Time and Triathletes

Wow, this week has been quite the whirlwind which is why this blog post is going to be very brief. I began my BLOCK placement for student teaching and it has been amazing so far. I’m learning so much from this practicum experience and one of those things is the amount of work that is put into teaching and lesson planning is tremendous. Even though I’m not teaching all of the lessons, I’m still spending the majority of my nights making sure everything is prepared for the next day. Because of this, I haven’t had much time to run and exercise. This is really giving me a sense of what life will be like when I begin teaching, which means that as a runner I am going to need to make sure to set aside time for training. My goal this next week will be to get back into my routine.

Triathlon Team takes on Hu Hot

New Shirts! 

Many of you know that I am a member on UW-Eau Claire’s Triathlon club. This team is what really got me into running and the friends that I have made throughout the years in this organization have been amazing. We had an amazing social on Saturday night where we played some Nintendo Wii (Playing Just Dance was some great team bonding!).  We also went to Hu Hot for dinner tonight and got our new t-shirts too!

✌

The Blugold Mile

Nathan and I planning for Best Buddies' involvement

This past week really got me pumped for the Eau Claire marathon! I met with Nathan, one of the coordinators for the Blugold Mile and started to plan out what Triathlon Club and Best Buddies involvement would look like come race day.

For those of you who don’t know, the Blugold Mile is a mile long stretch on the Eau Claire Marathon route where UWEC student organizations line up along the campus portion of the route to cheer people on. Last year was the first year of the Blugold Mile and it was a huge success. Because of what a great success it was, this year it is going to be even bigger! The fact that UW-Eau Claire is able to have such a positive impact on this community event really speaks to the culture that we have here in our city and school. Every time that I experience something in Eau Claire, the great relationship that our school has with the community never ceases to amaze me.

Talking over some ideas with Nathan and Triathlon club 

At our meeting, Nathan proposed the idea of having student orgs. run for different charities to raise money. This sounded like a great idea especially since marathon races are so well known for donating to different organizations. So, I would likely be running the race as a representative from UWEC Best Buddies and racing to raise money for a local Eau Claire organization (not sure which one yet though). The thought of hundreds of UWEC students running and raising money really gets me excited about what this could mean for Eau Claire this year as it is going to have such a positive impact on the city.

J chillin' with Blu. No big deal or anything

Oh! Also, Nathan told me about some pretty exciting things regarding the Marathon route this year that is going to make it extra special. The route was already great, but with some of the changes that have been made to it, the course is gonna be fantastic! But, I can’t spoil the surprise for ya so we’ll just have to wait for the route to come out!

I’ll leave you with that today. It’s beautiful fall weather right now so hopefully we can all find some time to get out and enjoy a nice run, walk, stroll, or whatever floats your boat :)  

Running in the Snow and a Note About Privilege

1st snowy run of the year

Welp, on Wednesday night this past week I registered for the Eau Claire Full Marathon! It’s been my dream to run this race since seeing a friend run the Half Marathon my Freshman year of college and now I will be competing and I’m so excited for the journey ahead. There will be plenty of training ahead and this will be much different than training for a fall marathon because the majority of training will take place in the freezing cold that Eau Claire is so well known for.

Speaking of it being freezing cold, this past Wednesday was also our first snow here in Eau Claire! So, in celebration of registering for the marathon, I decided it would be appropriate to go for a run outside in the freezing rain/sleet/snow. Running, especially endurance running is such a mental sport and the training that is put into it is what makes you most prepared for the race. That’s why I took advantage of running outside in the cold sleeting weather. The mental strength it takes to go outside and run in terrible weather is one step towards preparing my mind to run a full marathon.

In addition to running in the snow and thinking about how to mentally prepare myself, I’ve also been thinking a lot about privilege. I am privileged in many ways in life, but I’d just like to reflect on some things that makes running a privilege because not everyone has the luxury to be able to compete like I do:

I can afford the entrance fees

The Eau Claire Marathon cost about $70 to enter. Not only that, but I've also had to pay for pairs of running shoes, warm clothing for winter runs, and other gear that is necessary to run. I am privileged to be able to afford to enter the race and buy the right gear to train.

I can make the time in my schedule to train

I have the time to train for this race and will likely be spending 6 days a week training at least 1-2 hours each day running or cross training in some way. If I were a working parent with multiple jobs, there is no way that I would have the time to be able to do this. Time itself is a privilege.

I have the resources available to train properly

I have many resources available to me at the university in order to train properly including access to fitness facilities, a pool, group exercise classes, and even professors and trainers that I’m sure would be more than willing to help me along the way if I had questions or asked for help. I am privileged to have these resources.

I have access to proper nutrition

Many people throughout the world and in the U.S. do not have access to proper nutrition. Many people in our own backyards go hungry each and every day. I am privileged to be able to attend college and have a cafeteria with many food options to ensure that I am eating properly as I train.

My body has the ability to run

Many people, whether they have a disability, an injury, or other illnesses may not have the ability to run. Being a person who does not, I am privileged.

I have support from family and friends

Family and friends have loved and supported me along my journey and many people don’t have that in their lives. This is huge because it is really difficult to do something if you don’t have the support. I am privileged to have this support.

These are just a few things and there are probably many more things that I could put on this list, but I just wanted to reflect on this. It is really important to acknowledge that not everyone is able run because it really is a luxury to be able to enter and train for a marathon. I hope by reading this, we runners can take this to heart and take a minute to reflect on this privilege while we run.

