First annual uno solo run 2014

John Inglese Jr.

February 22, 2014

Uno Solo Run

The self supported marathon 

I'll start by saying that this was not a self supported marathon. Yes, I ran it by myself. Yes, I supported myself with the fuel and motivation. I say that it wasn't a self supported marathon because I received a hundred bucks to do it.

It all started when I signed up for a trail run months ago. I tend to sign up for things and stress the details later. So a week before the race I discovered that the area where I would be was not the safest. So I canceled my hotel reservation and told my mom that if I ran a marathon around our area she had to give me a hundred bucks to cover for the entry fee of the ultra. And that's how the Uno Solo run began. 

I actually just recently ran a real self supported marathon last month so this was not so different. Each marathon is a discovery and that's why I'm writing, to reflect on what I have learned on the journey. 

One of the most impacting observations I discovered was what I call, "the water effect". It seems whether I'm grabbing a cup of coffee, running a marathon, reading, or any other activity around a body of water there is a sense of peace and enlightenment. I can feel the positive mood creep into my self when I'm near this life sustaining element. I also got excited when I got near the beach because I thought I saw a dolphin in the shallows. Turns out it was just a tree, maybe my endorphins were playing a trick with my brain. 

While gazing at the clear, sunny and 'warm' ( I say warm by meaning around 50 degrees instead of the recent 20 degrees and below) day, I stumbled onto a pack of runners.  Not only once but twice. The second time they even said to run with them but I was in one of those running modes where I just needed my alone time. 

I have discovered that during those tough running moments there are a number of things I do to make the moment fly by so the good, elated moments seem to come quicker. One thing I have always done was say a sentence in line with my foot falls and or my breathing rate. A good one I use is, "I can do it". Sometimes when it's really quit I start to just listen to my breathing. Doing these things helps me to focus on the act and not think about things like I usually do. Thinking is good but it's nice to break it up and just focus sometimes. 

It's is amazing the thoughts that come up in your mind when out on the open road or trail. I have a lot of notes and reminders I plan to share be it my blog, essays, or maybe even I'll start a podcast. Whatever medium I use the thoughts come to me in clear, concise intervals and during the act of running my brain is not cluttered. It's organized and calm which is the opposed of my body at some times during the act of running. 

I'm not always calm and happy when running. It can be exhausting, gut wrenching, pure torture. But I got the secret... Smile! It is so simple and yet so complex that when you smile no matter what's going on your instantly more positive. This transfers over into all other aspects of life making you a more pleasant person. Being pleasant can go a long way and spread the positive vibes you give off. 

Upon completion of the Uno Solo run I met my mom at the same starbucks I did the month prior. I grabbed some victory red mango until she arrived and got my usual cup o joe. Dark coffee, Red wine, and Frozen yogurt are three things everyone should enjoy. Before I got my coffee I wanted to get a little more comfortable so I grabbed my change of cloth's from my moms car. I've done this before and it's always interesting changing cloths after a long endurance event. Thinking back that was probably the hardest part of the marathon. Not only cause I'm tired and sore but because it's telling my mind that the fun is over and back to being in the real world again.

Running with no particular route in mind is also something everyone should enjoy. Exploring and discovering new things brings out the best in who you are. You have to forget yourself and the worry that is part of everyday life and just go. It goes by so fast. I usually tell myself that during a run. "Once it's over it's over", so I try and enjoy the moment. Even if I'm at a low point during the run. I hope to run more of these and hope to encourage others to do the same and really find themselves. I'll continue to keep searching for myself as well.

-Barton- Still smiling :)

Ontario

Lake Ontario

Lake Ontario and the other Great Lakes

Location North America

Group Great Lakes

Coordinates 43.7°N 77.9°W

Primary inflows Niagara River

Primary outflows St. Lawrence River

Catchment area 24,720 sq mi (64,000 km2)[1]

Basin countries United States

Canada

Max. length 193 mi (311 km)[2]

Max. width 53 mi (85 km)[2]

Surface area 7,340 sq mi (19,000 km2)[1]

Average depth 283 ft (86 m)[2][3]

Max. depth 802 ft (244 m)[2][3]

Water volume 393 cu mi (1,640 km3)[2]

Residence time 6 years

Shore length1 712 mi (1,146 km)[1]

Surface elevation 243 ft (74 m)[2]

Settlements Toronto, Hamilton, Ontario, Rochester, New York

References [3]

1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure.

Lake Ontario (French: Lac Ontario) is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the American state of New York. Ontario, Canada's most populous province, was named for the lake. In the Wyandot (Huron) language, ontarío means “Lake of Shining Waters”. It is the last in the Great Lakes chain and serves as the outlet to the Atlantic Ocean via the St. Lawrence River. Lake Ontario is also the only one of the five Great Lakes not to share a shoreline with the state of Michigan.

