This post is only a recap of the last two weeks’ training, which is part of chronicling an 18-week training cycle. Sorry, there’s nothing worth reading here — it’s just a rundown of nerdy, obsessive details that only a runner would care about — but stay tuned: I am working on a longer post about last week’s trip to Yosemite, which will have practical advice about where to run in that glorious national park. (more…)

“Two things in life that I have experienced moderate success at, and that I love when they’re going well, are writing and running. Neither is going very well at the moment. This blog represents my commitment to get both going again. Writing and running have been on hold due to inaction and injury. … I’m feeling stupid and stiff, wondering how I’ll ever regain a sense of flow at the keyboard or striding out on the trail.”

Morgan and me running last week on the North Island of New Zealand. A year ago, I never imagined we'd end the year here!

I wrote those lines in my first-ever blog post in August 2008 while nursing a broken foot and hoping 2009 would be a comeback year.

I got the comeback I wished for and more, but what I’m most proud and grateful for is I headed off in completely new and unforeseen directions. Never, ever would I have imagined I would write this year-end post from New Zealand, having embarked with my family on a round-the-world journey after six months of reaching new personal bests as a runner. Just as I never, ever would have imagined that when I started jogging 15 years ago I would actually stick with it to the point where I could call myself “a runner.”

I’m not writing this to gloat. I’m here to remind myself and others that life takes entirely unexpected turns, and being open to change and thinking that what seems impossible might actually be possible can take you to places you thought only other people, not you, could go. (more…)

Once in a marathon (I can’t remember which one or when), I ran behind a guy with a shirt that said “Shut up and run.” I repeated that phrase to myself this morning and finally escaped a mental rut, where I had been wallowing in self-defeating self-talk.
The thoughts collide like this:
I can’t run track because I feel too slow and heavy.
I’m getting slower and heavier because I’m not running track.
I’m overeating and procrastinating because I’m stressed and overwhelmed.
I’m more stressed because I’m overeating and further behind because I’m procrastinating.
I’m mindful that I am not eating mindfully.
I want to run with coach and friends to help me work through this.
I don’t want to run with others when I feel so lame.
I can’t believe I’m this small-minded and self-absorbed.
I’ll run when I feel better.
I won’t feel better unless I run.
Even when I look objectively at my situation and take in the bigger picture — e.g., my extremely fortunate position in life and all that I have accomplished; the backdrop of yesterday’s Inauguration, which marks the dawn of a new era and a victory for hope and idealism — even then, I can’t turn off the mental chatter that sabotages what I strive for and makes me unpleasant to be around (just ask my husband and kids).
Until I tell myself: Shut up and run. (more…)