Be a Run Mentor

One of the things I love most about running is its inclusive nature. Running truly is one of the very few sports that accepts all ability levels, all ages, male and female. I realized this back in 1984 while attending my very first 10K. Actually it was my very first race period. I was a freshman in college. I had been doing a little running and saw an ad for the Great Raleigh Road Race. I was a student at NC State at the time and thought, hmmm,  I'll give this a try.

Not knowing what to expect at all, I showed up. I think I ran that 10K in 1:06:00. I really didn't know if that was good or bad. I really didn't care. I ran hard and had a great time. I remember sitting there in the downtown square afterward watching the age group awards being given out. I looked at all the runners in the square and I realized, these people are just like me. I must be a runner. It was the first time I really realized that I run, therefore, I am a runner. It opened an entirely new world up to me.

Never having been a team sports kind of kid, I never was very athletic growing up. I played a year or two of little league baseball and football, but it just wasn't for me. That day in 1984, I discovered running was for me. Been at it ever since....over 30 years.

As a running coach, one of the things I love the most is helping new runners. Whether its brand new runners, just leaning the basics or a new race trainer. I love the excitement they bring. They are usually hesitant and a bit fearful of failing or not being as good as the other runners or even worse not being accepted by the other runners. This usually comes with lack of confidence in their abilities. But soon they realize that running isn't about keeping up with others, it's about challenging yourself.

Occasionally, when away at a race or some other running event and I'll hear an "experienced" runner talk about newer, slower, or less experienced runners in a negative manner. I really don't understand these runners. I reason it as possibly a lack of confidence in their own running, so they bash the slower runner. Truly sad, but like I said it's a rare occasion. I guess in every bushel you'll have a bad apple.

I asked my running friend, Bart Yasso of Runner's World his take on the inclusiveness of running and he told me,

"Thad, as runners, we each have a duty to accept the role as mentor to a new runner or someone who doesn't think he or she can walk around the block, let alone finish a 5K. We are runners! So let's spread the message. The acceptance of all abilities is what differentiates running from every other sport."

I totally agree, Bart! I've seen so many lives enriched even turned completely around for the better by simply taking that leap of faith into running. When I hear someone talk about a slower or less experienced runner in a negative light, I usually reply back with, "You're talking to the wrong person. I ran my first mile (40lbs overweight) in 18 minutes wearing long plaid pants and a pair of wallabees." 😊 (True story.)

We all start somewhere. Whether we want to be really fast or just enjoy the journey is entirely up to the runner, but in either case we're still all runners.

When Last Place Is Better Than First

The other day, Steve, a member of my beginning running group at the Volvo North America Headquarters told me that he was learning to “celebrate the small gains.” He just discovered during  our post-run stretching that he could balance on his right ankle. Something he’s never been able to do. He also shared that he's had fewer calf cramps and has improved his breathing. Steve's excitement over seeing his running pay off in other areas of his everyday life was pretty cool. Earlier the same day, another client at Volvo (Debra, in her 50s)  who is in the Fitness Walking group shared a similar experience. While at a recent weekend beach excursion, she was able to pull the family's wagon full of beach “stuff” up the dune to her car to the amazement of her husband. Keep in mind that not too long ago Debra had a hip replacement.

What many don’t understand is that Steve's and Debra's experiences are what fitness is all about…celebrating the small gains. Before you know it those small gains add up to huge life-changing gains.  Getting up off the couch and taking that first walk really can lead eventually to completing a marathon. It all starts with that first step. 

New York City Marathon co-founder Fred Lebow once said, "In running, it doesn't matter whether you come in first, in the middle of the pack, or last. You can say, 'I have finished.' There is a lot of satisfaction in that." That was definitely the case this past weekend for myself and a client of mine, Rhonda. We ran the Triple Lakes Trail Half Marathon in Greensboro, NC and came in last place.

Distraught? Let down? Disappointed? Hell no! I’ve run a lot of half and full marathons over the past 25 years. My half-marathon PR is 1:30 (not too shabby). But the Triple Lakes Half Marathon at a finish time of 3:58:59 will stand out as one of the most inspirational and moving races I’ve ever run. 

Rhonda and her husband Row came to me several months ago. Rhonda was on a mission. She was turning 50 and wanted to run a half marathon to celebrate this milestone. Row was along for the ride to support, Rhonda.  Many 50-year-olds run half-marathons, but what set Rhonda apart was that she was not a runner and had over the years endured 7 knee surgeries. Rhonda has a passion for tennis and has played most of her life. It has taken a toll on the knees.  I could see she was determined and after passing her fitness assessment, we set to work on achieving her half-marathon goal.

The first session we had, I took Rhonda and Row out for a run/walk. I noticed that Rhonda was heel-striking and knew this would more than likely aggravate her knees. So, I showed her how to land with more of a mid-foot foot strike underneath her body. She took too it immediately and said after that very first session, “That’s the first time, I’ve run without pain.” That one small change made all the difference in the world.

