It’s been difficult coming to terms with the result of Sunday’s race. Yes, I understand that running is a sport where there are many elements and variables that are out of the athlete’s control. And yes, I understand that sometimes it really doesn’t matter how hard a runner has trained or how fit they are.
Sometimes stuff just happens. It rains or gets too hot. The wind blows. What can you do?
That’s the smart rationalization, of course. But as I warmed up to run in yet another rainy, humid and windy day here in Central Pennsylvania I wondered why I felt the need to explain my race to everyone who asked about it instead of simply accepting the austerity of the outcome.
Why can’t there be an asterisk next to my 2:54:21 indicating that it was a wind disabled performance? They do that for wind-aided performances, right? Can’t it be a two-way street?
Along those lines I felt the need to look up the evidence from Dr. Jack Daniels that states running into a 15-m.p.h. headwind at 6:00 per mile takes the same amount of energy as running a five-minute mile. So if I ran into winds heavier than that with 32-m.p.h. gusts, how much time did I lose? Ten minutes? More? Less?
“You really haven’t had very good luck with the weather this year,” a friend pointed out, noting that I wilted in the heat during the Vermont City Marathon last May.
True enough. It was hot in Vermont that last Sunday in May. But I’d also wasn’t in great shape, either, having only come out of retirement eight weeks before the race. I needed perfect weather that day to run to the highest level of my potential. That wasn’t the case this time around. I was fit and trained despite noting that I was “a year away” from a good marathon. Rain or heat was not going to limit me this time.
Wind is a different story.
Nevertheless, before the whining and continued explaining gets too thick, I toughed out 10 miles in 1:11:49 despite driving, flooding rain and steady – yet tempered – winds. My recovery is going well, but I still have to relax a bit and heal. I actually entertained the idea of staying indoors and skipping the run because my right hip and hamstring are still a bit sore and my lower back is a bit tight, also, but then thought better of it.
Seriously, what am I going to do – not run? Because it was raining?
Ha!
Tomorrow’s forecast is much improved than today’s rain and flash-flood warnings. We’re supposed to have partly cloudy skies with 54-degree temps. I guess I’ll go out and run.
Running nugget
Here’s a story about Bill Rodgers, a guy who never complained about a day spent running, as remembered by former rival Art Hall.