I am one of those crazy guys you often hear about - the guy that went from a couch potato to an Ultra Distance runner. I went from being 75 lbs overweight and very inactive to running five marathons in 12 months, and running my first 50K Ultra in late February 2013!
Before you stop reading because you are not this crazy, I want you to stick with me a little longer. About three years ago I decided I was tired of being overweight and unhealthy. I have five kids and I want to be around to see my grandkids, plus my wife of 27 years wants to keep me around a bit longer! I started my journey by making small changes in my diet. These were little thing I did over time like adding more fruit to my daily routine, eating more veggies, cutting out the sodas and sweet tea, etc. I eventually went all plant-powered and began my marathon training program 12 months after I began the changes. I personally followed a version of Jeff Galloway’s run/walk method and I slowly built up my distance to a marathon. In Dec 2012, I ran my first marathon in 18 years! I was hooked after that and I needed more! I ran another marathon in July and took 30 minutes off my time by slowing down my long training runs and building up my zone 2 base. In November I ran the Rock and Roll Marathon in San Antonio and then a double marathon in Dallas on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day! I will admit I have an additive personality so I typically go all in; however, the lessons I learned can apply to most people wanting to run long distances. I have spent a considerable amount of time learning about nutrition and fitness. My biggest training goal was to do all this injury free! It is not much fun to set goals and then have to sit out as the race goes on without you. Why do I share this? Well over the last two years I have talked to countless friends at the gym, local running clubs and online about training. The most common theme I see is overtraining or doing too much too soon. For me, it took almost six months to go from the couch to six miles comfortably! I trained for another year before I ran my first marathon. I did what most people don't – I had a plan. Whether your goal is a 5K or a 100 miler - you must have a plan. It is too easy to listen to everyone else, get confused and try to do too many of the things you have been told at once. Even worse is going out wanting to run a race and not having any plan at all - that is a recipe for disaster. Now I certainly recommend getting advice from others experienced runners, but in the end you cannot make changes to your routine on a regular basis and expect good results. Too many times runners are confused and try to incorporate too many things at once. Some of the confusion comes from the industry - not all runners agree on how to train, you see this often in magazines such as Runners World. Now I will admit there are several ways to go about training. There is no one “right” way - you must find what works for you. Stick with a solid foundation, make small tweaks along the way but see your plan through. I share this because many new runners start out going too fast, too far, or don't make the right nutritional choices to support their goal. Many runners begin running to lose weight, but they do not change anything about their diet. Whether you are plant-powered like me or like to eat your meat, you must eat real food! It is that simple! Stay away from the GUs and gels. Avoid sugary sports drinks like Gatorade, and just stick to water. And please do not listen to the commercials about chocolate milk! For your daily diet get plenty of fruits and veggies. If you continue to eat fast food or meals from a box - then you may find your goals much harder to reach. I guarantee it is a lot more fun to run at your ideal weight than carrying an extra 20 lbs! Lastly find a program that matches your needs and goals. This can be through a coach, a local running club, or a program such as Jeff Galloway’s. It is heartbreaking to see friends on a path to injury. Even though I offer some advice they still believe “they can do it” and end up getting hurt and missing the race. Don't let this happen to you. Reach out to qualified individuals or programs that you can trust. Good luck and I would love to hear from you! Personal Blog: Bjtucker05.blogspot.com Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/HealthAndFitnessTheSimpleTruth Nutrition is such a loaded topic. I don't frequently talk about how or what I eat because I don't want to get into an emotional discussion with someone about why one way is right and another is wrong. There is no one right way to eat. Everyone is going to need to experiment and determine their specific dietary needs. With this said, let me tell you about the changes I have made in the last year.
