Fanfare for the Common Runner

I rarely leave home without it

For most of my 16 years as a runner (including the three years I ran in high school before a twenty year hiatus from this avocation) I've run to nothing other than the sound of the flip-flap of my feet as they repeatedly hit the pavement and whatever background noise the road I was running on at the time provided – dogs barking, cows mooing and cars going . A few years ago, however, I bought an iPod nano with the intent of experimenting of running to a soundtrack now and again. My son, who runs cross and track for UW-Superior, has carried an iPod on his training runs for some time now and that practice alone persuaded me to give it a whirl.

Note how many folks are wearing earbuds

My first run with the thing was an incredibly frustrating experience. I don't remember what playlist I had put together but try as I might to put my earbuds deep enough into my ears invariably one or the other would pop out after a few blocks of running. Of course, this meant stopping briefly – or at the very least, slowing – in order to put the things back in. After a couple of runs I was ready to give up on the things figuring my ears were either too big or too small for this kind of running cool.

These help me get my groove on

But then while paging through a running catalog I saw an add for a pair of earbuds that came with soft plastic tips at the end that promised to grip my ear canal firmly. It was on the top of my Christmas list that year and come early January I was ready to try it again. Fast forward a few years later and there are very few times I go out the door without being plugged in. I have a number of playlists that I access according to my mood and feeling at the start of my run. Sometimes it's a list of favorite movie soundtracks, sometimes it's contemporary worship music, but it all works to put a little more giddyup into my step along the way.

One more reason to love my morning runs

After several months of listening to the same kind of music over and over, however, I noticed the perceptible drop in inspiration that I was drawing from these scores. About that time a friend of mind put me on to Librivox, a website where a lot of literary classics that are now in the public domain can be downloaded as podcasts to my iPod. These days, more often than not, I'm listening to a narration as I head out the door rather than a musical score. Since my friend put me on to this I have listened to The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas (now one of my new favorite books), The Last of the Mohicans by James Fennimore Cooper, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (L. Frank Baum), Journey to the Center of the Earth (Jules Verne) and currently, The Spy: A Tale of the Neutral Ground another one by Cooper. Since they're in the public domain I can download podcasts for free and then simply delete them when I'm finished. Granted some of the narrators – especially the French Canadian ones – are difficult to follow at times but the price is right. And what's great is I can now combine two of my passions, reading and running, into one great activity. It's such a wonderful world!

I don't look at all like him but I sure felt like I was him

Last Friday, however, I ran in our community's annual running event, Chetek's Fishy Four, and knew before the race that I required something a little bit more high octane than a placid narration of a story set during the Revolutionary War (but given that it was Libertyfest it certainly would have fit). So I pulled up my favorite playlist these days – one I call “Cowboys and Superheroes” - and meant to have it cued up by the time the race started. But I got talking with the dad of one of my Cross Country kids and before I knew it the race was on. The thing about the Fishy Four is that the start is very congested as a 1,000 runners and walkers are trying to get on track on narrow Lakeview Drive and unless you're up by the rabbits it means a lot of zig-zagging as you look for open road until it finally thins out around the Baptist campgrounds. Now add to it that I was trying to cue up my playlist while watching where I was going and it was the equivalent of texting and driving – it was an accident ready to happen. So after about 20 seconds I pulled over, brought up the playlist and pushed play and just like that I was in “go”-mode as the sound of the Captain America march blared in my ears.

Cap leading the way

The combination of that triumphant song and the view of all those runners all around me and suddenly I felt like I was Captain America who had just strapped on his shield and was going into battle. Honestly, my heart skipped to the drama that the combination of what I was seeing and what I was hearing as several ounces of adrenaline were released into my bloodstream. Okay, I was running at a very pedestrian 9:30 pace but in my mind I felt like I was flying.

