Be Humble: A Lesson from a Run

I've crossed paths with him many times while out running. An older guy, running slowly but smoothly.  We've acknowledged each other with a wave.  Up until yesterday, we'd never spoken.

"How old are you? he asked as I came up beside him.

"63" I answered proudly as I moved past.  "How old are you?"

"74" he responded easily without breaking stride.

"Dam" I said to myself.  "He makes running look so easy".

As I moved ahead, I called out, "I want to be just like you".

Later that day as I reflected on that brief exchange, I got thinking...

I've been feeling pretty cocky since the kids gave me a Samsung Active 2 for my birthday.  Running 6:20 km's comfortably with the occasional 5:20/km speedy bursts.  I've become obsessed with running the last kilometer the fastest.  Once back home, I've stared at the run stats after they've synced with my phone.  I've even dreamt about running even faster times.  And yet, there was this guy running not much slower than the times I was celebrating...and he was 11 years older!

I felt humble! 

In running and in life it's so easy to get caught up competing with others. A bigger house, nicer car, larger TV, newer smartphone...you know, 'Keeping up with the Jones's'.  What a foolish game! No matter how good you are at your job, how blessed you are accumulating money, how good your health is, there is always someone somewhere better at your job, richer than you are, in better health!  

Be humble.  Accept what you have and leverage your strengths and abilities as far as you can take them! And through it all, remain humble!

Until next time...

Chris Morales

All you need is love...and a good run

All you really need is love...and a good run.  Ahhh...a good run!  Nuff said!

Actually, you need the love and support of a good spouse.  To put up with the early morning rising if you're a morning runner.  And in my case, putting up with me hogging one of our bathrooms with my winter running gear.  We live in a hi-rise...no other place for it.

Yeah, I need love all right...but then, it does help with the Crazy!

Here are a few other running sayings that caught my attention this week:

OK so I'm carrying a little extra weight.  And the waist size could be a few inches smaller.  Overall though everything else is a A One!

With respect for those who do use gym facilities, I've never had the habit of going to the gym.  I've gone swimming but only to recover from a running injury and when training for Triathalons.

But this is the real reason I run.  Running keeps the stress manageable.  I can tell you I solve problems while running and that would be true sometimes.  But mostly I run to keep sane!

Until next time...

ThatRunninGuy

One Runner's Thoughts

I sat staring at the blank screen this morning.  I'd left it too late to write my usual weekly blog post before I went out for my pre-dawn run. I packed it in and went out for a run.  Surely I'll think of something to blog about while running.  And sure enough I did with thoughts going back, back, back...

I thought about running when I was a kid but realized I never walked much less ran.  Only seriously athletes ran. I was far from athletic as a grade schooler at St. Theresa Preparatory.  We didn't have Phys Ed and the only place to 'run' at Recess and Lunch was the Badminton Courts beside the paved parking lot.  With mid-day temps in the low 90's F, we did as little running as possible.

I wasn't athletic in high school either.  I was on the Debating Society and was a photographer for the Yearbook, both activities that involved a lot of sitting. At Clarkson Secondary I had to walk to school:  The grand distance of 500 Metres one-way.  Such hardship!  At Clarkson I had a brief stint running cross-country one fall but it was cold and they wanted me to wear shorts and a T Shirt!  Ugh!  No thank you...back to the Dark Room!

At College and University I wasn't much better although I did take up Squash.  The game was enjoyable but the sauna session after was really what I prefered.  I guess that's why I really enjoy lying on the beach in the hot sun sweating buckets to this day!  Heat! (I can hear a few of you already:  "He prefered sitting with other guys in the Sauna".  Knock yourself out!)

Truth be told, I wasn't interested in Team Sports.  This was likely a result of not having any organized team sports that interested me while growing up in Jamaica.  Once in Canada, the only team sport was hockey.  I like watching and attending the occasional Hockey Game but playing it?  Not for me.  Organized baseball, basketball or soccer was still some time away and by then I was a Senior in High School.

Running was the only option when I decided to do something physical.  No special equipment, training or learning curve.  Running shoes, sweats and outside.  Yes it took some time to catch on but when it did it lit the fire under my competitive spirit.  I enjoyed the training and the competing.  Especially the races!

Stray thought:  Maybe I'm bored with running. Oops...that was supposed to stay in my head!  I don't have the right gear and I've delayed buying new tights and shoes.  Hmmm...I need to spice things up to rekindle my passion for running.

Trails popped into my head!  Now there's an idea.  We live right alongside the Humber River and paved trails snake their way along the river right to the mouth at Lake Ontario.  It's a good start but I'm thinking off-road.  The gnarly stuff.  Dirt, rocks, the occasional stream.  Messy for sure and there are races.  Do I dare to think 'Ultras'?  They've been rattling around in my head for some time now...

