You have not lived until you have done something for someone who can never repay you (Anonymous)

Greetings, fellow Rogues

I am writing to ask if you can help me and my team, the Rogue Team Sole Survivors, raise money for Team Rogue Elite. With your help we feel that our fundraising efforts will be very successful.  While this fundraising effort has been in the planning for several weeks the launching of it could not be more timely following the outstanding races at this past weekend’s Olympic Trials by two of our Team Rogue Elites, Allison Macsas and Scott MacPherson. Their performances and that of the other world class athletes filled our hearts with reverence at the highest level.

The concept of “Paying It Forward” means having an appreciation for something you have received and expressing that appreciation by doing something positive for someone else. I don’t know about you but I have received so much from Rogue Running and it has come in the form of learning to live a healthy lifestyle, developing physically, mentally, and spiritually, and giving birth to new friendships and relationships. I personally have received much from Rogue Running and now I want to play a role in “paying it forward.”

One of the true hallmarks of Rogue Running and a distinguishing characteristic amongst running organizations in Austin is the importance of community. I have been a member of Rogue Running both as a marathoner and as a coach since its inception. From the outset of this association I have realized Rogue Running understands the significance of investing in the Austin community and acts on it. In years past Rogue Running was the official marathon training partner of the Austin Marathon’s philanthropy program, 26 Miles for 26 Charities. The philanthropy program provided nonprofits in Central Texas the opportunity to increase community awareness while raising money to support their missions. Members of my team ran on behalf of and raised money for several nonprofit organizations in past years. The Rogue Team Sole Survivors have supported and helped raise money for Colin’s Hope, Marathon Kids, Girls on the Run of Austin, Blue Dog Rescue, Susan G. Komen for the Cure, Hill Country Conservancy, Dell’s Children Medical Center of Central Texas, St. Jude’s Children Hospital, Austin Children’s Shelter, Live Strong Foundation, Glimmer of Hope Foundation, Alzheimer’s Association, and Team Asha.

This year I have made the decision that our fundraising efforts will be for one of our own, Team Rogue Elite.

Why are we doing this? Why are we helping raise money for this team? For several reasons and I will share a few with you.

1. We Have Received Help and Support From Others – Each and every one of            us in our life long journey has had someone do something that lifted us up. A simple act of kindness and selflessness. We have benefited from an authentic, genuine act of doing by others. From that experience we have learned and grown.
2. Strengthens our Rogue Running Community – I see it every time I am at Rogue. I read it on Facebook. Our Rogue Running community is one BIG LOVE AFFAIR. Yes,  we work hard and train hard. We push each other. And, we love to celebrate, socialize, have dinner, party, travel, and spend non-running time together.
3. I Have A Dream – With all due respect to Martin Luther King, Jr. I would  like to borrow his famous line. Each of these professional athletes has a dream to accomplish the goal of making and competing in the Olympics. They approach their training purposefully and with strong conviction in order to get closer to realizing their dream. They run their path with faith, love and purpose, and for that we all admire them.

On a Personal Note – I have had the pleasure and the privilege of getting to know each of the members of Rogue Team Elite. They are truly special in that they embody the essence of what is good. They are humble. They are giving of their time, their gifts, and their talents. You don’t hear a lot about them because they don’t make it a point to broadcast their accomplishments. They let their hard work and efforts speak volumes for themselves. And, we hear it loud and clear without their having to boast about them. A mark of a confident, secure, and humble athlete. They work hard to try and make ends meet in order to live, play, and train for their respective races.

How can we help raise money?

Soon we will begin selling raffle tickets at $10 per ticket. Buy one. Buy ten. Buy twenty. Buy more. Buy them for a fellow Rogue as a gift.

We are still working on a few other gifts but this is what we have so far:

1. Rogue Running Survival Bag of goodies
2. Rogue Outfitter – shirt, shorts, shoes, and socks
3. Rogue Running program of your choice
4. Six infared sauna sessions with Dr. Noah Moos, DC (TRE’s official team doctor)
5. Six hyberbaric chamber sessions with Dr. Noah Moos, DC (TRE’s official team doctor)
6. Photoshoot with Juliane Masciana (TRE member and professional photographer)
7. One week of lunches from Mel’s Meals
8. One hour massage with Doug Consiglio (TRE’s official team massage therapist)
9. Haircuts from Birds Barbershop, 2 winners for 2 cuts each
10. Nook Color reader
11. Nikon Coolpix S1600 camera, 8gb SD card and case
12. A Gibson “Epiphone” electric guitar
13. Chrome messenger bag & shoes from The Genesis Agency
14. Adidas Adios 2 running shoes, 4 winners
15. Maui Jim Sport sunglasses & Oakley sunglasses from Today’s Vision
16. 3-hours of fun in the sun aboard a beautiful NAUTIQUE boat on Lake Travis with Sail & Ski Center. The Captain will pilot the boat, providing sight seeing, swimming, wake surfing and tubing. One winner plus five guests.
17. Wellness Starter Program (valued at $195) by Nutritional Wisdom
18. Wine Tasting and Appetizers for 10 – Margaret & Bobby Garcia (fellow Rogue and Sommelier, Edward Morgan, will be our guest) – 5 winners for two people each.
19. Dinner Party for 6 – Margaret and Bobby Garcia (fabulous 4 course meal with fine wines and champagnes) – 3 winners for two people each.

