Tag Archive for "inspiration" -

Great lessons from Deena

Deena Kastor is the American record holder in the half marathon (1:07) and the marathon (2:19). She also brought home the bronze medal in the 2004 Olympic marathon.
Kastor’s latest blog has some awesome insights about running. She says, “Great drive is far more important than talent.” On a related note, she also blogs, “There is great joy in pursuing a goal. Whether or not you achieve what you are asking your body and mind to accomplish, it is the journey that shapes us and inspires us.” I love these quotes because they focus so much on the act of the runner challenging himself or herself. For me, part of the allure of running is the act of challenging myself to run farther or faster or better than ever before.
As I have improved as a runner, people have started to get the impression that I have always been the runner that I am today. I have not. After my first marathon (Chicago in 2003), I announced to my friends and family that I would never be running Boston; I needed to run over an hour faster to qualify. Once upon a time, my 5k PR was about a minute per mile slower than my current marathon pace. When I share this with newer runners, they often want to know “the secret.”
It all goes back to that drive that Kastor was talking about. I’ve been driven to improve my marathon time, to train harder, and to train wiser. It makes me get up earlier to start a long run, to run twice in one day, to take days off when I need to recover. That drive is what gets me to voraciously devour books like Pete Pfitzinger’s Advanced Marathoning and Jack Daniel’s The Daniel’s Running Formula. It causes me to put in ridiculous mileage over the summer to prepare for a fall marathon. That drive, not any in-born talent, is what helped me qualify for Boston.
Well, drive,awesome support from RunnerGirl and the rest of my family, and some really good luck.

Monday: 6 with stroller
Tuesday: 9 with lots of hills at 5 a.m.
Wednesday: 6 in the morning/5 in the p.m. and lifting/core workout
Thursday: 6 with hills (pulling Myles in the toboggan)
Friday: 5 and some pull-ups
Saturday: 18
Sunday: Lifing and Core Workout
Weekly Total: 55 miles
Total for the Year: 293 miles and 7 core workouts

15th February 2010

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The feeling we all crave

You still have 6 more miles. At least another 45 minutes, probably more at the pace you feel like you’re going. The snow fell last night and the sidewalks are sorta clear, clear enough, but every step you take you have to think about not falling. The Michigan sun has been great all week, shining and bright—that is until this morning, the morning of your long run.
Run. Run. Run–4.5 more miles to go. Your pace has slowed, your legs are tired and your feet are dragging, but you have to keep going. It’s not like you can turn around and be home any faster; there are more miles behind you! Finally having found you rhythm on the road, away from the slick sidewalk, you feel okay. Not great, but better than the first 3 miles you slogged through.
Feeling safe in your reflective gear on the not-so-busy road at 9:30 am during the week, you stretch and your stride has finally found a balance. That is until a truck drives by, hits a slushy, muddy, nasty puddle right to your right. Now you’re wet and colder than you were before.
2.5 miles left. What is on your mind? At this point you’re basically done, but there is something keeping you from walking the rest, from giving up. Something you cannot wait to see, taste, touch, smell… what is it?

-Is it a hot shower?

-Is it a bowl of oatmeal?

-Is it a kiss from your significant other when you walk in the door sweaty and cold?

-Is is a beer?

What ever it is, after a run like this you deserve it. You have less than a mile to go and that thing—that object, that feeling should be on your mind. You better know where it is, or where you can get it the moment you walk through the door.

I tell myself that I’m only allowed one run like this per-training. Today was most definitely that run. But an hour and forty minutes later it was over, I finished. For me, that thing that I crave most, that one thing that was literally on my mind for the entire 9.5 miles I ran this morning, (9.5, not 8 like I had planned, I got lost, yeah, it’s been one of those days,) was a cup of hot coffee.

My saviour

I didn’t even make it home before I went to the coffee shop to get my recovery coffee. So cold, so wet, so tired—that coffee did exactly what I needed it to do. I think that every runner needs something that when a run can’t give them that feeling (you know what feeling I’m talking about,) they can still finish the miles and then create the feeling themselves!

What is your thing?

12th February 2010

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Now I remember…

I have been a gym rat lately. I’ll admit, mid-winter tends to get me down and makes it hard to pull on my running tights, wool top and socks, hat, gloves, a jacket or a vest and some reflective gear… it takes a lot more planning to run in the winter than in the warmer months of shorts and a tank. I had my first ‘real good run’ in months, yesterday.

