Type II Fun - 2 weeks until my 50, 7 weeks until my 100
View from the North Boundary Road in the Bent Creek Experimental Forest
Even though the term, “Type II fun” has been around for a while, for some reason this little phrase has been popping up a lot lately. The creepy occurrence is probably more likely just one of those things that once you notice it, you notice it a lot and therefore it seems more meaningful than it really is. Like seeing the time 9:11 or hearing a certain song come on in the grocery store that you were just thinking about.
I like how I’m over here explaining away these little eerie nuances as if I’m a unamused scientist when just last blog post I was talking about how I worship cat tarot cards.
Anyway.
So Type II fun “is an experience that is challenging and potentially uncomfortable in the moment, but becomes enjoyable and rewarding in retrospect. It's not necessarily fun while you're doing it, but the sense of accomplishment and the stories you gain from overcoming the difficulty make it worthwhile later.”
I recently listened to Scott Jurek’s memoir, “North” about his Fastest Known Time record of running the north bound passage of the Appalachian Trail in 46 days. Insane. He ran over 50 miles a day, consecutively! Absolutely mind blowing and inspiring. But he used the phrase Type II fun to describe what he was doing and I completely relate to the sentiment.
This week, which is week 21 of my 28 week training plan, was the highest weekly mileage of the entire plan. I busted out 66 miles for the week and a moderate 6,500 ft of gain. This is the most weekly miles I have ever run in my life and I was 100% over the situation during my last run this morning.
Yesterday I had completed a pretty comfortable 26.2 mile trail run out in Bent Creek. I felt pretty good through the whole thing and really focused on forcing myself to consume calories and conserve energy. My pace was a little slower than I would have liked and the elevation gain of only 3,000 feet was a little low but I knew since this run was capping off a huge week and that I had a 3.5 hour run to look forward to the next day, I think I did a bang up job on this one.
However, this morning, I truly dragged my feet on getting my shoes on to slog it out for the last workout. I also was missing out on joining my wife in watching a friend of ours play ultimate frisbee in order to knock out this run, which made me mope through most of it. I walked a lot and could feel the fatigue not only in my legs and hips and back, but also my mind. I tried to listen to a few good podcasts and some music I really like but there was just nothing that could be done to change my mood. I truly just didn’t want to be doing what I was doing.
But. Of course. After coming home and taking a shower and eating some lunch and treating myself to a very cold Dr. Pepper and now writing this out on the porch, my mood has changed. I think it is the type II fun mentality doing its thing. I’m proud of what I have accomplished this week and I’m now reflecting on how I’m a little disappointing in myself for not giving this morning’s run a little more effort.
I have some fun things going on tonight with my wife and a friend and a disc golf tournament tomorrow so I feel like I’m going to get my well deserved “fun” in for the week. I’ll get a great mental break from the running and come back ready to rock my taper week next week. After that, it’s the week of my 50 and I’m truly looking forward to visiting the PNW and seeing my old friends again. Oh, and running through some absolutely gorgeous views of course. And, secretly, trying to hit 11 hours but being totally okay with just a good time.