During my first training run with the LA Roadrunners, I had pain in my knee and hip. My pace leader Dave took a look at my 8-month old sport shoes from Costco and strongly advised I get some proper new running shoes. What, me, go shopping? For shoes, no less. Oh, ok, twist my arm...
Now, I'll admit that stepping into a shoe store makes my heart skip to a happy beat. Everyone from Jimmy Choo to Steve Madden is on my bff list when it comes to uncomfortable footware. Six-inch heels? Sure! (as long as they're platform soles) Squeeze my toes to a point in red patent leather? You bet. I'll beg you for more. Hmm... maybe my knee and hip pains had less to do with running than going out in those torture devices...
Top To Top is my new favorite store. Sure, its not filled with $400 blouses and snooty wafer thin salesgirls who peer down their nose when they see a 39-year old, slightly overweight and certainly-not-rich woman walking through the door, but I love it anyway. To be honest, I love it MORE. Waaaaay more.
The sales people are runners. They know what it feels like to pound the pavement and hobble around the next morning. And, they understand the drive to work toward a marathon. They get it. They've been there.
The fellow helping me was thorough and informative. He measured the length and width of foot, the height of my arch, he had me walk barefoot and run on a treadmill, all the while making calculations of my perfect running shoe.
After trying on several pairs which fit his analysis of my running needs, I settled on IGS Duomax. They are cute enough - though not the adorable white /silver / green ones I had hoped would be my ideal fit. However, when I put them on, my arch is supported, my soles don't "pronate" (turn inward), and I feel like I'm running on clouds.
They cost about $90 retail, and with the LA Roadrunner's 10% discount, I can tell you, it was the best "Benjamin" I've spent in a while. My knee and hip pain subsided, and now all that hurts is my pride when I huff and puff and turn red-faced after only 3 or so miles. But, I know that with the right footware, I will be able to run many, many more in the weeks to come...
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Sunday, September 13, 2009
My First Running Mentor
LA Roadrunner Training Run #1: 3.6 miles
Training miles to date: 3.6 miles
Weight: 168
Notes: Pain in left knee and hip. I finished 3.6 miles, but it was a struggle at the end. Found my first running mentor.
---
Yesterday was my first day training with LA Roadrunners. I placed myself in Training Group 10, which is the slowest of the running groups (pace = 12:15, which means we run 12:15 minute miles and are projected to finish the marathon in about 5 hours, 20 minutes). It is the perfect group for me because we walk 1 minute after every mile. I like that because it gives me a chance to stretch my muscles out by taking long strides.
After a motivational orientation meeting earlier that morning, all groups headed to the beach where we lined up 2 by 2, and got to know our neighbors as groups 1-9 (faster running groups) took off in order of fastest to slowest.
Our first run was 3.6 miles. I found that quite challenging toward the end. Our group runs behind one pace leader while the other 3 run alongside us and make sure we are doing OK. Within the first mile, my left knee began to ache. Dave, one of our pace leaders must have noticed I was struggling a bit and ran alongside me. He suggested that I get new shoes as soon as possible and that would likely make a big difference.
I did alright during the run, and stayed in pace with my group, but to be honest, I would have quit early into mile 3 if I were alone. For one thing, the water I had drunk before the race was ready to make its exit, and also I was getting a very unpleasant pain in my left hip. I began to worry - was my hip joint grinding into the bone? Would I have to give up my new goal of running the marathon? Was I too old, too heavy, too out of shape to do this?
Dave checked in on me again and I told him about the hip pain. He said that was my hip flexors "screaming at me" and suggested some stretches post-run. He didn't seem to think this would get in the way of my running if I warmed up and cooled down appropriately. When I told him that my goal was to become a runner, he said, "From now on, you can say that you are a runner. Only 2% of the population even takes on a marathon. Now you are part of that 2%."
Here's the most amazing thing about the LA Roadrunner pace leaders: They basically give up their marathon to train others. For example, Dave, normally runs a 9 minute mile but he is hanging back with us slow-pokes so that he can help us become marathoners (which he says is only about 2% of the population!).
Dave got into running a bit later in life. After a stroke - at age 48 - his doctor asked him what kind of exercise he had implemented in his life. Dave said that, until that point, his program consisted of 2 exercises - 1)walking to the refrigerator and2) lifting a margarita glass.