You have to be safe with those things. You can't get so lost in the music – or the words – that you forget that you are slow-moving traffic out on the autobahn. But if you keep your wits about you, it's the only way I know how to run these days. I watched Mel Gibson's The Patriot the other night and shortly afterward downloaded the main theme song from Amazon (John Williams is the man!) Soon I'll be running down a road near me propelled by the music of The Colonial Cause and thinking of that wonderful moment in the climatic battle when Gibson's character, Col. Benjamin Martin, leads his men waving the flag in slow mo while running toward the fight. It's the stuff of making a normal run feel like you're inside an epic one.

There are some things that are better together

I'm a solo runner by habit and by default. On the one hand, I'm an early morning runner. If I don't get my run in before 8 o'clock on most days of the week it usually means its not gonna happen. And on the other hand, I don't know any other guys who run in this town. If they do, our paths have never crossed in the fifteen years I have been running regularly. It's not that I'm opposed to running with a woman for fear that she might be faster than me (she probably would be) but do it enough around here and that's how rumors start. So it's easier all the way round to run by myself.

Moms and daughters can do this together

But this past weekend I was reminded that running together can be a lot of fun. I coach high school cross country and for the last three summers I have planned a handful of summer running events as an attempt to keep my kids active during the “off-season”. These team work-outs are totally voluntary and no one is scolded if they can't make it. These kids are on vacation after all and they should not be punished for being so. But for those who can, for those who aren't working or vacationing or sleeping in, every few Saturdays we get together for some kind of run.

Friends can do this together too

This past Saturday was the first event of this summer – Something fishy this way comes, a four-mile run on the course of the Fishy Four, our town's premiere running event. As we waited for everyone who had planned on joining in to show up, I informally polled the kids as to how their summer training was going. Not surprisingly I learned that for some of them this day was DAY 1. Before school lets out in early June, I usually meet with the troops and give them the same pep talk that every Cross Country coach at every school gives: “Ask yourself where you want to be by the end of the season and train accordingly. Stay active. Run some, bike some, swim some. Use your leg muscles more than your thumb muscles, blah, blah, blah.” Most of the kids hear that and have good intentions to run through the summer but after finals are done figure they need a break. Of course, they do. But suddenly June is in the rear view mirror and now the thought of running to the end of their driveway to get the mail seems like a workout, let alone run two miles.

There are some roads that should not be done alone

My running story is fairly typical. I began running in high school as a way to get in shape for wrestling and found a sport that I really enjoyed. But after high school, I got away from it. Every once in a while I'd go for a run in college but never consistently. Fast forward 20 years later and I was one of those people who “used to run in high school.” Until a kid in our youth group who ran CC for Chetek handed me a little article he had cut out of Running Times about “baby-stepping” your way back into a running routine. I shared it with a number of people in my circle and in the summer of 1999, for two weeks straight, 6-7 of us met daily at the school track to run this 20 minute circuit together. After only two days, I wanted to hang it up but then I thought of those who would be waiting around at the track for me to show up and made myself get going. At the end of that two week period, our 7 had been reduced to three – the kid who had originally handed me the article, his mom and me. Given that he was an experienced runner (next to me) and had more miles to log than I did and preferred late afternoons to early mornings and given that mom felt like she would cramp my style (I had a style?), my life as a solo runner began. But I got my start – actually my re-boot as a runner - by running together.

On certain days its way better to go with another

Now back to this past Saturday. Given that most of the crew had not been very active over the last couple of weeks, I suggested we run the Fishy Four course by running at talking pace from mile marker to mile marker. At each mile we would catch our breath, see how everyone was doing and then go again. That sounded like a plan and off we went.

