running 10 miles on thanksgiving is like going to church on christmas.  it’s my tradition.  my way of celebrating the otherwise gluttonous holiday.

before i start the day of too many calories and social affairs, i hit the pavement for my lonely 10 miles.  i use that time to think about all the blessings in my life:  my ability to move, my freedom to pursue my hobbies, my home in the country that is surrounded by long, open roads.

how fast is a world-class marathoner?  even ryan hall can’t keep up….

we have seen several new world-best marathon times in 2011, first at boston then again at berlin.  the world record of 2:03:38 yields an average pace of 4:43 per mile or 1:10.8 per lap around the track.  by comparison, i MIGHT have been lucky to run a sub 70 second lap in high school.   basically, this tells us that it’s truly possible to sprint for 26.2 miles.  un-believe-able.

Last year, Runner’s World featured a long article about Jenny Crain the top US Woman finisher in the 2004 NYC Marathon and three time Olympic marathon trials qualifier. In August 2007, Jenny set out for her daily workout and never came home. A car struck her less than a mile from the end of her run and left her with irreversible brain damage. The trauma to her brain left her without spatial awareness, short-term memory, sensory perception, and the ability to swallow. The former sleak Olympic quality runner is now a pudgy middle-aged woman confined to a wheelchair.

Her life was completely changed because of one second when the unforgiving metal of a passing car struck the fragile flesh of a runner.

As Daylight Savings clicks over and I start running in the dark more than in the light, I think of my own safety. I take off each morning into the inky black void for my run, and consider the amount of trust I extend to each passing driver. I trust that the driver is aware and alert. I trust that the driver sees me on the side of the road.

I try to do my part as a conscientious runner: I hug the side of the road so closely that my feet fall half on the shoulder, half off the road. A step to the left and I run the risk of twisting an ankle in the uneven edge of the road but a step to the right places me square in the path of oncoming traffic.

When a car approaches in the darkness I think, “Does he see me?” “How many times have I been playing my phone and swerved off the road? The thought makes me feel ashamed that I could have put a fellow runner at risk with my carelessness. I am filled with a sense of vulnerability with the sheer thought of the potential of a serious injury.

Taking extra precaution to be visible is important. Yes, I look goofy in my bright yellow jacket and flashing lights, but staying safe enough to run again tomorrow is worth it.

one person has always inspired me to run: my big brother.  he took me to my first road race, he coached all my cross country and track teams, he encouraged me while training for all my marathons.  we’ve ran together, raced together, and talked running until we were blue in the face.

i ran my first marathon because he ran a marathon.  he ran his first marathon in 1996 in st louis.  he mentioned to me that his goal at that time was to qualify for boston, but i had no idea the magnitude of that statement.  i thought, “wow, that’d be cool to run. it’s, like, a big marathon.”   i had no idea what it took to run a marathon, let alone what it took to qualify for boston.

my most prominent memory from that day was watching him run by me less than a mile from the finish.  i screamed, “yea dwayne!  go dwayne! ” and he cast me a piercing glare and simply gasped, “never again.”

fast forward 15 years, two sons, a heart attack, two instances of flatlining, and a broken leg that left him with a titanium rod in his leg, to yesterday he ran the fox valley marathon.   he finished with a  time of 3:25 — five minutes faster than his boston qualifying time.

just moments after he crossed the finish line, i called him eager to know his finish time.  we traded two sentences:

dwayne:  ”my watch says 3:25:00.”
me:  ”wanna meet me in hopkinton on april 16th?”

