This posting took me about two and a half hours to put together last night. When I was done, and ready to publish it, Blogger lost it. It was probably user error. So tonight, I am starting over. I hope this is not a sign of the year to come:)
Nearly every positive change in the world started as a goal. That is how we get better. We take a look at something we are doing, and make a choice to improve the outcome. Last year you saved $300 per month, this year you want to save more. You set a goal of saving $500 per month. That is a goal.
Earlier this year I did a story called Goal Setting for runners. There are a million different stories and articles about goal setting on the web. Actually I just googled "Goal Setting" and there are 3,510,000 listings. That is a lot. This is not one of them. This article is two things: a reminder to you that goal setting is important, and it is that time of year when you can find the most support to help you with your goals. And number two: This is my way of making my goals public. My way to help me stay accountable to my goals. My public declaration.
This is the time of year that your local gyms are full. They have all the people that joined and didn't come last year, back again. And they have all the New Years resolution people from this year in there trying to get back in shape. Running shops now have lines on weekends of people getting fitted for their new shoes. 5k's and 10k's scheduled for the nest few months get an added burst of participants from all those people who put running on their list for 2010. Again.
If you are one of the people that already goes to the gym, or already goes to the track for Wednesday Night Workouts, you may find yourself having to wait in line for the next piece of equipment on your circuit, or having to run around a few more slow runners on the track. Hey, it's that time of year. Some people resent these people that are trying to get back into shape. Some people call it amateur month.
You know what I say to these already in shape dedicated complaining athletes? Get over it!
Last year I was one of those people that decided to make a change in my life. Last year, like the previous 20 years, I told myself "This is it. This is the year I am going to get into shape." Last year I did it. I started at the beginning of last year, and am still going. Maybe this is your year.
I started by doing P90X. I got up at 4:30 am in the morning, six days a week, and stretched, kicked, punched, jumped, stretched, lifted, and pulled. I was in pain on a regular basis, and I burned off a lot of calories. I hated it. An hour and a half of yoga two times a week made me want to shoot myself. I started substituting running on the days that I was supposed to do yoga. The more I ran, the more I enjoyed it. I decided to substitute running for the day we did Plyometrics.
It did not take me very long before I had replaced P90X with running altogether. I loved it. I found my Chi. I logged about 900 miles in 2009, and I ran my first half marathon.
It does not matter what you choose, just choose something. Find something that is good for you, that you enjoy. This is a running blog, so there is a good chance that running is what you found. But if you start replacing your runs with yoga and Plyometrics, to the point where you are working out 4 or 5 times a week , and you are loving it, that is the right choice for you.
Don't get me wrong, I still have a weight problem. I am running the Walt Disney World Marathon next Sunday, and I am in the best shape I have been in 15 years, but I am also close to me heaviest. I wrote about Weight Loss and Running a while back, but apparently I did not read it. Just because you run three or four times per week, doesn't mean you can overdose on Carmel Cone Ice Cream whenever you want. Me legs are in great shape, and my cardio is also strong. But my core is still jello. That is the part I am taking on in 2010.
2009 also saw the launch of this blog, Run Into Shape. I have always thought about writing, but could never come up with a subject, or a medium, that was quite right. Now I have running, and just about everyone writes a blog:) Of the 300 runners I follow on Twitter, I think over 100 of them write a blog. With that many running blogs, the fact that Run Into Shape is the number four most followed running blog on Facebook makes me proud. Thanks!
My 2010 Goals:
Running: I am running my first Marathon this upcoming weekend. I am going to Disney World to mark off one of the most important and difficult items on my life list so far. I plan to run a total of three in 2010. I also plan to run two half marathons. I am aiming to break four hours my first race, and would like to qualify for Boston in my third. My guess is the Qualifying for Boston Goal will be back on my list for 2011.
