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Sometimes It’s Enough Just to Show Up

November 6, 2021 No Comments

Today was a frustrating morning. I woke up, and before I even got out of bed, I decided that I was going to go to the gym. I proceeded to get dressed and gather my things. I grabbed a lightweight jacket since I am usually hot by the time I finish running and don’t need one coming back. As soon as I stepped outside the wind hit my ears and I shivered a bit. Despite that, I proceeded to walk over to the clubhouse. I was looking forward to going inside to escape the chill, but suddenly realized that I had grabbed the wrong key, and had my car key instead of the clubhouse fob. So back home I went, trying not to think about how cold I was.

Once home, I exchanged keys and stopped to talk to M. He suggested that I treat myself to a warm drink from the food truck when I finished my run. That sounded really good, and I headed back out the door. As I neared the clubhouse, I suddenly realized that I had forgotten to take some money for my post-workout treat. Ugghhh! Back home I went, with the wind hitting my face the whole way. I grabbed some cash and decided that this time I was going to drive over. Finally, I walked into the gym. I wiped down the machine and started settling my things when I realized that at some point I had set down my water bottle and no longer had it with me. I told myself it would be okay as I wasn’t planning a long run and proceeded to start up a podcast on my phone. That’s when I also realized that my headphones weren’t pairing. At that moment, I thought, “This is ridiculous, I’m just going to go home.”

Photograph of Eliud Kipchoge (2021) Retrieved from https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/08/ sport/eliud-kipchoge-olympic-marathon-spt-intl/index.html

I have been running for approximately five years now. I have had periods when I ran nearly every day, and I have had periods when my running was more sporadic. Time and time again I have found is that my running becomes much easier and more enjoyable when I commit to doing it at least three times a week. Whenever I run less than that, I find myself with injuries or not able to maintain my fitness level.

Eliud Kipchoge, one of the greatest runners in the world, once said, “I’m confident in saying that consistency is key if you want to grow in a new profession. Be it sport. Be it law. Be it all sorts of professions. If you are not consistent you cannot go anywhere. Consistency makes you to grow.” Considering that Eliud has won 2 Olympic gold medals and can run a pace of 4:33 per mile, I think he knows what he’s talking about.

So even though I really wanted to just go home, and think about running another day, I didn’t. I knew that I had a busy week ahead and that I likely wouldn’t get back to the gym for several days. I knew that the feeling of going home at that moment wouldn’t feel nearly as good as going home after a workout. So I stayed. I didn’t run as far as I originally planned, but I ran . And I checked off another day of running for the week. Sometimes it’s enough just to show up.

References:

Cathal Dennehey (10/29/21). Eliud Kipchoge: Inside the camp, and the mind, of the greatest marathon runner of all time. Retrieved from https://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/othersport/arid-40732662.html

NN Running Team (n.d.). Meet Eliud. Retrieved from https://www.nnrunningteam.com/team/eliud-kipchoge/

Sweat Elite (n.d.). Eliud Kipchoge – 15 Motivational Quotes About Training and Life. Retrieved from http://sweatelite.co/eliud-kipchoge-motivational-quotes-about-training-and-life/

World Athletics (n.d.). Eliud Kipchoge. Retrieved from https://worldathletics.org/athletes/kenya/eliud-kipchoge-14208194

Photograph of feet running on treadmill (n.d.) Retrieved from’https://www.123rf.com/profile_pascalk’>pascalk</a>

Photograph of Eliud Kipchoge (2021) Retrieved from https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/08/sport/eliud-kipchoge-olympic-marathon-spt-intl/index.html

Blog, Body, Running

A Run in the Rain

March 15, 2017 No Comments

It’s been a long, cold, wet winter. I heard today that there have only been five days of sunshine so far this entire year, and I’ve got to tell you that I’ve really been feeling it. Last year I ran outside pretty much the entire winter; but this year, well, it’s been rough.

Last night I told myself that I was going to get in a quick run before my mid-day appointment today. I prepared myself for the fact that it might be a bit rainy or gray, but told myself that I was going to get out there and run anyway. As soon as my eyes opened, I heard the sound of the rain on the roof of the house. It wasn’t a pitter patter — the rain was literally pounding the shingles as it came down in torrents. The motivation that I had felt the night before slowly slipped away. I got out of bed and began to get ready for the day but was overcome with disappointment. I knew that due to my schedule, if I didn’t get a run in this morning, I wouldn’t have another chance for several days.

