Ragnars

SNAPSHOT

Bonding time within 24 hours, 12 friends, 2 vans, 200 miles, and a win!

DIGGING DEEPER

The answer was always, “No, I don’t want to join your Ragnar team. You don’t want to be around me when I am sleep deprived.” Seriously, it is not pretty or fun for anyone when I don’t get enough sleep. My boycott held strong until last spring when the leader of Baba Yaga, an award-winning women’s team of 25 years, asked if I wanted to pass the team’s snap bracelet. The invitation peeked my interest; the opportunity to learn from fast wise women. This team has gathered once a year to support, encourage, and run fast together. They are serious. Thankfully, they didn’t pour on the pressure, I could take care of that myself.

My training for the June Utah Ragnar race included hills and tempos. I had already started my fall marathon training cycle so my long 3-legged portion (total of 18.5 miles) fit right into the scheduled miles. I would for sure walk away from the experience mentally tougher since most of the race miles would be run at a higher altitude by myself. I felt ready enough as I walked onto the plane.

If I were to share every detail, this post would get way too long, so I will give you the best of many great moments.

Genuinely kind and fast running team. “Seriously, you know who?” “You ran on what professional team?” “Wait, did I just hear you say you are the record holder for the 4x800 master relay team? And now you are going for the fastest 50+ team next month.” Humble and impressive women.

Utah’s mountainous terrain and sunrises/sunsets melted my heart. I could totally live near Salt Lake City, Utah. I don’t mind the 5000 feet elevation level and the burn in my lungs!

I was super proud when I would finish under my captain’s projected pace for my leg. I couldn’t breathe in enough oxygen but I could belt out, “17 seconds under, save those seconds for my next leg, I will need it!”

A shout out to my running companion, Corey from SKRT SKRT EAT OUR DRT DRT, on my dark midnight 9.61-mile leg. High school sprinters, who are untrained in endurance, should NOT be able to run 18.5 fast miles in less than 24 hours and at this pace. I begged him to join his Utah cross country team, he obviously had talent! We had a fun reunion as our two teams joined together for a team picture after the race.

Long roads without a finish in sight can really test your fortitude to finish your third leg strong. Yet that obstacle was a treasured gift as it was easier to preserver when I returned back home to my marathon training.

SOLUTION

Alrighty, I learned my lesson. I can survive a Ragnar. The gained memories were worth the night of lost sleep.

Share your story in the comment section below!

Which event location is the best?

Running Blogger who didn't Disappear

SNAPSHOT

Well, 7 months later…

DIGGING DEEPER

Hi Runners,

I’ve been away from the blog keyboard lately but haven’t disappeared. I think the 30 posts in 30 days last spring quenched my thirst for writing but I certainly didn’t stop running or coaching. Actually, I have covered a lot of miles myself and through my athletes these past seven months.

Ragnar in Utah with the awesome Baba Yaga team - Yeah for our 1st place all-female open team

10 Day Colorado Running Trip with my 14-year-old runner son - Hit Repeat for 2020!

Head coached my first middle/high charter school Cross Country Team - Started with one beginner runner and finished with ten fit runners!

Raced my first MARATHON - Avoiding it for too long, peer pressure, and the enjoyment of long runs made me click register and complete! I have a lot to say about 26.2 miles of racing!

My athletes have been rocking it this fall racing season! - Check out the testimonials for a few of their stellar results.

No injuries - What I enjoyed most of all these experiences was the simplicity of waking up each morning to a healthy body, ready to run with friends.

SOLUTION

Obviously, It is time for me to get back to a weekly sharing of all things running.

Comment below for which experience or topic you want to be shared next week!

Energy to Burn

Guest Blogger

By Dr. Theresa DeLorenzo, RD

There are many factors when we determine if we have the freedom to run.  Do we have the time?  Many of us work 9-5 jobs meaning if we want to run if requires running in the dark.  Many of us have other responsibilities that get in the way of being able to run such as kids after school activities and sports events.  There are physical disabilities that prevent some of us from running.  But, one factor that is ubiquitous to us all is the need for proper energy intake to making running and exercise of any type possible. 

I have been a runner for almost four years.  I, like we all do, have good days and bad days.  Days when you feel like you can run forever and days when you feel like your legs weigh a million pounds.  I run six days a week so they are obviously not all going to be good.  I have done eight half marathons and will do my first marathon this year.  So why at the age of 41 have I only been running for four years?  It’s complicated.  

