Cast Away moments

Most of my running routes are the same routes I drive on a daily basis. Often times when I'm driving I can't help but think about Tom Hanks character in Cast Away in the above scene. In the scene he's in his hotel awaiting Fed Ex's big press conference welcoming him back. He's holding a lighter and clicks it on and off and on and off as he thinks about the amount of work it took him to accomplish the same result on the island as his simple click in the hotel.

It's a great feeling of accomplishment driving here to there knowing that I've run that same route. It makes me wish that I didn't need a car and could simply run wherever I needed to go, but kids and life don't make that quite possible, but I'd like to start incorporating less car and more running in to my daily routines that aren't a part of my normal training. Coming soon is take your bike to work week and I encourage all of you that are able to participate. I'm thinking about knocking the dust off the kids trailer and pulling them to daycare before heading on to work. Yes there's extra time that needs to be built in, but it's good for me, a good example for the kids and it beats $4 a gallon gas.

As race season is pretty much here and people are coming in to their final weeks of training, I want to point out a great source of inspiration; for those of you on Facebook join the group 'Couch to 5k'. It's a free running program that sets a schedule to get people off the couch and running a 5k race. The Facebook group is a sounding board for those in the program who are seeking and giving encouragement to each other. I find myself spending more and more time in that group reading about people's personal achievements and growth as they become more and more active. I am also providing as many tips and tricks to people who are seeking some simple guidance. I challenge those of you that are experienced runners to join the group, and find some people that you can help, whether it's simple encouragement or some insightful advice about anything running. The people I've responded to have been very happy for the tips I've passed along. I'm not identifying myself as a marathon runner or triathlete or anything like that, just trying to be a voice of help and reason to help them along. Check it out it's great.

Run-enomics

Government spending, deficit, home values, jobs; what do they all have in common? Besides the fact they suck right now and impact all of us one way or another; I believe they have all helped lead the way to a running society.

If money's tight, gym memberships at $35 a month are less affordable. Yoga and zumba classes at $100 become too much on the budget. People have had to reduce or eliminate discretionary spending due to lost or frozen wages or to supplement a $55 full tank of gas, but still there is a need and want to stay fit. Running has a low cost of entry. Most people have a pair of shoes laying around that they either used to wear to the gym or have run in before. I know when I started running I grabbed some shoes out of my closet that resembled running shoes and off I went. I ran for months that way. I got hooked running that way.

This correlation between crap economy and people running is supported here . The link is to Running USA's 2010 Marathon and Half-Marathon statistics. Since 2007 an additional 50,000 people have completed marathons. 2009 had the biggest jump in marathon completion increase at almost 10% from 2008. The only thing that's better is the increase in half-marathon finishers: in 2007 just under 800,000 people crossed the finish line of a half-marathon, 2009 - 1.1 million. Each year since 2002 there have been an additional 20 inaugural half-marathons. The participation in half-marathons has outpaced the growth of 5k races. That's great news. Of course races have a cost of entry, but if money's tight and we make the commitment to spend $50 on a race entry fee, it makes the training and running of the race that much more important.

With economics there's ebs, flows, and bubbles. Running may be reaching bubble status, but if you talk to runners and are a runner, the economy doesn't matter; running matters. The economy may have indirectly got you in to running but as we run more and more we find more and more reasons to keep running, usually to keep our mind off the crap news that surrounds us.

Daddy Hugs Hustle

A few weeks ago we took the kids to the book store to pick out a couple new books. I helped Emmie find her's and the first one she picked. . . Daddy Hugs. It's become her favorite night time story which she will ask for by name and I can't really say I'm upset by that. Today we were blessed with warm weather and I had the opportunity to knock the dust off the running stroller. I figured Emmie would enjoy the time outside and maybe even take a nap. I was right on both accounts and Emmie and I were able to do our Daddy Hugs Hustle. It ended up being a longer run than I had planned on, so I wasn't really prepared from a fluid standpoint with the hot weather, but I didn't care.

Training plans are organized and scientific to maximize your body's potential in a given time frame for a specific goal. It's easy to get locked in and too focused on what the goal really is. . . to run and finish. We're talking about running a race not rocket surgery. Sometimes it's good to just run and not worry about heart rate, pace, distance, calorie intake, fluids, salt pills and the other things you can start relying on when training longer distances. Don't forget to run just to run. Grab a kid, grab a friend or family member and just get out and run because you want to not because your training plan says it.

Humble pie

The coach of one of the most successful NFL teams in the last decade, Bill Belichick is known for dealing 'humble pie' after every game. Even during New England's undefeated season all his players would note how there was always room for improvement.

Running's version of humble pie is a race. If you want to know where you stand in your training, sign up and give it what you have. I'm over simplifying but shorter races are great measuring sticks for your progress. If your a male and your goal is to qualify for Boston, you have to run a 3:10 marathon. If you sign up for a 10 miler during your training and you struggle to finish at 8 minute miles, there's some work that needs to be done between now and the race. Racing is like all natural butter; there is no substitute for the real thing. Most training plans/schedules include and show when build up races should be run; these are important to include in the training. I would encourage to try and have these be real races, and not just you running that distance as if it were a race. Obviously timing plays a role in that, there may not be a race of the specific distance you need when you need it, but don't be afraid to vary the weekend training schedule to squeeze the real race setting in.

I haven't been taking my training serious enough and it wasn't until yesterday I realized how far behind I am. I set aggressive goals for myself and I think my first goal needs to be adjusted because I didn't put the work in up front. Now I'm left with 8 weeks and couldn't feel farther from a 3:10 marathon. I knew up front that it was a big under taking, but currently I'm not on pace because of lack of effort and lots of excuses. Last year while training for my first marathon I didn't care; I didn't know what I didn't know so there was nothing to slow me down. Now that I've gone the distance and been there and am confident I can do it again I've been less motivated to go out and reach new highs in miles run. I'm adjusting my goal not to accommodate a lazy schedule, but to remain realistic. Here's a strategy for building a training schedule and race plan:

1. Pick your race and distance
2. Set your goal finish time (if this is your first race at that distance, finishing is the goal)
3. Find a training schedule that you feel will help you achieve your goal finish time at the race
4. Take the shorter races that fall in the schedule seriously and learn from them
5. Adjust 1. or 2. based on what you learn from 4.
6. Always be realistic, finishing distance races is a huge accomplishment in and of itself, having an unattainable goal will only take away from the success of finishing.
7. Find a way to make it fun. Training isn't fun, running long distances is not fun; the fun and reward is finishing, it's making it farther than you thought you could go, so you have to find a way to make that hard work fun. I blog, what do you do?