Archives

We’ve Come a Long Way

Apr21

fance8k4

Running is a beautiful sport.

Yup, I said sport.

One of the things that I love about running is that it really is a welcoming community.

Anyone can do it.

Really.

There is no age limit, no social status, no educational limit, no bull

It’s just running.

There is really only one thing that is required to be a runner and that is the passion to do it.

You can be

Fast

Slow

Middle of the Packer

Back of the Packer

Never going to race but still want to run

Only want to run short distances

Like to go for the long haul

Anything goes.

Anything.

And that my friends is what makes the running community so special.   I’m not a sports person, but I really can not think of any major sport where people are so open and willing to help their fellow athletes out.   Running is an individual sport that is true, but we are a pretty special community as a whole.

Case in point….

I’m sure you are aware that the Boston Marathon took place on Monday.   The first woman to cross the finish line this year, Atsede Balsa,  did something amazing.   Amazing besides now having won Boston twice.   This year finishing in 2:29:19.   What she did was something no one asked her to do, but something she wanted to do.   She recognized that she was standing at the podium because of brave women who broke the barrier for her.

In 1966 Bobbi Gibb ran and finished the Boston Marathon.   She ran unsanctuned because women were too delicate to run so far (or so they thought).   There was no bib for her let alone a trophy.    She did it again in 1967 and 1968.   She never got a chance to stand on the Boston podium because she wasn’t even supposed to be there.   She led the way proving that women were capable of so much more. Atsede Balsa heard her story as Bobbi Gibb was the Grand Marshal for the marathon this year (yeah, we’ve come a long way).   Atsede presented her with her winning trophy.    Bobbi Gibb only accepted it with the condition that she would fly to Ethopia, Atsede’s home, next year and present it back to her.   Can’t you just feel the love:)

And this my friends is one of the many reasons that I think running is an amazing sport.   Yes, this is a grand gesture.   That being said on any given days runners are helping other runners.   You see this all the time.   It is an amazing community and I am so glad to be a member of the tribe:)

Are you a member too?

Be Who You Are

Apr19

I’ve never been the cool kid.

I’ve never been the athletic kid.

I’ve never been the picked for a team first kid.

Actually, I was usually one of the last kids.

You know what?

NONE OF THAT MATTERS!

Be who you are

Today is my birthday and it makes you reflect on things.

  As a kid you always think these things are the worst thing in the world.  Even if someone told you otherwise, you would never have believed them.  You think your life is set in stone.   You think that these things are the end of the world.   Then you become an adult and realize that none of it matters.

Not in the least.

The older I get the more comfortable I’ve gotten in my own skin.

I’m actually pretty cool

I’m actually with the right sport pretty athletic.

They should have picked me first.   They don’t know what they were missing if they had just given me a chance.

I bet I could out run them now:)

I will say that these things and other things in my childhood shaped the way I look at the world.   Would I change some of them.   Probably so, but then I don’t know if I would be the person that I am today.   These things shaped the way I look at the world.    For me, I think these things shaped me for the better..

I’m more empathetic.

I usually root for the underdog.

I fight a little harder for things.

I never give up.

and most of all….

I know that I am a survivor.

These are all very good traits and the last two are very useful in my running life too.    I am now less than a month away from the Dirty German.   My first foray into the Ultra Running.   My training as of late has been spotty with my ankle, but I’m back on track.   You think I would be worried, but I’m not.   No, I do NOT think this is going to be easy.   That being said, I’m also not panicking (yet).   I’m pretty calm about it.   I think what helped is that I did do the trail marathon in January.   It wasn’t easy, but I also didn’t feel like I was going to die.   I also didn’t feel like I couldn’t have kept going.   Yes, that was January and this is now.    But I’m still feeling pretty solid in this.   My training up until my ankle was solid.   Rock solid.   I’m not going into this for time, but time on my feet.

Besides I’m tenacious, don’t like to give up, and like to do things that surprise people.   Even myself:)

 

I Didn’t Ask for any Lemons!

Apr2

when-life-gives-you-lemons-grab-tequila-salt-6

Yeah, we have all heard the “If Life Gives You Lemons” analogy.   You know what?   I find that a pretty sucky analogy because sometimes you don’t want lemonade.   Sometimes you want a Margarita!    That being said though I tend to be a pretty positive person because I learned early on you’ve just got to suck it up no matter what.   So if you’ve got to suck on a lemon because that is all you got, you better learn to like lemons.

