This is within my reach!

This is within my reach!

What a revelation!

Especially since four days ago I was thinking there is no way I will be able to run 13.1 miles!

Today I increased my long run by two miles, from six to eight.  This was a major milestone to say the least with 10 weeks remaining before the race. I was needing to see some major headway in my distance and endurance to convince myself this whole half marathon thing is doable.

I had committed to Jeff Galloway's Run/walk system last week                                                                  ( http://www.jeffgalloway.com/training/half_marathon.html )despite the doubts I had about it.  I felt like if I did it I would somehow be in the "Special-Ed" category of marathoners.  I mean seriously- running for just three minutes and then "giving-in" to a walk for a minute over and over?!  But I became increasingly aware that I was having absolutely no progression in my endurance and had to do something to break the barrier.

Jeff Galloway, Olympian Marathon Champion, & RunDisney's Official Traininer

I started this mindset change by doing two workout runs on hills because I felt my legs must be suffering from lack of strength.  It's amazing what little changes and challenges obtained can do to your mental confidence.  I got a new app on my phone that featured a run/walk workout with prompts telling me when to start running and when to walk.  It also allowed me to set it to the pace I needed for my "magic mile" time which worked out to the 3/1 ratio.  With many doubts I did my six mile long run last week.  I finished 6 miles at 77 minutes which I wasn't sure was good or not but I was not tired or hurting when I finished nor did I have ANY muscle discomfort afterward.  This is a perk of the run/walk that I liked.

So this week - I kept with one major hill run and a couple more normal runs with just a little increase to 4 miles and awaited my long run today.  I started my morning having gotten six hours of sleep- blah!  But I was hydrated, full of vitamins and having eaten well the entire week.  I put on my app and concluded I would run eight miles no matter what because I needed to add two miles to gauge my max miles coming with a decrease a week or two before.  I really needed to see myself come up in numbers so that I was well over half way there to my goal.

As I started my first three minutes I was fighting with myself mentally with exhaustion!  I did that for the next 4 intervals until I was well past 3 miles!  You would think running three minutes is nothing - but when you have a battle mentally about how tired you are going in - it doesn't matter if its three minutes or three seconds, you are crying out "just go home"!   The good news is this - when I hit 5 miles I got excited that I was almost at my last long run distance which for some reason made me hit the roof with determination to go eight!   This stuff is 90% mental belief!!!

I finished my 85 minute prompt program at 6 1/2 miles.  Now I was on my own to finish eight.  I quickly put my stop watch on and counted three minutes in my head and a minute to walk.  But when I started back up to run I had such a rush come over me I continued to run the complete eight!  I have to just testify that it was some miracle of adrenaline or mental resilience or "By God Jeff Galloway is a GENIUS the program WORKS".  Jeff states that if you stick with the system you will run your last two miles more powerfully than your first and I CAN SAY THIS IS TOTALLY TRUE!  At least today and for eight!

So I got in my car with my body tingling from adrenaline and endorphines and my mind racing with the thoughts "this is within my reach!"  I only have 5 more miles to add to hit the race length- I can do it!  I can do it!  I can do it! Yay, yay, yay!!!

I am going to wear this medal!

Running to Race

Had a great run/walk this evening following Jeff Galloway training suggestions.  After almost 6 weeks off, I was doubting if I could bounce back, but as I hit my first stride I knew I still had what it took.  As I finished my short training session I was already looking forward to hitting a longer run in the morning.

I thought I would share one of Jeff's blogs on racing runners.  I really like his perspective.  Here it is.

Your First Race

Posted: 2011-07-17 

"I know, you aren’t competitive. You have no need to race. That’s fine.  But the neighborhood road
 races that you see all over the country are primarily for motivation.  The participants in the average
 road race are folks like yourself who are trying hard to stay motivated.  Enrolling in a race is a
commitment to yourself to do the training each week to prepare.

Most runners/walkers who arrive at their first race are surprised to see that most of the participants
are average looking people. Sure, there are always a few lean folks on the front line are going for
 the trophy. Everyone else is there to share the excitement of the event. And to celebrate the
moment of finishing.

Races are fun.  If the energy could be put in a container and used in your car, you wouldn’t
have to buy gasoline for your car for weeks.  Once you have attended a race, you will want to go
 back.  This is one place where almost everyone is in a good mood."

