Diary of a Newbie Runner: Life of Leisure Gone Awry

{By Ellery Sadler}

I never thought of myself as a devoted runner, or a very willing one. I always ran because it was something I just did. People in my family run, and while I occasionally felt the ‘runners high’ it was rare and normally only after a grueling hour and a half of misery. It was after one of these long runs (9 miles to be precise) I felt a twinge of pain in my knees... not really a twinge actually, more like a searing pain. And that was the day a tragedy happened.

At first I did not realize it was a tragedy – it felt like a wonderful little break from my running routine.

 My knees were actually hurting too badly to run. Tragedy? I don’t think so. My first week of rest was delightful, relaxing, and made me wonder why I’d ever run in the first place. I got up in the morning to beautiful days without any sweat or tears. (By the way I don’t normally cry when I run, except for once or twice when I was in extreme pain, but it sounded good in that sentence.) So the first week rolled around. Life as a couch potato was looking pretty good.

The second week came and I began to get a little desperate, after all, I had a half marathon to run in only four more weeks, so I started doing strength training two or three times a weeks, to at least keep up what muscle I had. That was all fine and good. I was planning on running the next week.

Week three. I tried to trot a little on the treadmill – trot, mind you, not even run – and the results were negative. I knew that my knees were injured and if I kept running they’d only get worse. They hurt for the rest of the day and I knew there was no way I was doing that again anytime soon. My heart began to sink. What if I never got to run again? It had been three weeks since that awful 9 miles … and they were still hurting. Life as a couch potato was looking pretty bleak.

By week four I was very desperate. I’d never wanted to run so bad in my life. How ironic is that? Me wanting to run?! But it was true and I had to face the awful truth: that silly saying ‘you never know how much you have until you lose it’ was right. I wanted to run. And I couldn’t.  Maybe I only wanted to because I couldn’t … whatever the reason I wanted to run. Resting for one week is bliss. Resting for two weeks is fine. Three weeks is ok. Four weeks is misery. A life of leisure is not fun or exciting. So I decided if I couldn’t run, I’d do something. I started doing P90X every morning and do you know what I discovered? You can sometimes get a ‘runner’s high’ doing strength training! And that is pretty cool.

By week five I knew I wouldn’t be able to do that half marathon. I was disappointed. This was going to be my moment of glory, the goal I at last, after hours of pain and heartache, achieved, my crowning moment, but I was destined not to reach it, at least for the time being. Now, since I am a Christian writing this for a fundamentally Christian blog, I could go all moral-of-the-story and tell you how this relates to more than just running, after all, we will always face disappointment in life, and this running experience is a wonderful cheesy analogy of …. But I’ll skip that.  The point is, much to my great surprise, I actually miss running. And if you learn anything from my experience it should be this: don’t train exclusively on pavement. It you have a soft, sandy dirt road right beside your house – use it. Oh, and don’t forget you never know how much you enjoy something until you can’t do it anymore, even if while you are doing it you think you hate it. Don’t believe yourself. You love it. 

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Diary of a Newbie Runner: A 10K Worth Dying For... Or, 6 Miles of Scenic Misery

{by Ellery Sadler}

I just ran a 10k. Yes, much to my great surprise, I am still alive. I now have an even greater respect, bordering on hero-worship, of anyone who runs 6 miles or longer. So all you experienced, seasoned runners out there – you are my HERO. And I hope you’re still alive to read this.

After a night of nervous sleep, I crawled out of bed and we headed out to Williamsburg for our 10k. My two older sisters, mom, and dad were all running this too. I felt a little jittery and hoped beyond hope that my side wouldn’t cramp up for at least the first 3 miles… I stretched and hopped around feeling nervous but also pleasingly like a dedicated runner. I was out, early in the morning, freezing to death, jumping around, stretching in weird positions - all because I loved my sport. Yep, I was pretty cool. And then we started…

First thing, my iPod didn’t work. I thought I’d charged it the night before but apparently I hadn’t. It was dead. Great, I hadn’t even gone ten steps before I was nearly in tears. I can’t run without music. I’ve done it once before for a short run, and it was misery – pure misery. So now here I was stuck with running 6 miles without music and I already had a bad pain in my side. Really, really bad situation for an already nervous, under-confident newbie runner.

Mile 1 passed quickly, but then came Mile 2. Now, I’ve read that you don’t ‘hit the wall’ until Mile 18 or 20 but I’m quite certain I hit the wall at Mile 3, 4, 5, and 6. Or if not ‘the wall’ then a very hard, locked door. Thankfully, my wonderful sister let me borrow her iPod. I had MUSIC and distraction from my pain. I put my head down and tried to focus as we wound our way through a gravel path in the woods.

