Catt Scratches

The secret to running is as follows: Put on your sneakers and run. Keep running. Repeat.  Don’t stop until you’ve finished. There are some variations, and some corollaries but these are just fine points.

I’m training for a marathon and if you had asked me a year ago if I would consider such a thing, I would have said absolutely not. Gradually, with the help of a visionary friend, I have come to realize that I can run a marathon and a month or so ago, I decided I wanted to run a marathon. Not just any marathon, but the marathon that takes place in my spiritual home of Bar Harbor. It’s a little crazy for many reasons, but I have never been accused of being ordinary.

On my last full day in Bar Harbor, I decided to run the last few miles of the course. According to the graph on the marathon web site, it looked like the hardest part of the course. It’s a steady incline until the last mile starts then it goes down. I knew I had to do it before I went back to Chicago, so I couldn’t really delay or procrastinate. I just had to do it that day. The weather was cool but not wet. My mind was clear. I found a place to park off the road near the appropriate mile marker. I got out of the car and stretched. I just turned around and ran.

It might have been my best run of the trip. I was consistent. I didn’t falter. I didn’t get discouraged or negative, and I was comfortable the whole time. It was a 6.6 mile run. I felt like a goddess when I finished. Running’s like that. When everything clicks, you think there is no other mode of motion.

Before I continue, I just want to add a couple of things that I have realized or considered while running.

1. I would never last as a follower of Islam. At least not a strict one. Forget about Burkhas, or hijabs in this weather. If my religion prevented me from wearing a tank top or shorts, and or required me to dress in black from heel to toe when the temperature exceeds 70, I am looking for a new religion. I’m not sure I believe in God, but if I did, I wouldn’t believe in one who didn’t want me to be comfortable  when it was hot out. What about a religion which required people to dress naked when the wind chill was five below?

2. I don’t like running on gravel. Dirt either.

3. Don’t eat Pizza before you run, even an hour or more before you run. Eat pizza after running and before your off day, if at all.

4. Cigaret smoke is annoying anytime but when you are running, it is incapacitating. The smell of fresh asphalt can be pretty bad too. I think it’s the petro-chemicals in asphalt. Are there petro-chemicals in Asphalt?

5. Running is personal. It’s individual. It’s freeing.

6. I’m gonna be glad when they get that subcutaneous microchip/communicator thing perfected because I hate carrying anything when I run.

7. What’s the reason we don’t have more public drinking fountains? I  sort of understand the lack of public bathrooms. Local governments don’t want to hire people to clean them and people are stupidly crazy that homeless people will go live in the bathrooms or perverts will lie in wait for people there. Society is stupid. It’s true. We should just admit it. People are stupid, governments are stupid, political systems are stupid. We should lift all the bans on gun and yes, hand grenades, so we can kill each other without restriction or limitation. Seriously, we’d be doing earth, the animals and civilization a favor.

I’m having trouble cracking the ten mile mark. It might be psychological. I remember thinking that if I can do 10 I can do 20 and if I can do 20, goddamn it I can surely do 26.2 but I can’t seem to crack 10. Maybe I am just trying to fail. No, that’s thinking too hard. I’ve been told that I overthink things.  I just am not preparing myself well enough to run. 6 miles is fine. 8 miles is acceptable. But when I get ready for 10, things just get in my way. I get tired. Something hurts. I get thirsty.  

Every run, I learn something new. I guess that’s the point of running six days a week. You get smarter when you run. I better start paying attention. Maybe if I pay attention, I’ll be a better runner and actually crack 10 miles.

I wish I could quit everything else I do and concentrate on my running. Totally stupid, right? Well, after all, I am part of society.

Today, I figured out that fanny packs don’t work. I was running with a small back pack that I I could carry my Ipod and cell phone in and that had limitations, but it worked better than a fanny pack. I wish I could convince myself not to run with a cell phone but I keep thinking if I break something or have a heart attack, a cell phone would help. The Ipod is a good distraction and frequently perks me up. Jim Morrison got me moving again today with When the Music’s Over and Wichi Tai To got me moving in the woods. So the Ipod’s a good thing. I’m thinking of getting an ITouch; it’s lighter. A cheap burner phone might be a better thing to carry than my ChuckBerry.

On Sunday, I learned not to run without a headband. My hair is long enough to be a hindrance but too short to be in a pony tail. It was annoying even when it was weighed down with sweat about 3 miles into the run.

Today, it was too damn hot to run but I did it anyway. Also, I didn’t have a big enough breakfast. The run started out okay but my course was compromised. I got a few miles in and the torrential rains we’ve been having washed out the park trails in quite a few spots. So, I learned to scout out my path in advance so I know what to expect.

I either over think or don’t think about the right things. It’s a learning curve, I guess.  It’s an infinite series because it’s an never ending learning process. More tomorrow.