Recently having moved to Grand Rapids I’m just now starting to get to know my neighborhood and the surrounding streets that are safe to run on. I know them on the four wheels of my Subaru, not my two feet. Until yesterday I’d been nervous and unmotivated to get out there for more than 2-3 miles. The warm gym has provided me with the sweat sessions I’ve craved, but I’ve found my favorite way to really get to know a city is on foot, breathing hard with an accelerated heart rate—not starring at a TV with dance jams beating over the speakers.

I was told I could get a good 5-miler in if I head East on Wealthy towards Reed’s Lake. So that’s where I went. Along the way I discovered my local fresh Sub Shop, an ice cream shop next door, some coffee shops I’m waiting to try out, some consignment stores and an almost ice-free sidewalk and bike lane. It was refreshing to breath the cool air and to see so many other runners out and about taking advantage of the strangely warm January afternoon. It seems like everyone and their brother is beginning to kick off for some sort of training for the Spring. It’s inspiring to hear who is training for what for the first time or the tenth time. I personally am amping my mileage up to complete the River Bank 25K in May. I ran it last year and had a love/hate relationship with the winter training.

So, even when the Michigan sky is dreary, school is piling on the work and everything else seems to be harder than it should be, I know that I can hit the road and in about 10 minutes I’ll be feeling better and will return ready to tackle what I have coming at me. That is a feeling the gym can’t give me.

Happy running!

25th January 2010

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I Love my Job

I love where I work.
I currently have two jobs. My main career is fine. I like it most of the time. I went to college for four years to be eligible for this job. I’m currently about half way to a master’s degree that will allow me to continue working at this career. It’s stable, and it allows me to support my family.
Gazelle, my part-time job, is where I feel appreciated, though. The people there make a difference. My managers support me in a way that shows how much they care. They help me become more knowledgeable about shoes and all the other wonderful products that runners need. I love being educated to an expert level. Even better, they care about me and my family. They know when my son breaks his leg or finds out he’s allergic to peanuts.
The rest of the Gazelle staff is similarly compassionate. We can talk, joke around, share frustrations, and encourage one another. The other Gazellians make going into “work” so much fun that I sometimes forget it’s work. When a member of our Gazelle family moves away, we miss them. We look forward to their visits back into the store, so we can catch up.
Some people in retail act like life would be great if only customers would stop interupting. Maybe it’s the stress-reduction of running, but Gazelle shoppers don’t induce this attitude. I guess runners are just nicer. Actually, I enjoy helping customers because they actually appreciate it at Gazelle. Like I said, I went to college for four years for my main job, but my clients don’t always appreciate my training and expertise. People appreciate the training I’ve received from Gazelle. I often have customers defer to my expert opinion (something that rarely happens at my regular 9-5).

So, Kyle, Luke, fellow Gazellians, and customers, thank you for making Gazelle such a wonderful place to be. Enjoy the snow.

10th December 2009

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Follow your passion

Well, if Big Daddy turn Fantasy Football into Fantasy Marathon (cool idea, btw!) I can tell you my latest. I’ve immersed myself in the new film “This Is It,” a documentary about Michael Jackson’s preparations for the concert he was not able to launch. Immersed, engrossed, obsessed… choose whichever word you want.

That’s just how my relationship with MJ has always been. It started when I was 11 by taping his posters on my walls, jamming his music on my pink boom box, memorizing his dance moves… and as an adult, I feel a lot of excitement by the energy he gave to his career as a performer.

I am not a good dancer but I was certain Michael was going to call me to step in as a back-up singer for this latest concert tour, alas his untimely death prevented that. Guess I’ll stick to my day job at Gazelle Sports and live out my passion for MJ in other ways. Like teaching my kids how to do that perfect high pitched Michael Jackson signature call. Like letting the power of his music inspire my workouts. Like casually suggesting to EVERYONE I know, “You should check out that movie. I’ve seen it a few times…” And well, yes, when the DVD comes out, I’ll work on the dance moves in my basement!