We are also running the Ragnar Relay Del Sol coming up in the end of February. This is a 12 person team running three legs each for a total of about 203 miles from Prescott to Mesa in Arizona. We will start at noon on Friday and finish about 8pm on Saturday, about 32 hours or so. This is going to be a blast. Our team is made up of people from Seattle, Phoenix, and some Seattle Transplants. We had only one requirement for the people we chose for our team. We don't care about how fast they are, they just have to be fun. If I am going to spend 30 plus hours crammed into a van with you, I want to make sure they know how to have a good time.
That, and you need to be able to finish your three legs. So I guess that makes that two requirements :)
I am shooting to log 1250 miles total in 2010. This will require about 25 miles per week for the year. This will need me to average 4 runs per week to run this many miles.
Training: In 2009 I ran the miles. In 2010 I am going to actually train. I will do hills, track, tempo runs, intervals... and more hills. This is a real goal for me. A hard one. I don't do hills ( see The Hills are Alive).
Health (Eat to Run, not Run to Eat): It is time for me to put the same effort into controlling my diet that I do into my exercise. I have proven to myself that I can stick to the running, now it is time to work on the intake. I was doing very well when I was wearing my Body Bugg earlier in the year. But since I quit using it, I have stopped counting calories, the one sure way to control your weight. I will not go on a diet, just watch my diet.
I want to lose 25 pounds in 2010. There, I said it.
2010: Get back on the Body Bugg and log my food. Every day, every meal. Take in less calories than I burn. It is simple. Just do it.
Keep on Bloggin: Look for a face lift to my blog sometime in march. My goal is to write an average of once per week this year, for a total of 52 stories. This is a much bigger commitment than in 2009.
I am a believer in competition. Why do something if you don't want to do it well. In blogging, there is a scorecard. They are called followers and income. Since you need to make $100 before Google will take the time to cut you a check, and I am only up to about a total of $.34, I think I am a ways away from making any money from my blog. That means I track followers. On blogger, a good blog will have 100's or 1000's of followers. I have 26. I want to reach 300 followers on Blogger, and 300 on Facebook. That would make Run Into Shape the most followed blog on FB, and somewhere about 5079th on Blogger :) I will settle for #1 on FB in 2010.
I have other goals for 2010. I hope to get promoted. I want to take Jane to Europe for our anniversary (13th). I want to launch Inspirational Runner. I also have some financial and budgetary goals. But today we are sticking to the point of this blog.
What are your running and fitness goals for 2010? Are you planning on running? Sign up for a 5k. Are you making a mileage commitment? Are you going to run a certain amount of times per week? Do you want to run a marathon? Here is your chance to put them in writing, and make your public declaration. Loud and Proud! Leave your 2010 goal as a comment.
Showing posts with label twitter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label twitter. Show all posts
Monday, January 4, 2010
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Disney World Marathon - 30 days and counting...
November 9th, 1989, will always be known as the day the Berlin Wall came down. On a slightly less historically relevant note, January 10th, 2010, will be known as the day I ran my first marathon, the Walt Disney World Marathon. Why do I compare thee? Because so far, to date, I have never hit the wall...
There are a few things that all runners , and many non-runners, have heard of. We have all heard the term "Runners High". We have all heard about the races we run. The 10k, the 5k, the half marathon, the marathon, even the 50 yard dash.
Some of us will know more of the technical terms like "Tempo Runs", "Hill Workouts", and "Interval Training". But the big one, the one we all wish we didn't know, is "Hit The Wall". Hitting the wall to a runner, would be like removing the tires from the wheels on a race car, with about 20% or 30% of the race left. It becomes a completely different race. Instead of worrying about your speed or your pace, you start to worry about weather you are going to be able to even finish the race...
Or so I have been told.
28 days from now, I will catch the red Eye from here to Orlando. We will land about 9:00 in the morning. The plan is to spend the day at Disney World, and then get to bed early. I will need to go for a run the morning we get there. That ought to be fun. Throwing on the kicks and heading out after about 10 hours of travel.
But before that, I have four weeks of training left... I will wake up sometime around 5:00 am 17 more times between now and race day. I will strap on my shoes, layer on my running gear, and hit the streets four times per week for the next four weeks. I will run 105 training miles between now and then. Yet, I will never hit the wall.
