CHS Girls on the Move

I  believe yesterday marked the "unofficial" beginning of the fall training season.  I say this for two reasons...

First, when I woke up yesterday morning and looked out my window (we live in a 12th floor condo), I saw probably 60 people gathered below.  I was actually so confused that I went back to check the time. I thought it may have been 2am and those people were just now leaving the club.  Nope. It was 6am and those people were runners with fuel belts, reflective gear, and a pace group.  I'm pretty sure it was the Galloway group and this morning marked day one of training.

Second, so MANY runners!!!! There were so many runners out and about on the street yesterday.  I felt like I had my very own training group, and if we wanted to go separate ways, my new training partner was just a block ahead. It was great. When I started my run, I didn't really have a route picked out so when I ran into someone who was going my pace, I secretly followed them and learned some cool new routes for next week.  It was fun.

Seeing all of this yesterday got me so excited about the upcoming race season.  Every year about this time I start remembering last training season (the cooler weather, watching football after my run, later sunrises) and I can't help but get even more pumped for this fall's marathon.  But, as I'm sure many people who train for races can tell you, not all of these memories are great.  I have memories of hobbling along after a 20 miler, miserable ice baths, cold and dark morning runs, and hot showers that never seemed to be warm enough. Yet I can't wait to do it all over again.  What is wrong with us runners?  Perhaps this quote from John Samsel sums it up best, "It's not that we enjoy running. Running is really not fun. It hurts. But once it's done, you enjoy having run." Yep, I think that's exactly what it is.  It's the feeling you have after the run (minus the blisters and soreness).

And of course I have my own not so fun running story to start off the training season.  Yesterday I was suppose to run 14 miles.  I had a great time for the first 7.5 miles stalking people and running new places.  However, there were two problems that I quickly became aware of going into the second half of my run. First, I started out much faster than I should have.  Second, by mile 8 my clothes were so weighted down from my sweating (insert apology for TMI here), it was ridiculous.  I actually weighed them on the scale when I got home ( a sports bra and a pair of shorts), and they weighed 2 pounds!! Perhaps that explained the extremely parched feeling I had for my last four miles.  Needless to say, two miles to go and I threw in the towel.  I was so hot, soaked, chafed, and thirsty I couldn't take it anymore.  Normally I would have been extremely upset with myself.  However, thankfully the day before I read this article about being kind to our bodies, so I chalked it up to poor preparation and went on with my day.

Then Sunday morning came along and I couldn't help but want to make up those last two miles.  Who cares that my 10 year class reunion was last night and we got home super late and were super tired? Were my legs sore? Absolutely! But why should that stop me?  I welcomed round two.  But then I remembered what PCinSTL tweeted to me a few days ago - take at least one complete day off, eat well, and rest.  Okay, fine. I'll rest but you better believe come Monday morning, I'll be ready to kick my second week of training off with a few extra miles.

So to all of you out there who have started your fall training season, best of luck! Sure, you will have bad runs, chafed nipples, salty snot and blisters.  It sucks but being the crazy runners that we are, I'll see you back out there the next week to do it all over again because this is what we do...

Happy Trails!

For those of you who know me, you can vouch for me when I say this: "I am selfish."  Well not selfish all the time, unless it includes my workout time.  Don't ask me to stay up late on a Friday night because I have to run early in the morning.  Don't ask me to slow down because I'm running intervals.  And by all means, do NOT take my time after work for more work stuff - I've got to go run!

Yes, it sounds bad and I know that.  A while back I read "Mile Markers" by Kristin Armstrong and I was continuously moved by the fact that she was so dedicated to her running, but when it came to her girls and their running, she would slow down to a crawl if that's what they needed.  It wasn't about her goals.  It was about their goals, and she would not hesitate to sacrifice her 5K race for a few slower miles with her daughters. That theme showed up time after time in her book and it made me realize there is a time for you and there is a time for others.  And based on what I read, I'm pretty sure the time for others gives you a feeling that meeting your minute per mile pace could never offer.