I have been a vegetarian since I was 15 years old. I never liked meat. It always bothered me. It was easy to exclude from my diet, but way too easy to fill that hole with junk food. In all of this time, the only vegetarian I have ever lived with is my 4 year old daughter. I am very used to people eating meat around me. I do buy meat for my family. I am VERY particular about what meat and dairy I buy. I buy local/clean/antibiotic and growth hormone free. It may cost more, but, I do the best I can. I believe that nutrition is a choice. It needs to be a conscious choice. And I will do the best I can to avoid factory farming. It's not perfect, I know. I made some significant changes last year. And they have changed my life. I am still a vegetarian, and I frequently flirt with a vegan lifestyle. Being plant powered is a commitment that I feel strongly about and I know it works for me. With this said, I still wasn't feeling right. I struggled with hypoglycemia and I could never get my race nutrition right. I suffered from stomach distress and random aches and pains and creakiness. I knew sugar was a problem. I must say, I LOVE sugar. For me it is a crazy addiction. I will always be thin, but my body composition changes when I eat too much sugar. And once I start eating sugar, I don't stop. I want MORE. And if you're wondering, for me, I have to be mindful about the amount of fruit I consume. Too much fruit doesn't work for me. This is individual to me and I encourage you to experiment on your own with fruit. And I am referring to anything with the -ose on the end of it i.e. sucrose, fructose, dextrose, etc. I mean PROCESSED SUGARS. And I believe they are poison. I began to read and research. The resources that I found very helpful: Rich Roll podcast, Vinnie Tortorich World's Angriest Trainer podcast, and endurance athletes Scott Jurek and Brendan Brazier. I made a commitment to a no sugar and no grains diet. At first, I felt the need to feed the obsessive demon that lives inside me and I tracked my calories, fat, proteins, carbohydrates. I eventually was able to let that go. There is no need to me to track calories and such. I learned to eat when I was hungry. I quickly became "fat adapted" and I unintentionally end up occasionally living in a ketogenic state. The Standard American Diet (SAD) encourages us to eat a high carbohydrate and low fat diet. We have been taught that when we want to lose weight we should cut our calories and exercise more. NO NO NO! This is total bullshit. And at this point in time, it actually makes me angry. This diet that we've all been sold leads to weight gain and loss yo-yo dieting and on a more dangerous front, disease and metabolic syndrome(s). My nutrition includes a high fat diet (avocados, nuts, and seeds), moderate protein, lots of veggies, and simply no sugar / no grains. Keep it simple. I got this message. I had no intention of losing weight, but in the course of a year I still weigh the same, but I am a size smaller. I have lost body fat and leaned up. I also learned that our body composition is based on roughly 80% nutrition and 20% exercise. No more starving myself and exercising more. This only creates stress on the body and this stress will show itself in the form of weight gain, moodiness, and fatigue. A bit of a side note here…. I have learned it is important for me to enjoy life. I will occasionally enjoy a favorite of mine such as corn tortillas, or a few crackers here and there. I am not triggered by ingesting grains. However, when I attempt to put a little life into living with sugar such as ice cream or candy, well I enjoy it but I pay a price and feel crappy afterward. My race nutrition has also changed significantly. I no longer consume the sugar filled gels, shot blocks, and the like. No more sugar filled drinks in the name of sports nutrition. I will not consume sugar or fake sugar. I have adapted and typically I don't need to consume anything while exercising until about 2-3 hours after I start. I drink mainly water, and I have also been experimenting and found positive results with the plain UCan mixed in my water bottles. I no longer "bonk" when I don't eat. I simply get hungry. When exercising it is also VERY important for me to take electrolyte tablets. I like SaltStick tablets. Electrolytes are CRUCIAL! This is what keeps you from cramping up. And if you attempt to get the proper amount from a sports drink, the amount of sugar you will consume to get adequate electrolytes will most likely cause stomach distress. This nutritional journey has been interesting to say the least. I learned that I was doing it all wrong. And what we are being inundated with from the media is crap. Ditch the processed sugar. NOW. This is crucial. I have learned that plant powered nutrition that excludes sugar and grains is GOLDEN for me. It has changed my life. I encourage you to experiment. And let me know how it goes! Over the past decade I have been through some surreal life challenges. I have also watched loved ones endure and move through extremely painful experiences.