Tomorrow morning I run 12 miles with my long run group. If you read this tonight, 12/11/09, please send me an e-mail, and tell me to make sure to dress warm and kick butt! ( adam@runintoshape.com )If you read this tomorrow, shoot me a message and ask me if I actually got out of bed (not a chance in h e double tooth picks that I will miss this run), so give me props on my morning 12, it's gonna be cold. If you have my cell number, send me a text.
29 days from today, I will wake up in my hotel room in Orlando, and not go for a run. The only Saturday in the last six months that I get to sleep in and not feel guilty about. I still don't get to sleep in. You don't go to Disney World to sleep in...
Next Saturday, three weeks out from the race, we run 20 miles. Both the longest distance I will run during my training, and the longest distance I will have ever run, up to that point. Those are the mornings that I lose sleep over. It will give me a decent gauge on how my race is going to go. I think I will get a little taste of the pain that will be involved. I will get to work on the mind games that will hopefully enable me to keep my mind on the prize... and off the pain.
Between now and that 20 mile run, I will run five of the seven mornings. Those are the runs that I sometimes struggle with getting out of bed. A little help is always appreciated... ( Facebook message). I am somewhat confident that I will be able to run the 20 miles. It's the training runs between now and then that dictate both my pace and my pain that I am not so sure about.
When I get up on the Sunday morning of the race a month from now, it will be more like Saturday night. The race is at 5:40 am, and you have to be in the lot at the park by 3:00 am to get on the ferry and make sure you are there on time. With the two hour time difference between Phoenix and Orlando, that means I will need to leave my hotel by midnight or not much later (AZ time), to be at the starting line when the gun goes off... WTH!?
What time do you need to go to bed if you need to be up by midnight?
About two weeks out from the race, I will start to taper my training. That means that I start cutting back on my mileage. My Saturdays will go from 20 miles, to 10 miles, to six miles. After building up in miles every weekend for the last six months, it will almost feel like cheating. It will be a nice change after averaging over 80 miles per month for the last half a year.
By Christmas weekend we will will be down to about an hour and a half for my long run. I don't know if that will be enough to burn off the turkey, gravy, and hot toddies I plan on consuming over the holidays. Shoot me some inspiration to get out on the streets and run off some of that extra insulation I will be packing on ( Twitter ).
With 30 days to go, I am starting to get both nervous and excited. I am starting to think that I will actually be able to do this. But I am getting nervous about how I will react when I hit the wall. I have talked to people that hit the wall at mile 13, mile 17, mile 22, mile 23, mile 25, and just about every other number between 11 and 26.2. You know who I have never spoken to? I have never talked to the guy that didn't hit the wall. No one has ever said that to me.
Will I be the first? Will I be the only person in the world to run a marathon and not hit the wall? My guess is not. So the real question is: How am I going to respond when I hit the wall? Will I step up, or will I fall apart. Will I dig deep and fight through it, or will it grab my by the throat and shake me like a little rag doll?
When my knees start to shake, and my hips start to burn, or my calves cramp up into a bag of knots, what am I going to do? My question is "If you have been running along at your goal pace, and you hit the wall, how do you keep going and reach your goals? How do you not give up?"
I get to spend 4 full days in the happiest place on earth. (Adam Dopps, now that you have been running 4 days a week for the last 6 months, where are you gonna go? I'm going to Disney World) Now, with that being said, 30 days from now I AM going to hit the wall. I will, at some point, develope concrete sacks for legs, and rubber bands for lungs. I will reach the point, that I will question my metal.
The other thing I know is that when I am running that 26.2 miles, 30 days from now, I want to be able to look back and think about some of the things that I heard from you readers. I want to get 300 e-mails, facebook messages, blog comments, or tweets between now and then. When I hit the wall, I will start running your comments through my mind. The funny ones. The inspirational ones. Even the ones calling me an a$$hole. Actually those are the ones I love to think about when I run. I want to prove them wrong.
