National Running Day 2012

Today is National Running Day. How great is it that there’s a whole day devoted to this amazing sport? While all sports have wonderful aspects to them, I do think there’s something uniquely special about running. There’s a camaraderie that comes with running that I haven’t typically seen in other sports. All people who run gather together as friends, not competitors. You can be slow or fast, fat or thin and everyone is in the same boat together. There is so much encouragement and advice, it really is a communal sport despite the fact you run alone. 

I am very grateful to running for changing my life. I started running as a bet against my doctor that I would be able to do a marathon despite the reconstructive foot surgery I had. Initially I didn’t love it. It was a drive I had to succeed and to prove him wrong, but there wasn’t a whole lot of passion with it. I think it was because I was so scared of failing at my marathon quest, I couldn’t take the time to enjoy it. Now that I’ve finished the marathon and done two half marathons, I’m finding myself loving the sport. 

I owe a lot to running. It helped me finally bring closure and healing to my car accident. It gave me a confidence I never knew I had. It gave me so much confidence that for the first time in my life, I was able to ask for a raise and promotion at work and actually get it. It is helping me now as I deal with my boyfriend’s 8 month deployment and the pain of missing him. I know part of the reason I am getting through that pain is because of running. It is an outlet for me to get my emotions out. 

I really think running can cure a lot of life’s little problems. Things we think are so big and insurmountable really aren’t, and if we all get the experience of running and the joy of the runner’s high, somehow they seem smaller. I think the mental health benefits of running far outweigh the physical, though those are great as well. 

Today is a day to celebrate this wonderful sport. If you’ve been a runner, be sure to run today and give thanks for the activity that gets you through a tough day. If you’ve never run before but have always wanted to, today is the day to start. Go for a light jog, do a run/walk combination, just get moving and get outside on the pavement. It will be painful and difficult at first, but keep at it and soon you will see what all the fuss is about. 

Happy National Running Day! 

The Pursuit of Happiness

The past four months have been a challenge. While some really fabulous things happened—I got promoted, a raise, some great freelance opportunities, it’s been hectic to put it mildly. I was putting in 70 hour work weeks and missed a great deal of my favorite time of year: the holidays. I finally got an assistant at work to help relieve the work load, but I still had a hard time with the work load and feeling the compulsive need to be perfect and get everything done. As a result, both my running and my happiness suffered.

I had several people tell me this past week that I’m different and not as happy go lucky as I used to be. I hated hearing it, but they were right. I was working too much, stressed and not doing the things I loved. I was going to sign up for the local half marathon, but my $450 worth of car bills put a stop to that.

However, I’ve decided this week, that I can still excel at my job without sacrificing excessive amounts of time or my happiness. I’m trying ot make a chart of the things that really matter to me and make me happy. One of the things near the top? Running. I ran yesterday in my gym at the office and it was wonderful. It was only 2 miles plus I did some weight lifting, but it was divine. I was so unbelievably happy when I was finished. I thought to myself, why have I been putting work ahead of this wonderful feeling?

It’s taken me a while to realize it and it was especially hard when I was training for the marathon, but running really makes me happy. I’m never going to be very good at it (i.e. fast), but I love it. It makes me healthier and happier. The flood of endorphins after a great run is like nothing else in the world. It can make the worst day feel spectacular.

So this time, I’m really back on the wagon. I need running for my sanity and happiness and nothing is going to get in the way. I can already feel my old self letting go of the stress and coming back. I missed me!

The Incredible Power of Running

Before I became a runner, I had become a fairly decent athlete. I had worked out two solid years lifting weights, conquering the dreaded stairmaster, biking and the elliptical. So I had a good fitness base when I started running that made it easier from that side of it, but extremely difficult since I really wasn’t good at it. As I ran, more and more, I began to realize what an incredibly powerful sport it is.

Running affected me in a way far different from any other athletic activity I had ever tried. It was a powerful drive inside me that fueled me to take on new challenges. It gave me the most joyous feeling when a high would set in. It joined me together with people that I may have never otherwise talked to. The same could not be said for the stairmaster or the elliptical.

I’m a graphic designer and as part of my job, I work with different printers and their reps. Just a few weeks ago, I found out one of my reps is an avid runner. We immediately began bonding over our love for the road. It didn’t matter that he was a far better, faster runner than I was, we were joined together by this sport. We talked for nearly a half an hour about our training, races we’d tried and goals for the future. Today I was speaking with a freelance client, who is in the running industry, but it was still an amazing conversation about the power of this sport and how it changes lives.

