How I started running

TK Hausfeld Ride for Life

Whenever I start running with a new person there is one question that usually pops up eventually, "How did you start running?"  Being a middle of the pack/ back of the pack runner it's kind of obvious that I wasn't a runner in high school or through college (I would hope I would be faster if I had been running for that long) and most people who share my pace tend to be in the same situation so it is a common question to ask.  A lot of my reflections on running tend to reference my beginning, so I thought it would be a good time to share my running origins.

July 4th, 2011 my husband rode his bike in the Vandalia Freedom Tour 100k.  I had been thinking that if he could ride his bike that far (and he has a bit of a belly) I should be able to do that too.  My mom was talking about doing a 5k or a walk to raise money for a Pro-Life Charity but most of the ones she found required a $1000 donation or more.  While Nick was in Vandalia he received a flyer for the TK Hausfeld Ride for Life, a bike tour ranging from 6 to 100 miles that supported a Pro-Life charity and cost around $30 per rider.  He brought the flyer home and I contacted my mom.  It sounded like a good idea to her so we agreed to meet the next day to plan this event.

My 2011 bike

July 5th, 2011 we loaded up my bike, which my husband bought for me at a garage sale and appeared to originally have come from Wal-Mart, and headed to my parents' house.  We looked over the registration documents, discussed the cost of the event, and planned our schedule for it.  When we were convinced that we were going to ride in this event, we wanted to make sure we could.  My mom and I got on our bikes and went out for a 6 mile ride, the minimum for TK Hausfeld.  My husband had mapped out the route and I was sure we could cover 6 miles easily.  Miles 1 and 2 were very flat, out and back 1 of 2.  Mile 3 and 4 were downhill, which was fun.  Then we turned around to go uphill for miles 5 and 6.  I was consistently faster than my mom and I pushed my speed to get up the majority of the hill during mile 5.  Once I got up the hill I stopped to wait for my mom, I didn't want to leave her behind.  I didn't cool down; I just stopped.  A few seconds after stopping I started to feel lightheaded.  Then, I got dizzy.  Soon I felt like I couldn't stand up anymore.  I got off my bike and sat in the grass, I didn't want to pass out.  (Little did I know that my mom would have a similar incident a couple of years later with a less happy result).  My mom caught up to me and was very concerned.  She was feeling fine and I couldn't complete the 6 miles.  We walked our bikes back to her house and got some water.  We planned to train more so that we would be ready for the ride at the end of July and we signed up for the event.

When I got home I was beating myself up.  I was thinner and younger than my mom, yet she showed that she was healthier than I was.  I couldn't let that be.  I couldn't be that unhealthy.  I had to fix this.  So I started getting up early every day and riding my bike.  I started with 3 miles and built up from there.  I kept going, no rest days, until there was one day when it was raining.  Well, I couldn't miss a workout, but I wasn't about to go out on a bike in the rain (I was still a fair weather person then) so I decided to workout on Wii Fit.  I liked step aerobics on that game and it seemed like a good alternative.  When I got on the board for the Wii Fit it had to gauge my weight, normal for this game.  But I was shocked by the reading it gave me.  For the 1st time the game called me Overweight... Overweight!  No!  I could not be overweight.  I also learned that I had been overweight before that point.  The scale is a few pounds under when measuring on carpet and I discovered this after taking a measurement on our scale in the bathroom.  This kicked my into a higher gear.  I wanted to do better, be better, and get healthy.  I pushed my bike rides longer and longer until I was doing 15 miles easily and daily.  By the time the TK Hausfeld ride came I changed my distance to the 13 mile route and enjoyed completing it.

This wasn't going to be the end for my fitness journey.  My mom still wanted to walk 5ks since she wasn't very comfortable on a bike, she had just learned how to ride one when I was 14 years old.  I knew that we would be doing these in the future, so I needed to start preparing for a run/walk event.

Hanging out at the Celtic Festival after TK Hausfeld

After the Hausfeld ride my family went to The United Irish of Dayton Celtic Festival.  We usually went to the festival since my husband loves wearing kilts and we have Scottish heritage.  2011 was the 10 year anniversary of the festival and I was debating getting a shirt to commemorate that.  While we walked around the festival we saw a tent where they were passing out shirts, shirts for the 5k that started at 4 o'clock in July (perfect timing for me in this situation, but a horrible time for a road race in general).  I figured I'll get a shirt, I'm walking around the festival anyway, and I can see what a 5k distance looks like.  It also helped that they had a walking division, so I knew I wouldn't be the last to finish.  On an impulse I signed up.  I walked "with a purpose", did a lot of math in my head, got water at the turn around, felt guilty about throwing the cup on the ground so I carried it to the finish, and crossed the finish line in 50:40.  Not the most promising start, but a start nonetheless.  And with that I completed my first 5k.

