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'It don't (always) come easy'

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Monday, September 4, 2006 | 09:48 PM ET

By Peter Hadzipetros

It doesn't matter how fit you are or how addicted you are to staying that way, it can still be tough to persuade yourself to get in your workout.

Take this past Sunday. Ernesto was dumping the last of his soggy load over central Canada. Summer, it seemed, had given way over the course of a couple of days to fall. A definite chill in the air.

It was the kind of morning that you'd hit the snooze button two, three, maybe four times before trying to decide whether the comfort of the covers trumped the growing need to head down the hall.

Actually, it was the kind of morning most sane people wouldn't bother with an alarm clock it being the Sunday of a long weekend. And when those sane people did get up, they'd make sure they were well caffeinated before taking on anything that required the slightest effort.

But I had to get 35 kilometres in. That's what the program called for. Rain or shine. Part of the habit I've developed over the past few years. Ignore it, and my brain would conspire against my body, telling it I would not be ready for a fall marathon.

It's never easy to put in a training run of 35 kilometres. It's a little easier when you have company. Five of us were going at about the same pace for most of the distance.

When you're going long, a good way to determine that you're going at the right pace is the ability to carry on a conversation. Over 35 kilometres, you've got time to cover a lot of conversational ground.

We dealt with imploding Blue Jays, hockey signings, Tiger Woods's latest surge, Steffi Graf's legs and explosive diarrhea.

Gord and Derm got caught up on a singing contest broadcast by another network, not the one the CBC carried. But the lingering effects of a cold would soon catch up with Derm and force him to drop off the pace. A lonely runner can be easy pickings for a hungry grizzly. Fortunately, grizzlies don't prowl along the shores of Mississauga's Credit River.

By the 27th kilometre, Rob pointed out that we stopped talking. Not because we ran out of things to say, but because we were too gassed to say anything. Somebody, could've been me, grunted in agreement.

In the end, we got those 35 kilometres in. Not much the worse for wear, although a hot shower did reveal those hidden spots where chaffing had done its dirty work.

Did eventually manage to have that second, and even a third coffee, that morning. By then, getting up that early on a holiday weekend didn't seem that big a deal.

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Comments (4)

Brian

Ottawa

I guess I am a wimp, my longest race so far is the "Around the Bay" 30k in Hamilton.

I will run in any temperature below a humidex of 40 C, but when its pouring I will just delay my run by a day or go on a treadmill if I think that one run is super crucial for some reason.

Posted September 7, 2006 10:26 AM

Michelle

alberta

This must be why the fitter I get, I still occassionally ask my husband if he'll work out for me. Many people think I'm crazy for heading out for a run on a cold day (which lets face it there are more of than perfect days here in Canada!) Others like my husband think I'm certifiable for attempting anything longer than 20 minutes and I think he's certifiable for lifting huge amounts of weight (really what's the point? you need hustle in that muscle)! I agree with the above post....there's nothing like it. It's what keeps us getting up and getting out. Nothing else works for me. There's also the very "intellectual" conversations that keep me going....funny how you can discuss so many topics, even explosive diarhea!

Posted September 6, 2006 02:02 PM

Rick Young

Peter,
Your mention of grizzlies, makes we wonder how and if many runners interweave time at the cottage with marathon training plans. I know as someone who is in that category it is especially challenging to tackle the lonely country roads for longer solo training runs, especially on bad weather days.

Lately I have been taking the 'easy' way out staying home to run with the group, to share the sweet pain you described. Another step and sacrifice on the road to managing my next marathon.

Thanks for your articles.

Rdy

Posted September 6, 2006 01:23 PM

Melanie

Toronto

Getting out of bed is one of the hardest things about running. Especially on a "holiday". The distance you ran, for non-runners reading this, is close to marathon distance. But you did it without hundreds of people cheering you on, no water stations, no medal. I think most non-runner's see the marathon as the final distance. They don't realise that you have to run (close to) that distance prior to the big day. As a newbie runner whose longest event is a half (and I'm damned proud of that), I remain astonished at the kind of distance you folks run (normally). You must feel like Rocky Balboa on a pretty regular basis, eh?

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'It don't (always) come easy'

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Monday, September 4, 2006 | 09:48 PM ET

By Peter Hadzipetros

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