Now just because I tend to be a positive person does not mean that things don’t get to me.   I am not a cartoon character after all.   So 7 days ago when i rolled my ankle, I was mad at myself.    Then when I realized that this was more than just a give it a few days rest kind of roll, I had a what the Hell moment.   I went through the stages (quickly) because as I’ve said I’ve learned long ago that you just have to roll with it.

Denial

Maybe it’s not that bad

Anger

Why did I go out for a run at night?   Idiot.

Bargaining

I’ll rest it a couple more days and I’ll be good as new

Depression

I’m loosing everything I’ve worked so hard to build up.   Why bother?

Acceptance

Well I better do something to give my ankle/foot time to be 100%

foot2

Still not 100%.   Bruising is getting better.  No pain to walk, but do feel it at the end of the day.   Also not good to run as when I stretch it to mimic a run it hurts.  Boo Hoo.

I know that I rolled my ankle pretty bad.   I know I totally jacked up my foot.   Not enough to go to the doctors because he is just going to tell me what I already know.   I need to rest it.   I need to give it time.   I need to do this now, so that I can go about my life.

I will say that nothing compares to running, but I am going to embrace this SHORT recovery time while not letting my endurance slip.    It won’t be the same.   It won’t be as good, but maybe just maybe when I do start running again I will find that what I’m doing will benefit my running.

Sounds like good enough BS that I can buy it.   Although there is some truth to it and cross training really is good for runners.

So today I went to my local gym.    I rode the stationary bike for 15 minutes for a total of 3. 37 miles burning a whole 120 calories.   Whoop.  Whoop.  (inserting sarcasm here).  Then I did some strength training for my abs, back, and arms.   I do need to do this as they say “a woman my age” should be strength training.   I’m sure I will feel it tomorrow which will make me not so secretly happy.

I’m going to plan some things out this week.   Swimming, more strength training, longer stationary bike rides and a combo of all of them.

I may not get any lemonade or Margarita’s but maybe I can learn to like the lemons on their own.

PS   – I miss running

 

Friday Five – Five Days…

Apr1

 

Today I am joining in on the Friday Five with Courtney at Eat Pray Run DC, Cynthia at You Signed Up for What and Mar at Mar on the Run.

So First, I’m going to start with this five.   Hello, my name is Christine and it’s been 5 days since my last run.    I have a problem.   My problem isn’t my foot.   My problem is that it has been 5 days since my last run.   I’m not sure how much longer I should/can hold out.

For those wanting to know about my foot/ankle:  Overall the foot is getting better and only has discomfort now not pain.  Still tender to the touch and bruised but those are things that take the longest to get better anyway.   Not 100%, but I think it’s fine.  I may possibly try to run on a treadmill tomorrow just to test it out.   Yeah, that’s the story I’m going with.   That sounds reasonable.

It really is reasonable too, because my thought process is that if it does bother me to run I can just stop and not have to run home like I did the night I twisted my foot running.

So my Five today is 5 ways runners go crazy when they can’t run.

  1.   They see other runners on the street and feel pangs of jealousy.
  2.  They Google their problem that is keeping them from running not to make themselves better, but to get back into their running shoes.
  3. “It’s fine” becomes a catch phrase.its-fine-grumpy-cat
  4. Even though it has only been days, they feel like they are behind the eight ball and are loosing stamina by the minute.
  5. They keep track of how many days it has been since a run.

If none of these apply to you, then you are better at dealing with not running than me.

How do you cope?

 

 

Crazy About Running

Mar22

funny-running-posts-1-20-03

It’s hard for some people to wrap their  heads around, but I just like running.   I’m not running away from anything.   I’m not running towards anything.   I JUST LIKE RUNNING!  Period.   End of Story.   There is no great  mystical problem that I am trying to solve.  Based on the numbers I’m not alone.

According to Running USA’s Annual Marathon Report, there were 541,000 people who completed a marathon in 2014 with 47% of them being Master Runners.   Did you know just by getting old that I get to call myself a Master Runner.   Perk of being over 40 because you might be a Master Runner now too (Yes, you!).

Anyway, I digress.    So there are A LOT of people running.   The Half Marathon saw more than 2 million people finish in 2014 too.

Wow!

That’s a lot of people running away from their problems.

HA!

Again, maybe this is something that only another runner can understand.   Although, I’m not sure why because everyone has something they like to do.   For some of us that just means lacing up our shoes and putting in some miles.   It is something we look forward to for a whole host of reasons.

Yes, I do enjoy the peace that running brings me.   I also enjoy running with friends.   I also enjoy the feeling that running brings.   I enjoy the fact that I eat what I want because of the miles I run.   I enjoy many things that running brings me.

