Guest Blogger: Volkswagon Blond

VWB is a posse member who runs with us in Twickory.   I adore her.  Her laugh makes me laugh.  Every time.  Here is Volkswagon Blond's Lemonade Stand:

After running my first ½ marathon in the fall of 2009, naturally the next step is to sign up for the Richmond Marathon.  I thought long and hard about this decision, over a year actually, and my mind was made up, this is the year I’m committing to running my first full marathon.

I’m not an easily discouraged individual, so once I set my mind to do something, I do it wholeheartedly.  

Up to this point in my the training, I’ve met each early morning 95% humidity run, each blister on my foot, each chaffed arm, and most recently a 13 mile run in a hurricane with a smile on my face.  I have tried hard not to let any factors outside of my control ruin this experience for me.  

Until the other day…

I set out to do my eight miles, as the training manual says to do, with no less enthusiasm than usual.  Except its 11:30 (I usually run at 5:30), and I didn’t sleep very good last night (no power=no a/c), and it’s really…well, hot.  No big deal, I’ve run in hot, humid weather all summer – let’s go.

Mile one…ugh….ok, this is just warming up, getting in my groove…

Mile two…am I warmed up or just plain hot..I can do this…one foot in front of the other…

Mile three…hydration beverage nearing empty (as am I)…

Mile four…practice the “mental training” I just read about…picture yourself at the end of your run…Ack….I see myself passed out in my front yard from heat….ok, that didn’t work…

Mile five…IF I can make it over this hill….I could turn left to head home…6 is pretty close…but wait…what is that…kids...cooler…stand…(birds singing, bells ringing) it’s a lemonade/water stand!!!  50¢ for a bottle?  Here’s a dollar, keep the change!  Thank you lemonade stand girls!!!

As I turned right to complete my 8, I smiled up at the bright sun in the beautiful blue sky and pictured myself finishing strong.  You thought you had me heat, but not today…

Guest Blogger: Jenny "Silver"

Jenny, of MTT Silver is the author of the blog Small Beginnings.

So when g. emailed me about writing a guest post on this blog I was so excited, but nervous. First I couldn’t believe that she would want me, as I am a beginning runner with absolutely no experience, to write something. Then I started to think about how much I have to learn, how I love visiting this blog because I’m so curious about anything running related, whether it’s to check out the cute skirts they always wear or hear some good training advice.

So I was responding that I would love to write a post, and was sharing a little about my training. This month on the novice schedule the miles are starting to get higher and it’s kinda intimidating. Saturday we run 12 miles, for some reason I had thought it was 11. It’s only one extra mile, which really isn’t that much but it freaked me out a bit. Then I knew what I wanted to write about. Fear.

I think we as humans are so fearful. I am definitely guilty of it. Whenever I run a new distance there is a part of me that wonders if I will really make it? Will I be the one that collapses on Grove Avenue and they have to call someone to come pick me up?

But then I think back to a couple months ago, when I was training for the Monument Avenue 10k. I vividly remember thinking “I may not make it to 6.2 miles by April 2!” And then I remember running my first 10k on February 1^st, 2 months before the race. And that race was simply amazing, I remember running across that finish line feeling like a million bucks. My mom and husband cheering for me, both amazed that I ran that much. The crowd, everything about that morning was almost surreal. And I did it. I made it.

So I say to myself “You didn’t think you could run that far and you did, so you can do this as well.” And every time I make it. Am I the fastest one on my team? No, I’m not. In fact I am one of the slower ones, but that’s okay. Because I’m doing this, I’m overcoming my fears.

I’ve learned that runners are not absent of fear. Before I became one I thought they were always confident and so sure of themselves. I know this isn’t true, and that’s okay. I think the key is not giving into fear. Not letting it rule your choices, because I think so many people miss out on so much because they are afraid to even try.

I am reminded of a quote by Henry Ford “Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you are right.” It’s so true. If you believe that you can do something, and of course put in the time and effort and do what your coaches tell you to do, you will make it. Don Garber recently sent out an email about the Half Marathon training team that started this past Saturday. He said if you are doing all your runs now you will make it to the Marathon. I needed to hear that, because there was apart of me that secretly wanted to switch. Nobody would blame me, I’ve never run a half marathon before and so it would still be a challenge. But, I knew I would regret it. Because my real goal is the marathon.

I think overcoming fear will always be apart of training. Even if it’s 5 years from now when I’m a mom, and just worried about not having the time to train, or I am trying to set a new PR. But I don’t want to live my life by giving into it. I always think about what it will feel like to cross that finish line on November 12. That date has been in my calendar since April. I know the feeling of reaching that goal once, crossing that finish line and knowing I have defeated my fears is simply amazing, and I want it again. It’s worth the risk, the unknown and the doubts to say “yeah, I ran a marathon, yup that’s 26.2 miles.” 

Melting SNOW

Summer makes me cranky.

I mean, summertime makes me happy, and tan, and I love fresh summer produce, and long days....

But it ALSO makes me cranky.

I'm not the only one who suffers from cranky-summer running.  I don't want to mention any names, but I have a friend to whom I address running e-mails with "Dear Cranky & Hot".  True story.

The friend is hot.

But then again, it's freaking AUGUST in VIRGINIA.

EVERYONE IS HOT.

Hot runners, hot under the collar, hot under the skirt... but that's getting off topic...

I've been out of the loop.  Off globe trotting, and miserable, and suffering through hot lonely runs.  But whew ~ I'm hearing stories from ALL DIRECTIONS.  Colors are FLYING, and tempers are flaring like unstable solar fields on the heliosphere.  I think I maybe just geeked out there for a minute...

I think though, that while the crankiness of summer running is a bit tricky to negotiate, I can get around some of the social ramifications by ...  running alone.

Ok.  That isn't going to happen.
I'm not going to become a hermit.
I talk WAY too much for that to ever occur.

Instead I think I will have better success if I simply try to remember an important detail.  Maybe, just maybe, I'm the one who is cranky.  Maybe it's NOT the people around me.  Perhaps they are simply mirroring my epic grump.

So when I interact with my friends, co-runners, people from other teams, Those People, the ones I will call ~ The Haters ~, the weirdo's who don't appreciate running in tall socks, and the non-runner in my life...  I will try to keep tabs on the idea that maybe, just maybe, it's not them.  It's me.

Of course, you know what that means, right?  It means I have to try EXTRA hard to show up with a good attitude, smile, embrace the moment and be in it even if I'm alone.  

I look forward to bringing that excellent smiling attitude to my return to MTT.  I look forward also to supported runs, SAGs with smiling faces, to MTT discussion boards, to hell repeats, to the Patrick Henry Half Marathon, to ... pish ~ no way am I running that... 3 half marathons in less than 30 days sounds like a punishment I don't deserve.

Of course, all that is assuming I ever make it back to VA.  So far in the last 7 days I've been about 3,780 miles... not including the 13.1 I ran on Sunday.  If things go to plan, I should see you in a week or so.

This weekend I'm sucking running another HOT rainy Half Marathon... the last one was in San Francisco, (which you can read a re-cap here), and this one is in Providence RI....  2 Half Marathons in 7 Days is proving to be a bigger test than I imagined.  My legs were still wasted when I got done with started my shake out run this morning.  So I did what any self respecting marathoner would do...

I jumped in my In-Laws pool fully clothed at 6am.  It seemed like a good idea at the time.  It still seems like a good idea now, but then again, I'm a runner, and runners are weird.  

Respect The Distance.
Savor the run.