I hope you agree with me that for $10 per ticket these are pretty good prizes! Raffle tickets can be purchased at the register at both Rogue locations, and before/after your quality workout and long runs – look for the table of TRE athletes at the downtown location!

Winners of the raffle will be announced at Rogue’s pre-Austin Marathon talk on February 10 (winners do not have to present to win).

Rogue Running has shown Central Texas that it lives here, runs here, and gives here. I hope you will join me in doing something for someone who can never repay you.

Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love. ~ Mother Teresa

Saturday, January 21st I raced the River Road Run Half Marathon. This was my first half marathon race and I did it all alone. No Rogue running buddies, pacers, or any running friends came with me to New Braunfels. My only cheering squad was my biggest fans, my boyfriend and my pug.  With an out and back route, I waved goodbye to them at 8am for 2 hrs and 2 minutes of just me… and it was hard as hell.

A little back history: Unable to load the course map that began and ended at River Road Ice House or the elevation map, I signed up for the race anyways. I have been training my sister for 3M and decided I wanted to race my own HM before 3M and found RRR.  It seemed like a fun small race and hills don’t scare me since I have done all my training in Austin.

The first mile of the race I spent adjusting my jacket and iPod. It had been months since I had run with music and took me a minute to get situated, distraction me from noticing I was running down a huge mile long hill. The first few miles of any run for me are never my best. I am always working out my kinks and getting my body adjusted. I was enjoying the view as we ran along the river, remembering all my good times there during college.  Around mile five I started to feel exhaustion kick in, noticing I had been going too fast in the beginning and also that all the rolling hills had been rolling down hill. Awesome.

At the half way turn around, while fighting the battle of good and evil in my head and writing a much more negative and profane Rogue Blog (in my head), I decided it was my ‘fight or flight’ time. I often refer to this when I feel myself starting to be afraid or wimp out.  I am a fighter.  So, as much as I wanted to quit because running alone had posed to be much more mentally challenging and it was the hilly course from hell, I kicked it in to high gear at mile seven.

I had come to reach a goal of two hours and, whether I met it or not, I wasn’t going to give up (as much as my body was hurting).  I started passing people one by one, charging up the hills and picking up pace. Finally I was back on course to reach my goal.  I was feeling good and proud of myself that I was beating the mental battle in my head!

Though I didn’t quite get my goal in the end, it was still a great race.  More challenging than any race or full marathon I have run so far, but well worth it with a 3rd place trophy in the end (age group 25-29). I am glad I pushed myself, all by myself.

With encouragement from Team Rogue’s Aussie Scott Rantall rabbiting the race from his bike while getting in a little cross training for next weeks 3M Half, 14 year-old Team Rogue Prep runner Jeremy Brown led all runners with a blistering 15:50. Using the race as a tune-up for next weeks half marathon, Team Rogue’s Michael Wedel came in next with a 16:56 PR.

Pushing each other to the finish and rounding out the top four were Team Rogue Prep runners Madie Boreman (age 13) coming in first place for females with a time of 17:30 and Ryan Brown (age 12) with a time of 17:37.

by John Schrup

By now you are familiar with the Brooks Pure Project line—the lower-profile, lighter, “minimalist” running footwear designed to allow for a more natural running gait.  The Pure Cadence is the last of our reviews, and we will continue to review new shoes in the Rogue way—no rainbows and unicorns, maybe a nip here or there on the hand that feeds us, etc.

The Pure Cadence is the, ahem, “stability” model in the Pure lineup.  It is difficult for me to call it a stability shoe in the traditional sense, but it does have some features that do make for more lateral-medial stability.  I think Brooks is calling it “assurance.”

To begin, by lowering the offset to 4mm, there is an automatic decrease in the lever that can increase overpronation.  Picture a stilletto next to a ballet slipper.  It’s a little dramatic as an example, but it is right on.  The higher you are off the ground, the less inherent stability you have, don’t you?  Brooks has also used an internal roll bar, or post, in the midsole of the shoe, rather than the out-dated medial posts that we are all familiar with.  The midsole is two pieces of the DNA/BioMoGo compound sandwiched together, with a firmer, medially-angled piece underneath to provide the “assurance” against overpronation.  If you’ve seen the Nike Lunarglide adverts for those stability shoes, you’ve essentially seen the Brooks version.  I like the feel of the Brooks product much better.

