Why run?

I had this crazy idea to start a training group for women over 40 to run or walk the More half-marathon in NYC on April 6th. I thought it would be great if I could entice 5 women into the program.

I've had over 60 women express interest. Wow! You have to remember that we live in Vermont and upstate New York, and the highest temperature on the day of our kick-off meeting was zero.

Why would women want to run or walk throughout the winter to train for a 13.1 mile race? Here are some of their reasons:
- to get more fit and healthy
- to accomplish finishing a half marathon
- to increase motivation to commit to an exercise program
- to have fun with a group of like-minded women
- to have something just for me!

They show up at 5:30 am, when it's dark. They show up again at 5:30pm - when it's once again dark. We also have training sessions during the day, which means juggling work, kids, and family schedules. We walk and run outside as a group, saving the treadmill for those times we can't make it to a group session.

We've met new friends, learned stretching techniques, purchased 'technical' clothing that wicks away sweat, and experienced the satisfaction that comes from committing to a difficult, yet important, goals.

These women are wonderful as a group and as individuals, and I'm thrilled to help them reach their goal: the More half-marathon finish line on April 6th!

January challenge completed!

I conquered my January challenge this past weekend with the help of my sister Diane. We ran the Chevron Houston marathon in 4:41:05, which beat our goal finish by 4 minutes! The credit goes to the wonderful weather (45 at the start, mid 60's for the high) and almost flat course. Sure, there were aches and pains - there always are - but we never felt horrible or that we couldn't finish. We even sped up at the end, passed a few people, and finished with smiles on our faces!

We always like to finish in the top 50% of our age group, which is more difficult now that we're at the tail-end of the 40-49 group. Here are the stats:
- Place within division: 125 / 268
- Place within gender: 1035 / 2093

Now I've completed 8 out of the 12 monthly challenges I set for myself during this year before I turn 50:
- June: ran in the Green Mountain Relay Race
- July: ran a 5K trail race in Rutland
- August: completed an olympic distance triathlon at Lake Dunmore
- September: a bike century in Saratoga, NY
- October: Cape Cod marathon
- November: hiked up to the top of Mt. Equinox with my husband Mike
- December: I love Woodford snowshoe race

I don't have anything planned yet for February, but am thinking about cross-country skiing.

It feels great to set goals, and even better to cross those goals off my list when they're completed. Onward and upward!

Conquer the treadmill

I hate running on the treadmill. I know it's more mental anguish rather than physical pain, but I still hate it. Unfortunately, it was either run on the treadmill or skip my workout the past two days due to bad weather.

I'm not a sissy when it comes to running outside, but I draw the line at running in sleet, freezing rain, or slippery roads. Hence, the treadmill.

The good news is that I conquered the treadmill and got in my workouts, even though I disliked it. Because I have a written training plan, and put my workouts into my daily planner, I almost always am able to check them off at the end of each day. If I left workouts up to chance, I'd end up skipping many of them.

Think about your workout plan, or your plan to achieve any other goals. Do you write down what you want to do, and the timeframe to accomplish it? Do you have a clear goal of where you want to be? Do you have a written plan of what you need to do each day to reach that end goal? Do you include time in your daily schedule to work on those specific goals?

Do all of these tasks, and you'll find yourself accomplishing any goal you set. Skip them, and you'll feel like a caged hamster on a treadmill: always moving, but never getting anywhere.

Women want MORE

What is it about women turning 40 that gets us jazzed up? I ran my first marathon 2 weeks before my 40th birthday as a way of thumbing my nose at age and reassuring myself that physically and mentally I still could set - and achieve - challenges.

MORE magazine, a magazine aimed at women over age 40, hosts a half-marathon and full marathon in New York City's Central Park each Spring. I thought about how cool it would be to gather a group of women in my area, train for the half-marathon, and run it together. Of course, I was thinking about this while out for a long training run :)

What to do when you have a brainstorm? Talk it over with a friend, right? My friend Kathryn has a fantastic history of exercise, but lately she's slowed down. When she heard the idea, she was jazzed! Another friend, Patty, actually ran both the New York City marathon and the MORE half-marathon in previous years, but like many women found herself bogged down with work and family issues that needed her attention. She heard the idea of a local training group, and got excited about running again.