So what does this have to do with running club?

My lovely sunshines showed up at 7am and ready to go. We warmed up for a few laps and then they were on their own.  After my first "official" track workout yesterday, my legs were a little sore and since I've been logging so many miles (all thanks to my New Balance Minimus), I was taking a break.  We had some company this morning on the track: a husband and wife along with their two kids.  They jogged up and down a stretch of the track for a few minutes (even mom in her fancy clothes and Sperry shoes), and then dad headed off around the track.  And to my amazement, so did son and daughter. Of course dad was leading the pack and coming in a close second place was the little girl.  She must have been only about 5 or 6 years old but she was giving it all she had. Her poor little brother wasn't quite making the same progress and once I saw him cut across the field, I realized he didn't really want to.  Oh but she certainly did.  One lap down and they were headed around for the second.  What happened next felt like an all too familiar situation for me.  As they were taking the last turn, mom yelled out to dad to slow down and to run with the daughter.  And then he said the thing that I'm sure I have all too often thought or even said.  He responded (and I am quoting here), "If I run any slower, I'll be walking.  What do you want me to do?"  The mom replied, "We came out here for her, not for you.  She wanted to exercise."   

Wow!  Is that really how I come across? Am I really that unwilling to sacrifice a minute per mile slower for some actual quality running time? How selfish could I be? It was a true Ah Hah moment, and I needed to remedy my selfishness FAST!  I immediately jumped in with the girl from our group who was slowly trotting along in my immediate attempt to do better.  You see, it's not that I'm so great at running because I'm not.  It's just I always have my plan and I refuse to let it be interrupted.  I struggle with sacrificing my running plans in order to help someone else along with their running goals.  I'm just that selfish when it comes to running. But today really made me see this and help me to realize it's not all about me and my plans.  Sometimes I have to give a little, whether it be to run slower, to run longer, or to run later in the day, just so somebody else can get what they need to out of the sport.  I will forever remember that little girl running around that track.  It's a feeling that will never even compare to a sub 3:20 marathon time. 

I came across two things within the past week that have caused me to really reflect on life and my purpose here in this crazy world.  The first being the book The Four Desires by Rob Stryker (thank you Kelley Bishop for your tweet) and the second, Rachel Joy Scott, a young girl who, although is no longer with us, has a message of kindness that continues to reach millions.  If you have a few minutes and a box of tissues, check out her challenge to the rest of the world.  It truly is remarkable.  And I am very grateful that I came across these two things because they really helped me yesterday in a day that was filled with just a little drama...

Yesterday I woke up to some craziness (via FB of course) that I was not prepared for - a string of messages that progressively got harsher as the hours went by.  Well thankfully, I had running club with my girls so I was going to put that aside and focus on something more positive.  Once running club was over I stayed and chatted with some of the cross country members and the coach just to avoid what was waiting for me when I checked my email.  And then I decided, you know what? I'm just going to keep running (I sort of felt like Forrest Gump).  It was drama free, it was stress free, and I felt good doing it. But I wasn't running to the ocean, so I had to turn around and go back home.

One can never put off the inevitable so around 10:00am, I opened my email.  I won't go into details about anything other than to say, things got mean.  I opted out of responding but still had my feelings hurt.  Earlier in the week, after reading some of The Four Desires, I decided my dharma had something to do with kindness (still working on my code) and therefore, I was going to take that route.  And after learning about Rachel Scott, I continuously asked myself, "How would Rachel handle this?  In the midst of all this negativity, how would she handle this with kindness?"  I did what I thought was right and made a few phone calls.  I have no idea if it was the best thing to do or not, but I'm glad I did it.