The Cadence ride is a firmer version of the Flow’s bouncy, responsive feel.  Firmer is the way to go, as far as I’m concerned—it means less time on the ground, greater durability and more inherent stability–and I think Brooks would do well to spread that feel to other models to differentiate themselves from all the other marshmallows.  Soft feels good initially, but it will go away quickly, and more importantly, sugar coating the feel of running shoes, as so many companies have done in the last decade, does no good for the body I am almost completely convinced.  Several years ago, a study out of McGill University in Canada showed that gymnasts landing on softer crash pads had higher rates of injury than those landing on firmer crash pads.  Different sport yes, but same proprioceptive response.

The fit of the Cadence is Flow-like, with a roomier forefoot,  and a comfortably snug midfoot.  The narrowest of feet will not work well in this model, and the NavBand does little (do we see a pattern here) to secure the foot.  On the lateral side of the shoe, the NavBand is anchored externally to the midsole pod under the cuboid bone and is designed to reduce the rate of overpronation.  Does it contribute?  Not that I can tell, and it looks cheap as well.  They really could have designed that insertion point to appear a bit cleaner, but I do understand that they need to call out their technologies.

Interestingly enough, the Cadence is, I’ve been told by the Brooks sales rep, the best selling of the four Pure Project models.  I can believe that, knowing that people want their shoes simpler and lighter, yet are not yet willing to let go of the idea that they “need” stability.  I can’t think of the appropriate example, but perhaps it is like having a tape player in your hybrid car.  You keep the tape player around because that’s what you’ve always had, and you can’t yet believe that an Mp3 is the new paradigm—I mean, you can’t SEE them, right?  Not a great example I know, but you get the idea.

Running in the Cadence feels good.  This is a shoe that, with some tweaks here and there could build into something really long-lasting and impressive.  If you like the bouncy feel of the Pure Project line and are more comfortable with a bit of “assurance” in your running footwear, I’d go with the Pure Cadence if I were you.  Brooks has done a really nice job of creating a line of biomechanically appropriate footwear for the average runner who is looking for a little less shoe than what they’ve traditionally worn.  Brooks doesn’t officially advocate the “less is more” model of shoe design, but it is obvious that they know this is the way to go, even if it is dressed up as something more familiar.

You have not lived until you have done something for someone who can never repay you (Anonymous)

Greetings, fellow Rogues

I am writing to ask if you can help me and my team, the Rogue Team Sole Survivors, raise money for Team Rogue Elite. With your help we feel that our fundraising efforts will be very successful.  While this fundraising effort has been in the planning for several weeks the launching of it could not be more timely following the outstanding races at this past weekend’s Olympic Trials by two of our Team Rogue Elites, Allison Macsas and Scott MacPherson. Their performances and that of the other world class athletes filled our hearts with reverence at the highest level.

The concept of “Paying It Forward” means having an appreciation for something you have received and expressing that appreciation by doing something positive for someone else. I don’t know about you but I have received so much from Rogue Running and it has come in the form of learning to live a healthy lifestyle, developing physically, mentally, and spiritually, and giving birth to new friendships and relationships. I personally have received much from Rogue Running and now I want to play a role in “paying it forward.”

One of the true hallmarks of Rogue Running and a distinguishing characteristic amongst running organizations in Austin is the importance of community. I have been a member of Rogue Running both as a marathoner and as a coach since its inception. From the outset of this association I have realized Rogue Running understands the significance of investing in the Austin community and acts on it. In years past Rogue Running was the official marathon training partner of the Austin Marathon’s philanthropy program, 26 Miles for 26 Charities. The philanthropy program provided nonprofits in Central Texas the opportunity to increase community awareness while raising money to support their missions. Members of my team ran on behalf of and raised money for several nonprofit organizations in past years. The Rogue Team Sole Survivors have supported and helped raise money for Colin’s Hope, Marathon Kids, Girls on the Run of Austin, Blue Dog Rescue, Susan G. Komen for the Cure, Hill Country Conservancy, Dell’s Children Medical Center of Central Texas, St. Jude’s Children Hospital, Austin Children’s Shelter, Live Strong Foundation, Glimmer of Hope Foundation, Alzheimer’s Association, and Team Asha.

This year I have made the decision that our fundraising efforts will be for one of our own, Team Rogue Elite.

Why are we doing this? Why are we helping raise money for this team? For several reasons and I will share a few with you.

