Earning Your Spot

     So I am hoping that my fellow runners will be able to help me with some idea's.  August 14th is my fathers birthday and I am clueless on what to get him.  Normally I like to get him something that has to do with running, but I am starting to run out of things to get him.  Last year I got him a pair of running shoes so that is out.  For fathers day I got him a nice frame that had a picture of him running on one side and me running on the other and my marathon bib in the middle. It said "4 u dad" instead of going with writing my name on the bib.  I have gotten him different shirts before in the past, so that is starting to get old too.  I am starting to run out of idea's all together. Now all I picture is whatever I give my dad he is going to have a face of disappointment. I need some help here people, any idea's would be great, still would like to keep it running related though if possible.


Someone gave me the idea of giving him one of my race shirts that I haven't worn.  This sounds like a great idea only there is one problem.  I once told my dad I would give him my New York Marathon shirt and he looked at me like I said I was going to give him the Ebola virus.  His exacts word and I quote were "I am not taking that shirt, I didn't earn it!" My father believes you don't wear the actual shirt that you are given from a race unless you earned that shirt.  Sure you can buy one that has the name of the race on it, but you don't even think about wearing the actual shirt unless you crossed the finish line.  What is weird though is when my father was heavy into running he and his friend who lived in Florida would trade race shirts with each other.  So I guess as long as your doing a trade it's okay. 
    
     This brings me to my next topic, Earning.  I am like my father, I believe you don't wear the race shirt of a race unless you have earned it.  Last year Boston released their jackets a few weeks before the race and you could buy them online. My first thought was I need that, but then I thought how dumb am I going to feel wearing a Boston jacket, the most known race in the country and having people ask me how I did.  What the hell would I say, umm I didn't qualify for it but I did buy the jacket to look cool, just doesn't sound right.  When I see a person wearing a race shirt I assume they have run that race. I assume they earned the shirt. Imagine you finish a marathon and look over and some guy smoking a cigarette is wearing the medal. How would you feel then?  A friend of mine told me that he has a person in the Boston area that could get him in the marathon.  I told him I would not do that because when I go I want to be able to say I earned my spot.  I know some people will get into a race using the charity or team option.  Listen I am all for charity and I think running on a team is great, but once again for a race like Boston I want to earn my way in.  I know some people say that could be the only way they will ever have a chance of running that race so they will take it.  There are tons of people that I talk to that say I will never qualify for Boston so if I can get on a team or run for a charity I am going to jump on it. Listen you may qualify and you may not, but unless you really try how do you know? Some of the most inspirational stories are people saying they started running to lose weight. From there they fell in love with running and after so many years got into Boston.  Before you throw in the towel and say you know you can't make it in, really try.  If you don't see results and you still want to run it then I guess go for the charity or team. I however would rather watch from the sidelines and cheer everyone on. 

 

Because I asked for some feedback I feel like I need to explain how to post on this blog if you don't have a google account.  People have said in the past they have left a comment and it didn't show.  All you have to do is pull down the bar under the comment box and find name/url and pick that. Just put in your name, you don't have to put anything in the URL section.  



Don't Hate -Calling out Elpresidente

      Take a few minutes and check out the link below.  Make sure you read the comments by the author of the blog as well.

http://boston.barstoolsports.com/random-thoughts/adam-schefters-marathon-story-is-the-most-amazing-hardo-marathon-story-ive-ever-heard-in-my-life/