Before I say another word, I have got to say that I will not place any judgment on someone moving through a painful experience. That isn’t the intention of this blog. My magical thought and words of wisdom for today: SHIT HAPPENS. Sometimes things go wrong. It’s as simple as that. I don’t believe that ALL bad things happen for a reason. Sometimes life sucks. And the only way we can feel and move through the shit is, well… to move through and feel things. We don’t HAVE TO EXPLAIN tragedies. Maybe in hindsight we will be blessed with a fortunate experience after a tragedy. That is wonderful. I hope we all have that. Maybe we have to have bad things happen so we can feel good things? I frankly don’t know and I don’t care. Whether you are religious or an atheist.....Take the space. No need to explain. Things just make suck. I have found that FEELING this stuff is harder than anything I’ve every had to do. And explaining or coming up with a reason can belittle our feelings. May you be peaceful and at ease. May you be healthy. May you be safe. The pace of my life is fast. Even when nothing is going on, something is still happening. I have 4 children, my own coaching business, and about a half dozen side jobs floating around.
I would LOVE to pretend that I am Wonder Woman. Unfortunately, I am not. You know the saying, “when you want something done ask the busiest person in the room.” That busy person would be me. Although, now that I am a bit older and hopefully wiser I can say no. I have big goals for 2014- because obviously everything else in paragraph 1 isn’t enough. Seriously, I NEED these personal goals. Sometimes, I think I need these goals because the stuff in my life is so overwhelming and busy. I am training for a 100 miler, a 50k, about a half dozen or so triathlons. I need these things. When I don’t exercise, I am like a Border Collie that hasn’t been walked. It ain’t pretty folks. It gets ugly sometimes. On Saturday, I was determined to do my long run. It was a bit warmer than normal, but it was pouring rain, snowy, muddy, and VERY icy. I also had an extremely hard double workout the day before. I should’ve waited. I could have REALLY gotten hurt. I should’ve known better. To be honest, I did know better. I just wanted to do what I wanted to do. I spent a few days recovering from the “should’ve know better run” because I blasted the stabilizer muscles in my feet, ankles, legs, and hips. And thank you Mother Mary that I did not fall on the sheets of ice on the trails. And I still have drama and a messy house. It was there when I returned from the run/slide. I guess the moral of this note, is sometimes we do stupid things even when we know better. I am not even close to perfect. I am just another person on this crazy journey of life. Hang in there friends. We get done what needs to be done. I'm coming up on my next attempt at 100 miles. When I signed up the the Graveyard 100 mile in the Outer Banks, North Carolina, it seemed like a good idea at the time. I love the Outer Banks, I have family there, and the weather is typically nice that time of year. However, I forgot about the training.
I am NOT a cold weather person. I call cold weather my "hard limit." I don't go there and I'm very ok with this! No cold weather races for me. Bring on the heat, humidity, or desert conditions but cold I will not do. As I mentioned, I forgot about this. I have attempted 100 miles once before and my training for my current race versus the last race have been drastically different. Last summer, I learned HOW to train for a high mileage race. There is an art to this. One typically just can't go run crazy high miles. I do long runs, but they are strategically placed in a training cycle that is balanced with life. I also learned the art of nutrition and hydration. I had to train my body to eat and drink as much as possible while running. This time around, I trained heavily but I also added the art of recovery. I learned how to sneak in little bits of recovery. I don't have any extra time in my day so anything additional needs to be fit in. I soak and ice my feet after dinner, I wear compression gear under my clothes, I roll out my legs, I make snacks and smoothies in advance, I do yoga while on webinars, etc. I probably spend 2-3 hours a day recovering. But, I am doing other things at the same time. Its the only way I can get it in. I stressed a LOT about how I was going to get my runs in. I wondered how would I get a 7-8 hour run in when the reservoirs were closed, the roads were down to one lane, and some snow banks were taller than me. I made friends with the treadmill and caught up on a LOT of television. My 14 year old was going to bed one evening and I said, "Honey, I have to run for 5 hours on the treadmill you may hear the noise." His response was, "OK Mom. Goodnight." I was dumbfounded that we have gotten to the point when my odd training behavior doesn't phase him anymore. I'd be lying if I told you that I wasn't nervous about the upcoming race. I am nervous and very excited. Some of my shorter distance triathlons are over in the blink of an eye. However, ultras.... wow... there is a journey here. The journey is scary. I have NO idea what to expect and that's OK. I am engaging in this FOR THE JOURNEY. It scares me. I don't know what will happen. But, I find peace in the challenge to surpass my fears and my humanity and complete this race. In the meantime, I just put my 3 year old down for a nap and the kids will be home from school soon. I gotta sneak in a treadmill run! Later...... "I have been running so sweaty my whole life Urgent for a finish line And I have been missing the rapture this whole time of being forever incomplete" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMshi2aS3-o "Incomplete" Alanis Morissette Nothing in life is permanent. While this is extraordinarily sad sometimes, it is true. I have experienced this the hard way. I have lost best friends, family members, and seen incredible suffering. Life can be very very tough. Sometimes, I feel like I am too young to understand this. But, it is what it is.