1. We Have Received Help and Support From Others – Each and every one of            us in our life long journey has had someone do something that lifted us up. A simple act of kindness and selflessness. We have benefited from an authentic, genuine act of doing by others. From that experience we have learned and grown.
2. Strengthens our Rogue Running Community – I see it every time I am at Rogue. I read it on Facebook. Our Rogue Running community is one BIG LOVE AFFAIR. Yes,  we work hard and train hard. We push each other. And, we love to celebrate, socialize, have dinner, party, travel, and spend non-running time together.
3. I Have A Dream – With all due respect to Martin Luther King, Jr. I would  like to borrow his famous line. Each of these professional athletes has a dream to accomplish the goal of making and competing in the Olympics. They approach their training purposefully and with strong conviction in order to get closer to realizing their dream. They run their path with faith, love and purpose, and for that we all admire them.

On a Personal Note – I have had the pleasure and the privilege of getting to know each of the members of Rogue Team Elite. They are truly special in that they embody the essence of what is good. They are humble. They are giving of their time, their gifts, and their talents. You don’t hear a lot about them because they don’t make it a point to broadcast their accomplishments. They let their hard work and efforts speak volumes for themselves. And, we hear it loud and clear without their having to boast about them. A mark of a confident, secure, and humble athlete. They work hard to try and make ends meet in order to live, play, and train for their respective races.

How can we help raise money?

Soon we will begin selling raffle tickets at $10 per ticket. Buy one. Buy ten. Buy twenty. Buy more. Buy them for a fellow Rogue as a gift.

We are still working on a few other gifts but this is what we have so far:

1. Rogue Running Survival Bag of goodies
2. Rogue Outfitter – shirt, shorts, shoes, and socks
3. Rogue Running program of your choice
4. Six infared sauna sessions with Dr. Noah Moos, DC (TRE’s official team doctor)
5. Six hyberbaric chamber sessions with Dr. Noah Moos, DC (TRE’s official team doctor)
6. Photoshoot with Juliane Masciana (TRE member and professional photographer)
7. One week of lunches from Mel’s Meals
8. One hour massage with Doug Consiglio (TRE’s official team massage therapist)
9. Haircuts from Birds Barbershop, 2 winners for 2 cuts each
10. Kindle “like” reader
11. 3-hours of fun in the sun aboard a beautiful NAUTIQUE boat on Lake Travis with Sail & Ski Center. The Captain will pilot the boat, providing sight seeing, swimming, wake surfing and tubing. One winner plus five guests.
12. Wellness Starter Program (valued at $195) by Nutritional Wisdom
13. Wine Tasting and Appetizers for 10 – Margaret & Bobby Garcia (fellow Rogue and Sommelier, Edward Morgan, will be our guest) – 5 winners for two people each.
14. Dinner Party for 6 – Margaret and Bobby Garcia (fabulous 4 course meal with fine wines and champagnes) – 3 winners for two people each.

I hope you agree with me that for $10 per ticket these are pretty good prizes. Winners of the raffle will be announced at Rogue’s pre-Austin Marathon talk on February 10 (winners do not have to present to win). Details on when and where to purchase raffle tickets will be announced soon.

Rogue Running has shown Central Texas that it lives here, runs here, and gives here. I hope you will join me in doing something for someone who can never repay you.

Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love. ~ Mother Teresa

It is the night of January 14. Earlier today, I watched the Men’s and Women’s Olympic Marathon Trials as over 200 men and women sought out to earn a chance at Olympic glory. I can’t sleep. As I sit here, I am overwhelmed by images from the day and struggling to capture what it means. Inspiration came in so many forms today that my mind is unable to process it. I know there are lessons to be learned and applied to my own running and life, but I can’t quite pin them down within the flood of thoughts, images, and stories. Here is one attempt; it is as much for me as for you.

Today, I saw courage for the sake of courage.

There is the story of Ryan Hall, the prohibitive pre-race favorite on the men’s side. His marathon PR is still over 3 minutes faster than anyone else in the race.  As a favorite, he had every reason to sit and wait… to let the race unfold in front of him, and then snatch it late while others did the work to set up the finish. He refused to take the easy way out and jumped to the front, pushing a blistering pace from the opening gun. He would shatter the field by mile 1 and then lead the race for the first 18 miles, doing all the work at the front. His efforts and wasted energy would cost him the win, but would easily secure his Olympic spot while also giving us arguably the fastest men’s Olympic Trials ever run. In 2000, the winner of the Men’s Olympic Trials ran 2:15:30 to earn his Olympic spot. Today, running 2:15:30 would have netted you a distant 25^th place.

Today, I saw someone who refused to quit even though he had every reason to.

There is the story of Dan Browne. Dan finished dead last today in a time of 2:42, over 30 minutes off the men’s leaders. Most didn’t know it while cheering for him, but Dan is a double Olympian from 2004, where he made the team in the 10k and the marathon. Dan had a bad day. When I saw him for the first time alone at Mile 9, he was already struggling with noticeably ragged form. Dan has nothing to prove; he is already an Olympian. No one would have blamed him for walking off the course, but he fought anyway. He fought all the way to the finish on a bad day, in front of thousands, perhaps more than a million scrutinizing eyes. He fought because someone like him does not quit.