3rd November 2009

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Once a Runner

Things rarely live up to their hype. That’s what I told myself repeatedly when I first got my copy of Once a Runner by John L. Parker, Jr. I was sure it could not live up to its mythical status. Once I opened the book, I read it in less than 24 hours. After I finished the novel, I assumed I had loved it only because I had waited so long to read it. I returned to the book yesterday and finished re-reading it about an hour ago. In case you haven’t guessed, it really is THAT GOOD! (Note: I don’t use caps and exclamation points on a regular basis.)

What makes it so great is that Parker is able to express what it means to be an obsessed runner. He doesn’t write to explain jogging (as Pearl Izumi would say); he writes about what drives the runner striving to farther or faster than he ever has before. He also tries to explain the difficulty of communicating this drive to others. “…they wanted to know “The Secret.” And not one of them was prepared, truly prepared, to believe that it had not so much to do with chemicals and zippy mental tricks as with that most unprofound and sometimes heartrending process of removing, molecule by molecule, the very tough rubber that comprised the bottoms of his training shoes. The Trial of Miles; Miles of Trials” (Parker 229).

Parts of Parker’s novel are hilarious. Some of it esoteric. A few spots are nostalgic. All of it is worth reading, though. It will challenge you to run harder and maybe help you understand why you want to run at all. I’ll leave you with one more line: it feels like poetry to me.

“Running to him was real; the way he did it the realest thing he knew. It was all joy and woe, hard as diamond; it made him weary beyond comprehension. But it also made him free” (Parker 123).

Parker, John L. Once a Runner. Scribner: New York. 1990.

21st August 2009

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They say to always use protection…

Lacing up my shoes I looked up and noticed that the sun was not nearly sunny enough to need my half-jacket Oakleys. Okay, no sunnies on my quick run this afternoon. I start strapping on my I-pod, the battery is dead…great I thought.

I, like many runners, use my I-pod not only to listen to music and keep me motivated through the miles, it’s used to block out sound. My sunglasses don’t only block the sun, but they unsuspectingly are being used to protect me. No, not from those evil UVA/UVB rays we’re all so scared of, but protection from other people, noise, distractions, eye contact. And worse of all the sound of my own heavy breathing and shoes hitting the pavement.

But I was dressed and ready to head out the door, this blip in my regular routine was NOT going to ruin my run. A quick 3-mile out and back was all I had time for to satisfy my run-craving before I had to head off to work.

Out the door I passed a family gardening; feeling obligated, I smiled and nodded; I heard their laughs and conversation as I ran by, I’d rather hear The Black Eyed Peas telling me to Get it Started In Here. Turning onto the main road was a relief, no more distractions–before I could finish that thought a car honked and another whistled out the window—note to self longer shorts next time.

As my body began to fatigue my shoes got louder, my breathing labored and I was being forced to hear all of this. How do those I-podless runners do this all the time?!

My brain was racing with thoughts of the day, I could feel my lunch more intensely in my stomach, the noise of the speeding cars annoyed me, I not only felt obligated to make eye contact with any passer-by on the path I could feel their eyes and almost hear the judgments in their heads. I returned home 3-miles later and was no more relaxed then when I had left, but my run was done and I promptly plugged in my I-pod so it would be juiced in the morning.

5:11am rolled around this morning, obviously at this time it is not sunny. But my I-pod was ready for me and my a.m. run. Lacing up my shoes I decided to try something different. I noticed how the house was dead quiet, I enjoyed the calmness. Maybe 5:30am would be different than 5:30pm. I fought with the idea of another I-podless run and got out the door before I could change my mind.

sunrise

This time silence followed me. The only sounds were my feet and breathing, which for some reason sounded strong, determined, and fresh for the day. Birds tweeted as I turned onto the same road I had made a left at just 12 hours earlier. No one whistled or hooted out the windows, not because my shorts were any longer, but because no one was driving by.

Fellow runners and I made eye contact and shared the secret of the morning, this is the best way to start the day, we whispered in the crisp air. Making it to my turn around point the sun was starting to show, the day was opening up and I was already 2 miles deep. Running back over a river there was a lone heron waking on a dead branch—my footsteps didn’t disturb it, she kindly nodded to me in recognition and flew away to carry on with her morning. I finished strong, re-hydrated and started my day inspired.

Lesson learned? Afternoon unprotected running is not my style, but at 5am nothing is more beautiful and clean than beginning the day with your thoughts, your breath and footsteps. Give it a try and let me know how it goes.

3rd July 2009

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