Some Thoughts on the Olympic Women’s Marathon

Anyone watch the Olympic marathon this past Saturday? I am assuming there will be a resounding YES with this group!

It was a very exciting race to say the least. Lots of back and forth and eventually, an unlikely winner. As I watched this, a number of thoughts came to the forefront. Allow me to share them:

• The Chinese woman who won the bronze medal trained on average. . . get ready for this one. . . 750 miles per month! That is around a marathon a day. Amazing to say the least.
• The best announcer for these types of events is Al Troutwig. He correctly stated, “The marathon is divided into two equal parts — the first 20 miles and the last 6.2 miles” How true is this.
• American Deena Castor unfortunately dropped after around 2 or 3 miles with a foot injury. It goes to show that even the very best can never be sure about the marathon distance. It is a bear. Very sad to train for years and years, only to drop out after around 15 minutes.
• On a lighter note, the Budweiser commercial with Hank the Horse is one of the all times bests.
• Finally, the Romanian woman who won gold was such an inspiration and really taught a huge lesson for everyone. She broke away from the pack with around 10-12 miles to go and raced to finish with a big win. One of the messages that came through is that when you go for it. . . I mean REALLY go for it. . . you can fall on your face OR in this case,  achieve gold. Conversely, when you sit and wait and think and try and wait some more, runners. . . and life. . . pass you by. Life is a risk. Going for something is a risk. Not participating is an even bigger one, except this one, unlike the others has NO rewards.

The Tale of the Trail

In preparation for my Ultra in October, today was Day #1 of trail training at Wekiva Springs National Park. I had not run in a wooded area since I was a teen back in PA. Back in the day, running in the woods to get to the coal banks was a popular activity. As was turning various shades of black and gray.

Today’s run was unique. I had some assumptions and guesses, all of which proved to be incorrect. Firstly, I anticipated trail running to be much more difficult compared to road running. This was really not the case. In fact, in many ways it proved easier. The softer surface was much easier on the joints and body as a whole and the canape of trees was a welcome shade most of the way.

In addition, according to my handy dandy heart rate monitor, I burned only 56 more calories during this 10 mile run as compared to the road. Basically 2 bites of a candy bar. It was surprising as there were constant changes in direction, both vertically and side to side. With the exception of some relatively straight patches, it was mostly running and shuffling up and down and both sides of the trail, over stumps and around fallen branches.

The views were dramatic. No less than 15 deer were my new “friends” at various points along the path. An assortment of melodies from birds too numerous to name also provided welcomed entertainment. Add some rabbits and a couple of snakes and it was definitely a visual treat.

There certainly were challenges as well. Every 500 feet or so, I had to unwrap a spider’s web from various upper body parts. Bug spray would have been a really good idea also. Sun glasses too. Not to protect one’s eyes from the sunlight but from the gnats and other flying critters that had a great affinity for my cornea.

The biggest difference between trail and road running is the social aspect. On the road, I always feel connected to people. Seeing our Tri & Run friends or favorite Muddy Buddies or even strangers helps me to realize that there always is a bigger reason to run than just oneself. There is a common bond that joins us and  feels really good to be a part of this. The opposite is the case for trail running.

Trail running is great:

1. If you live and work in Manhattan and need to get away from it all – to balance life or
2. You are an introvert. Not necessarily a unibomber-type personality but unlike most road runners, anti-social is commonplace in this crowd.

I have 4 or 5 more practice runs before the Ultra and have to say, I really prefer the road more traveled.

Accepting Praise

Many people are very good at giving praise. We see the end results of training and both appreciate and admire what was accomplished. They are our friends and we want them to excel and when a friend does, it is as if a part of us succeeded as well. And we express it.

“Congratulations!

That was great.

Wonderful.

Fantastic Job!’

These are the common comments. We know them. We say them. More so, we really mean them.

Yet when we are the recipient of true praise, we often squirm, look down and explain why and how it really was not so good. In fact, we could have and should have done better. Much better.

In summary, someone gave us a gift. A thoughtful, meaning gift. We in turn took it, appreciated it for a could of seconds and then explained to the giver how it was not the right color or size, how it was wrapped incorrectly and was nothing at all what we wanted. In short, we are often great at giving but need some work at receiving.

I took a training a few years ago and we did an odd but impactful exercise. There were some 4000 people in the room of which I knew a total of zero. We were to walk up to one another and based upon first impressions, give a compliment. The receiver of the compliment was to say nothing more than “thank you.”

