My Inspiration

May 30, 2012 by 2 Comments

I got two new books this week: Olympic Marathoner Kara Goucher’s Running for Women and Ironman World Champion Chrissie Wellington’s A Life Without Limits. For me, as a runner and triathlete, both of these women provide inspiration. They have both endured setbacks and suffered hardships, but have persevered and pulled through – Chrissie winning for the 4th time at Kona last October, Kara qualifying in January to run the marathon for the USA at this year’s Olympics. Admittedly, as a Brit and a HUGE Paula Radcliffe fan, I’ll be routing for Paula in London, but will cheer on Kara and the rest of team USA as well!

What makes these books even more special is this:

I had the amazing privilege of meeting Kara Goucher at Monday’s Bolder Boulder 10K. She is down-to-earth, witty, and genuine. She chatted with RunWiki and me like we were old friends. She didn’t rush to sign our books and move us on, but sat back, looked us in the eyes, and seemed to really enjoy talking with us. Either that, or she’s a really good actress. ;)

Now I’m off to read a good book or two!

Who is your inspiration? I’m just as likely to be inspired by a non-superstar athlete, but meeting an Olympian is totally cool and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a bit starstruck! I asked Kara how her preparations for London were going. What would you ask Kara or Chrissie if you met them?

 

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Dig Deep

October 19, 2011 by 5 Comments

When Chrissie Wellington was asked, right after finishing the 2011 Ironman World Championships at Kona, how she had managed to win the women’s race, she said, “I had to dig really deep.” How deep? She crashed her bike two weeks prior to the race, had huge areas of visible road rash, and, according to Competitor.com, had actually torn pectoral and intercostal muscles. This forced her to hold back on the swim, putting her 10 minutes off the lead coming out of the water. She worked her way through the field on the bike but didn’t take the lead until deep into the marathon. Once in front, she hung on like her life depended on it.

How deep is “Chrissie deep?” I asked myself this several times during the Army Ten Miler the following day. Am I digging deep? Am I digging “Chrissie deep?” I was running with a training partner who is usually several strides ahead on the track, and had questioned the wisdom of trying to hang with him. On the other hand, I knew this was a great opportunity to run a fast time, and I had surprised myself by managing to hang with him during a set of fast 800s during our pre-race track workout, so that gave me the confidence to go for it. We planned to – and did – run between 7:05 and 7:15 pace. During the race I replaced thoughts of “this is crazy, you can’t possibly hold this for 10 miles” with “you feel relaxed, you feel comfortable, this is easy.”

Did I dig deep? I think so. When it got hard and I felt tired, I pushed harder. This is a tactic I learned a few years ago and I find it really works. When you feel tired and want to slow down, instead, pick up the pace. Just the change can make you feel better. I know it sounds crazy but what’s crazy is that it works. I finished in 1:11:20 for an average pace of 7:08.

I was looking at the shoelace on a new pair of Brooks Launch while on the drive up to Hershey last weekend. I noticed something was written on the plastic piece on the end of the lace. I took a closer look and realized it said “DEEP.” Then I looked at the end of the other lace.

You're eyes aren't failing...it's blurry.

So I’m off to Austin on Friday for my first Half Ironman. 1.2 mile swim. 56 mile bike. 13.1 mile run. I’ll be packing my shovel because I plan to dig deep…Chrissie Wellington deep.

How deep do you dig? Do you know how deep you’re digging? Do you use a shovel? What do your shoelaces say? ;)

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Cooler than Me

October 18, 2011 by 3 Comments

Clearly there are many things that are cooler than me but there are only a couple that deserve a mention.

1. This Website and the Navy Diver behind it

So a while ago my blog got a makeover. The changes were subtle, because that was what I wanted, and were mostly in functionality. WordPress is great but, as I quickly discovered, it’s limited…as are my skills on the technical side. So I enlisted the help of website guru Rob McClellan (who just happens to be a Navy diver – talk about cool…) to create a site that was more robust but that I could still work with, and that people recognized as racingtales. I know I was a difficult client because I couldn’t really tell Rob what I wanted. I was clearer on what I didn’t want, and so I think he went with that and the end result was what you see now. Rob knew better than to take over my site, but he did make vast improvements, especially to the behind-the-scenes stuff (I want to say back end but that just sounds wrong…) and transformed what was a very standard blog into an easily navigable web site. I love what he has done and several people have complimented the look so I just wanted to officially say thanks, Rob! And of course, if you’re looking for someone to help you update your blog, contact Rob.

2. These Shoes and the Triathlete behind them

Have you seen the Chrissie Wellington Brooks T7s yet? These shoes ooze coolness. After Chrissie won the women’s division of the Ironman World Championships in Kona, Brooks announced they had 200 of these puppies for sale. Of course I had to get my hands on a pair. They have Union Jacks on the back. The tab on the back of the shoe says Wellington. The tab on the tongue says Swim, Bike, Run. War on ALS is inscribed along the outer heel. (Each pair sold benefits the Blazeman foundation for ALS.) They’re selling fast, but you can still grab a pair. Click the Brooks Running image on the right to go to the site. Remember that the sizing is men’s, so women should size down 1.5 sizes. For example, I am normally a size 7 (I know, tiny feet) but I am a 5.5 in the T7s.

I haven’t run in them yet but I can tell you they weigh about an ounce. They’re lighter than any other shoe I own, except maybe my Vibram five fingers. When I do start running in them I will only use them for very short distances. They’re very comfortable and mold to my feet, but I can’t see running more than a 10K in them. But I do like to walk around in them because I get about as many comments as I did when I first wore my Racer ST5s.

Yes, they are cooler than me.

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