The Joys of Running by Marilyn

Photo by Marilyn Nimz

This past Saturday, I planned to do my normal run with the Oklahoma Landrunners. Our training plan for the OKC Marathon required that we run 10 miles this week. 10 miles sounded like a breeze compared to last weekend.

Well last week happened to be somewhat busy for us and for some reason I couldn’t say no to anything and even added more to our schedule on top of that. So I was really loving any sleep I could get. I guess Friday night I wasn’t thinking when I set my alarm and didn’t allow myself enough time to get ready. The night before, I laid out my clothing, but I didn’t get a water bottle ready or my earphones (which manage to hide themselves everywhere around our home; i.e. pockets, drawers, cup holders, the laundry, etc). Saturday morning when I woke up, I didn’t get up right away, but when I did, realized I was late. I texted my friends to let them know I would be 5 minutes late.

When I arrived and was parking my car, I noticed the group was leaving to begin the run and by the time I found a parking spot, I was able to catch up with the tail end of the group. My friends were somewhere in the crowd and I thought by chance maybe I could catch up with them. So I ran hard. Adrenaline was pumping through me and had me in a cold sweat even though it was 34 degrees. My eyes were also watering making it hard to see.

If you ever get into running, you’ll notice that there are only so many bright/reflective colors you can wear (hilighter versions of pink, orange, green, and blue in case you were wondering). I began looking for my friends amongst the crowd and saw colored jackets I knew they had. But every time I would think I found one of them, of course it was not them. While running and not paying attention to my feet, I managed to step into a crack. And then like slow motion, my body started to fall… Luckily I was able to catch myself with my left leg, but tweaked it weird so that the pressure was on my knee. I thought to myself, “Good recovery.” And continued to run obliviously.

4 miles later, my left knee began to feel funny. And after running around 6 miles, my knee was hurting. I had to stop and stretch it a few times. And then it happened. I had to run/walk, but mostly walk the last 3 miles. I saw my friends during the last half of the run as we reached the turnaround point, but I didn’t want to slow them down and had other Landrunners with me the whole time anyway.

Lesson of the story: Be on time and go to bed on time. And don’t overbook your life so that it is impossible for your body to keep up with your schedule.

At this point, we will see if a marathon is still in my future for April. Although I haven’t run on it since then, my knee seems to be recovering well. I’ll keep you posted.

My Running Story: 12 Miles by Marilyn

View from the Chesapeake Boathouse – Photo by Marilyn Nimz

This past weekend, I somehow accomplished a 12-miler with the Oklahoma City Running Club: Landrunners at The River Trail on the Oklahoma River. This isn’t something new for me. I’ve run a few half-marathons before, so knowing that I’ve done it before sort of gave me the confidence I needed to be able to run on Saturday. I ran with my faithful and positive friend Heather and her husband. Without the encouragement and ‘go-getter’ attitude of Heather, this journey would be much harder to accomplish. I highly recommend finding a committed friend to run with if you are aiming for 10 miles or more. Otherwise it might get a little boring depending on your course.

My leg was still bothering me this week (read more about that here). However I decided to go ahead and try to run the distance and just go a slower pace. Generally I can at least maintain a 10 minute pace overall up to 13 miles in a race (past that, I don’t know since I’ve never run that far). So this week I deliberately ran slower and tried to pace myself at the same slow pace the whole way through. Pacing myself really helped my leg to not flare up for a while. While it started hurting (and I probably should have quit) at mile 2, I kept going because I really don’t want to give up on striving to run the marathon this year. So my leg did okay for the 12 miles. Please note: I really don’t recommend this for those of you just starting to run.

When I run, I am pretty faithful to using the MayMyRun App for the iphone (screenshot above). This is a great way to track your time and plan your runs. I love it because I see running as a story. Running is something I’ve learned to love because I know it is good for my heart health and makes me feel better about life. So when I see that I’ve built up my distances to become greater over time and realize that one day I can run a marathon, I am encouraged to think I can achieve a huge life goal. And when you can achieve a huge life goal, that’s a pretty big deal. I think I will feel at that point like nothing is impossible! It’s funny how running used to be something I hated. Now running is a way for me to tackle the small things; it’s therapeutic; it’s my ‘me time.’ If I can run a mile, then I can get through a tough day; or if I have a tough day, I can run a mile and get the stress out. If I can run a marathon, maybe I can encourage others with my story.