We were two groups – the kids (bolstered by a football player from a neighboring town who is friends with one of our guys) – and the adults (two running moms, the fourth grade daughter of one of them and myself.) As we began, I could hear the front-runners laughing and talking as they headed down the road and it just did my heart good to see them out there again. Our sport, if its anything, is ultimately about having fun together as we push our bodies into motion. As for we back-packers, we started talking about races we've done, routines we use and generally getting better acquainted. Lisa, one of the moms, is a late afternoon runner who after a twelve-hour shift at the plant she works at somehow has enough energy to get out and run. Dawn, the other mom, works the night shift as a PA at one of the area hospitals and yet is a serious triathlete. And Ellie is a precocious fourth grader who delights in flowers and feathers found on the road. The front-runners soon left us far behind but I'm fairly certain both groups were enjoying themselves running together – I know we were in our group, even if we were moving at a slower pace.

"Summon eagle powers" (Nacho)

Hannah is the girl in the middle

Recently, my 18-year-old niece Hannah, accomplished a truly remarkable feat: she ran from Superior, Wisconsin to Milwaukee. She logged twenty miles a day ten days straight for the cause of raising awareness of the ugly reality of human trafficking in Wisconsin. At the same time, she invited others to run an additional twenty miles a day that would allow her team to make the 400 mile journey in a week and a half. According to her dad and coach, the original idea was for her to run ten miles, tag the next runner who in turn would tag others after them and thereby advancing the baton ever closer to the goal. Meanwhile she would rest up in the van prepping for her next ten later in the day. But what happened is that most people wanted to run with her and not just for the cause she was standing for. Ultimately, Hannah got her 200 miles in and the rest of us who ran with her recorded enough mileage to make that trip twice even though her epic run ceased to be a point-to-point journey by the end of Day 1. It felt better to do this sort of thing together.

About this time of year I start mulling over what our team mantra will be this coming fall. I'm thinking of an African proverb I heard this past spring:

“If you want to run fast, run alone.

If you want to run far, run together.”

I like it. I like it a lot. Soon I'll be heading out for my morning run and as usual I'll be going solo but I look forward to our next team run when the laughs will start almost as soon as our feet start to hit the pavement.

Our next team event is the "Cats-n-Dogs" Relay Marathon, a 26.2 relay race from Weyerhauser to Chetek. It will be held on Saturday, July 11. For more information, check out Cats-n-Dogs Marathon We'd love to have you join us!

Superheroes among us

[Note: This post should be read while listening to the theme music from the Avengers. Just sayin'.]

“You get hurt, hurt 'em back. You get killed... walk it off.” Captain America to the Avengers in Avengers: Age of Ultron

The Rescue Run 2015 kicked off as planned last Thursday morning in Superior. We got a little bit later start than intended (it was closer to high noon than the original 10 a.m. kick-off ). Because of a function on Wednesday evening at the Christian fellowship they are a part of in Milwaukee they did not pull into our driveway until 1:30-ish. As hyped up as my niece was to get her journey going, when you go to bed that late the morning comes awfully soon. But after a two hour drive north, devotions, prayer and a lot of pictures, at long last she and her friend, Holly, started running south out of Superior along the Tri-County Corridor, a rail-to-trail path, with her dad in tow on his bike. Like the Chinese say, “the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” I'm sure that holds true for a 400-mile journey as well.

Team Hannah Day 1

Mile 2.5

Bound and determined

Hannah, a recent high school graduate, has had this idea for some time now to run across the state to raise awareness about the reality of human trafficking in the Badger State as well as raise $20,000 for the nonprofit, Exploit No More, that wants to establish an after-care home for juveniles rescued from the sex industry. According to the National Human Trafficking Resource Center, human trafficking is a modern version of an old problem in our country – slavery – and it's going on in every state in the Union. Whatever else that may be, it's a crying shame. So, this 18-year-old wants to do something about it.

Cemetery Road is a real killer

It's a crazy idea: run 20 miles a day for 10 days straight while recruiting friends, family and any one else who feels so inspired, to jump in and run along for a combination of an additional 20 miles a day. To date I have run 8 marathons and 2 ultras and I can tell you that 26.2 miles takes a terrific toll on your body. Now, imagine running the equivalent of  7 1/2 marathons nearly straight in a row. That is huge. If there are approximately 10,000 steps in a mile that's a LOT of steps. But what's crazier? Attempting something like this or simply wishing those lost girls and boys the very best? By comparison, it's a good kind of crazy.

