Happy Belated National Running Day

Apparently, the first Wednesday in June is National Running Day - happy belated Running Day! According to runningday.org, it's a day when "runners everywhere declare their passion for running." The website has all kinds of info - group runs, fundraising, ways to celebrate and deals on select races/gear, so it's worth a visit. They also sell t-shirts where you can fill in the blank on this phrase "I run ______".  Mine would read "I run to keep this a 10."

I did indeed take a short run on the holiday as I am trying to get back on the good foot after the race in April. It was a nice jog - not as nice as the ones I took on the beach last week - but it was nice to get out and enjoy the weather and scenery. I actually witnessed a cat fight - literally - a couple of neighborhood cats were fighting it out. Running can be so entertaining!

Anyway, on a day when runners everywhere were logging a few easy miles, I thought I would share this post a fellow runner shared with me about the energy runners generate: http://www.runner.com/the-power-of-running/..  If you consider how much energy runners expend on a regular basis, how much do you think we generated yesterday?

Cross-Blogination - Runner's High

Today, NPR's Health Blog, Shots, posted a story about Runner's High. It confirmed several things that most people know - that long-distance running can produce a narcotic-like substance in people that makes us feel good. The story goes into the evolutionary possibilities of why we get Runner's High ("maybe it's an evolutionary payoff for doing something hard and painful...") and how addictive it can be.

The really interesting part to me as a dog owner was that the scientist featured in the story found that dogs also produce euphoric chemicals, essentially, they experience Runner's High, too! If you ever needed another excuse to take Fido out for a walk or run, here it is - he's addicted. Feed the addiction.

For the full story and access to the full study go to NPR's blog.

Zooma Half Marathon Recap

A friend of mine has a group of friends she calls her "wise men". Whenever she's working on a problem or seeking advice, she turns to her wise men for direction. In my case, I recently realized I have my own set of wise men that support and guide me through my fitness goals and aspirations - my dad and my husband. I mention them in this post because without them, I wouldn't have had the most AWESOME experience ever at the Zooma Atlanta half marathon on Sunday.

Going into Sunday's race, my training had been kind of a mess - not quite like last time, no mental breakdowns - but I took a couple of weeks off from training and had a really hard time focusing. I lost my mother to a long battle with ALS and working through those emotions and spending time with my family had my state of mind on a roller coaster. Because of those challenges, I approached the remainder of my training without really caring about how it felt as long as I got it done. I figured I'd run on Sunday if I felt like it and if I didn't, I'd skip it.

By the time I started tapering, I felt good about the race and was actually looking forward to it. The morning of the race I was giddy with excitement. The weather was supposed to be perfectly cool and clear, the course was gorgeous and I felt ready to tackle the distance. I was ready to try out my new race plan of strategically incorporating more walking into the race (thanks for that idea, dad!), I had a brand new playlist loaded up on my iPod and I had my number one fan and coach with me reminding me to just enjoy the ride (thanks, babe!).

The race was completely exhilarating. The setting was so beautiful and the weather so perfect, I hardly cared that I was running through it all. I felt like I kept a comfortable and fun pace through about 9 miles (and slowed down after that) and I smiled a lot more than I ever had during a race like this. When I sprinted through the finish, I felt great. It was like a new accomplishment even though I've done five of these already and the reason is because this time around, I'd finally let go of my finish time. I gave myself permission to run as slow or fast as I wanted. I wasn't out to beat a past time and I was comfortable with running a new slower time. I stopped comparing myself to everyone that ran and other people I know who are faster than I am. That new mental approach made all of the difference.

During this race I never asked myself why I was running - I was having too good a time to feel bad! I finished this race without agonizing over all of the walking I did or beating myself up about not running faster or running more so my time would be better. I finished this race and immediately began thinking about when I could run another.

Letting go of all of my expectations felt wonderful and freeing. I owe my ability to do that this time around to all of the coaching my wise men have helped me with in the past few years. Thank you both for supporting me so much and keeping me moving forward at my own pace.

Training Goals

During the "off season" I let myself get away with eating ice cream two to three times a week (damn that Marble Slab in Brookhaven!), having bread with breakfast (gasp!) and munchkins (a 50 count box - woo!) at least twice a month. It was pretty nice, except for when my clothes got tight, which is when I committed to (not signed up) the Zooma race in April.

I started training (thank you Hal Higdon) for the race two weeks ago (I'm two days into week 3) with the following understandings:

• I won't be lighter until at least week 3
• I won't be fast(er) until at least week 4
• I won't feel strong until at least week 6

But something surprising has happened - my clothes aren't tight anymore after only two weeks. Yes! I knew this would happen, just not so soon. Either way, I'm glad I won't have to suck it in to get into my fat pants and my running tights are a little more forgiving. 

I did get a little faster from week one to two, but not with any real consistency. My legs are still adjusting to the beating they're taking between the running and swimming. My weight lifting in between has been intermittent, but will be back on this week, so I'm sure that will affect my speed. However, it's all good.

Clearly, my "race" goals (feeling strong, fast and light) have nothing to do with running 13.1 miles on April 22. No matter how many of these things I do, more often than not, my goal has been to make it to the day without injury. What are your training goals? How many of you out there are all about the PR?