As of 2012, nearly 50 people have successfully swum across the lake.[31] The first person who accomplished the feat was Marilyn Bell, who did it in 1954 at the age of 16. Toronto's Marilyn Bell Park is named in her honor. The park opened in 1984, and is located just to the east of the spot where Bell completed her swim.[32] In 1974, Diana Nyad became the first person who swam across the lake against the current (from north to south).[33] On August 19, 2012, 14-year-old Annaleise Carr became the youngest person to swim across the lake. She completed the 32-mile (52-km) crossing from Niagara-on-the-Lake to Marilyn Bell Park in just under 27 hours.[34]

      The above is all the technical information on Lake Ontario as you already have noticed. This was the swim goal that I set out to achieve albeit in pools rather then the lake itself. Still a noble goal I think. It has been an interesting journey to the goal. As always the journey is the goal and the goal is just a reminder of the journey. Make sense? Good cause what is to follow is some of the things I have learned on it, the journey that is, and a contemplation of what is next on this journey of life.

     First entry (October 14, 2014 - 5:30 A.M - 3400 yards. 5's and 200's. Total yards 3400. Felt great... First swim after rocky point 50K.) 

      There is so much I have learned from this swim goal I have no idea where to begin. I'll start with where I am at as a reward for the journey. I'm at millers ale house drinking an IPA with some chili (no cheese) and sweet potato fries. Interesting to note that this same location use to be a Hollihan's that I was going to go too after one of my other previous swim goals but never did. Maybe I'll have two beers in memory of that. 

       I guess one of the most important things I have learned is to love swimming, which I also call my meditation sessions. One of the books I was reading during this process was entitled Zen and the Art of Running, by Larry Shapiro. Interesting that before my long swims on Sundays usually, I would read this book dedicated to running. But the information contained inside really helped me get my mind focused and helped me to become more aware of my surroundings. In a way what I was doing after reading at my local Starbucks was meditation in the ultimate sense without even realizing it. Some of the key things in meditation involve focusing on your breathing and counting to focus our mind on something other than those evil, negative thoughts in your head. 

      In a normal swim session I would have specific laps where I would be thinking about random stuff and planning out the day. Other laps I would just try, emphasis on the try, to count my strokes. One, two, three, four or one, two, three. In a weird way the count strokes where I gave a little more effort were more enjoyable than the easy ones where I just let my mind wonder. The counting and increased effort I gave for those specific intervals were the most important thing in have learned. Focusing on a Montra or number blocked out all other worries. Whether it was girls, family, my own failing. They all disappeared and my mind was focused on the moment. 

      Stroke counting intervals were  of great benefit in clearing all the negativity and pain out of my body. The 'easy' yards were also beneficially in trying to reflect on all the positive things on my life. One such recent set of thoughts occurred on February 14, 2014. It was more of and image rather than a thought. The guy in the lane next to me. Yes, I looked in the next lane. When swimming your not suppose to look in the next lane only yours. Believe me, when you see a seventy one year old lady who must have been on P.E.Ds out lapping you it gets a little depressing. I digress, the guy in the lane next to me was wearing a pair of lava pants. Lava pants are kind of like a jammer wetsuit. So a mental image of a guy sitting at a bar (like now) eating and orange while drinking coffee and a beer writing at a bar. Three out of five isn't that bad. Those are just some of the things I love and love to do. Not really use to sitting at a bar but it's nice for a change. 

      That image would have been forgotten if I didn't write it out immediately after the swim. Truth be told I have solved all of life's problems while swimming but after I have showered and ate my habitual apple and peanut butter I usually forget it all. Which brings me to another important lesson I have learned, WRITE down your goals. I would not be sitting here right now having the occasional chit chat with the people next to me while typing without having that initial goal of swimming the length of Lake Ontario.

      What influenced me to swim this length and keep a record of it I will never know. But I'm glad I did. Slowly increasing in distance was also beneficial in not hurting myself physically and mentally. If I was to swim 12000 yards on the first day my brain would have stopped me from ever looking at a pool with a smile. As you increase in distance your will becomes stronger. Willpower is a muscle and becomes stronger with use. The more you tough things out the more your willpower increases. This is a huge help in dealing with the ups and downs of life. 

