Run When I Can, Work When I Should

Yes, I have been running. Just not that much.

In the two weeks since my last post, my daily running routine has consisted of a hard 5-10 miles per day. While it’s not much, it’s really all I can manage. I start my morning around 5:30 or 6:00 (I finish up work/go to bed at 11:00) by grabbing a cup of coffee from the hotel buffet. Then, I stumble back upstairs and do some paperwork. Around 7:00, I don my shorts and head out into daylight. I have to take my cell phone, because I am always (essentially) on call. Three times during this particular film shoot, I’ve had to scramble my team before the appointed meet-up time to respond to some emergency call or another – a deer crashing through a window, a car crash, an ATV accident…really, whatever. I start my runs at/around 7:00 then quickly find myself running 6:20-6:30 pace, often finishing between 5:35 – 6:00 for the last mile or two. It’s crude running, but it’s what I gotta do. I can wake up earlier, I suppose, but when I’m on these shoots, my mind is so focused on work, that I really want to get my run out of the way as fast as possible – hence why I run harder than normal. When I return from my run, I’ve got 5-10 work-related text messages and emails to respond to. I never know what time I’ll return to the hotel and get to dinner, but eating after 9:00 was typically the norm.

On one particularly morning (I had the day off), I drove out to the countryside and started aten-mile loop I had mapped out that night before. I ran along the Canadian border – turning around just before a lane called Smugglers Road – and then began the arduous and rolling route back to my parked car, hitting a 5:35 as I went. I saw more riding lawn mowers than cars on that particular trek. That run was not par for the course. Usually, as noted, I just ran 40-55 minutes or so – hard. I haven’t done any workouts (aside from throwing in a 5:08 in the middle of a run one way and the occasional striders). 

Fast forward…to Saturday, July 20. I was asked to run the “Tough Mountain Challenge” (think “Tough Mudder”) at Sunday River in Maine holding a camera in one hand, a walky in another and a second camera fixed atop my head. It sounds comical, but whenever I can get paid to run or run as part of my job, I’ll be glad to do it. I didn’t need to run the obstacles (I would have liked to), but did need to run the “wicked” hills (actually mountain) at the ski slope alongside some of the lead runners. It was good fun. In fact, I need to try one of these for real someday (every one of my running friends just rolled his/her eyes).

I’m off now and have the chance to get a little RnR (and get in some more running).

PHOTO: a typical view in Aroostook County, Maine