Forget 5Ks and half marathons, I think I have to become an ultramarathoner.
That is my conclusion after reading Tom Foreman’s “My Year of Running Dangerously.” It begins with a simple challenge/request from the CNN correspondent’s daughter to run a marathon with her, which eventually leads to him taking on the challenge of running a roughly 55-mile race.
The book follows a year of training, with the typical ups and downs both physical and mental that are familiar to anyone who has done any kind of distance running. But the important part comes when he hits an aid station during the ultramarathon:
“I run up to the food table and begin plundering its grilled cheese, candy, chips, and Mountain Dew.”
That’s right, apparently Mountain Dew is a popular drink to down during these races.
Foreman ran competitively in his younger days only to lapse as an adult as family responsibilities took over his time. He writes lovingly about his relationships with his two daughters and how the running challenge really helped him renew his bonds with them. And of course being a dad, he fills the pages with lots of dad joke witticisms.
“In 1960, Americans were an inch shorter than they are now. I mean average Americans, of course — I was only a year old in 1960, so I am much taller now.”
Foreman wonderfully captures what it is like to train for a long race and how people react to you, which, as he points out, is slowly changing.
“If you tell people you have completed a marathon, they are now more likely to greet you with ‘Congratulations’ than ‘Dear God, why?'”
Believe me, the latter was my own reaction in the late stages of my one and only full marathon, so I understand what it must seem like to those who aren’t runners. But then of course a few days later all I could think about was being unhappy with my time and that I should try another.
People ask me all the time how I can stand going for a long run without music to entertain me for an hour or more. I am equally perplexed that anyone would do that. There’s nothing I enjoy more than unplugging and being alone with my thoughts and the sounds and smells and feel of nature around me, something Foreman describes from his ultra training on trails.
“One of the great pleasures of ultrarunning is that it allows time for reflection, including stops to enjoy the scenery and wildlife.”
Some of my greatest running memories are things like being seven miles into a run on a favorite trail and stopping at the sound of a broken twig to see half a dozen deer stroll across on their way to a creek. Or halting at the sight of a turtle gamely making his way across to the other side.
Oh and rain. Absolutely nothing gets you odd looks faster than telling someone you’re going for a long run in the pouring rain. I love it. I will extend whatever run I had planned for that day or even add a run on a rest day just to enjoy that feeling. All it takes is embracing the 10-year-old inside of you who would gladly take the chance to splash around and come home soaking wet.
Foreman gets it.
“As a little boy, I had wondered why adults, with all their power and freedom, didn’t spend more time rolling in the grass, wading through creeks, throwing rocks, and scattering leaves. And one day there I was: hustling to work, dodging raindrops, and skirting the puddles I should have stomped in.”