M – 6 mile easy trail run @10:37 pace on upper Deschutes River Trail
Climb @ Bend Rock Gym
Tu – Final Skate Ski Lesson! I think it’s generally a bad sign when your skate ski instructor says gently to you “we’re all on our own journey…”. It’s possible my journey will not involve a lot of skate skiing…one of the gifts of trying something new is how it can show you how much you love something you already know – like running, climbing, and downhill skiing (which until recently was something new for me!).
Some downhill runs on a bluebird day to remind me I am competent at one form of skiing LOL.
W – 4 mile easy trail run with my sort of cop buddies Dev & Hobbes.
Th – 6 mile track Lactate Threshold workout with 3 miles @ 8:09-8:15 pace. Not real happy about wearing a tank top and shorts to run outside in February.
F – REST
Sa – 5 mile speed interval road run w/10x 12 second hill repeats + 10x 100m repeats @6:30 pace
Su – dreamy downhill laps at Mt Bachelor where Dan pulled his trick THAT I ALWAYS FALL FOR where I follow him down multiple black diamond runs. Lucky for him ~90% of that time was fabulous.
Why I’m A Runner: I am a runner because I love to compete with myself. I love the subconscious moment when my mind and body shift into auto pilot, the wind is on my face, and I am at peace. Some days are better than others but I love knowing that I will run another day. Running is one of the few things that I do for me, it’s not contingent on anyone else, and I’m more than okay in a crowd or totally solo. I’m not a “fast” runner so for me it’s about being in the moment and celebrating every accomplishment. My model is “strong and steady will finish the race”; it’s never let me down and keeps me coming back for more.
I’m Pretty Awesome At: I’m pretty awesome at downhill trail running. I have been known to walk 6-miles uphill on trail so that I can run back down…I can’t certify it but I’m pretty sure I can fly.
Future Goals: I am currently in “Comeback Mode.” Last year I went through a major surgery, which brought all of my physical activities to a halt. I have been working to rebuild my strength with weight training, dance classes, yoga and of course, interval training runs. My goal for 2020 is to complete a ½ marathon (13.1 is my sweet spot) and pick up a number of fun runs in between. I am officially back on trail, because I can’t stay away, but there are more miles to come in my future.
Random Fun Facts: I am the Original KP- KimPossible. A few years back I spent my 40th Birthday completing the KimPossible 20 for 40. I set out to compete in 20 running events over the course of my 40th birthday calendar year. I invited friend and family to join me on course as often as they could and I competed in runs all over the US. I successfully ended the year having exceeded my goal of 20 events with 7 half marathons under my belt. I’ve already started dreaming up a plan for my 50th Birthday, which is only a couple years away – let’s see what KimPossible can do next…yikes!
“You become strong by doing the things you need to be strong for. This is the way genuine learning takes place.” -Audre Lorde
You know when you pick up a book and you are so enchanted with the story and the writer’s way with language that you almost don’t want to keep reading because you don’t want the book to end? That is how I felt about Katie Arnold’s memoir. I expected based on our shared age and love of running and the outdoors, not to mention her professional work for Outside magazine (a publication I’ve found to consistently hire articulate and thoughtful writers), that I would enjoy the book – and I did. It is a lovely, touching, and moving work that leads you to consider your own thoughts towards life, running, and love.
Arnold charts her exploration of running and life through the lens of loss and gain: her parent’s divorce, her father’s cancer diagnosis and subsequent death, falling in love, the birth of her two daughters, her crushing struggles with grief and anxiety, and her emergence as a competitive trail runner. As she travels this path, often choked with fear and worry, she works to define what is most important to her, and to decide how she wants to live: “In a few months, I’ll turn forty, but here between the walls, my hair caked with silt and my shoulders freckled from the sun, I feel young for the first time all year. I think of people my age who want bigger, beautiful houses, high heels, new haircuts, the best schools. I just want this: to move my body until it’s tired and dirty and write stories and sleep outside and love my girls and Steve as long and hard as possible. I know this as clearly as I know there’s no way of knowing anything, really. I’ll have to fling myself forward, with equal parts conviction and ease, just like the river. If I’m going to die, I want to live” (173).
In running this trail called life, we’re all trying to figure out how to be happy. You start out trying to do it all, even the things you don’t want to or don’t care about, because that seems to be what all the other adults are doing. But if you’re lucky or smart, you realize as you get older that life is a pretty short ride, and there’s barely enough time to do what is truly important to you and to love your dear ones while you’re here. Running Home is about one woman’s journey on the trail, but it offers lessons for all of us about finding the clarity to name what is most important and the confidence to pursue it: “It will take me many more long runs…to experience what the Navajo have always understood about long-distance running: It will teach us everything we need to know. Like how to want nothing, even for only one minute” (244). What we need to know is different for each of us; Arnold’s courage in exploring her path helped me to find my own.
