One Day of Running

I've often said that one of the primary reasons I've stayed a runner is the cool gadgetry. I love thinking about different types of shoes and how they work, looking for good deals on moisture-wicking shirts and shorts, waiting for my favorite double-layered socks to go on sale, etc. Right now I'm saving up to buy a combination stopwatch/heart rate monitor. I guess all of this indulges the boy in me who will forever be entranced by lightsabers, rings of power and the idea that a truck could become a robot commanding a huge robot army.

I mention this because one of the new gadgets I've discovered is the training log program that Runner's World runs through their website. It compiles your mileage, times, how many miles are on the shoes you wear, what the weather was like on your last run, and about as much detail as you'd like to add. They even have a mapping program so you can enter the routes you run where you live and know the exact mileage of each route, which is a marked improvement from my old method of driving the routes and using the trip odometer on my car (and guestimating the distance when I ran where I couldn't drive). AND they have a button you can add to your blog, so that others can keep track with you - you can see it to the right, just under the "About Me" section.

As I was entering tonight's tempo run (1.5 mile warmup, 4 miles at 8:23 / mile or faster, .75 mile cooldown), I noticed that my comprehensive running time for 2008 is 24:12:44. So far in 2008 I've run for just over one day, total. The thought of it just amazed me. I started running for fitness eight years ago, when I finally got fed up with wearing jeans with a 40 inch waistband and getting seriously winded walking up the hill from Burntvedt Court on the Luther Seminary campus. Back then, I couldn't run constantly for very long - I'd go 3 minutes running, 2 minutes walking, for 30 minutes or so. But slowly, I made progress. I got to where I could run without stopping for much longer than I thought I ever could. On my internship in Florida, running kept me sane when lots of stuff around me was driving me crazy (and, let's be honest, a fair amount of my own stuff was contributing to the craziness). I came back to seminary the next year so thin that my classmates didn't recognize me: one friend who'd been in a monthly marriage care group and several of my classes walked right past me in the weight room before doing a double-take and coming back to say hello. Two years ago, in response to a particularly rough stretch that included my first diagnosis of depression, I entered the Fargo Marathon to give me a goal to work toward. Today, I'm a little heavier than I was then, but I'm still running, and I still enjoy it nearly every time I go out.

Transformation is a pretty incredible thing to see in hindsight. One day you're running just to drop a couple of pounds, the next you're wondering how much weight you could drop and whether you actually could take a shot at qualifying for the Boston Marathon in a few years. I didn't get into this to do anything other than be healthier, but now it's become such a part of my life that I can't imagine myself NOT running. It'll be interesting to see where this takes me.

Anyway, since I don't currently have a book on the iPod (problems with audible.com), I did a random shuffle for the run today. (the iPod is, by the way, another great gadget) Here's the list:
1. "Satisfied Land" by Storyhill (a great start if you ask me)
2. "Light As The Breeze" by Billy Joel
3. "Come Back To Bed" by John Mayer
4. "Like a Child (Live)" by Jars of Clay
5. "Grace Is Gone" by the Dave Matthews Band
6. "Nightingale" by Norah Jones
7. "Begin" by the Wailin' Jennys
8. "Jill" by Harry Connick, Jr.
9. "Peaches & Diesel" by Eric Clapton
10. "New York Prophesie" by Blues Traveler
11. "Good To Have A Friend" by Peter Mayer
12. "Bela's Reels" by the Chieftains
13. "I Got Stripes" by Johnny Cash ("on a Monday, I was arrested...uh huh...")
14. "Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes" by Paul Simon
15. "I'm Gonna Sit Right Down (And Write Myself A Letter)" by Nat King Cole
16. "Peace Of Mind" by Boston (possibly the best intro to a song ever written. ba da da dum, da da dum da dum da diddly-a dum...)
17. "Rhythm Of Life" by Soul Support
18. "Let's Live It Up" by Brian Setzer
19. "Black & Tans" by the Wild Clover Band
20. "Jerry Was A Racecar Driver" by the Cornhusker Marching Band Drumline

Now, here's the funny thing about the last two - tomorrow the fam and I are off to Omaha to visit my brother and his family, to enjoy a birthday party for my nephew, AND to see the Wild Clover Band at the Brazen Head Pub. My college friend Aaron Svoboda plays bodhran and sings in the WCB, and I can't wait to see him and his wife. It's going to be a great weekend, made even better by the run I'm going to enjoy in Plattsmouth, NE on Saturday morning. So, in the best Irish I've got, let me wish you all:
Slainte!