Hard run and Silence

Today I decided it was time to brush off the cobwebs and push the legs a bit pace-wise. What a terrible day to decide to hard run. My right leg is still sore (shin and calve) from running before X-mas with burnt out shoes. I also was a bit fatigued and dehydrated, but what is a hard run without a few obstacles, you can't only run hard when everything is perfect and expect the same growth that comes from running with problems. So I psyched myself into a fast pace and really stretched my gait. This was one of those runs where my only fuel was will power and my only motivation was that vision of the future - well trained version of myself tackling long gnarly runs in the Spring and Summer. My right leg was killing and after a lap I stopped (it was my fastest lap in months by the way) and I really stretched all the major muscle groups in my legs. This 2 minute break and stretch was great, and gave me a good bounce for the following lap. I really began to push and during this run I used some disassociation techniques and zapped myself out of my body, and thought about many things that took me away from the searing legs and aching lungs. I typically use both associative and disassociation techniques for dealing with challenging runs. When I am fitter and running well, I really like associative techniques and focus on everything about the run and analyze every aspect of the pain and truly try to understand and communicate with my body. Since I am only building my base back up, I decided to dislocate myself from the pain and this tends to help me just finish my harder training runs, early on in a building phase, and also I don't wimp out because I am not so focussed on the run. I ended up shaving nearly 3 minutes off my 8K which I was happy with considering conditions weren't perfect. It was another small victory that motivates me going into tomorrow's run.

While running a song popped up called "silence" sung by Sarah McLachlan mixed by Tiesto and Oakenfold on delirium. I have loved this song for nearly a decade and still love to listen to this track whenever I get a chance. This is a great track to run to, it has a great beat and build-ups that energize even the groggiest of runs. It also has a nice "trancy" feel that tends to make my mind wander to other runs, hikes, outings and even future goals and runs and allows for disassociation techniques. I like the video for several reasons; first it has running in it, second they are running on rough terrain near the ocean which reminds me of my run in Oregon earlier this year, and last I like the fact that the guy is blind and his girlfriend/wife is leading him so he can still enjoy an adventure with her (at least that is my interpretation of the video). I like to think that Vye would do this for me if I ever lost my vision (heaven forbid). No matter what obstacles I am faced with in this life I would like to think that I would still find ways to live an adventurous life. I think it is nice sentiment. Anytime I watch the video on YouTube I want to lace up and hit a coastal run. There are some amazing coastal runs here on the Island. Each one between about 50 and 100 Km long. I hope to run several this year and would love to run all of them before I am done with my PhD. Silence is one of the best running tracks for me, I think I have a 10 minute version on my i-pod and it is always a joy to run with it playing.

Here is the full 10:00 minute version by Oakie! The video is just random driving though posted by some YouTube user but the song is awesome!