Afterwards, I went to volunteer with Girls on the Run. I was little hesitant to go because I wanted to stay around the house and continue to think about all of this but I decided to go anyway.  If I could only tell you the overwhelming positive feeling being with all of those awesome women working on something so amazing brought me.... I forgot about everything because I was surrounded by good people doing good things.  It reminded me of one of the lines from the book (and I'm not quoting exactly here...): It's not the circumstances of your life that shape your destiny, it's how you choose to respond to them.  Even amongst all the craziness yesterday, there was something good and that was what I was going to focus on. And it reinforced that message of kindness that Rachel Scott was so dedicated to.  So I decided no matter what, to keep kindness and positive feelings in my heart and that would be how I chose to handle this.

If you think about it, when people are mean to one another and say harsh things, it's so easy to react irrationally and with emotion.  I had a hard time deciding yesterday if I was being passive and letting things just happen or if I was truly doing the right thing.  Do I respond or do I step away?  Being with Girls on the Run yesterday helped me to realize my energies are better focused there and not on something that I can not control, hence stepping away with a smile on my face is the right thing to do.  Running is my passion. Helping young children is my passion.  I have so many smart, kind and loving people in my life and that helps me to stay focused on the important things.  I feel lucky to be surrounded by such great people because you all went through my mind yesterday.  You all helped me to remember the importance of kindness, and for that I am thankful.

Last night as Mario and I were driving back from Roxboro, I was trying to decide what our workout would be this morning.  I expressed to Mario that I didn't feel that the girls were pushing themselves (or I wasn't pushing them) hard enough.  Granted, this is not cross country practice, but I wanted them to really push themselves to a new level.  That way they could really relish in their accomplishments and feel that satisfaction.  What Mario said had a big impact on how I handled today.  He said "inspire them."

I woke up super early this morning so I could find the inspiration for them, for myself and our workout.  After a delicious spinach and fruit smoothie in the VitaMix, I sat down to TweetDeck and started reading.  I follow @RunningQuotes and I knew that was where I wanted to start.  From there I found what I was going to say the girls with the hopes of "inspiring them."  Josh Cox (US 50K record holder) had tweeted the following earlier in the day: "The pain of training is nothing compared to the pain of not reaching your potential."  I knew those girls were capable of pushing themselves much harder and today I was going to inspire them to do so.

By 7:02 am, my six girls along with one newbie were there and ready to work.  I decided to do our stretching routine first and then share my quote of the day.  I explained to them that we were going to be doing some speed work and it was going to hurt a little.  We talked about the quote, the workout, and how to apply one to the other.  But before the headed out, I stressed to them that this was THEIR workout and not their friends'.  If they wanted to push harder, then do it. If they couldn't keep up, then that was okay.  As long as they knew they were trying their hardest, then it was a workout well done.

I wish there were some way to explain all the determined faces I saw this morning or all the small feats they accomplished along the way.  Just to give you a few examples: One girl stopped after mile one to ask for a bandaid (she had a blister) and of course I didn't have one. (Note to self: bring first aid kit on Wednesday.) She walked one lap and when she came back around she looked at me, almost as if she were asking permission, and said I'm going to keep running.  Well by all means, I'm not going to stop you - go for it! That girl was "Laura" - refer to the previous blog entry - and she did not come in last today.  

Another example was when a man came out to the track to run some laps and I challenged the girls on their interval lap to try and pass him.  Well if you can imagine, this man was doing his laps minding his own business when out of nowhere, a pack a red faced girls came chasing him down.  Oh it was awesome to say the least.  And not to be sexist, but what it made it even more awesome was the fact that these were high school girls who do not run, passing a grown man who does run (we've seen him out there many times before).  I think it was a real confidence booster for them.  And the most gratifying comment of the day was when a girl said to me "I know that was faster than my mile we did last week.  I ran the whole time and didn't stop."  I have no idea if she was correct because I wasn't timing them today, but what mattered was the fact that she felt that way and she was proud of herself.

I don't know if it was the green spinach smoothie, the hard work I saw this morning, or a combination of the both, but it was a great way to start my Monday morning. When we left the track, I told the girls to make sure they did something special for themselves today.  They worked extremely hard today and they deserved to reward their efforts.  And although nobody said it, I feel like by really pushing themselves, the girls have a little more self confidence to take on the day.

