I am so looking forward to the 261 Fearless Train the Trainer Certification course in Boston – and you do not have to be a 261 Fearless ambassador to apply! I cannot wait to start a 261 Fearless Club in Western New York! Join me the end of October!
As most of you know, I am a (very) proud 261 Fearless Ambassador. Kathrine Switzer is the ultimate running role model. I urge everyone to read the story of how she became the first woman to register for and run the Boston Marathon. (Her book Marathon Woman is a must read!) She was able to finish even after one of the race directors tried to (very) physically remove her from the race. Fifty years later she is being honored at the 2017 Boston Marathon, and she is going to run the marathon too! As a relative newbie runner who happens to be in excess of 50 years old, I am in awe of this woman. On top of being a fantastic runner and fierce advocate for women’s running, she also is one of the kindest people I ever have met.
Kathrine is sharing her honor at Boston with the women’s running community. Women can apply for a charity bib to run the Boston Marathon without a time qualification. AND you get to start the race WITH Kathrine! If you want to run Boston and be part of the celebration of one of the most significant events in women’s running history, I urge you to look into applying for a bib! The charity is Kathrine’s own 261 Fearless, self-described as:
Pronounced TWO-SIX-ONE Fearless, we are a global supportive community which empowers women to connect and take control of their lives through the freedom gained by running. Through a series of non-competitive running clubs and private communication channels, we provide networking, healthy running support and education, and a sisterhood to women all over the world.
It is the mission of 261® Fearless to bring active women together through a global supportive community – allowing fearless women to pass strength gained from running and walking onto women who are facing challenges and hence sparking a revolution of empowerment. 261® is the symbol that unites us as empowered runners and walkers.
Posted in Health and Fitness, marathon, Running
Tagged 261Fearless, marathon, run, running
HAPPY NEW YEAR! Maybe I’m a little late, but I feel like this is an appropriate greeting. A lot has changed for me since my last post – both my physical self and my perspective.
I’m continuing to work on my back issues since the September car accident. I have added medical massage to the chiropractic and I think I am continuing to improve. While Dr. Steve works at keeping me aligned, the massage is getting at some muscle points that still have not eased up; as she says, “hard as rocks”. I have added a stand up desk at my job and also purchased a stand up table for home. It took a while for my legs to get used to standing so much, but I definitely think it is better. I finished off a few races to the end of the year (I will review them separately), but otherwise really took it easy as far as running is concerned.
As the holidays approached, I was feeling overwhelmed with the traveling for races and holiday preparations. Then our beloved dog Samwise died unexpectedly over Thanksgiving weekend, and everything just felt “off”.
After Christmas, I still wasn’t feeling myself. That’s when I sat down to re-think what I could do to feel better, do better. I wanted to be excited about the future, not just plan it and do it. I decided to get running again, but take it easy. No worries about speed, just get it done. I signed up for the 2,016 miles in 2016 challenge. I am on a three person team for running miles, but I personally am trying to achieve 2,016 all-purpose miles. I signed up for 1,000 running miles in 2016 challenge. I signed up for some virtual runs to benefit some good charities. I signed up for some trail runs – including a marathon that is said to be one of the toughest in the northeast. I signed up for the Pittsburgh Marathon and some other local races. I started a marathon training plan, and I’m trying to stick to it.
What am I not doing? I’m not going crazy scheduling races in states to complete the 50 state challenge. I’m really enjoying the 100 Half Marathon Club – I could do 100 half marathons in my home state and complete the challenge. No travel worries and much less expensive. The club has a gazillion discounts not only for races but for running products, the dues are not high, and the club organizers are wonderful. There is no competition with other clubs. I highly recommend anyone who runs half marathons to join this club – just say I referred you!
Life is changing in other ways too. There is a high likelihood my husband will be retiring. My own job is winding down as well. We want to move. I will have to start over with a new job (in my 50’s!). I want to get some health and fitness certifications.
So this is my NEW year. Reevaluating myself and my goals at 52. Trying to stay happy and healthy for another 52.
Happy New Year indeed.
Posted in Health and Fitness, Running
Tagged 100 Half Marathon Club, 261Fearless, goals, half marathon, marathon, perspective, run, running
Today I followed up with my doctor for the stress fractures. Still in my CAM boot (it’s been about 7 weeks now) and still having pain. After I reminded him that my first half marathon was in TEN days, he thought the pain might be from the bursitis and not the fractures, as they should be healing. SHOULD BE?!? I have been so good in wearing that boot (even to bed!) and not doing any running or even walking without the boot. We don’t have the results from the x-rays but hopefully they will show some healing. In the meantime, he gave me a cortisone shot right between the toes (OUCH). If the x-ray looks good, he said I could try light running in a few days (should be much less pain), and I will be able to run/walk in the marathon. I’ll take it!
In other news, both my girls have flown the coop – Ashley has moved to Seoul, South Korea to start her teaching job, and Morgan has moved to her apartment in New York City for her sophomore year at college. Running is empty nest therapy!
WHAT A SUMMER!
