Winter 13.1

We signed up for it last year, but alas, it snowed a ton and it was canceled.  I guess that is part of the risk when you sign up for a night race which is held the last weekend of January in Indianapolis.  My brother Mike and I are always on the hunt for good trails here in the Midwest and this year, Eagle Creek delivered!

My brother Mike was with me (insert photo of us at the race here).  You would think there would be some convenient way for us to always carry a camera so we can capture these moments.  Maybe someday they can integrate one into a phone perhaps!  Anyway, we were both there and it was great.  This was Mike's first official half marathon.  I say official because he's done one by himself because he's hardcore like that.  You can see his race recap HERE.

Waiting at the starting line is always fun.  Seeing people's gear choices and feeding off of their energy is well worth waiting for the race director to start you off.  Everyone seemed excited and relieved that the temperatures weren't any colder.  Mike and I handed off our warm jackets to our step-father, Mike Young, who was there to support us, and then we were off.

I started slow as I know my tendency is to always go out too fast then burn out.  Plus my training up to this point had not been all that spectacular, so the goal was to take it easy and have fun.  I settled into a comfortable pace behind a young couple and I used their headlamps to light my path, reserving my batteries for later in the race when the sun had completely disappeared.  The girl I was following did a good job pointing out the roots I should watch out for by tripping over them.  She eventually ate it and I went around them (after making sure she was ok of course) and then continued on my way employing my own headlamp.  

When you sign up for a winter race, it's almost disappointing if there is no snow.  But, somewhere around mile 4 I believe, it started snowing.  Running in the snow with a headlamp is sort of like driving in the snow with your brights on.  It's kind of mesmerizing but at the same time peaceful.  

As I completed my first lap of my 2 lap adventure, runners became sparse.  I was running alone for most of the second lap, which is always nice.  The second time around I was comfortable with the course having noted the rooted and muddy sections from the first lap.  Though, the muddy sections were now a bit more frozen.  My lack of training became more apparent the second lap.  I took some moments to walk and eat some energy beans (which were frozen despite the lady at the running store's recommendation).  Last thing you want on a cold winter run is frozen beans...

Somewhere around mile 10 I got lapped by the folks running the marathon.  They looked fresh and were encouraging as they passed.  I rounded my favorite section from the first lap.  The section in which there were some trees down and you had to cross a little creek.  This section was mentally demanding which made for a good distraction from some of the negative thoughts floating through my mind.

I could hear the finish line music and the race director over the PA announcing peoples names as they crossed.  I crossed the finish line in somewhere around 2 hours and 40 minutes.  I'm happy with my time considering the trail conditions and training leading into the event.  The course was great and it was good to share another running event with my brother. I look forward to our next adventure together!

28th Birthday Run Recap (Better Late Than Never)

Well, another birthday passed (Sept. 23rd) and that meant another birthday run. For those who don't know, for the past 3 years now, on my birthday I have run 1 mile for every year old I am. I can't remember who implanted this thought into my head but it was one that I couldn't shake, I'm drawn to it. It helps me stay motivated and in good running shape throughout the year. This year had new difficulties, new learning experiences and new motivations. It was a really rough one, but I'm glad I kept on with my goal.

Like I said, my birthday run is a way to keep myself running throughout the year. But this year, things went a little unexpectedly. Our little baby Valor was due 5 days after my birthday, but ended up coming 3 weeks prior to my birthday. Kara and I don't ever do anything the easy way either. So what can be 3-4 days in the hospital turned into 2 weeks. A week before Valor was born, Kara's appendix ruptured which required surgery and a difficult recovery process as she was 35 weeks pregnant at that point. The surgery went great! I'm so thankful for the skilled surgeon and God's goodness as a ruptured appendix can often be fatal. Six days after the surgery, while still in the hospital, Valor's heart rate kept dropping and they had to take the baby out. That left Kara with some more recovery to do. Two major abdominal surgeries within six days! I'd rather run 28 miles... This makes my wife one of the toughest people I know to recover from that! All this to say, four weeks from my birthday, I was sitting in a hospital for 2 weeks, anxious about the safety of my wife and son, not sleeping, and definitely not running.

The run began a little later than planned, but in good spirits despite the inconsistent sleep the night before which is typical when adjusting to a new little person in your home. I decided on a route that I had traveled the majority of through other runs in the past several years. But this year, I decided on some path not previously explored. I needed this extra path to make my 28 mile mark, but still, incorporating trail that I had never set foot on was a bad idea. When I got to the new path, somewhere around mile 10, I discovered it to be tall(ish) grass which was a bummer. But, you just gotta see it as an adventure and go for it.