Anyway, what I am trying to say is that some people really just enjoy running.

Seriously.

It’s actually something that is missed when not done on a regular basis.

Truth.

Again, maybe this is something that only another runner can understand.

I feel if Dr. Seuss was a runner, he would have said it something like this…

You have running shoe’s in your closet.    

You put your feet in your shoes.               

You can go out for any miles that you choose.

 

The Good, The Bad, and the Awesome!

Mar22

I’ve run in NY many times.  Maybe not compared to some people, but a lot for me.    I’ve run enough last year to qualify for the NYC Marathon.  That being said nothing prepared me for the feeling of running the NYC Half Marathon.    It was amazing on so many levels.   I loved it so much that I’ve already signed up for two more Boro races to qualify to run it next year.   I don’t want to chance the lottery and I would love to do this run again.

Why?

It was AWESOME!

Yes, it really was.

Now there are some thing logistically that weren’t so awesome, but you’ve got to take the good with the bad.  For example:

Early wake up call

NyCHalf8

Yup.   Early.   I needed to leave my house by 5:00.   I require time to wake up, have some coffee, eat a small breakfast, and not feel rushed.

NYCHalf4

Then there is the fact that the start and finish line are at totally opposite locations which makes for a great race, but not so exciting when the race is over.    We decided to park at the start line and had to take the subway and then walk a bit to our car after the race.   Not really bad except it was cold and we were not really dressed for it.  On a positive note, it did give us a chance to cool down with the walk.   Plus we parked literally around the corner from Magnolia’s Bakery.   Finally though, if you’ve got a fun group to take the walk and subway with it really doesn’t matter anyway.

Magnolia Bakery

Need I say more.   Oh my.   So good!

Security.    I get it.   I really do.   There was only one entrance to the park for runners.   We had to go through metal detectors and have our stuff screened.   I get it.   I really do.   I applaud all NYRR and Police Department does to keep the runners safe.  That being said, I really think if there was someone out to do something bad, they would not pose as a runner.   I really don’t.  I was having panic attack as once we finally made it through security we had to make our way through the park to our corrals.   I honestly for the first time at any race thought I would miss the start of my corral.

That’s it for my complaints.   Got nothing.

And these things I wouldn’t even say too bad in the whole scheme of things.

Now the good parts that makes it so awesome.

When you do a big race like this there is a level of excitement that you really can’t get anywhere else.   You’ve got the news coverage.    You’ve got the huge crowds with over 20,000 runners.   Then you have the spectators and volunteers.

But what made it so special?

The course.

Really.

Honestly.

Can’t wait to do it again.

Seriously

The race starts in Central Park where you run the first few miles.  Then the magic happens because you leave the park shortly after mile 6.   You running down 7th Avenue towards Times Square.   As if that isn’t enough, you then run down 42nd Street until the West Side Highway coming out near the Intrepid.   Then you run through Lower Manhattan and cross the finish line.

You don’t have to be familiar with the city to know how awesome it would be to run through the streets.    That being said, as someone who has been to the city, driven in the traffic, and knows the congestion of all the vehicles; it’s nothing short of awesome.    I was having so much fun running these streets that I literally had to slow myself down.   The crowds in Time Square are incredible.   When I was running by, they were starting the kids 1 mile race in Time Square which just adds to the excitement of it.

I even took my phone out and took several pictures while staying on pace if I do say so myself.

 

Then if that isn’t enough, there is the finish!

The medal and the sense of accomplishment that finishing brings.

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And I would like to add one more thing.   The post race snack bag.   Some races you finish and you get an apple and a water.   Not here.   Every finisher gets their own personal bag with a big water, a Gatorade, and apple, some pretzels in a reusable clear drawstring bag.  No picture because I was too busy consuming.

What is your favorite race?

 

 

Trust In The Training!

Mar21

Trust is a funny thing.    Trust is something that needs to be earned and is sometimes hard to do.    I had to go out on the ledge and trust my coach, my training, and myself.   These are not necessarily easy things to do.   I trust my coach but trusting in ones self can be harder.  Sometimes the doubt creeps in, but I shut the door on it in New York City.