Rain run in Rice Lake

Our daughter Christine and son, Ed, - both veteran CC runners – committed to help their cousin get her epic quest going (our other son, Charlie, was there for moral support as well and biked a mile or so with her). And, as I shared in my previous post, I was ready to lend some helping miles as well.

This is pretty epic

Between Thursday and Saturday, Team Hannah made their way south from Superior to the village of New Auburn just south of here. Between her accrued 80 or so miles and the rest of us we have advanced the ball about 140 miles – and that was as of 2 days a go. She's down by Fairchild now and by day's end will have recorded between yesterday and today another 40 miles. Epic indeed.

As for our side of the family, Christine, who just started running again this spring after a long hiatus, over three days recorded 12 miles, Ed – who runs CC and Track for UW-Superior – ran 22 and “old faithful”, myself, managed an even 20. It's the most I've run over the same length of time in a very long while and truthfully I'm feeling it today. However, when this day is over my niece will have recorded her 100^th mile so I've got nothing to complain about.

The best

Christine told me while running her stints she kept playing the Captain America march over and over. For my part, I have a playlist on my Ipod that I call “Cowboys and Superheroes,” a combination of some my favorite Marvel and DC theme music - Captain America, Superman, Thor, Avengers - and western soundtracks – Silverado, True Grit (the John Wayne version), and The Sons of Katie Elder. I'm an early morning runner by habit. I like getting my run done and out of the way before 8. But on Friday, my first run of the day was nearly at noon. The sun was out and it was very warmish and there I was running a 5 mile leg above Minong on the Wild Rivers Trail at the worst time of day for running. I had my Camelbak water system on and the trail was far better running-wise than it had been when I had run on it the day before above Solon Springs. But when it's hot and you're alone and there is nothing but trail stretching on forever ahead of you, it can be discouraging. But because my playlist was on “shuffle”, every once in awhile The Avengers theme would come on and suddenly I'd get a few drops of adrenaline into my soul. I'd think of one of my favorite scenes in Avengers: Age of Ultron. The fight is going poorly for earth's mightiest heroes, their backs are against the wall and Ultron has the upper hand. Wanda Maximoff (aka the Scarlet Witch) is beside herself with guilt for having been in cahoots with this ultimate bad guy. But then the master archer, Cliff Barton, delivers what I think is one of the best lines ever in this genre of film:

This guy is my favorite

The city is flying and we're fighting an army of robots. And I have a bow and arrow. Nothing makes sense. Doesn't matter what you did, or what you were. If you go out there, you fight, and you fight to kill. Stay in here, you're good, I'll send your brother to come find you. But if you step out that door, you are an Avenger.

Now here's a super girl

By my estimation I am perhaps 30 pounds overweight and my pace is so very tortoise-like. But on that hot, June day I was out there contributing to the cause and step after torrid step helping Hannah get closer to Milwaukee. When I see pictures of myself in my running get-up, I cringe. Is it me or why does that tire around my waist seem to be getting bigger? And then I remind myself that at the moment I can't do anything about my waist-size. It truly is what it is. But svelte gazelle (Ed) or stocky miniature horse like me I'm out there all the same and at the moment – pant, pant – I'm an Avenger, too.

God bless Supergirl as she moves further south. She's a real super hero to me. She reminds me that while her run will not solve the issue of human trafficking, acts of love like this amount to something significant over the long run.

So now she's on TV (Channel 18 story)

Unslumping yourself is hard to do

And when you’re in a Slump,

you’re not in for much fun.

Un-slumping yourself is not easily done.

