Many people agree that running a marathon is one of the hardest and most satisfying things you can do in life. Those 26.2 miles can be grueling, exhilarating and tremendously challenging even if you train religiously.
Jeff Clark is a seven-time marathoner, which is impressive in and of itself. But he’s a full-time truck driver, too, and works as an independent contractor in Wisconsin. He genuinely loves trucking, and running, and he’s one of the few in the profession who run during their breaks.
Why does Clark work 14-hour days and then run during his down time? “The hardest aspect of this is scheduling my runs,” he says. “It’s all about making good choices … finding places to run.” He says America has an “anti-exercise” culture and he rarely sees other truck drivers run.
Clark ran cross-country during high school. But once he started his career as a truck driver, about 21 years ago, he became more sedentary than he would have liked. Now he runs whenever and wherever his job takes him. “I do trail runs, countryside runs and also in urban areas, roads without shoulders,” he says.
Clark started running again in August 2005 and ran his first marathon in 2007. Clark realized that he simply had to run when he read an article in Runner’s World magazine. He ran a 3.1-mile race (5k) within two months of starting to train again.
Some of his great inspirations have been authors and runners such as Jeff Galloway; plus, he reads Runner’s World religiously. Clark runs races predominantly in Wisconsin, around Green Bay, where he lives. He’s also run in Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Arkansas, Missouri and Alabama.
“The first time I started to run on the treadmill, I did a 12-minute mile,” he says. “Yes, it was embarrassing.” Now, he’s run a steady eight-minute mile for a four-mile race, and achieved 1 hour, 57 minutes, in a half-marathon. But Clark doesn’t measure success by his time, or the number of races he’s run. “I measure success if you’re still running after four years,” he says.
He doesn’t over-train; in fact, if you’re in pain, he says, stop. “If you’re putting Bengay on every night, you’re over-running.”
The only marathon that Clark has started and not completed was the Pine Line Marathon in Medford, Wis. He had severe chest pains during the course and suspected that it might be heart trouble, given his family history. He stopped before he finished the race and checked into the emergency room, which was a good thing since the cause of the pain turned out to be clogged arteries. He asked his doctor if he should quit running. His doctor smiled and said, “No, run more.”
Now, his cholesterol level is perfect and his blood pressure is good, too. Clark is especially conscientious about his heart because he has a family history of heart disease, and he wants to do everything possible to stop history from repeating itself. Both his brothers died of heart disease.
He doesn’t consider running as a chore, and sometimes when he’s in a slump, he simply goes out and runs for fun.
There’s no question that you need a lot of discipline to do something along the lines of what Clark does. “I sleep in my truck, and run when I pull into a truck stop, “ he says about the way he trains. “Then after I come back, I shower at the truck stop.”
Diet and Running Fuel
There’s no secret about runners and “the wall.” Marathoners often hit it around mile 20, says legendary runner and coach Jeff Galloway.
An article in Men’s Fitness magazine describes the wall: “It’s the point where the flesh weakens, the spirit sags and the will drains away into a little puddle on the ground. Legs turn to melting Jell-O and breath comes in short, gasping gulps. In all of sports, there is probably nothing as feared, or misunderstood, as this inner barrier where the unprepared run out of steam and can go no further.”
This is not psychological, it’s physiological. According to Galloway’s groundbreaking “Book on Running,” published in 1984, the primary reason for the wall is the muscles’ loss of glycogen, which runners burn up easily. This is a short-range fuel, and even the fittest person’s stash of glycogen typically lasts him or her about 20 miles.
“When you run faster than you’ve trained, or farther,” Galloway wrote, “you overwhelm the muscles.” Thus, precious glycogen is burned, waste products and fatigue poisons accumulate faster than they can be eliminated, you hit the wall, and more fuel is required.
“The most I’ll take with me is Gatorade on a long run,” says Clark. Gatorade replenishes electrolytes as well as hydrates the body.
“I hit the wall all the time,” he says. “I have heart problems, so I don’t run to the point of exhaustion. I stop and walk the rest of the distance. I’m not there to win a race.” This is a perspective that has helped Clark run seven marathons and several shorter races, because, as he says, the most important thing is to have fun doing the runs.
As far as diet goes, he makes no bones about his weaknesses, although he’s come a long way in managing what he eats. He’s very good about hydration (a must for serious runners), drinking about half a gallon of water a day. But he still loves his soda and his cheeseburgers.
While running, he likes to listen to nature and take in the wilderness. “I like to hear the birds and see the squirrels,” he says.
His Book
Clark has a genuine love for trucking. He’s written a book about the industry, called “Hey We’re Dying Out Here: The Truth Behind The Trucker Shortage,” in which he discusses the freight industry and the changes behind the way freight is moved.
“As a group of workers we are in deep trouble. Not economically, but physically. Over-the-road truckers die about 15 years younger than the average American. Statistics say that if an over-the-road trucker has a heart attack, 75 percent of the time [he or she] will die. No second chance, no warning sign, you are dead,” he writes.
“I am not a gifted athlete. I am not some skinny freak. I am a trucker. It hurts to know that many of the hardest working Americans will never enjoy retirement. I want my co-workers to be healthy. We need to exercise the most important muscle in our bodies, our hearts. Let’s get moving.”
Getting Started
No matter how hard you’ve trained, the first marathon is usually the most educational. First, you get to understand yourself as a runner and how you perform when adrenaline is rushing through your veins. The euphoria and excitement of the event itself will carry you part of the way, but many runners tend to be overly competitive against the other runners in the group. As a result, you can run way too fast and unevenly in the beginning and exhaust yourself even before the first 10 miles are up.
Having been a long-distance runner during the high school years, Clark knows about exhaustion and pacing. At his first marathon, the first 17 or 18 miles felt really good. He walked part of the race (about six to seven miles), and his pace was about a 9:30-minute mile.
Clark advises new runners to start training slowly, and to increase their mileage slowly. It isn’t a bad idea to run a few miles and then walk a few miles. As a truck driver, he’s also especially careful about not being too tired to do his job. “I like to [drive] compliant,” he says about his truck-driving routine.
He’s not without injuries, of course, like just about every other runner. Clark had some frayed nerve endings in his foot because he was using the wrong type of shoe. “The best advice I can give to a runner is to take your worn shoes into a store when you buy a fresh pair,” he says. By examining used shoes a salesperson can evaluate your running style and decide what you need regarding your stride or weight distribution. A recommendation can then be made for the best pair of shoes for your feet and running style.
Details like these add up to predict whether you’ll be a consistent runner. Clark ran his fourth Green Bay Marathon on May 17. He seems to have set the pace for running truck drivers. Question is, can the industry keep up?
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July 4th, 2009 at 1:15 pm
Great article! The story was well written and your advice is good for truckers and for anyone who needs to stay in shape. Hopefully, drivers will take your advice, start an exercise program and will improve their quality of life( as well as adding years). Not many people would think to take their old running shoes with them when it is time to buy new ones. So sorry to hear about your brothers.