Life is also wonderful and amazing. I have been blessed with incredible joy and good fortune. I am surrounded by amazing family and friends. Over the course of my lifetime, I have learned to let go. I understand the nature of control. Life to me is like being in the ocean. Sometimes it is just perfect and I can catch that big wave and ride it in. Other times I have been pummelled by surf and dragged by the tide. When I was a teenager, I was surfing and I saw that I was going to be hit by a huge wave. I went to duck under the wave. I did not go under water fast enough and my board cord got wrapped around my neck. I was held underwater and couldn't move. I relaxed and got dragged in to the beach by the wave and the board by my neck. I was ok, but I had a big huge red ligature mark around my neck- it looked like I tried to hang myself. I instinctively knew to relax. Relax and let go or drown and be killed. It was scary but I knew that if I fought the surf I would not survive. When I was about 6 years old, my parents took us to Ocean City, Maryland. We went to the beach and the surf was huge. I knew how to swim, but had not spent much time in the ocean riding the waves yet. My father asked me if I wanted to bodysurf and I eagerly agreed. We went in the water, he showed my how to swim with the wave and catch it. I did as I was told and I got pummeled. My little body was tossed up in the air, I swallowed copious amounts of water, and I was forcefully dragged to the beach by the wave. I got up, looked at my father, and looked at my mother and saw a look of horror on her face. I brushed my hair out of my face and asked to do it again. I think this was a very harsh way to learn about swimming in the ocean but it saved my life years later. I learned to relax and let go. But, something else became apparent on that day. My wicked and twisted side was showing through. That wave pummeled my 6 year old body. But after it was done, I wanted to do it again. Did I want to do it because it was fun? No way. In retrospect, I believe I wanted to go back into that water to chase the thrill. I was chasing the thrill of something that beat me. I needed to conquer those waves. I needed to learn to work with the tide and use that fierceness to bring myself to victory. This is where running comes in. Most of my life is out of my control. The only thing I can control is my own reactions and behavior. When I'm on the trail its me and the dirt. Hills have darn near killed me. I've gotten my butt handed after tripping over a root I didn't see. But, I brush off and get back up. I can control that. I can control how I deal with the stuff that comes my way when I'm running. I attribute my DNF (did not finish) during this summer's 100 miler to crappy circumstances. I was healthy, hydrated, fed but things happened that I couldn't control and it affected my time. This lit a fire in me that I don't believe existed before. I will never quit in a race, quit on family and friends, or quit on life in general. I will hang on and do the right thing and what needs to be done in that moment until I am physically unable to do so. Everybody needs something. You've got to have something to hold on to when it all hits the fan. It's way to easy to fall into addictions and negative patterns of behavior and pretend things aren't real when it gets to painful. My something is running. I choose running. I choose the trails and the woods. I have learned that in that solitude, I can pound out all of my frustration and let go or be dragged. There is something to be said for embracing discomfort. Lean into it. Use your something to really feel what's going on around you. We can't control life. Its wonderful and devastating and surprising. Embrace the discomfort. Use your something to bring you through those times that you just don't think you can move through. Use your something to celebrate life's wonderful surprises and gifts. And if you can't find me.... look on a trail. I will be out there pounding it out. Scars on 45, "Give Me Something" "Give me something Something to hold onto Give me something That links me to you" I feel VERY strongly about supporting local and small businesses. I have been thinking about my local running store. In West Hartford, our local store is Fleet Feet. In the past, I have bought my running shoes and gear in every possible location including online, "big box" stores, and my local running store. I shop around and I usually buy my things at the most cost effective location.