And Jeff is right.  Everyone is there because they want to be and they have trained hard to get there and experience the fulfillment of their training.

RUN DISNEY....

I know this is crazy, but I scratched my November Half Marathon in exchange for an official registration, signed sealed and delivered, in Run Disney's Half Marathon January 7, 2012!   It's been a bumpy ride to a half marathon but I think I have found my fit and the motivation is much higher as well as the ability to commit to a disciplined training program!

This summer I announced defeat with lack of discipline in run training and I am not ashamed to say I quit.  But the key to quitting and not failing is starting again!

All I know is I had such motivation doing my Tri at Disney World and I am counting on my love for all things Disney to be the key to this second success!  I mean really just look at what Disney offers to the "Athlete"  wishin' on a star!



Just watching the many Youtube records of the festivities has gotten me almost wanting to dawn some Mickey clothing to train in...I said almost!

School is coming back into full swing in two weeks along with my 45th birthday...so I will be MORE than MOTIVATED and MORE than back in the GRIND!

So - let's all turn over a new leaf and begin anew and afresh!   Just pretend the last few months never happened.

Hey guess what?  I'm running a Half Marathon!





.

Running can look fashionable!

I love how Heidi Klum has made running look so good!

She has a great collection of fitness clothes.

I know when I look good, I feel good.

Now maybe if I look good, I'll run good.

Let's hope so!

Check the line out.

On a personal note:  Along with two other runs and a pool workout, I put in a run on  the main street outside the neighborhood of my house this week.  A 2 1/2 mile straight run that includes two steep overpass humps....ouch!   Where's Heidi when you need her?  I really could have used a snazzy outfit for that!

The Reckoning...

Today I'm asking myself a lot of questions.

Do I really want to go forward for a half marathon?

What happened to my motivation?

Am I able to commit to this training?

I can answer all those questions with an observational evaluation - I'm Pathetic.  I know.

I started with such enthusiasm- talk about a total fizzling out!   I promised you in the sub-title this is a journey of an over-40 runner~!


So let me tell you how I got to this SLUMP!

Several weeks ago I was in my stride for training when I hit a major challenge.  My schedule changed dramatically.  School was out so there was no official morning grind, with both kids home along with my husband, our home fell into a real lax attitude, with all excuses aside I admit I fell right in with it.  Late nights, late mornings, erratic diet and I let my training schedule go.  My well-guarded, tunneled-vision hour for morning running became a free-for-all and I lost my focus completely.  With my inability to deal with distraction, I did a lot of ab and arm training at home to replace my running and ALAS- the running habit left me.  Though I was glad I committed to working on my abs for the cruise, I  had traded out and when I got home I had no focus or DESIRE to run.

I spent one full week after the cruise doing NOTHING.  Then yesterday it hit me.   I looked around my house steeped in mid-summer disorganization, looked ahead at the 131 days left before the race and made a decision to get my schedule, organization and MY morning run BACK. 

Then I wrestled with the idea that perhaps I'm not up to this kind of race.  I mean, what the point?   Why run a half-marathon? Who cares?  Any sense of reason and motive was so faded I couldn't conjure up why I had even endeavored to do it in the first place.  The need for a goal, a need of accomplishment, a challenge...what was it?  Perhaps I still had the high from my Tri accomplishment - a few endorphins left edging me on.   So with just shadows of desire left - I'm making a head decision to go with what I first decided because of one reason- I'm not a quitter.   I publicized that I was going to - and now I'm held to it.  If that is the only reason I run a half-marathon, then its enough.  Finish what you started, do what you said you were gonna do and cross the finish line!

 I am 131 days out from the race giving me a good 18 weeks to train.  This is several weeks over the proven training plan for a half marathon.  But NOW is the time to commit, focus and settle in my mind to hit the running trails again.  At this point a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do- so I'm declaring martial law in the house and in my personal training.

This morning I swore off "visitors" on my run and went by myself to see what my body would do after its long hibernation.  I was pleased to hit my 10 minute mile but sruggled to finish two.  I have some make up work to do.  

SO HERE IS MY WISDOM TO ALL -IF ANY- READERS ARE LISTENING.   You run- you fall- you get up - you run again.  Pretty simple.  

Bon Voyage!

Headed to Ft. Lauderdale to board for our CRUISE tomorrow.  No time to blog other than to say I'm feeling good about my workout choices!