’nuff said.  i’m so proud of my big brother.

my buddy baker asked me this question a week or so ago:

What does your near-vegan diet look like in everyday life? What are your reasons for shunning most animal products?

i could write a book in response!  i took awhile to answer this question because there are so many different ways this could go.  nutrition is such a key aspect of running and life in general.  as a society, we place a lot value on food as a form of entertainment, hospitality, nourishment, and comfort.  it’s a personal, emotional, and political issue.  so, i’ll answer the question, but let me start with my disclaimer:  this is my approach to nutrition and it is what works for my body type, fitness regimen, and ethical considerations.  it’s not what is best for everyone.

but you asked what my ‘near-vegan’ diet looks like and why i choose it.

first, ‘near-vegan.’  i shy away from terms like ‘vegan’ and ‘vegetarian’ because they are so politically charged. basically, i eat a plant based diet.  i have a couple food rules:  eat color, stay away prepared foods from a box (if possible), and eat what you crave (with moderation… this isn’t a license to eat gallons of ice cream everyday).  this usually means that i eat grains (like quinoa and oats), vegetables, nuts and nut butters, and beans.  my protein sources are beans, nuts, tofu, and tempeh.

although i prefer a plant-based diet that does not have many animal proteins, i do not strictly adhere to this diet (which is why i don’t call myself a vegan and i believe in the rule ‘eat what you crave’).

i am a runner.  i need protein, iron, and fat.  endurance athletes that exercise for more than 1.5 hours at a time burn not just carbohydrates as an energy source, but also protein.  if you’re not consuming calories during your workout your body will turn to the nearest source of protein it can find, which is your muscle.  your body actually cannibalizes its muscle during workouts and endurance athletes need protein in their diet to rebuild the muscle.  additionally, runners literally hemorrhage with every footfall.  the more you run, the more you lose iron in your body stream.  runners need to take care to replace the lost iron, just like the lost protein.  however, i believe the body has a great warning system to let us know when we need certain nutrients.  if i crave a big fatty burger, that is probably my body saying i need iron (and it’s heme iron, which is different than iron from plants — but that’s another discussion!)

lately, i have lacked calcium in my diet so i have re-introduced dairy products into my menu.  i don’t prefer animal proteins, but if i have to choose between the negative aspects of  them or osteoporosis, i’ll take my risk with the proteins.  it’s about balance.

secondly, what are my reasons?  the first and foremost reason is health.  i believe a well-rounded plant based diet is the most healthy choice for me.  that doesn’t mean i’m the healthiest person around or that my diet doesn’t have its flaws.  as i mentioned in a previous post, i need more calcium, iron, and protein right now.  but, i’m aware of it and taking extra caution to add those nutrients into my diet.

my other reasons are more political in nature, a topic i usually like to avoid on this blog, so i will keep them short.

1) i think meat is gross.  most meat is mass-produced in factory farms.  it’s often unhealthy and inhumane.

2) the environmental cost of factory farming.  from pollution to the amount of energy needed to mass-produce meat and transport it to our table, the cost to produce meat is very high.

3) my husband’s family owns a farm and i was raised in an agricultural community.  i’m loyal to family farms.  most meat does not come from family farms, but from large corporate-owned feed lots.

4) eating meat is inconsistent.  we don’t eat dogs or cats.  the thought of eating the cute little puppy curled up in his doggie bed in the living room makes us sick, but we don’t mind eating a cow from kansas.   as i said before, food is very emotional.

with all of that said, i also realize that this is a first-world problem.  i live a comfortable life and have the luxury of buying organic, free-trade, probiotic laden soy-based faux-bacon from whole foods because it makes me feel good inside.  i realize that food is expensive and when cash-strapped families have to choose between feeling self-righteously earthy-crunchy and feeding their family, they choose the latter.  i would to.

i will also freely admit that i’m a hypocrite, too.  i compromise all the time.  i say i support local agriculture but i drink coffee all day long from beans raised in indonesia.  i snag a bite of my husband’s steak when he says it’s really delicious.  i say meat is not environmentally sustainable, but i’ll drive 3 hrs to go ice climbing for a weekend.   my reasons are not commandments etched in my moral stone, but a combination of ‘good reasons’ that, cumulatively, make me think that the choice to reduce my meat consumption is more beneficial than eating meat on a daily basis.

another installment of ‘ask the big mo’:  (or should we called is ATBM for short?)