About 100 people per week read this blog. Send me a note. I want to have a lot to think about that day. I need to have something to laugh at during my training runs. I want to have something to thank you for when I'm done.
November 29th, 1989, the wall came down. January 10th, 2010, I will be breaking down another one. And I will be thanking and thinking of you.
There are a few things that all runners , and many non-runners, have heard of. We have all heard the term "Runners High". We have all heard about the races we run. The 10k, the 5k, the half marathon, the marathon, even the 50 yard dash.
Some of us will know more of the technical terms like "Tempo Runs", "Hill Workouts", and "Interval Training". But the big one, the one we all wish we didn't know, is "Hit The Wall". Hitting the wall to a runner, would be like removing the tires from the wheels on a race car, with about 20% or 30% of the race left. It becomes a completely different race. Instead of worrying about your speed or your pace, you start to worry about weather you are going to be able to even finish the race...
Or so I have been told.
28 days from now, I will catch the red Eye from here to Orlando. We will land about 9:00 in the morning. The plan is to spend the day at Disney World, and then get to bed early. I will need to go for a run the morning we get there. That ought to be fun. Throwing on the kicks and heading out after about 10 hours of travel.
But before that, I have four weeks of training left... I will wake up sometime around 5:00 am 17 more times between now and race day. I will strap on my shoes, layer on my running gear, and hit the streets four times per week for the next four weeks. I will run 105 training miles between now and then. Yet, I will never hit the wall.
Tomorrow morning I run 12 miles with my long run group. If you read this tonight, 12/11/09, please send me an e-mail, and tell me to make sure to dress warm and kick butt! ( adam@runintoshape.com )If you read this tomorrow, shoot me a message and ask me if I actually got out of bed (not a chance in h e double tooth picks that I will miss this run), so give me props on my morning 12, it's gonna be cold. If you have my cell number, send me a text.
29 days from today, I will wake up in my hotel room in Orlando, and not go for a run. The only Saturday in the last six months that I get to sleep in and not feel guilty about. I still don't get to sleep in. You don't go to Disney World to sleep in...
Next Saturday, three weeks out from the race, we run 20 miles. Both the longest distance I will run during my training, and the longest distance I will have ever run, up to that point. Those are the mornings that I lose sleep over. It will give me a decent gauge on how my race is going to go. I think I will get a little taste of the pain that will be involved. I will get to work on the mind games that will hopefully enable me to keep my mind on the prize... and off the pain.
Between now and that 20 mile run, I will run five of the seven mornings. Those are the runs that I sometimes struggle with getting out of bed. A little help is always appreciated... ( Facebook message). I am somewhat confident that I will be able to run the 20 miles. It's the training runs between now and then that dictate both my pace and my pain that I am not so sure about.
When I get up on the Sunday morning of the race a month from now, it will be more like Saturday night. The race is at 5:40 am, and you have to be in the lot at the park by 3:00 am to get on the ferry and make sure you are there on time. With the two hour time difference between Phoenix and Orlando, that means I will need to leave my hotel by midnight or not much later (AZ time), to be at the starting line when the gun goes off... WTH!?
What time do you need to go to bed if you need to be up by midnight?
About two weeks out from the race, I will start to taper my training. That means that I start cutting back on my mileage. My Saturdays will go from 20 miles, to 10 miles, to six miles. After building up in miles every weekend for the last six months, it will almost feel like cheating. It will be a nice change after averaging over 80 miles per month for the last half a year.
By Christmas weekend we will will be down to about an hour and a half for my long run. I don't know if that will be enough to burn off the turkey, gravy, and hot toddies I plan on consuming over the holidays. Shoot me some inspiration to get out on the streets and run off some of that extra insulation I will be packing on ( Twitter ).