Here's something to leave you with


It was good to see Heidi pick up the RUN BUG!   Its a process for EVERYONE!!!

Coming back to RUN!

NOT Running...

Yeah, I said it.  This is my running blog and I am NOT running....at all...for almost two weeks!  There, its out!

Why?

Because I am spending my allotted work-out time killing myself doing planks, standing crunches, reverse crunches, lunges, mountain climbers, scissor kicks, circuit training, pilates, with weights, without weights, tank top arm workouts, blast the fat workouts, rip the abs, tone the arms, sculpt the shoulders,  strengthen the back...blah blah blah.

 I wake up sore every morning, have to get up slowly from chairs and I can quote every word Cindy Whitemarsh and Chris Freytag say in their ab and arm workouts on my BrightHouse Exercise on Demand programs!   (Sidenote:  I have purposely boycotted Jillian Michael's workouts after two traumatic endeavors.  I am convinced she is sadistic and wants to see people in immense pain and to die in their homes in the middle of their family rooms on their yoga mats.  She just laughs with that tone with one eyebrow up.)

Nice Trainer.

Mean Trainer! (Jillian)

As I am finally seeing my lifelong dream of oblique lines on my belly, I fear the moment I am going to step on that Cruise Ship and put all that food in my mouth with the idealistic promise I will work out in their gym as often as I can.  I have placed a timeline guess of how long it will take this tight muscle mass I have built up to fall apart into oblivion without my two perky virtual trainers on my TV.  The possibility of me making it successfully toned through the formal evening gown night I think is totally dependent on how much room there is on my cabin floor to crunch and plank and if the drive and desire will be in me to do it.


So for now, I  am not running.   I'm sweating it out in my family room under a ceiling fan on high and I'm loving it!  I miss my time in the park - but this time is paying off.

But I will come back to running!  When I return all tan and relaxed from this big #25 Anniversary Cruise, I am donning my running shoes, with my necklace I bought from my sister's kids baseball fundraiser that says, "13.1" and THUS the training will commence.  No more running according to my day's feel like it preference.  I will have a training schedule and I'm gonna keep it.  I'm gonna reboot myself with a new mantra:

 "13.1  13.1  13.1  13.1" !!!

But for now, it's "evening gown  - bikini, " " evening gown - bikini!" 

Summer Running had me a blast but oh for the summer nights~!

So we are a full week into "summer" at our house.  "Summer" meaning no school, no school schedule, no school discipline, no school getting ready, no school getting dressed, no school making beds, no school diet....no school!  Yay, balloons, confetti, irritating horn blowing and dancing!   AND, just as I suspected, the temptation of pushing my runs later into the morning has commenced.  The battle ground has been set, the perimeters of the fight are defined and I am already waging the war!

So far I have been a real good girl at daily doing something for a workout.  I'm not sure if I have already blogged the announcement of getting ready for my 25th anniversary cruise at the end of June, (I don't read my own stuff), but that is what is consuming my workout mentality.  I still am pushing myself in my running, inching forward in distance and slowly slimming down my per-mile speed, but I am doing a lot of ab and arm workouts on my own and I just have to say, for the first time, I am seeing SOME results. (Blog to follow on the relentless and seemingly no win situation on aging bodies....I promise.)  I can do those workouts anytime in the day when I see the living room is clear of spectators and I've gotten a good motivating look at my stomach, which is a fail-safe motivator!

But running, which I DON'T do inside on a treadmill, must be done outside and for me must be done when I am highly focused and motivated.  Therefore, certain conditions must be in place for me to get my optimum run.  I now see I am what I guess could be described as......A RUNNING DIVA.   Great title for a blog...maybe I'll change mine later.

Running Diva?  Something tells me she doesn't run!

Secondly, the summer has brought me three more challenges....two children and a husband.  I don't think they read this blog.....hehe. My adult daughter home from college, not too much of a problem, other than I stay up a little late waiting for her to get in from her social life.  Not being as young as I used to be I'm just not recovering from late nights like I used to.  My son had a bright and unrealistic thought of going with me last week. He was determined, bless his little 11 year old heart, to run with me two miles.  In addition, my husband, who usually does his cardio at the gym, has announced his desire to walk the trail with me as I run so he can enjoy the beauty of the atmosphere.

