Steve's "Inspired" long run

Rain Delay

Saturday morning has been my "long run" time for half-marathon training. My plan today was to go for 9 miles at least. This would be a personal record for me as far as distance goes. My two longest runs were 8.2 miles (from Nov 2005) and the 8.1 miler I did last week. Bucharest has a very dry climate compared to my home in Simpsonville, SC. Average monthly rainfall is usually half of what the upstate South Carolina region usually receives, so it is a rare thing when rain -n- thunder interrupts my running routine. Well, this morning I awoke to a nasty storm outside. With the lightning and thunder, I decided to wait this one out. So instead, we all went to the Selgros (Romanian Sam's club) store for our weekly grocery run and the obligatory stop at the Fornetti stand (conveniently located inside Selgros) for some apple pastries. There's nothing like apple pastry carbohydrate loading to put you in the running mood.

Steve's training "partner" goes down

After we got back and unloaded the groceries, the rain had stopped, the sun was out, and the Bucharest quick-dry was already in full swing. I continually find it amazing, having never lived in a dry climate, how quickly the rain water evaporates here. So I got dressed, grabbed my fancy running watch and headed out door. I walked to the usual starting spot where I power up the watch and acquire the satellites which track my distance and speed. It was there that tragedy struck! I hit the power button on the watch and....nothing. I tried everything to revive my watch, but nothing worked. I went back inside, got on the internet, and searched high and low in cyberspace - nothing worked. Most of the people who had written about this problem had sent there watch back for service. (Yeah, like that's going to work with the Romanian mail system). The only way my watch will work is when it’s connected to a power source. You can see my friend now, attached to his “life support” cable, unable to function on his own. Running with a geeked-up watch is one thing, but running with a 10 lb laptop attached is a little much - even for me.

“Steve use the force…uh..I mean use your inner GPS”

I was as low as you can get. I thought about not running at all. How can it be any fun without my little “buddy”? I won’t have him there anymore weighing down my left arm, chirping & beeping with every mile complete and showing my real-time speed. Who would announce to the Romanian’s that an American running geek was approaching? And more importantly, how would I know how fast I was going and when I would reach 9 miles? Suddenly, I thought back to this article that I read this past week. This guy rambled on about how modern runners are too addicted and dependent on technology. He says we should intentionally leave the technology at home and go running naturally once and a while. As you can imagine, when I read the article, I though he was STUPID with a capital “S”. But what can I say, today I thought about it differently.

Ok, now cue the theme song for “Chariots of Fire”

So, with a hug of consolation from the coolest Helpmeet ever, I trudged out the door with my old $30 Timex and a small, but growing bit of determination. I started running to the smoothly paved section of the park and began my laps. I knew each lap was around ¾ of a mile, but I wasn’t sure exactly. From there, I just clicked my watch at each lap so I would at least know whether one lap was quicker or slower than the last one. In my head while running, I figured 11 laps plus the trip home should get me over 9 miles for sure – I would not know the exact distance until I measured the route when I got back on the computer. I was also hoping to run close to 9:00 minutes per mile, but I would just have to do that by “feel”.

Maybe I was inspired by seeing my “sick” friend (a device of few words). Maybe I was inspired by the article. Maybe I was inspired by the Helpmeet’s hug. Who knows? All I know is that halfway through the run I felt great. I even had the energy to leap over a stray soccer ball fired my way and smile at the kid who shot it. So what was the final total? After 1:29 hrs of running, I completed 9.9 miles at an average pace of 9:04 minutes per mile! So, I guess my inner GPS isn't so bad after all!