      Swimming produces the positive in me. When I'm swimming alls I want to do is good and help others. I want to eat healthy cause I feel healthy. When feel healthy I am happy and want others to be happy also. Spread the love. I wish others can fly like I do. That was one of the shouts I screamed underwater on my last twenty five yards before a nutrition break. I wonder what the people in the other lane thought. See I can't even stay in my own lane when I'm writing. Stupid ADHD. Sometimes it's a blessing other times a curse. When the lows hit me when I do endurance activities I soon forget or get distracted and keep going. I just keep swimming and I plan to keep swimming in this journey called life. What next as regards my swimming goals? Not sure but I'm sure I'll learn and relearn a lot along the way and keep you posted.

      Last entry (February 16,2014 - 8:00 A.M - 12000yards. 5's and 200s, 300s. Total yardage = 339950. Love swimming and meditation and reflection.)

"The you after doesn't exist. Keep changing."

Barton

Eggs

      One of the things I have learned over the years is to not think too much of yourself or of what you think is true. Learning to break mindsets takes time and sometimes some reinforcement. For example, I would never ever eat egg yolks until recently. I always thought they were no good for you and would not be healthy. Upon hearing some people talk about the benefits of eating them I experimented and found that the extra substance really works for me. I feel less prone to injury and my joints feel more fluid. I usually have two eggs and two egg whites after a run or lift along with other stuff. On Mondays and Fridays I eat real eggs made with milk, butter and white pepper after my swims. I add some roasted parsnips and hummus and drown them in hot sauce and it is pure heaven.

        I'm now of the mindset that the extra fat from the eggs has helped me prevent getting injured. That and my Merrell barefoot daily runs and swimming more. The mind is so powerful. I use to avoid the yolk at all cost. I mentally thought they were the devil so on the rare occasion I took a bite of it to just see how it tasted I was utterly discussed. Now it is so good cause I have associated it with healthy joints. I love life hacking! Cue, response?, and then the reward.

 "here's to having a mind"

- Barton

Fly

     

 If I told you I can fly would you believe me? Perhaps you would say yes and assume I mean I can fly by getting on an airplane and traveling to some distant location. Truth be told I really can do both. I have learned to fly not with wings but rather with my whole body. I use ever muscle, the most important one being my brain in this act of flying. 

      It's never easy. The walls that block this process are many which is why having the ability to fly is not enough. You also need the will to fly. It's a belief in yourself that takes time to develop and patience is your best friend. 

      Sometimes you are your worst enemy. It seems the harder you try the more elusive it is the feel the flow of flight. We all have to deal with stress in our lives. In order to fly you have to first relax into a panic. You need to put yourself through a situation that is stressful and learn to be relaxed while doing it. Flying is stressful and in order to fly the stress is what you need.

      So you see it's a conundrum with the only way of dealing with it and not go crazy is to have balance. Having a balance in your life usually involves variety. It is the spice of life or at least that's what I've heard. This flying and if you haven't already concluded from the picture is swimming. It is the frosting on the cake for me. The cake being a balanced life and the swimming being o so sweat in the right amount. The frosting is always the best part of the cake never let anyone tell you different. But too much will make you sick that's why having a balance is important. It's very alien when your in the water and that's part of the fun. It's a calm cooling feeling which refreshes and restores. I guess that's why baptism is being totally submerged and coming out a new. I plan on refreshing as long as I can and never forget how to fly.  

"FLY"

-Barton 

Marathons and Beyond...

DATE	TIME (MINUTES)	DISTANCE (MILES)	PACE (MINUTES/MILE)	NOTES
Sat, Sep 26, 2009	232.01	26.20	8.86	Hamptons marathon 3:52:01 net
Sat, May 1, 2010	221.01	26.20	8.44	Long Island marathon 3:41:01 watch
Sun, Oct 31, 2010	252.02	26.20	9.62	Cape cod marathon 4:12:02 net
Sat, Jun 4, 2011	260.50	26.20	9.94	Gods country marathon 4:20:50 time
Sat, Sep 24, 2011	230.39	26.20	8.79	Hamptons marathon 3:50:39 net
Sat, Sep 29, 2012	240.36	26.20	9.17	Hamptons marathon 4:00:36 net
Sat, May 11, 2013	400.30	30.00	13.34	Long Island greenbelt 50K 6:40:30
Sun, Jun 9, 2013	228.30	26.20	8.71	Lake placid marathon 3:48:30
Sat, Sep 28, 2013	234.21	26.20	8.94	Hamptons marathon 3:54:21 net
Sat, Oct 12, 2013	377.55	30.00	12.59	Tesla hertz 50K 6:17:55

Reading and Writing

Getting the right mindset on anything you are doing is fundamental. If your not focused on what you are doing it is impossible to do it well. My mind trends to jump from idea to idea and topic to topic. Getting focused is a skill that takes work and effort on the part of the individual. I found that reading and writing helps to reset that random, haphazard mind that I sometimes have. It occurs when I have too many things on my mind, which is usually the case. Getting absorbed in writing and reading is well worth the effort. Sometimes however it can be a challenge depending on the setting your in.

