“You’re catching me at my lowest point, so this could be a bit of a Debbie Downer!” says Sally, our local running heroine, as she limps less than two weeks this side of the Chicago Marathon, taking place on 10/10/2010.
You may recall that Sally was our non-runner newb, who decided she would get off the couch and start running. She didn’t choose something easy, like run around the block or a 5K; she jumped feet first with eyes on the big prize: 26.2 miles. Before this, Sally had never run further than a 5K, she didn’t own running shoes, and she didn’t wear wicking clothes. We have followed her these past five months, as she has trained. Now, she faces her toughest challenge…injury.
Sally’s near misadventure in marathon running reminds me of my goal of running a 1:30 at 2009’s Mahomet Half Maraton. It also reminds me of the naysayers. I used to believe naysayers were Debbie Downers: judgmental disbelievers who are generally negative. (This is coming from your Cynic Number One.) That’s what I thought last year, when I was training to break the 1:30 mark. I’d been running hard all spring; I’d done speed work; I’d trained about as well as I could, yet people were telling me that I wouldn’t make it. A 1:30 half marathon is pretty daunting. This is especially so given that my fastest half marathon was 1:42. I believed I could shave a whopping twelve minutes off of 13.1 miles in just one year. Do the math. That is 55 seconds per mile faster. Naysayers be damned, I thought, as I stood at the starting line and ran to a blistering 1:35:50 half marathon: six minutes off of my goal, but six minutes better than my personal record.
What did I learn from this experience? First, goals are good things. Without them, you’re just going through the motions. They help you set benchmarks for yourself, see where you are in your training, and give you targets. If you don’t have running goals as a runner, you’re just kind of floating. There is nothing wrong with floating, but goals help you stay focused.
Secondly, I learned that goals don’t need to be big. They need to be realistic. Cutting twelve minutes off of a half marathon, no matter what skill level I am, is pretty tough. At some point, improvement reaches a plateau, right? I mean, I’m not going improve so much that I suddenly become an Olympic-level runner, no matter how hard I try. I can’t continue to cut, cut, cut huge chunks of time and think I’m going to make it to London in 2012. My goals needed to be realistic. Shaving twelve minutes off a half marathon time was, at the time, unrealistic.
Lastly, I learned that naysayers aren’t out to get me. They were out to give me a dose of reality from years of experience pounding the pavement. You don’t become a seasoned runner overnight. So, there is going to be a time when you’ve set goals for yourself that you just can’t achieve, not out of lack of effort, skill, or spirit…but out of experience.
This brings me back to Sally. This naysayer said, “Are you *bleeping* crazy?” I’ve been criticized for that comment, and perhaps deservedly so. Any good friend would have been unquestioningly supportive. I’m also a runner, which, in this case, makes me pretty confident when I questioned Sally’s sanity. I’ve run two marathons, and I’ve run more than that number in training. Marathons are pretty damn hard. That does not mean I feel she can’t do it. I have no doubt that she can at some point. Will she do it as a new runner, going from non-running couch potato to 26.2 miles in six months? That is the real question.
For several weeks now, Sally has been having t-band issues, and this has come at a crucial point in her training. She writes, “The IT band connects the hip to the knee. When it tightens it causes pain all along the side of the leg, particularly around the knee. Yesterday (9/12) it got so tight around the knee that [it] literally could not work properly. …I think if I had started getting massages at the first hints of this, I would have been able to prevent it. My lower back and hips are just a series of knots, and it is taking a lot to get them loosened up. I really feel if I can get all of the tightness worked out, I’ll be OK.”
Running with pain is difficult to overcome, and it could potentially make things worse. This pain has been particularly hard on Sally’s training. When last we checked in with her in July, she had completed a 10K (out of state for fear of being embarrassed). Through July and August, she made great progress working her way up to 13 miles. An amazing feat in and of itself! Her goal had been to run 16 miles the week of 9/5 and 18 miles the week of 9/12. This injury has put achieving her goal of marathon status at risk. When asked if she’s nervous about failing, she said, “I wasn’t until now. I had realized that my training really was half mental, so I was feeling good. Now I have an injury that is beyond my control, which is very frustrating. I am already SOOOO slow, that any other issues really impact my chances of finishing on time.”
Ignoring the 800-pound gorilla in the room is impossible. What if she doesn’t make it? “There is no doubt that I will be devestated,” she said. “I’m pretty tough on myself, and I would feel like I let so many people down. I will definitely never train for a marathon again, so I want to accomplish it this time! My husband [Harry] is trying to help me focus on how far I have come. I couldn’t even run a mile in April. I have learned that the whole idea of couch to marathon in six months probably isn’t the best idea!”
Wait…did we read this right? This is important, so let’s read it again…
I have learned that the whole idea of couch to marathon in six months probably isn’t the best idea!
Wait for it…I told you so. There. I feel (slightly) better now. Here, I was worried that I was a bad guy or something. You know, that I was this mean runner bringing everybody down. Whew. Dodged a bullet there. With all seriousness, though, Sally may have approached this marathon running a bit too aggressively without a foundation of running from the start. There is also no guarantee that she wouldn’t have gotten injured in training even with more running experience. Only your body knows what it is capable of doing. I feel I can say with confidence that her inexperience as a runner probably didn’t help her. “But as one of my friends who is running with me said, ‘Go big or go home,'” she said. There is nothing wrong with dreaming large.
This is where I begin to question my Debbie Downer, naysayer-ness. Despite the challenges Sally faces, she still soldiers on. She has a goal, and she is going to see it through. It makes me want to dream that Olympic dream for 2012 again, putting that gold medal around my neck as they play the national anthem!
Just because Sally is hurt doesn’t mean she’s giving up. Nor should she. She’s going to try to do this, come hell or high water. What if Sally makes it? What will it mean to her? “It will be a huge accomplishment. I have already learned so much about myself and seen how far I can push myself when I’m determined. My main reason for wanting to finish is to thank all of the people who have donated to my fundraising efforts for the American Cancer Society. That was my inspiration for doing this, and I want to see it through. I have had a number of people tell me that I’ve been inspiring to them, and I want to live up to that.” Damn straight sister.
Here is an important point. For some narrow-minded runners, you’re not one of them unless you are among the fastest, running every race you can, placing in your age group, bringing home the hardware. Sure, there are some people like that, but most of us aren’t. That’s not what running and runners are about. You’re a runner if you commit to it beyond just one goal, one race. It’s not enough to say you’re going to do a 5K, achieve your goal, hang up your shoes, and call it a day. True runners continue the quest to find fulfillment in themselves through running. You don’t have to do a marathon like Sally intends to do. But having goals like Sally’s doesn’t hurt.
Will Sally continue running beyond her marathon, success or failure? “Definitely,” she says, “just not a marathon! I’m surprised at how much I’ve enjoyed the challenge of running. I love being outdoors, so this has been a great outlet. I also love the efficiency of it. …I have lost nearly 20 pounds, am eating better, and have completely changed my schedule to accommodate running. All good changes.” A life changed.
It gets even better. She concludes, “I think I will always need something to train for because I need to have that goal to focus on and a plan to follow. I think a half marathon would be something fun to train for, but beyond that, it really loses its fun and becomes a chore.” A runner is born. Sally, I believe I speak for all runners when I welcome you into our pantheon. Run that race, and wear that finisher’s medal with pride!