Have you read Born to Run? If so, what did you think of it? And, as a result, are you now going to start running barefoot?

i wrote a review on born to run a few years ago.  i talked about my feelings on the book, but it didn’t really address my thoughts on barefoot running.

i don’t run barefoot, except when doing striders after my weekly track workout.  in that case, i run for less than a mile and the purpose of my barefoot run is to both strengthen my ankles/feet and to feel carefree like a kid running across the lawn.

for those who have not read born to run, the author essentially claims that the modern day running shoe is to blame for the injuries that plague runners.  he asserts that the human race was born to run and furthermore, we were born to run barefoot.  our running stride while running barefoot is natural and therefore less prone to injuries.

i personally do not struggle with many of the injuries that are common to mcdougall or other runners, such as IT band soreness, runner’s knee, or sciatica.  i don’t know whether that can be attributed to my form, my build, or simply my good fortune.  absent these injuries, i haven’t had a reason to look to barefoot running as a solution to such injuries.  maybe if i had struggled with such injuries, i would look for any sort of solution to ease my pain.  despite this impetus,  i still have an opinion on the subject, of course!

personally, i think that barefoot running is hyped up.  i have a pair of vibram five fingers and have ran up to 3 miles in them (they shredded my calves, by the way!)  i now use my five fingers for kayaking and bumming around.  (disclaimer — i bought them the before born to run hit the shelves.  once they became trendy, i promptly stopped wearing them!)

as you may deduce from that last sentence, i’m not a big proponent of barefoot running.  i don’t agree that our running problems are solely related to footwear, as mcdougall would suggest.  however, i do agree with the author’s belief that we are born to run.  i think anyone can run.  even if a person believes they “are built like a linebacker, not a runner” they can still run.  i believe that the majority of running related injuries are from trying to do too much too fast.

running takes time and most injuries (or even discomfort) comes from increasing mileage too quickly or overtraining.  yes, most people can go out and run 3 miles without any training, however they will feel it in their body.  it may be better for them to walk or cross train first in order to build strength, or possibly shed some extra pounds, before running becomes more enjoyable.  for me, i spent 6 months hiking and climbing stairs before i worked up to a point where i could start running comfortably.  i was training for a climb and the fitness i built during that time helped me get to a point where running became much easier.  since running was less painful due to the fitness built for climbing, running was much more enjoyable.

i also discourage any trend that promises to be the “silver bullet” of running.  running is hard.  it hurts, takes time and practice.   there is no short cut to fast or easy.  this is what i love about the sport — you can’t fake running, you have to do your homework.  therefore, i am skeptical of any gimmick that promises to make running any easier than it is designed to be.

despite my skepticism of barefoot running, i somewhat buy into the “minimalist” footwear trend.  i do not like shoes with a big heel drop (that is, the heel is much higher than the toe and your foot slopes downward) or much cushioning.  i prefer a flat, lightweight shoe such as mizuno wave precision.  i like to feel the ground beneath my feet and not wear a “high heeled sneaker.”

in summary, i don’t buy into the barefoot fad, but i do prefer minimalist footwear over stability and cushion styled running shoes.  barefootin’ is fun for strides on the grass, but if i’m logging miles on the pavement, give me my lunarglides!

