Day 5 A day of rest

Today I felt a bit like my ten-month old grandbaby when she really really doesn’t want to take a nap.  Today, on my training program, I was scheduled for a day of rest.  I feel like I just started training.  How can I rest?  I didn’t FEEL like resting.  It was the first day this week that 1) wasn’t raining, 2) the humidity was actually lower than 87 percent, and 3)I actually wanted to run.  But being the compliant child, I rested.

Now I am not under any kind of contract with the free online Hal Higdon training program, and I know that in the course of a week, I can be flexible with the schedule, but today I did not run.  And instead I unpacked boxes in the furnace closet in the basement, got nostalgic about the girls growing up so fast, and then wished that I had run instead. 

Day 4 Things I learned about running from my Mom who never ran

First of all let it be known that my mom was a little appalled that I took up running late in life.  Actually, she was very appalled that I took up at all.   At first, she kind of ignored it, like maybe I would see her wisdom and come around.  She was always afraid that women who did things like ride bikes got big leg calves….and then how could you wear cute boots in the winter.   Then, when it looked like I was sticking with running, she sent me encouraging articles from the newspaper that told about athletes especially runners who dropped dead in the middle of a race or even in practice.

I ran my first marathon when I turned fifty.  I called her afterwards.  “Mom, I just ran a marathon.”  She responded with something like, “Thank Goodness, you are still alive.  I am so glad that you didn’t get hurt.” 

If she were to see me today, seven years later, she would shake her head, and then remind me to at least “wear a hat to save your face from the sun.”  And she would tell me that if I wanted to get better, every day counts.  Mom was a professional violinist, and even as an adult, she practiced every day.  Consistency is the key.

Today, day 4, I ran a bit on the Wheaton College track.  The only people there were two men, an older gentleman who kept up a pretty good pace, and a middle-aged man who looked like he was going to die any minute.  But we were there.  And glad that it wasn’t still raining.  And it made me think that even when it feels like I am only going in circles, God may be equipping me for something else entirely.

Day 3 Running between the Rain Drops

I woke this morning to a huge clap of thunder and pounding rain.    It was not what I planned for today.  But I shifted to “plan B,” put on my running clothes and surged ahead with chores inside.  Within the hour, the rain had subsided.  And out I went, down the wet sidewalks, and around Lake Ellyn which was, of course, flooded again, the trees and park benches standing in the overflowing water like stubborn children.  As in life, every day of training is not going to be sunny and bright.  When it is raining, there are several options:  1) claim it as a “rest day,” 2) find a friend with a treadmill, 3) run in the rain, or 4) get ready and wait it out.   Quite frankly, with the 97 percent humidity this morning, it might as well have been raining.  My clothes were soaked anyway.

We live in a real world and even the best made schedule is not always going to work out.  Know your options for when you have sick kids, or it is outrageous weather, or you are called out of town on business.   Have your running clothes set out and ready, even in your car, if necessary.  (I had a friend who used to run around the field while her kids had soccer practice).  Make it work for you.  From now on, “flexibility” is your middle name.  Be ready to run when the opportunity presents itself.

And sometimes, you just run in the rain.  You are not the Wicked Witch of the West from the Wizard of Oz.  You will not melt.  Running in the rain just makes the good days even better.  And sometimes it is even fun. 

One year, the weekend before the marathon, I was scheduled for eight miles.  It was literally 36 degrees and pouring down rain, my worst fear for marathon day.  I was ready to pass on that one, but Bill encouraged me to get out there, “If you can run in this, you won’t be afraid of anything the marathon throws at you.”  I went.  It wasn’t my favorite run of all time, but he was right.  I was no longer afraid that it would rain on marathon day.  I knew now I could run anyway. 

Day 2 Second Day of School

The first day of training is like the first day  of school-- exciting as if the sky is blue and banners are waving in the breeze.

The second day is like getting hit by your first pop quiz in math class.  I woke up to the dawn today and realized that this morning was a hill workout.  Did I really already sign up for this race?  Or can I still get out of it?  Too late.  Take out your number 2 pencil.

I  scooted out the back door and down the driveway.  Within the first 1/4 block, the back of my right knee felt stiff.  “Oh, well, I guess I shouldn’t run today” was my first thought.  I stopped and stretched, ran slowly down the block, and the tightness was gone.  Bummer.  My excuse evaporated into the muggy air. 

There is a good hill down near Lake Ellyn, a glorified retention pond in town which floods every time it rains.  I ran up and down the hill three times, imagining the homeowners laughing behind the windows in their air-conditioned houses.   But I did it.  Humiliation is not a viable excuse.

I read about a runner once who said that when she first started running, she was so embarrassed for anyone to see her that when cars drove by, she would stop and pretend that she was looking at the flowers at the side of the road.  That woman was, by the way, Joan Benoit Samuelson, who eventually won the gold medal at the first women’s Olympic marathon in 1984 in Los Angeles.

“…let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us…”  Hebrews 12.1

Day 1, just 125 to go

This morning in the early morning fog and humidity, the adventure began.

This morning I began 125 days of training for the St. Jude’s Marathon in Memphis on Saturday, December 4.  Eighteen weeks of hard pavement, sweat, blisters, and :) snickers.

A couple of years ago while training for my third marathon, in the throes of WHAT WAS I THINKING????, I told my friend Becky, “Don’t ever let me do this again.”  I finished that race, and well, sorry, Becky, pray for me ‘cause I signed up again.  Needless to say, this will be my fifth. 

I am old enough that I don’t run for the glory or bragging rights or medals.  I run because of health, pure and simple.  Running a marathon pushes my envelope physically and spiritually.  I love what I learn spiritually from running a marathon.  I love it physically because, well, it makes an ordinary day a piece of cake.  Running is not who I am.  Running is just something I do.

So join me as I chronicle my training, the things that I am learning, what I’m struggling with,  and when I fall (which I always do).  If you have no idea what is involved in training for a marathon, please feel free to read my real-life-stinky-shoe non-airbrushed account of what it is like.  Or feel free to join me running and share what YOU are learning too.  My friends Beth, Aimee  and Anna are training in Memphis.  My daughter Kat who is a medical resident at Vanderbilt University hospital also is training with a group of other Vanderbilt doctors in Nashville.  I will be running in Chicago with… my ipod.

“I could never do that,” I have heard A LOT of people say.  Well, it doesn’t start with 26.2 miles.  It starts with stepping out the front door, running a few blocks, adding a few more, and building up one mile at a time.

It started at 7.30 this morning.

Stay tuned.