Rhonda and Row continued the run/walk workouts on their own, hitting the trails most weekends. They also continued their training sessions with me coming every Sunday afternoon for a 1-hour workout. We worked on building upper-body, core and lower-body muscular endurance. While Row (in his mid 50s) was initially along for the ride to support Rhonda, he discovered he enjoyed the workouts as much as Rhonda.  I’m not sure who was inspired the most, Rhonda and Row doing the workouts and getting stronger every week, or me watching them get stronger each week.

Rhonda watched how Row had taken to the workouts and was really improving as a runner and she wanted him to run the half-marathon at his own pace and do well. She also knew he wouldn’t leave her alone to run the race on her own. I realized this too and offered to run the race with Rhonda. One of the best decisions I’ve ever made.

I met Rhonda and Row early on race day and the journey began. It was a chilly morning. Both Rhonda and Row were over dressed and each had a Camelback hydration unit strapped to their backs. Looking around they laughed realizing they were overdressed and were probably over “watered” too for a half. I told them they had on layers they could remove as they heated up and better safe than sorry with the water. 

It wasn’t long after the starter gun sounded that Rhonda and I were in last place. We held on to that title till the very end. Rhonda’s goal from the very beginning was to finish. Time didn't matter. All she wanted to be able to say after finishing was, “I gave it my all, I finished, and I finished strong.” And that she did.

We kept up a 4-minute run 2-minute walk for a good portion of the race. The course was tough, covering four different trails. The last segment was on the Owls Roost Trail which is quite hilly and has several technical sections. The challenging terrain began to tug at Rhonda’s knee, so we walked a good portion of this final trail and enjoyed the beautiful morning, deep in the woods, winding around gorgeous Lake Brandt.

Rhonda said that at each milestone birthday she’s done something adventurous.  At 25 she went sky diving. At 30 she went to Greece. At 40, she and some girlfriends went to Vegas (I’m sure it’s never quite been the same) and at 50 she ran this half-marathon. She’s already contemplating what to do for the big 60.

Towards the end of our half-marathon journey, the full-marathon runners began to pass us. First just one, then two, then the first female marathoner.  Each time, Rhonda gave a shout out, “Looking strong” “Keep it up” “You’re amazing!” All I could think was, “No, Rhonda. You’re amazing.”

We crossed that finish line almost 4 hours after starting and I’ve never had a smile so big on my face as I did throwing my arms up with Rhonda’s in victory as we crossed that finish line.

Runner of the Week: Jeff

It's been a while since I've featured a Runner of the Week. I'm happy to return the feature with an awesome runner and person, Jeff Williams. Some of you blog readers may know him better at Detroit Runner host of the blog of the same name.. Jeff is pretty new to the fitness world. He started exercising for the very first time in 2009. In about 2 years, Jeff has done a 360 with his fitness and health. Read on to learn more about Jeff "Detroit Runner" Williams and his running and fitness quest...

Over two years ago I went to get a medical exam for my life insurance.  The insurance company put me in a high risk category.  I didn't like it!  It also didn't help that I was turning 40 as well.  So I decided that I needed to do something about it.  My life had been work, come home, eat dinner and snack...and snack....and, yes, you guessed it, snack.  Then I went to bed.  There was really no physical exercise in my life.  Unfortunately what that did was increased my weight to about 195 pounds(I'm only 5' 6") and gave me high cholesterol(280!!!).  I knew I needed to do something about it so I bought myself a pair of running shoes, started walking and started eating healthy.  I walked for probably five months and lost about 30 pounds but could lose no more.  Then I started to lift weights which really did help get me fit but I was not losing weight.  So I thought, I'll start running!

I started by trying it on the treadmill but I could not figure out what was wrong.  I would run but I would just get too tired after a minute and have to start walking again.  I took things outside but the same thing happened and I could not do it.  I talked to my brother-in-law who is a doctor and a runner and he said "slow down!".  That was it, it helped tremendously!  I was just going too fast and losing energy too quick.  My first run was about six houses long.  Haha!  I remember huffing and puffing out there.  Each day I would go out for a walk and try to run one additional home.  I kept doing that until I could get through a block, then two blocks, then my subdivision street until I could get to a point where I could run for 30 minutes at a time and so on.  As I progressed I also lost the weight really fast and by the time I was nine months into the start of my exercising, I signed up for my first 5k and had lost 65 pounds and reduced me cholesterol to 140 points!  I have since put on about 5 pounds but have managed to keep the weight off since I started two years ago.