Just recently, it seemed that I needed new EVERYTHING. I needed trail shoes, road shoes, compression socks, body glide, running shorts- all at the same time. For a thrifty girl that dislikes spending money, it wasn't a good thing. The gear trips to Fleet Feet are regular for me. I always seem to need something. They carry almost everything I use. I am grateful because typically, I need it NOW. When it comes to my shoes it gets complicated. I have very specific needs. When I bought my road shoes, it took at least an hour and multiple shoe try ons. Same thing for my trail shoes, another hour, and I am also "test running" another pair of trail shoes right now. It is IMPOSSIBLE to get this kind of service, attention, and knowledge at any of the other places we can get our shoes and gear. My local Fleet Feet also has running groups, an athletic trainer on staff, treadmills, they support local races, and they give me a GREAT location for my Yoga for Runners class. Honestly, they do so much much more.... they truly give back to our community. Maybe you can save a few dollars if you buy at a bigger store- at this point in time I don't even know. I trust that my the prices are fair. I am so grateful for the expertise (I'm not an easy person to fit!) and if I pay a few dollars more it is worth it. If you haven't explored your local running resources. Please do it NOW! I can guarantee that your local running store is a wealth of knowledge. I know at my Fleet Feet I can pretty much get exactly what I need- and sometimes I learn things that I didn't even know I needed to know. Those that have directly helped me at Fleet Feet West Hartford in the past 2 months- Steph, Carrie, Schuyler, Jill, Julie, Joe, David, Duncan, Todd, and Rich. THANK YOU! On September 15th I began the Pine to Palm 100 mile trail race in Williams,
Oregon. I was excited and more nervous than I believe I've ever been. However, I felt confident. I was trained and I was ready. I had gone to the race briefing the prior day, left my drop bags (race supplies to be left at various aid stations for me), and I was READY! The race began at 6a on Saturday morning. This is was my first 100 mile and I was very surprised to see most of the racers walking or power-hiking. The mountains were steep, long, and unrelenting. Once my nerves calmed a bit I began power hiking as well. Within the first few miles people were already missing the marked turns. I was on track but a number a people lost time. The course went, up and up and UP! I made it to the first aid station after a few miles and I felt fine. I topped off my bottle with water and continued UP! My first mistake.... after about an hour and a half of climbing I said out loud, "I'm finally beginning to settle." I felt comfortable, relatively speaking that is. We were now on single track, switch back trails climbing up the mountain. There were 3 "conga lines" of runners. On single track trails, runners can only run one at a time so lines similar to conga lines form. There were 3 lines and each line was separated by about 30 seconds. I was leading the 2nd conga line. Out of the blue, and with no warning buzz I was mauled by hornets that came up from the ground. To say it hurt would be an understatement. I had visions to of the "tracker jacker" scene in the move "Hunger Games." I believe I had roughly a half dozen stings on my right arm and back. I screamed and ran- FAST. I brushed the hornets off me and ran away. It hurt. Really really really bad. I did my best to make sure that the stingers were out of my skin, but I did get stung numerous times on my right side and I had to wait a few hours until I got to the next aid station to get checked out medically. I began to lose time. My pace slowed and I had to concentrate to keep my heart rate down. Also, my right arm started to swell and I was I began to hold it over my head and shake it to keep the swelling down. After 4.5 hours we reached the top of this climb. My thighs were screaming and I was quite happy to begin my descent and change muscle groups. Even with the lost time, I was in 22nd place out of roughly 150 runners. I felt a surge of relief. My descent down the mountain was deliberate and careful. I was very tightly hugging the curves, as one missed step would have sent me plummeting down a long long long way. I eventually hit a dirt road and let go. I was able to open my stride and pick up my pace. I was glad to be making up some of the time I lost after