Today, I saw fearlessness when she had every reason to fear.

There is the story of Amy Hastings. She would break the record for the Women’s Marathon Trials today, but still finish an agonizing 4^th place, one spot from earning her trip to London. Amy is a relative unknown at the front within professional ranks. She has had several strong results but never any truly break-out performances. At mile 15-16, she would fall 5 seconds off the lead, only to fight back and regain touch with the 3 leaders (and favorites). By mile 18, she had not only regained contact with the group, but went straight to the front in an attempt to break the group and gain separation from at least one of them. Her attempt failed, leading many to question her tactics post-race. Her answer: “I wouldn’t change anything about how I raced. I knew I had to try to test them and see if anyone was weak. Clearly, it didn’t work, but I had no choice but to try.”

Today, I saw someone take risks without worrying about the outcome.

There is the story of Brian Ollinger. His name doesn’t even appear in the results. He was one of many who did not finish today. Before the race he said: “I am racing for nothing less than a spot on the team. I am going for the podium.” Though he came in strong and with an outside chance at the team, Brian was not one of the favorites. Many would say that he had no business running with the front pack, especially given the fast early pace. Brian didn’t seem to care. He boldly went with the leaders and was holding his own there through mile 9. By mile 11, he was off the back of the front group and clearly struggling from the fast early pace. He would go on to walk off the course before the finish. Many will question his decision to stay with the leaders especially given the ugly result. But, you can’t question that he went for it. He dared to dream big and test his limits in a bold way. Tonight, I would bet there are at least a handful of men, who finished in places from 5 to 20 who are now questioning their decisions to hang back and let the lead pack go so early. Even though his day ended early, I would bet that Brian has no such doubts about his race.

Today, I saw hard work pay off.

There is the story of our own Allison Macsas. I have met few in my life that work harder with as little fanfare and as few complaints as Allison. Not only does she work an intense ~40-50 hours week, but she trains over 100 miles per week on the roads, often rising at 4:00 am to get her run in before supporting early morning Rogue workouts/runs. She did all of this and worked so hard to run in this race today, all while knowing that she had essentially no shot at making the Olympic team. She may not have been the fastest or most talented today, but I would put her up against anyone in the field on work ethic. Today she ran the perfect race, executing a textbook, negative-split race, just as she was trained to do. She came into the field seeded 131^st based on qualifying times. She would finish 45^th with a 4-minute PR, passing at least 40 women boldly in the last 8 miles of the race. That is what hard work looks like, and it doesn’t always come at the front of the field.

Today, I saw someone with an insatiable hunger to be the best deal with failure.

There is the story of Dathan Ritzenhein. Just like Amy Hastings, he would also finish an agonizing 4^th place. He was running with the other leaders through mile 20, when his hamstrings started cramping. He would lose 30-40 seconds on the leaders within a few miles, causing many to write him out of the race at that point. But, he fought back. By mile 24, as the eventual 3^rd place finisher began to fade, Dathan was fighting hard to move into striking distance again. When I saw him at mile 25, the agony on his face was so vivid and palpable that my own stomach turned as he passed. He turned himself inside-out over the last mile to score a PR and finish under 2:10, but still miss the 3^rd place spot by only 7 seconds. At the finish, he would collapse to the ground, initially in disbelief but then in despair. In interviews, the disappointment in his face was extreme. He even talked about quitting the marathon altogether and focusing on other distances. Does he really want to quit? No – those are just the words of someone who wants so badly to be the best  that thoughts of being anything less are completely paralyzing and unbearable. Is it trivial to have such feelings about running? Maybe or maybe not. All I know is that I want a taste of his hunger to see if my hunger comes even close.

Today, I saw humility, pride, and graciousness in action.

There is the story of our own Scott MacPherson. His day went in opposite to Allison’s. At Mile 15, his legs started cramping. By mile 19, I could visibly see that he was struggling – what is normally a smooth, effortless gait was labored and inefficient. Having been there in a marathon, I knew it would be a LONG final 7 miles for him. Even though this was his first marathon, Scott knew it too. But, he would say these words to me post race: “By mile 15, I knew it wasn’t my day, but I also knew I wasn’t quitting whether I finished in 2:20, 2:30 or over 3 hours. I was getting to that finish line.” Scott could have walked off the course, and we wouldn’t have faulted him. Scott also didn’t have to show up at the post-race celebration lunch, where he came to give thanks to the many Rogue supporters in spite of his race. Scott finished today because he is too proud to quit and especially because he didn’t want to let us down, regardless of how he was feeling. Scotty will be back, and the world better watch out.

Today, I saw someone silence the critics in the face of tall odds.