 So picture this....my husband takes off on his walk...gone....!  I have my son insisting he will run and be ok if he walks at some point, he'll finish out on his own....in a park...ALONE....all the women know where I'm going.    He and I start to run and....I'm trying to estimate....10 yards in he stops.   Now there I am, on a wooded trail, focused and NEEDING to run two miles hard for speed, with an eleven year old who now will NOT RUN and I am going to just go on? NO!!! DAH!!!

I stop and try to prod, coach, encourage AT LEAST a mild speed walk so I can keep him in my "back of the head eyes."   No good.    I walk with him to the cut through where there is a bench and I can run the fastest mile ever back to him in a "few minutes".   He agrees and I take off fuming that now my mile will be about worrying that he remembers that strangers are bad and how I'd like to ring the man-I- married's neck for being wired to not think like a woman!   I come around the corner at the cut-through...no son.  I continue to the 2 mile finish blocking out the nagging voice in the back of my head that he has been abducted and think if I can get up at 5 am and sneak out the house no one will ever come with me again!   As I round the finish line corner, there he is at the car.  I get him and make him run the hill in the middle of park 6 times with me....revenge~!

So- now my son will not come anymore with me, but my hubby does.  Really it's harmless, he walks and does his own thing and we meet at the car and it's a seemingly harmless routine.  BUT, it is challenging me to block out distraction, which I guess I should be grateful for that challenge and opportunity to work on.  In a race, there are hundreds of other runners, spectators and crazy stuff going on and a runner must be able to focus inward on the little things they have to take care of for themselves to run a good race.  Running is half a mind game after all.

"I'll pencil you in..."

The last two weeks have been busy for me, but I have stuck to my schedule of running regardless.  I am at a point now that I can't miss a day without feeling I am cheating myself, so I hit the trail no matter what. I am now over 5 months out from the race, so I still consider myself in "PRE-pre-training" and I have added on another deadline to shoot for in training that has kept me pretty doggone faithful.   My husband and I are celebrating our 25th anniversary by taking a cruise in June on the 25th.  I have made a commitment to myself to go on this cruise in the best shape of my life~!  With that in my mind I can't afford one day without some type of training.


I launched myself into 4 days of running and three days of ab and arm training at my home.  I gave myself a goal of no less than 35 minutes of running and on my long run days its' usually an hour.  The workouts I am using are On Demand from my cable provider and they are "kicking my butt" or really my arms and abs, but that describes how I feel when I'm done.   Actually I'm sore for 2 days after those work outs so I KNOW they have to be working!   I also know the benefits of building core muscle so I am hoping with fervent hope this will help me build my runs as well.

With all that said, I do feel a looming judgement if I don't do something daily and running especially! I'm talking big talk now, but school will be out in two weeks and then a new challenge to my committed schedule will ensue.

Right now I have NO VIABLE excuse to not run.  Three days a week I have to drive right by my trail early in the morning as I take my son to school and back by it on the way home.  The timing is perfect in that I have finished a bottle of water and a cup of coffee by the time I park my car by the trail.  If I keep myself from checking FB and email on my phone I am running by 8:15 before the sun has a chance to heat the atmosphere up.  On the days I don't take my son to school, I am up anyhow getting him ready, so I hit the trail at my usual time just with a little more time at home first.

Regardless how far or long I run, I'm home early enough for the day to still be full ahead of me.   The location of my run spot and the timing of this schedule has been a gift.  I have NO EXCUSES to not hit the trail unless it's pouring rain.  But once school is out, and the temptation to sleep in and not get in the car to go out of my way...well....I'll leave that to your imagination.

I've already been thinking of my motivation and mentally preparing myself to keep my normal schedule and be at the park by 8 am all summer long.  This would mean giving up the traditional late nights of summer so I could get the rest I need to run in the morning. This would be a new thing for me and I think a great accomplishment all of it's own.   I have to convince myself that I have come too far to backslide now!
*************************************************************************
But keeping all of it real:  it is A LOT of WORK to get into shape and stay in shape at this age.  It's like a part-time job.   ( I'm gonna blog about it next.) I can't help but wonder if at some point or more so not "if" but "when", I will just say - "forget about it" and just let life and age take it's toll.  I sure hope it's not soon.

Tempted to get bored with it...

I've been running the same trail for the last year.  This trail gives the option to go two miles or cut through for a one mile.  I know every curve, every crack in the trail, and I have become very familiar with a few odd shape trees which I regard as milestones in my trek.  In fact, these trees now hold an emotional response when I see them because each one marks what I've accomplished and the upcoming finish to mile markers.  I often think to myself, "if I can just get to that tree around the corner..." and when I do there is a mental release that invigorates me again.  Strange stuff, this mental mojo of a runner.

