Running Around the Country

So as some of you know and some of you don't, I've been on the run (figuratively) for the last several months. I'm away most weekends, and I began my training while living in Pittsburgh. Somehow I've always managed to get my run in.

While some of these trips have led to amazing runs (along the water in West Palm Beach, around trails in the Puget Sound area, and my first half marathon in Va Beach), I've also learned that sometimes these runs can really suck. Two particularity bad runs include 6,000 ft in the desert in Idaho (14 miles), and good old Durham NC last Friday (18 miles). All I could think last weekend was how bad 26 was going to be if that sucked so much. However, as I'm back in the Dirty D this weekend, I got in my 20 miles yesterday once again here in Durham. What a difference! I was never a runner, and when people would say they had good and bad runs it never meant much to me until now.

Going into this last month, I'm pumped more than ever. I haven't been in this good shape since high school, I feel great, and suddently 26 miles just doesn't seem quite as long as it did five months ago!

Keep On Running

Ch-ch-ch-ch-check it out! ----->>>> Keep on Running

Also, one of my fav running quotes.... (and movies)

"That day, for no particular reason, I decided to go for a little run. So I ran to the end of the road. And when I got there, I thought maybe I'd run to the end of town. And when I got there, I thought maybe I'd just run across Greenbow County. And I figured, since I run this far, maybe I'd just run across the great state of Alabama. And that's what I did. I ran clear across Alabama. For no particular reason I just kept on going. I ran clear to the ocean. And when I got there, I figured, since I'd gone this far, I might as well turn around, just keep on going. When I got to another ocean, I figured, since I'd gone this far, I might as well just turn back, keep right on going. " - Forest Gump

And another personal favorite..

"We run, not because we think it is doing us good, but because we enjoy it and cannot help ourselves... The more restricted our society and work become, the more necessary it will be to find some outlet for this craving for freedom.

-Sir Robert Bannister, first runner to run a sub 4 minute mile.

I started running because I wanted to run away from everything in my life. I never realized I would run into a deeper sense of life. I made many important decisions on my runs. If I was indecisive or stressed, I would go for a run. I'd let my mind wander to its most honest state, and somehow end up sweaty, calm, with more direction than ever before. I decided to go to Georgetown on a run. I built the courage to break off dysfunctional relationships on runs. I became closer with my best friends on my runs. I fell in love with DC on my runs. I talked and reflected and prayed and cried and laughed during runs. Every mile has contributed to who I am today, and I am eternally thankful for that. Here is to many more miles and memories as we train for the 2010 MCM!

Meg

And so it begins...

Today kicked off MCM2010 training. 3 miles down... 564 miles to go- but who is counting?

It is incredible to think that we will dedicate the next 18 weeks of our lives training for one race. Over those 18 weeks, I will run upwards of 567 miles--which is equivalent to running at an 8-minute mile pace for 3 days 3 hours and 36 minutes straight.

Why? At first, I registered for the Marine Corp Marathon because I thought: If my sister can do it....and my friends can do it...why can't I? I wanted to be able to tell people that I ran a marathon-that I successfully ran 26.2 miles. While I look forward to the sense of accomplishment that I will feel after crossing the finish line on October 31st, right now I am looking forward to the challenge. This training will be both physically and mentally challenging. As Lynn Jennings said "Mental will is a muscle that needs exercise, just like the muscles of the body." Fortunately, I have a lot of wonderful people supporting me through this challenge. And so I want to share with you my goals for the next 18 weeks:

1) To improve my speed and endurance

2) To overcome the mental block that I have always put before myself while running

3) To inspire others As many of you know, I will spend half of my training running with a group of homeless men from Emery House (a homeless shelter in NE). It has been such an inspiration seeing the impact that running has had on each of their lives and I hope to continue inspiring them each step of the way. We have actually encouraged some of them to begin training for a half marathon and I hope to be a real leader of that group.

"Running is the greatest metaphor for life, because you get out of it what you puto into it."
-Oprah Winfrey

It's a Marathon...