Since the idea snowballed, we're moving forward with making it a reality. Even if you don't live in the Manchester, VT, area, you can set goals and challenges for yourself. Heck, you can even join our training group as a virtual partner! Look for more details soon, since we'll start training in early January.

If you're excited about the possibility of challenging yourself to complete a new goal, check out the MORE marathon website at http://www.nyrr.org/races/2008/more/index.asp

If running or walking a half marathon isn't your thing, brainstorm a challenge that suits you. Dream big dreams, set small goals, and realize significant success.

Earn money to lose weight

Money!

That's what it takes for people to stick to a meal and exercise plan and lose weight, according to a recent study by RTI International economist Eric Finkelstein.

The more money people "earn" by losing weight, the more weight they lost. Finkelstein found that over a three month period, people who were paid $14 per percentage point of weight lost were five times more likely to lose at least 5% of their body weight. That means for losing 5% of their weight (10 pounds if you weighed 200 pounds at the start of the contest), you earned $70.00.

Stay tuned for a new website, stickK.com, where you can "put a contract out on yourself". In this case, you pick a price, and if you don't lose a certain a mount of weight the money goes to a charity, friends, or family - your choice. Reach your weight goal, and you get to keep your money.

I have to say I'm skeptical, despite the research to the contrary. I've worked with a few teens whose parents offered to pay them to lose weight. The teens either didn't lose weight, or they lost weight to earn a specific amount of money, then gained the weight back.

Ultimately, having an internal, intrinsic reason for losing weight is more important and significant than a monetary reward in my way of thinking. It will be interesting to see the results from www.stickK.com once they launch. Stay tuned!

Fight cancer with food

A new report came out today from the American Institute for Cancer Research highlighting 10 steps we can take to reduce our risk of several types of cancer by about one-third. There's nothing new or earth-shattering here, just common sense recommendations that many people already know:

1. Stay as lean as possible within a healthy weight range
2. Get some type of physical activity every day
3. Limit foods and drinks high in calories (from fat and sugar)
4. Choose mostly plant-based foods: grains, fruit, vegetables, legumes
5. Avoid red meat and processed meats
6. Limit alcohol
7. Limit salt, salty foods and moldy grains and legumes (not that we purposefully eat moldy foods, right?)
8. Avoid supplements because there isn't good research to prove their benefit, and some can actually be harmful
9. Women should breastfeed their children whenever possible
10. If you have cancer, follow your physician's recommendations

The entire report is at http://www.dietandcancerreport.org/

Look at the list of 10 cancer-preventing steps. Put an "x" on the ones you already do consistently, and pat yourself on the back for practicing healthy behaviors. Circle the ones you don't do, or have trouble following consistently. Then pick just one recommendation to work on. Think about what you'd ultimately like to achieve, and figure out how you're going to get there.

For example, let's say you pick #3 to start with, and that you specifically want to drink less coffee with sugar, cream and flavorings. For the next week, keep a written list of the time and location when you drink coffee, as well as the amount of coffee you drink each time. Then look up the calories in your favorite coffee using www.starbucks.com as a guide (even if you don't drink Starbucks coffee, they have great nutrition info that's applicable to other coffees). Once you know exactly how you use coffee, set a goal to drink less. Perhaps you'll purchase a smaller cup of coffee , or you'll use a smaller coffee mug at work. Maybe you'll decide to switch to a coffee that contains less sugar and flavorings. Or you could even decide to drink something else instead of coffee, perhaps water or plain green tea. The choice is up to you, but make sure you write down exactly what you want to accomplish and how you're going to go about meeting this goal.

At the end of the week, review what steps worked well for you and where you had trouble. Figure out how to get around any obstacles, and set another goal for the next week. Keep setting goals and reviewing them until you reach the place you want to be. Take a week to congratulate yourself on making a positive change, then go back to your original list and choose something else to work on.

It's wonderful that we live in a time and place where we have so many choices available to us. How are you going to make those choices?

October challenge: the marathon

I set a goal to accomplish one physical challenge each month starting in June 2007 when I turned 49 and ending in June 2008 when I'll turn 50 as a way of celebrating this milestone birthday.