When I was six years old, I started doing gymnastics.  I am small and energetic so it was a perfect sport.  Ball sports never interested me and in fact, they terrified me.  Gymnastics just felt so freeing and powerful.  When you stand on the balance beam you are precise and in control.  When you swing from the bars, you are agile and free.  When you spring from the springboard and glide over the vault you are powerful.  Then, you get older and bigger and it isn’t so easy anymore.  It all takes more energy and moving across the bean and swinging from the bars is more difficult and more awkward.  Then there’s the pressure of what a gymnast should look like; the petite, 4 foot 7 person with no extra body fat and the bony figure.  That may be realistic when we are ten years old but as we reach puberty that is no longer realistic nor is it healthy.  Nevertheless, that is the expectation.  As a 14-year-old gymnast, weighing 100 pounds was certainly not acceptable.  A day that changed my life forever occurred.  I would not change it because many good things have come out of the experience but it was not easy.  What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger right? 

It was mid- summer after seventh grade.  I was at gymnastics practice and my coach informed me that he would no longer be able to spot me because I was now too big.  The comment hit me like a ton of bricks.  I should’ve thought, “what a jerk, he doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”  Instead as an impressionable 14 year old I thought, I need to fix this. 

My coach went on vacation and didn’t return for two weeks.  During that time I decided that I would prove to him that I was still a capable gymnast.  I started by going as long as I could without eating.  I made it almost 24 hours before I broke down.  I came up with a meal plan that would allow me to survive but maintain a very lean figure.  I lost 13 pounds, kept it off for four years, and did not menstruate again until I was 18.  There is a misconception that excessive exercise causes amenorrhea.  It is actually inadequate calories to fuel that exercise that causes amenorrhea and the subsequent bone loss. During this time I began to break.  I went to catch the bars on a mount and broke all of the bones in my right hand broke.  That healed and I came back, dismounted the bars, and sprained my ankle very badly.  On the small amount I was consuming, I was not strong enough to continue.  My career in gymnastics had come to an end.  So, what the heck does this all have to do with running?  Just keep reading…

I needed to find a sport with a softer landing.  As a junior in high school I joined the diving team.  Landing in water felt safer.  Maybe I won’t continue to break.  I didn’t break but I gained weight because I wasn’t getting as much exercise. My slim frame of 87 pounds became 93 and then 98.  I panicked.  I was approaching the dreaded weight that was so problematic.  I decided to join the track team so that I could get more exercise but my intake hadn’t improved so sure enough, illness struck.  I came down with mononucleosis.  After a month of having my dad read my assignments to me and eat as little as possible because I wasn’t moving at all, I decided it was time to go back.  Was it actually time to go back?  Probably not.  Actually, it was definitely not time to go back.  I developed walking pneumonia.  

Fast forward to the present, I have obtained a bachelors, masters and doctorate degree in nutrition and have learned, amongst other things, that in order to use your body you have to fuel it.  I am a firm believer that everything happens for a reason.  I love my career as a dietitian and never once have I wanted to be in any other field.  It is an extremely rewarding field that allows me to help people of all ages become healthier, have less disease symptoms, live longer and perform better.  Did I learn to eat perfectly and not have any fearful thoughts when it comes to food?  No, but I got much better.  

When I was 36 years old I ran a 5k with my best friends.  I survived so we ran a four mile race on the fourth of July.  They decided if I could run four miles that I could run six miles so we trained for a 10K.  I knew from my gymnastics years that I gain muscle easily and saw the number on the scale slowly creeping up with my running so I decided to cut out meat. A boyfriend at the time even said to me that I should watch my weight because my body fat was 19% and much higher than his. There is so much evidence surrounding plant- based diets and how they stave off disease.  I decided that would be the right diet for me.  I claimed that I was trying to fend off disease but I was actually trying to keep my weight in a place where I was more comfortable.  I ran a 10K and then a 15K and then several half marathons and then I was a runner.  I ran daily only taking days off when coach Shelly told me to.  It got easier and I got faster and each race went better than the last until it didn’t. 

I had been running for almost three years and not eating meat for the same amount of time. Half way through a half marathon my world went fuzzy.  I didn’t know what was happening.  I was at mile three and Shelly said I was supposed to pick up my pace from 8:30 minutes per mile to 8:15 but I couldn’t.  My legs wouldn’t move.  I couldn’t see straight.  I felt like I was floating for a minute and one of the volunteers grabbed me and made me stop.  I was so disappointed because this was going to be my fastest half marathon yet.  I started thinking about other things I had been noticing about my body in the past few months such as blurry vision, waking up with my hands and feet both asleep and my lips cut apart to the point that it was impossible to open my mouth without excruciating pain to know that I had a vitamin B12 deficiency. Vitamin B12 is only obtained from animal foods but I thought the eggs and fish I was eating was enough.  Apparently not.  I asked my doctor to obtain my serum level.  Ideally, it should be over 800 ng/ml.  Mine was a measly 180 ng/ml.  I had done it again. I had depleted myself to the point that did not allow me to perform my sport the way I wanted to. 

