Good week so far! 2 almost 4 milers with my full 4 miler scheduled for this Sunday. A little later than normal, but we must take the boys up for their inaugural Gator game. Why would we do this shameless act of indoctrination into the Gator Nation during our worst season in recent history? Well, we are in fact shameless. But I digress.
I have added a 10K to my December race schedule and actually am starting to feel like I might finish it....I am loving the running culture and learning more and more every day. I have SUCH a long way to go, but thanks to some great blogs and a certain crazy Coloradoan, I am psyched to keep going!
Ciao!
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Monday, November 15, 2010
4
This is my 4 mile week. I have done it before, but not without stopping. So here goes!
Running is such a personalized activity. What works for one will not work for another. Heck, to have a "good run", I feel like the stars must align in a perfect balance of hydration, rest and nutrition. But the key component for me sits on top of my shoulders and mocks me...my MIND. And so when planning out these longer runs, the blockade in my mind has been that it seems like such a long way and terrifies me. Being such a mind game, I came up with this new outlook (that I remind myself of when I want to stop) to get me farther:
Do not focus on the finish line, focus on the run itself and the fact that you have breath in your lungs, are alive and well enough to do it! Enjoy the moment!
And on that note, I was recently bowled over by the strength of a young Tampa family, the Matthews, at the loss of their second son this year. Yes, I said SECOND. The first was lost to complications due to pre-term labor and the second lost his battle with cancer just last week at the age of 3. Man, I tell you. How do you find strength to go on? They are leaning on their Faith and asked for all of us to do the same and to live our lives fully, appreciate and be thankful for our health and our families health. To love each other, not just our close relationships but on a larger scale (you know, all I want for Christmas is World Peace!)
And so I have have added to my inspiration for finishing this 1/2 marathon: little Ezra Matthews. BECAUSE I CAN and he can not.
So I thought about Ezra, thought about my goals for this week and busted out 3.71 in about 37 minutes. Less about the pace and more about the finish!! 4 miles by weeks end!
Running is such a personalized activity. What works for one will not work for another. Heck, to have a "good run", I feel like the stars must align in a perfect balance of hydration, rest and nutrition. But the key component for me sits on top of my shoulders and mocks me...my MIND. And so when planning out these longer runs, the blockade in my mind has been that it seems like such a long way and terrifies me. Being such a mind game, I came up with this new outlook (that I remind myself of when I want to stop) to get me farther:
Do not focus on the finish line, focus on the run itself and the fact that you have breath in your lungs, are alive and well enough to do it! Enjoy the moment!
And on that note, I was recently bowled over by the strength of a young Tampa family, the Matthews, at the loss of their second son this year. Yes, I said SECOND. The first was lost to complications due to pre-term labor and the second lost his battle with cancer just last week at the age of 3. Man, I tell you. How do you find strength to go on? They are leaning on their Faith and asked for all of us to do the same and to live our lives fully, appreciate and be thankful for our health and our families health. To love each other, not just our close relationships but on a larger scale (you know, all I want for Christmas is World Peace!)
And so I have have added to my inspiration for finishing this 1/2 marathon: little Ezra Matthews. BECAUSE I CAN and he can not.
So I thought about Ezra, thought about my goals for this week and busted out 3.71 in about 37 minutes. Less about the pace and more about the finish!! 4 miles by weeks end!
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Inspiration
Inspiration is a funny thing.
You never really know where you will find it. Might be the memory of the buffet line at Shoney's in Gainesville, Fl (bleah!) or the old man who runs circles around you on your "long run". Maybe it is a family that has lost a loved one to cancer or a cancer survivor who's zest for life is contagious!
You also never know who YOU will inspire, and sometimes you never find out. It just happens, like the old man. Maybe I should stop and tell him sometime because something happens when you yourself become the inspirer. You suddenly have accountability and confidence in what you are doing. I was surprised when I started running the people around me that decided it was time for them to hit the pavement as well. And that is powerful.
Like any Social Viral network (ie: Facebook) inspiration grows exponentially. My inspiration came from 2 friends that simply said, hey, you can do it, so go try! And so I did and then a bunch of my friends did and so on and so forth....
So remember to live your life knowing that you might be inspiring a stranger or a friend, you just never know!
You never really know where you will find it. Might be the memory of the buffet line at Shoney's in Gainesville, Fl (bleah!) or the old man who runs circles around you on your "long run". Maybe it is a family that has lost a loved one to cancer or a cancer survivor who's zest for life is contagious!
You also never know who YOU will inspire, and sometimes you never find out. It just happens, like the old man. Maybe I should stop and tell him sometime because something happens when you yourself become the inspirer. You suddenly have accountability and confidence in what you are doing. I was surprised when I started running the people around me that decided it was time for them to hit the pavement as well. And that is powerful.
Like any Social Viral network (ie: Facebook) inspiration grows exponentially. My inspiration came from 2 friends that simply said, hey, you can do it, so go try! And so I did and then a bunch of my friends did and so on and so forth....
So remember to live your life knowing that you might be inspiring a stranger or a friend, you just never know!
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Zero
It all started with a plate of Christmas Dinner, 2009. As I sat staring at the bits of mashed potatoes and cranberry left on my plate, like remnants of a battle, I decided then and there that my lifetime of procrastination would come to an end. I pushed back from the table, which felt more like a barge shoving off from the dock at that moment, and decided I would don a pair of running shoes the next day and see what happens....
They weren't the right shoes, simply my cross trainers that I bought because they were "cute". I didn't have a playlist on my Ipod (Truth be told, prior to my little running hobby, I had never really created one....shhhh). I had on one of John's T-Shirts and a pair of old shorts I found in a drawer, probably from high school.
Despite all of this, I took off out the front door of my folks house and fumbled around the 1/2 mile loop, looking less like a runner and more like a refugee fleeing some war-torn country, gasping and pleaing for water. All of this in the first 100 yards! But guess what? I did it. I put one foot in front of the other and I did it. And then I did it again, and again. Like many of you, I had started exerise routines, made resolutions, set goals and QUIT. That is a vicious cycle of defeat and had to be broken. The thing about resolutions, especially New Year's ones, is to start them a few days ahead of everyone else. The odds of keeping them are much greater without all of the added pressure of a lifetime of failed ones!!
Still, I made yet another promise to myself that if I kept this up for 2 straight weeks, I would get to go shopping for new shoes. Well, apparently I found my own catalyst for exercise: the promise of a trip to the mall! 2 weeks past and I headed proudly into Fit 2 Run to buy my first pair of real running shoes, a pair of Brooks Glycerines. And like anyone trying to fit in to an awkward situation, I pretended to know all about pronations and gaits, then quickly googled them when I got home. (in case you were wondering, I over-pronate and have a heavy heel strike...)
But the moral of this story is just START. Put one foot in front of the other, over and over and over. You'll be amazed at what you will do!
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