The view from the outside lane…..
A semi-lucid look at things……
By Chuck Nacy
When I was running track in high school some years ago…..alright! alright!….some
decades ago, back in the days of cinder and stone-dust ovals, twelve inches
of sawdust in the landing pits, and no staggered starts, our coach, who's
primary function was to lead the school's basketball program and had had this
group of stick-thin 140 lb. weaklings foisted upon him during the spring,
would prepare us for upcoming competition by staging a "time trial,"
not infrequently the day before our meet….sort of a "let's see if
this bunch of wannabe athletes is going to embarrass me or not."
Not knowing any better (him or us), we would dutifully charge through our
litany of events, usually arriving at the pending meet with less-than-fresh
legs or, worse, tight quads, hams, or calves.
Fast-forward some years to a period in my early adulthood when I decided the
time had come to try and re-visit a healthy lifestyle, eschewing the smoky
haze and six-packs of my college years. Running seemed like a natural avenue
to pursue given the "vast" experience I had gained some years earlier
sprinting 220 yards/440 yards. (Yes, that was back in a time when a meter
was a device used to measure electricity, not distances). Realize, of course,
that I was still in the pre-Runner's World era and that my chances of encountering
someone else actually running at the same time as I was about the same as
Congress being able to agree on anything worthwhile….then or now.
Left to my own training devises and methods for a number of years, I eventually
logged enough five-milers and wore out a bunch of Nike Cortez shoes en route
to taking a quantum leap into my first 10K race. Hey….what could go wrong?
I had learned about "Morton's Foot" in early black and white issues
of RW, had consumed enough ERG replacement drink to hydrate a camel, and had
a new nylon tank top that certainly would keep me cool during a race. Hard-easy
days? Never heard of them. Speed work? I must be naturally fast….after
all, I'd been a quarter-miler a mere fifteen years ago. Stretching? Sissy
stuff for arthritic senior citizens.
But, just to be sure this six point two miles was going to go as well as I
knew it would, I had a pre-race secret weapon…..that's right, a TIME
TRIAL! It had worked on the track so it had to work on the roads. So, armed
with the confidence of the ignorant and uniformed, I headed out for a hard
six-miler two days before my initial race, charging over hill and dale and
arriving back home extremely well-pleased with both my pace and post-run feeling.
This was going to be the proverbial piece of cake….
Imagine my surprise, chagrin and disappointment when I tanked at mile four
of the race, fading further and further back into the pack and finishing far
off my (unrealistic) target time. It was a hard but timely lesson learned,
the cause of which I did not fully appreciate for some time to come.
The subsequent years and dozens of other wake-up calls have led me to adopt
two well-know sayings as my training mantras: "Experience is everything,"
and "The devil is in the details." The experience factor has allowed
me to at least understand my abilities and shortcomings, maximizing the former
and minimizing the latter on occasion, while listening to whatever other runners
have to say and then picking, choosing, and experimenting to find what works
for me….the details.
The late Dr. George Sheehan, philosophical guru to the running community in
the 70's and 80's, spoke wisely of many things, but the most significant gem
he uttered was, I believe, that "Running is an experiment of one,"
an obvious but often ignored axiom of training on any level. Patience, an
open mind, and the willingness to experiment and adapt will, over time, solidify
our individual running abilities, the net result hopefully being an extended
and satisfying career.
Whether you are an experienced or neophyte runner, whether you race or not,
be patient with yourselves, enjoy the process, and remember that there are
a bunch of us still trying to figure the whole deal out.
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