There is the story of Meb Keflezighi, the eventual winner on the men’s side. He is the most decorated American marathoner in recent history. He is an Olympic silver medalist and the only American winner of the NYC marathon in the last 30 years. At 36, Meb is also getting older, and that was apparently less attractive to sponsors. A year ago, in spite of his accolades, Nike decided not to renew his sponsorship. A few months later, several spring marathons including Boston and London decided it was not worth paying him the usual appearance fee to run in their races. It was said that he was too old and that his best running was behind him. This summer, he signed a sponsorship deal with Skechers, and as a result, came under additional scrutiny for signing with a “less-than-credible” running shoe brand. Where does he stand today? He just ran 2 marathon PRs in a matter of 10 weeks, and finished as the top American today and at New York a few months ago. He just made his 3^rd Olympic team…. running in a pair of Skechers… and finishing strongly ahead of 1 pair of Asics and 2 pairs of Nikes worn by his closest competitors. Touché, Meb, touché.

Today, I saw the marathon humble even the fastest and strongest of professional runners.

There are countless stories that we will never know from those who towed the line today. All of them faced one of the greatest tests of human endurance – one that does not discriminate with the challenges that it dishes out. There were good days and bad days. There was smiling and laughter and there were lots of tears. There were men and women facing doubts and fighting through them. There were those who quit and those who finished injured and nearly walking to the final line. Somehow in all of that, I find comfort and resilience for my own training journey. There is solidarity in this journey, even with the elites. Regardless of speed, pace or talent-level, we all face the same challenges, doubts, struggles, and insecurities. Elite or average, fast or slow. We are not alone.

One of the most challenging and rewarding things I’ve found with running is that it teaches you (hopefully) to listen to your body in new and important ways.  Challenging because it’s SO hard to know when our bodies are telling us to back off . . . and rewarding because, often, when we do actually listen we’re able to avoid injury or over training and continue toward our running goals with only minor interruption.

I’m a type A personality . . .a lot of us are.  We push through everything, often thinking that if we don’t push through it’s a sign of weakness or personal failure.  In that type A-ness it’s easy forget how important it is to step back when we’ve reached THAT point – be it from stress (running, life, work or otherwise), fatigue, pain.  I find this to be especially true with running.

It’s hard to know which pains to run through . . . or just how tired is too tired . . . when to push forward and when to stop. I’ve found all my Rogue training companions to be a highly motivated and motivating group.  It’s easy to want to keep on keepin’ on when you’re surrounded by such enthusiasm for running. And on a challenging long run when you need to push through the small aches and pains simply brought on by running 20+ miles, you couldn’t ask for better support or encouragement.

I’ve been feeling off for a few months . . . I’ve struggled through several runs, battling dizziness and fatigue.  Until about two weeks ago . . . I’d been pushing through. But I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was really off – especially in my running.   I finally got up the nerve to go to the doctor and it turns out . . . I was right, my body was trying to tell me that it wasn’t working right.  This has all led to additional doctor visits and more tests . . . I still don’t have any answers to what exactly is wrong, but I have gained more confidence in my ability to listen to my body . . . especially when I’m running.  I’m not sure that I would have known something was so off if it hadn’t impacted my running the way these recent health issues have.

So, for the last few days, I’ve finally raised my hand, acknowledged that my body is telling me to back off a little.  I’ve said when.

I’m hoping, now, that today, after a few days of rest and a short break from long running, I’ll be back to feeling closer to my old running self.  For me, scary as this experience has been (and still is as it continues), I’ve found that I know my body better than I think I do . . . and there is great relief in that.  If pain or fatigue is impacting me enough that I can’t push through a run then chances are I’m right in thinking that things are off . . . it’s time to say when.

So many of us struggle with these issues.  We love to run.  For many of us it’s one of the highlights of our day . . . it’s that time we have to ourselves in days filled with the responsibilities and obligations of work and family.  It’s SO hard to let go of that time.  I think for me, struggling through injuries and not feeling well highlights how important running is to me . . . it’s absence is noticeable when it’s not in my life.  It’s been a hard reality to acknowledge that if I want running to be a part of my life 15 or 20 years from now then learning to listen to my body . . . to say when . . . is going to be as important to the long term as the mental toughness that comes from pushing through.

But, of course, there’s also knowing when “saying when” has gone on for long enough . . . a blog post for another day, perhaps.

I won the lottery!

