open their restaurant for us—an incredibly hospitable thing to do since they were normally closed on Tuesday nights. When the food arrived, it was absolutely magnificent. Hot miso soup, an amazing garden salad, fresh-grilled vegetables, and mouthwatering cuts of lean meat. It filled the stomach and warmed the soul. Remarkably, when I woke up the following morning, my cold was all but gone. What had I said in an earlier chapter about discounting old wives’ tales . . . ? Along with my veggies, allow me to officially eat my words.
With a clear head and a fresh outlook, we started on our way. I’d been told that the New Hampshire course was beautiful, and I was glad to be feeling better so that I could enjoy it. The unusually small size of our running group made it even easier to focus on the natural splendor surrounding us. The local officials had capped our field at five participants because of the narrow, winding roads and dangerous blind corners—not that there was any traffic on these roads today. I think a sum total of five cars passed us the entire time.
The course and surrounding scenery were classic rural New England. We ran past rustic old barns, through charming little townships, and along numerous rivers, all the while circumnavigating Newfound Lake, one of the cleanest in the country, whose pristine surface was like mirror glass. We had picked the perfect time of year to run in New Hampshire, as the autumn foliage presented a kaleidoscope of bright red, rich orange, and deep yellow colors.
At several points along the course, we were greeted by the fourth-grade class of Towle School. The students had been following the Endurance 50 as a lesson plan, and had planned this field trip to experience the event firsthand. They’d made a number of signs and banners, with messages that included the following:
ENDURANCE IS FAITH AND SPIRIT!
ENDURANCE IS PUSHING YOUR LIMITS!
ENDURANCE IS TRYING YOUR BEST AND NEVER GIVING UP!
TRUST YOUR FAMILY
EXPRESS YOUR FEELINGS
ROSES ARE RED, VIOLETS ARE BLUE, DEAN IS RUNNING, AND SO CAN YOU!
And my favorite Karno’s Kids’ saying:
NO CHILD LEFT INSIDE.
One of the girls had baked some homemade brownies for me. More home-cooked food! I felt like I’d found nirvana.
“Those look great!” I said, and thanked her before stuffing one into my mouth. It tasted as great as it looked.
“And guess what, Mr. Dean,” she said.
“They’re one hundred percent natural!”
Day 33
October 19, 2006
Stowe Marathon
Stowe, Vermont
Elevation: 722'
Weather: 59 degrees; partly cloudy
Time: 4:19:93
Net calories burned: 107,171
Number of runners: 30
There are people who believe that anyone who runs even a single marathon is some sort of maniac. The Marathon Maniacs would certainly take issue with this definition. Yes, there is actually a national running club that calls itself the Marathon Maniacs. To meet the minimum qualifications for membership (Bronze Level), you must complete one of the following:
1. Back-to-back marathons (two marathons on consecutive weekends)
2. Two marathons in three weeks (two marathons within a sixteen-day time frame)
3. Three marathons in three months (three marathons within a ninety-day time frame)
And that’s just the
minimum
qualifying standard. The levels get progressively more difficult from there. Okay, maybe they are maniacs after all.
I was fortunate to be joined by many Marathon Maniacs during the Endurance 50. Amy Yanni, the only runner to keep me company in the Deadwood Mickelson Trail Marathon in South Dakota (marathon number ten), was one of them. Much later, in my six-day tour of New England, I was joined by a pair of Marathon Maniacs who happened to be married to each other. Joe Poliquin, fifty-four, and Bekkie Wright, forty-four, make their home in Manchester, Connecticut, and each had completed more than sixty marathons and ultras when they decided to take a week’s vacation from work and attempt what they called the “New England Six-Pack.”
They not only completed all six marathons, but Bekkie managed to cartwheel—literally cartwheel—across all six finish lines.
Joe and Bekkie were lucky even to start the New Hampshire Marathon, due to the small number of permits we had been granted. Aware of what they were attempting, the folks handling Endurance 50 event registrations at the Squires Sports Group made sure that Joe and Bekkie were included among the handful. The Stowe Marathon in Vermont had a much larger field, which included a seventeen-year-old first-time marathoner named Rick who had only recently taken up running. A potential future maniac? I wouldn’t bet against it.
It was interesting to watch Rick, the teenage beginner, running alongside Joe and Bekkie, the mega-veterans. They all seemed so vibrant and full of life. My earnest wish for Rick was that his journey as a runner would be a long one.
May he still be fit, healthy, and enjoying running for decades to come
, I thought. Who knows? Perhaps the Endurance 50 experience increased the chances that Rick will still be running strong in the latter part of his life. Seeing how full of vitality those two Marathon Maniacs were, and how much joy they still derived from running after so many years, might have strengthened Rick’s desire to make running a lifelong pursuit.
They say you revert to your childhood as you get older. That has certainly been the case with me. Some of my fondest childhood memories are of running the mile home from school. Kindergarten, to be specific. I was the oldest of three children in our family, and my dad worked two jobs to make ends meet. We were a working-class family in LA, and I could sense my mother having a difficult time getting me home from school with the added responsibility of a third child and a constantly working husband.
How Young Is Too Young?
There is no generally recognized minimum appropriate age to run a marathon. I ran one when I was fourteen years old, so I’d be a hypocrite to state that doing so in your teens is too young. However, there are many examples of gifted runners who pushed themselves too hard in their youth and found themselves past their running prime by the time they graduated from college. Therefore, as a rule of thumb, I recommend that highly motivated young runners concentrate on challenging themselves in school races and 5k and 10k road races at least until they graduate from high school, and only then attempt their first marathon, if they can’t wait any longer. As the Marathon Maniacs and countless others illustrate, running is an activity that can last a lifetime. It would seem prudent not to risk your future running prospects by going too far too young.
“Mom,” I finally said to her, “there’s no need to get me home from school.”
“How are you going to get home, darling?”
“I’ll just run,” I told her.
At first, I took the most direct route back to the house. Eventually, I started to take diversionary routes through the park and by my favorite construction site on Century Boulevard to check out the heavy machinery in action. I came to look forward to my after-school runs with great anticipation and enthusiasm. Sure, it was about the running, but it was more about the adventure and the exploration.
As I grew older, my love of running continued to flourish. I joined the junior high and high school track and cross-country teams and placed fairly well in most races, periodically winning a few of them. Even as I raced, however, I continued to enjoy running down a trail for hours on end as the ultimate running experience.
It has long been my contention that there is a fundamental difference between a racer and a runner. I like to race, to run marathons and ultras to see how fast I can go, to compete against others, to watch the clock in the hope of beating my previous best time. But in racing, there is a finish line. I don’t like finish lines. It is the journey I cherish, not crossing the finish line. In racing, there are boundaries, preset courses, rules that must be abided by. Racing, in short, is a construct of man.
Running, to me, is the purest expression of absolute freedom. There are no boundaries; there are no finish lines; nothing is contrived. There is only never-ending liberty to go as you please, to savor and explore, to immerse yourself wholeheartedly in the experience of being completely alive for this fleeting moment in which we inhabit the universe.