All too soon the run was over.  Back home with enough time to take Maggie out for her early morning run!

Ahh...running!  Brings out the best thoughts!

Until next time...
ThatRunninGuy

Coming Back Up To Speed

Well...

After too much time spent slogging along, I've experienced a running re-birth of sorts coming back up to speed.  Halleluha!  

Over the past year I've had moments and runs where I thought, 'That's it...I'm done running!'.  They occurred frequently enough that I really felt that after 34 years of running I was done.  When I was passed early one morning by an older runner who was shuffling along it was hard to keep going on that 'run'.  Getting motivated to go out again the following morning was even more difficult.  Call me a positive thinker, obstinate, stupid...whatever...inside I didn't feel I was done running yet.  I kept at it.

Since embracing the CPAP breathing machine 5 weeks ago, I've seen and felt an improvement.  No longer does it feel like a weight is crushing my windpipe.  It takes a little longer to get up to speed but once I'm running comfortably and my breathing settles down, I pick up the pace.  It's a negative split for sure but not an honest one.  Yet!

Yes there's still some life in these legs and lungs and I'm looking forward to more gradual improvement before testing race-pace at Reggae Marathon December 2.  If things go well, I'm even looking forward to improvement in the Reggae Marathon Half Marathon Challenge (Seriously, Dan, Navin and Larry...we've got to come up with a better name!)

Until next time...

ThatRunninGuy

Spring Running

The temperature hit 22 Degrees in Toronto on Monday.  And just like that winter is over!  

It's Spring in TO and the running is good.  Time to throw off the layers of winter gear, ditch the toque and the gloves and in the process loosing what feels like kilograms of weight. 

It's been stop-and-go running for me this past six months and I'm happy to have winter behind me. From my run/walk race experiences at the Toronto 15K in September and the Reggae Marathon 10K in December, my running has matched the weather:  Up and down...good one day, terrible the next.  There's been no rhythm at all.  Over the same time I've been tested up one side and down the other.  We've eliminated the big bad issues thankfully and have narrowed it down to being a problem with my oxygen conversion.  We're now moving ahead to find the root cause...more testing of course but hopefully by the time summer starts we'll have the breathing issue that has affected my running enjoyment sorted out.  In the meantime I'm still running, although significantly more slowly.

The upside though is that it is Spring in Toronto...time to go for a run!

Until next time...
ThatRunninGuy

First Run...again

I had my first run this past weekend.  And it felt great to be running again.  After an enforced break from running I feared I'd forgotten how to run.  Duh...left foot forward, right foot forward, repeat quickly.  Yes, it was good to be running again.

A big benefit of the 6 week break from running that the broken toe caused was that I got to work on my core.  More frequent planking workouts and regular running and swimming in the complex in our pool.  I didn't lose much leg strength at all!  On that first run I kept it slow for sure but I was itching to pick up the pace.

Another benefit:  The nagging hamstring injury in my left leg healed!  Funny how rest works.  And after all the Dr, Ho sessions and Voltaren Emugel slathered on.  As usual, rest is the cure for all running injuries.

And now that I'm back running, I'm looking forward to my upcoming runs.  First up is the RBC Race for the Kids on Saturday, September 17.  

Two weeks to go to get ready for this 15K race but it's special and will be worth it: I'm running to raise funds to help youth coping with mental health issues.  

You can join me every step of the way by donating at my page:  ThatRunninGuy Race for the Kids Donation Page.  I've got a ways to go and not a lot of time so any donation you can make will be greatly appreciated.

After that I'm teasing myself with the Half Marathon at the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront event in mid-October.  I figure its a good training run for Reggae Marathon in December.  My plan is to run the first 11 kilometres at an easy pace then pick it up for the final 10 kilometres.  I haven't registered yet...still thinking about it.

Then the final race of 2016 is the annual trek to Negril for Reggae Marathon.  I hear rumors that a number of the gang are planning to run the 10K this December.  See...I can influence people after all! The biggest benefit to running the 10K at Reggae Marathon is that you get all the benefits of the Reggae Marathon Race Weekend Experience with little of the exertion.  And you're sipping a cold Red Strip by 6 am in the morning on the Beach!  Can't think of a better way to wrap up a running year.

First run over...now on to the next!

Until next time...
ThatRunninGuy

The Boot returns

The Boot returns.  

After the second right foot broken-bone episode a few years back, I tucked The Boot into the very back corner of our storage room.  I never expected to see it again, never mind have to use it!  Maybe I should have gotten rid of it...that's it, I jinxed myself keeping it around.  