 From Oh, the Places You'll Go! by Dr. Seuss

For about a year and a half I've been in a running-slump. During that time there's rarely been a week when I haven't got a run or two in but I've struggled with lack of consistency and loss of mo-jo. Since 1999 I've compiled over 12,000 running miles and during that time there was a day for me when a long run might be a 10-15 miler on a Saturday morning. These days you know things aren't good when 4.5 miles represent your long run for the week. A year ago at this time I was struggling with an injury that kept me out of the Fishy Four, our community's celebrated 4 mile race held during the annual Liberty Fest festivities, for the first time in many a year. As I cheered on the racers as they left the starting line inwardly I was a bit forlorn because I wasn't out there with them.

Only a spectator last year

The truth is for the first time since I started running again in '99, I didn't race a single time last year and only compiled 358 road miles. Nearing the half-way point of 2015, while I've recorded 67 runs I've only accrued a little more than 200 miles. Even I recognize the disappointing math in these figures. Some mornings it's been too cold, on others its been too hot and then sometimes, I tell myself, I'm just too tired. And then I think of Solomon's proverb:

“Loafers say, 'It’s dangerous out there!

There could be one out there...somewhere

     Tigers are prowling the streets!'
     and then pull the covers back over their heads.”

“Just as a door turns on its hinges,
     so a lazybones turns back over in bed.” 

     (Proverbs 26:13, 14, Msg)

Guilty. Too many times over.

I thought about it...a lot

Last fall, at the completion of the Cross Country season, I took out a membership at our local fitness center. My plan at the time was to go there twice a week to build upper body strength as well strengthen my quad and calf muscles so that I would be ready for the snowshoe racing season. While I've stuck to this plan to some degree, the snowshoe season came and went and I never once donned my Redfeathers. I'd like to blame my son's indoor track schedule for this (Ed runs for UW-Superior) but the real reason is simply lack of running consistency.

During this slump I've put on a good 12 pounds, my waist size has gone up by 2 inches and at my annual check-up for the first time in years I was informed that my cholesterol was a bit high. While never fast by any way you define the term, my pace is slower than ever. Gosh, it's hard to get old but I know some much older folks who run faster than me! What's a runner to do to un-slump himself?

Here's to the dreamers

My niece is helping me. Hannah is a recent high school graduate who cares deeply about the issue of human trafficking. She cares enough that she concocted some crazy plan to run from Superior, Wisconsin to Milwaukee (a distance of 400 miles) in order to raise awareness of the reality of trafficking in our state as well as raise funds for Exploit No More, a nonprofit organization in Milwaukee, working to establish an after care home for juvenile girls who have been rescued from sex trafficking. It's an audacious plan to address an audacious and sad reality that exists even in Wisconsin.

A good, kind of crazy

Her plan is to run 20 miles a day and recruit others to run an additional 20 miles so that within 10 days she can finish in Milwaukee. Personally, I think she's bitten off more than she can chew but I'm for tilting at windmills and so this Sancho Panza (Don Quixote's sidekick) for the last two months has been trying to get himself ready. My hope is to run 10 miles a day for her while she is up in our neck of the woods – 5 in the morning, 5 later in the day – and I think I'm in relative enough shape to do this. I haven't done anything out of the ordinary except talk myself out of staying in bed and getting out the door for my morning run. In the last two weeks I've recorded runs of 6-6.7 miles on a consistent basis only because I know Hannah is coming and I can't let her down.

I feel a lot like that guy on the right

I don't consider myself out my slump yet. Just this morning during a casual 5K run I almost started walking (almost) which kind of surprised me. Nope, I'm really one run away from calling it quits which is why I'm grateful to Hannah for appealing to my unclehood to come to her aid in this “impossible dream” of hers.

“Do you see over yonder, friend Sancho, thirty or forty hulking giants? I intend to do battle with them and slay them.” 

      - Miguel de Cervantees Saavedra, Don Quixote

To learn more about Hannah's Rescue Run follow this link The Rescue RunAnd if you're a runner in the Chetek area and looking to run some of the route between here and Superior give me a call at 715-925-6078 to determine how you can help!