So you don't have time to fit it in?

It has been a common complaint about time - never enough - if we only had more. As a dear friend of mine mentions and I try to remember the exact quote..."work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion" ....and how do I translate that? I can never have enough time because even if there is one thing on the list, that will take up my whole day of time. Another quote is something about "if you want to get a job done ask a busy person. The more things you do, the more things you can do." I translate that to, " you can do more than you think you can" . So....where is this going?

One of the girls I train was saying to me on the trails that someone saw her running and came up to her later "How do you get to fit in running? You must be so organized and together" - and she thought, if I was so organized and together, I would never fit this in!

Another lady came and said she could have easily skipped running that day with my group, but decided to come because she was in "a mood" ...when she left, she was very happy...and I am sure many benefited from that!

The "to do" lists will never go away, so why not put yourself on the "to do" list. As another dear friend said to me "running is not my everything, but it is the anchor that holds everything together"...that just sums it up for me! And now lets tie all of this in together..............

Running is a way of life in my eyes, and I hope it is in the eyes of all those that I train. Sure, we train for races, we have goals, milestones to meet, but to keep running in your life, it should be looked at as a journey. A journey of health, of the mind, of exercise for the eyes, the soul....it solves problems, organizes the day, gives peace, heals, inspires, joins friends, gets the endorphins going. So it is a necessity to me and is put on my TO DO LIST schedule. The time that I use to run, is added time to my life, and gives the will and the energy to get the other stuff done in my life.

So....yes, you can fill up TIME with many things....but I can pretty much bet most...if you make the time for your health, you will be more efficient and have more time in your future. And why not add the years on now?

"Nothing happens until something moves" Albert Einstein

Consistency, Endurance, Speed...

"Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler" Albert Einstein

I do not like to make training complicating - mainly because I personally do not work that way. Its definitely how you work and what works for you and what will get you to work. I have to have fun, change things up, so that I can keep in tune with myself. What does this mean?

This means to learn how to run and understand heart rate, pace, fueling all on perceived exertion - something I learned way back when I started running marathons before all the "gadgets" were out.... you learned how to learn yourself, something we all strive for. And that is the experiment of one which can not be found on any manual but your personal "drive". And to me, this is fascinating and takes the unnecessary work out of training on the "things".

So.....the three keys that I contribute to success in running and put me back in gear, are these: consistency, endurance, speed. Simple and changing...changing as the "machine" learns and relearns. And here is my brief description of each and how I use it.

Consistency: Purpose, to develop the habit and the desire. This is most important when starting out a new "something", in this case its running! If you are a beginner runner, it is better to get out 15 minutes everyday than 1 hour twice a week. Develop a routine that is set in your day that you have no excuse. For me, the morning run is a time that is my habit and gets me out. This can also be carried over in to so many other things in life and a way to see success start to develop.

Endurance: Take a couple of those consistent runs and drag them a little longer. This is much easier to do after consistency as well as changing it up a bit. I look forward to endurance runs (and the word "endurance is different in everyones vocabulary huh?). These are my building runs, thinking runs, runs where I like to explore a new area, new trail. Runs where I learn my fueling, my mind, my true strengths and weaknesses.

Speed: When the body is strong and built up, time to break it down with speed to build stronger. Speed for me ranges to so many different things - 800 repeats, 20 second repeats, fartlek- speed play to pick up whenever I want, however long I feel. I keep speed to a couple times a week due to the tasking it can take on my body.

Three things, all important, all powerful to building a stronger you. And the you is different everyday - the goal is to learn where you are when you are at it and what is needed to make you stronger, that day. Sometimes, stronger can be not doing...and sometimes, its a full "bring it on".

You are the gadget - keep learning how to press your "buttons".

"Make the most of yourself, for that all there is of you" Ralph Waldo Emerson

A Time to Rest and a Time to RUN - Bring it ON!