The Dreaded 10 miler: Not Giving Up Yet

Photo and post by Marilyn Nimz

So here’s the update on this past weekend. As you all know I attempted to run 10 miles this weekend with the Landrunners. We ran a very ‘hilly’ course out at Mitch Park. Each lap around the park was 5 miles through winding paths, trees and steep hills. The weather was a little warmer this week, but still in the 30 degree range when we began at 7am.

Unfortunately my upper right thigh has been bothering me the last few weeks, but usually not until I arrive at mile 6 or so. This week it began to hurt around mile 3 and continued to get worse. Around mile 8, I decided to walk the rest of the way in order to avoid further damage to my legs. It was kind of awful because my body wanted to keep going, but my leg was telling me ‘no.’ I’m feeling much better today, but decided that I will be doing some strengthening and stretching exercises this week to prepare me for next weekends run.

This weeks exercises include cycling, elliptical, and some quadricep stretches.

Running to New Heights

Photo by Marilyn Nimz – Wearing Brooks Adrenalines from Red Coyote

This weekend I continued my marathon training by running 8 miles with the Oklahoma Landrunners. It was much harder to complete this week, but I was still very motivated. The fact that I might be able to run a full marathon in a few months is what keeps me going when I run these long distances.  A few of my friends have graciously decided to train with me the whole distance (given no one encounters injuries). If you ever decide to take up running long distances as a hobby, I highly recommend having a buddy.  You will have someone to talk to and who can be there in case of an accident. Also having a buddy to run with will help you stay motivated to go the full distance without stopping, like greyhound races where they have to chase the bunny.

I began running in college as a way to keep off that ‘freshman 15.’ Initially I hated running, but I learned to love it as I developed a regular routine. Running soon became something I couldn’t live without. Like breathing oxygen, this was time that I needed to myself to meditate…and be in nature. Through running I developed a better self-image, better health, my stress was decreased, and I felt safer knowing I could run. Once I was running regularly, I found that there was a whole new community to be discovered: People who run 5ks, 10ks, run for breast cancer, etc. I suddenly saw new goals ahead of me and decided after my first 5k that my eventual goal would be to run a marathon.

So here we are. If running is something you’d like to get into, I’d recommend that you start with a small amount (maybe a mile). Once you can run that small amount, you can start setting goals to run further. Remember that this is something that you don’t have to do, but make this choice for you and not for anyone or anything else. If you try to run a mile and have to stop in the middle, that’s okay. The idea is that you just don’t give up. So if you have to stop to walk for a few minutes, try running again when you have caught your breath until you can work your way up to holding out for a mile or more. However you decide to get into running, just have fun!

You can also consider following a training plan if you are just starting out. Check your local running clubs or landrunners if you’d like to become a part of a community and find people to run with.

Tips to run 1 mile

Tips to train for a 5 mile run

Running Goals for 2013: Post by Marilyn

Photo by Marilyn Nimz; taken while running with the Oklahoma City Landrunners. Please excuse the blurry-ness.

If you know us at all, you’d know right away that Kaleb and I are both people who love to be outside. We love exercise and we love adventure. Kaleb usually does several bike races a year with a few different teams; and I try to run a few races every year.

For the past two years, I’ve run the half-marathon for the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon, which is held here every year around April-May.  The first year was rough.  I didn’t train regularly and the weather that particular day was cold and rainy. I think that was the coldest I’ve ever been in my life simply because I had to run 13.1 miles in it. The second year I decided to get on a better training plan so that recovery would be easier. After the race last year, I felt great; and the weather cooperated nicely (you never know what the weather will do in Oklahoma). I felt prepared and my body recovered nicely.

For 2013 I decided that I’m up to a new challenge. I am going to (try to) run the full marathon this year in Oklahoma City, OK. My plan is to work my way up to 15 miles and see how I feel before telling people I have to talk to every day (not our blog readers). I will keep you posted on how the process goes: the good and the bad. Above is a photo from my first training run for the season of 6 miles with the OK Landrunners.

I also decided to post a photo of my new favorite running pants: C9 Pants by Champion. They are lightweight, have a fleece lining, and feel silky-smooth on the outside. These were a Christmas gift from my sister-in-law, but she got them at Target. I am in love with these.