Scared into action by his stroke, Dave began various activities including jogging, and was inspired to take on his first marathon in honor of his 50th birthday. Now, 8 or so years later, Dave has run several marathons, and he has spent the last 4 years helping others, like me, reach for their best life.
I don't know if Dave realizes how much he inspires me or how much gratitude I feel that he is taking the time and effort to "give back" by helping others attain the goals of better health, fitness and accomplishment. As I grow into this sport of running and take more "baby steps" toward the finish line on March 21, I know I will look back on Dave as my first mentor and share his story to inspire others.
Training miles to date: 3.6 miles
Weight: 168
Notes: Pain in left knee and hip. I finished 3.6 miles, but it was a struggle at the end. Found my first running mentor.
---
Yesterday was my first day training with LA Roadrunners. I placed myself in Training Group 10, which is the slowest of the running groups (pace = 12:15, which means we run 12:15 minute miles and are projected to finish the marathon in about 5 hours, 20 minutes). It is the perfect group for me because we walk 1 minute after every mile. I like that because it gives me a chance to stretch my muscles out by taking long strides.
After a motivational orientation meeting earlier that morning, all groups headed to the beach where we lined up 2 by 2, and got to know our neighbors as groups 1-9 (faster running groups) took off in order of fastest to slowest.
Our first run was 3.6 miles. I found that quite challenging toward the end. Our group runs behind one pace leader while the other 3 run alongside us and make sure we are doing OK. Within the first mile, my left knee began to ache. Dave, one of our pace leaders must have noticed I was struggling a bit and ran alongside me. He suggested that I get new shoes as soon as possible and that would likely make a big difference.
I did alright during the run, and stayed in pace with my group, but to be honest, I would have quit early into mile 3 if I were alone. For one thing, the water I had drunk before the race was ready to make its exit, and also I was getting a very unpleasant pain in my left hip. I began to worry - was my hip joint grinding into the bone? Would I have to give up my new goal of running the marathon? Was I too old, too heavy, too out of shape to do this?
Dave checked in on me again and I told him about the hip pain. He said that was my hip flexors "screaming at me" and suggested some stretches post-run. He didn't seem to think this would get in the way of my running if I warmed up and cooled down appropriately. When I told him that my goal was to become a runner, he said, "From now on, you can say that you are a runner. Only 2% of the population even takes on a marathon. Now you are part of that 2%."
Here's the most amazing thing about the LA Roadrunner pace leaders: They basically give up their marathon to train others. For example, Dave, normally runs a 9 minute mile but he is hanging back with us slow-pokes so that he can help us become marathoners (which he says is only about 2% of the population!).
Dave got into running a bit later in life. After a stroke - at age 48 - his doctor asked him what kind of exercise he had implemented in his life. Dave said that, until that point, his program consisted of 2 exercises - 1)walking to the refrigerator and2) lifting a margarita glass.
Scared into action by his stroke, Dave began various activities including jogging, and was inspired to take on his first marathon in honor of his 50th birthday. Now, 8 or so years later, Dave has run several marathons, and he has spent the last 4 years helping others, like me, reach for their best life.
I don't know if Dave realizes how much he inspires me or how much gratitude I feel that he is taking the time and effort to "give back" by helping others attain the goals of better health, fitness and accomplishment. As I grow into this sport of running and take more "baby steps" toward the finish line on March 21, I know I will look back on Dave as my first mentor and share his story to inspire others.
Saturday, September 12, 2009
My First Day Toward Becoming A Runner
So, here it is - finally! Day One of Marathon training. I've been looking forward to this as if it were the first day of school.
I went out last night, even though I had planned to stay home and go to bed early. I had a few cocktails, dinner, lots of laughs with friends - and, yes, I'm paying the price now. Armed with a big cuppa coffee, I'm about to wash last night's makeup off my face and hustle down to the meeting point for LA Roadrunners in Venice.
I'm excited, I'm a bit nervous but most of all, right now, I'm just plain tired! Its 6 am on a Saturday morning, afterall. Who are the crazy loons who get up when its still dark outside to exercise??? Oh - I guess I just became one... Weeeeeeee...
