Frackin HIGHlarious! I love it!

From John Bingham’s biography

Through running, I create myself as I have always wanted to be.
Nothing in my experience was as powerful as crossing the finish line of my first race.
With that single step, I overcame a lifetime of unkept promises to myself.

From A Perfect World by John Bingham

Our running shoes are really erasers. Every step erases a memory of a past failure.
Every mile brings us closer to a clean slate. Each footstrike rubs away a word, a look,
or an event, which led us to believe that success was beyond our grasp.

As it turns out, many penguins weren’t running to anything. We were running from
bad habits and bad relationships; from the worst of ourselves in a desperate attempt
to find the best of ourselves. Ultimately we discovered that running was the means to that end.

“The miracle isn’t that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start.” I know I keep mentioning this quote. It has really stuck with me. I went to John Bingham’s website today and felt more and more in tune with this Penguin credo.

I am just so deeply touched by the passages above. Somehow they have struck a chord in me – I get emotional just reading it. Just like climbing, it is just for me. It is a chance to do something I thought I could not do.

Looking back now, I have often used physical accomplishments to get through a bad mental time.

While trying to conceive, it was my list of things: Sing with a band, Run a 5K, Tandem skydive, Take acting classes…

After my 2 miscarriages, I was in the dojo 2 hours a day, 5 days a week.

After becoming a mother of two boys, in order to find myself again, I started climbing again – twice a week, just for me.

So, what is pushing me to run now?

My parents are moving to town, Zander starts preschool in the fall, Zevan is already 2 years old and no longer a baby… the next leg of my journey is starting soon.

The first 5K was really just a fluke. When I finished, with a decent time and still feeling good, I got that same rush of accomplishment of when I get to the top of a solid 5.10 or finally finish a V2 route.

And, other than a good pair of shoes every 3-4 months, it costs nothing to run. I can do it anytime anywhere. I don’t need a gym membership or special equipment. I don’t need a partner.

When I get my run in for the day I feel like I accomplished SOMETHING. For ME.

Wow. I just figured all this out while I typed this. You have just shared in my new discovery, my epiphany, even.

So until I can afford martial arts instruction again, it’s running for me!

I have a new training program… I used SmartCoach at RunnersWorld.com to create it. I used my time from the Garden of the Gods 5K race as my current race time.

I modified the last week so I could get in two rest days before the race. I honestly don’t know how I’m going to run more than 3 miles, but I am going to try.

I think I’m going to run the trails at GOG for my Sunday runs. Notice how I don’t have my running days on the same day as climbing anymore?

I need to buy my new running shoes so I can get started!

LEGEND
Workouts: All runs are Easy, Long, Tempo, or Speedwork
Dist: Total miles for the day
Dist/Time: 9mi @ 9:11 means “Run 9 miles at 9:11 pace.”
Warm/Cool: Warmup or Cooldown. Generally 1 mile each. However, on some days, you must run extra Warm and Cool to reach your distance for the day.
Speedwork: “6 x 800m @ 3:47 + 400m jog” means “Run 6 repeats of 800 meters each, with a 400-meter recovery jog after each repeat.”
Rest/XT: Take a rest day, or do moderate cross-training activity.

Race results have been posted!  Check it out! 

Take 5 In The Garden – 5K Results
Place Div/Tot  Name                  Age Time    Pace   Bib 
===== ======== ===================== === ======= ===== =====
  9    3/24    May Chan              39   26:10  8:26    62
 12    4/24    Tiffany Hauber        37   26:32  8:33   554
 80   16/24    Maida Scott           37   32:53 10:35    85
 89    6/11    Lanel Welsby          47   34:03 10:58   125
101   26/28    Kim Everhart          31   35:41 11:29   382

Remember, the Take 5 in the Garden course is a grueling one, and the St Pat’s course is flat and straightforward.