My wife was very supportive and we purchased an American Heart Association cookbook which my wife uses daily for our meals.  The racing is what really did it for me.  I loved it!  It kept my interest and gave me goals to work on.  I felt incredible every time I finished a race even if it was not my best race.  I wanted to PR every time.  Haha!  Crazy, I know.  I moved through the 5k to the half marathon in about seven months and raised almost $3,000 for a local hospital for my first half as well.  I figured if I'm going to do a half marathon, I might as well do some good for others at the same time.  It also secretly helped keep me motivated because there was no way I was going to tell people that donated money that I did not finish the race.  

I did not realize it at the time, but I was actually pretty good at running.  I did my first half marathon(which was hilly!) in 1:45:55.  Not super speedy but very respectable.  I have since run four 5k's, four 10k's, three 10 mile runs and three half marathons.  I also did my first full marathon in May(Bayshore Marathon in Traverse City, Michigan) with my running buddy with a time of 4:12:17 less than two years after I started exercising and I'm currently training for my second marathon, the Detroit Free Press marathon in October.

Running has completely changed my life.  Also, my family has helped support me throughout the process.  In addition, the running community and the many blogs I read are great sources of motivation.  Blogging about my progress also helps me - kind of like therapy.  I love talking about running with other runners and my blog (www.detroitrunner.com) is a great place to do that.  Runners are very supportive of each other and I have met some great people over the last couple years.  I hope to be able to run for the foreseeable future and I do what I can get other other people involved in the sport.

Thanks Jeff for sharing your story! Be sure to check out Jeff's blog Detroit Runner!

Training Adaptation: Be Patient and Give It Some Time

Yesterday, I was with my family in the good ole minivan as I pulled into the drive-up ATM at the bank. I needed to deposit a check and withdraw some cash. Sounds simple, huh? I'm in the middle of the transaction when I hear this voice yelling something. It continued and then I realized it was directed at me. I glanced down into the side mirror and was startled to find a red-faced irate woman's reflection staring back at me. She was waving her arms and yelling, "You're not supposed to take that long at the ATM machine!!"

Well, as you all know, when you're at the ATM, you're kind of at the mercy of the machine. This one happens to be rather slow. I had everything ready, before I pulled up to the machine. I wasn't wasting time filling out deposit slips or counting money. I was going as fast as the teller prompts would let me go. Yet this lady was convinced I should be moving faster.

A news article that I had read a few years ago popped into my head which gave me cause to worry. The article was about a man who was shot while sitting in his car in a fast food drive-thru. Who shot him? The person in the car behind him. Why? Because he wasn't moving fast enough. So, as soon as the machine spit out my money, I gave my wife and the three kids whiplash as I burned rubber out of the parking lot.

Sometimes newcomers to fitness and running can be a bit like that red-faced irate woman in the car behind be at the ATM. They think things should be happening faster and get mad when they're not. I guess a lot can be blamed on this fast-paced, give-it-to-me-now, immediate satisfaction world we live in. I love watching Biggest Loser, but I think it's played a part too. While the show has definitely motivated thousands to start getting fit, I can't help but wonder how many begin on their own personal Biggest Loser journey only to get discouraged because they don't see the same results as the contestants on campus. They forget the fact that these people are working out 24-7, seven days a week, in a state-of-the-art facility for 4 months or more.

There's actually some science behind why many don't see the results they want to see as quickly as they want to see them. It's called training adaptation and it takes time. Whether you're beginning a new running or resistance training program, you enter it with a certain level of fitness. Then when you begin the new exercise, your muscles become taxed/stressed because you're asking more of them. When you work out you actually cause tiny tears in the muscle tissue. Then afterward your body quickly begins to repair those tiny tears and it's this process that builds stronger muscle.  Problem is this takes time.

Remember that beginning level of fitness? Well, when you add new exercise to your program, your body's fitness level will actually decline.

This dip is called the gain threshold. Hold on, there's good news. If you keep at it (giving yourself enough rest in between workouts), you'll eventually pull out of that threshold and end up with a higher level of fitness than when you started. But you have to be careful. If you workout too hard and don't give yourself enough rest in between workouts, then you'll stay in the bottom of that threshold and end up weaker than when you started. This is referred to as over-training. Rest is equally important in training as the actual workout.

Over-training isn't usually the problem with new runners. Instead, new runners will often give up before they see that the gains in muscular and aerobic endurance as they pull out of that threshold. Running with others, such as in a beginning running group, can really help increase a runner's sticktoitness. The support of others can do wonders in helping you hang in there and make it through that first month as your body acclimates.

Also, if you're a seasoned runner, keep in mind that this exercise adaptation applies to you too. Beginning a new resistance training program in the middle of your marathon training, isn't a wise thing to do. You're thinking that you'll become stronger, but keep in mind that your fitness level and your running fitness will dip while you acclimate to the new demands you're putting on your body. Better to begin that new resistance training program in the off season before you begin your race training. 

So, if you're a new runner and struggling, think about that red-faced, irate lady behind me in the ATM line and chuckle. Know that taking your time will get you where you need to go and you'll get there injury-free (try to avoid that whiplash thingie, though).