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!