Live. Give. Run. Blog
To Inspire and Move the Human Spirt, One Sole at a Time
As a running coach and “guy who runs a lot”, I’ve gotten a lot of questions about what to do/how to train during this pandemic. I don’t think there’s a right answer and I find that my feelings about it are in contrast to most. I think the reason my views on this are the opposite of a lot of people’s is because I am very much a process oriented person. I don’t run so I can race. I race because I run.
The upside has also meant running a lot again. Like many of you, I do it for my sanity, my health and my opportunity to be alone. The Live Give Run virtual race forced me to stretch my distance a bit and since I have slowed down, a half marathon in Towson would not do. Last Saturday I told Kara I was running to the Locust Point store and asked if she could pick me up there. She said she would. It was a little on the cool and windy side but I was committed. I had a ride.
“Coach….what do I do now?”
As a coach I have received this text, email, and voicemail every day for the past few weeks. With race after race being cancelled from March through May and beyond, runners are in a quandary of what is next. And coaches are asking the same thing, “Is this really happening?”
I went to Houston a little more than a month ago and ran a 2:54 marathon. I'll save you the blow-by-blow recap, but know that there were big, ugly tears at that finish line. As someone who didn't really know what a BQ was until 2017, I never dreamed I'd be fortunate enough to be where I am now. I certainly never thought I'd have found something that, despite being purely a hobby, has such a profound place in my 31-year-old life. Here are 7 (10 was too conventional) things I learned this Fall.
Virtually every runner has a goal race in the Fall and no matter the distance or the level you run at, performing your best in that goal race is important for everyone. Unfortunately for some, this is the time of the year where I meet many a stressed out runner in my job as a Physical Therapist. Here are my top tips for making it to the starting line.
The dark, cool morning tricks me into thinking the race will be cooler than it is. It’s not nearly as hot as most of our training runs, but the warm air surprises me early after the starting gun. Still, I run and don’t walk at all on race day. Coach Dawn calls out to me from behind about 2 miles into the race. She asks how I am doing and I reply confidently and honestly that I am doing well.
While I never imagined having twins would include the benefit of a “spare” relay partner, I am grateful that my son will join me for the CS12. The July 4th medal he gave me hangs in my bedroom where I see it every morning as a reminder that running continues to bring our family together in new ways.
4 days before my Charles Street 12 Charm City Run training starts I receive a call. My partner for the CS12 Relay has rolled her ankle in the middle of a trail run. I am calm at first, and then it comes. What if she cannot run the race with me? Now is a good time to mention that my relay partner is also my 13-year old daughter. Before the trail run rolled ankle incident, I asked if I could write a blog for Charm City Run. The response was an enthusiastic “awesome” to the idea to chronicle the experience running the CS12 relay with my daughter.