In June I participated in the Green Mountain Relay, running 3 legs of a 200-mile relay on a team of 12 people. July was the 5K trail race in Rutland, Vermont. In August I did an Olympic distance triathlon (.9 mile swim, 28 mile bike and 10K run) at Lake Dunmore. September saw me riding a very wet and cold bike century around Saratoga, NY. Yesterday I ran the Cape Cod marathon in Falmouth, MA on a beautiful day: temperatures in the 50's with day-long sunshine. The only downside was gusty winds, but even they really weren't a factor due to the tree-lined course.

I trained for this marathon with Leigh Ann, who was running her first marathon. She got the long-distance running bug training for our Maple Lead Half-Marathon, and decided to keep on training for the Cape Cod race. We ran together for about 6 miles, then she took off when the course got hilly at the 17th mile and finished 3 minutes ahead of me. Way to go Leigh Ann! When it came to the hills, she said we should just put our heads down and keep on running - and that's what she did.

I also saw Rosemary Rusin, a local runner, who was competing in her 22nd Cape Cod Marathon and her 100th marathon overall! Rosemary is always a strong runner and finished in 4 hours and 40 minutes.

I like to set three goals for every race: a hard to reach goal (4:22 in this case), a moderate goal (4:30) and a last-chance goal (cross the finish line standing). I made my moderate goal, finishing in 4:28 and change. It feels great just to cross the finish line, even better to get a bottle of cold water from one of the friendly volunteers, and absolutely wonderful when I meet my husband at the end of the finisher's chute and get a big hug.

I don't have a specific goal set yet until April, when I plan on running a half-marathon in Valparaiso, IN, my hometown. I'd like to run a snowshoe race, maybe a citizen's "race" on cross-country skis, and something with each of my sisters in their states (Michigan and Texas). I'd better start planning!

Finishing last

I rode a century bike ride yesterday. A century ride is 100 miles long, give or take a couple of miles. This was my second century; last year I rode the one in Hampton Beach, NH, put on by the New Hampshire Wheelmen cycling club. This year I rode in the Hudson-Mohawk cycling club's century in Saratoga Springs, NY.

I knew I was in trouble when all 12 of us lined up for the 8am start. I'm not especially fast on my bike, averaging 14-15 mph and the other riders all looked extremely fit. Three of them also rode the same century the day before, and were looking forward to another 100 miles. The pack started out with me at the end, and that's where I stayed.

I'm not used to finishing last. In big running races my goal is to finish in the top 50% of my age group. In small races there are always a few few folks behind me. At first, I was a bit angry to be dead last. Then I thought about the fact that someone always has to be last, right? Why not me? I didn't get lost (thanks to the cycling club who had the course extremely well-marked) and I kept up with my goal pace.

I felt sorry for the rest-stop volunteers who waited for me with a smile and kind words. Every once in a while I'd catch up with some of the other riders (or perhaps they were waiting for me) and after about 40 miles, everybody knew me as "the lady from Vermont". Everyone was extremely friendly, and no one chided me for being slow. No one suggested I drop out. I thought about dropping out when the rain changed from a drizzle to a downpour and I could barely see the road, but then I was in the middle of nowhere and figured the best way to get back was to keep following the blaze-orange arrows on the road.

The reality is that in races, as in much of life, someone is first and gets a lot of glory and fame. There are a bunch of people in the middle who perhaps set personal goals, run or ride with friends, and have a great time. There is always someone last. Last in your high school graduating class. Last to be chosen for the grade school kick-ball game at recess. Last to be promoted at work. Last in the century ride.

But even the last person finished. Set a goal and met it. Didn't give up or quit. Kept going even when they couldn't see anyone else in front of them. And of course had some help along the way from volunteers, friends, and family.

Last isn't so bad after all!

Terminology

How often do you say "I"ll try to....." or "I should......."? Maybe you think to yourself "I'll try to eat breakfast" or "I'll try to take a walk after dinner". Or perhaps you told a friend "I should really start exercising" or "I should eat more fruit".

It's time to learn new terminology. Trying to do something means that we think we're going to fail. If we were really confident, we'd say "I WILL.....". I WILL eat breakfast tomorrow or I WILL take walk after dinner is more powerful and convincing, even when we say it to ourselves. Whenever a client tells me that they will try to do something, I ask them to break it down into steps that they WILL do. It may take a few days or weeks before they get to their final endpoint, but in the meantime they're making progress and doing something positive.