       The author who goes by the name elpresidente on barstool sports (@stoolpresidente basically bashes Adam Schefter and his marathon story.  Now don't get me wrong here I am no fan of Schefter either but I am in no place to bash him or what happened to him during a race.
       The part that really got me in this story is when he uses the term "The Marathon Guy".  I don't know what type of person you assume us marathon people are.  So let me try to clarify it. Do we put 26.2 stickers on our cars? yes we do, and we earned it. We train year round, put our body through hell and we have every reason to show off our accomplishment.  We are a select few people that have done what we do. Runners are the few athletes that get little or no credit for their sport. Even on Monday when an American won Boston, most people had no clue who he was. So when you hear runners showing off their medal or talking about a race maybe they are just trying to get people to take notice of their sport. I don't think you should talk about something you have never done or experienced.  If you go on barstool sports and go under the Boston section you will see this ass has a few stories taking jabs at runners.  Instead of showing the good that came out of Boston, he clearly was more interested in making fun of people that had trouble.  This is just another example of what is wrong with people. 
       I would be willing to bet any amount of money that this author has NO athletic ability.  I could guarantee that if I played him in 10 different sports, I am winning at least 7.  He may win 3 if I am having a bad day. I would even let him pick the sports. 
      
        If you actually took the time to get to know some real runners you would see most of us don't run for the medal, or the shirt. We run because it is something we like to do.  We are those people that will go out of our way to make sure another runner crosses the finish line.  We are those people that have always heard, Why do we run? What is the point of it? Anyone can do it..  well like I have always said   Put up or shut up.   



       

Motivation Monday (Boston Edition)

If this video doesn't get you excited and motivated then I don't know what will. Today was a win for Boston and for America.  Keflezighi showed what heart is all about!!!!!   I put this finish in with some of the top sports moments of all time. 
Also have to say an unreal performance from Rita Jeptoo on breaking the course record, and Shane Flanagan ran her heart out and got a new PR..  Huge race all around!

I was unable to watch the race today but I have to throw a huge shout out to @pghrunner, @lemonraindrop, and PghCityGirl for keeping me updated on the race. 


Where do you put todays race and finish in the list of top sports moments?

Remembering Boston

     I normally don't post on Tuesday's but with today being the 1 year anniversary of the Boston Marathon Bombing, I just wanted to pay some respects.  Every time I see a picture of the bombing I get angry. What a coward move and selfish act that was done on that Monday afternoon.  Lives taken and ruined for what?  What was exactly was accomplished? Well let me tell you what I saw taken away from it.  I saw not only a city but a country come together and stand as one.  Acts of heroism being done, people going above and beyond the call of duty. 
     Today as I watched a lot of the specials about the events I was sad, shaking my head a lot.  Then they showed all the people that helped. Runners running back to the explosion area to help injured. Running to hospitals to donate blood, and pushing victims with them.  It was emotional and uplifting. 
      One thing I do still feel bad for is the people that worked so hard to get there and had their time stolen from them.  Only a runner can understand the work, dedication, and pain it takes to run a marathon.  Getting into Boston takes a bit more. You have to endure all of that plus finish in a good time just to get in.  Most runners can only dream of running Boston, and the few that are lucky enough, who have put in the work deserve to celebrate a finish.  Some runners didn't even get to finish. No celebration, no getting the medal put around your neck as you go to hug a family member.   Whether you finished or not last year I would like to just say congrats because you earned it.

 

 



    You may have injured us
    You may have knocked us down
    But we will get up and continue to fight

4-21-13 let us never forget!

Motivational Monday "Getting That Old Feeling Back"(Keith's Story)

                                                   “Getting That Old Feeling Back"

I don’t know when it started. Was it the spinning hook kick to the head from the 1992 national champion that put me in a fog for over a week? Was it the axe kick from an unranked fighter in 1993 that broke my nose? All I know now is that I lost the drive to compete. It wasn’t fun anymore and I wasn’t going to make the national team and I definitely wasn’t going to ever make the Olympics like my instructors. Olympic style Taekwondo was no longer what I wanted to do.

In 1994 I changed my focus from the future possibility of starting my own Taekwondo studio to attending college and pursuing a career in Physical Therapy. I took on this new challenge with extreme focus and let nothing get in the way of my studies. This included exercise. In 1992 I was competing in the Featherweight division at 142 pounds and by 1994 I was already well into the 170 to 180 pound range. I started Physical Therapy school at Shenandoah University in 1998 and was tipping the scale at over 210 pounds (I don’t know exactly how heavy I got because I stopped weighing myself after seeing 210). Luckily, my new roommate was a runner and was also very direct when expressing his opinions. His opinion was “you are fat, Keith, and you need to start running.”

