Rhythms

A missed Skype session turned out to be exactly what I needed this week to improve my running consistency.

To beat the heat of summer, I had also shifted most of my runs to early morning hours - an experiment that worked better than expected. Lately, though, I started finding excuses to not go out the door.

Also, since cross country started, my schedule went a little out-of-kilter. Pretty normal as I adjust to the different time for the runs and the odd nature of running with youngsters, some of whom can kick my butt in a mile, who can't hang for three. I do believe I've mentioned previously I'm slow. I end up running shorter but faster than normal with them. Laughing a lot, too - yesterday we did a hill grinding session, wore them out. Until we told them they could, as a one-time-offer-good-for-today-only,  run up the thirty-foot high dirt mounds. Amazing how fast junior high kids recover as they laughed and shouted and climbed the loose rock and sand.

Anyhow, I was supposed to Skype on Monday with Jack Welch. Not the GE CEO guy. Jackdog. Awesome dude who's become a friend over the last couple of years. (Has a great book, too!) Got up a couple minutes before the main alarm - we use three alarms in the house. The first is the snuggle alarm, plays positive music. The second is the main alarm a raucous get-your-buns-out-of-bed alarm. That's the one my sweetie gets up to. The last is my alarm and the voice of Enya tries to coax me into the day.

Rose on the first alarm, set up the computer in the near-dark because the season is shifting and what was bright sunlight a month ago is pre-dawn now. Made coffee. Logged into Skype - and discovered their network was down. No chat that day for Paul and Jackdog. Sadness.

Standing there as the edge of the sky brightened, the change of season finally struck. Motivation for the morning run was getting hard, not because I was getting lazier, though that's a frequent possibility.

Nope, I was out of rhythm.

My best (and most creative) sleep comes in the hour before dawn. When I used to drive truck for a living, I'd have to pull over to nap or risk putting the trailer in a ditch. As soon as the sun was fully up, I'd shift gears and get back on the road.

I spent about an hour yesterday rearranging my schedule, tweaking the writing time, the work time, and deciding where running would find its place. Turns out, back in the evening after work. A consistent time every day and the variability of my courses will improve because I don't have to worry about getting back to the house on time for work.

I woke up today, and lollygagged. Made the coffee, and started writing. Right in rhythm.

Tonight, I have a six-miler planned and, instead of a gotta-run attitude, I'm looking forward to it with a get-to-run smile.

Now I just need to reschedule with the Jackdog.

Run gently, friends. Find your rhythm and go.

Sitting down with running history

Not that my lunch mates were history, just a part of it. Jack Welch set up the lunch with his friends, Joe Henderson and Jacki Hansen, both acclaimed, for different reasons, in the running world. Joe wrote extensively about running, on everything from running form to his adventure with an ultra to an insightful piece on the late, great George Sheehan as Sheehan moved from the front of the pack to the back during his battle with cancer. Joe was also a middling good runner, by his own admission.

Jacki Hansen was more than middling. The lady set the World Record not once, but twice in the marathon. She joked during the lunch that she was all "lungs and legs" though I suspect a mighty heart rests in her diminutive frame. She also has a book out - Jack mentioned it to me when I asked whether there was a full-fledged running museum.

Both are friends of Jack's and watching the interactions brings a swathe of the running world to life. Behind the stories in the press of world record efforts and training programs, these are warm and inviting people striving to reach the pinnacle of their sport (in Jacki's case) or the best in a challenging genre (in Joe's case.) Both do a tremendous amount for the sport.

Me, I didn't have much to add.  I listened a lot, and recognized names, but I don't have the backstory to contribute to the conversation. Instead, I watched as friends, for their friendship spans the better part of four different decades and still going strong, caught up after too long apart.

The subject of Boston came up and I found that Jacki had been there, coaching. She was the first to say that she had been safe and hadn't been at risk behind the finish line barriers. Still, my eyes got a little damp as she showed me her pictures from the marathon, showing me the pictures from her phone. The teary eyed part happened first when she recounted having a runner still on the course while Jacki was in lock-down and unable to go find her runner.

The second time was when I flipped to a picture of an American flag at half mast. The picture was from L.A. ,from when she got back from and immediately went to find a tribute, to find "something that was good" about the event.  She found it in her fellow runners.

As I said earlier, I think that there's a pretty big heart that went with the legs and lungs.

Joe has an impish side, something I didn't realize from his writing. His comments were on the money, though he deflected attention from himself and toward Jacki. He's written a dozen books (I brought my favorite with me to get signed - yes, it's a  total fanboy move but he wrote some great stuff.). He told me to stick with Jack if I wanted to learn a thing or two.

Seemed like good advice. Bet I could learn a lot from Joe too, but his dance card is full this weekend.  

Jack Welch on the left (in full ready-to-joke mode), Jacki Hansen front and center, and Joe Henderson with the big grin on the right.

Pioneer Square with Jackdog

Drove into Portland to meet Jack Welch yesterday afternoon and my small town habits had a minor run-in with the big city streets. Forgot that half of downtown Portland is one way streets,. A single wrong turn and I was headed in the direction of Beaverton.  Which would be fine if I want to interview Phil Knight. Wanted to meet Jack Welch, so I got turned around and circled his hotel until I found some parking.

Everything after that got easier. Portland is hosting the 2016 Indoor Championships. The unveiling of the countdown clock was held in Pioneer Square. Jack and I walked down. A pretty good cast of athletes attended, including Bernard Lagat. I wanted an autograph but had a hard time catching up to Mr. Lagat. Jack rode to the rescue and snagged it for me while I got Silas Kiplagat to sign the little program the media tent handed me. A two-fer on that score.

I also had a chance to meet Ian Dobson, a coach now with Team Run Eugene. The Olympian looked fit and is an incredibly pleasant man to chat with. I also had a chance to talk to Bob Williams, who is a distance coach with Portland State, another cool dude.

Also met author Rod Schumacher, a Canadian who is visiting the region. The meeting was accidental as Rod and his wife were enjoying a cappuccino while Jack and I indulged in a beer. Jack and I were kvetching about marketing our books and Rod overheard.  We chatted for thirty minutes comparing notes, and decided that writing was hard, regardless of genre.

Now, onto today. Planning on meeting Joe Henderson. (newbie tip - hang with a guy that knows everybody. That, in my case, means Jack, who's a character in his own right.)