I am at the point now, I need to break my "glass ceiling" and the thought of going round one more time almost makes me nauseous.  I have even opted to not make two two-mile loops but one two-mile and two one-miles.  The strategy is that I have mentally associated the short trail as my finish because it comes out at the end joining the two mile path.  So when I am fatigued I mentally try to trick myself into the "feeling" of accomplishment taking shorter loops.   Again I say, strange stuff, this mind over matter it takes to dictate my body into going the distance.

So today I tried to introduce something different and started my run a distance from the trail itself to add on a mile outside my usual path.  It's amazing the freedom I felt and the change of atmosphere was just what I needed.  I actually looked forward to the run back to my car that was a different path.   This taught me that keeping it fresh is something I need to be creative in as I move forward in adding distance.  

On another note, I ran across an article on keeping weight off after forty or as I call it "fighting flab after forty" OR "FFAF!"   This may be helpful to someone and God knows after forty we need ALL THE HELP WE CAN GET!

http://www.thatsfit.com/2010/12/17/stay-slim-through-perimenopause/

Keep running, it gets better!

I did four miles today and fought for every bit of it.  Last week I pushed myself really hard,  I had a couple days I thought I would just collapse from exhaustion.  Sometimes it is hard to find the balance of pushing yourself in training, putting a demand on your energy and endurance when you still have to function physically in your "real life".

What do you do when you've pushed yourself to run four miles and add on an extra mile to walk and cool down and then go home to remember your have people coming over and your house needs a total vacuum and tiled flooring needs mopped??   You do it and feel it for several days to come!   Life and training sometime overlap.

So with all that in my last week I decided to add a two day rest period with no cross training and pure nothingness to the point of laziness.   Sometimes I view resting just as hard as running.   I get so determined and so set on pushing myself I feel like the rest day is a waste and I'm losing opportunity to get to a new level.  I have to remind myself that when my body demands rest, I have to give it.  I have to tell myself that I am actually building and advancing while I'm resting.

"they that wait on the Lord will renew their strength...they shall mount up with wings as eagles...they shall run and not be weary....they shall walk and not faint..."

So here I was today back out there and wondering how my body was going to respond to it's vacation.  I had felt good when I woke up this morning and thought several times that was a great sign that perhaps my muscles were restored and better than ever.  I got my app all set to track my time, distance and pace and started with a short 5 minute walk.   At the end of 5 minutes I heard the app generated voice in my earbuds say "JOG" and I obeyed.  About 30 seconds in I was surprised at my body's response.  It yelled quite clearly, "you'll be lucky to make one mile, wah wah wah".   

For one mile I pushed myself.   My left knee was stiff, my right knee was clicking, the back of my calves were already tightening and even my left shoulder was aching.  I felt old and I felt pathetic when the 60+ year old man who started after me passed me at the one mile marker like I was standing still.  At that point my competitive nature gave my flesh a stern scolding.  I told my whining body we were going to two miles whether it was running, walking, crawling or summer-saucing to the mile marker.  (The latter two are probably the more painful if you think about it!) 

My mental focus was also very scattered.  I had been filling my mind with articles about Aspartame and Splenda toxins the last few days, identifying some of my thyroid symptoms that are linked to the overload of these products in my system.  With every weak whine from my body I was calculating the level of toxicity I probably have that was causing my low performance.  I had to shake that off and focus.   

Then something magical happened.  As I rounded the corner ending mile two marker starting mile three, the fact I had indeed survived two miles overshadowed all the cries of my whining body.  In fact, my body shut up - not down - but up.  The truth is the last two miles were easier than the first two.   My theory is that my body in the first mile is "cold" and not warmed up so it whines.  That's important to identify because if I listen to the whining and quit then I don't get to the good part of running and I stay discouraged.  A lot of people never really run or enjoy running because they never get to the "magical moment" where it's fun.

 By the time I get to mile three, I have corrected my posture and my footing so my calves, shins and knees aren't under pressure of the run.  My heart rate, breathing and cadence of my arms and gate are all in sych together.  My lungs have full capacity and have expanded to give me good oxygen to my whole body making all my limbs happy campers.  My mental state is soaring because of my oxygen supply. At that point I can choose to put my focus where I want, which for me in in my core and small arm movement and my gaze about 3 feet in front of me causing the time and distance to be less distracting.  Before I knew it I was finishing my four mile run and rehydrating in a cool down walk and stretch and really excited that I survived the process and learned from it.