We both knew that completing a marathon dramatically changed our lives. We knew what it was like to work hard and cross that finish line. We knew that no matter how bad a day was going, running could fix it, even if it was just a 30 minute jog. It is seriously amazing how this one sport that anyone with a pair of sneakers can do, can changes so many lives and join so many different people together.

Tonight I watched last night’s episode of the Biggest Loser. At the end of each season, contestants compete in a marathon. Completing a marathon is a monumental achievement no matter who does it, but seeing people who were 300 and 400 pounds do it just 5 months later is even more inspiring. I remember when I was overweight and couldn’t walk after my foot surgery, I watched the Biggest Loser marathons. I used to cry at the end when they finished as I longed to do the same. I was sad that I couldn’t run and sad about the state I was in with my weight.

After I initially lost weight and watched the episodes, I still cried because although I was thin, I couldn’t do what they did. The funny thing is that I had never had the desire to run a marathon until someone told me I couldn’t. Then one day I began to run. And today, I watched the episode as a marathon finisher. I still cried at the end, not because I was sad, but because I knew what immense joy those people were feeling and that no one would ever quite get it unless they’ve done a marathon too.

To share that bond with people I have never met shows the power of this fantastic sport. No matter what your body type or where you’re at in life, nearly everyone can run at least a little. So, lace up your shoes and hit the pavement. Feel the power of running and use it to change your life.

Marathon Training: Days 23, 24 & 25

Day 23: Speed interval training. 5 sets of 0.25 mile intervals with the treadmill set at 6.6mph. Finished each interval in 2:29, walked 2:29 and repeated. Also did upper body weights

Day 24: Terrible run. So sore from previous day’s speed training, only managed to do in 1 mile in a lousy 15 minutes. Mental note: take a day off the day after interval training. Did box jumps, single leg bench squats, step downs and upper body weights

Day 25: Trail run at Cottonwood Creek Park Trail. Completed 5.06 miles in 1:08:40, but maintained a 13:30 pace which is enough to finish the marathon on time. Had elevation gains of 291 feet.

Nobody But Me

This commercial from Nike is my newest inspiration and motivation to keep going with my marathon training. Although it’s an older song from the 60s, it really gets me pumped and I play it repeatedly while I run.

While the singer rattles off all the things (are they dances or what? Never have understood the lyrics) that no one can do like him, I quietly whisper the word “marathon” as a replacement. It keeps me motivated and brings a smile to my face. Of course, in reality, most people can do a marathon better than I will be able to. I’m very slow, and I’ll be thankful to finish in the required 6 hours, but when I’m running and I whisper that word to the song, well I almost feel like it’s true.

What inspires/motivates you when you’re working out or running?

Go the Distance

This past Saturday was a huge day for me. I was attempting to run further than I’d ever run before. The marathon training goal was 7 miles. The most I’d ever run previously was 6 miles all the way back in October. The most I’d run since beginning marathon training was 5. I promised myself that if I made it through this new distance, I could keep conquering new distances and therefore really, truly do the marathon. So if I made it through on Saturday, then on Sunday I was going to officially register for the Denver Rock & Roll Marathon.

We had gorgeous weather here on Saturday, and I set out on the trail armed with my CamelBak, iPod and gummy worms (for when I got drop in blood sugar and hit the wall). It’s a trail with small elevation gains and is more like slightly rolling hills. The first 3.5 miles were a piece of cake. I figured I had this thing and no worries. I was going to rock the marathon. Granted, I was going fairly slow when I ran—4.2mph, but I wasn’t focusing on speed only accomplishing my distance.

I turned around and it still wasn’t even so bad. I was feeling pretty confident. The confidence got depleted slightly when I came across other runners who were around 6.0mph, but I didn’t care. Suddenly at mile 5.25, I was spent. I started to freak out that I couldn’t go another 2 miles and I was ready to curl up and die. The dream was over. After a few minutes, I remembered my sugary gummy goodness snack in my CamelBak pocket.

I inhaled 5 gummy worms and drank some water and rested a few minutes. Suddenly, I had a burst of energy and kept on going. The last .75 miles was brutal as most of it was uphill, and I was extremely exhausted. My legs had turned to stone around mile 6. But I kept plodding on, and finally I reached the parking lot at the trailhead. I had completed 7.18 miles, so over my goal. It was a tragically slow pace (14:03 mile), which I wouldn’t even complete the marathon in the required 6 hrs at that pace, but I didn’t care at that moment.

I was so proud of myself, so full of joy. My doctor told me I could never run again after my surgery. I know I keep bringing this point up, but I’m still baffled every time I get further and further. It’s such a rush to defy that doctor with each extra mile.