I went out last night, even though I had planned to stay home and go to bed early. I had a few cocktails, dinner, lots of laughs with friends - and, yes, I'm paying the price now. Armed with a big cuppa coffee, I'm about to wash last night's makeup off my face and hustle down to the meeting point for LA Roadrunners in Venice.
I'm excited, I'm a bit nervous but most of all, right now, I'm just plain tired! Its 6 am on a Saturday morning, afterall. Who are the crazy loons who get up when its still dark outside to exercise??? Oh - I guess I just became one... Weeeeeeee...
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
What Happens in Vegas… Shows Up On My Scale!
We work hard, so we decided to make the most of the Labor Day Weekend.We took off to Las Vegas on Thursday where we spent that evening, and the next, eating sushi at Koi; steak, bacon creamed spinach and goose fat potatoes at the Strip House steakhouse, and sipped more than our share of cocktails. We also saw Peepshow, a racy stage show starring Holly Madison, (former star of Girls Next Door) and had a champagne toast with her after the performance.
The next afternoon, while lounging in the hot tub sipping a vodka & soda at Planet Hollywood, I met a couple who has run several marathons. It was great to feel like I had something instantly in common with people who were strangers mere minutes earlier. I have not even started training for the L.A. Marathon yet… but I still felt like we were all in the same “club.”
Saturday, Jason and I left Vegas for Salt Lake City where we watched the U.S. National Soccer Team play a World Cup qualifier. On the way to the game, we zipped through Wendy’s in the rental car, and washed those down - at the stadium - with several beers. Afterwards, we celebrated the win over El Salvador with a post-game cocktail.
I would like to say that this was my “last hurrah” before swearing off booze, becoming a vegetarian and getting up each day at the crack of dawn to exercise… but I’d be lying. Still, by Sunday morning, I was feeling a bit guilty. Utah has some of the most beautiful mountainscapes in the country, so we managed to squeeze in 1 1/2 hour hike before we flew back to L.A.
We both got on the scale on Monday morning, and were hardly surprised that we were each up a few pounds after our weekend of debauchery. Argh.
I realize that the worse shape I am in before I start marathon training, the harder it will be. So, after 30 minutes in the gym with Jason, I rode my bike for about 60 minutes and went on an hour-long walk on the beach with a friend. We ate fruit for breakfast, I had a fish tacos for lunch with a friend, and I made a healthy dinner of baked fish, rice and salad. Ok, we drank a bottle of Pinot Grigio by the time the evening was over… but all we can’t be all work and no play on Labor Day!
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
"Extra Hot, With A Side of Hot, Please"
I downloaded the training manual for the Marathon today. Basically, by Sept. 12, I need to decide which main group I belong in, and which subsection (level 1 - 10) of that group I should join. The main groups are:- Run
- Run / Walk
- Walk
For example, when I go to an Indian restaurant and the server asks if I want the curry mild, hot or extra hot. I would never say "mild." I would like to say "extra hot" but then I know I wouldn't really enjoy it because my lips and tongue would be burning. I usually go for "hot... but with extra hot on the side."
I am NOT walking the marathon.
This leaves me no choice but to test myself before Sept. 12. Yesterday, I walked 2 miles. Today, I ran 2.21 miles. Without stopping. Now, multiply that by 10 and add a few miles, and that's the marathon. Pffft. It wasn't even hard.
I want to sign up to Run the Marathon... even if I'm in the slowest running group. I have come to my own personal understanding with myself that if I really need walk breaks during the actual marathon, I will just give them to myself. Sparingly. I ain't eating no "mild" curry.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
The First Commitment to "My Best Life"
I'm a commitment phobe. I hate making plans too far in advance. Unless, of course, it has to do with my business, in which case I'll book a date in 2014. Making money makes me feel successful, and validates the cocktail website I created and have poured my spirit into (ba-dum-bum) as a business rather than "an expensive hobby," as one friend recently described her creative career.So, it was with a mixture of trepidation, excitement, anxiety and fear-of-failure that I signed up for the L.A. Marathon, which is on March 21, 2010. Registration began today, September 1, 2009 and I stayed up watching the Tonight Show and Jimmy Fallon, last night, until the clock ticked over to midnight. I had been mentally keeping track of the sign up date for a few weeks, and I was not going to miss this opportunity to live "my best life."
