The last three months of downtime from running has been tough. For starters, I gained about 10 lbs. from lack of real activity which makes getting going again even harder. Mainly though, being on the trails helped keep me balanced and sane so without it maintaining that balance has been challenging at times. But getting out of balance presented me with an opportunity, the opportunity to begin a different practice to find that balance instead of just relying on miles on the trails. I spent more time painting over these last months than I had in the previous several years, it was great and I’m starting to get the feel of the materials back. I got back on the cushion every day which has its own challenges but helped me balance out and start sleeping normally again.
For the last three weeks I’ve been able to do some cardio and strength training again and am ever so slowly building my fitness level back. When I tried to run and it still hurt I got out my bike and began riding again. I hadn’t been on my recumbent bike much in years and it was a blast getting back on the road with it. I started doing a schedule with light run day, bike day, hike day, and rest day with some weight training thrown in and it seems to be working. What this has taught me is that mixing it up with cross training is good and actually is fun.
Running wise, at this point I am starting over pretty much from scratch. The general rule is that “Every week of running you miss requires two weeks more to regain the fitness you’ve lost.“* I just lost 12-15 weeks of running so I’ve gone from pretty much being able to do a marathon at will to being back to only running a total of 4-5 miles per week. Needless to say, it is going to take a while to get back up to even half marathon distance let alone another ultra. I’m grateful just to be back on the trails and for not having to have undergone surgery so I look at this as being an OK situation.
Besides, it gives me a chance to start fresh, to take on trail running with a “Beginner’s Mind” again. In Zen training keeping a beginner’s mind is very important, possibly the most important aspect of practice. Suzuki Roshi stated that “The goal of practice is always to keep our beginner’s mind… It is the secret to Zen practice.“** How better to cultivate this beginner’s mind than to have to actually become a beginner again and start training with those first strides on the trail after months of being away from them.
First thing, I’ve gone back to bare minimal. I’ve been doing most of my runs lately in my Luna Leadville huaraches instead of even minimalist shoes. I find that the sandals help me keep a pretty perfect barefoot form, I can’t cheat at all. They also slow me down because I’m paying way more attention to my landing on each step. I can’t overrun in them at the moment because my feet aren’t used to the strap through the toe after months of cold weather and not living in sandals so I’m forced to increase my distance slowly.
Second, I’ve turned off the iPod and tuned into the forest. I came from road running and always wore headphones so when I switched to the trail I just kept my headphones habit going. For the last three weeks I’ve turned off the iPod and am just listening to the birds singing, the squirrels rustling in the woods and the wind through the trees. It puts me in a more meditative state while running than even Shimshai and Krisha Das chant music did.
The other gift that this break from running has given me is the time to play trail running photographer. At two events where I volunteered I’ve also been able to spend some time snapping photos of runners and that has been fun all by itself. It opened up a new aspect of the sport to me and even when I start running events again I’ll be sure to sit out some and shoot them instead.
* Zen and the Art of Running: The Path to Making Peace with your Pace by Larry Shapiro, PhD.
** Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind by Shunryu Suzuki.