Running requires endurance.  Running requires a joy that's before you that causes you to endure the aches, pains, sluggishness and discouragement of the moment just to get to that place that you know if going to be better and worth it.

The Word of God that Jesus endured the cross for the joy set before him.  I love Israel Houghton's song, "You've Won My Affection".   It says, "you went the distance and you finished strong, we were your passion, so you gave your all."  He knew it was gonna get better.  He knew after death was resurrection.

Running is a great application of those truths.  I find running a very very spiritually motivating process with many lessons that mimic our spiritual journey.  

1 Cor. 9:24 Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win.

Hebrews 12:1  Since we are surrounded by so many examples [of faith], we must get rid of everything that slows us down, especially sin that distracts us. We must run the race that lies ahead of us and never give up.

You can take a run anywhere!

You can take running anywhere.  If you look around - outside is everywhere!   If you can't find a treadmill, you can find some grass or asphalt to tread on!

Visiting my family for Easter weekend I decided to run my old neighborhood.  I was quite aware of the potential nostalgia of this run.  My parents have lived in the same home for almost 50 years, thus this is the home I was raised in all my life until I got married.

I decided to run the "back-way" out of the subdivision towards the "new" Seven Eleven. (This is what we called this particular Seven Eleven because on the front end of the subdivision is the "old" Seven Eleven.  Both are over 30 years old now!) It is a one mile trek to the "new" Seven Eleven and when I was a child I had to have favored permission to go there on my bike and usually it was an exhilarating trip if I was allowed to go.  I always felt like it was dangerous venturing "out of" the subdivision by myself.  I got to say I felt empowered to be just running there as an adult.  It's crazy, the paradoxes of childhood/adulthood re-do's.

Running that day was no problem as my mind was occupied with recognition memories.  First was the Prinkey's house where I had Brownie Troop.  I hated Brownies.  I knew no one in my troop and there were thirteen girls and everyone had their best friend so I was always odd-man out.   That troop was the nesting ground of all my insecurities I would fight for many decades to come!  Then Marla's house, my only church friend in the neighborhood and I spent the night many times in that house.  I once was riding a miniature motorcycle and ran it into the side of her dad's car because I didn't know how to shift or break and that was the only way I could stop!  He had to pry it out from under his tire wheel.- good times!

The next to the last house before the Seven Eleven was a girl's house that I knew in Middle School.  The only personal contact I had with her was in band class when she showed me her rolled up pot and offered to give me one free to try.  Just looking at them made me feel guilty and I thought in my head there was no way I would even just try it with my magnetism to getting caught in the least of infractions.  Immediately I referenced getting nailed for shooting a lima bean with my spork in fourth grade lunch and sentenced to silent lunches for a week.   Fourth grade taught me there was NO WAY I would risk trying it!

I ran to the Seven Eleven making my loop back toward home feeling energized and toyed with the thought of continuing toward my Elementary School but reconsidered to save it for another time thinking that run alone would make an awesome separate blog!   I had another goal - go by my best friend's Nancy's house which would be at the end of mile two.  I hadn't been by her house in over 20 years and I was trying to recall the cut through street all the way there.  I found the street and spent the mile thinking about my time with Nancy.

Nancy had the same birthday as I did and we had a couple combined parties at her house.  Her house at the time had the largest residential pool in Orlando and it was featured in the Orlando Sentinel.  Her family was orginally from New York and were the wealthiest people I knew personally.  They had a huge Lincoln Continental that always had Frank Sinatra playing.  I rarely saw her dad but her mom was fascinating to me.  She was the only woman who proudly flaunted her nose job and I recalled her wearing her bandage for weeks after her surgery.  I spent the night A LOT at Nancy's house and we shared a love for singing, music and Barry Manilow.

When I reached Nancy's house I saw it was vacant and for sale.  The large front window was open for viewing in and I took a long look through the living room (where her brother eventually killed himself and the family moved shortly after), peering into the kitchen with a glimpse of the pool porch where we spent so many summer days.  I thought I could hear Barry Manilow singing "Even Now".  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PX4xIgb_oMw&feature=fvst

I set off for my home street into my third mile and as I passed my house decided to push a powerful sprint all the way to "Gail-Gail's" house for old time's sake.  I thought briefly about taking off my shoes and socks and smacking my feet on the asphalt all the way there but didn't want to break my focus!

