JUST THE OPPOSITE

I really prefer to run in the mornings, but once in awhile I’ll postpone my run until the evening – mainly so I can run with someone. Two weeks ago I met up with a group of guys after work for a nice 11 mile trail run. Last night I decided to join them again – only this time, two of the guys bailed. That left me and John alone for over an hour and a half. I admit, normally, the thought of running 90+ minutes with someone leaves me a little anxious – especially if I don’t know them very well. With John, it’s just the opposite. He’s the type of person that if you were running an ultra marathon, you’d want him along with you because the miles would fly by.

I’ve met John in March of 2006, but didn't start to get to know him until later that summer. If you’re a regular reader, you’ve probably heard me mention many of his accomplishments; only person to run all Twin Cities Marathons AND all Grandma’s Marathons, 80 marathons or ultras in the ‘80s, a string of like 19 out of 20 years sub-2:50, 2:28 PR the week after a 2:33, one of the first running store owners in the area, etc.

You can imagine that he has a lot of interesting stories to share. Last night we talked about how he got started running and his first marathon. Here’s the condensed version; after college he was getting fat so he started to run; ¾ mile out, stop, rest, ¾ mile back. Next a couple of buddies said he should do the Boston Marathon. He says okay and starts to train. He’s up to a long run of 17 miles with about 6 weeks to go. Then he finds out that the BAA has decided to implement a qualifying standard of 3:30. The local runners quickly organize a March marathon for people wanting to qualify for Boston. John runs 2:59, like 9 months after he started running. 4-5 weeks later he ran 2:53 at his first Boston.

He would definitely make for a great interview, however, he’s not much for email. I think during one of these runs I need to bring along my recorder and conduct an interview while on the run.

Anyway, I ran a couple of miles beforehand and finished with 13 for the day. This morning I managed 8 miles. For some reason Katie was up around 3:30. I put her back to bed, but she kept getting up. Needless to say, my 7.5 hours of sleep turned into 6 hours. That bites.

Speaking of Katie’s, I see the other Katie so often now, that it’s not even a big deal. I was trying to decide on some shoes for Grandma’s and ended up just taking her advice; “Stick with what you know.” Good luck to Katie (and Jason) at the USA 25K Championships this weekend.

Quote of the day;

“It’s really a simple sport. You have to put in the miles and race hard. We had a whole lot more guys running fast in 1981, and none of them were ever worried about staying in their heart rate zone or only increasing their mileage by 7.9% a week.” – Jason Lehmkuhle