Happy Monday everyone!
Tracie

Yesterday was our first official Girls on the Move meeting.  I must admit I was feeling a little nervous because I wasn't sure if I would be the only one there or if the football team was going to kick us off the track before we even got started.  But thankfully, six wonderful girls who were vertical and moving by 7am on their own accord, showed up and made my 25 minute trip totally worth it. Not to mention they successfully ignored the fact that the football team and their parents were slowly migrating to the bleachers and watching the skips, bends, and knee lifts.

Before our meeting, I had taken extensive notes on the things I wanted to talk about - why we run, the importance of stretching, what proper running form looks like, and how the entire purpose of this club is not to run faster than the next girl, but instead to see what we are all made of.  Well I'm not sure if it was nerves or lack of organizational skills, but I managed to skip over most of those things.  Ten minutes in and they were running around the track and I had not even discussed looking forward, a straight back, and unclenched fists.  Oooops! What was I thinking? A quick glance and I decided they looked pretty good form wise and I would address this on Wednesday.  Mental note, check!

Now with only six girls, I have no doubt they noticed who was the first to finish and who was the last.  Being last amongst a group of your peers is never easy - I would know because in middle school I was NEVER the fast runner, but the one who was trying to cheat herself out of the last lap (sorry Coach Russell).  "Laura" was that runner who came in last but watching her reaffirmed that this club was a good thing and worth every minute of my summer vacation.  Those six girls started running their first lap around the track all together - a solid pack.  But after that one lap, the crowd dispersed.  I started the second lap with them and then let them run off so I could keep time but "Laura" was struggling and she didn't want to suffer alone. After she stopped to tie her shoe, she asked if I would run with her.  Of course!!!!  I could tell she really was not having fun so I shared with her some of my stories about how I was never a runner in school but if we broke the lap into segments it wouldn't be so bad.  So we did - run the straightaways, walk the curves. I had to let her finish her last lap on her own so I could shout out times to the other girls but I was most impressed with her.  Like I said - it was obvious she was not having fun but she did not utter one complaint or ever just quit.  She finished her mile in a little over 12 minutes, walked it out, and then did jumped right in with our other exercises with a smile that was half misery and half I'm going to finish this no matter how much it hurts.


When I left yesterday I was a little worried that she might not come back to the next meeting or that I didn't let her know just how well she had done.  From all the things I have learned teaching, I have learned never to underestimate the power of positive words.  But something tells me she'll be there, accepting the fact that this will not be easy, but when it is all said and done, she will have learned a little more about herself and all the things she can do in this world.

Overall, I would call it a successful first meeting.  However, there were many mental notes made and quite a few things I need to remember to do tomorrow.  I'm going to spend some time at the library today reading some coaching books and reviewing some sample workouts.  I really want these girls to know how awesome they are and that they can do "it" whatever their "it" may be.  So here is to a day of preparing and to another successful workout tomorrow...

Happy Running,

Tracie

In an effort to follow my two passions, teaching and running, I'm starting an all girls running group this summer with some of the students from CHS.  Honestly, I got the idea from reading Kristin Armstrong's "Mile Markers," and then I briefly mentioned it to some girls one day last week.  Then the idea just took off.  I had no idea girls would be so willing to wake up at 6:30 am during the summer but just as I have a need to stay busy this summer, so do they.  And when I mentioned doing volunteer work and developing our leadership and teamwork skills, they couldn't sign up fast enough.  The idea of working out, working together, and helping others seems to be a common desire among many young ladies and that makes me excited.  I am thrilled and at the same time nervous.  What do I know about coaching a running club?  Well thanks to lots of book previews on Amazon and quizzing of my running friends, I've selected a few books to purchase and found some awesome websites via Girls on the Run.  But I still welcome any input, suggestions, comments, concerns.  This is a new thing in a fairly small town and I hope that I am able to share with all of these young ladies the joy running has brought me.  Please feel free to leave me your feedback!

An excited and nervous teacher/running coach....

TR