J...o...h...n...’...s.....J...o...u...r...n...a...l

Domo Arigato
Gozaimashita

March 17, 2002

. . .(CUE "CHARIOTS OF FIRE" THEME HERE...)

. . .I don't know when I first got the idea of doing a milestone run on my 50th birthday, but I think I was making notes to myself about it as early as January, a year ago. I'd probably thought about it even earlier, perhaps going back to when I'd first learned about others doing a similar thing. It wasn't all that long ago that I'd been hurt and found myself in a self-imposed 16-month layoff. At the time I wasn't sure I would run again. I knew quite a few people who'd quit due to injuries, and I took seriously Uncle Joe's cautionary advice at the Dixon family reunion about running as a source of physical problems.
. . .Several things led to a journey back to my current status, with the ability to plan and accomplish running achievements that I'd never contemplated before. First of all I decided that if I couldn't run, then I would dedicate myself to a more serious cycling program, and I was able to surpass most of my bike-riding statistics. After some osteopathic and chiropractic treatments to deal with my acute hip and back pain, I came under the helpful influence of Uncle Bob, using yoga to stretch, strengthen, and stimulate healing in the affected areas of my body. I also had the good fortune to spend over a year building new stamina and flexibility by practicing Aikido with a local martial artist. But all this was to arrest what I'd been told was a "degenerative condition" in my lower spine and pelvis. Running again was not on the radar screen.
. . .Almost two years ago I had a conversation with a woman who'd been a cross-country "star" at Centre College and continues to be one of Kentucky's top runners in her age group. I don't remember how we got to talking, but she's very generous with her time and attention when it comes to running advice, and she felt sure that I could realign the factors in my approach to running and get back out there if I really wanted to. We discussed the importance of using the right shoes, but the most important part of her advice was changing my stride. It was something that I had never thought about, and I was dubious at first, having been told by high school coaches and Dadbo himself that I had a great, "natural" running gait. Was I willing to discard that to start running again? I was told by another local running champion that we were all stuck with our unique running styles and that he'd never known anyone to successfully alter that style to any significant degree. For some reason I thought it was worth a try.

. . .(CUE THEME FROM "ROCKY" HERE...)

. . .I got new shoes and experimented with a new shuffle-style stride, setting the goal that for at least 9 months I would confine myself to grass only. With this technique, the runner takes light, short steps, as if running across hot coals or thin ice. The objective is relaxed, quick-turnover, low-impact running. One significant thing for me was that I earned Dana's support for this approach by abandoning any emphasis on speed or performance. She understood the stress-reduction benefits I'd formerly realized, benefits I was having trouble finding with other pursuits, and my return to running was going to be about total health, not racing. If my running couldn't contribute to improved health, than I had to let it go and be satisfied with my two-wheeler. We were in total agreement about that.
. . .I stuck with cross country for the balance of the year 2000, incorporating the Ayurvedic breathing principles of John Douillard, and then I ventured back out on the road in 2001, after a number of miles on Centre's track as a transition to pavement. Somewhere in this time frame I began to take daily Starlight supplements through Jerome, including the joint formula.
. . .It wasn't too far into last year when I started running with my friend Yu Saito, and I got a heart monitor after learning more about the endurance training he'd undertaken. Yu, the Japanese manager of Denyo Manufacturing at the time, turned me on to the tenets of Phil Maffetone, and running has never been the same since. I went from being happy to run at all to a new optimistic, goal-setting attitude. It might be more accurate to say that adopting the Maffetone Method has changed my whole philosophy of fitness.
. . .I won't try to encapsulate his entire approach, but Maffetone promotes the view that you can be healthy without being fit, and you can be fit without being healthy, but achieving both health and fitness comes from sound diet and nutrition combined with proper aerobic conditioning practices. He advocates the avoidance of "over-training," common among both professional and amateur athletes, and the under-appreciated benefits of rest. His method requires attention to a target heart rate, so use of a wearable heart monitor is very helpful as you begin to experiment with his methods. Staying within a target range of beats per seconds is dramatically different from the old "no pain, no gain" style of exercise. I began to appreciate this when I first wore my monitor on a bike ride with Yu. Our intuitive response had been to climb hard on the hills to dispense with them, and then coast on the downhills, but the only way to stay in the target aerobic training range was to go uphill very slowly and pedal for speed on the descents. It was clear that I had to retrain my intuition about what was desirable c-v exertion. I needed to start from scratch by slowing down and building a new level of aerobic conditioning and injury resistance, retraining muscle tissue to burn fat instead of sugar for sustained energy. It was frustrating at times. Yu was more disciplined than me throughout 2001 and charted the unknown territory. Everyone in the local running community took notice as he got stronger and his endurance increased to the level of triathlon and marathon performance. We stayed together in Cincinnati when I went up to help Tom Cooney work the race— while Yu ran it. I followed his progress, drew inspiration from his dedication, and valued our growing friendship.