With that, have an amazing week and happy running :)

Half Marathon Reflections

Just can't stop the smiles while out running

Half Marathon Reflections

This year’s Biggest Loser Half Marathon was a great experience. Last winter and spring, I was suffering an injury (gluteal tendinopathy) which was literally a pain in the butt and experienced relentless pain when it came to running and sitting for extended periods of time. Quoting the great ultra marathon runner, Anton Krupicka, “Running is an injury prevention sport.” I sadly agree with this statement, but because of this I have plans that include weight training to cross training to help prevent injury as best as I can as the Eau Claire Marathon approaches. After a summer and fall of training, I have experienced some pain here and there, but it has become increasingly better. Because of this injury, this half marathon was my first time running a long distance endurance race since last fall and it felt great to finally race again!

Victory never tasted so good!

Due to it being my first long distance race in a while, I was not planning on racing for a best time and decided to tag alongside my friends and just enjoy the ride.  I was somewhat nervous about the course though, especially because I had never run a race that was an out and back before. I usually avoid out and back runs because I like to create routes that have a lot of scenery changes, but the Chippewa River is so beautiful (especially in the fall time) that it was a pleasant route to run on.

The race started at Carson Park in Eau Claire and going out along the Chippewa River Trail toward Highway 85 and back. It’s a beautiful area on the Chippewa river trail, especially if you are looking for a route that takes you away from busy streets and into a quiet, serene trail. With all of the beautiful trails that we have in Eau Claire, routs like this are abundant and I can’t get enough of ‘em! You’ll see as I share more routes throughout training that I love trail runs on the bike trails in eau claire, but I especially enjoy running on uneven trails in wooded or rocky terrain. It feels exhilarating to run on the off beaten trails and I am excited to adventure into more runs with that kind of terrain.

Feeling accomplished

Great friends supporting us

What really gets me excited about running though, besides for the amazing trails and fun routes is the great friends I have to run with and those support me. The running community has something very special about it, especially here in Eau Claire. During the race, almost everyone was cheering each other on as they passed by each other on the out and back course. It was such a great sense of community throughout the course. In addition to cheering each other on, runners also couldn't do it without the support of the amazing people cheering us on throughout the course. I am privileged to have amazing friends who came to cheer us on and be there at the finish line congratulating and supporting us. If you are reading this and are not a runner you should know that words can't even describe how meaningful it is for us to see people supporting us as we race and I am extremely grateful for this. Keep the funny signs, loud cheering, loud cowbells, and many smiles coming! They are what keeps us going :)

Sunday, October 18th

Biggest Loser Half Marathon Finishers 2015

Welcome to my Eau Claire Running blog! Now that I’ve just completed the Eau Claire Biggest Loser Half Marathon I want to share in my adventures and show you some great running spots around Eau Claire as I train to race the Eau Claire marathon come Spring 2K16, but for this first post, I’d simply like to introduce myself. So, here we go and I hope you enjoy!

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Everyone has a story and everyone’s story has value. This is a core belief of mine and because of this, I’d like to share my story with you. Not because I think you all need to know me, or because I want to share everything about my life to the world, but because I believe that the more stories we share in life, the more perspectives we learn about, which makes us all better people.

My name is John and this is my running story ~

It starts in the 2nd semester of my freshman year of college at University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. After reading the book Eat to Live by Dr. Joel Fuhrman, I made the choice to change my lifestyle and become more health conscious and active along with eating a plant based diet. On top of that, I made a goal to run for 60 minutes straight. Wow! That would be a challenge. Especially since I hadn’t done that since freshman year of high school when I dabbled in cross country and the unlimited college cafeteria food wasn’t helping my fitness in the slightest.

2014 Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon Finisher

I was overweight and out of shape so the goal to run for 60 minutes without stopping was a long shot. This took a lot of focus, just like any well thought out training plan should. So, I started on the indoor track where I would run for 1 minute and walk for 5 minutes. I would do this until I reached an hour of exercise. Each day, I increased the amount of time running and decrease the amount of time walking. This was a great way to ease into running, and after a few months, I had completed my goal and healthily lost about fifty pounds.

2015 EC Half Marathon Finishers

Of course this is a very simplified version of my story since it was much more involved than running for 60 minutes a few times a week and eating lots of salads. It also included detailed food journals, exercise logs, and early bedtimes where I would regularly skip out late night trips to the cafeteria with friends in order to get the sleep that I needed to live a healthier life. It did not come easily for me and was (and still is) a lot of work to lose maintain weight and keep practicing healthy habits. For a while, it felt like I was running against current, but it was so worth it because I knew that your 20’s are the time to start developing lifelong habits and I wanted to make my habits healthy.

Out for a scenic run in Eau Claire, WI

In the springtime of that year, I had the chance to cheer on a friend who was running the Eau Claire Half Marathon. I was so inspired by all of the runners and the amazing community of people gathered for the event that I made it my goal to run the Eau Claire Half Marathon the following year. The rest, is history. At this moment, I have completed two half marathons (EC Half Marathon & EC Biggest Loser Half Marathon), one full marathon (Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon 2014), some 5k runs here or there and multiple sprint and olympic distance triathlons which I have had the privilege of competing in with my amazing teammates on the UW-Eau Claire Triathlon Team. I am looking forward to hearing people’s stories and sharing in the laughs and smiles with the Eau Claire community leading up to race day!