Sounds simple and the act of doing this was indeed, simple. The tumbling and turning internally however, reminded me of a gymnastics competition performed by frogs on high dose caffeine. There was an urge to immediately return the compliment or to explain to the give how “inaccurate” or “misinformed” they were. Peeking around the room, it was easy to observe the squirming and uncomfortable physical reactions that were consistently occurring.

Why is it difficult at times to accept? Would we ever turn down a physical gift from a well meaning friend? After all, a compliment is an investment in happiness.

Is there a better investment that this?!

Take Time to Remind

We are all inhabitants of beautiful planet Earth yet we also live in many worlds.

We live in “work world” where people know a facet of our personality. Perhaps, this facet is Responsible Person, or Creative One or Mr./Ms. Reliable.

We also live in “home world” where our spouses often know us more thoroughly than we know ourselves. They know our greatest joys and deepest fears. The whole picture is exposed to them alone.

We also live in one of our favorite worlds - “athlete world.” Here we gather with others of our kind and share our stories, our dreams or even to just lick our wounds. We use words like “only” or “just” in front of phrases such as “14 miles to run today. . . “ and consider this normal. Par for the course.

It is only when worlds blend temporary that we realize that what we do is rather odd. And special. Mention the aforementioned words and phrase in a complete sentence to people in “work world” and watch the reaction. “You ran WHAT?! NO WAY! Are you crazy?! I could never. . . . “ Something to this effect.

Maybe they are right. Being inhabitants of “athlete world” has skewed our views. What is seen as impressive or special, is now viewed as commonplace. Perhaps we can take a minute or 2 and breath. Breath and take time to remind ourselves what we do is out of the norm and not many are willing to go there. To appreciate the opportunities we have created and the various skills that we have dug inside to find and use. Even if this is just for a minute. We will get back on the road soon enough. . . .

Frogs, June 1 and the New Season

There are 6 frogs on a lily pad. Three decide to jump off. How many frogs are left?

Every sport has a “hard date” start. Baseball always starts on the first Monday of the first week of April. For football, it is the second weekend in September. For running, it is June 1 or so I decided. For unknown reasons, I have always looked at this date as the beginning of the running season.

Things change after June 1. The miles start to accumulate with rapid consistency. Diet starts to tighten up and flexibility is limited; that is, “I planned on running 13 today but 10 was fine.” May 30th — that would have worked. After June 1, it is no longer an option. Why? DNF is NAO. Did not finish is Not An Option.

It is also the time when I design my events and corresponding training plans. Also, I listen to others sharing their events and training, their high hopes and dreams of longer distances or better times and great experiences. The energy is just intoxicating as there is nothing like an event. Looking to create a new, different, better version of yourself? Do an event. Any distance and the person who finishes is almost never the one who starts. Something changes along the long miles. It reminds me of the kid who digs inside his box of Leggo’s, looking for a blue square and instead, finds a green star. . . which then becomes the centerpiece of the project.

Before the events, before the green stars, there is the training and this is the deciding factor. The events are the end result of what occurred 4 months or so prior. If training is dedicated, there will be 5 stars, 4 circles, 3 octagons and a partridge in a pear tree. So each year, I ask myself the question, There are 6 frogs on a lily pad. Three decide to jump off. How many frogs are left?

The answer is 6. Yes, 3 decided but deciding is not doing. And all of the grandiose events and accompanying celebrations that are planned will never happen unless the work is done. It is easy to confuse the two (deciding and doing), assuming they are interchangeable but at mile 18, only one comes to the forefront.

June 1 marks the beginning of the running season. It is also the Time of Choice. Decide, contemplate, plan, deliberate, coordinate or premeditate and get one result. OR Run. Rinse. Repeat. And get another.

The old Quaker expression says it best, “Pray is good. Just be sure your feet are moving.”

Congratulations to Kay!

Long report:  Saturday after 8 hours of traveling we arrived at Spokane International Airport , picked up our rental car and drove the 40 miles to Coeur d’Alene , Idaho . That is such a beautiful area. I was in awe. I traveled with a new marathon friend, Deb, from Gainesville , FL. I’d met Deb last October at the Disney Tower of Terror race. We checked into our hotel quickly, and then drove the 2 miles to packet pickup. That took us about 5 minutes, only because we switched our entries to the early start. We then hopped on a trolley for a tour of the race course. We started to get concerned because there were so many turns and twists on the course, but they assured us that it would be very well marked and we wouldn’t get lost. We were ready for dinner by this time. It was 3:00 Idaho time, but 6:00 by our stomachs, so we went to a really good Italian restaurant and had the best lasagna that I’ve ever eaten. After that we headed back to the room, laid out our race stuff and had an early night.

