Whole Runner Holiday

Don’t you just love the holidays? I know this Whole runner does. The Christmas holidays bring a fitting final chapter to a full year of running. It is a time for looking back and reflecting on the success (or lack thereof) of the running plans and goals.

As we recall and celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ we renew our beliefs and convictions. Now that we are on vacation and/or retired we have more time to be grateful for all that the good Lord has granted us through the year. The triumphs far outweigh the setbacks. More goals have been met than were parlayed. The blessings are numerous.

Much like in the middle of a race, it is far easier and less troublesome to dwell on the negatives, far easier to find excuses for not finishing the race, much easier to focus on the little aches and pains, way too easy to blame the wind or temperature than it is to suck it up, focus on your strengths, and utilize your God giving gifts to render your best effort.

This, my sixtieth year of life, I have so much for which to be thankful. Throughout the year I participated in numerous races and fun runs and in each one managed a personal best either in time or age-group placing. My most memorable has to be the 4^Th of July midnight 5K in Seattle, Washington. It was quite a thrill to have earned first place in quite a popular running location.

Second in my satisfaction list were the training runs in Puerto Rico in November. Spending Thanksgiving with the family on the shores of Condado, Puerto Rico was priceless. The morning runs along the ocean and in the streets of Old San Juan were surreal. Imagine the contrast. One morning I was doing a tempo run on a tropical path that lead from San Juan’s Capital building through the streets featuring 14^th century architecture of Old San Juan. The very next day I am in Chicago doing an easy five miler in 15 degree Fahrenheit weather while been pelted with icy snow flakes. This last experience made me appreciate running in 30 degree weather.

So it is with much gratitude that I embrace this Christmas holiday and wait for Christmas day in anticipation of all the many gifts that come our way. I believe in God, Christmas and Santa Claus. How else do you explain or justify all the good fortune I had this past year 2010? Do you believe?

What Fuels the Whole Runner?

While taking mathematics courses at De Paul University, I came upon a topic which just blew me away. A portion of a computer programming class included the topic of fractals. One of the exercises was to generate interesting geometric designs by continued iteration of the same core design. No matter how much you zoomed in or zoomed out the basic designed was there. I found this notion so intriguing. It is the same mathematical model which describes coastline formations, cloud formations and so forth. For me it also describes a peculiar genetic trait that I carry.

I use this same concept to describe my view of family, past and present. It all dawned on me while interacting with my grandsons. Watching them as they interacted with each other, their mom, their grandmother, and their cousins allowed me to see some eerily similar patterns which I had observed previously in my personal experiences. Subconsciously they were going through the maze known as life using tools garnered from their parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents and so on.

How does this relate to the Whole Runner? Upon closer inspection, I now know what initially fueled my desire to run. My oldest brother was a naturally fast runner. I remember back when I was in third grade, holding his books, so that he could participate in a half mile race around a sugar cane farm. The four or five runners would disappear in a cloud of dust behind the tall sugar cane stalks as other kids wagered on the result of the race. It was always he coming out of the cane fields first and I would proudly go meet him to hand him his books. I never had a chance to participate in those races because I was too small and mainly because I was too slow. I wanted so much to be fast like him but to no avail.

In high school he was captain of the track team and his athletic school sweater was ridiculously plastered with all sorts of medals won at the city championships. I wanted to be like him. I worked hard and finally in my senior year I managed to earn a couple of medals at the city championship. I have never stopped running and no matter how much I run I can only dream of being as fast as my brother. That desire is what has fueled this whole runner.

The desire to be fast like my brother gave me the initial impetus to integrate running into my way of life. That initial motivation is no longer the reason why I continue to run. I am infinitely grateful to my brother for indirectly giving me such a gift. Today I run because it sets me free and everything seems to flow so much better after a good brisk run.

Let’s get back to the fractal idea. That desire to be fast and earn rewards has fueled my running and I have noticed that my daughters also have inherited some of that same behavior. I see in them a constant quest to achieve in their athletic encounters. As swimmers and runners they have collected their share of medals and trophies. It all began after my eldest won her first trophy for swimming. I recognized the look on my youngest daughter’s eyes. I am not entirely sure if she articulated her idea or if I just read it from her expression but I know that she too wanted to be as fast as her sister. So here I see how the iteration of the pattern continues.  Needless to say, when my youngest grandson saw his big brother’s baseball trophy, he couldn’t wait for the baseball season to start.