Today was a "rest" day. After pushing myself for more distance it's important to recover by giving the muscles some time off. When a muscle is worked out, the tissue literally is broken down and as it rebuilds it comes back stronger. (well now that'll preach!). But after 40, it takes longer to rebuild so being purposeful with rest days is vital. If training non stop, the muscle has no time to rebuild and it goes back into "punishment" already weak and vulnerable and at greater risk for injury. Basically I'd be shooting myself in the foot or shin or ankle if I didn't take a break.

Again, all the above strikes me as allegorical. We all need rest and recovery when we are under stresses that break and wear us down. If we don't, we go back in the "game" vulnerable to total breakdown. So make time to recover and rebuild. Wow- that's a good life principal.

Anyhow, I will be hitting the trail early tomorrow. I don't feel it now, I'm sore and stiff. I'll do some stretching to get myself ready. It's really a miracle that I am keeping a morning run, not being very morning friendly by nature. But there is something in running in the mornings that make it easier.

Here's an article that gives all the pluses to morning running. Enjoy!

http://mobile.active.com/mt/www.active.com/triathlon/Articles/Mornings-Workouts-Made-Easier.htm?cmp=306&memberid=107401682&lyrisid=21733506

The Reason to RUN.

In my last post I talked about the motivating force behind taking up a running adventure and goal,  to do something that even you yourself question if it is possible.  Basically getting in touch with a basic motivator and your reason for running.  I shared my own experience that literally drove me to run a race and how most motivators are deeply personal.  They are so deeply personal and usually come from a very deep place.


Interestingly enough tonight, as I was browsing through several random running blogs, I kept coming across a book called, "Running On Empty."  With further investigation I learned it is written by an 57 year old extreme runner who focuses on adventure running.  When I say extreme, I mean logging in thousands of miles, tops of summits and having his toenails removed as not to have to deal with toe problems. (I guess real runners who run real long distances have this problem....talk about a medical pedicure!)   Regardless of the fact he is on the extreme spectrum of where I EVER want to be in running, I found this great quote he wrote in his book regarding his deeply personal reason for running.  After having a really hard life as a teen farm hand, losing a wife to cancer, Marshall Ulrich said this about his motivation....


"As for me, sure, there's an underlying compulsion: survivor's guilt and a need to punish myself, to prove myself, to face down my own mortality, to defy death. But my running is also a reflection of my upbringing, a work ethic, a personal challenge. My love of history gets interwoven, too - the feats of other people in other times - coupled with the alluring possibility that I might be able to go farther, faster, today."


Inspiring.  I get it.  


Now back to the medical pedicure...


I didn't get to do any run training today due to a pedicure mishap.  I nicked the side of my foot by my little toe with a foot shaver; a small wound but it was just too raw for a running shoe to keep rubbing against.  I was however, a good little cross trainer and worked on my core and arms.   


Cross training should be done whenever you don't/can't run.  The benefits of strengthen your other muscles comes in handy as a strong core is essential to good form and literally "holding it together" during a run.   So today was not a total loss.  

I am prepared however to wake up and hit the trail.  One way to make sure I am ready for an early run is to have everything prepared and easy to do in the morning.  I have my water bottles with my vitamin pack ready to grab, my running back stocked and I even wear my running clothes to bed!   Hey, after 45 years, I know myself and how my brain works.  I'm ready for any excuse I may come up with!

It's not impossible!

At the bottom of the mountain looking up at the top, there is always the prevailing thought, "is this possible for me?"   And when someone has made the decision to take on a physical fitness goal such as running, running with a goal, this is the thought that looms.

When the decision is first arrived at, there is such exhilaration and high expectation, but when one stops dreaming about it and stands with their running shoes on looking at the endless road before them, the question of reality becomes apparent.   "Is this possible for me" ran through my mind more than once when I registered for my first triathlon. (I love that most athletes say "my first", like we are so confident there will be another!)