Despite my grassy letdown, the first half went great, making it past the half marathon mark in under 2.5 hours. But my legs were starting to feel the lack of training. My shoes were soaked from running through the tall grass that had not yet spent enough time in the sun to evaporate the dew. Mentally, I was feeling good, happy to be outside on a beautiful day and thankful that the previous month didn't end up in the worst case scenario. So, I sat down to eat a granola bar, and enjoyed the moment.

I was back to the tall grassy section and by the time I got there, the sun chased off the dew, leaving clover grass dry. Now that it was dry, running through it was more pleasant however, the dry clover was inviting to local honey bees. I didn't even notice the bees, or the clover for that matter, until I was already stung. Right on the ankle too! I would have preferred a sting in the face at this point! But, now I noticed the bees and instead of looking around at the beautiful prairie, I was looking down as if navigating technical terrain, careful of every foot placement. The mental chess game begins.

I usually don't have issues with cramping but the bee sting altered my gait a bit, causing some weird additions to my running form. So, more new pains. One of those pains that feels like you need to stretch out your muscles, but that doesn't really help. I got into the pattern of walking for a long while, thinking, "Okay, you can run again," then remembering why I was walking. So the running after mile 16 never went any longer than bursts (slow bursts) of about 100 yards.

So this was by far the most mentally exhausting run I've experienced to date. I had almost convinced myself to call Kara to come pick me up more than once, but part of me knew that she wouldn't anyway. I think what kept me going was something more than making the goal. It was the idea that I wanted to be able to tell Valor about this goal. I want to show him that its good to follow through with your big plans and crazy ideas.

I'm already looking forward to my 29th birthday run. Excited to do some training while pushing Valor in his stroller. I'm excited to see the new adventures that this year has to bring. I am hopeful that they will be less stressful in nature than the previous year but thankful for the lessons learned and thankful to still have my wife with me.

Dilemma: When Your Ideal Self Conflicts Your Inner Wimp

When creating a goal, its important to realize that you are eventually going to get to the point when you are faced with the dilemma of following through with it or not.   You will wake up some morning and the bed will feel more satisfying in that moment than getting out of bed to heading to the gym.  Or that bag of candy will seem more appealing than the mere goal of reducing the amount of sugar intake you allow yourself.  The Dilemma.

If you are anything like me, that little voice in your head telling you to sleep in or eat the candy tends to be more loud and annoying than your will power can handle from time to time. I like to call that voice my inner wimp.  When in a dilemma, caving in is a simple way to stop the anxiety your inner wimp provokes.  So what is one to do?

History books are full of people who have been able to overcome difficulties in their own minds and live out their lives in a way that doesn't yield to the inner wimp. So how do we overcome?  Psychology will tell you that people change for many reasons but for the sake of achieving a goal such as getting to the gym or eating properly, the change has to be seen as an extremely positive thing.  In fact, it must be so overwhelmingly positive that it is seen and felt as the truth.  You must believe beyond a doubt that going to the gym isn't just going to help you shed a few pounds, but it is actually going to save your life.  You must be compelled that, this "going to the gym business" is the only way of life.  The old is gone, the new has come.

Expect some "set backs."  These are normal.  At least I hope so because I have them all the time.  I haven't run in two weeks, but have a marathon this month! That is, a great example of the inner wimp getting the best of me.  But during these times, beating yourself up about it isn't going to help.  Just know that the real you, the best version of yourself is out there waiting, you just have to get back up and start where you left off.  Set backs don't equal you not reaching your goal.  They only appear in the moment more catastrophic than they really are.  It's another example of the inner wimp blowing things out of proportion.

Your Goals Await! 

Outlandish Goals

Without a big goal, I get lazy. (Even with a big goal, I get lazy... more on that later) But I need big goals, ones that kind of freak me out to get me motivated.  This is especially true for running or general exercise.  I like the idea of being the type of person who can show up any given weekend for a marathon and do it no problem, but that takes a lot of work.  So last year I came up with an idea for myself.

I was training for a 50k and as I was putting together my training plan, I noticed my 26 mile run was going to fall right around my 26th birthday.  So I thought, "Hey, would ya look at that, a mile for every year."  I did it, and I liked it, so I thought this would be a good goal to help me maintain the lifestyle of a runner.  The older I get, the more sure I have to be to stay in shape.

A week ago today was my birthday which means a day of celebration and a day of running.  This isn't a new idea, people have done this before me but it's very compelling to me.  They say a male is at his peak athletic ability at age 27, I don't want to miss this year of my life by sitting on a couch somewhere wishing I was the person who could go out and run a good distance, no problem.  So I did 27 miles this year, not nearly as good of shape as I was in last year, but it was still fun and rewarding.  You can check out my run by clicking HERE

Dream big, make outlandish goals, then do them.  It's much more exciting for me to do that, than to making sure I have watched the season premiere of Breaking Bad and its my guess that it's much more exciting for you too.

What are your outlandish goals?