We use the word "should" when we're not convinced that taking a certain path is really the best course of action. Of course we know lots of things we should do: clean the bathroom, water the plants, call a friend. But we won't actually do these things until we want to do them. Replace should with want: I want to begin an exercise plan. I want to eat more fruit. Then figure out exactly how you're going to follow through with these plans.

Every time you catch yourself using the word try, replace it with will.

Every time you say the word should, replace it with want.

You'll take control over your actions and make progress on activities that are meaningful to you.

Triathlon completed!

My August challenge is finished! Today I completed the Lake Dunmore Triathlon, which is the Olympic distance of a .9 mile swim, 28 mile bike, and 6K run.

The weather was perfect: not too hot, a few clouds, and a light breeze. I met some helpful and friendly 40- and 50-something women as we were racking our bikes and getting our gear ready before the race began. That's the great thing about triathlons: some people are super-fast and very competitive, but everyone is willing to share suggestions and tips (and tire pumps, if you forget yours!)

The swim was two laps around a line of buoys parallel to the shore in Lake Dunmore, in Brandon, VT. The start of the swim is always hectic, with everyone running into the water and jockeying for position. Even though I'm comfortable in the water and have been swimming for years, it's still a bit nerve-wracking. I used the breaststroke for the first few minutes until everything settled down, then switched off between the crawl (faster) and the breaststroke (I could see where I was going) for the rest of the swim. Piece of cake!

Run to the transition area, where I stripped off my swim cap and goggles, dried my feet and slid on bike socks and shoes, put on my helmet and sunglasses, grabbed part of a Clif bar and water, and headed out on my bike. Again, two laps mostly around Lake Dunmore. I pedaled faster than usual, and passed a few people climbing up the relatively few hills. But then THEY passed ME on the way back down the hills! I guess I need aero bars to make me more aerodynamic.

Back to the transition area where all the bike gear comes off, running socks and shoes go on, plus a hat (both to keep the sun off my face and to hide the horrible hair-do I'm left with after swimming and biking), and my waist belt with water, Accelerade, and Gu. At the start of the run my legs are shaky from biking, and it takes a good 10 minutes to work out the kinks and settle into a regular stride. Thank goodness for shade along the course, because by this time it was getting hot! The water at the water stops was used to douse my head to help cool me off (I drank the water and Accelerade I carried with me). Everyone on the out and back course was friendly and encouraging, with shouts of "Looking great!" and "Almost finished!" from just about everyone.

A final surge through the finish chute, with a time of 3:21:28. Certainly not a very fast time (I came in 5th out of 7 women in the 45-49 age group bracket) but I wasn't last, either. Plus, I had a lot of fun, met great people, and completed my goal.

Check out http://www.vermontsun.com/triathlon.html for more info on the Vermont Sun triathlon series and race results. Maybe next year I'll set my sights on the Half-Ironman....

This picture is from the Nashville Country Music Marathon on April 28th. I'm on the left, with my sister Gail in the middle, and sister Diane on the right. Diane and I ran the marathon, and Gail walked her first half-marathon!

Our dad and step-mom came to Nashville to cheer us on, act as our support crew, and show us their favorite places in Nashville. We had a lot of fun, and all of us finished our race - and had enough energy to go out and have fun that night!

What's your next goal?

Lynn

Nashville here we come!

It happened in less than a week.

I emailed my sister in Houston about the possibility of running the Country Music Marathon together in Nashville the end of April. It morphed into asking our dad and stepmom to come to Nashville with us. They love country music and Nashville, and haven't seen us run a marathon in years. Then my dad decided the youngest sister simply had to come along as well, and walk her first half-marathon. It's a done deal!

We decided making the travel plans, coordinating flights and hotel, takes more time than actually running the marathon. We're now back to training plans, fitting running and walking into our busy schedules, and taking ibuprofen for sore muscles.

But we have a goal, and even better, we're all going to be together for a fun weekend of running, walking, and checking out the country music bars (my dad's contribution). When was the last time you made family vacation plans that center around exercise? It doesn't have to be a marathon or half-marathon, although why not? Canoeing, kayaking, biking, hiking - they all are a great way to experience a new location and have fun together.

Country music marathon, here we come!
Lynn