JoyRun

One of the recent series at New Hope Church was titled Joyride.  Pastor Benji is always phenomenal bringing the teachings in the Bible to life.  I won't go into the series because you can watch it on your own and I won't go into the biblical connotations because this is a blog about running.  But, it got me thinking about the joy that I get out of running.  I also believe that it's not just me.  With every run and at every race you will see runners struggle but in the end and at most times during the run you will see joy in their faces.

I haven't written for awhile mostly because of time constraints.  Ha, I say that but quite honestly, I have enough time to write.  I get joy out of writing here as well, maybe because I'm writing about running.  Although, I seem to get joy out of writing about anything, even proposals in my work.

So far, I have had a joyful year of running capped off by a wonderful weekend running in Vancouver, Washington.  As much as I enjoy running in solitude - my way of getting away from it all - I still enjoy running with others, especially family.

I have run 3 marathons and 2 ultras in the last 6 months.  I wrote a entry in January about the Frosty 50 where I was accompanied by my nephew Shawn and crewed by Cindy.  It was a wonderful event and you can read the details on the blog.  I love running with Shawn because we have some great conversation and help each other along the way - well until the end when he turns the heat up and finishes ahead of me!  Cindy is at every race and quite frankly, without her, I would not get through many races in the joyful spirit that I have.

Next up was The Instant Classic, a trail marathon in Pocahontas State Park in Virginia.  It is a relatively easy trail marathon, as far as trail races go.  My niece Shelli was our host for the weekend and she ran the half-marathon.  The half was on the more difficult portion of the course which also happened to be the second half of the marathon course.  Not only did we both run, but Doug, her husband, their dear friends Chris and Karen, and Cindy volunteered at an aid station on the course.  First, I must say, aid station volunteers and our supporters/crew/cheerers, whatever you want to call them, have it rough.  It takes a lot of stamina to do that hours on end or be waiting at the finish line. I'd rather be running.  Again, it was a joyful day and we capped it off with a St. Patrick's day party at Shelli's house.  Oh, I ran an unrespectable time of 5:04.

Next was the Mountains-to-Sea 50K at Falls Lake in Raleigh.  I am not sure what I was thinking running a 50K two weeks prior to a marathon.  If it was an easy 50K, OK, maybe.  This, at least for me, was no easy 50K.  It was all trail and moderately technical in spots with shorter, steeper hills, both up and down (it was an out and back course).  However, it was beautiful around Falls Lake on a perfect sun drenched day with beautiful blue sky yet covered by a canopy of trees.  If you can't find joy in being outside, whether you are running a hard 50K or boating on the lake, then you just might not have any joy in you at all.  It's the longest it ever took me to run a 50K, 7:25, but what better way is there to spend 7 hours and 25 minutes?  OK, now you are conjuring up 101 better ways in your mind to spend 7 hours and 25 minutes.  As hard as it was, it was pure joy especially crossing the finish line and seeing Cindy still waiting for me.  She was even able to drive home, do some work and come back for me!  For all of that, I got an empty pint glass.  I fill that pint glass every now and then with a good ale and remember that day, that exhaustion, yet pure joy! At the end I made the comment, "Why can't I be like normal men and be on a boat on a lake instead of running 31 miles around it?"  Right?

So now that I completed that 50K, it was time to recover to run a marathon in my 43rd state, Kansas.  Truly I didn't know what to expect but I felt like I recovered well.  I also believe and tweeted, "If you want to do something hard, do something harder and the hard thing will feel easy!".    Well, I just did something hard, so lets see if this marathon will feel easier.  My marathons haven't been great over the last two years anyway.  Life gets in the way sometimes and having run 70 marathons since 2001, you just can't always be on, not to mention the inevitable aging process.  The Garmin marathon in Olathe was well organized, starting and finishing at Garmin Headquarters (oh, and we learned that the name came from the two founders, Gary and Min).  The theme revolves around the Oz.  So, when Cindy and I arrived we went to see the movie Oz, the Great and Powerful.  How fun!  The next joyful event was a panel discussion with Scott Jurek, one of the best, if not the best ultra runners of all time, Josh Cox, the American 50K record holder and elite marathoner, and Dez Davila, an Olympian, who holds the American record at the Boston Marathon.  It's great to hear the elites' view on running as a profession.  I was most enamoured with Scott Jurek and his book Eat & Run opens his personal and running life up to the public.  Marathon morning was brisk and sunny, just perfection.  The Oz balloon was at the starting line and there were plenty of Dorothy's, witches and scarecrows - even a Toto.  I ran my best in two years pacing with the 4:10 ladies through 23 miles and finishing in 4:13.  The consistent pace through 23 miles was pure joy.

This brings us to this past weekend in Vancouver.  With a tough month of May with work travel and moving, I just couldn't get the quality of runs in that I would have liked prior to another marathon.  Washington was state 44 and I chose Vancouver because of its proximity to Portland which is where Cindy's son and fiance live.  We could get a visit in and I could get another state.  On Saturday, I got over my social-phobia and decided to do the shake-out run with Bart Yasso and another 10 runners.  I must say, it was one of the most joyful experiences I have had as a runner.  It was an easy 3 miles of good running conversation.  Bart and I spoke about World Vision, the Christian organization that does so much good in the world for the impoverished.  He supports two children in South Africa while my two girls are in Brazil.  He got to meet his boy and girl when he ran the Comrades marathon (56 miles) a year ago. 


 I chatted with a guy who ran Comrades two years in a row - the up course and the down course.  Another runner and his wife were from Houston and we spoke about some of our favorite marathons.  At 10 AM came the Freedom 5K.  This may have been another one of my most joyful moments in running - the four of us, Calvin, Jenn, Cindy and me all running the 5K together.  It was the together piece that created all of the joy, starting, running and finishing together.  Cindy did remarkable finishing 4th in her age group.  Now, Jenn and Cindy are engaged in a 5K program to get better.  Isn't that what all of us runners strive for?  To get better? 

It was such a fun time!  Calvin, Cindy's son has been training for his first marathon, Light at the End of the Tunnel, held in July.  I am a firm believer in running multiple marathons leading up to a a goal race, at least for us non-elites.  It grooves you, it gets you into a race mindset, they are supported, and again, its a joyful thing to do.  I think Cindy talked Calvin into doing this marathon as a training run more than Calvin wanted to do it.  However, running 3:21 is not a training run to me; it would be a dream come true.  Calvin ran a masterful time and I am sure that there was pure joy throughout that run and especially when crossing the finish line.  First, it truly was a training run and will give him supreme confidence in the next one.  Secondly, his Mom was there to see his first one.  My Mom was at my first distance race ever in 1993, a 5K but she never got to see me at the finish line of a marathon - more importantly, I never got to see her.  Thirdly, his fiance was there.  And finally, it was a freakin' 3:21!  As for me, I ran decently with a little hamstring tightness and cramping at mile 21.  But overall, I has pretty happy with 4:18.  And there was beer at the end - how joyful is that!?

So, you see, the joy comes with every step, whether it is during an early morning casual run, a hard training run, a marathon, a 5K, an ultra, seeing others run, running with others, writing about running - whatever - have yourself a JoyRun!