I took the leap of faith entering the sprint triathlon the day after I heard my sister's story about her experience with her "first".  As she animatedly took the family standing in her kitchen through a detailed play by play, something was burning in my stomach, and it wasn't fear. It was the certainty that if she could do it I could do it!  My sister had entered her race with the prodding of a friend with the same confidence that I had, but admittedly she confessed she had skimped on her training and hoped for the best on race day.  This of course made for a delightfully hilarious story of using a "noodle" and a "swim angel" to get through the swim, staying in first gear on a bike she hadn't ridden until that day and running with calves like the rock of Gibraltar.  This is probably why I was brimming with self-confidence as I said I would be doing the next Tri-Sprint race.

My confidence and zeal were two-fold.  First, I knew that I had gotten a regular workout down at my gym, and was able to run a solid mile on the treadmill, and as foolish as that logic was to use for a race that required a 1/2 mile swim, 12 mile bike and a 3 mile run, I was justifying the fact that at least that was a little more training than my sister had done.  I wasn't even putting a care into the six year age difference as her senior; it was caution to the wind, zeal trumps common sense every time!

Secondly, I had an epiphany that this race would be my way of proving something that was deeply personal.  I think that most runners in races carry this motivation to the finish line, something deeply personal about their reason for running.  It carries them through every day of their training;  the mornings they could be in bed, the "wasted" time icing and recovering, the denial of junk food, the registration fee and arrangements, aches & pains and the gusto they have to dig from deep down in their spirits to push themselves past their limitations just to prove something deeply personal.  For me, I HAD to run this Tri.  It was bigger than me, it was harder than anything I'd ever done and it required a strength and resolve that said one thing, "you can't keep me down, I'm alive and I will keep going!"

That day in my sister's kitchen I thought the year before had been the most emotionally difficult  of my life.   I had a lot of stresses that had put so much pressure on me mentally and emotionally that it had taken it's toll on me physically.  I had spent 9 months battling panic attacks in the middle of the night that mimicked heart attacks begging my husband to call 911 convinced I was going to be dead by morning.  Heart palpitations during the day led me to my physician who referred me to a cardiologist and at the same time sent me to Moffitt Cancer Center with a diagnosis of Thyroid Cancer.  This diagnosis from my physician almost through me over the edge until my Endocrinologist nonchalantly informed me it was "just a hot nodule" and a treatment of radiation should kill it.

Finally, quarantined to a room of isolation in my own home for five days with no physical contact with anyone, I got mad! I was mad at every circumstance that I had allowed affect me, and all the stress that I had allowed to find a place to attach itself not only in my mind and heart but my physical body.  I was convinced that the growth on my Thyroid had been constructed over the last year by every stressor in my life and I was determined to not only eradicate it, but to reprogram myself to refuse stress.

I began to systematically clean my mind and my body through times of meditation and prayer, releasing resentments and anger.  I began running on the treadmill and kick-up my workouts and implement better nutrition and supplements.   I was determined to become strong mentally, emotionally and physically and to "comeback" with resilience!  The TRI fit in like the crowning glory of that goal!

This personal determination and motivation were what got me into a swimming pool, not to get a tan which had up to that point been my ONLY reason to be AROUND a pool much less in it.  I donned a swim cap and goggles and for the first time in my life attempted an official swim style.  When I lost steam in the middle of the pool and an elderly woman passed me by on her swim noodle, I thought to myself....yes, you guess it, "is this possible for me?"

This determination also got me running on a wooded path at a park OUTSIDE in the elements where the Florida heat and humidity rushed over me like a hot shower, and when I barely made it to the one mile marker - which on a treadmill seemed so much easier in the A/C - I thought to myself - "good Lord, the three mile run is AFTER the swim and the bike, is this possible for me?"

That same determination on the day of the TRI got me IN to the murky waters of the Disney World Lagoon, ( I had NEVER trained in open water much less the disgusting waters of a Florida lake), and as I was over run by the 8 waves of 100 women swimming like dolphins all around me.   I kept going not just because at that point there are NO other options, which there weren't, but because my resolve to prove "IT'S NOT IMPOSSIBLE" somehow just as magically as Tinker Bell's Pixie Dust, got me to the beach a little disoriented but to the beach nonetheless!

And that determination gave me the strength to at long last to finish the last leg of the three mile run and see my family and my sister at the finish line!

So, the question is:  what is getting you running?   What will keep you running when you are asking the question, "Is this possible for me?"   You are going to need that reason more than one time on your running journey.   The cool thing is it will be there in your smile in the picture!

Me and My Sister Karen.....