my encounter with the ground hornets. However, I noticed after a while that I was alone... no one else around. My intuition kicked in and I knew something was wrong. I stopped and looked around. I turned and began walking back up the dirt road I'd run down. I began to shout out to see if anyone else was around. I continued for a while and eventually I heard someone deep in the woods respond. When I realized that he was also in the race, I followed his voice through the woods. I bushwhacked through solid forest, prickers, and bushes. I eventually found him and we continued down the trail. I was very grateful for this man. He took time out of his race to help me. I've noticed this type of behavior in ultra runners. If you are stopped on the trail- someone will check in with you and typically ask, "what do you need" or "are you OK?" I was now extremely disappointed. I soon learned that there were only about half a dozen people behind me now. It was a big dilemma for me. I knew that making the first cut off at mile 28 was going to be tight, but I couldn't run too fast to make the cut off because I would still have 70 miles of mountain running left. I received some great advice from the incredible ultramarathoner Scott Jurek who was working at an aid station. I was told to relax, keep moving, but don't push it too hard to make the cut off. I had a long way to go.... and well- that's what I did. When I finally hit the Mile 28 aid station the volunteers hooted and hollered and cheered me on. I wasn't having it. I asked the first woman at the table, "Did I make it?!" She just stared at me. "DID I MAKE THE CUTOFF?!!" She kindly said no and that she was very sorry and that I had missed it by 19 minutes. I pleaded with her to let me go on. She again, kindly said no. I explained that I was totally fine, hydrated, fed, and ready to GO. She said no. I explained that I got lost after missing a turn, and that I was mauled by ground hornets. She said no and that she was very sorry. She added that she could see that I was fine. But, it has to be done this way. I wasn't happy. This is an understatement. Thinking that I was physically hurting, the kind aid station volunteers repeatedly asked me if I needed anything. I rudely responded, "ANOTHER 19 MINUTES MAYBE?" They smiled. I truly hope they understood. I am very grateful for those volunteers. It was a major low point. I learned that I had to get a dreaded "ride of shame" back to Ashland. It was a few hours from where we were. I went and sat by myself. I didn't want to talk to anyone and Lord knows I didn't need anything but an extra 19 minutes. I saw another volunteer come toward me. I thought to myself, "please just leave me alone." This guy was different. He didn't say anything. He just sat with me. This is when I broke down. I thought of all of the time, effort, resources, and sacrifices that I had made and that my family had made for me. I was devastated. This stranger just sat with me. No words, nothing. Just company. It meant the world to me. After about 10 minutes or so the stranger and I spoke. I learned that he was Craig Thornley- aka newly appointed assistant RD for the Western States 100 and established ultra runner. It says a lot about a person when they can sit in silence. I needed someone with me at that moment. What I didn't need was bullshit. I didn't want to be told that "it was a great effort" or "you can come back next year." No. Nothing could be said. Not completing that 100 mile race sucked. It was horrible. Later that afternoon, I was talking to my coach Jimmy Dean Freeman. I was beating myself up HUGE! I had broken down and then some. I was going on and on about my hard work, sacrifices, and my family, blah blah blah. Jimmy stopped me and he said, "Meghan, these are rich white people problems. You are going to be fine." I laughed hysterically. That was my turnaround point. That was it. I will survive. This will be OK. Sometimes, shit happens. And most of the time we get exactly what we need when it does. I sit here today, about a month later. I have since been told that you are not a real ultra runner until you've DNF'd a race. I get that now. I completed the Nip Muck Trail Marathon in Ashford, CT about 2 weeks ago. The race was hell. Not fun. I pulled a hip muscle and it made running that very technical course hell. Prior to the Pine to Palm 100 DNF I would have dropped out. I knew I wasn't going to finish in the time that I had set for myself, I was