Torture. Because I Like It.

The wind was hitting like a sledgehammer, relentlessly pounding me as I ran headlong against it. With each step I wondered if I was actually moving forward or if the wind slamming me backwards was overcoming all my forward progress, but I kept on. Finally, I anticipated some relief as I turned on to an even smaller side road out in the country. Rather than relief, the wind was now beating at me from the side, causing me to lean into it as I ran. At least it was a warm day.


Long distance running out alone in the country surrounded by farm houses and winter emptied fields yesterday was just one day of many of my training for the Fall Creek Falls 50K Trail Race. It has been a long, hard winter of training. Living in Kentucky I am fortunate to have many warm days in the winter, and even the cold days don't compare to the ones people are facing farther north. Still, the hundreds of miles of training behind me so far leading up to this race and the hundreds still to go have required the tenacity of a pit bull.


There have been many days that I did not want to get up and go for a run that day. There have been times that I adjusted my weekly mileage down for a break, or skipped a day for some extra rest. There have been days that were supposed to be a hard workout day, that I opted for an easy workout day instead. Even with those, I still keep pushing forward, training in the face of those sledgehammer winds.


Training for this race, for me, is partially for my health. Any fitness expert would say, that the number of miles I am doing per week is beyond that needed for health. So there must be other reasons. One is that I just want to see what I am capable of, I want to test my limits, I want to go further, run faster, train harder, and all that. Another is that I am having fun doing it. Even on the days that it is cold, and windy, days on which the wind rips at my clothes and attempts to slice through the armor of my down jacket, I am having fun doing it.


There is no heroic backstory of being overweight and running from the demons of ridicule. There is no running to overcome addiction. There is no running to prove something to my father, and only a little bit of running as a reprieve from the grief of losing my mother.


So my story is not as dramatic as some others.


I just like to run.


I set goals. I set hard, lofty, distant goals, and head towards them one running stride at a time. On cold days and hot days. Lathered in sunscreen sometimes, or wearing a headlamp to see by others. Sometimes I run in the morning while my wife is still asleep, or I run while she is at work, or I get my run done as early as I can so she can get her run in too.


Training for this race is by far the hardest thing I've ever done. Running 50, 54, then 60 miles in a week is time consuming, mind consuming, and energy consuming, but I keep pushing forward to meet my goals.


At times it feels selfish, so I hope that what I am doing inspires my daughter to believe, to know that she can accomplish big things if she tackles them one step at a time. I hope that my fitness clients can see by my example that if they make a plan and stick to it they can lose 50, 60, 100 pounds, or run their first 5K or marathon.


At the heart of it though, my motivation is not that noble, I just like to run.

Fear of Fat Marketing

I am mad. 

The fitness marketing commercials have gone beyond selling to fears people have and have started creating fear where there should be none. 

The "T25" commercial came on with people talking about flattening their tummies and thinning their thighs and on and on. The next day my beautiful 6 year old girl told me she wanted to lose some fat. 

This is a girl who ran a 42:40 5K at age 5. This is a girl who at four years old biked 5 miles to Chaney's Dairy Barn for an ice cream treat. This is a girl who runs around all day, likes to row on the rowing machine at the gym, and likes to swing kettlebells. 

This one commercial and suddenly she thinks she needs to lose some fat. 

Why do they insist on selling fitness this way?

Probably because it works. We live in a society that is obsessed with image and appearance. The world around us tells us we are less than if we are not tall enough, muscular enough, skinny enough, tanned enough. . .

Commercials for jeans reduce women to nothing but their hips. Clothes aren't sold on how they function, but on how they make your butt look. 

The TV tells me I need a bigger chest and bigger biceps. It tells me I need fancier clothes, and that three months later those will no longer be fashionable enough. 

It will only stop if we stop buying what they are selling. 

Yes, fitness is important and you should be doing something to take care of the amazing human body you are in. Being strong and having good cardio is awesome, but I beg you, for your own sake and the sake of all our little girls, I beg you to be outraged at every ad and article that promises a sexy body, a perfect butt or a "beach body." Turn away from that style of marketing and focus your fitness on what your body can do and how your body feels instead of how some guy on TV tells you your body should look. 

I am disgusted. 

Trail Running Observations

Trail running is awesome. 

The next person to tell me that natural surfaces are easier on the body is invited to come trail running with me. 

Trails that are shared with horses are often difficult to run on. 

They are even harder to run on when frozen. 

Worse than that is when they are half frozen. 

Wet sandstone is less slippery than wet limestone. 

Sandstone and limestone are  equally slippery when covered with a sheet of ice. 

Picking your way on a technical trail can be fun. 

Bombing down a non-technical trail is also fun. 

Discovering that the non-technical trail you  are bombing down abruptly becomes technical is not so fun. 

Ankle deep oak leaves are very good at obscuring trails. 

Running half the trail in X amount of time does not mean you will cover the second half in the same time. 

Now

The time is now, today is the day. Not because it is January first of a new year, but because now is the only thing that is real. Take charge of your health and fitness. All aspects of your health and fitness. Pick something to change, something to improve on, something small, or something big, as long as it is obtainable. Build a habit of setting goals. 

One thing at a time, baby steps forward, but always moving forward, little steps add up to big accomplishments. 

Eat less junk, choose one bad food to take out of your diet and one good food to add in. 

Skip 30 minutes of facebook time and spend it on a walk instead. 

Skip a TV show and play a board game with your family. 

Take 10 minutes each day to pray, or meditate, or do whatever you do to decompress. 

As always, if you want help with the physical fitness side of things, let me know, I'll help.