I began to incorporate more running including some 5ks with my mom, though I did continue cycling as my primary exercise.  That was until fall came.  When October rolled around the bike path became very populated with tiny bugs, bugs that went splat all over my face and chest.  I came home covered in bugs after a bike ride, but not when I went for a run (since I was so much slower when running).  So I changed my primary exercise to running and I've been happy with that choice ever since.

When people come up to me and tell me they can't run, that they wish they could, that they could never keep up with me I think back to how I began.  Anyone can go out and change their lives as long as they take that 1st step.  My mom still walks and rides, but we are both much healthier thanks to our choices on July 5th, 2011.

Plans for 2016

As a runner, I always have goals.  Goals are good, goals keep me motivated, goals push me out of the door for a run when it's raining, freezing, or burning outside.  But goals can be hard to set.

When I first started cycling and running my goal was to have an "event" every month whether it was a cycling tour or a 5k race.  This kept me going.  Even when I was done with one event I knew I would have another event in about a month so I couldn't slack off.

After I had been active for a while I started setting more specific time and distance goals.  Some of the ones I remember were 5k under 45 minutes, 5k under 40 minutes, 5k under 30 minutes, 10k under an hour, 13.1 under 2:20, 13.1 under 2 hours, and marathon under 4:45.  I've met all the goals except for the marathon one.  After I reached many of the time goals I was happy with them, I didn't feel a need to set a faster goal.  If I got faster, great, but I didn't feel a need to push that number much lower.

I also lost the desire to have a race every month.  Once I started running marathons I realized that throwing a 5k into my month wasn't as necessary.  I already had to run over 100 miles just for a training plan so I didn't need a race to keep me moving.  The marathon was enough motivation.

Now I find myself in a new year, with new goals to set.  How do I set a goal that pushes me without injuring me?  Do I try for better times?  Do I attempt more distance?  Do I add more races to my year again?  Usually I look to the past year to set new goals.  Here's what I got from that.

2014 Stats

 These 2014 stats helped me build 2015 goals.  I wanted to run 1250 miles in 2015.  I wanted to have a half marathon under 2 hours.  I wasted to run a marathon in under 5 hours, or even better, under 4:45.

I focused on times, training, not racing.  I had no goals for 5k or 10k.  I didn't have a huge list of races I wanted to do.

2015 Stats

I look at these 2015 stats now.  Even though it doesn't show (course was short) I improved my 5k (24:46).  I also improved my 10k, met my goal for the half marathon and was still 10-25 minutes off on my marathon goal.  I reached and surpassed my distance goal by 124 miles.  I also acquired an injury this year.  So it makes me wonder if I pushed myself too far.

This is what makes goal setting difficult.

The one goal I have set is to run 1500 miles this year.  Assuming my injury doesn't debilitate me, I should be able to do that.  But other goals aren't so clear.  I seem to be setting them unintentionally.

For 2016 I have already signed up for and/or committed to many races.  These races, their proximity to each other, and my purpose in running them may make this a slower yet fulfilling year for me.

What I am signed up for so far:
April 10th: Xenia half marathon
June 5th: Mainly Marathons full marathon, Ohio (I'm pacing my husband for this one.  I say pacing, I mean just not leaving him to do it on his own.)
September 24th: Adams County marathon (I hope to break 4:45 here, but my schedule may sabotage me.)
November 19th: Smoothie King Big Easy Runfest half marathon (trip with the hubby, but I'm not slowing down for him)

This seems innocent enough...... but...... I am committed to a few others...

Commitments:
July: A trail 5k in Pennsylvania that my husband has done and wants to drag me to...
September 11th: Winan's to Winan's half (It's local half, must do since I have run it since the inaugural year, and 2 weeks before Adams County)
September 17th: Indy Women's Half (black flagged last year, I must do it officially this year for fun, and the week before Adams County)

We have also signed up to be members of ORRRC this year, meaning we can do quite a few trail races at no charge and we will be taking advantage of this.

So, back to my goals.  It seems like I want to do quite a few races this year including half and full marathons, though I'm less concerned about my finish time (except Adams county).  I also appear to want to spend more time on trails and help others reach their goals (the Mainly marathons will be long.  My husband's expected finish time is 7 hours.)  I would love to be a pacer at some races too, if I can.

So goals are still hard to quantify.  I know I have some and I am signed up for races so I will keep myself moving but the finish line is blurry.  I guess I will know it when I cross it.