With 30 days to go, I am starting to get both nervous and excited. I am starting to think that I will actually be able to do this. But I am getting nervous about how I will react when I hit the wall. I have talked to people that hit the wall at mile 13, mile 17, mile 22, mile 23, mile 25, and just about every other number between 11 and 26.2. You know who I have never spoken to? I have never talked to the guy that didn't hit the wall. No one has ever said that to me.
Will I be the first? Will I be the only person in the world to run a marathon and not hit the wall? My guess is not. So the real question is: How am I going to respond when I hit the wall? Will I step up, or will I fall apart. Will I dig deep and fight through it, or will it grab my by the throat and shake me like a little rag doll?
When my knees start to shake, and my hips start to burn, or my calves cramp up into a bag of knots, what am I going to do? My question is "If you have been running along at your goal pace, and you hit the wall, how do you keep going and reach your goals? How do you not give up?"
I get to spend 4 full days in the happiest place on earth. (Adam Dopps, now that you have been running 4 days a week for the last 6 months, where are you gonna go? I'm going to Disney World) Now, with that being said, 30 days from now I AM going to hit the wall. I will, at some point, develope concrete sacks for legs, and rubber bands for lungs. I will reach the point, that I will question my metal.
The other thing I know is that when I am running that 26.2 miles, 30 days from now, I want to be able to look back and think about some of the things that I heard from you readers. I want to get 300 e-mails, facebook messages, blog comments, or tweets between now and then. When I hit the wall, I will start running your comments through my mind. The funny ones. The inspirational ones. Even the ones calling me an a$$hole. Actually those are the ones I love to think about when I run. I want to prove them wrong.
About 100 people per week read this blog. Send me a note. I want to have a lot to think about that day. I need to have something to laugh at during my training runs. I want to have something to thank you for when I'm done.
November 29th, 1989, the wall came down. January 10th, 2010, I will be breaking down another one. And I will be thanking and thinking of you.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Running friends
When my buddy Paul started running, it bugged the crap out of me. Every time we got together with him and his wife, the conversation would eventually turn to running, spin class, bike riding, training, his body bugg, his calorie burn, or some other fitness topic that usually led to me ordering seconds, or having another cocktail. Dude, we get it. Your in shape. You could pull a car. You could have your own show on the ocho at 3am. Get over yourself. Cripes! Shut up about it.
Now, five years later, I just had a friend of mine post something like that to me on my facebook page.
Quote: "If i have to read one more comment of you eating a salad, running in the heat...reading or writing...i am going to throw up...where is my fun Adam who drinks and jokes...and passes out...."
Now remember, I love this guy, but he may not be what's best for my continued running. Not that we aren't friends. We just currently have different preferences for leisure activity...
I am not saying I can host a show on the ocho, but I am in better shape than I was five years ago. That is not my point though. My point is, when my buddy Paul started exercising, we started hanging out less. Part his choice, part mine. I didn't want to continually hear about it, and he probably wanted to spend more time with people who could relate to his new healthier lifestyle.
They say that people who are overweight tend to have over weightfriends. They say that people who drink to much tend to have friends that do likewise. Remember the first time you tried a cigarette, or beer, or...? You weren't with a group of friends, with you being the only one doing it. You did it with your friends. It was called peer pressure. Or just hanging out with people of similar interests. I'm not sure what they call that when your an adult.
James Ray, author of a book called Harmonic wealth, says that a person's income tends to be very close to the average of that person's 10 closest friends. Take a look around your own life and see if it holds true. Add up the approximate salary of the 10 people that you spend most of your time with – even if they're not friends of yours – and then divide that number by 10. Is the figure that you came up with roughly what you make in a year?
I can tell you this: When I go out with my Foodie friends, my body bugg tells me I ate to much. When I go out with my drinking buddies, there is a good chance that I won't make my run the next morning. When I go out with my sports fan friends, its usually to a sporting event or game.
When I go out with my running friends, it is different. If it is a casual lunch, I typically eat more healthy. If it is dinner, I drink less, especially if we have a run planned the next day. I don't have to feel embarrassed like am being arrogant if I talk about what I like. It doesn't feel like I am monopolizing the conversation. We all want to talk about the same thing. We talk about running.
