With yesterday
slated to be the warmest day of the week, I figured it was as good a time as
any to get out on the trail for the first outdoor run of my program. I
downloaded the ‘MapMyRun’ app before work, & spent my day dreading the
inevitable doom that was going to take place on the trail that evening.
I had a longer day
at work than anticipated, so I did not set out for my run until 7PM with the
latest Tim Ferriss podcast loaded up & only a slight idea of where I was
going. For my first run, I decided I would aim for 30 to 45 minutes with no
breaks to get myself warmed up for the longer runs to follow. I opted for a timed run as opposed to distance, as I had no idea what
kind of pace I would be able to maintain, nor did I know anything about the
trails that I intended to run. Although I live right in the middle of Toronto,
there is a series of trails about 1KM from my apartment that I have never
explored & figured would be a good place to start my trail running career.
Initial Panic
To my dismay, not even 200m into my run, I felt my
groin start to tighten up. ‘How could this be happening already’ I thought.
After all, I have been doing some
running on the treadmill over the past two weeks, surely my body had adjusted
at least enough to carry me for two blocks. In the past I would have considered
calling it a day & trying again tomorrow, but I figured I would push
through to see how it reacted, & if the pain sharpened, then I would turn
around.
As I pounded down
the pavement, the slight discomfort in my groin seemed to subside & I breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately
for me, the road to the trail is primarily downhill, so my confidence level was
at an all-time high, not tiring at all & feeling as though I was setting a pretty
good pace. My handy ‘MapMyRun’ app boasted that I had ran my first kilometre in
just over 5 minutes. This running thing is easy I thought to myself.
The Trail
As I entered the heavily wooded trail, I noticed
that it was quite muddy in spots from the snow that has been melting over the
past few weeks. Quite appropriate I thought to myself. I began to move through
the trail at what I thought was a decent pace, but with no trail running
experience, the reality is that the numbers my app was spitting out at me didn’t
mean anything.
As I continued to run the trail, I learned the
design was much more intricate than I had first imagined, with many different
forks leading off in different directions. Given that I started my run late
& was racing the sun, I stuck on the path that appeared the most travelled to ensure I didn't get lost.
On my route, I ran past a park where I quickly eyed a
set of monkey bars for future use, ran past a nice stream (a rarity in
Toronto), & came to a long 200m wooded staircase that descended into a
valley which was certainly much more enjoyable on the way down than it was on
the way back up. I was planning to get to 5KM & then turn around, however when
I got to the bottom of the stairs, the trail was temporarily closed so I
figured it was a good time to turnaround for my first run.
Overall, the trail was surprisingly nice &
seemed as though there are a lot of different paths that I can take on future
runs. As my journey continues, I’m excited to explore every nook & cranny
in this wooded paradise that I had not realized existed just a kilometre away
from my apartment.
The Result
Given that I have zero
running experience, I honestly did not know how I did when I got back. I was
proud of myself that I did not stop to take any rests on the run, however I did
have the feeling in the back of my mind that my pace was quite slow. The final
result was 6.3KM in 36 minutes which through a quick Google search I learned is
exceptional… ly slow. Which is about what I expected.
Perhaps the
primary positive that came from this run was that, like getting the first week
of my strength training program under my belt, I now have a benchmark to
compete against. As I get out on the trails more, I will better learn how to
pace & push myself, & the results will inevitably follow. I am grateful
that I learned the importance of running outside versus running on a treadmill
early in my journey, & am excited for the inevitable gains that I am going to make in my running abilities over the next 84 days.
Takeaways
- Get off of the treadmill: I found my run on the trail significantly
more challenging than running on the treadmill due to the uneven ground, &
my complete ineptitude in setting a pace. Due to the simplicity of moving the
speed of the treadmill up or down, I seemed to have lost touch with the speed
my body can maintain. I varied between feeling like I was running way too slow,
to feeling like I was going to burn out, evidenced by my pace varying from as
fast at 5:09 (at the end of my run) to 6:40 in the middle. As mentioned
already, by getting on the trails more often, I will develop a better ability
to set my pace consistently.
- Run hills: although there were only a few minor elevations on my
run, the difference in how my body felt while running up them was far more
significant than what I experience with the elevation cranked up on the
treadmill. With the Spartan Race taking place on a ski hill, I must ensure I
incorporate a lot of hill work to get my body ready for all of the hill
climbing that will occur on race day.
- Just get out there: I was dreading going for this run all day. I
was thinking about how uncomfortable it was going to be & searching for an
excuse to push it to Thursday, but fortunately for me, the weather was too
perfect to pass up & I forced myself to go. Once I started the run, I found
it relaxing to be out in (Toronto’s version of) nature working out, as opposed
to locked up in a gym. The key will be to feed off of this positivity, so that
each time I try to convince myself to go to the gym instead, I throw on my
running shoes & hit the trails.
- Change my mindset: I have always told myself & others ‘I hate running’ or ‘I’m not a runner’ but the reality is that the reason I’m not a runner because (dramatic pause) I don’t run. That likely seems painfully obvious to most, but I believe I have created a mental block around running that I need to address if I am going to be successful on this race. Not being good at something is not a reason to neglect it, in fact, it is a good reason to steer into it & focus on improving, because it is likely the place where you are going to make the biggest gains. Moving forward I am going to look forward to my runs, because I know this is the area where I am going to improve the most.
Next Steps
Currently I have
trail runs scheduled for one day per week in my program, however based on my results
on the first run, I believe I will increase this to two days per week, even if
one of the runs is shorter in duration & incorporates high-intensity
interval sprints. By getting out on the trails, I really recognized the value
in running outside where the terrain, elevation, & conditions change,
forcing you to adjust, & helping you get ready for the great unknowns of a Spartan Race.
100 Day Spartan
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