By Mile 3 the pain in my side left me so crippled I could barely walk, every step was agony (and I’m not exaggerating) it was the worst cramp I’ve ever had…and I still had 3 more miles to go. The rest of my family went up ahead while I hobbled behind. By now I was pretty sure this whole running thing was a really bad idea. I told myself never again – ever – was I going to run, but even as I crept along I knew that wasn’t true. I would run again. And I would finish this silly race.

I started running, side still hurting but determined with every bit of determination in me to keep up with the two, slightly chubby, middle-aged women ahead of me. If I, a moderately fit sixteen-year-old couldn’t keep up with them then… I kept up with them. Victory! Passed them. Kept running and passed a walker. Up ahead I saw a nine-year-old running with his dad. My new goal – keep up with the nine-year-old. My mantra became ‘Run with the nine-year-old. Run with the nine-year-old.’  

I didn’t see the red-gold leaves. I didn’t see the sun-dappled pond, or the beautiful scenic scenery around me. All I saw was a skinny little nine-year-old up ahead. I had to stick with the nine-year-old – even if it killed me, I was going to do it. Mile 4 passed with a torture-like slowness. Nine-year-old still up ahead. Mile 5. Look at the fat fifty-year-old guy in front of you wheezing with every step and be thankful you aren’t in that much pain...oh wait you are. I stopped comparing myself to the people around me and focused on just finishing the race. Just finish the race. That was my goal.

I caught up with my mom and dad and continued running. My mom, a running machine, looked at me and smiled encouragingly. All I could muster was a bleak mimic of something vaguely like a smile. We ran and ran and ran. How long is a mile? About long enough to make your heart pound and your head throb and your side ache and your legs feel like lead. We finally made it to the home stretch, only one more mile to go. I flipped the iPod to ‘If You’re Going Through Hell’ by Rodney Atkins, which was the only song that remotely comforted me at this point. I passed the nine-year-old.

Eyes glazed over, not even strong enough to pretend to smile now I sprinted across the finish line. There were my sisters, who had finished before me, waiting to give me a high five. “Hey how was it?” they smiled and asked. “I’m dying,” was the only answer I could give. Not to discourage you, but the first ten minutes after a grueling run are the worst, you feel lightheaded and weak and dizzy and drained. I sank to the grass with a bottle of water and gulped it down as if I were dying of thirst instead of exhaustion.

After a while to recover comes my favorite part, feeling better, smiling at the people passing by, eating a cinnamon-sugar bagel and being casually athletic – yep, I just ran 6 miles. I finished a 10k and I’m ALIVE! And I’m going to do it again. 

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Diary of a Newbie Runner: It Used To Be Torture

{by Ellery Sadler}

I’m scared of long runs. They scare me because they are long. And the farther you go the farther you have to come back. My sisters tell me that everyone feels somewhat like they are dying at the end of a long run. I believe them, I just happen to know for a fact I am much closer to the edge of the grave than anyone else. So I decided, instead of running on the road, I would run on our torturemill…I mean treadmill. (I have heard that treadmills were first used as a method of torture and I believe it and think about it every time I run on one.)

I slipped on my fabulous new shoes and began running.  Problem with treadmills: you never go anywhere. No matter if you run for ten minutes or sixty, you stay in exactly the same place the entire time. It’s really really boring. So I decided to chew gum. I had music blaring in my ears, legs churning, mouth chewing. Much more interesting.

Time ticked slowly by, after about 40 minutes I start to get really tired. I stare at my reflection in the window…but maybe the reflection is distorted. I look down at my shirt, dripping with sweat. Nope, the reflection is not distorted. I start to talk to myself. “You can do this.” “Just 20 more minutes.” “Go – go – go.” (My goal for that day was to run for an hour.) And I turn my music up and start tapping the air with my hands to the beat of my music, or at least, what I think might be the beat. I can’t tell the beat unless it is very pronounced, so normally I just tap the air to whatever timing seems good to me.

I pop a new piece of gum in and feel a surge of energy. This is good. I’m going to make it. And then my side starts to ache, my knees begin to get weak and feel like they are going to crumble, and my head aches. I stare at the clock on the treadmill with the intensity of one quickly moving towards insanity – that’s when you know you’ve almost reached the end of your run. I grab my iPod, flip to one of my favorite songs, turn the music even louder, chew faster and keep running.

And then…the ten minutes is up and I sink to the ground in a grateful heap. I reached my goal…and surpassed it, by two minutes. But wait there’s more – Amazon woman has told herself she will do 20 sit ups after her run, so she lays down to do them. But once I lay on the ground there is no reason I have to get up… in fact I’m not sure I can get up. I almost choke on my gum and do the 20 sit ups. Feeling victorious, I crawl to my knees, smile blandly at myself in the mirror and walk out for my reward – a handful of well-earned M&M’s. Thank goodness no one watches me while I run….they’d probably think I was crazy.  