What was your pace on your Saturday long run? What race are you signed up for? What week of your training plan are you on? Do you eat goo on your runs? Do you carry water on your runs, or do you stash bottles along your route before hand? How is that toe injury feeling? Do you prefer to go in the morning or would you rather run after work.
I am not feeling guilty. I can talk about my obsession openly. It's like AA for runners. Hello, my name is Adam and I'm a runner. Hello Adam, so are we. Would you like to tell us about your story? Well yes, as a matter of fact I would. And we all tell out stories. No guilt.
We live in Phoenix. During the summer, most people don't run outside. If they do, most all of them do it in the morning. Since we live downtown, it is tough to find people to run with. I run most mornings with my wife, and typically once or twice a week by myself. We run with a group on Saturdays, most of whom are training for January marathons. Most of them for P.F. Changs here in Phoenix, and us the Walt Disney World Marathon in Orlando.
It is great running with a group. We meet other runners. We see people that are way faster than us. We see people that are way slower than us, (although not that many:) It also helps keep us motivated to not miss our runs during the week, since we don't want to ever not be able to finish our group long run.
When you run with someone, it is harder to hit the snooze button (Snoozy), because you don't want to leave your friend hanging. It also keeps you from getting into a rut, which can lead to skipping your runs, or stopping altogether. It keeps you out there on you training runs when you are alone, because you will want to be able to keep up on the run with your friend later in the week.
As the weather here in Phoenix starts to cool off in the fall, we will pro-actively start looking for other running friends. I realized that me posting about my workouts, and my training, and my marathon goals, is getting annoying to some of my Facebook friends. But I will also say that the support I have received from other runners on Facebook is what has motivated me to keep running.
Then I signed up with Twitter. None of my facebook friends are on there. It is my selfish pleasure. It is all about running.
I searched for runners and followed them. I looked up names like alitherunner , seegirlrun , run2finish , and tinyjenna , and started a coversation. And guess what it was about? You got it: Running.
I post things like:
"First time pace under 9 min in 14 years (3.81 miles, 32:50, 8:37 pace). Either that or my Garmin feels sorry for me...(sorry/little excited)".
What do they say in reply? Something like my buddy said to me, or like what I would have said to Paul five years ago? No. They respond with answers like:
"iiagdtr @runintoshape Smokin'...that's a huge improvement!" or
"ReluctntRunner @runintoshape Whoohoo! Congrats! Nothing like breaking through a barrier!"
I am not special. They are not treating me any differently than they do any other runner, online, or in their running community. They are being supportive. They are offering advice. They are checking in to see how my long run went. They really want to know. They really care. Because it's about running.
Find a friend. Find a running buddy. Hold each other accountable for training. Sign up for a race together. Make each other get out of bed. Give each other high fives... Give each other someone to talk to.
I am a little bummed. My best pal Paul lives 2500 miles away. I don't get to go running with him. I don't get to make up to him for my indifference five years ago. I can't say "Dude, I understand." "I get it." That is until we run together this January in Orlando... hint hint...
Now, five years later, I just had a friend of mine post something like that to me on my facebook page.
Quote: "If i have to read one more comment of you eating a salad, running in the heat...reading or writing...i am going to throw up...where is my fun Adam who drinks and jokes...and passes out...."
Now remember, I love this guy, but he may not be what's best for my continued running. Not that we aren't friends. We just currently have different preferences for leisure activity...
I am not saying I can host a show on the ocho, but I am in better shape than I was five years ago. That is not my point though. My point is, when my buddy Paul started exercising, we started hanging out less. Part his choice, part mine. I didn't want to continually hear about it, and he probably wanted to spend more time with people who could relate to his new healthier lifestyle.
They say that people who are overweight tend to have over weightfriends. They say that people who drink to much tend to have friends that do likewise. Remember the first time you tried a cigarette, or beer, or...? You weren't with a group of friends, with you being the only one doing it. You did it with your friends. It was called peer pressure. Or just hanging out with people of similar interests. I'm not sure what they call that when your an adult.