Actually I won the Houston marathon lottery, and this is going  to be my first marathon. I grew up in Houston, and the course is relatively flat, so it made sense for me to run it. I joined Rogue so I would not get injured, plus there  would be a structured plan to help me reach my goal. I decided on training at Rogue twice a week, which includes the long Saturday runs and the group workouts on Tuesday. I can handle the medium runs by myself. I had never run in a group before. The support and comradery is unbelievable. Everyone is so friendly and excited for you, and we are all ultimately reaching for the same goal, run faster and farther than before.
The first run of the winter marathon training was the Rogue to Rogue run. It was in Cedar Park which is a long drive for me because I live in Kyle. I woke up pretty early that morning just to get there. I decided to run the advanced mileage that day, and I ran the 7 miles without any hitches. My marathon goal was to finish under 4 hours. Why that goal? I have had friends who have run it slower and because I am a competitive person, naturally I wanted to beat their times.

My plan was to do run the long runs at the advanced level, but the other days to run at a beginning level. I was not used to the mileage I was about to do. It was a hot time of the year, especially to start training. I was supposed to have the group workouts on Wednesday, but it ended up being Tuesday which has worked out great. Those Tuesday night runs were not pretty. The heat just wears you down.
When I started Rogue, I was winding down from p90x and was also playing basketball during my lunch break at work 4 days a week. We had some friends with kids who came in town one weekend, and we went to Austin Park & Pizza. I will probably never step my foot in that place again. Because I drove go karts all day around a bunch of kids and their germs, I came down with strep. With all of the activities I was doing, my body never had a chance to recover and/or rest. It was absolutely terrible. The last time I was sick was when I had the flu my junior year of college. I was bed ridden at least one week and lost out on 2 weeks of training. I tried to do a group workout while I was sick, and I could only last 1.5 miles of the 6 that we were supposed to do. Once I got better, I only did weight training once or twice and also played basketball once or twice a week.

Also on Saturdays, I only ran the beginner distance. With all of the mileage I was doing, I was getting pains everywhere. The first thing that was hurting was my IT band, which I think is normal. Trigger Point is awesome. I know it is only a temporary solution, but it allows me to run with relatively little pain.  As I got stronger, the IT band issue went away, but my soleus started to hurt more and more. After every run, they were so tender. Who came to the rescue? Trigger Point! My soleus for the most part has gotten better and better, but lately my feet are starting to hurt. I broke my left foot sliding into 2nd base when I was playing softball back in college. I never let it heal properly, and was still playing basketball and doing other physical activity while wearing a boot.

I do not know if it is the shoes that I am wearing or maybe the cold catching up with this old man. With strep and all of these pains slowly going away, I am starting to think that I can do this.
As the weeks progress, I am running distances that I have never run before. It can be mentally challenging and physically demanding to run the longer distances and spending so much time to do so. There are a few runs that I do remember during training. We finally did our time trials when it got cooler. I have never had a reason to run as fast as I can for 2 miles. I ran the time trial in 13:30. Holy smokes, I did not even know that I could move that fast. I was starting to get confident. Maybe I can run the race under 3:45.

The Run from Hell is just that. I had to work that day so I only ran 16 miles, but the additional miles would have been flat. Ladera Norte, you are my enemy. I did not walk up at all, but at the top of it, I thought my heart was going to explode out of my chest. It made Mount Bonnell look like a wimpy kid.

The run a few weeks ago with the Austin marathon pacers was tough. We had to run 16 miles at MGP. I do not know if it was the pace or the fact I had to run 24 miles, I was totally out of gas. I ate a bowl of cereal when I woke up that morning and only had a bag of chews during the run. I have learned my lesson: pack some GU and an extra bag of chews/chomps on the longer distances.
After my run a few weeks ago, I am starting to evaluate my race plan. Running my first marathon under 4 hours should be an easy goal, but how much faster is the question. I started to run the advanced distances with my group so that has helped. With all of this work, I hope I do not let myself down by running a time that I deemed is too slow. We will find out soon. We are only two weeks away from race day. I will write more about the race in a few weeks…
Until next time, Rogue, happy running.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve had an addictive personality.  I also obsess over all kinds of things.  Sometimes this drives my family crazy.  These days I obsess over my three children and my one and only hobby….running.  I take marathon training and the goals I set for myself pretty serious.  The problem with being obsessed with running is that it doesn’t mix well with my secret addiction.  My secret addiction really isn’t much of a secret.  Most people who know me, also know that I love eating anything sweet.  What I mean by love is that I could eat sweets all day long.

When I was a kid, my mom would stock the kitchen pantry with all kind of goodies.  I remember finding hidden stashes of little debbie snack cakes.  My dad would hide them so my brothers and I wouldn’t eat them all in one day.  He also tried hiding ice cream but there are only so many hiding places in a freezer.  For as long as I can remember my daily diet had been mostly made up of sweet foods.  When I was old enough to live on my own, my eating habits didn’t change much.

The problem with eating unhealthy foods is that they don’t really make sense when it comes to training for a marathon.  It’s taken me five years to comes to terms with that.  Did I mention I’m stubborn too?  In the world of addiction, I had to hit rock bottom and I think missing boston qualification by 32 seconds was my rock bottom.  I couldn’t understand why I was always sore from working out, why I was so tired, why I was always injured and why I couldn’t get to the next level with my training.  My addiction to sugary foods was out of control and the sugar was controlling me.

