Despite my lack of sleep and food, I was not going to skip my run.
I know that this is just common sense, but I learned a fairly simple math equation today. Apparently, 3.5 hours of sleep + no lunch = not a ton of energy for running. However, despite my lack of sleep and food, I was not going to skip my run. I hadn’t gone for a run in almost a week and I knew I needed to get back into it before too much time had passed. Plus, it’s November 4th and it was 78 degrees out in the late afternoon and since my main options for being outside were running or yard work, I chose running. Also, my wife is out of town on business and I knew these would be my last moments of peace and quiet until the kids went to sleep.
I drove a route through my neighborhood to determine where the mile ended and got ready to set out. The first four tenths of the mile were uphill. It was at some point during the uphill climb (I don’t mean to make it sound more dramatic than it is. It’s not a steep hill, but a long steady hill that’s mainly noticeable while running or biking) that I truly discovered the effects of no sleep and no lunch. I was pretty winded by the midpoint but decided to push through and keep running until at least the top of the hill. Not even the sweet sounds of Axl Rose’s ode to delusional paranoia, Get in the Ring, was enough to keep me going. As I got to the top of the hill and turned left off of the main road into the neighborhood, I stopped the timer function on Strava (the running app) and saw that I had run those four tenths of a mile in 3:46.
I walked the next two tenths of a mile to get my breath back. I ran the final four tenths of the mile, which included no hills, in 2:35. That’s 6:21 for eight tenths of a mile. Of course, that time is not incredibly accurate because there was a two tenths of a mile rest, which allowed me to run harder for the end part of the run. My walk back home brought me past my friend Erich’s house, who happened to be looking out his window watching his kids playing across the street. “You just run a four minute mile?” he asked. I told him that I am nowhere near a four minute mile and questioned my own sanity. He came outside and, once again, we briefly talked about him running with me, though no plans were made.
I don’t know exactly what kind of mindset I should have while I’m running, but my hunch is that I should be trying to block everything out and focus on nothing but the run. I wasn’t able to do that today. I had a lot on my mind and most of it wasn’t good. We found out at work yesterday morning that a woman at our company had died sometime during the night before. I wasn’t close with her and I didn’t know her particularly well, but it made me think about my life and my family and this whole pursuit.
Why am I doing this?
I’ll admit, this is selfish. My wanting to run a four minute mile is all for me and all about what I want. I do so little for myself these days and I this is something I really want to try to accomplish. It’s not about money, though if through writing these pieces some large corporation like Nike or Adidas or Champion wanted to sponsor me and pay me a whole bunch of money, I won’t say no. In fact, I’d say a very enthusiastic yes and be thrilled, but that’s not something I expect.
But it’s also about legacy and teaching my kids to set goals, not matter how ridiculous other people may think those goals are. It got me thinking about what my legacy is/could be and about what I could do to make the world a better place. Which brought two questions to mind: “What if” and “Why not.” I won’t even type what my next thought was yet because it would probably sound crazy. I know, I know, not as crazy as trying to run a mile in under four minutes, but crazy nonetheless. Yet, if I’m going to try and do this, why not turn it into something that could benefit the world at large?
It’s not the Flower City American India Pale Ale by Lock 32 Brewing Company talking (local sponsorship opportunity…Come on Lock 32, give me a call). I’m going to need to talk this out with a few people and figure out in what direction to take this, but I’m excited about the prospect of doing good while running
Stay tuned.