Blog, Running

Will Run for Chocolate

March 7, 2017 No Comments

What motivates you to run? Most of the time I just plain enjoy running, so that’s motivation enough. But there are times that I need more than that. Some days my schedule has more items on it than can fit into the hours of the day, or maybe I’m just plain tired. Sometimes I go through a rough period when I’m just not feeling it, or I’m in the midst of a long, wet winter. That’s when I need to have something to get me out the door to log some miles.

I have found that it really keeps me motivated to run when I have an upcoming running event on my calendar. If you’ve never participated in a formal running event, you should really try it. I probably never would have signed up for one myself except that when I first began to run, my health insurance offered reimbursement for participation in an event. I certainly wasn’t trying to compete for a medal, but I figured that since it wasn’t going to cost me anything, it could be fun to try it. After my first event I was hooked. Now I try to keep something on my calendar every two to three months just so I have something that I’m working towards.

Blog, Body, Psychology, Swimming

How to Keep From Leaving Things at the Gym

February 20, 2017 No Comments

Have you ever arrived home from the gym only to find that you left something there? Or worse yet, you didn’t realize you left an item there until you couldn’t find it, and by that time it was no longer in the lost-and-found? I can’t even begin to tell you how many times I have had both of these things happen to me. Just off the top of my head I can tell you that I have lost a swimsuit, swim bottoms, goggles, as well as all of my toiletries. It’s very frustrating not only because losing things can get expensive, but it is also a big disruption to my routine when I have to go buy something before I can go to the gym again.

Several months ago I tried to figure out what I could do to solve this problem. The more I thought about it, I realized that what I was doing at work would help me in this situation as well. I work as a phlebotomist (I draw blood for lab tests) and we have to make sure that we do specific things to identify each patient and prevent germs from being spread. The first hospital that I worked at trained us to follow a very specific routine so that we wouldn’t forget to do anything. What was great about it was that once I had the routine down, I never had to worry whether I had forgotten to do any of the numerous things that I was required to do. And if I got interrupted mid-process, I was able to go back to the point where I had left off, and I knew immediately that I had completed everything up to that point.

Blog, Running

Ignorance Was Bliss

February 7, 2017 No Comments

We’re all familiar with the old adage, “Ignorance is bliss.” More and more I am finding this statement to be true. It is particularly true as it relates to my love of running. When I first began to run, I was blown away by how it made me feel. I loved to feel the air in my lungs. I loved to feel the rhythm of my feet on the pavement. I loved how the complexities of life seemed so far removed from what I felt that very moment. I loved the beautiful atmosphere and the sun on my face. All of those things together made me feel so alive. It was, in a word, blissful.

In the early days, one of my favorite running routes took me to the edge of town where I would run on a nice little country road. It was a wooded area and the houses were on large parcels of land and set way back from the road. I would hear the birds singing in the trees and would see squirrels, bunnies, and even the occasional deer.

Blog, Running

New Shoes

January 29, 2017 No Comments

Guess what was delivered today — my brand new running shoes! I can hardly wait to take my first run in them. I picture myself running down the road with the speed and stride of a cheetah, springing forward almost effortlessly. Of course the sky will be blue and the warm sun will be on my face as I run harmoniously through nature.

Archive, Cycling, Life

St. Paul Classic

September 17, 2011 1 Comment

My family had such a great time this last weekend riding in the St. Paul Classic. This is something that my kids and I decided that we wanted to do several months ago. We really hadn’t ridden our bicycles for quite a while, so we decided it would be the perfect goal to get us a little more active and healthy. Marshall had recently undergone his surgery so we figured he could be our support person and hopefully join us next year. But as we got excited about cycling, Marshall did too and he joined us on our preparatory rides. He has had such an amazing recovery and has progressed so far in just a few months. As it became clear that Marshall would be joining us on the ride, we thought it would be fun to ride as a team and promote awareness for organ transplant too. We had quite a few people ask us about our jerseys and it was pretty exciting to tell them that Marshall had his transplant just 101 days before. We ended up having great weather and the ride was a lot of fun.