This training season I met with a nutritionist.  I had taken that step before but I was more serious about it now.  I wanted to see and feel changes.  In short, eating healthy isn’t difficult once you rid your system of all the junk food.  You can train your body to run harder and faster and the same is true for eating the right kind of foods.  If you work hard at eating healthy you will see and feel the difference.  What I have come to understand is that running is just part of the puzzle when it comes to marathon training.  In my opinion you will never know your full potential if you just run.  There is more to marathon training that just running, you have to eat and drink healthy as well.

Changing my eating habits made such a huge difference for me.  I felt stronger, happier and and I wasn’t tired all the time.  My running was improving and my race times proved that eating healthy was working.  I won’t lie.  It was hard to stop eating sugar.  Some days I really struggled.  There were days I found myself hiding in the pantry eating a sugary treat.  Who was I hiding from?  The only person that would suffer was me.  People think it’s funny when I say this but I really think sugar is very controlling.  Once in your system, your brain continues to tell you that you need it.  It’s a drug!  I was a crack head …I mean sugar head, looking for my next fix!  I wanted to stay away from sugar for 6 months but after two months, I gave into eating sugar.  It was Thanksgiving and I couldn’t resist the holiday treats.  The problem is that Christmas came along and I was still indulging.  I started feeling tired again.  I could tell my running was starting to suffer.  I didn’t feel great anymore.  I was moody and angry.  On some days I actually felt sick and my muscles were tired and my body was fatigued.  I felt like a failure.

The good news is that I’ve seen and felt the other side.  I know that eating sugar is not fulfilling.  I know how great it feels to be healthy. I also know I can do it.  If I stay strong and think about my goals I can stand up to sugar and say NO!  It’s Christmas day and I look forward to tomorrow because tomorrow I say no to junk and yes to eating healthy again.  I have goals to reach and I’m determined to reach them.   From this point forward I’ll ask myself….what’s more important, that sugary treat or reaching my marathon goal.  I think the answer is obvious.

For starters, we had no idea how hardcore trail running was going to be. We are such amateurs. The El Sendero Rogue Trail Race was the first trail race for myself and my two friends.  With our running background: me a marathon runner, Heather and B.Hill half marathon runners, we decided to run the 25K.  There were nerves, allergies and almost a bail out.  In the end we not only showed up, but we ran out hearts out.  It was epic.

B.Hill and I camped at Reveille Peak Ranch Friday night before the race. This was B.Hill’s first time to camp and my first time in years. Luckily, my dad had all the camping gear we could ever need so we arrived in style. Our ‘tent’ aka Fort Garrett-Hill was large enough for 8-10 men, so we two ladies had plenty of room. Needless to say, everyone knew who we were. We made the best of it, and we even had a heater!  After we set up, we walked around the pavilion and got ready for dinner with our fellow runners. We had a great time visiting with everyone and learning about trail running, although that knowledge proved to be a little scary the night before the race. Hearing things like “you will be more tired than you have ever been” or “you will fall, possibly multiple times” didn’t really make it easier to sleep in the woods that night.

Race morning we geared up for the cold, met up with Heather and warmed up to run.  We ate great breakfast and coffee provided at the ranch and saw the other racers head out (50 milers and 50K runners left before).  At 7:30am we were off!

From the beginning we could see the race course was going to be much more torturous than we expected, but we were up for the challenge. Hill after hill we made it up to the peak of the mountain top for the most amazing view. We took moments to take in the views, enjoying our surroundings.

It didn’t take me long to realize something else, not that the race was physically harder or the terrain was tougher, it was more mental.  My mind wasn’t racing. My mind was running through this hill country with my friends to a destination unknown. It was like a journey that just needed to be completed. The night before some of the runners had told B.Hill and I that most trail runners don’t run trail races to ‘race’ but to complete them.  This was what I/we were doing. We were just soaking up the experience; enjoying the run.

Around mile 9 of 15.5 we started to get tired but were rejuvenated with the water and food stops. I have never been so excited about animal crackers and peanut butter mini sandwiches!  Genius. All the support along the trail made the run a lot of fun and kept our spirits up till the end.

We finished strong at 3:23!  Reveille Peak Ranch was absolutely beautiful and we were treated with even more great food and beer from Rogue afterwards.  I would say we were very spoiled for our first trail run.

Coming down off my high from the run and watching National Geographic’s Our Planet was not the best idea… or was it?  All I can think about now is that I want to climb a mountain.  I have already looked up rock climbing classes in Austin and texted B.Hill to get her on board. “What? We went from trail running to climbing snow mountains?”

Yep, we just did.  Blame the Rogue in me.