23 Mile Week

No, it’s not much improvement from my 22 mile week last month, but it’s still somethin’.

Today I eeked out a 10 mile run to cap off a good return to regular running (after blowing out my old shoes and slowly breaking in the new ones). The 10 miles were at a decent pace for me at 8min/mile average, and fun.

Not everyone thinks of distance running as fun, including some people who do it. Yet I find myself in agreement with this very Zen-like statement:

I tell people that there’s no vacation as pure as a marathon or an Ironman triathlon. Rare is the opportunity to be completely isolated, alone with your thoughts, yet in company of others in pursuit of the same goal. This is where a favorite saying of mine kicks in — the point of the journey is not to arrive; anything can happen. – Raymond Britt.

Sometimes I’ll listen to music or the radio when I run, but more and more I find those to be distractions, taking me away from the incredible experience of this body plodding along, swoosh, swoosh, swoosh…

And then there is the above mentioned mental freedom. For me it is where lots of undigested emotions arise with clarity. Little moments of intuitive “ah-hah” and then the equanimity of acceptance, and then another swoosh, swoosh, swoosh.

One thought that came up a bit was “Boston.” I’ll remain non-committed for now, but the idea of trying to qualify and run in the Boston Marathon sounds like a delight, one of those undertakings and achievements that reinforces the notion of infinite possibilities in life. For now though, the word “any” should firmly stay before “marathon” in my mind. I’d like to do Missoula’s marathon in July, but it’s too soon in terms of an intelligent training schedule (though I haven’t let being under-trained stop me in the past), and I’m probably going to be in L.A. visiting my sister en route to China by then.

After that might be the Pocatello Marathon. Based on reviews, and the fact that it’s a big net downhill, it looks great.

10 miles = 80 min = 8 min/mile (what I ran today)
10 miles = 100 min = 10 min/mile (an estimate)
6.2 miles = 60 min = 9.7 min/mile (another estimate)
= a marathon in 4 hrs.

I’m not sure just how realistic the estimates are (I’ve seen online calculators and guides for such things), but it looks good for now. At that pace I’m a long ways away from qualifying for Boston (3hrs 10min for me), but who knows? The possibilities are infinite.