My Love Letter to the High Desert

You will never hear me complain about running in Boise in the summer. This town is a runner's paradise made even more fantastic by my previous summers in the god-awful weather of Dallas. This is my third marathon and my third time to train in the heart of summer. The previous two training sessions did not go well. That's because I was training in the worst possible location in America. I'm convinced that no place has the combination of heat and humidity that Dallas has. Just looking out the window would make me start sweating. Even on early morning runs at 5am, the temperature would already be in the low 80s with zero wind and worst of all, high humidity. It felt like it was 95 degrees before the sun even came up! The human body is not designed to cool itself in these conditions, let alone run 16-20 miles. Some mornings I would be drenched in sweat with wobbly legs by mile 3. I would usually finish the run on sheer will, in legitimate fear of heat exhaustion or worse. This went on for 3 months without reprieve. Needless to say, I got very little out of this training, and my previous two marathon times reflect that.

I've paid my penance however and am now training in the perfect place. Boise mornings are fantastic. Even on hot days over 100 degrees, the mornings are cool and crisp. I've yet to have a bad run because of the heat, and training in high altitude should give me the lung capacity of a whale when I'm in NYC. Boise has also discovered that trails are a good thing. I can run on dirt trails in the hills and feel like I'm in the middle of nowhere, or I can run on flat, paved trails that go for miles and miles along the river. On weekends spent in the mountains, I get to run surrounded by spectacular scenery and fresh air. Best of all, the mornings in Boise are cool enough to bring my dog along. If I'd gone running with a thick-coated golden retriever in Dallas in August, he would either be dead or I would have been reported to the Humane Society. Now he's where he's supposed to be, running by my side. With all of this working in my favor and with the cause that I'm running for, I have no excuse if I don't run a really good race. So if you ever hear me complain about my training this summer, feel free to slap me.

Running Sucks / I Love Running

Whenever I tell someone that I'm training for a marathon, I often get the same response. A cock of the head and a skeptical look that says, "Good luck with that, you damn fool." I think this is because many people view running as torture and something to be avoided at all costs. They're right. It is torture. It sucks, and I hate it. I hate being drenched in my own sweat on warm mornings and having hands that are blocks of ice for 4 straight months in winter. I hate gasping for air while running up a steep hill and the random upset stomach that can occur on any run at any time. I hate the bumps and bruises that constantly pop up and cause me to walk like a geriatric. Early morning runs are no picnic either. I'm a bit of a morning person for sure, but no matter how accustomed a person is to early mornings, an alarm clock going off at 5 am is always a kick to the crotch.

But I continue to run because I love it. More than anything I've ever done. I love it because it clears my head and puts me at ease. You do a lot of thinking while on a run, but it's never stressful thinking. No matter what, it's just you and the road. I love how running lets me explore every new city I visit in a way that I couldn't otherwise. I love that I can eat pizza and drink beer with impunity knowing that those calories will be burned the next day. I love that I sleep so well because I run and those rare days when it feels like I could run as far and as fast as I want and never get tired. Plus, it's the perfect cure for a mild hangover. And then there are runs like this morning. My girlfriend and my best friend (of the dumb, 4-legged variety) joined me on the trails in the hills above Boise. The sun was rising, the world was empty, and there was no place else I wanted to be.

So while my relationship with running can be rocky and volatile at times, our love is true and will endure. I'll fight through the many mornings where I don't want to step out my front door and keep running. And I'll continue to take those skeptical looks.