For a snapshot into Arnold’s thoughtful perspective on the roles of athlete and mother, check out her recent Trail Runner contribution below:
M – 5 mile SOS* workout lactate threshold treadmill run with 3 miles @ ~8:18 pace (1% incline, 7.2 speed). Urgh. That.Did.Not.Feel.Good. Definitely tired from late travel the night before, not sleeping well, and daylong workshop. The pace felt much harder than it should have for such a short amount of time…let it go, let it go…
15 minutes strengthen work, focus on gluteal and hip strength
Tu – REST
W – 5 mile easy road run around the outside of Disneyland with Odessa. Wound up doing some fun and random interval segments trying to cross the ginormous intersections and dodging tourists, strollers, etc.
Cookie Lyon Image: Wikipedia
Th – 5 mile easy treadmill run, 5.8 speed (~10:15 pace). Catching up on Empire. Will Andre survive his cancer? Will Jamal’s character be written off the show?? Will Cookie and Lucious keep their company and relationship together???
F – 6 mile SOS workout treadmill run with 4 miles at marathon pace (1% incline, 6.8 speed = ~8:45 pace). Now that felt good! Pace felt focused but reasonable. Still not super sure if it’s sustainable for almost four hours, but guess what? Don’t have to answer that question today.
Sa – touchdown at home 11am after a weeklong conference, drop off bags and kiss the kitties, then off to Bachelor to downhill ski. Bluebird skies, mostly great snow with some sneaker (and harrowing) icy spots.
Su – downhill ski at Bachelor. Hello, happy place, and thank you, Coalition Snow Taken For Granite All Mountain Skis https://www.coalitionsnow.com/
Total run miles: 21
Meditated 7 out of 7 days!
*SOS = Something of Substance. Basically any run with a targeted goal other than an easy run. Includes speed work, tempo runs at marathon pace, and long runs.
Running: 10-20 miles per week, with 2 SOS runs per week (“something of substance” in Hanson’s Marathon Method parlance, basically a non-easy run with a specific purpose) [https://hansons-running.com/pages/training-plans]
Skate ski lessons
Resume gym lead climbing
M – 6 mile trail SOS workout: general aerobic w/10x 10 second hill repeats & 10x 100m strides @ 5:45 pace.
T – Skate ski lesson #2! No surprise, of the 10 people in class I appear to be the most aerobically fit and strongest but…am in the bottom 3 for picking up the technique quickly. Sigh. This is why we learn new things, right?! What I do not have in talent and the ability to not overthink things I will make up for with persistence. Skate on!
Two hour alpine skills/drills downhill ski course on Bachelor with Oregon Adaptive Sports – so cool that the OAS organization offers these FREE trainings to their volunteers. Picked up some really constructive drills to help with weight transfer and smoother turns
15 minute core strength session
W – REST
Th – 4 mile trail easy run 51:29 with my friends who also happen to be my coworkers Dev & Hobbes (they kind of sound like buddies in a cop movie, no?)
Lead climb @ Bend Rock Gym
F – Skate ski lesson #3! Why can’t I fully weight my left ski! Why am I guarded with significant trust issues?? #workinprogress
Volunteered with OAS in the afternoon!
Sa – 6 mile road SOS workout 55:01 with 4 miles at marathon pace 8:45 [8:45; 8:44; 8:42; 8:37]
Su: 5 mile trail easy run with my beloved in Shevlin. No watch, no problems. Just a sunny day wearing lots of layers up top and shorts because it is still February.
I’ve been running for a long time; I’ve been reading Runner’s World almost as long (officially since 8th grade – see also: a million years ago). I’ve been a scientist for about half that time. Also, often when I’m running, I think about running. These variables add up to an obsessive and enthusiastic exploration of all things running. What I’ve been thinking about a lot lately are a bunch of little tips and facts that may not be known to new runners, or folks taking up the activity after a break. Running secrets nobody tells you because we’re all trying to look like we know what we’re doing. Herewith, part one in a two-part series. Today we’ll talk about some of the general facts about running that are helpful to remember. In part two we’ll discuss some technical tips that are not necessarily intuitive and can really help you feel great for most of your runs.
Fact #1: Nobody knows what they’re doing. I mean, obviously
some people have trainers, some are elite runners, some are running geeks (guilty
as charged), but this sweet game is an unpredictable ride. Sometimes you do
everything right and you still get injured and sometimes you stop loving it and
sometimes you have too many other things to do with your life. You can be the
best trained and most genetically gifted runner and still have a terrible day.
Or a terrible few years. Everyone is just trying to figure out what works for them.
You are no different in that regard than Desiree Linden or Jim Walmsley. So you
already have something in common with professional runners! Yay you!!