...it's a city in Greece, a race, an oil company and it's a term that is synonymous in our culture with anything deemed to be a long term task or difficult operation. Training for a race of any significant distance is a "marathon" in itself. With a tip of the hat to the tortoise and the hair, "slow and steady" will get you to the race (although fast will still win it).

Yesterday was day one in an 18 week training program for a lot us including myself. Remember the excitement of starting today and how good it hopefully felt finishing the first of many runs. While it may be tempting to push hard in the beginning to make rapid fitness gains and really go for your goal, try to keep it slow and steady. Going to quick out of the gate in a race and in training usually sets you up for disaster.

Taking it slow at first will help prevent overuse injuries along with mental burnout. It will also mean you can hold on to that excitement as part of your motivation a little longer, or at least until the first long run.

If you stick to your plan, those fitness gains will undoubtedly come. It's usually an unexpected thing. Somewhere a number of weeks in, when you've started to lose yourself in training, you'll stop at the end of a workout, take a look at your watch and ask: Did I really just run that fast?

The Night Run

Given the absolutely ridiculous heat lately and a huge fail of a run on Monday (I quit after 3, when I wanted to do 6.2), I decided that I'm going to go for an evening run today. I am going to discuss this experience in a series of pros and cons:

Night Run v. Day Run

Pro: it's not as hot because there's no sun

Con: because there's no sun, you can't work on the tan

Pro: there are fewer tourists on the Mall

Con: said tourists have significantly worse visibility

Pro: nobody sees you look like crap at the end of your run

Con: nobody sees you look awesome at the beginning of your run

Pro: you get to see the fireflies glowing by the Reflecting Pool

Con: you don't see the gnats that you run into around the Reflecting Pool

Pro: the monuments at night are much prettier

Con: the runners at night are definitely not prettier

We will see if I ever get my lazy ass out of bed before work to evaluate the merits of an early morning run...but that is definitely not happening in the near future.

To Begin

"Whether you believe you can or believe you can't, you're probably

right." - Henry Ford

While Ford may not have been a runner, his words touch on one of the most important aspects of being successful athlete, which is believing in yourself. Keep this in mind when planning and setting goals for your next race.

Avoid setting your goals too low. If you go after something you know is easily attainable, you lose the challenge, sense of accomplishment and reward of achievement.  Instead, believe in yourself and set the bar a little higher.  Achieving something you initially thought out of reach is an incredible and empowering feeling.

Of course with any goal that stretches you there is the chance of missing the mark, which is ok. Don’t ever look at this as a failure but instead focus onyou’re your achievements. In pushing yourself towards a goal I guarantee you will learn a lot about yourself. Successful athletes will still believe in themselves, and apply those lessons learned to hitting that goal the next time. 

I am envisioning this blog to be a source of motivation,
accountability, knowledge, training, scheduling and fun. Many of the
people I hope will be participating in this are running the Marine
Corps Marathon in 19 weeks. However I would love for this to be an
open forum for anyone seeking motivation guidance for running or other
events.

For anyone training for an upcoming race especially the Marine Corps,
don't be afraid to put your goals out here for all to see. No one will
be judging you on whether or not you actually succeed in hitting your
time; finishing your race or accomplishing whatever it is you set out
to do. Rather I hope we serve as a source of strength and motivation
and when necessary a bit of accountability (note this can take the
form of prodding, poking and jest).
Please email me at fritz.jt@gmail.com so I can add you as an author to
the blog. It would be great to see everyone post anything they wish
to share about training tips,
group runs, motivational quotes/stories, queries, advice, etc.
I'll go ahead and put my goal out there. I want to qualify for the
Boston Marathon, which requires a finishing time of 3:10:00. I have
never run a sub 4:00:00 marathon, and could barely hit an 8:45 mile in
6th grade, so this will not be easy for me and I would definitely
appreciate constant accountability and motivation.
What are your goals? How can we help you reach them?