Running

Running dominated my time during high school and college. I don't think a single coach truly appreciated my dedication, as I normally took winters off to go skiing. However, when I was running competitively I gave it my all. Fractions of a second mattered to me over a race that was 5 miles long. With that kind of mentality, you can see how one can become obsessed to an extent. It wasn't healthy. College summers consisted of working on a tree farm for 50 hours a week and then running 80 miles a week. All to put your body at a new level (speed) it's never seen before. After college.. well, after Junior year, I never can say I got back in the swing of things with running. I never raced again. Whats the point? I'd never be as fast as I once was nor will I become dedicated that much.

After this ski season I felt like my lungs and legs were in pretty decent shape. So I went for a run. I've continued running all throughout and I finally feel like I am a runner once again. It's great! I love it! I'm even starting to name some runs here in Salt Lake like I use to at Oneonta. See, at college we'd name some runs to do. For example,.. "oh, lets to red barn" or "hey, lets go run east to west" Just naming runs gives it some value in my eyes rather than the boring, lets go for 60 minutes.

So today, I ran "Bypass". This is a 4 mile loop. Starting at Snowbirds tram base, running through the bypass road...all the way up to the end of the LCC road and back down running right underneath Mt. Superior. It's a big circle. After .2 though, your saliva is incredibly thick, your head is pounding and you just want to give up. The run is not only at 9,000 feet, but it has a steady uphill to start! This is the second time I've done this loop. You need enough time to forget about how much the run hurts before going back to it.

I'm excited. Tomorrow I will be flying back to New York. Very old familiar run loops will come into mind. New Paltz Rail Trail, OCP (Orange county park) loop, and some runs up in Albany. It'll be great to judge and see how fit I am from where I once was, since the altitude here hurts your times slightly.

Last week in Indian Creek after a fantastic run.