On Sunday morning, I officially registered for the Denver Rock & Roll Marathon on October 9. I am going to be a marathoner, even if it takes me 5:59:59.

Marathon Training: Days 13 & 14

Day 13: No Running, full upper & lower body strength training day. Did 3 sets of 5 on box jumps, single leg bench squats, dumbbell quick jumps, scissor squats, dumbbell split squats, plate arcs, RDLs and body weight single leg RDLs.

Did 5 sets of 5 reps on pull-ups, shoulder press, bicep curl, tricep pull and chest press all with free weights

Day 14: (Today, Sunday, January 30), I ran 5.02 miles in 1:10:05 on a trail outdoors. It was a challenge as I faced 175 feet in elevation gains, and it was cold because the trail ran alongside a river. But it was a good run, and I’m really proud of myself. Farthest training run yet.

Marathon Training, Days: 9, 10, 11

Day 9 • Distance: 2.5 miles in 33 min

Day 10 • Distance: 4.1 miles in 59:41. The furthest Iv’e gone since starting training!

Day 11 (Today) • Distance: 2.36 miles in 31 minutes, increased treadmill speed on running segments from 5.0 mph to 5.2 mph.

Total miles run in 11 training days: 23.27 miles

Total miles run since becoming a runner on August 2, 2010: 139.7 miles

The 26.2 Mile Nightmare

So, in about 3 weeks I am going to start training for a marathon. 26.2 miles of open road…running it. I’m reading Jeff Galloway‘s book on training using his run/walk method (run 4 min / walk 1 min). I’m confident that by training for 10 months (my race is in October 2011), I will definitely be physically ready. My body can do it as long as I stay dedicated and on track with my training program.

It’s my mind I have to worry about. I ran on the treadmill yesterday and did a simple 2 miles. Yet, it wasn’t all that simple. I was ready to die. It seemed so hard for some reason even though I’ve done two 5 K races, run the 5K distance at least a dozen times in training and I’ve even run as much as 6.2 miles (10K). Yet, that 2 miles was killing me. I just mentally wasn’t there yesterday.

So if 2 miles is giving me a mental breakdown…how the heck can I do 26.2? I know that overcoming the mental aspect of the marathon is by far going to be the most difficult part of training for this race. I want to do this marathon more than anything. I need to prove to myself I can do it, and I want to show down my nasty podiatrist who told me I’d never run again. It is a great source of pride for me, but I’m absolutely terrified.

I feel anxiety setting in when I am driving and start notice to how far 26.2 miles really is. From the articles and books I’ve read, I’ve heard just to take it one mile at a time or in smaller race distances—like focusing on the first 5K/3.2 miles, then the next 5K and break it into those increments.

So as I get ready to embark on 10 months of 6 day a week training for this horrendous thing that us crazy runners consider fun in some aspect of the word, I am soliciting your advice. For those of you who’ve done a marathon or even a half marathon, please tell me the mental secrets to winning against the 26.2 mile monster.

Nope to Dope

I got my new issue of Runners World this weekend, and the big article was about marathon champion Eddy Hellebuyck’s admission to doping. It seems like every month a new athlete admits to doping to enhance their performance. I am so disgusted by this. I miss the days when we could look up to and admire athletes. Now I feel like there isn’t anyone.

I get to excited to watch the Olympics and the big superstars, but all the while wonder when the reports are going to come out about their drug use. What’s really awful is, what if they don’t dope? And here me and a million other people automatically assume they couldn’t perform the way they do unless they took drugs. I feel guilty for that.

I read Olympic swimmer Dara Torres‘s book this summer “Age Is Just a Number.” It was about her comeback to the Beijing Olympics as a 41 year old athlete. The book detailed her rigorous workout schedule and stressed over and over again that she didn’t use drugs. I want so desperately to believe her. I want to look up to her and think wow she did an amazing thing especially given her age. But a part of me doubts. A big part of me doubts honestly. I was excited watching Michael Phelps, but wonder when we’re going to hear about him.

Now that I’m interested in running, I’m starting to learn some of the big names in the sport. I want to believe these athletes work so insanely hard to accomplish what seems impossible, like winning marathons. But then things like Marion Jones comes out and I wonder. Or I read this article in Runners World and the doubts arise again.

I know the temptation must be great. The money and endorsement possibilities are insane. I have to keep to a strict budget every month, and the thought of being independently wealthy if I just won a few races, well it would be tempting. But then I think of how incredibly hard I’ve had to work just to get to where I am. And that would all be lost the second I took drugs. I know I couldn’t compromise my integrity like that.

Why do they?