The view from this morning’s run. It’s staying darker later.

i read a great article in the wall street journal praising boredom.  that’s right, boredom.  i completely agreed with it.

we live in an overstimulated world and we’ve grown accustomed to the need to be entertained every moment of the day.  in doing so, we’ve eliminated downtime.  we check Facebook on our smartphones while we wait in line for our espresso.  we have tv screens in elevators.

which is one of the reasons why i run.

when people find out that i run for 2 or 3 hours at a time they usually ask me if i get bored during that time.

my answer is a resounding ‘no’.  why?   because my life is busy.  i am on the go from the moment i wake up to the moment i fall asleep.   my run is the rare time that i have to myself to let myself think, dream, and imagine.

i love my long run.  it is a dear friend to me. i go out for 2 or 3 hours every sunday and run.  sometimes i push the pace, sometimes i just cruise at a mellow pace.  it’s my time.  i evaluate my life, i think about how to be a better friend/wife/person, i solve problems from work, i brainstorm ideas, i plan my week.

that’s why i’m so protective of my runs — when life gets busy and i have to start rearranging my schedule, i don’t let my run slip.  i have to make time to run and think.

another awesome question from cool-kid melissa:

Have you ever dealt with negative self-talk while running? If so, what are the ways you have overcome it? If not, how do you remain so positive while running?

ALL THE TIME!  my mind is my best and worst enemy.  this morning i ran 6 miles easy and the entire time i was thinking about how slow, fat, and out of shape i am because my average pace was above 8:00/mi.  that’s not being very fair to myself.

first of all, don’t feel like you’re not a ‘real’ runner if you have negative thoughts.  we all do.  i might have more experience battling those thoughts since i’ve had to address those thoughts and overcome them more often than a beginner runner. each time i pushed away self-doubt it became easier to do it the next time.   in this sense, training isn’t just about making our legs move faster, but it also contains elements of strengthening our brains to take on the mental rigors of running.  however, i’m never immune to negative self-talk.

my runs are filled with conversations with myself.  some are positive, some negative, and most are just really random.  when those conversations are mostly negative and make me doubt my performance or desire to be running, i employ some of these strategies:

break up my run:  i start thinking about the miles i have left to go and calculate.  4 miles into a 16 miler? “ok, i’m halfway to halfway.”  at mile 6?  ”less than 10 to go — i’m in the single digits.”  6 to go?  ”that’s like hitting the 20 mile mark on a marathon.  man, that hurts way more than this does.  i can make it.”

let’s make a deal:  during a half-marathon last year, i was pushing my pace and starting to hurt.  i made a deal that if i broke a certain time i would reward myself with a new pair of jeans.  if i run more than 10 miles in a day, i give myself ice cream.  making a deal during the run helps you get through.

trigger words:  last year, i utilized the word “fighter” in my training leading up to the chicago marathon.  when i had a tough run that was filling me with doubt, i would talk to myself and say, “sara, you’re a fighter, damnit!  you don’t give up!”   it doesn’t matter that i’m not the fastest runner out there.  all that matters is that i’m setting a standard that i want to live up to and i fight every day to meet that standard.  as long as i do that, i’m successful.

manage expectations:  running takes time.  you wouldn’t expect to win wimbledon the first month you started playing tennis.  even though running seems simple, it’s not easy and it takes time to be good (or even just be pain-free).   set reasonable expectations for yourself.  give yourself a break when running feels hard.  it’s ok to walk.  it’s ok to be last.  it’s even ok to look funny while you run.

get rid of the pressure:  if you’re struggling with negative talk, eliminate the judgment.  just run.  no watch, no route, no agenda.  just go run for awhile and turn around and come back.  if you don’t have target, you can’t miss it.

remember the blessing:  before the boston marathon, two things happened to me.  first, a friend’s father died of ALS.  for the last two years of his life, his body died while his mind stayed vibrant.  secondly, i learned that someone i knew had MS.  i couldn’t fathom the thought of not being able to move or be in control of my movement.  to me, movement is so very important — it makes me feel free and alive.

i wrote the word “movement” in the palm of my hand on patriot’s day and as i stood on the starting line of the boston marathon, i stared at that word.  as i ran the race and it became harder and harder to persevere, i would look at my palm and realize how luck i was to be moving.  yep, racing 26.2 miles is tough, but not being able to move is much tougher.

i am blessed to have the gift of movement and i celebrate it by running every day.