November 1, 2023 - Madison Running

I spent the past weekend in Madison, Wisconsin. I make an annual pilgrimage to the University Of Wisconsin to spend some time with my mother, bring the kids to the old college stomping grounds, attend a Wisconsin Badger football game, and basically revel in bits of nostalgia and memories of likely the most formative adult years of my life.

My running hobby also has its roots in Madison. My journey to becoming a regular runner was a long and arduous one over more than a decade with many fits and starts. That first stab at running was while a student at the University of Wisconsin. I had put on a lot of college weight once cut from the college soccer team early in my freshman year. In my final semester, I decided to do something about it and took up running. Short runs from my apartment along Lakeshore Path on the shores of Lake Mendota. It didn't stick long, maybe a couple months. I didn't run far, perhaps 5 miles at most. These were the very early days of GPS watches and I didn't own one and don't really know how far I ran. But I had taken my first stab at the hobby.

I gave running another go a few years later while in my first job after graduating from Wisconsin. My father had passed away relatively young and I felt I should do something to improve my own health. So I turned to running. I now lived west of downtown and ran in my neighborhood mostly, a pretty but nondescript area known as Hilldale. This time the habit stuck a bit longer. I built up to 10 mile runs or so, sometimes even reaching the Arboretum and then back home. I ran my first running race in 2001 I believe, a half marathon at what was then called the Mad City Marathon. I remember having to walk at mile 11 and wondering how anyone could run this far and that to finish a marathon must be super-human. A bit of encouragement from another runner got me back to moving and finishing the race. I don't recall the time really, maybe 1:50 or so? Rumors also swirled afterwards that the course was short. 

Not long after that, running ebbed away again and I only ran sporadically, But this time it had set a hook. I'd return to run a little bit here and there over the next few years. A half marathon at The Fox Cities Marathon a half decade later. Some running here and some more there. Sometimes a year or longer off, but always returning to it a little bit. The itch was there, but it hadn't really fully caught hold yet. 

This weekend I was back in Madison and running, of course. I was struck by how incredible Madison was as a running location. Well, aside from the several months of winter that were looming over the area during the weekend. While I normally run long on Sundays, I'd be traveling home Sunday and ran my long run Saturday. 

A Quick Break At Olin Park At The Perfect Moment

A week before traveling, the weather on Saturday looked ideal for a race simulation long run. Shoes, clothing, nutrition, morning routine, etc. Just testing everything out for CIM. Unfortunately, that looming winter got a bit closer and Saturday morning was expected to be a bit too cold for that race simulation. 35 degrees, maybe a light rain, relatively humid. (I know, humidity is always relative.) While the weather wouldn't be good for a race simulation and I'd have to dress a bit heavier than initially intended, the weather still made for an ideal morning to push a bit harder than normal. And I had a wonderful, challenging, and confidence boosting run. I ran at the low end of my long run target pace and heart rate remained exceptionally low. The final 6 kilometers were to be run at target race pace. It wasn't easy, but also not super challenging despite a lot more hilliness than I'm accustomed to and more than I'll experience on the CIM course. Pure confidence. It was great, even if I got turned around at one point and ended up running an extra 3 kilometers.

But what really stuck out to me was the incredible infrastructure Madison has built for running, walking, biking. In my 23+ mile run, I would estimate that I ran less than 5 miles on sidewalks or along roads. I had to run 1.5 miles on sidewalk from where I was staying to get onto the Military Ridge Trail, then didn't touch another road for a good 10 miles, and then after a short stint through a neighborhood spent the next 7 miles on various paved trail systems. And all this while basically remaining in the city, running nearly to the Capital downtown, and then back out to the southwest side. 

It was awesome, a runner's dream. Protected paved trails for miles and miles and miles. Incredible colors of changing leaves overhead, marshlands, lakes, views of Capital, and rarely a worry about getting hit by a car. All while just a few steps from civilization. 

I do not remember this being here when I began running in Madison over 20 years ago. Maybe it's because my running was pretty tame, the distances I ran short, and I wouldn't have discovered much of it. Maybe it's new. No idea. But today, Madison running is marvelous. A true joy. 

I look forward to being back in Madison in roughly a year and getting to enjoy this wonderful running infrastructure again. My focus and style of running will be very different as I'll have shifted from marathon training to really focusing on the High Five By 55 project. And I think the experience will be even more enjoyable when just out for a nice long run without any focus on pace.

Madison running...truly spectacular.