My First Race

When I first began running in 2009, I never expected to run a race. Honestly, I'm not sure I was even aware that races were a thing you could just...sign up for! I was pretty inconsistent in my running at the time and I wasn't running very far...maybe a couple miles here and there.

In January 2010, this was my usual pattern: runs shorter than 2 miles a couple times a week. The 5k is the last green bar.

But after the 2010 earthquake that wreaked havoc on Haiti, a local church set up a 5k to raise money for disaster relief, and Matt and I signed up. I had just celebrated my one year runner-versary (runniversary?).

The race was pretty much as unofficial as you can get, but that's not to say it wasn't well-organized or successful. It was untimed and part of it was on bouncy Florida crab-grass and packed dirt. I remember it was overcast and the air felt wet. I was scared I would get lost. I was scared I wouldn't be able to finish. I had never run 3.1 miles before; I had no idea if I could.

Yes, that's right. I ran in cut-off sweats and the cotton race T-shirt. This was before I believed in race-shirt superstition. Also, can you tell I'm smiling?

For the first half of the race, I felt good. When we hit the grass, I walked. Part of me was devastated to be walking, but I noticed a lot of people walked in the grass so that helped my confidence. It lasted about a quarter mile as it looped behind some baseball fields; then came packed dirt, and I ran again.

You can tell this was in the days before everyone and their mother had a smartphone with a good camera. Here I am nearing the finish.

Matt was there when I crossed the finish line. I wasn't last. I'd done the whole thing. I had walked, but not too much. I sprinted the end of it. Having had a clear view of me for the last half mile or so, Matt was surprised and impressed that I had run the end of it and finished strong.

Matt and I post-race with our friend Ryan.

Going back into Nike+, I can see that I ran that race way faster than I remember. My subsequent 5ks were all over 30 minutes, and I've always believed my first 5k took me 33+ minutes, but apparently not!

Seriously? These are splits I would kill for right now.

My runs leading up to my first race were all less than 2 miles. Even though I knew nothing about running clothes or gear, my paces averaged in the 9:30s pretty consistently, which I guess goes to show that all the bells and whistles don't really matter all that much.

My last .1 was at a pace of 8:56 and I finished well under 30 minutes, which became a barrier in my next few 5ks that I set to work breaking. I totally forgot that I ran this 5k so successfully!

I was totally unprepared for my first 5k and I didn't know what to expect, but it was the perfect race to break the ice for me. After that, races were less daunting. Suddenly I realized that 5ks could be found pretty much any weekend, and I started to push my distances and train more consistently. 

I learned that having a goal race in mind helps keep your running on track. My running frequency increased like crazy; in 2010 I ran 35 times that year. Yes, that whole year. My total distance was about 82 miles.

Comparably, in 2014 I ran 115 times and my total distance was about 538 miles.

It's really cool to be able to go back and see my progress. I know I would have just kept running short runs a couple times a month if I had never run that first 5k.

It's true what they say, I guess. The 5k is a gateway race drug!

This post is fortuitously well-timed...Just before winter break I convinced a friend who had just started running to try C25k. She's hooked. We will be running a 5k together in February; it will be her first.

Do you remember your first race?
Do you have access to your entire running history?
What do you wish you had known before you ran your first race?

ABK

A Fresh Start

Time off has officially ended...not just winter break, but running-wise as well. I wanted to get this year started on the right foot, so January 1 I met up with Kristin and we had a nice four-mile run in the evening. It was my second 4-miler that week.

A very blurry (and green?) photo...first run of the year and we both just happened to wear our GGM tanks!

After time off, it used to be that I'd start all over. I'd run no more than two miles and take ages to build back up. But it seems in the last year or so, four miles has become my comfortable minimum. I'll run fewer if necessary, but I like to push for four.

Maybe how quickly I lose fitness is partially in my head.

Anyway, I started the first full week of the year by running another four, this time with Matt. I compared my last three runs and was pleasantly surprised by the results.

Last run of 2014.

First run of 2015 (with Kristin).

My most recent run.

Running with someone versus running alone may be partially to credit for this increase in speed, but when I ran with Matt he was comfortable going slow and I purposely ramped up the pace in each mile I just wanted to test my legs. (And he stopped at 3 miles; I ran the last one by myself and it was my fastest. It was nice to run sub-10 again!)