James Ray, author of a book called Harmonic wealth, says that a person's income tends to be very close to the average of that person's 10 closest friends. Take a look around your own life and see if it holds true. Add up the approximate salary of the 10 people that you spend most of your time with – even if they're not friends of yours – and then divide that number by 10. Is the figure that you came up with roughly what you make in a year?
I can tell you this: When I go out with my Foodie friends, my body bugg tells me I ate to much. When I go out with my drinking buddies, there is a good chance that I won't make my run the next morning. When I go out with my sports fan friends, its usually to a sporting event or game.
When I go out with my running friends, it is different. If it is a casual lunch, I typically eat more healthy. If it is dinner, I drink less, especially if we have a run planned the next day. I don't have to feel embarrassed like am being arrogant if I talk about what I like. It doesn't feel like I am monopolizing the conversation. We all want to talk about the same thing. We talk about running.
What was your pace on your Saturday long run? What race are you signed up for? What week of your training plan are you on? Do you eat goo on your runs? Do you carry water on your runs, or do you stash bottles along your route before hand? How is that toe injury feeling? Do you prefer to go in the morning or would you rather run after work.
I am not feeling guilty. I can talk about my obsession openly. It's like AA for runners. Hello, my name is Adam and I'm a runner. Hello Adam, so are we. Would you like to tell us about your story? Well yes, as a matter of fact I would. And we all tell out stories. No guilt.
We live in Phoenix. During the summer, most people don't run outside. If they do, most all of them do it in the morning. Since we live downtown, it is tough to find people to run with. I run most mornings with my wife, and typically once or twice a week by myself. We run with a group on Saturdays, most of whom are training for January marathons. Most of them for P.F. Changs here in Phoenix, and us the Walt Disney World Marathon in Orlando.
It is great running with a group. We meet other runners. We see people that are way faster than us. We see people that are way slower than us, (although not that many:) It also helps keep us motivated to not miss our runs during the week, since we don't want to ever not be able to finish our group long run.
When you run with someone, it is harder to hit the snooze button (Snoozy), because you don't want to leave your friend hanging. It also keeps you from getting into a rut, which can lead to skipping your runs, or stopping altogether. It keeps you out there on you training runs when you are alone, because you will want to be able to keep up on the run with your friend later in the week.
As the weather here in Phoenix starts to cool off in the fall, we will pro-actively start looking for other running friends. I realized that me posting about my workouts, and my training, and my marathon goals, is getting annoying to some of my Facebook friends. But I will also say that the support I have received from other runners on Facebook is what has motivated me to keep running.
Then I signed up with Twitter. None of my facebook friends are on there. It is my selfish pleasure. It is all about running.
I searched for runners and followed them. I looked up names like alitherunner , seegirlrun , run2finish , and tinyjenna , and started a coversation. And guess what it was about? You got it: Running.
I post things like:
"First time pace under 9 min in 14 years (3.81 miles, 32:50, 8:37 pace). Either that or my Garmin feels sorry for me...(sorry/little excited)".
What do they say in reply? Something like my buddy said to me, or like what I would have said to Paul five years ago? No. They respond with answers like:
"iiagdtr @runintoshape Smokin'...that's a huge improvement!" or
"ReluctntRunner @runintoshape Whoohoo! Congrats! Nothing like breaking through a barrier!"
I am not special. They are not treating me any differently than they do any other runner, online, or in their running community. They are being supportive. They are offering advice. They are checking in to see how my long run went. They really want to know. They really care. Because it's about running.
Find a friend. Find a running buddy. Hold each other accountable for training. Sign up for a race together. Make each other get out of bed. Give each other high fives... Give each other someone to talk to.
I am a little bummed. My best pal Paul lives 2500 miles away. I don't get to go running with him. I don't get to make up to him for my indifference five years ago. I can't say "Dude, I understand." "I get it." That is until we run together this January in Orlando... hint hint...
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