Race morning, we were up at 3:45, and out the door at 4:45. Our early start was at 5:30. It was already light out, so we didn’t have to worry about running in the dark. It was a little cool, but just about perfect for a marathon. I wore long sleeves, but later I wished I’d worn my short sleeves. We sat in the car for about 15 minutes to stay warm, then used the “honey pots”, and went over to the start line. There were quite a few early starters, but most of them were doing the half marathon. (I don’t know why the half marathoners felt the need to start early as they had the whole marathon time to finish.) We chatted with a few people, and Deb found a buddy to stay with since she was planning on walking most of it.

I walked with them the first 5 minutes or so to warm up a little before starting to run. I didn’t think I’d do well, as my training since Bataan the end of March has been lousy as I’d been consumed by work since then. I started running very easy, doing 5 min runs/ 1 min walks. My legs felt heavy and slow. They were right; I had no problem following the course at all. The signs were great, and the busier areas had police and volunteers manning them. The course just had some gentle hills until around mile 10 I think. Then the hills started. Some of them were pretty long, and I ended up walking up most of them. We got up the top of the first one, then we got to do down. It was a very easy run down; not too steep that we had to worry about losing control. Then there was another hill. This one was over a mile long, I think. I ran as I could, then we got to run down again. However, after reaching the halfway point we turned around and had to go the reverse direction on the hills. It seemed a little easier going back. Going down the last hill I was having a great time. I felt like I was flying, and I had a big grin on my face. It was such fun! Around this time, I got to thinking, that, hey, my time wasn’t too bad so far. Could I do it? Could I PR? I didn’t think so, but what the heck, I was feeling pretty good, so I picked up the pace just a little and started paying more attention to my mile splits. As I got closer, I kept thinking, maybe I could do it.  Around mile 23, I met up with a fast runner who was struggling and down to my pace at this time. He was doing his first marathon. (He ended up finishing around 3:25.)  He said to me, What are we about 3 hours?  I said, well you are, but I’d start early. We ran together for about a mile and a half, with me struggling a little to keep his pace. We came to a small hill, and I stopped to walk up it. He said come on you need to keep going. It was great to have him encouraging me. I sent him on and told him to go for it! I struggled to keep him in my sights that last mile and a half, but finally lost sight of him. I thought Oh My Gosh, am I really going to do it? I could if I kept pushing that last mile. I couldn’t slow down. I didn’t! I was so thrilled when I crossed the line and looked at my watch.  5:06:08!!!  Woohoo.  I was sure I’d PR’d, but still had some doubts. I thought my PR was 5:08 something, but didn’t know for sure. As soon as I got to the car, and my phone, I called my hubby to check my PR. Sure enough! I’d done it.  Woohooo!!!!!

I hung around the finish line cheering others in while waiting for Deb and her new buddies to finish. They finished just under 7 hours, looking great. We went back to the hotel, cleaned up and had the best Mexican meal. Then we drove around the area a little to take some pictures. I can’t tell you how beautiful the area is. After that we went and had dessert, then back to the room for an early night. We arrived back in Orlando by 11:30 last night.

The End!

Happy running,

Kay

Exciting Times

This is so cool! Thank you, David and Lisa, for taking charge. I’m looking forward to meeting and discussing all the details. I love the logo!  Kay O

Sweet!

Logo that is.  I’ve got a good feeling about this one. Great job David.

Can’t wait

Can’t wait to get together to brainstorm about the newest and soon to be best running club in town!!!  Lisa G

Congratulations are in order!

Congratulations are certainly in order for a number of people.

Firstly, Amy and Lisa did another great job on Disney’s Muddy Buddy. The pictures were fantastic. Looking forward to hearing about the event.

Next, Lisa and Kay completed the Minnie 15K on the first Sunday of May. Great job to both of you!!

We only get ONE first and May 4th was Victoria’s FIRST FULL MARATHON!! She finished the Eugene Marathon in Oregon, passing the finish line in one piece, complete with smiles!

Congratulations to all of you! WELL DONE!