The loneliness of the long distance walker

I've mentioned the camaraderie (and food) before and after a race. What about practice? Walking (or running) is an individual activity unless on a team or in a relay. As in many endeavors, encouragement and companionship are often prime motivators to keep going and to have fun.

If you followed my 2009 progress, you'll have noticed a striking pattern: I rarely trained outside. Most of my activity was on a treadmill, in a gym with individualized TV screens and among dozens of other exercisers. The events I entered were outdoors, but the number of times I walked outside  "in training"  in 2009 could be counted on the fingers of one hand. I didn't enjoy it; truthfully, I never really tried. Walking on roads or paths by myself could be lonely, even with ipods.

Outside practicing, however, was going to be required for the Half Marathon. Cold - and potentially snowy - weather could not be simulated by a treadmill. What, for example, should I wear? The question was even beyond my limited fashion sense. It was potentially affecting my first mantra: Survival!

The Half Marathon web site highlighted practices every two weeks, with different options for distance (6.5 miles, 9 miles, the full 13.1 miles.)  I could taste winter walking on the event route with other, presumably faster, people. But I could choose a shorter distance so I wouldn't finish days (literary exaggeration!) behind. 

So, one Saturday, I drove the 50 miles from Woodstock to the motel where the practice was to start. The weather was relatively decent: clear, but about 30-40 degrees. I didn't know anybody. But, as expected, people were friendly and encouraging.  I started with others at 9 AM, got individualized directions about the 6.5 mile turnoff and, for the first three miles, was roughly close to  2 slower walkers. For the last 3.5 miles I was by myself. I later saw more people at the motel and, by the time I left, I knew a few names and definitely planned to return in two weeks.


And I now had a practice plan for March 14: walk one longer distance outside on the weekends in Rock Hill or Woodstock and do shorter workouts in the gym on a couple of weekdays.


The next Saturday, I did 9 miles in my local Woodstock roads. I saw, maybe 4 people on the route, but, to my surprise, enjoyed the workout. My ipod acted funny and I spent part of a mile fidgeting with it; a useful distraction! I walked about 9.5 miles.


The Saturday after I hopped in the car on a clear winter day for the  journey to official practice #2.  I  didn't pay attention to the temperature. The external temperature sensor on my car initially showed the garage temperature. 50 degrees. I drove on. 45, 40, 35, 30. A few miles later, as the residual temperature dissipated. 25, 20, 15.  Then 10. Then under 10. I think it was 5 when I got to Rock Hill.


I parked the car, ran immediately into one of the people I had met the first week and muttered: "Are we crazy?"  I  put on a second pair of pants, wore the winter jacket I wasn't expecting to use over my three other layers of clothing, and proceeded to walk 9.6 miles. My hat froze with my sweat.


It was exhilarating!  


A real sense of accomplishment. Back in the motel, I commiserated  about the cold with the more experienced runners and we all observed there was no wind, which was, of course, good.

The next weekend, back to Woodstock (Zena.)  12 miles.

Then Rock Hill. 10 miles. In the twenties, but windy. I made a decision not to go around the 4 mile lake and save that for the last practice or the race itself. I shared the first 3 miles with another runner until the 6.5 mile split. I joined a number of other participants for a delicious brunch at a local dinner.

Back to Woodstock. 12 miles. The terrain is similar to that of Rock Hill, but no lake.

Yesterday was the last scheduled practice on the course. I had intended to try the full 13.1 miles, but Mother Nature intervened. A second massive snowstorm.dumped a couple of feet of snow in the area and I didn't drive the 50 miles to walk on snowed-in roads. The lake roads in snow.

An irony here: Woodstock had very little snow.

My first 13.1 mile walk will not be in practice, but in the race itself.

Why the title of this post? Literally, except for the instances cited in the descriptions above, I have walked alone for the outdoor practices. Certainly in Woodstock. In Rock Hill, runners practicing the 9 or 13 mile routes are faster than me. However, since people start at different times and do different distances, we run into each other and wave or briefly chat. The camaraderie of race day continues on practice day. 




NEXT:  Anticipating the March 14 Half Marathon