Beautiful Heroes of America

One of the hymns in church today was "America the Beautiful" in honor of the victims and heroes of September 11th.

Last night and this morning my husband and I have watched several news specials and movies (Flight 93) about 9/11.  With all of that imagery still fresh in my mind, the song "America the Beautiful" took on a whole new meaning today.

The third verse reads:
"Oh, beautiful for heroes proved In liberating strife,
Who more than self their country loved, And mercy more than life!  America! America! May God thy gold refine, Till all success be nobleness, And ev'ry gain divine."

In reference to that last part of the verse:  The terrorists may have aimed planes at financial and political centers of America but they mistakingly thought that money and power was all that this country was about.  But they were so very wrong.  That tradegy brought out all the love and goodness of every American  - we banded together like never before.  We are now a stronger more unified nation.

I've always thought of military soldiers when I envisioned "heroes proved in liberating strife, who more than self their country loved, and mercy more than life" but yesterday that changed.  Flashing in my mind I saw firefighters rushing into a falling building, average citizens performing herculaen rescues and a group of passengers sacrificing to prevent another building being hit.

God Bless America!

Slothful Success

I've been feeling pretty slothful lately.  After the alarm goes off I lay there for 10-15 minutes before rolling out of bed.  The whole time I'm getting ready to run I'm telling myself I'll just go 3 miles at an easy pace...at least I'm running, right?

Well this morning during my first mile I was trudging along thinking about how I just gave my son a pep talk about trying his best at football practice.  How can I motivate him and expect him to follow through when I can't even get my own hind end in gear?!

With that thought pushing me I ended up running 4 1/2 miles, 3 of which were at tempo pace.

The mind is a powerful tool...use it to your advantage.

Football and Running

What do football and long distance running have to do with each other?

Fitness and goals.

My son started youth tackle football last year.  After the season ended we needed a way for him to stay somewhat in shape for this year's season.  So ever since last November we've been doing Fit Kids with him and our daughters.  Then ever since school got out last May we've taken them to the track to run and walk a mile.

All our hard work paid off.

Yesterday he started football practice.  He was a little sore today but nothing like he was last year or would've been this year had we not been focused on maintaining his fitness.  His goal is to make the A team of his age group this year.  And, as all runners know, the desire is 90% of the solution.

You Can Do It!

As great as it was to pace my dad in the half marathon last week, it was a bit of a bummer that I didn't run the whole 13.1 miles.  With nagging injuries I haven't even run more than 11 miles in over 18 months.

Until this morning.

When I started out running I was planning on 9-10 miles.  But the more I thought about it the more I wanted to prove to myself that I still have the ability to run a half marathon.

It was slow going but I did it!

Once again I used the ol' trick of running far enough away from home that I had no option but run back home.  I was very tired and foot sore but still able to float on clouds with a smile on my face knowing that I ran 13.1 miles this morning.

Once I got home I started searching for a half marathon or full marathon to race this fall.  So join me in making the commitment to a full or half marathon.  Just remember...YOU CAN DO IT!

Death Crawl

Whether you're a football fan or not you gotta watch this inspirational video.

Milestone Long Run

Motivation can come in many ways.  As a self-appointed half marathon coach to my dad I gave him instructions to run an 11 miler today.  I also counciled him to run in the cool of the early morning and to drink lots of fluids.  He did run 11 miles starting at 6 am but he never drank anything before or during his run.  At least he did 2 out of 3.

Since I'd coached him to run 11 which is 2 miles further than he'd ever run before I felt the pressure to join him in running the distance.  He lives 4 hours away from me but we both ran 11 miles during the same time period. 

I haven't run longer then 10 miles since I started having knee troubles in October 2010.  The only way I did it was to purposely run 5 1/2 miles away from my house thus having no options but to run the 5 1/2 back home.

It just goes to show that you can do anything if you have the right motivation.

Positive Thinking

Ever since I was a young kid my mom always told me that great things can happen if you think positively.