So...let's ignore my REALLY TERRIBLE POSTURE and focus instead of my super glowy shoes!

My new headband matches these shorts perfectly!

The good news is that my lungs felt great. The bad news is that my knees and hips are a little mad at me and I should remember not to overdo it too soon. (I may have been a bit overzealous about my IT band exercises this week.)

I also started the year with a batch of new headbands, which is super motivating!

I think I own too much neon pink and yellow...if that's possible.

Matchy-matchy!

I definitely feel a renewed sense of purpose and a sense of longing. I miss being fast. (Relative term, I know.) I'm excited to see progress and to stick with it.

I was hoping to know by the end of this week if I'll be comfortable running a full in February, but as of right now I still haven't decided.

Besides seeing some progress so soon, and getting running goodies in the mail, here's another mood-booster I got this week:

I've officially been a runner for five years! And to think, I used to swear I'd never run! That's all the proof I need that any goal is attainable as long as we're willing to put in the work.

How has your first week of January been?
What are your favorite colors to run in?
How long have you been running?

ABK

First, Running Saved Him

Matt and I spent last Friday enjoying a legitimate date night. We had dinner at one of our favorite Thai/sushi restaurants, spent some time browsing Barnes & Noble, and then saw Unbroken.

I was looking for a running calendar and found the most perfect one EVER.

I have the book on Kindle and have started reading it (FYI - it's AMAZING), but this post is about the events of Louis Zamperini's life as depicted in the film. (I'm not going to review the film itself in depth, so I'll just say this: while I felt some of the scenes and transitions were a little awkward, the movie was successful in creating poignant, intense moments. It kept me engaged and was definitely enjoyable and inspiring.)

Obviously Zamperini's story isn't all about running, but the role that running plays is integral to the story's outcome.

...in a nutshell.

First, running saved him. Zamperini was the child of Italian immigrants who struggled to find his place in America. He was stealing, drinking, and getting into fights at a young age. His older brother introduced him to running. Pete saw it as a way to save Louis from himself, to make him more than he was, to harness some of that destructive power and energy to turn it into something good.

So many of us have turned to running for a similar reason. It was a way to test ourselves and find our limits; it's a way to learn what we're really made of. Zamperini learned he was made of better stuff; running pulled him off a destructive path and onto a better one.

Running made him strong. Zamperini learned to dig deep the way runners must. You can't run a 4:xx mile without growing through pain. Running gives us a mental and emotional strength that transcends the sport itself, and when Zamperini was stranded in the ocean for 47 days, we see that strength. When he was captured by the Japanese and endures torture and starvation in POW camps, that strength kept him alive. 

(In the ocean scenes, we also see another aspect of running: the spirit of camaraderie and teamwork. Part of that may be his military training; I can't help but think that his treatment of Mac on the raft exemplifies the best part of a runner's spirit.)

So, running saved him from a life of crime. It made him strong and gave him the knowledge that pain is temporary and can be conquered. And that knowledge saved him again when he faced the brutalities of POW camps.

Throughout the movie, you see glimpses of Zamperini's running career and you see, through the memories, that running sustained him. It taught him his value, his true strength, moral fiber, and resilience. It prepared him for a future he could never had imagined. The other soldiers in the POW camps needed something to keep them going - most of them seem to be holding onto memories of family or hope that the Allies will win the war - but it's clear that running lit a fire in Zamperini that kept him moving forward even when it seemed all hope was lost.

This movie truly captures the indomitable spirit that makes runners great. It shows what runners are made of, even though the majority of the movie isn't about running, and even though most of us will never have to endure even a fraction of what Zamperini lived through. It shows us, through his amazing ability to overcome without ever losing his integrity or his identity, what a runner's heart truly is.

If Pete had never encouraged Louis to run, would he have survived? Would he have developed the mental skills and bravery that kept him going? Beginning to run turned Zamperini's life around, and I have to credit it (at least partially) for the courageous man he turned out to be.

In 1998, Zamperini returned to Japan and carried the Olympic torch past one of the prisons where he had been held captive.

Watching greatness in running translate into strength and greatness in near-death, real-life experiences was more moving and inspiring than I had expected, and I left the theater filled with awe and more than a little teary-eyed.

Have you seen Unbroken or read the novel?

Which runners do you look to for real-life inspiration?

ABK