The first rule of Fight Club. . .

. . . is you do not talk about Fight Club! The second rule of Fight Club is YOU DON'T TALK ABOUT FIGHT CLUB! What does Fight Club have to do with running. . . Fight Club was an underground group created as a way for regular people to engage in a fight, that's it. Under normal conditions fighting occurs for a number of negative reason, in Fight Club it wasn't to see who was a better fighter or determine a champion, it was a way for people to experience pure joy. Those participating are happy to fight, happy to win, happy to lose. The joy doesn't come from the outcome of the fight, joy is the outcome because of the fight. Do to the rules of Fight Club, the outcome of a fight is irrelevant because you can't talk about it anyway. I think there's plenty of parallels to running as well as some things to keep in mind.

If you're not a runner and have zero aspirations to become one, then start your own Fight Club. If you prefer to fight, great, but find the activity where happiness comes from participation not completion. 99% of runners won't ever cross a finish line first, but ask most runners if that matters. While I was running the Estes Park Marathon I had the pleasure of meeting a couple people along the course while we were struggling with miles upon miles of hills. One individual, who's name I did not get, was a proud member of the Marathon Maniacs, and donned his Marathon Maniac jersey that can be seen at most races. If you're not familiar with this group, click the link and prepare to be amazed. The gentleman I walked next to for a bit was going to complete his 191st marathon that day. 191st. I asked him what his favorite race was. . . he had completed the fifty marathon in fifty states 3 times over, could choose a number of gorgeous places he'd seen including the one we were doing that day but instead he chose Louisville. I have nothing against Kentucky, I've been there, my family used to visit there, my middle name comes from someone from Kentucky, but why of all places he'd been and seen did he choose Louisville? He gave two reasons: 1. it was his 100th marathon, but more importantly 2. he ran it with his father, his father's first marathon. If you talk to a Marathon Maniac you'll find them to be one of the most modest groups you'll ever meet. They can be found with self made jerseys with names of all fifty states crossed off in their quest to do 50 Marathons in 50 States but you'd be hard pressed to find one bragging or boasting. For the first 14 miles of the Estes Park Marathon I ran near a first time runner and a guy who couldn't remember how many marathons he'd done. In their conversation the first timer asked why he was running and talking with her. He said that's what he liked best about marathons, meeting new runners and helping them out. There wasn't a hint of brash or ego in anything he said.

Fight Club was personal; every participant got something different out of the activity, a sense of accomplishment, participating in something generally frowned upon, getting beat up, but it was the fight pure and simple that mattered. Records weren't kept, wins and loses didn't matter, what mattered was fighting.

How to finish

I've learned more about finishing marathons in the last two weeks then in my two years of marathon training. Two weeks ago I worked the last water station at the Madison Marathon followed up by running last week's Minneapolis Marathon. Here's what I know:
At mile 25 there are two types of runners and two types of walkers. Walker #1 - someone who trained, possibly not enough, but they knew that going in and are still happy doing whatever they can to finish. Runner #1 - heading to the home stretch up right and still running. Runner #2 - not quite a run but certainly not a walk, working hard to finish. Walker #2 - pissed off!!

I want to focus on walker #2. They may fall in to a couple sub-categories; wanted to run a PR and couldn't maintain it or had unrealistic expectations of matching their training and their race. These are usually first timers who may never sign up for another race because the experience is awful. This runner spent 12-18 weeks training for this day and because they thought they could run with the 3:50 pace group they ended up walking at mile 15. I find myself to be a running numbers geek. I try and study and learn from all my runs, especially my long runs so I know what I should expect realistically on race day. I had no intention of qualifying for Boston last Sunday because I was never close in any of my training. I was very happy with my performance because I ran smart and was able to spend most of the second half of the race passing people; look for yourself here. I'm not tooting my horn, I'm trying to explain that despite your training efforts you can enjoy a distance race and be excited to sign up for another if you plan your race smart. On the link to my results go to the bottom by the 'graphic results'. It lists how many people I passed and how many passed me. From mile 9.5 of the race until the end I passed 153 runners, during that same time I was passed by 12. My times fell off as the race went on but I built a race plan I felt confident I could execute and did. It was great to hear the people watching the race tell me how strong I looked and how well I was running. That helped me smile and helped keep me going. I can't emphasize enough on the importance of building a race plan that includes: nutrition, hydration and pace. I'll get in to the details on another post and bore you with my running geekiness.

The point is that I'd hate for a first time marathoner/half marathoner/10ker/5ker never want to run another race because they didn't have some help putting together a plan of attack for the race. Races are suppose to be the fun part and the time to enjoy the fruits of all your training, don't leave your race to chance, especially if you're new to distance races. Get some advice, ask me, read about it online, do something to make sure you're not walker #2.

Who cares what you see in the mirror

I have to confess, this isn't a picture of me above. I also have to admit that running has changed my body greatly, for the better. Since my running started back in August of 2009 I've lost about 15 lbs and at least a couple inches from my waist. Also, since last working on the rail road back during college I have been revisited with the small hint of that vein on my bicep sticking out. I couldn't be happier with what I've seen happen to my body, but it means very little when it comes to distance running. Yes, if you are 5 lbs lighter that can have a positive impact on your ability to run but it won't necessarily shave minutes off your marathon time.

Tomorrow I run the Minneapolis Marathon, I will get beat by both men and women who if picked out of a line-up you'd swear couldn't run 2 miles let alone 26.2. It's gratifying to watch the weight go down and see the fat go away, that's a fantastic thing, but it's easy to fall in love with what you see and automatically assume and expect that that's going be the difference between a new PR and running the same pace.

I'm not saying weight loss is a bad thing and I do believe that if you are lighter you are able to push yourself farther and train harder, but it's almost a double edge sword: you're loosing weight so that's a great thing, but you see positive results so you may lighten up on the things that got you there.

Distance running may not fall under our old track quote in high school that "fat equals fast" but I think it's just as possible as "skinny equals fast."