Ravings of a Runner

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I found myself reading about his introduction to the sport of triathlons via a community college course and a long discussion of his training for his first short triathlon. Either the book or the author is a bit scrambled. One person found this helpful 2 people found this helpful. This is a MUST read for all runners!!!! The stories were so inspirational, I wanted to go out and run run run: One person found this helpful.

Greg May has hit the nail on the head with this irresistible, expertly told story of a competitive runner. Ravings with its remarkable insights into training and race strategies, is hard to put down.

This superb book will get you off the couch and change your life. See all 3 reviews. Amazon Giveaway allows you to run promotional giveaways in order to create buzz, reward your audience, and attract new followers and customers. Learn more about Amazon Giveaway. Ravings of a Runner. Set up a giveaway.

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Once I reached that distance I knew that I just had a manageable distance remaining and that gave me a mental edge. So at 4 miles, I only needed to run 4 more miles to just have 3 left. Crazy yes, but motivating as well. Well, I was motivated to finish this run. I still was having more fun than many others on this sunny day, but a simple action told me that I needed to get it done. I found myself checking my progress on my watch more and more often, with the results showing remarkably little change, either in terms of distance covered, distance remaining or time elapsed.

And again I check it and 47 seconds have passed with a change in distance measured in the hundredths of a mile. And still I seek that 8-mile mark to start the final sprint to the end of the current leg. Both the physical and the mental side of runs have a way of cycling up and down and great runs usually occur when both are up. I had felt that way in all four runs. Good runs tend to have either side cycle up to at least partially offset the decline of the other. I managed to slide along this scale of feeling good and mile 8 disappeared and I found myself on a shady downhill area with the breeze blowing the leaves on the trees around me and the green grass bursting out in a small meadow.

leondumoulin.nl: Ravings of a Runner eBook: Greg May: Kindle Store

At moments like these, it feels good to run and be a part of it all. I suddenly had some bounce back, a perceived easier and faster pace, and the mental switch from running outbound to running in. Time and distances evaporate when you feel this way. Sweat is pouring down my brow and I feel my arms pumping to aid my legs and wait, yes, there in the distance is a building where I can celebrate.

Standing in the parking lot texting Scott to tell him about the run, I am cognizant that this run could have gone either way and that I have luck and a huge base of miles to thank for the happy ending. I am also nervous about how he might be feeling and how his run might have gone. Nothing to do but tell the truth. Well, at least part of the truth, because the real truth is that it would have been so much easier having him to lean on or pace me or distract me. We will hurt tonight, but we have done these 4 runs and the glory will be ours shortly.

Before, during and after the fourth run I believed that it was both the hardest physically and the one that would require gutting it out. I had believed that, but as I took the first step into a strong wind on the final mile run, I knew the fallacy of the statement. In a marathon, the common statement is that you run the first 20 to get there and then you race it home — telling yourself that it is just 10K left and that you do that every day in training.

Just do that last normal run and you are there. But the reality is often that those last few miles are a struggle for dignity, where your credibility as a runner is suddenly on the line and where one can, in a single step, be reduced to surviving the next moment. Everyone looks inside at that moment for the energy, strength or willpower to make it just a bit further. So I expected the last few miles to be hard, but I also thought that the magnet of the finish line would propel me forward. I assumed that my muscles would be sore and tight and changed my stride from short to a shuffle.

I anticipated that my energy store would have already been called upon and that I would have mild dehydration from the sheer distance of the 5 runs. All of this seemed within reason until I took that first step and the wind pushed back. I had been lucky to avoid hilly runs and warm weather, so I deserved a bit of karmic fairness. So I pushed back.

Runner's Ravings

My mind was strong. I pushed into the wind and moved forward. I knew that every step forward was one less step required. I felt the tightness in my calves. I felt a slight soreness in my left hip that I took note of but discounted as unimportant for the time being. My only real issue was that I felt tired in my quads — as I should have after 44 miles. But it was that mile 18 feeling of a marathon, not the mile 25 feeling. That is, they were tired, but they were still on my team.

They still responded to my command. My watch alerted me to the fact that I was finishing mile one and I checked the time to see my pace. It was about 20 seconds slower than other days for an early mile and normally I would have tried to pick it up just a little bit. But instinctively I instead slowed down a little: I patted myself on the back for my maturity as a runner and pushed on. A bit up the trail I pass a large time and temperature sign seemingly misplaced on the bike trail. The wind makes it feel cooler but I realize that I am already covered with sweat and sip down some Gatorade.

Ravings of a Runner

The trail is built in a flood plain beside the Big Sioux River and is wide with few people, little development and no cars. I am new to town but I have now run this section 6 or 7 times and I feel very comfortable here. I get dropped off on the north side of town and run point-to-point to the Southeastern side. It is tranquil and geographically similar, adding to my ability to occasionally miss certain obvious items or landmarks. And it was one of these seemingly obvious scenes that startled me. I looked left and yes, about 30 meters from the trail, stood 5 buffaloes American Bison for those who know the difference.

But no, there they clearly stood grazing on the green grass beside a small watering hole just as they do in the movies. My question was how I had missed them on my previous runs. But that was just the beginning. I do a double-take and yes it IS a cheetah. Too big to be a puma or mountain lion, this is the real deal and she is actively prowling and testing the perimeter of what I assume must be her cage.

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My heart rate had long been elevated due to the running and the general level of exhaustion, but somehow nature took over and found a few more beats to spare and I suppose a bit of adrenaline because suddenly my mind forgets about my legs and ranks survival as its primary task. I survey the pen and it is a foot chain link fence with 3 layers of barbed wire that angle in and add about 18 inches to the height, some length to any leap, and perhaps some mental barrier for the cheetah. Still it paces quickly around its enclosure and I can see the power in its body — oh that I could borrow some of that for a while.

I moved over 2 feet to the far right side of the trail to increase the distance in my mind. I breathed quietly and realized that running upwind meant that the cheetah had not gotten a scent from me until after I had passed by. And that was my last thought of the cheetah until sometime after the run. I really missed sharing this with Scott, as a good running partner could have enhanced the absurdness of the sighting and served as a witness if called on to testify.

Miles 3 and 4 were fairly uneventful. I crossed under a few roads and imagined that they were wind tunnels, helping me obtain a perfectly aerodynamic running form. More sessions might be required to really master it. I now had a slow but smooth pace and it felt almost like a normal run. Much of running on trails or races is about mileposts and I began to focus on a certain spot that would mark 4. Come read my first post!

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