Come to think of it, maybe I am. After all, that thing used to be used for torture. And I'm not convinced that that isn't what we are still using it for today.

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Run Long (And Love It!)

{by Rebecca Florio}

On September 10, I crossed the finish line of my first half-marathon. Even though I had trained for this moment all summer long, I could hardly believe it had come. Only six months ago I could barely squeak out three miles, and now I had just run 13.1 with an official time of 2:08.

It was a journey, to say the least. One I wasn’t sure if I would ever see the end of, but now I’m so glad I did not give up.  I learned so much along the way -- about perseverance, my limitations, and God’s strength in my weakness -- that was worth all the aching muscles. You can read my full recap of the race at my blog.

If I could go from virtually not running at all, to running thirteen miles at a time, I believe any one can! Trust me, I am no one special -- I just needed to overcome my fear of long runs. To my great surprise, my long runs became a highlight of my week! Here are eight simple tricks to increase increase mileage and learn to love it.

1. Start small. Don’t try to jump into seven mile run right away if you’ve never run more than three. Trying to reach an unattainable goal is just going to lead to frustration and burn-out. I like to focus on increasing running time rather than distance. So if right now you can run for twenty minutes, try to work up to twenty-five and then thirty and so on. Small changes really do add up! 

2. Go slow and steady! A huge part of running longer is learning to pace yourself. Think of your energy as a piggy bank. You don’t want to spend it all during the first ⅓ of your run, but you need to spread it out evenly so you can make it to the end. Keep to a breathable pace where you can hold small conversation.

3. Learn to fuel. If you want to run far, you’re going to need to give your body the energy it needs. 1-2 hours before you run, eat a carbohydrate-rich, low-fiber snack or meal (depending on how much you’ve eaten today or how long you expect to be running). Choose something you know your body digests well. This isn’t the time to try a new Chinese dish or spicy taco. Some of my favorite pre-run foods are banana with peanut butter (the potassium settles your stomach and the PB offers some staying power), banana toast, or a homemade trail mix of dry cereal, dried fruit (dates are great!), and almonds. Make sure to give yourself plenty of time to digest -- there is nothing more unpleasant than having your breakfast sitting like a rock in your stomach. And of course on of the best parts about running is refueling :). After your long run, focus on protein to rebuild and repair your muscles. A huge fruit-yogurt-protein powder smoothie is my favorite post-race snack.

4. Cross-train. You can’t go on a long run every day. Your muscles need time to repair and rebuild and you need a break from pounding the pavement. When training for the half-marathon I averaged about four runs a week --  1-2 long runs (seven miles or more) and 2-3 shorter runs (anywhere from two to five miles). It’s a good idea to designate a few days a week for other types of exercise -- biking, hiking, walking, weights, abs, etc -- to target different muscles. The stronger your whole body is, the farther you’ll be able to run without pain.  

5. Go early! I don’t know about you, but one of my favorite excuses for running is “I don’t have time.” And it’s true. Running takes time. I’ve found that setting my alarm and setting out for a run first thing in the morning is much more effective than trying to squeeze out a block of time once my day has started. It’s also the best way to beat the heat of the sun! I’ve really grown to love morning runs for the energy they give me the rest of the day.  

6. Find a running buddy. I am so grateful for my sister Elizabeth who trained with me and for three other friends that met us every week for a long run. The motivation and company was invaluable.

7. Listen to a sermon/audio book. Use your running time wisely! Download a sermon, Bible audio, or recorded devotional to your playlist. Sometimes, I zone out once the eighth song starts playing, but I’ve found that a dynamic speaker or story keeps my attention off my heavy breathing and aching feet and gives me other things to think about. Win!  

8. Everyone has bad runs. The day before our half-marathon, I went for one last run. It was just going to be a quick and easy three miles, to release some pre-race jitters. Well, it was awful. First of all, the only time I had was 2:00pm, the hottest part of a very hot afternoon. I had been out all day and not eaten for hours (note to self: a pumpkin spice latte does not adequate fuel make). I got a side-stitch during the first mile and ended up having to walk up most of the hills. Bad runs are frustrating, but they do happen, for any number of reasons. The best thing we can do is not give up, but lace up our sneakers and head out again.

Thank God for the strength that He does give you and ask Him to help you not focus on your own weaknesses for on His grace. We can run for God’s glory!

“I want to compare faith to running in a race. It's hard. It requires concentration of will, energy of soul. You experience elation when the winner breaks the tape - especially if you've got a bet on it. But how long does that last?....If you commit yourself to the love of Christ, then that is how you run a straight race.” 

- Chariots of Fire 

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