The Boot showed up on my right foot for the third time last week when I tried unsuccessfully to squeeze my foot into my dress shoe.  The pain, oh the pain!  And no, I'm not whining...it was painful and wasn't going to help my recovery.  No, it had to be The Boot.  

The Boot makes for interesting conversation starter.  Most of our neighbours know I'm a runner so they have some empathy for my plight.  They get a good chuckle when I tell then that it wasn't a running injury...that I broke my baby toe when I slammed my foot into the wooden base of an ottoman in the dark.  I'm glad I can provide a little humor in their day.

The Boot made it's debut at Reggae Marathon in 2012 when I walked the 10K in it.  I didn't finish last...whew! But it sure was interesting to experience a running event as a walker.  I had my camera with me and caught some great characters and scenes that I would never have captured while running. These photos are some of my favourite images of the Reggae Marathon Experience:

  
Yes The Boot returns to remind that at any moment we'll hit an unexpected, unplaned bump that will dispupt our carefully laid out plans.  We'll have a choice:  Stop and bellyache or adjust and move forward. Adjusting to and overcoming these obstacles is what life is all about.  

Until next time...

Running for pleasure

I enjoy running for pleasure, as crazy as that sounds to a non-runner. 

I was reminded of that last week after a conversation with a non-runner who just couldn't get past the best thing I enjoy about running: Just running.  I was challenged to explain how I found pleasure in the repetitive act of running.  I trotted out my usual explanations: The health benefits I've experienced after years of running...blood pressure, weight management, stress release.  I noted the friendships and shared experiences from running, especially the Reggae Marathon experience I look forward to each year. I almost ventured into my planned 100km run in 2018 but that would have caused his head to explode. Nothing broke through.  He was simply unable to understand or appreciate how someone could go running for pleasure.  And that's when it came to me.  

"Don't work so hard".  "Lower your expectations". "What if you fail?" 

And what if I do fail?  If it wasn't fatal, it wasn't a failure.  Getting back up, licking the wounded pride and moving on again...that's the real pleasure I get from running.

Until next time...

ThatRunninGuy

I'm still alive

"I'm still alive!"

Screaming my head off singing along with Eddie Vedder and 18,000+ Pearl Jam Fans a couple of weeks ago at the ACC in Toronto. And doing it courtesy of my Son, Andrew.

Defiant!

Getting up there in age and feeling it from both a work and running perspective. On the work front it's been challenging finding a new niche but with the gig I started last fall things clicked into place: Automotive, digital, marketing.  I love cars, have been in marketing my entire career...did someone say I can play...er work...on my computer all day?  Sweet spot!

On the running front I've endured a number of years of injuries.  Some self-inflicted as I changed my running style.  But this year it's fallen into place:  Running easy and racing again!  Good to be back!

"Is something wrong, she said

Well of course there is

You're still alive, she said

Oh, and do I deserve to be

Is that the question

And if so...if so...who answers...who answers...

I, oh, I'm still alive"

Until next time...
ThatRunninGuy

Ode to the Marathoner

Dedication.  Perserverance.  Never giving up. That's the lesson I've learned from all my years of running.  Cliche?  Sure.  Reality?  Absolutely!  

My son Andrew sent me an article about a runner. It's about an 86 year old runner, Joy Johnson in the 2013 New York Marathon.  It's about dedication, perserverance...never ever giving up!  That's her in the photo below...you can read the full artice and see the video at this link, Ode to the Marathoner

Running...it's personal

Until next time...

ThatRunninGuy

One race left to run

I've only got one race left to run on my bucket list. It's a big one that's very far outside my comfort zone .  But I'll have 3 years to plan and train...I have it scheduled for 2018.  The race?   The Haliburton Forest 100 Miler.

I want to run this race in 2018 to celebrate turning 60.  I looked into other extreme races like the Gobi Desert March and the Death Valley Race.  I seriously considered the Gobi Desert March, even shared the idea with Sally.  "Make sure your life insurance is paid up" she said.  I shuddered, came to my senses and agreed that running 250+ km's across a desert in China over 7 days wasn't a good idea for me.

'Haliburton Forest 100 Miler' has a nice ring to it.  It's an extreme challenge for sure.  By then I'll probably be able to stream the entire experience on YouTube which should be cool for about 10 minutes at the start and another 10 minutes at the finish.  I'm not sure yet how to properly train and prepair for a 100 mile trail race.  I'm all ears for suggestions so don't be shy. If you want to join me, all the better. Stay tuned over the next few years for updates.

Until next time...

