New Adventures with an Old Friend

I have found an old friend, a friend that I haven’t seen in years. We used to spend hours together, in the neighborhood, around town, at the beach, in the mountains. For some of the adventures, it was just the two of us enjoying the solitude. Other times we were part of a larger group. My life was simpler when we were friends years ago, much less complicated. No kids, no job, I could spend time with my friend as often as I liked. I was much healthier and in better shape when we were friends and much of this I can attribute to our friendship. If this friend is so great, how did I lose contact? Who is this wonderful friend that I speak of?

Running! I have taken up running again. Running and I used to spend hours together when I was younger. Getting back in touch with this old friend has been awesome. A couple weeks ago, I was able to get up at 6am and run on Pre’s Trail in Alton Baker Park. Running early in the morning on those days brought back so many memories from my youth. The crisp clean air, the smell from the grass, trees and wildflowers, the chirping of the birds. Wonderful memories of when I could run 10 miles or more if I wanted.

That was a long time ago! Now, I am thrilled to be able to jog for 20 minutes, which I did last week for the first time since running the Butte to Butte in 1997. That was 12 years, 80 pounds and 3 kids ago. I barely trained for that 10k and I was able to average 9 minute miles and finish in just under an hour. Now, I might be able to run 1 mile in 9 minutes but I certainly could not run 2 at that pace. And 6.2 miles, not a chance.

Wednesday afternoon I ran the west loop of Pre’s Trail in the 90 degree heat. Last summer I would have struggled to run from the front door to the driveway. Just sitting in the shade during a 90 degree day would have worn me out. Now, 6 hours after spending 35 minutes on a bike for spin class, I was able to run two 10 minute intervals in the heat. Awesome.

Wednesdays run was by far the most enjoyable run I have had yet. The west loop of Pre’s Trail is a 1 mile loop that circles the Cuthbert Amphitheater in Alton Baker Park. While I was running, I was able to enjoy some atmosphere from the stage where Jonny Lang was preparing for Wednesdays concert. The smell from the vendors preparing for the show added to the experience. How lucky we are to live in Eugene, for all its faults, there sure is plenty to be proud of.

Today, my schedule called for running 25 minutes. I was really looking forward to this workout. 25 minutes! I never thought I would be this far along in my training so soon. I started my run on Pre’s Trail at about 10 am, it was already about 80 degrees, but what a beautiful morning. My run was going pretty good for the first 15 minutes, an occasional runner would jog by and I felt great. I had hoped to be able to cover 2.5 miles in 25 minutes an average pace of 10 minute miles, but I found that to be a little fast and at about 7 minutes I slowed to about 11.5 pace. On the middle loop of Pre’s Trail near the BMX track I saw to young ladies walking dog. I could tell they were in good shape so I, being a man, decided that I would do my best Steve Prefontaine impression. As I approached them on the trail I lengthened my stride despite the fact that 15 minutes into my run I was a little tired. I smiled and said hello as a ran by, trying my best to look like a real runner. I felt just like Pre, minus the long hair and pornstache as I cruised by the eye candy, however, I am sure I looked more like Paul Blart minus the pornstache. It felt awesome to run at that pace and I felt like an 18 year old kid again, for about 30 seconds, until reality set in. I am obviously not ready for that kind of pace! It took a while to catch my breath after my little outburst, but I continued on. As I ran through the trees gasping for air, I sucked a bug right down my throat. Must be some kinda runners karma! Oh well, small price to pay.

I am so happy to be back spending time with my old friend. I look forward to many more miles with this friend and I sure hope he never lets me gain 80 pounds again!