Nothing has been more helpful with my running than that piece of advice.

I'm proud to have passed it on to my kids as well.  The first time my 6 year old tried to run a whole lap without stopping she got halfway then starting chanting "I can do it. I can do it. I can do it."

My running mantra is "I Can. Dig Deep. Darn Tough."  The phrases are just long enough that I can say/think them with every breath I take when the going gets tough.  When things are really hard and I'm super tired I shorten it to "Can. Can. Can."

"I Can" comes from the Little Engine that Could although I took out the "I think" part.

"Dig Deep" comes from the shoelaces of my Brooks running shoes.

"Darn Tough" comes from and is the name of the brand of running socks my husband wears and loves.

See how easy it is to come up with an inspiring mantra.  You have got to get one.  You'll be amazed at the speed you can endure or the hills you can fly up.

Prize for Perseverance

My Wednesday's run was terrible.  I had to peel myself out of bed that morning, then it took 45 minutes of slogging around the house before I threw myself outside for my run.  It was supposed to be a 3 mile tempo run.  After a mile of "heavy foot" syndrome I promised myself that if I did at least 2 miles at tempo pace then I could stop.  It worked.  I was tired for the rest of the day therefore I wasn't expecting too much for this morning's run.

I was greatly surprised though.  I was under some time constraints so my plan was for just an easy 7 miles.  As soon as I started I knew today was going to be much different than Wednesday.  This morning running was pure joy.  I felt like my feet had wings on them like Hermes.  In the end I ran an unintended progression run - each mile got at least 30 seconds faster than the previous mile - even the last mile which is mostly uphill.

The moral of the story is that if you have one bad running day don't give up, try and try again because you will be rewarded.

New Blog Design

I hope you enjoy the new blog header. In no way am I suggesting that I belong in the same cateogory as the running greats Jesse Owens and Steve Prefontaine. What I am trying to do is surround myself with greatness and these two runners have been my role models for years.

When I was about 10 years old and running the sprints in a local track club, I admired Jesse Owens for his speed and records broken.  As an adult I admire him for running in the Berlin Olympics right in front of Adolf Hitler.

As a 30-something who took up long-distance running, I admire Steve Prefontaine.  Through lots of hard work and gut-wrenching workouts he worked himself almost to the top.  The podium would've belonged to him if only he could've lived longer.

Both of these men started from scratch, and nothing but determination and hard work brought them success.  What great role models to surround yourself with to help make your goals more attainable.

Dash for the Donuts

It's National Donut Day!  I find it very funny that National Donut Day is 2 days after National Running Day.  I guess a donut is your reward for running.  It was for me.  I tried Krispy Kreme's new Oreo donut (way too sweet and too much cookies 'n creme filling).  In that one donut I probably ate back half the calories I ran off this morning.

Sometimes you just have to indulge.

National Running Day

I knew something was different this morning.  Usually while running at 6:15am I usually encounter about 1 other runner.  This morning though there were at least 15 other runners, most of them in groups.

Congrats to all those who ran today!  Keep up the good work...it is so worth it!

Runner vs Worms

Like most of the country we've experienced a lot of rain this week.  This led to 2 problems:
1) lack of desire to run in the rain
2) having to dodge lots and lots of worms

After watching an episode of PBSkids' "Wild Kratts", my son explained to me the reason earthworms come out when it rains.  The answer is simple: because they can.  The water makes it so easy for them to cover more ground at a faster pace since they don't have to chomp through all the dirt like they do underground.

However, I believe that the rain creates havoc for runners.  I really, really had to throw myself out the front door for this morning's run.  After a half mile I really, really wanted to turn around and come home.  One step led to another and after dodging hundreds of worms on the roads and hopping over dozens of puddles I eventually made it 4 miles away from the house.  This of course forced me to then run the 4 miles home.

So after slogging out 8 miles run in the rain I'd venture to say that water on the roads may make life easier for the worms, but it sure makes it rough for the runners.