To Run or Not to Run...

A year ago some "mission moms" in Washington invited me to run in the Leavenworth half-marathon that October. Leavenworth was my first mission area and the most beautiful little mountain town I'd ever been to. It's a Bavarian tourist village with towering mountains and pine trees, with a winding river through it. As a missionary I would soak in the beauty, take deep breaths of fresh air, and think happy thoughts. :) But a half-marathon? Yeah right man, I don't even run. But a few days went by and I thought about it and decided that would be a cool accomplishment in my 30th year. I was determined to not have a depressing 30th birthday or finish 2010 with nothing to feel good about. I had 9 months to prepare. And I was committed. :)

#1. Cassity (my roommate) had found this "Couch to 5K" program on the internet so I started following that schedule. It's a great way to ease into running/walking/jogging if you ever need to just start from nothing. (I tried finding the program online but can't find the one I used. So if you're interested, let me know and I'll e-mail you the spreadsheet I made!) It literally starts out with "walk 1 min, jog 1 min, and repeat for 20 minutes". Of course I can run 1 minute. Well, even then I was huffing and puffing, but the days and weeks increase the difficulty level and it was a good start.

#2. I bought Jeff Galloway's book, "Half-Marathon: You Can Do It" and read it pretty thoroughly and started following a 35 week training schedule to be ready for a half-marathon. His infamous training ideas is a "run/walk/run" method to get you conditioned and enable you to run long distances. I remember the first time I ran 5 miles and felt so great. Even though I had done it in intervals of "run 4 min/walk 1" I was able to run for a longer period of time, and cover more distance. Sweet.

#3. Style! I rewarded myself with new running socks, pants, bandannas, or other random things. I never have a lot of money so I had to keep it reasonable. With my short hair, I was delighted to discover how perfect a bandanna was to keep the hair out of my eyes and sweat from dripping down all over my face. I have one of just about every color, Tie-dye, multi-color patterns, you name it. I love them. And when I run I like to wear bright colors because they make me happy.

#4. Cassity proved to be helpful once again when she showed me a book she had bought on clearance at Deseret Book: "The Supermarket Diet". The idea is to find foods right there at your normal grocery store without having to shop at 5 different health food stores and therefore spend $500 in one shot. I eat like crap. I love fast food. I love 5 yr old meals like hotdogs, grilled cheese, macaroni & cheese, cold cereal, and chicken nuggets. Healthy eating is not my forte... but for some reason this book worked for me! The meals were pretty much normal and only forced me to weird thing like hummus a few times, which actually wasn't all that bad.

#5. I've never been one to care about weight. I always told myself "muscle weighs more than fat" so I didn't freak out at my weight. But once I started running and actually noticed that I was losing weight... it took on a new meaning. And actually became a huge motivation. I eventually "earned" myself a pair of new shoes after I had lost 15 lbs, and absolutely love them! I had been saving up and bough them at "Runner's Corner" in Orem. The guy there is a long time running coach, watched me run, gave me tips, and even showed me how to correct my form to be more succesful. It was wonderful and I really think that 5 minute training session improved my running abilities. I ended up with a pink and silver shoe, which is totally not "me"... but I love it and wear the pink with pride.

The months passed by and my friend invited me to join her team for the Red Rock Relay in St. George, in September. It was a few weeks before the half-marathon so I thought it would be a great goal to keep me working hard. The relay was SO much fun and such an adventurous and exhausting weekend. 12 people on a team. 180 miles. 30+ hours. 3 legs each varying from 3-8 miles. Our team name was "To Run or Not to Run". It was awesome, despite the recent pain in my knee that had developed a few weeks prior. I wore a knee brace for a while and tried to be really careful. I decided in the winter months I should work harder to strengthen my quads and do a variety of exercise besides just running... because otherwise my knee will be really messed up and my running days will be over. But I pulled through, and althoug I didn't run as well as I'd hoped for the Red Rock weekend... it was such a blast! I'm signed up to run the Ragnar Wasatch Back this June, and hope to a few other relays as well.

The half-marathon day finally arrive and I was excited and ready. My knee felt good and I wasn't anticipating any problems. I ran with a group of ladies from my mission who had created their own group to motivate each other and train together. Their motto was "Courage to Start-- Faith to Finish" and we all wore pink shirts with purple lettering on the back. There were about 10 of us and it was fun to be there together and to cheer each other on at the end. I finished in 2 hrs 36 min and I was hoping to finish before 2 1/2 hours... sooo... close enough, right? I'd never experience so much pain in my legs before as I did the moment I crossed the finish line and stopped running. I'd miraculously managed to run 13.1 miles continuously without stopping, which is crazy and rebellious from my "run/walk/run" training method. But I felt good enough, and I was afraid that if I stopped to walk I wouldn't be able to start running again. I think I would have been right. :) I also decided that day that I never want to run a full marathon because I would hate my life by mile 17 and want to kill people by mile 20 and then just fall over dead before ever finishing. So if you're wondering... no... I really don't have plans to ever run a full marathon. That could change... but I'm 99% sure that will never be a goal or desire.

So. Half-marathon finished. Now what?! I took off 3 months... not on purpose... just because I got lazy and kept getting sick and then there's the holiday season and that just doesn't even need an explanation. After losing 20-25 pounds during my running season, I've gained a few pounds back and look forward to getting those the heck out of here soon. I figure my "fitness foundation" at the beginning of this new running season is far better than it was last year. A year ago I could hardly run a few minutes without wanting to quit. Now I'm anxious to get back and be soaked in sweat and feel that stiff soreness that comes after a good work-out. I don't have a specific half-marathon in mind yet for this year, but I'm assuming I'll find something to do in the late summer or fall. Until then, I'll do a variety of work-outs in the little gym facility where Brittney lives, do some strength training, build up my leg muscles to protect from future knee injuries... and just have fun in the mean time!

 

My newest toy is the tiny iPod Nano that just came out this year. Cassity (once again the coolest roommate ever) helped me purchase one as a Christmas gift, and it really is such a great little tool! Last year I was using a cheap mp3 player that only accepted songs from a website that had no selection of good music. So I was starving for good music to run to. Now I have it right at my finger tips, literally. A little touch screen that has a built-in clip on the back that has a spring so it can just clip right on to your pants or anything. I still struggle to find earbuds that work for my odd-shaped right ear. I've gone through 4 or 5 sets and my ear must be shaped weird because nothing fits, big or small. Oh well! Life must go on and I will keep running. Why? Because it's invigorating and I always feel so much better afterward. I'm 30. I'm single. I'm healthy. I'm happy. I'm hopeful. I'm a runner. :)