Quote from: Maida on March 14, 2006, 05:18:39 PM

St Patrick’s Day 5K Results

Place Div/Tot  Name                  Age Time    Pace  No.   
===== ======== ===================== === ======= ===== =====
  45    6/69   May Chan               39  24:35   7:55   201
  81   14/69   Tiffany Hauber         37  26:12   8:26   736
  82   17/72   Jennifer L Bognar      33  26:14   8:27    54
 281   44/69   Maida Scott            37  32:31  10:28   227
 307   52/70   Megan Schwartz         28  33:42  10:51   228
 384   66/69   Candice Jackson        35  39:06  12:35   218

I am actually NOT a runner. Never have been. Doug (we’ve been together 14 years) says, “I can’t believe you are actually running.” I dread it before and while I’m doing it. But I *love* the feeling I get when I finish. Weird, huh?

I saw this t-shirt on someone during the race: “The miracle isn’t that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start.” It has stuck with me since then. I googled it and found the book it came from.

Now I’m trying to track down a copy of “The Courage to Start: A Guide to Running For Your Life” by John Bingham. The library doesn’t have it, and neither does my favorite used book store in town, The Book Broker. So, I might have to just pick up a used copy on eBay (because I *hate* to pay full price on anything, even if I could afford it).

Anyhoo, it’s written by a guy who started running when he was an out of shape, overweight, smoking forty-something. His first “run” was down his driveway because that’s all his body could handle. Now he runs marathons.

“The miracle isn’t that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start.”

Take your first step toward fitness and a happier, healthier life.

Has the idea of running crossed your mind, but you haven’t acted on it because you don’t think you have the body of a runner? Have you thought about running but quit before you started because you knew that you would be breathless at the end of your driveway? Well, put aside those fears because you can do it. John Bingham, author of the popular Runner’s World column “The Penguin Chronicles,” transformed himself from an overweight couch potato who smoked into a runner who has completed eleven marathons and hundreds of road races.

Forget about the image of a perfect body in skintight clothes, and don’t worry about how fast or how far you go. Bingham shows how anyone can embrace running as a life-enhancing activity — rather than as a competition you will never win. In an entertaining blend of his own success story and practical advice, Bingham provides reasonable guidelines for establishing a program of achievable goals; offers tips on clothing, running shoes, and other equipment; and explains how anyone can prepare for and run distances ranging from a few miles to marathons.

After all, in running and in life, the difference between success and failure sometimes comes down to a single step. Waddle on, friends.

I need this kind of attitude for running. I’m looking for a little inspiration.

It’s good for me to have concrete goals to work towards. The first two races I have run are part of the five-race Colorado Springs Grand Prix Short Series.

5K on St. Patrick’s Day (March 11)
Garden of the Gods 5K (May 6)
Sailin’ Shoes 5K (June 17)
Grand Prix One Mile Race ( July 1)
Grand Prix Classic 10K (July 29)

It culminates with a 10K run – the jury is still out for me on this one. The idea of running for over an hour daunts me. :bolt: But, I could add it to my list of things to accomplish before I turn 40. And I *could* walk part of it if I got tired. The idea is to just finish it. I have committed to Sailing Shoes. One step at at time.

Since the race, I’ve slacked a bit.  No exercise on Sunday, but I am climbing tonight.

My eating has been mostly bad.  I haven’t used BalanceLog since Friday.    Last night we went out for Doug’s mom’s birthday with his family, and I drank my fair share of 2 pitchers of margaritas  , plus ate some flan and bunelos for dessert  .  Today I had a Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory Smore.  The whole thing 

I am going to run the next race in the series, which is Sailing Shoes on June 17. But I’m going to change up my training routine.

I’m going to run on Sun, Tue and Thu so my cross training days will be my climbing days (Mon, Fri) by default.  I’m actually going to try to do some interval training at least once a week.