Posted in Family, Health and Fitness, Running, Running Injuries
Tagged cortisone shot, fracture, half marathon, run
Other than my husband and two daughters (when they are home), I don’t have much immediate family locally. My in-laws are all here, but I really miss my own brothers and sisters, especially since my parents died relatively young and I lost one of my sisters who also was my best friend to breast cancer when she was 35 and I was 32. I especially want to stay close to my older sisters; Robin who lives in Virginia and Laura who lives in Oklahoma. Robin has been my adventure partner for many years, we even walked 60 miles over 3 days for charity one year. I figured who better to visit to to experience my first half marathon? As luck would have it, the Rock ‘n Roll Virginia Beach half marathon was September 1. Perfect timing, as both of my kids would be gone, and Robin and I could begin our year-long celebration of our birthdays (I am turning 50 in September, and she is turning 60 in November).
Since Robin is not a runner, I thought maybe she would like to do the 5k race or just party at the finish line while I ran the race. She threw herself right in and signed up for the half marathon, but decided due to some nagging physical problems that she would walk it. We both started training like crazy; she following http://www.halhigdon.com/training/51131/Half-Marathon-Novice-1-Training-Program and me following a modified http://www.jeffgalloway.com/training/half_marathon.html since I knew I would be run/walking my first half (I didn’t want to risk injury).
As careful as I was to follow the program, about one month ago I noticed a strange pain in the ball of my foot. Now I always have aches and pains, so I figured this too will pass. But when the pain because so severe that it was waking me up at night, I knew it was time to go to the doctor. Since I was training for the half marathon, my doctor ordered an MRI which showed stress fractures in my second and middle toes, and bursitis. Needless to say, I felt sick to my stomach and when my doctor said, “I don’t think that half marathon is feasible” the tears just came. Well that threw my young doctor off guard, and as he was jerkily tossing tissues at me he said “okay okay you can do it but you might have to walk.” Being a crier does have its advantages sometimes!
He also told me that if I felt better in two weeks, to come back, but we would set a follow up for three and a half weeks. Let’s say I had my hopes up for two weeks, but here I am at two and a half weeks and still wearing the damn CAM boot, still in pain, and wearing the boot is causing back pain and knee pain in my other leg. I am still going to the gym 5 or 6 days a week, but stuck with the elliptical, bike, and pool, and strength training. I’m following my training schedule but instead of running, I do the elliptical with no incline and hands free, to try to mimic running as best as I can. I also water jog. It sucks.
One week until my doctor appointment. I am signed up for a 5K on August 17. Stress fractures have added a lot of stress to an already stressful summer.
Posted in Health and Fitness, Running Injuries
Tagged Hal Hidgon, Jeff Galloway, run, stress fracture
By this time I had lost some weight and gained some confidence. Once I decided to start looking for races outside the Buffalo area, I also thought it would be fun to recruit loved ones to accompany me. Whether they ran, walked, or spectated, how great to have family to celebrate with at the finish line!
My first subject was my youngest daughter Morgan, who does run for exercise and who happened to be on spring break from college in New York City at the time of the Around the Bay 5k race in Burlington, Ontario. We drove up the night before and took in the expo. That’s where I saw for the first time one of my favorite running apparel stores:
https://www.onemoremilerunning.com/
Love their slogans and styles!
It was a chilly, hilly race, but we made it!
After all those 5k’s, I was ready to move on to a longer distance. At the expo in Burlington, I found out about the Chocolate Race in St. Catharine’s, Ontario. I figured I was ready for a 10k, but my running daughter Morgan would still be in school. I knew my oldest daughter, Ashley, would be home, having graduated from college, but she had not run in quite a while due to injuries. The word chocolate does have magical power over her, though, so she agreed to the race. Again, it was a cold, windy day running along the lake, but we both made it and enjoyed all the chocolate treats at the end! It was a great way to spend Mother’s Day.
It was great running with my girls, but I knew their schedules would not permit them to travel to races with me. Time to contemplate my next move!
Posted in Health and Fitness, Running
Tagged daughter, mother runner, one more mile, run
I still have trouble calling myself a “runner.” I’m slow, I have bad form, I breathe like I’m about to collapse. But a few months after I completed C25K, I ran my first 5k. It was a blustery, rainy day in Buffalo NY, and the wind was coming right at us for the first half. My goal was to finish under 36 minutes, and I did it, coming in just over 35.
The following weekend I ran another 5k (in the rain and wind again!), and this time I ran under 33 minutes.
A few weeks later, with my daughter visiting home from college over the Veteran’s Day weekend, she and my husband (a UAW worker) joined me for an UAW race in honor of veterans. It was really, really cold, and someone snuck a big hill in at the end, but Morgan even got a medal (and it was her first ever race)!
Needless to say I had the race bug! I began researching various races in the Buffalo area when it hit me — why not find races outside of Buffalo and do some traveling as well?
“If you run, you are a runner. It doesn’t matter how fast or how far. It doesn’t matter if today is your first day or if you’ve been running for twenty years. There is no test to pass, no license to earn, no membership card to get. You just run.”
― John Bingham
In fact, I have only been running a little over a year. It all started after a yearly physical where the scales were tipped at a weight I never in my life thought I would see. Then, as luck would have it, I overheard two of my sisters-in-law talking about the C25K program, and I was intrigued. I did the research, loaded my Ipod, and out the door I went. Lo and behold, I jogged according to the program and made it! Nine weeks (or so) later, with my clothes fitting a little loosely, I had graduated from the program, and was on my own.
This is me before I started C25K, after running up Rocky’s stairs in Philadelphia.
SeeLindaRun 