Day 19: A Dartmouth Superhero

So I was out on my long run this afternoon – 22k easy. As I was about to cross the 111 on ramp around MicMac Mall, a van stopped for me. I crossed, but then it laid on the horn. I was in the process of turning and giving the old finger salute when I noticed that it was Denise driving, all smiles. She rolled down her window and shouted to me, “I’m coming back! I did a 28k run!”

What great news! She’s been struggling for a year with blood clots in her lungs, slowly but surely overcoming every obstacle and setback. I can still picture her in the hospital last fall, barely able to sit up – and now she’s back to cranking out the miles. I’m sure there’s a long road ahead of her still – but Denise thrives on long roads – thrives on them like nobody I know. She's a superhero.

Denise in running attire. Such determination!

I was beaming as traffic started piling up behind her. She quickly told me that she’s running a leg in the Rum Runner’s Relay, so I told her I’d see her there. I can’t wait to find out how the rest of her training has been going and when she thinks she’ll be race ready again. I knew she’d been doing runs with Nick, but I didn’t know how far and how intense.

After seeing Denise, I was practically floating on air as I ran. All us Antiques have felt her absence keenly – she’s such an inspiring runner. I’ve learned so much from running and racing with her – so much about digging deep, never giving up.

Fortunately, another thing Denise (and Cliff, of course) taught me was to run smart, so I didn’t let that bit of good news increase my pace too much. I kept it steady today – running easy 4:40s at the start and finishing between 4:00-4:15. I like starting slow and letting my body warm up to the effort – then I just let my legs and lungs fall into whatever comfortable rhythm they want and roll along.

As I’m writing this, J-A is walking out the door for her long run. She’s planning on going further than she’s ever run before – 11k. I’m so proud of what she’s doing; she doesn’t love running, but she loves the fitness it gives her, so she’s being tenacious. She’s setting goals and knocking them down. And she’s making great strides (a pun... oh my!) – just last week, we went out for a 5k run, and she ended up setting a 5k PB... on a training run! Amazing.

I feel like my own week of running was a good one. I was able to get in over 80k, and although my Wed threshold was a flop, I repeated the workout yesterday much more successfully. I kept the effort reasonable over the first 4k (3:45, 3:54, 3:53, 3:45) and then was able to increase the pace over the second 4k naturally, without strain (3:41, 3:39, 3:35, 3:40). And when I finished, I felt like I could keep going – on Wed, I had to stop and recover before cooling down.

I think there’s a bit of wisdom to be gained in comparing my two thresholds, which were the same distance and on the same route: my body works best when it starts conservatively. Once I settle into a run, then I can start playing with the pace – but if I don’t show restraint over the first few k, I’ll blow up. Ka-boom!! (Actually, it’s more of a whimper than a bang).

Happy trails!