ThatRunninGuy

Running saved my life

Running saved my life.  More times than I care to remember.  Through life's highs and lows, running has been the one thing that has helped me out of the valley's.  

Since turning 50, I've had some wild swings in my career that have led to some stressful times.  First was the age itself.  I was in a funk for two full years.  At 49 I spent a wasted year dreading the 50th birthday itself.  Then for the year after I couldn't even say the number out loud.  

In my chosen profession of Marketing I felt old when I turned 50.  I tried everything to ignore it:  dyed my hair and wore clothes that were way too young for me. Heck, I even ran away:  Sold the house in Mississauga and moved to Wasaga Beach for 6 years!  What??? Let me tell you from personal experience, you can't ever run away!

I did some stupid things in my running as well starting with trying to change my running style to barefoot/mid-foot minimalist running.  The resulting injuries included Plantar Fasciitis and broken foot bones...twice!  7 years later I'm still paying for that misstep!  

Like the Osterich, I've spent a great deal of time and energy trying to ignore reality.

Through it all I've kept running.  That has been the one constant.  Good days or bad, if I got out for a run somehow that always helped me feel better.  

Along the way I've met some people who have kept me going:  My running pals who I meet up with every December in Negril for Reggae Marathon!  They have seen me at my lowest when I had to walk the 10K; they've run with me when I was slogging; they've all been there at the end to celebrate another finish.  Thank you!

So I turn 57 in a couple of weeks.  I feel good about saying that out loud.  I like the sound of it.  I even like the grey hair!  I heard a great description for men my age and stage: 'Arctcic Wolf'. That appeals to me.  Hmmm...maybe 'ThatRunninGuy' is about to undergo a name change...

Running has saved my life in the past.  It's keeping me going now. Until next time...
ThatRunninGuy

Winter Running

Who likes running outside in the winter?  True confession:  I do! But it takes me a couple of weeks to get used to the cold before I can honestly say I enjoy running outside in the winter.  

I actually prefer the minus double digits temperatures because I get to use all my deep freeze running gear:  Socks, double layer of tights, full head balaclava, mitts. Getting dressed and undressed is a real pain though and Sally is unimpressed with the room I take up in our guest bathroom with all my drying gear.  Ahhh...the pleasures of apartment living.

Here's my mantra for running outside in the winter:

See you outside in the cold!

Until next time...
ThatRunninGuy

Let the sun shine

15days!  That's how long it was without sunshine in Toronto.  I didn't like it one bit!

Yes I run in the pre-dawn hours so I don't see the sun when I start out on my morning runs.  I look forward to seeing the sunrise though.  That has gone missing these past few weeks with fog, rain and snow.  As I finished my runs I could only look forward to the darkness morphing into grey.

The snow was sympathetic changing into a black slop that mirrored the sky above.  People on the street and drivers in their vehicles stopped smiling.  Commuters pulled their toques down and pushed their collars up in a bid to hide from the dullness.  It was not beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

"Let the sun shine in!" we cried.

Then without warning a strange sight rose over the horizon from the east one morning.  Thankfully I'm am early riser and witnessed it first hand while out running:  A bright yellow glow signaled that the sun was back!  Hallelujah!  Break out the sunglasses...put away the Vitamin D.

S.A.D...Seasonally Adjusted Depression...was over for after just one sight of the sunrise I enjoyed my run that morning.  It re-filled my memory banks. I'm running again with a smile.

Until next time...
ThatRunninGuy

Sisyphus and the Art of Running Stairs

Like Sisyphus, running stairs is an exercise in repetition:  Run up, walk down, repeat.  Over and over. Until my quads quiver and my legs feel like jelly.  Ahh...the joys of running!

Sisyphus was the guy who had the unenviable and unending task of pushing a rock up a hill, having it roll down and having to push it back up again. This was punishment for him.  To the people in the nearby apartments who see me running repetitively up and down the stairs early mornings it must look like I too am being punished!

But although running stairs is punishing, I'm not Sisyphus, I'm not being punished.  There is method to my madness of running stairs but 'Shhh...don't tell anyone". You see, in the last two Reggae Runners Challenges (Half Marathon in Toronto a couple of years ago and last year at Reggae Marthon) I took the distinction of coming in last. In both events! And while I put on the 'Happy Face', I was not pleased.  It's been nagging at me all this time. This year at Reggae Marathon December 6 I'm determined to end this tradition. Watch out Dan, Larry, Navin, Deb and anyone else in the Reggae Runners Challenge!  I'm running stairs!!

So far I have managed to elude the foot injuries that previous experiences with running stairs caused: nasty flare-ups of Plantar Fasciitis.  I've had a little twinge in my right knee but a day or so of rest cures that.  The good news is that on my regular runs I'm running faster and more efficiently. I'm able to put in a quick burst of speed and recover quickly.  Nice.