Stop Thinking About It

Anyone who knows me knows I am a sucker for an airport bookstore. I don't know what it is about the mini-mart/bookstore/tacky gift shop feel of these places but they make me want to buy every magazine, book and bottle of water I can get my hands on. I had the recent pleasure of traveling alone last week, which allowed me to make several impulse buys in the airport bookstore without judgement.

I bought three magazines for an hour and a half flight (yes, I already had a book to read) and sincerely thought I'd get through them. I guess it's not just my stomach that my eyes are bigger than. The mix of reading material - Outside, Caribbean Travel and Life, and Success magazines - is all over the place, but interesting content can come from where you least expect it.

That's where Success Magazine ("what achievers read" so natch, it's for me) comes in. I honestly don't remember why it appealed to me. Was it the cover of Michael Bloomberg? The headline about J.R. Martinez of DWTS fame (a show I do not like)? I don't know, but it turned out to be a great decision.

There was a great article about creativity and how to put yourself in the best frame of mind to be creative. A list of 17 activities were listed and there are two that I wanted to share to keep all of us running, walking, lifting, swimming and whatever else it might be that we do when we're keeping fit. The article suggests that you play - do some of the things you love to engage your imagination. If you make time to play you'll engage your imagination and allow yourself to have creative thoughts. The other great suggestion was to stop thinking about being creative - take a walk, break up whatever you're working on by stepping away from it for a while. When you let a problem go for a while, your subconscious can work on it and that "light bulb" moment will come.

This article put in print a concept I have already embraced. My clearest moments of thought tend to come when I'm out on a run or swimming laps. I've put my mind on autopilot so some crazy, creative ideas just pop up - some are ridiculous, but some are really good. So keep up with the activities you love and who knows, you might think up the next big thing!

Time to Train...Again

I've signed up for my next half marathon, the Zooma Atlanta in April. What's that you say? I told you I wasn't running any more half marathons? I said I didn't want to run so much? Well, it turns out that I can't resist half marathons. They give me great training structure, something to look forward to and a shared experience for my husband and I (he gets to watch me run a lot, so I owe it to him to change the scenery now and then).

After a lot of thought and consideration - and realizing I can't run by the beach all the time - I've come to some conclusions about how to approach 2012 from a fitness perspective. I really lost my mind training for my last half marathon, so I took a step back and reevaluated what I want and need to do to be healthy, look good and have fun. I took half marathons completely off the table and then (clearly) brought them back.

I've decided to take the training approach of spreading the love, which means I am going to mix up my training as much as possible, but still make a half marathon my short term training goal. Also, I will not run the same race twice unless at least two years have passed since the last time I ran it.

I love swimming and would never want to give that up as part of my training routine. My 6 month stint at CrossfitAF last year also made me really appreciate weight training and cross training. So the progression of my half marathon training philosophy has gone like this:

2009 (Berry, Chicago): Just take it easy, run as little as possible, but give it a try and see if you like it (this was really good)
2010 (Seaside, Silver Comet): Train seriously, but have fun with it (this worked even better!)
2011 (Silver Comet): Just run, try to run more and faster and see what happens (this didn't work)
2012 (Zooma): Train, mix it up, get strong and run as little as possible. 

I experienced most success in 2010 - I must have really had it figured out! So, my plan is to try to get back to that state of mind, which if I remember correctly included only running 3 times a week, swimming twice and doing no weight training. This year, I'll add in weights and see if I completely die training or come out stronger and faster on the other side. And then there's the third possible outcome - I'll keep fit, stay trim and have a nice trip up to the lake in the spring.

I'm already looking forward to the post-race wine...

Beach Report, Jan. 1 2012

Happy New Year!

I rang in 2012 on the beach - who knew it would ever be possible to need flip flops in December? Since the race in October (which was fine - not horrible, but not really noteworthy), I have taken a considerable running break and within the past few weeks have slowly been reintroducing a run into my routine here and there. 

As many of you know, the lure of running on the beach can be very strong and I gave in this week. I arrived at the beach at night, so the first thing I wanted to do in the morning was run! I slept late, ate breakfast and put on my running shoes. Since I had only run 2 - 3 miles at a time the past few weeks, I didn't want to do too much, so I set out for a run somewhere between 20 - 60 minutes. Once I got going it felt great! A flat and beautiful course invigorated me. As I blew past two miles, I realized I should probably turn around if I wanted to actually make it back home. To make a long story short, I ran for an hour and felt okay about it. I rested for a bit, drank some water and wanted to continue the vacation fun!

I cleaned up and got ready to hit the town. I had a snack got in the car and started feeling sick...Really sick...So sick I had to turn the car around and go home. It hit me like I had just run 13 miles and I hurled! It was horrible, but only for a few minutes. Once I got settled, I reminded myself - resist the lure of the beach, running on the beach can still be too much running for your body!

I recovered just fine and enjoyed the rest of the (fun!) day, but when I laced them up to run this morning, I gave myself a very strict rule - no more than 3 miles! It was a short, two-miler, followed by squats and I felt wonderful. I still got to see some beautiful scenery, enjoy the 70-degree weather and break a sweat.

Thank goodness one bad run didn't mess up the whole vacation. I learned my lesson and figured out how to reel in my excitement in order to savor the whole trip. Sadly now, it's time to head home. Hopefully this weekend has given me a break from the ordinary and enough motivation to run back at home...