Going Loopy

Last weekend while the V8’s were racing loops in the streets of Hamilton, I started my own “loop training” just a couple of kilometers away at Hamilton lake. I am glad, not only that the V8’s loop is gone forever as it turned my cycle commute into a suicide dash across town, but I am also glad that my first attempt at practicing for the “loop format” in the Deca triathlon also went well!   It’s good that it went so well, because in the Deca there will be 380 100m swim loops, 1797 1km bike loops and 422 1km run loops….and no I haven’t missed any decimal places! 

Now I have to admit something, as much as I love exploring the outdoors and using my ultra-distance fitness to take me long distances to cool places, I am actually quite fond of loops too.  To me there is a great comfort in going over the same piece of road time and time again for hours on end.  Many people comment more on how they think that the mental aspect of loops would be the hardest part of a race like the Deca.  For me that is definitely not the case, admittedly I have never done a race that consists of 2599 loops but in the past I have found the repetitiveness allows me to get into a good mental zone.  And as long as I break down the task at hand into a series of small goals I can’t think of a time in an ultra-distance race when I wished I wasn’t just going around in circles.

While I was running around and around the lake I had plenty of time to think.  For those of you interested in the inner workings of my mind in these races (and training) here is a tiny snapshot (more in future blogs as it is a long and involved topic).  I started thinking about how much I like running around in circle and actually how I like repetitive things in general. All the sports I enjoy require the same motion again and again and again thousands and thousands of times, one foot in front of the other, one pedal or paddle or swimming stroke after the other for hours on end, the same motion again and again.  These thoughts then got me to thinking about some information I had read on Asperger syndrome and how repetitive behavior is one of the classic symptoms.  Ever the scientist I gave this more and more thought, I have enjoyed repetitive movement for as long as I can remember (often testing my parents patience), what if I did have Asperger?  Maybe that would explain my intense focus at time, but then again I don’t have trouble with social interactions and I am a big believer that we are all some point on a spectrum with  “normal” being some group in the middle.  But then I had to start thinking about what is “normal” anyway – socially acceptable? Who gets to decide where the lines defining “normal” are?  Many people would say that wanting to do a race that requires you to do 2599 little loops, swimming, cycling and running is not normal, but if you asked those that have competed in such races, they would be likely not only think it normal, but also, I would guess that they would feel the same way as I do about swimming, cycling and running around in little loops.  Maybe to do these races you need to have a certain attraction to repetitive movement and going around and around in little loops.

All these thoughts took up a good amount of time while running, especially because they were interspersed with noting of land marks on each loop, running, past the group celebrating something fun, past the hospital now, past where the geese are, past where we park when we kayak, nearly at the start finish of the loop,  finished X number of loops only Y number of loops to go, both the percentage left to run as well as the fraction left to run were then calculated to the lowest denominator.   Okay, now starting again with the next loop…..and so the process goes on and on with each loop.  Last weekend the weather was so stunning that the views of the lake also interrupted my deep and meaningful thoughts about what “normal” really is.

Maybe it is because I am very goal oriented and I find that breaking the big goal into lots of little goals is easier when running small loops rather than one big loop, whether it’s the familiarity and undertaking little rituals such as eating and drinking etc. at specific spots on the loop, or maybe I am just loopy as far as racing is concerned!  Whatever the case, it was a great day out running!