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Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Guaranteed Better Running....


Any gals out there need to get faster?
Susan….Beth….Penelope….Constance….Hanna…..Evelyn (all real names are changed to protect the innocent)….but pictures….why not!

one of Georgetown’s all-time fastest ladies….
New form of running coaching….date Peter.!!   lol   Guarantee to run faster or your money back.  And there are good running lessons to be learned from this list, so keep reading and take something home with you.

Wait, if I start charging as a coach, they’ll call me the running pimp…Pimp my Run.  MyNext Fast Boyfriend.com.  
 Seriously, I started looking back on my relationship history, a work in progress, some might call it a work of art, others (see list above) might call it a demolition zone.   Since I started running, like many runners, the Law of Attraction suggests you attract those who also enjoy similar pursuits.   Or, the more you think about something, the more likely it will happen.  I recently turned 46 and as I watch the Tour de France these days, the pile ups of bikes on all these crashes started me thinking….imagine if all my exes formed a running team, they would be a Tour de Force to be reckoned with!
Starting with Susan….way back when, my first few years of racing, now she could fly.  When we met she was a 3:02 marathoner, and although her pb when we broke up 3 years later was 3:01, that’s still an improvement!    It was tough on her though when I ran a 2:49 marathon (Columbus) in the first month we started dating, she was super-competitive and hated to be 2nd fiddle.   She co-owned a running store and was the fastest chickie in the group, but she did get much faster at the 10km distance and compared to the rest of the bunch (keep reading below) she still remains among the fastest in the group.  And we were engaged for 18 months, so on this measurement, she could be tough to beat….

Beth was next, and although it was just a summer romance, Beth qualifies as gf material.  She was not really into racing at the time, just alot of fitness like commuter cycling, and we met just as I started my business, in fact I think I got her a free entry into her first race.   She was fast out of the gate, but like alot of newbies her full potential took longer than expected to come to fruition.  Patience is a virtue as they say.  Like myself, it took Beth 5-6 years to start hitting her stride, in fact my 10km (33:20) and half-marathon (1:16) pb’s occurred in my 9th year of running, so there is a lesson here.  Now, 10 years later, she is winning races, prize money, trophies and has sponsors!   Where is my cut by the way???
“Beth”, still getting faster, the mold has been broken…

Penelope was next, and she improved the most, by far.  She had just ran her first competitive 10km when I got to know her, and 24 months later she was in an Ironman!  She was willing to try anything, Adventure Races, a Cyclo Cross (she swore all day at me during this race)….but that open-mindedness probably helped to overcome the challenge of an Ironman, which I think she has now finished three or four.   She also got the racing travel bug which I think makes you a better racer, it’s always easier waking up in your own bed and setting a PB.  And she scalped me recently in a 10km!  Like the energizer bunny….Penelope….she keeps going, and going.   She was a cutie pie too.

Iceland Marathon with Team Diabetes, great memories!

Constance….how could we forget Constance.  Maybe the most stubborn runner among the group, who REALLY wanted to get to Boston, so much so that she came agonizingly close soon after we broke up (there is a lesson here for sure).  She was very busy and stressed at work, and did not sleep enough, and drank way too little water throughout the day and especially in training.  If I told her once, I told her a thousand times, drink more water.  Well, Constance ran that marathon, in a desert no less, and woke up in a hospital bed still in her running clothes!   Yikes….she has no memory from 40km onwards (the best kind of memory loss for a marathoner I say), and is very lucky to be alive.  Many medical tests and $$$$ wasted down the drain (I am a taxpayer afterall), the medical community pondered and tested.   In the end, was it a weak heart, a hidden, faulty valve or aorta?  No, dehydration was the culprit!  Calling Dr Donato, calling Dr Donato…  (ed note, Constance did finally qualify for Boston, but couldn’t get thru the registration mess to sign up on time, does she ask me to help since I know the race director?).  Calling Dr Donato, Calling Dr Donato….

The more kisses, the better the running!

Next?!   Hannah my dear, now there was a tough student.  Multi talented, excellent cross training, “good” at a whole bunch of sports but not willing to cross that line (pain)….the lessons learned here, too much partying I believe.  Yes, indeed, if you want to improve, at some point you have to give up “something” to gain “something”.  Possibly the toughest lesson in sport.  Run faster?   Lose a few pounds, go to bed early, read those books.  It all adds up, Hannah was eager to learn, raced a fair bit, but yes, there will be pain and discomfort peoples, the question is, how bad do you want it?  I once ran so hard in a 5-mile race my heart rate monitor hit maximum!  My heart would have jumped out if not for the band around my chest (thanks, Polar, that might have been too much for the EMS at the finish line).    The lesson here?  It’s never too late though to get that PB, just try, try again is all I say. Cut out the Pinot Noir maybe.

Race often, yes, that might work….did I say I get tonnes of free entries?


Evelyn…your turn!   Now here we have, for the first time, someone who started fast already, so this should be an easy experiment, no?   We met at the Boston Marathon, so that says something, and over the course of a few short months there were 5 races to test her mettle at (she beat me every time too).  Already fast, I started thinking, what effect could Donato Dating have on this woman?  Have I hit the dating wall?   BUT, that’s not the story folks.  The lesson here is, you never know what sport is truly yours to excel at.  Now Evelyn was a great runner, of course, I mean, hello, she had four Boston Marathons under her belt in her first 5 years of serious running.  She did speedwork….yoga….biked.   Well there it is….the Bike.  I spent 15 years running myself before I realized, heck, I think I was a better cyclist!  I wish….I only wish I turned on that Tour de France channel sooner….but Evelyn, if she’s reading, now she could be in Rio in 2016, mark my words.    Don’t put all your dirty socks in the same basket peoples, too much running and you might miss something else.  

Is that all?   Save the best for last as they say…..or do we open up a new account?
One of these people is really fast, and it’s not the dog we’re talking about.
Onwards and upwards, yours in running.

PD