     A quiet place can be a blessing on occasions. It removes all the clutter around so you won't be so easily distracted. Once you really get into the book or your writing the setting will matter less. The goal is to become engrossed in what your doing. One of my favorite sayings is, "when washing dishes just wash dishes." Even though dish washing may not be fun. However, if you really focus on it and do your best you will find that even a simple task like washing the dishes can be fun and fulfilling. Your mindset is the most important thing for your happiness and satisfaction.  

      Another good thing to do which involves writing is making lists. When you write something down you are making it your destiny to do it. So making a list of things you want to or need to get accomplished is a great way to do them without tossing the idea back and forth in your head. When you toss the idea around in your head it usually does just that, go back and forth and nowhere else. 

      When you write it out whether it is a list, journal entry, short story or any other form of writing it sets that thought more firmly in your mind. It makes it solid and a part of you. You can use this for your benefit. For example, let's say you want to stop drinking beer ( I don't intend too.) but for illustrative purposes let's use that.

      So you would write an essay about how you plan on and how you want to stop drinking beer. You get it out there on the interweb and thereby hold yourself accountable. You could also include all the benefits of not drinking beer such as... Well can't really think of any except not having too much and acting stupid. 

      That's all it really takes. Sometimes you may want to do something but forget about it. We can only have one thought at a time and if the one we want to do isn't ingrained in our head we would soon forget about it and move on to something else. Stupid monkey minds we have. So reading and writing something out helps in that it etches into our brains the topic, thought or idea we want to remember. The more we write about it the more important it becomes to us. Maybe that's why teachers used to make us write and rewrite certain things on the blackboard. Well at least that's what we did back I my day. Not that I was the one writing on the blackboard. That task was typically reserved for those who needed to not repeat a previous action they did. 

      The written word is truly a magical thing. For me it helps me formulate thoughts and opinions in a way that I couldn't vocalize. So I guess I better just keep writing. As well as think ( writing internalized) before I speak.

"don't mind the foot in mouth."

-Barton

Socmed

                 Soccer Meditation

      So one of the things I have been doing recently is doing what I call, "soccer meditation". I always like to do pull ups at some point in the day, every day. A couple years back I installed a pull up bar in my apartment between my bedroom door posts to help me accomplish this daily goal. I was thinking about installing another one around the yard so I could be outside when I needed to not be distracted by all the things going on inside. Instead of that I have been doing one better. After work on my way home (actually it is a little out of the way) I stop by a youth soccer field and do pull ups on the unused soccer goals. 

      I call these, "soccer meditations" because it's not really a work out but rather an excuse to get outside and breath the chilly and invigorating autumn air. I park the car, get out and start my timer. I run easy to the far soccer field that's not being used and do 15 pulls on one and run to the other and do the same. I do a minimum of 60 pull ups and some push ups in between the last set. I do this all with a headlight on cause of the darkness being so overbearing this time of year. I finish up the soccer meditation with an easy run around all the sports field followed by some easy stretching. Easy easy easy is the key. I don't want to make this turn into a workout but rather just a way to get the blood flowing and relax my brain a tad before the ride home. 

      Besides of the benefit of being outside and breathing the fresh, crisp air I've also believe it has help me prevent an injury. During the week I wear a set of Merrell trail shoes that are basically a strip of leather with laces. Doing these quick 1 mile runs in these barefoot shoes on the slightly uneven soccer turf I feel help move the foot around in a variety of ways. Variety is the spice of life. Instead of the same motion over and over again which is a recipe for injury. The uneven surface forces me to use different muscles that would be not otherwise be used on a run on the roads. 

      This variety that is found on grass and trails is one reason I prefer the woods over the streets. There's also a sense of peace that isn't the same as it is when you hit the roads. Having not to deal with the crazy Long Island drivers is another benefit of searching out trails and fields.  

      But the real key for me to really enjoy these little skips is the fresh, chilly air. Breathing is enjoyable not merely something I do on a regular basis. The coolness seems to revitalize my body and energize my brain or visa versa. It's just one more excuse for me to be outside. It's also amazing to look up at the night sky and see the stars. I don't really get a chance to see it by me cause of all the light pollution. It was exceptionally starry the day I went there when they canceled all the youth soccer practice. I really needed my headlight that particular night but the solitude was a nice needed retreat, even if it was only for 15-20 minutes. That's how long it usually takes me before I end with some stretching and make the ride back home. I have a feeling this socmed may get extended in the future knowing my way of overdoing things. But for now it's a nice way to start my commute back home.  

"Remember to breathe"

-Barton