A party broke out at the 15K

Reflections on the Hot Chocolate 15K Run, Chicago

What if race organizers put together a community run and a party broke out? That’s exactly what happened last week, November6, 2010. The Illinois Bone and Joint Institute sponsored a 15K run in Chicago, on the beautiful shores of Lake Michigan. No doubt there was a bone chilling breeze nagging at all the runners prior to the start. A few minute before the 15k a shorter more doable 5K was scheduled. There must have been thousands of runners still trying to locate the bag check-in tent when the horn for the 5K sounded, but there was nary a sign of panic anywhere. There were so many runners that before the last wave of chocolate lovers crossed the starting line, the first wave of finishers had arrived and were anxiously looking for the chocolate fondue tent. That’s when I realized this was a party, not a race.

The race announcer added to the mayhem by letting everyone know that Dr. Oz was in the reviewing stand and would be available after the race. The ladies, and some of the guys, went gaga upon hearing that their hero was here. All the 15K runners were called to the starting corrals, but we didn’t all fit. I was one of the many runners left outside of the corrals hoping to get in. I wondered to myself, “where from have all these avid runners come”?

These weren’t all runners. These were all chocolate lovers at best or chocoholics at worst. There were so many runners it took me more than 6 minutes just to inch up to the start line after the horn was sounded. It was the third mile before I could get free from the casual joggers and walkers. By the time I hit my full stride, the finish line came up on me and the race was over, but the fun was only beginning.

There was no finishers’ medal, but I don’t think anyone noticed. There was a mad dash to the chocolate tents and the sponsors did not disappoint. What a delicious, well prepared treat! I had signed up hoping for a tune up run before my January half-marathon and I got more than I bargained for. I will permanently put this race on all my future calendars. On top of all this joy, I was celebrating my birthday. There is nothing like celebrating your birthday with 30,000 of your closest friends over a bowl of steaming hot chocolate.

Chocolate does soothe the Whole Runner’s tummy.

Who is the Whole Runner?

Permit me to introduce myself. I am Yoni, and I have been seriously running (as opposed to laughing while running) for over 46 years. My running began as a result of a quest my buddies and I took on as freshmen in high school.  None of us was athletically gifted so we went on a quest to try-out for every possible athletic team at our high school. This was no minor feat, as our high school of over 5,000 male students invariably was a powerhouse in almost every conceivable sport. Nonetheless, we set out on our journey and needless to say we were so discouraged at the end of the first week. Basketball, baseball, football, tennis, wrestling, swimming, archery, and a host of other teams sent us home packing after one look at us. However, there was one team where the coach invited all three of us for a second tryout. That was the track team. We were elated; until we discovered that the track team required a big enough team so there would be enough man power to put up and take down the hurdles, set up and remove the starting blocks, assist with the timing devices during meets, take the team uniforms to the participating runners. You get the picture.

 

To make a long story short, we persevered. As seniors, we represented the school at the Illinois State track finals in Champaign, Illinois in the ½ mile relay and to top it off I was the captain of the varsity team. We didn’t make it to the finals that year but we made it way past our expectations that we had as freshmen. This in essence describes the Whole Runner. I have run for so many years and after so many years there is a name for the type of runner that I am. My youngest daughter came up with this concept and it fits me to a tee.

 

The Whole Runner may not be a full marathoner, but puts his Whole heart into each ½ marathon, 5K, or 10k race. The Whole Runner sets goals (usually a bunch of them so as to be able achieve at least one). The Whole Runner is not daunted by the enormity of preparation for a given race because for us much of the joy is the in the preparation before the race. The Whole Runner is not intimidated by the field of participants for he only has to beat his own fears of participating. The Whole runner is fit for his body is a precisely tuned running machine (even though once in a while a funnel cake may get in the way).  The Whole Runner not only uses his feet and legs to run but his heart and head are always fully engaged. He is not a quitter but knows clearly when its time to walk and begin planning for the next race.