far from being competitive, and I was injured, what the heck - why continue? But, with a devastating DNF under my belt, THERE WAS NO WAY I WAS QUITTING!!!! I frequently ask myself and those I coach, "How bad do you want it?" I want it very very very badly. What is "it" - who knows. But I will be running until I find it. This experience only fueled my fire. Those that know me, know that I am a wee bit on the intense side. This experience has made me more driven. Driven to run harder, faster, and I am more committed than ever. This does present issues at times because I do have a family and work. My husband remains my #1 supporter and to him I am truly grateful. I will continue to juggle my commitments. My family comes first. But I need the trails, I need the challenge, and I need this ever present drive in me to become a better human being. "Wide River to Cross" Buddy Miller but I can not look back now I've come to far to turn around and there's still a race ahead that I must run I'm only halfway home I gotta journey on to where I'll find the things that i have lost I've come a long long road still I've got miles to go I've got a wide wide river to cross I have been training for my first 100 mile race. I am running the Pine to
Palm 100 mile race on September 15th. My training has been, um, interesting? It has been a constant learning experience. I am experimenting with my cross training, nutrition, hydration.... just about everything. That is the easy stuff. The most challenging piece has been fatigue. I am a busy girl. I have four children and a life outside of my training. I'd be lying if I told you that I didn't whine and moan on the occasional pre-dawn run. Some days are harder than others. I have been asked the question (quite frequently) "why would you want to run 100 miles?" Well..... honestly I don't really know. There is a drive in me to surpass what seems humanly possible. I am fascinated by people who overcome emotional and physical hurdles that seem insurmountable. Oh, I don't know.... talk to me after my race and maybe my answer will be better. I just have a drive in me to do better. I want to push myself to my limit. And to be honest, I have no idea what that limit is. Again, my answer might be more clear after my race. We all do amazing things. I hope that at some point in your life you push yourself to do something that scares you. It could be running 1 mile or a marathon. It could be getting a college degree. It could be starting a family. There is a way to safely live on the edge. Try it! Hopefully I will see you there! Nike- Find Your Greatness http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsXRj89cWa0 Consciousness is Relative! As I sit and get back into the blog-o-sphere, I have a concussion on my head. It was SO silly and stupid. But, to be honest, I'm rather mad about it. I have been working my butt off stay healthy. I use ice baths, epsom salt soaks, ice packs, rollers, yoga.... And I have been forced into a rest day. I was told by my my coach that head injuries and the subsequent changes in consciousness that come from them are rather important. Yeah yeah yeah... Consciousness is relative! Backing up a bit, I have had an awesome summer so far. I can now officially call myself and ULTRA-RUNNER! I ran 40 miles in The Run for the Fallen on July 28th. We honored the 63 Fallen Heroes and their families and friends. We ran 1 kilometer for each Connecticut service member that has been killed. It was an honor. There is not much I can do for those that have sacrificed their lives for our freedom, but I have been blessed with the ability to run. So... I did just that. I raised $1500 for The Wounded Warrior Project and the donations are still coming in! Thank you all! I am now registered for my first 100 mile race!!!!!! I am competing in The
Pine to Palm 100 in Oregon on September 15th-16th. My hotel is booked and airline tickets are purchased. I have enlisted the help of a coach. Life is good folks. With all of this said, I am following the advice to rest. This may seem obvious to the "normal" folks but I am complying begrudgingly. However, I will be out tomorrow pre-dawn. Maybe I will see you out there. If you're thinking that I'm crazy... well ok. If I was normal, I'd be boring and you most likely wouldn't be reading this blog right now. Be well! Be safe!! Have Fun!!! To Late to Turn Back Now: Cornelius Brothers & Sister Rose |
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