My friend Yu Saito completes his January 2002 marathon in nearly three and a half hours.

. . . Yu has since left Danville to return to Japan, but as I follow in his recent footsteps by using the training methods he introduced to me, I've worked up to doing longer and longer runs each Saturday morning. I start before daybreak and run slow, with a focus on steady heart rate, consistent form, and proper breathing. Last weekend I ran 18 miles and did my first 20-miler yesterday. It's not as though I don't hit some psychological rough spots that require as much mental toughness as I can summon, but the smooth physical progress is surprising. I'm recovering remarkably fast during a 2-day rest and feel strong during my weekday 4-to-6-milers. I have to say that I'm a bit tired after these long runs, but I still have enough energy to do my normal things for the rest of the day. I carry water on a belt strap to avoid dehydration, but I've been running pain-free for a long time now, and it's a wonderful new world that fills me with gratitude. My emphasis is still on an easy pace with a low-impact stride and I'm just loving it. This is a level of running fitness I've never experienced before, and the serenity of being out there alone in the Kentucky countryside at dawn is fantastic— among the horses, cattle, ducks, turkey, quail, and woodpeckers —and it's not even spring yet!
. . . During the last week of December I decided to begin the Starlight Cell Rejuvenation formula and schedule a personal milestone for the spring. My current goal is to run 50k on my 50th birthday, April 29th. That 50 kilometers on local roads would equal 31 miles (almost five miles more than a marathon, obviously), and it will be a true landmark run for me. I'm emboldened by my pal Mark Morgan, who turns 50 in June and is preparing for a mind-boggling 50-miler. As I head into my last six weeks of preparation, I enter a period of "sharpening" that will enable me to complete the long run with a smile on my face, free from injury and without the thought, "never again." Everything I'm experiencing out there on the road tells me I can do it.
. . .I think sometimes about how I got myself in trouble, trying to train for races with a punishing stride and method that was gradually driving me to the point of self-destruction. I also think about Yu's generosity, as he helped me rebuild my optimism, with his gentle, encouraging manner, especially that morning last month when I did my first 12-miler since 1998. Not long before he left for his homeland, he drove out to find me so he could offer an umeboshi (Japanese pickled plum). I also think about his diligent example, and how he overcame the childhood polio that withered his right arm, sealing his drive to overcome obstacles. I'll always remember what we had in common, not what made us different.
. . . I believe Yu would do this birthday run with me if he was here, and I'll miss his presence, but I accept that this event is meant to be, at its essence, a solitary exploit. Coming, as it will, two days after the celebration on the 27th, it will be the culmination of a memorable weekend. It is certain to mark not only a meaningful journey's end, but, by God's grace, the beginning of my second half century, and the many great things life still has in store for me.
. . .Here's to the big Five-Oh!

. . .(CUE "HAWAII FIVE-O" THEME HERE...)

"You gotta keep your eyes
on Magnolias around you
this spring."—YU SAITO



T O P