How Long is a Country Mile?

I can tell you that a country block is 8.45km.

The stones crush together under my pounding feet heading out to the road. A few of the beers from the night before are quietly asking if this is a good idea. I ignore them as I am determined to do the “block”. As I turn left towards the lengthening hill I can hear them again.

I make my way up the hill knowing that what goes up gets to come down. I make my way across Cambray Rd towards the half way point. It is quiet, peaceful, and pretty as a fall day can get. I start my way down Elm Tree when the nay saying horses all start to question why I am on the road.

Elm Tree is a long, straight road overlooking itself while going down. As I make my way past 5km my lungs and legs are starting to back the beers. The body is thinking about a coup d’etat over this running stuff.

As I run I often have time to think. Clearly. As I venture down this busy country road I cannot help but think of inspiration. How must it have felt to run the unknown roads? 42km every day most of the time with little or no support other than your best friends, a donated van, and a mechanical leg. 42km every day. Through the pain. Through the heat. Nothing but your determination to carry you on.

I came damn close to stopping as I rounded the corner with less than 2km to go. My thoughts drift back to Terry hopping through the countryside. 42km every day, 1 step, 1 hop at a time. Why can’t I make it around the block? As I push on, the beers are silenced with the sound of my heart pounding, the coup d’etat is drowned by sweat. The final 500m is pushed to the limit. The block is finished.

I do not have an answer on how long a country mile is. I can tell you that mine was not run alone, I had Terry with me every step of the way.

My First Triathlon....Sort Of

Sometimes letting my mouth lead the way is a great way to get something done. When speaking to my friend Ryan about the Triathlon Relay at Guelph Lake I offered myself up as the runner. Having only ever competed in one run prior this was a bit of a leap. I only started running in May and here I am in August competing in an event full off some serious athletes.

I trained for this bumping my distance up slowly knowing that if I was too aggressive I would injure myself. We were lucky enough to have pulled in John Carson for our swimming leg and Ryan was on the bike.

We all knew I would be the slow leg of our relay, but that didn't matter. The support and team atmosphere knowing that we were all going to give it our best was paramount.

I had never timed myself on a 7km run. When I ran in the Classic Mile 5km run I finished with a time of around 37 min or a 7.4min/km. Hey I was just happy I finished!! Since, I had run 4km in around 20 min so I knew I had 5 min kms in me somewhere. My goal in the tri was to be under 42min and strive to get 40 min.

As I head out in a very unfamiliar course I felt good. Plenty of prep and a good warm up had me feeling pumped. I still ran at a fairly slow pace as I knew I had 7km to get in. With lots of water stations I was careful to only take a sip or two or even just rinse my mouth at each so I didn't cramp up. As I passed the 6km marker I realized I could pick things up a bit as I still had legs left under me. With about 700m left Ryan appeared to run me in. He kept me breathing good, talked me through the rest of the course. I was able to sprint the last 200m full out to finish with a time of 40:57 or 5:51 per km.

All in all I am extremely pleased with our performance. John did the water in 14:55 (9th of 24), Ryan finished the bike in 56:15 (7th of 24) and I was 19th of 24 allowing us 13th of 24 overall.

I am planning on more events including a tri-a-tri next summer. I guess I should hit the pool soon!!! Anyone interested in the triathlon series in Ontario should visit www.trisportcanada.com

Running

Pictured on the right is me finishing my first 5km race in June 2008.

The first kilometer is always the toughest. I always ask why. It is just not fun. Around 2.5km the shoe fits. The long hill does not feel long and distance ahead drips out of me. The 5th km is sweltering and consumes the fluids.

The finish can be seen on the inside of my eyelids. This journey has an end but the road is not mapped, the distance not calculated.

Stretching and dripping it feels surreal. The heat comes after the run as if the sun lassoed the earth and roped us in. Can I take this to the next level. Will I respond physically, mentally?


I run to inspire. I run to motivate. I run...