Subconscious Subservience

One of the most challenging aspects of preparing for an ultra-marathon is finding the time to train and specifically a key component of that practice, the long runs, and especially back-to-back long runs. This component, prepares runners for "time on feet" and it isn't about how fast you go, it's just about being upright and moving to condition your body for the rigor of running for 4-7+ hours. The length of long runs for me really depends on how much time I have available on weekends, could be 2-4 hours.

During the week, I can get in speed work, strength training, and recovery runs easily by waking up early, but Saturdays and Sundays are tough. The first obstacle to running on Saturdays and Sundays is Friday and Saturday nights. The time to unwind, connect with family and friends, pop a few brewskis, stay up late and watch a movie, go to a show, you know typical fun things. Wrong. Those nights are now the same as boring old weekdays because I need to wake up early enough to fit the long run in, which brings us to our next challenge, waking up early on the weekend. Is there anything better than being able to sleep in for just a little longer than you normally do during the work week? Well, that's out. Obstacle number three is being able to hold off the family long enough to complete your intended "time on feet". Good luck. Everything you planned so meticulously during the many weeks before still has to happen despite how exhausted you might be and hangs in the balance of being able to finish the long run in the intended time. Our final obstacle to the long-distance jaunt is during the run itself, there are a lot of opportunities for things to go wrong and slow you down, which can then derail the rest of the day and annoy all those family and friends who were longing for whatever it was you all had planned those many weeks before. Now, manage this successfully two days in a row every week for multiple months. It's a long challenging chain of changes that needs to be carefully navigated in order for one to be ready on race day.

Isn't this fun?!

So, on Sunday of last week, my second long run, I managed to get everything right, all the pieces in place. I secured 2 1/2 hours of running time, planned my route, and my fuel, and everything was in good order, but...I forgot to charge my earpods. That's right. 45 minutes into the run I had nothing to listen to for the remaining hour and 45 minutes. I panicked. I started telling myself there is no way I'll finish my run if I don't have anything to listen to. The way my route was planned I happened to not be that far from my house at the time and I considered going home. After all the planning and stars aligning to be able to have this time I was going to throw it all away because I couldn't finish the podcast I was listening to. This was lunacy! Then I started to think to myself, how did I get here? Why was I so dependent on listening to something in order to run? I wasn't running to listen to podcasts or music, I was running to achieve a goal and I was about to let go of that goal because the headphones died. Then I had this moment that was more empowering than finishing the run itself and that was making the decision to keep running, in silence. It sounds dramatic, but I had to really push to make this happen and I am still in disbelief I was even in that position in the first place. It made me aware of how dependent I had become on my routine and the habit that wasn't even necessarily a bad habit, but without it, I was endangering all the progress I had made so far on the actual goal itself.

Ultimately, it was a great run and there was nothing silent about it. I became more intuned with my body, more focused on breathing, heart rate control, and also the sounds of nature, so loud in fact. My "time on feet" was successful and the day went off without a hitch. Next time, I think I'm leaving the earbuds behind.

Thanks for reading. Life is Work!