Fact #2: Most everyone thinks everyone else is faster than they are. FONBFE (Fear Of Not Being Fast Enough) is a real and crippling condition. It keeps people from trying a running event or joining a training group. Of course, there are some super speedies out there, and they are glorious. News flash: a lot of those same people are also friendly and supportive of runners who are slower than they are. In general, the running community is a fabulous, welcoming tribe. We have to be, because Americans are way more interested in football. We’re the only ones who care about our sport.
Fact #3: The first 10-20 minutes of all/most runs suck. It
takes the average runner awhile to get warmed up and for your body to remember
that you know how to do this. If you feel like you’re going too slow during the
first mile…slow down. I wish someone would have told me this during my first 15
years of running, because I always started out too fast and I battled side
stitches constantly. It’s ok and totally normal to feel like a zombie at the
start of a run; 95% of your runs, you’ll feel better soon. Just hang in there.
Fact #4: It’s OK to walk! Walking does not make you less of
a runner. No running police officer is going to ride up (or I guess sprint up)
and issue a citation and take away your running license if they see you walking.
People driving by who see you walking will either 1) not even notice or be like
2) wow those are some fly tights. Run/walk intervals are a well-known method to
gradually increase your endurance and lower your risk of injury (more on this
in Part Two).
Fact #5: The hardest part of becoming a runner is working up to 5K (3.1 miles) distance. Also hard, figuring out how far kilometers are because you’re an American. But you’ll get there. Once you’ve built up to 3 miles, the world is yours. It’s way easier to go from 5 miles to 13.1 (half marathon) than it is to go from zero miles to 3 miles. There’s something about building up to that 20-40 minute time frame that is intimidating physically and mentally, and your body is going to hear the sweet siren song of the couch. But you got this. Take a walk break, crack a smile, and remember that you belong here. Nice work!
image: PopMatters
Fact #6: SLOW DOWN. It bears repeating. There are multiple physiological benefits (more on this in Part Two) to slow, easy runs, not to mention the psychological benefit of not hating every step because you can’t breath. If you’re starting out, starting back up, on a run that doesn’t have a specific training focus, or just having a bad day, take a chill pill and decrease your pace. Think you hate running? I’ll bet you a pint it’s because you run too fast for most of your runs. Try slowing down. Still hate running? Go for a run with me and I’ll babble and try to get you to laugh and distract you. Still hate running? Fine, then the IPA is on me. But good on you for trying!
I have recently been fortunate to begin volunteering on Mt. Bachelor with Oregon Adaptive Sports (OAS). OAS has been providing instruction for over 20 years to adaptive athletes of all ages in skiing, snowboarding, climbing, biking, hiking, paddle sports, and more.
If you’ve ever skied or rode Bachelor, you’ve seen the size of this operation – athletes and their instructors and volunteers in orange vests taking full advantage of the beautiful terrain every day of the week. OAS helps bring the empowerment and joy of outdoor activities to every athlete. Yesterday I got to help a young man snowboard for the first time, and it was beyond awesome!
If you live in central Oregon, check out OAS. They have a lot of fun things going on all the time, and a lot of ad hoc volunteer opportunities that don’t even involve skiing, so you can easily donate a couple hours of your time to help this fabulous organization.
My energy was still in the crapper this week (as my maternal grandfather would have said). Highs were three days of lead climbing and my first ever skate ski lesson, lows were missing a couple meditation days and not getting any strength work in.
W – REST. Meh. I even canceled on my beloved strength class at Recharge, despite how very difficult it was to admit that I was too tired to go through with it. Went home and took a bath.
Th – easy 5 mile trail run 50:42 + lead climbing @ Bend Rock Gym (cause that’s what I do now boom)
F – my first skate ski lesson! Looking forward to getting more comfortable with the technique, but already love the little tiny toothpick skis and the total body intensity of it. Also got to volunteer with Oregon Adaptive Sports in the afternoon, which adds up to a pretty wonderful day on the mountain.
Last week of just chilling on the runs, after this I will start to introduce some SOS (“Something of Substance”) runs from the Hanson’s Marathon Method (https://hansons-running.com/pages/training-plans) program. Don’t want to start Chicago training in June on legs that haven’t turned over a bit!
M – REST
T – 5 mile easy treadmill run, 10:10 pace with 1% incline at the Holiday Inn in Hillsboro, while catching back up with “Empire”
F – REST [just haven’t been feeling quite myself lately – low energy, tickle in my throat, etc. Can’t tell if I’m coming down with something or just have a case of the mid-winter blues…]
Sa – 5 miles easy trail run 53:03 and….
passed the lead climbing test!!!
Very enthusiastic lead belay card holder Bend Rock Gym
Su – skied Mt Bachelor! Volunteered for Oregon Adaptive Sports
( https://oregonadaptivesports.org/ – more on this fabulous organization soon) in the morning and skied (even some trees!) with Dan.
