Week 15 - "Long (hard) Run"

“Anyone who has a continuous smile on his face conceals a toughness that is almost frightening.”
Greta Garbo

Black ice. Here in the south snow is not the issue on the roads. It is was happens after the snow. We tend to get mixtures of snow and rain that leaves a layer of ice on the roads, sidewalks, cars and lawns.

After last night’s, “storm” that was what was left in its aftermath. When I say, “storm” I do not mean a “Nor Easter” that has dumped a pile of snow on Georgia. A storm in the south is when snow is involved and a single flake of crystallized rain floats to the ground. The media takes cold air and rain combined and throws out a media blitz on the dangers of the weather. This fuels concern in people and makes a situation that is bad even worse.

This morning was not good, not terrible, just not good. I woke at 4:15AM for two reasons. 1. A decision needed to be made on the office I work in to either close or delay. It was delayed 2 hours. 2. I had a long run of 15 miles that needed to be done.

I planned to run the 15 outside in the 2-degree weather (wind chill temp) in Alpharetta, but as I drove the roads of Suwanee and Alpharetta with going off the road twice due to black ice, the decision was made. It would be an indoor run. I made up my mind as I drove through intersections and noticing the amount of ice on the roads. I figured with the amount of streets I had to cross that even if a car did see me I was not guaranteed that the car would be able stop.

Arriving at LTF there was only one car in the lot with no ice covering the entire body of the car. It happened to be Calvin’s truck. I was in the Jeep arranging with the Emergency Line with work to send out a broadcast delaying work until 9:30AM. After I completed this task, I was ready for #2 on my list.

I have spoken a number of times about the “dread mill” and how it zaps your mind, energy and spirit while you trot along on the belts. Since I was not going to put my life in the hands of Southern Drivers on icy roads, I had to prepare myself for 15 miles of running on the belt to nowhere. But I figured, what better way to increase mental toughness if I will not run outside than to run my long run on the treadmill in a deserted gym?

I brought two water bottles filled with Gatorade and 1 GU for the 1 hour and 57 minute test of my mental facilities. The first few miles where not bad given where I was. Calvin was running two mills away and we exchanged a few remarks on the effort and heat in the building. After he left, I fell into a zone and listen to music as I focused on my form. I felt the form was good and efficient as I ran. With the pace constant, I kept creeping up to the treadmill's front hand bar without increasing effort. I was able to maintain the form until around mile 10. That is when the abominable snowman emerged from between two weight machines and hopped on the mill next to mine. It was Bob. Bob and Jay braved the ice, cold and southern drivers and ran a 10K outdoors. He still had some frozen sweat on his cap as we chatted about the run. Both were cautious as they ran the established 10K from LTF and came in 18 seconds faster than plan at about 46:05.

After a few more words, Bob jumped off to go stretch and head off to Cracker Barrel for a well deserved breakfast. About 2 miles later both Bob & Jay appeared on each side of me. Jay stated, “anyone who runs 15 miles on the treadmill is good in my book.” Which I replied back, “anyone who runs in 2 degree weather on a sheet of ice is also good in my book.” There is a general admiration between the three of us for our dedication to the “get er’ done” attitude.

I asked Bob a moment later if he wouldn’t mind filling up my water bottle since I had drained one bottle and was more than half way done on the second. He shot off and filled it up for me, which proved to be significant in the last 1.5 miles of the run. Thank you Bob for the supply of much needed hydration.

We said our good-byes as they took off for Cracker Barrel, which at this point made me hungry. Maine Blueberry Pancakes, two eggs, sausage and coffee…I need to get off this rotation leading nowhere!

As I made it mile 13 the run got increasingly harder. The tenths clicked by slower than molasses dripping out of a bottle. I kept saying to myself, “don’t look at the mileage counter”, but every time those words came out the eyes diverted to the mileage counter: 13.5….13.6…13.7…13.7…13.7…I think the counter is stuck?

I had almost ended the track of “running songs” on my iPod and decided to find a few songs to push me through the last 2 miles. Queens, Bohemia Rhapsody was the first. It is long, I know all the words and it would push me into mile 14.5 at the pace I was running at. I focused on singing the song as the mileage counter turned to 14 and at this point, I decided to increase the pace. The faster the pace, the quicker this 15 miler would be done with. I notched up the pace to 7:03 pace and cruised into mile 15 singing, “Bad,Bad Girlfriend by Theory of a Deadman.

Done. 15 miles at an average pace of 7:45/mile. The goal pace was 7:51’s but, 1. The treadmill does not have a 7:51 pace, only 7:53 or 7:47. I settled on 7:47…of course. 2. I increased the pace in the last mile to finish this.

During the whole 15 miles I kept thinking about what Jerry (Ironman Kona Dude) said. “If you cannot run at least 20 miles on the treadmill how are you expected to have the metal toughness to complete an Ironman?” Those words have stuck with me as I smiled in the mirror this morning which helped me persevere over this challenge. Not sure if I want to endure 20 miles on the mill, but 15 miles is in the books.