I had a great race.   I had phenomenal race.   The stars were aligned.  The sun was shining and it all came together.    I pushed the doubt and the fears to the side.   I took a leap of faith and went with it.     I started the race with the knowledge that I could do this.    I had a plan.   A plan that my coach helped me develop.   All I needed was to stick to the program and trust in my training.  I went out as planned, but almost got sidetracked early on by the 2:00 hour pace group.   They blew past me around mile 2.    At first I think that I tried to stay with them, but I stopped myself.   They were not following my plan.   They were running a different race.   I knew what I needed to do and they were not doing it.   They were going out too fast for me.   I let them go.   It was hard at first, but I had my mantra that I kept repeating to myself.   It was not a planned mantra, but it was fitting.

TRUST IN YOUR TRAINING!

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It was that simple.   I needed to trust in the hours that I’ve logged.   The miles that I’ve ran at pace.    The fact that I had done the work to set me up to do what I needed to do.   What I needed to do was not what everyone else needed to do.   So I let them go.   I trusted in my training and my ability to get it done.

I was in the zone.

A friend that I went to the half with came up to me a few miles in.    I actually said to her, “Karyn, just so you know I’m not being a Bitch.   I’m just in the zone.”    I needed to run this race by myself.   Some things are like that.   You need to do them by yourself.   This was that race for me.   I needed to focus on my pace, my calculations, and moving forward.  She understood.   (Love you, lady).

As I ran, I knew where I needed to be.   I had a pace band in my pocket that I didn’t use during the race; but had done some calculations ahead of time.   I kind of knew where I needed to be when.   I added up the time I needed to hit as the miles rose.   I was hitting my targets.  There were times that I had to reign myself in as he race was so exciting.   I was trusting in the training and not trying to bank time.

My plan was to run consistently till around mile 10 where I would pick it up a little more.  At that point my mantra became NO REGRETS.   By this I meant that no matter what, I would not have regrets because I was doing all I could.   I also meant that I would not give myself an out.   That I would continue to push it and fight for the sub 2 because the only way I would have regrets is if I backed down.   So NO REGRETS.    By mile 12, I was pushing it pretty hard but trying to make sure as to not burn up.  I knew I would be close.   I knew that I was going to need to give it all I had at the end.   So I saved a little fuel in the tank and when I hit the 20K mat, I pushed it even harder.

NO REGRETS.

You can’t have regrets if you’ve done everything that you’ve needed to do.   If you’ve given all you have.    I dug as deep as I could go and I did it!

1:58:59

A minute to spare:)

I honestly can say that if somehow I didn’t make my goal, I would have been happy with this race.  Honestly, I am not saying that because I reached my sub 2  goal.   I was telling myself that that last 3 miles.

That being said, I am over the moon with reaching it.

This was an amazing adventure.   There is more to tell, but this is enough for now.

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Whose in Control?

Mar11

There are so many things in our lives out of our control.   We all feel it.   We all know it.    We all want more control, but the truth of the matter is much of it is not in our hands.   We just have to roll with the punches that come.   Some harder than others.    This is true not just in life but with our training.

There are things in our training that our out of control.   Injuries and time just to name a few.   We know that there are other things in our training just like our “normal lives”  that we can’t control.    That being said,  we must learn to focus on what we can control.   The other things will either fall into place or not and again we have to just roll with the punches that come.

lista-control

Now just because I realize that I don’t have total control doesn’t mean that I am not working on the things that I can control such as…

  • Taking time for myself to get the runs/workouts I need.   If the work is not put in than the outcome will never change.   This is in my control.
  • Putting the effort into each workout.    It does no good to take time for said workouts if I am not going to do what needs to be done.   On days that I need to push and challenge myself, I can’t back down.  Not every workout/run is meant to be hard, but on the days that are supposed to be hard let it be hard.   Don’t back down.   Everything is hard at first and if it was always easy where would the challenge be?
  • Pay attention to how you fuel and recover.    I’ve mentioned this before that I  am working on figuring out my fueling for my runs.   As I said, you can’t run on empty and each person has to learn what works for them.
  • And just as in life, give yourself a break.   Some days you just don’t have it in you and that is ok.   The trick is to get back up and keep moving forward.
  • Never back down or give up.   I will stumble.  I will fall (especially on a trail, but I will always get back up.   That is in my control.

 

It’s time that I admit it…….. I may have started off as the Accidentally Running Mama, but I am well past that now.   I am no longer a beginner.   I am not accidentally running now.    I think after 3 marathons, countless other events, and the fact that I am training for a 50K kind of proves that I am running with purpose.   And even though I have been precise and followed my plans, I think that I am getting to the point that I need to take more ownership of my training.    Don’t take that as I am saying I don’t need my coach because I do.   I don’t even have one tenth of the running knowledge that she has.   What I’m saying is that I need to take my training off of auto pilot and take ownership of it.

