Tonight I got back from the Y and my wife told me that I had a message from my friend Donna on the answering machine. It has been brutally cold here in New England, and now we have a blizzard bearing down on us.
Donna is an ultra marathoner. She runs 100 mile races and finishes in top 25% or better. The great thing about having a friend who is an ultramarathoner is that her workouts make mine look pretty reasonable. I am running two marathons a year, she runs neary four marathons in 21 hours. When I need make my training look reasonableI to my wife, I just have to point to Donna and I am off the hook.
So, Donna is tough. She is as dedicated a runner as I know and I like training with her. I have run many winter long runs with her over the last two years. The weather has never been an issue worth cancelling a run in the past. We have run in rain, snow and sub zerotemps with strong winds on top of that. She called tonight to cancell tomorow's 18 miler. She was so appolegetic for wimping out on a run in 24 inches of snow, with temperatures around 9 F, wind chills in the -20's. I was not planning on going out for 18 miles in those conditions to save my soul. I will try for 4 to 6 miles in the morning.
My last two Marathons have have included only two long runs with other people. Last February I went out with Donna and five of her running buddies for a 20 mile run throught the Pelham Hills and Mount Licoln in Pelham, MA. It was cold but the run was great. Every one on that run was planning to do the Boston Marathon in April; I knew that I was in great company.
You can run for many different reasons, but if you do you will find a community that accepts you not because your a great runner, but because you are a runner. Show up often enough, and you are in.
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