2009 started off very strangely for me. On Christmas Eve, I developed a non-stop headache which lasted for 27 days. A CAT scan in the emergency room revealed a relatively small "mass" in my brain. The doc nearly admitted me right away but after conferring with a neurologist, he said that I could go home that night but I would need an MRI "stat," which I took to mean the next day, for example.
That week, as I restlessly awaited my HMO health insurance to "approve" the MRI which would reveal whether or not my life as I knew it would change forever, I googled "meningioma" so I could better understand the ER report. Turns out, they can be absolutely nothing to worry about, or they could be life-threatening brain cancer. Only the MRI would give us that insight, and only my HMO could approve one.
As time droned on, I pleaded with the HMO to speed up the approval process (hello... doc said "stat!"). I filled my afternoons eating whatever I pleased, wearing my fuzzy robe in front of TV and scribbling down notes during "Oprah's Best Life Week," which ran the first week of the new year. Should my life be snatched away sooner than I expected, would I have done my best?
The overall answer was "yes." I am satisfied with who I am, and have very few regrets. I am extremely fortunate: I have a great (if imperfect) family and significant other, and several fiercely loyal friends. I have had the gifts of health and education, and I am lucky enough to have been born a woman in a country without too many obstacles for humans of my gender. A wanderer by nature, I've traveled the world since I was young. I've had the luxury of being able to pursue my passions. And, I have my own, personal relationship with God. I became more and more peaceful inside my core as I pondered these things, and gratitude for my blessings swelled. I've had a good life. But am I living to the best of my ability?
One of the topics of Oprah's Best Life Week was to find a "health advocate," someone who would go to bat for you should a health disaster strike. I wasn't ready to tell anyone (well, hardly anyone) about the MRI, so I became my own health advocate, which I actually found quite empowering. I called that dang HMO every single day, and I am convinced that by doing so, I was able to get the MRI by the end of the week, rather than waiting the 2-3 weeks I had been told.
I was a sniveling heap going into that tube... but a Xanax, half a box of tissues, and an hour later, I was assured that the little mass sharing space inside my skull (whom I'd now nicknamed Harry) was not malignant, and was unlikely to cause me further distress. Also, Harry had nothing to do with my headaches. Turns out that was attributed to a neck problem I'd developed due to bad posture while writing all dang day on my computer for aforementioned website. Just to be safe, I'd go back in a year for a follow-up MRI, to make sure Harry hadn't grown in size. I got physical therapy for my neck and several kinds of pain killers for my headaches. I decided I'd become more active - yoga? ballet? - and take better care of my physical body.
Here's the thing... Just five years ago, I was in good physical shape and exercised regularly. I was on my computer a couple of hours per day, at most. I barely took aspirin for headaches (which I rarely got) and I also drank alcohol sparingly.
Fast forward to today, I've gained 30 pounds over the last 5 years. I barely work out at all. I feel the anxiety of running my own small business. I am constantly on my butt, on my computer, and due to my job (and stress), I indulge in more-than-the-average number of cocktails (or glasses of wine) per week. I'm going to be 40 in January 2010, and Oprah's Best Life week helped me realize that although I am grateful, happy and satisfied with myself overall should I get hit by a truck tomorrow, I have the nagging feeling that I am not quite living my "very best life."
A month after the "Harry" fiasco, I decided I would train for the LA Marathon BUT, it was February 2009, and I had missed all the training deadlines. After emailing a running group, I got an email from a lady nicely explaining that with the marathon only a couple of months away (and given my level of non-experience) it was too late to start so I made a mental note to sign up for the 2010 run and train well in advance.
The LA Marathon has a new route stretching from downtown to the beach. It will be a beautiful tour, by foot, of the city which has been my home since 1993. I admit that a big part of signing up for the training is to get back in shape. I suppose that is superficial. And, I am afraid that I might fail at this marathon thing. I might not make it. I might fail. I might not lose any weight. I might suck. I haven't done yoga or ballet, as I had planned, this year. I might quit the marathon training. I might not run the entire route if I do do it. I might injure myself. I might woos out.
But, I might not.
I might add another notch onto my belt of "life experiences." I might improve myself physically and emotionally. I might run "Harry" right out of my head. And, I might have more proof - when the time does come to leave this body - that I haven't been afraid to commit to living my best life.
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