I’m going to climb now!  I’ll update more later…

I fell asleep last night with Zevan just after 9 PM, and woke up around 4:15 AM.  I worked on updating pictures on the boys’ websites, then started taking a leisurely, relaxing shower…
Mama!  Mama!  Zevan woke up at 6:15 AM, when I was right in the middle of my shower.  He whined the whole time I finished up.     So much for calm preparations for the race. 

After my shower, he wanted to eat, so I put him the high chair with a bowl of Special K Red Berries and milk so I could get dressed.  In order to leave, I had to plop him in front of Thomas the Tank Engine show (Doug was still in bed).  He usually sleeps until at least 7:30 AM, so I don’t know what was up with him this morning.  Apparently, he was inconsolable the first 45 minutes I was gone “Mama, come back!” he kept repeating.

Tiffany picked me up this morning at 7 AM.    So early…

It was so cold this morning that I had on 3 layers plus gloves when we got to the parking lot.    I decided to take off the third layer and keep the gloves.

We met up with May and her friend Kris, and hopped on the shuttle bus to the starting line.  We got our race packets, pinned on our numbers, and got in line for the port-a-potties.  I ran into my friend Lanel and her husband.  I also saw Kim (another West Side Mom) before the race.

May and Tiffany did a little warm up jog.  I just walked a bit and stretched my shins, calves and hamstrings.  I ditched the gloves before the race.  I was mostly worried about the wet pavement.  I *really* didn’t want to slip and fall.

Bang!  We were off!  The first stop sign came up suprisingly fast.  That first big hill, as expected, was the worst.  I fast-walked up the last bit of it, from the main parking lot to around the corner.

The course seemed to go by faster because of all the people distracting me.  I hit mile marker 1 at 11:11 according to my heart monitor (I also averaged about 175 BPM – way high!).

About halfway through the second mile, my shins started to ache.     I walked for a little bit.  Yowch!  I was getting nervous that I wouldn’t be able to finish the race.  I plodded on, running as much as I could.  There was a little jog out and back on the second fork of the course.  It was uphill for about a tenth of a mile.   I hit the second mile marker at 22:47 (avg 170 BPM)

The third mile is a blur of pain for me…my shins really hurt…the cadence now was “ow, ow, ow” with every step.  I fast walked up the hill by the south parking lot.  I remember looking at my heart monitor sometime after 26 minutes, thinking, “Oh, May and Tiffany are already done by now.”  I ran on the downhill, got to the last turn, and I could hear the music from the stands.

“Let’s get ready to rumble…”  doo doo doo deh deh deh doo doo doo doo deh deh deh doo doo doo doo…

My heart monitor said 29:something.  I really wanted to finish close to my St Pat’s 5K time of 32:31.  So I ran my little heart out.  I passed the woman with the squeaky sneaker.  I passed the bearded guy in shorts.  “Run, run, run!” I said to myself (and possibly out loud, I’m not sure).

As I passed the clock, it said 32:something !!!     Woo hoo!

When I got to the little gate where they take down your number, the woman in front of me stopped running cold.  I almost ran into her.  Silly woman!  I called out my number to the guy writing them down.  I don’t know how that all works, but if that woman cost me precious seconds, I’m going to be irritated 

May and Tiffany finished right around 26:something and they were waiting for me, eating bagels and oranges.  I was so psyched to tell them my time!  Woo hoo!!!  They were so excited and encouraging.     I felt really great!  My friend Lanel finished shortly after me, and then I saw Kim right after that. 

May took off with her friend Kris to hike the incline   Crazy woman!

After chatting and some wonderful cinnamon bagels from Panera, Tiffany and I got on the bus back to the parking lot.  On the way home, we hit the Starbucks drive thru for a treat  .

All in all, it was really great!  I’m so glad I did it, and I’m so happy that I finished in the time that I did. 

I still don’t enjoy running.    I just really like the way I feel after I do it. 

I need new shoes.  My shins only started hurting the last few weeks, so I’m sure that’s the problem.   

Oh, and we went to the zoo after I got home, so I got even more walking in.    I’m beat, but I feel very accomplished.  And glad it’s over