I decided that it was time to eat what my body told me to eat.  I resumed eating meat again.  My weight actually did not change.  I am able to run and in fact, all winter I ran 40 miles per week and feel great.  I run with friends who say “you just never know how a run is going to go.”  I remember feeling that way but now that I fuel my body the way it asks me to, I rarely have difficult runs.  I still believe a plant- based diet is a healthy way to eat and consume nuts, beans, tofu and tempeh on a regular basis but I believe that moderation is the way to go.  If I don’t eat meat, my body does not allow me to exercise which is my stress release.  Stress is more harmful than anything we can put in our bodies. 

This year I plan to run my first full marathon and will listen to what my body needs.  When we crave foods, there is a reason. 

Listen to your body.  It is smart.  Happy running! 

Theresa can be contacted by email at
theresadelorenzo123@yahoo.com

Note From Shelly: Thank you so much, Theresa, for sharing your journey through weight control, fueling the body, and learning to listen to the body. I admire who you are and your care for others within your profession and home life. I’m a fan of you!

100th POST

SNAPSHOT

100 Freedom to Run Blog Posts Later…

DIGGING DEEPER

Legs Follow Arms was published 3 years ago in March of 2016. And yesterday as I was running to four town parks covering 16 miles, I noticed how the restricted mobility of my right shoulder was causing my right IT band to voice pain. The truth that your arms impact your legs while running still rings true.

Many of the opinions in my past blog posts I still agree with. Some I don’t. Either new information has emerged or I have found another better option to tackle the situation. However the overall direction and emphasis within the posts still stand true.

Now my writing abilities have thankfully improved. Surprise, specific practice causes improvement. On average a blog post takes 3 hours to write, edit, layout, and publish. Three hundred hours later, it comes a bit easier with a little less fear of critics while sharing my thoughts, life, and knowledge. The ten published articles in Adirondack Sports, Saratoga Mama, and Run Minnesota have stretched my skills and commanded endurance in writing longer pieces and for a broader audience. So if you use the search bar below to find my take on your curiosity, exhibit grace when reading the earlier posts.

When comparing to the vast online world, I am quite small (very, very small) and simple. Nothing much. But when I attempt to identify anyone I know personally that has written 100 blog posts or even regularly posts, I know NO ONE.

That is, there is no one I am Facebook friends with or send Christmas cards to, or have their text number… that has ventured out into this blogging world.

My point it is that we often compare ourselves to the huge wide world of loud strong voices and feel small and useless.

Yet, when I need advice, my favorite person to ask is someone I personally know, someone only a text away.

The people within my circle are the valuable advice givers. We have equally invested in each other and have no alternative motive.

These blog posts have no alternative motive, just me expressing my thoughts, often bursting out of me, searching for a listening ear.

Upon viewing my Squarespace website analytics of daily page views, I am thankful for the dozen or the one audience when seeking running advice found my blog and felt heard, supported, and encouraged.

I am a fan of making a difference in one person’s life, causing a ripple effect and hopefully inspiring the world.

SOLUTION

To you, my reader, I write for JUST YOU. Thanks to my friends for listening. And thanks to the Google searchers, I hope you are encouraged to run free.

When Running is MORE than Running: Running for Stress Relief

SNAPSHOT

Running is my SANITY

DIGGING DEEPER

I have taken the first step on many of the runs this winter not just for exercise but for relief. Mounting mental stress crests to the level that it turns into physical anticipation for the movement of running. I must move. I must run. I need freedom. When so overwhelmed and with no other outlet, running becomes my hour of escape.

I have thought of many other reasons that very well could be the cause for my internal drive to run. And each take their turn to keep me stepping forward. However, these last two months, I have turned to running to escape stress. I know for at least that one hour I can forget problems and annoyances and be productive with accomplishments.

Being able to pick my pace, elevation, end time or distance gives me the freedom that stress won’t. To be swept away into another world, where all I need to do is take another step. And spending time with my running friends and hearing of their days helps me put into perspective my stress load.

All of this combined helps to relax my mind and body. I feel renewed and ready to venture forward into the rest of the day.

Running to reduce stress is a real strategy says John J. Ratey author of Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain (a MUST read)

“We can literally run ourselves out of that frenzy. Just as the mind can affect the body, the body can affect the mind.” Spark (p. 63). Little, Brown and Company. Kindle Edition.

“Regular aerobic activity calms the body, so that it can handle more stress before the serious response involving heart rate and stress hormones kicks in. It raises the trigger point of the physical reaction. In the brain, the mild stress of exercise fortifies the infrastructure of our nerve cells by activating genes to produce certain proteins that protect the cells against damage and disease.” Spark (p. 71). Little, Brown and Company. Kindle Edition.

Most likely you are runner who uses the sport in order to relieve stress and refresh yourself. Don’t be afraid to say, “Life is hard and running helps me along the way.”

SOLUTION

So lace up those running shoes and hit the road because running can be your stress relief.