I had run as cross training for Taekwondo. It was the best way to regulate my weight and I remember enjoying the way I felt after a run and sometimes during the run. It didn’t happen right away. I suffered on my runs with my roommate as he would take off up a half mile hill on our route, run back down and try to catch me before I could reach the top for the first time. I eventually started to make it a 3x/week habit and the weight dropped down into the 180s, where it stayed (except for a few fluctuations upward and back down) for the next decade.

I trained enough to run a few Marathons and several shorter distance races over the next decade. Running had become more of a habit and I was content with doing what it took to get over the finish line and enjoy just being part of each event. After running a PR of 3:42:54 at the Philadelphia Marathon in November 2009 I was happy to be getting faster but achieving a Boston Marathon PR seemed out of reach. That same year I had started running with a group that would meet on weekends for long runs and once per week for speedwork at the local track. The social aspect helped make it more fun but also added an element of competition. That old feeling was starting to come back.

I ran the Steamtown Marathon in October of 2010 in 3:31:09 and while happy with the progress still didn’t think Boston was an achievable dream. Just after Steamtown a new runner joined our group and I found myself running with him more often. He was in his early fifties, ran in college and always had great advice to give. The best advice was to quit training for the Marathon and focus on the 5k because speed was going to be what eventually improves the Marathon time. My best 5k at the time was just over 20 minutes. He and I trained more regularly with an increased focus on track repeats, tempo runs, and progression runs with a few easy runs in between and one long run per week. In November I broke the 20 minute barrier for the first time. As we trained my weight decreased from the 172 pounds when I ran Steamtown to under 150 pounds three months later.

We were getting serious about racing and by April of 2011 I had reached 145 pounds and had achieved a sub 18 minute 5k. I ran the George Washington Parkway Classic 5k in April of 2011 with the goal of finishing under 18 minutes. I found myself in second place at the start of the last mile and with 800 meters to the finish was able to catch and pass the leader for the win in 17:36. I couldn’t believe it. I had just won a race that had well over 800 participants. The training and racing continued and in the summer I decided to train for the inaugural Rock ‘n’ Roll Savannah half marathon. I won and placed well in several other races during my training and sometimes put in over 60 miles per week. When my wife and I went to the race expo in Savannah I decided to switch to the Marathon.

I had not run a Marathon in over a year but I had several long mileage weeks and a few 18 to 20 mile long runs under my belt. I took it easy at the start and found a few runners to pace with. Three of us, including the top female runner, were maintaining just over 6:15 per mile for nearly 15 miles. They pressed on but I had to slow down. I did everything I could to maintain the fastest pace possible and even though that included a couple of just over 7 minute miles I was able to finish in 2:50:07. A 41 minute PR in just over a year. I had also accomplished something that only a year ago I thought was unachievable. I ran a BQ!

Since 2011 I have continued racing various distances and training with a great group that makes running fun. I have since run 3 more Marathons with a 2:47:41 PR at Steamtown in 2012 and a 10th place finish this year at the 3rd annual Rock ‘n’ Roll Savannah Marathon in 2:48:34. I was unable to run Boston in 2013 due to a sports hernia repair, but am ready and very excited to run it as a Master’s runner in 2014.

That old feeling is back!


I hope that this story inspires those in similar situations to get out and run. If you told me in 2000 that I would qualify for Boston and run a sub 17 minute 5k I would have laughed you out of the room. The life changes that occur with running are amazing. There are thousands of stories out there and it is amazing to hear how others have achieved their goals through running. Start your journey and tell us about it. It might be the one story that gets someone else out there.

       If this story doesn't get you motivated I don't know what will.  Amazing is the best way I can describe it.  After reading this I have already altered my training and I am now doing more speed work in hoping to lower my times.  Good luck Keith in Boston this year.  No matter what the outcome is, you have already won.