So thanks Sisyphus for the inspiration to keep running stairs.  Last place will be history!

Until next time...
ThatRunninGuy

Keep calm...I got it under control!

This week's blog post isn't really about running.  Although I could argue that my next running shirt will have this on both the front and the back.  It will be a technical shirt for sure that I can wear in race events.  But then that would be stretching it...hey no comments about my expanding midrift!

And to stretch the running link even further, at the start of a race the best way to stay in control of 'Your' race is to ... Keep Calm!

So this really is about running after all.  But it was a long stretch :)

Until next time...
ThatRunninGuy

Ahhh...to be 12 years old again

All-natural Time Machine

I discovered Time Travel last weekend!

While out for a later-than-normal Saturday morning run along the Humber River Trails, I was struck by an overwhelming emotion:  I felt as is I was 12 years old again!

The feeling came on unexpectedly and even caused me to stop running.  I quickly realized that the spot along the river reminded me of a place where I used to play near my home in Kingston, Jamaica.  That was the Gully behind the empty lot across from our house on Bridgemount Drive. I would spend endless hours with my childhood friend Michael building forts along the banks of the Gully. Defending against what I can't recall but it was always satisfying to turn up at home for dinner completely covered in dirt and mud after a day running wild.

Michael was a crazy, fearless kid...one weekend we got it into our minds that we needed to make weapons. Not just any weapons, Cannons!  We put a list of necessary materials together:  Bamboo (to make the Cannon barrel), Saltpeter, Charcoal, Sulpher (to make the gunpowder). Sadly...or thankfully...we only succeeded in making a pile of nasty smelling, fast burning 'gunpowder' that almost burned down a shed in his backyard.  Ramming that concoction into a bamboo tube and igniting it would in hindsight not have ended well!

That blast back into my past lasted less than 60 seconds but it was real.  It felt great to be 12 again...if only for a minute.

Until next time...
ThatRunninGuy

(Note:  The Recipe for our home-made gunpowder is only a 30 year old memory of what I think transpired.  It is not meant to inspire you to 'try this at home')

Stay Young; Keep Running

Or maybe if we keep running we stay young.  Either way, I love these:

"You don't stop running because you get old. You get old because you stop running" from Jack Kirk, ninety-six-year-old super-runner, from Christopher McDougall's bestseller Born to Run.

I've been at it over 30 years now.  Running through illness, injuries good times and bad.  Getting up in the morning to go running is like breathing for me.  My day just doesn't feel right unless I've started it with a run.

Until next time...

ThatRunninGuy

Cucurri ergo sum

"Cucurri ergo sum":  "I run therefore I am".  A bastardization of "Cogito ergo sum":  "I think therefore I am".  As a runner "Cucurri ergo sum" is totally reasonable. How would that look as a Tat?  In my case I hate needles so a temporary Tattoo will have to do.  Enjoy this video; It's the essence of "Cucurri ergo sum":

Until next time...
ThatRunninGuy

I missed running in the Fall this year

Walking/Running/Cycling Tree Covered Trail along the
Humber River taken by Sally on her walk last Sunday

Where did Fall go?

I look forward to the transition from summer running to fall running every year. It seems I missed it this year.  Only last week I was running in short sleeves and short tights.  Then overnight it turned to Fall!  

Where we live in Central Etobicoke we enjoyed greenish leaves on the trees until last week.  But with recent daily highs in the single digits Celsius and early morning lows hovering around zero, the leaves have changed colour and fallen! Almost time to start looking out for black ice! And north of Toronto last week there was snow!  Negril and Reggae Marathon December 7 can't come soon enough!

But that's still the future.  There are things I like about running in the fall and I'm sorry to have missed them this year:

• I'm not wearing a toque yet.  That I save for the below freezing temperatures that are coming.  
• Frosty breath!  I love seeing my breath in the cool morning air.  This must have something to do with growing up in a warm climate...winter seemed so exotic.
• Light fleece.  I know the heavier fleece is coming but for temperatures above freezing the lighter weight gear makes me feel like a Gazelle when I'm running.
• Running in the dark.  I love it!  Maybe this goes back to my early running days when at 240 lbs running in the dark so no one would see me was the reason I went out early.
• Watching the leaves fall.  After the leaves change colour, there is a period when they are still on the branches and haven't fallen yet.  I especially love running then.

Soon winter running will be here along with that the icy sidewalks encrusted with salt. Yuck!  Then the sadness of missing fall running this year will really sink in.

Until next time...

ThatRunninGuy