I need to control what I can because that will give me a sense of comfort.

Win or loose

(Ok, I’m always in the middle of the pack),

it is up to me.

Up to me

 

What is in your control?

 

 

Your Running What?

Feb10

fartlek

Word of the Week

Fartleks –

Because it’s fun to say, but maybe that is only because I’m a mother of three boys.    Now I realize it’s something fun to say, but it is also something fun to run.    Although truth be told, sometimes I get so caught up am I hitting my pace I loose some of the fun.   Not today.   Not with fartleks.

So what exactly is a fartlek you ask because I know that I did!

fart·lek
ˈfärtlik/
noun

Track & Field
noun: fartlek
  1. a system of training for distance runners in which the terrain and pace are continually varied to eliminate boredom and enhance psychological aspects of conditioning.
It sounds like some made up word to make non runners feel stupid.   Then I realized that the reason it was such a silly word is because it is from Sweden and it means “speed play” in Swedish.    It was developed in 1937 for a Swedish cross country team that was in need of both speed and endurance training.   So their coach, Gosta Holmer came up with the good ole fartlek.  I’m guessing it worked for them as all these years later we are still doing them.
Now I feel bad for thinking that it was a made up word.   Then again, what do I know?   Not much, but I do like to learn:)
So I’ve done them a few times.   Well actually twice now, but I think I enjoyed today more than the first time I did them.   The first time, I was more concerned if I was doing them right or not.   Then I found out that I was way overthinking it.    I sometimes do that.   Today, I followed the advice of my coach.   She told me to “throw some faster bits in for fun” up, down, fast, medium and just have fun with it.   So I tried to do just that.
You know what, I think I did have some fun with it.
Was it challenging?
You bet!
Did I have fun with it?
Yup!
AND
my last one was the best!
For 10 seconds I could fly hitting 6:08.
Now I could NEVER maintain that speed,
but that is the beauty of the fartlek.
I’m not supposed to.
I’m supposed to just enjoy my little legs moving as fast as they could.
On top of that, I didn’t feel like I was going to die!
Although I was happy to resume my normal pace to finish the run.
Running a fartlek is kind of like running like Pheobe from friends.
Running like a kid, just to run.
Do you Fartlek?

 

A Necessary Evil

Jan27

I’ve been good in listening to my coach.   I’ve done the required runs with the required paces.   I listen to the things that she asks me to do because I know that she knows what she’s talking about.   That being said, I may have slacked off a bit on the cross training.   Not until recently did she really give details on cross-training.   It had been more of telling you to cross-train.   So I will say that my cross-training may not have been what was expected, but I was doing my runs.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

I know that’s not really the way it works.   There is more to running than the actual running.   I know.   When I first started running, I was doing Crossfit which I loved.   Loved.   Loved.   Loved.    At the time though, I really couldn’t justify paying for both Crossfit and having a coach especially when I already belong to my local YMCA.    Besides I was finding that between recovering from an event or tapering for one, Crossfit was no longer a good fit for me.    For a while I was good about continuing my cross-training.    Then little by little, things just slipped away to the point that I really was not doing much more than running.

 Ooops.

I also know that if I want to improve my running, I can’t continue just running.    I need to get back into doing other things.   Maybe tone up my abs a little.   Now I’m not deluding myself into thinking that I will ever get washboard abs or even pre washboard abs.   I’m thinking maybe I should have a little less jiggle in the pouch.    No amount of running is going to make that happen which really does suck.

As I said before, now my coach through Training Peaks is giving specifics.   I will admit that yesterday she said 4 sets and I only did 2, but baby steps.   Besides I’m sore today from just 2 sets.   I couldn’t imagine how sore I would have been with 4 sets.    What really stinks too is that there really is no excuse not to do these things as there really isn’t much equipment involved and what is involved I already have.

Here is a sample of my workout

10 push-ups, 20 Kettle-bell swings, 10 burpees with push-ups, 10 bicep curls, 15 triceps dips.

Back in the hey day of Crossfit, I could have killed this workout.    Not so much now.   I had to break them up some.    I realized how just because I can now run around the block a few times, does not mean anything when it comes to cross-training.   I realized that I missed it a little too.    So I will continue to add these back in and do more than just the running.

I even went today and did the elliptical and stationary bike today per my schedule.

It is a necessary evil that I really shouldn’t avoid.

Besides I do like it:)

Yeah, I’m crazy like that.

 

What do you do for Cross-Training?

Do you like Cross-Training days?