"There are two ways to face the future. One way is with apprehension. The other is with anticipation" Jim Rohn

Riding the wave....choosing the low to anticipate the high is such a good feeling! My month of December of rest is coming to an end, and it feels so good to have had some "zen" runs as some of us call it (Karen!) , or a WoaNellie(Ann!)- to let go of the watch, time, when I run, if I run, how I feel when I run, on and on....a month of if or if not doesn't matter. Getting in to thoughts of where I am and where I want to be. Looking in can now be activated to the OUT....and time to get OUT! Time to set goals and have a plan.

So, January is the common time for looking at the past and planning for the future. It is a continous of a nonstop journey of growing and learning, of falling and getting up, of moving forward and stepping back, pausing and pursuing. Looking back at your goals of 2011 - how many were achieved? How about goals that were never thought of accomplishing were pushed beyond to bigger goals? How about goals that were put on the backburner? You are your best experiment and your best teacher.

What amazes me is all that can be accomplished in a years time. All that can change. So now we are almost at the beginning of 2012. What do you see for this next year? As in races, I like to have the 1,2,3 method or the A, B, C (backwards from grading!) A- achievable B -beyond imagined and then there is C- courage-super strength.

"You are never to old to set another goal or to dream a new dream" C. S. Lewis

One thing we have absolutely no control of is TIME - and it ticks away...if you want to do something, start now - if you don't start your "journey" you will never see all the side trails that may come out from the main roads. And side trail, single tracks...are my favorite.

"Success is not final, failure is not fatal, it is the courage to continue that counts" Winston Churchill

What goals are awaiting you?

A TIME to RUN and a TIME to REST - THE ART OF THE PAUSE

"Always do your best. What you plant now, you will harvest later."
Og Mandino

The thought of resting and taking a break sounds heavenly. But how many of us do it on our own free will....and how many of us have been thrown a circumstance to where we have no choice?

Thankfully, I have had years free of injuries. The beginning of this year was a rough start, but the second half has been a mental strength of strong running. It has been good. Racing has been good with the desire to keep getting out there, exploring, learning, challenging.

Having goals, create bigger goals, and more goals, and ...... but sometimes, it is good to step back when all has been good and "going" to savor what has been done. As well as not getting caught in the cycle of doing too much or being out of balance. That is my month of December. Taking time to look where I've been, where I'm going - this involves stepping out of my own picture, story and looking in. As hard as it is in many ways, it is wonderful in so many more. The gift of time to rest, be silent and think. The Art of the Pause.

If there is ever a time that you may have this chance to step back, it may be the most rewarding gift to yourself. A time to rebuild the mind. Rebuild the mind, the body will follow. Look at all your reasons for doing what you do... Do you run for the health of it? For your mind? For the companionship of friends? The physical challenges? For yourself or others (hopefully yourself!)?Do you enjoy the process? Do you make goals that are too achievable or goals that are not? Why do you do what you do? I love that simple question which can be pertained to so many things - Why do you do what you do?

So the month of December, its "chill time", the month of January....time to bring it on. And biting at the bits to do it. But for now....its a nice "PAUSE".

Is there a time that you can purposely schedule a "break"?

"The mind is everything. What you think, you become" Buddha

Glance back to see where you came from, then focus on ahead!

" No one can whistle a symphony, for it takes a whole orchestra to play it" Luccock

As the end of the year approaches, I challenge you to take a look at all that you have achieved. As I like to compare and metaphor my running to life - it is a wave, it is a hill, rolling hills of up and down...to achieve the easy run of the downhill, you need to be strong enough to make the uphill. The key is to go up the uphill and embrace the strength it brings you.
The Fall is ending and Winter is quickly approaching. And I believe, we are ready for that next challenge! We can look back at the seasons and all that was achieved, all that we persevered through. The trails are always changing, life is always changing, nothing stays the same, always progressing forward in a way that we sometimes have no control over it. But what you do have control over is your ATTITUDE to take it on.

Today as I challenged the girls on their hill workouts, I was laughing at the comments that were made back to me - comments like (from me as they were going down the hill) "Keep loose and bouncy" and back at me from the girls "That's all I am is loose and bouncy" or "I'm calling 911" or the random middle finger that goes up at me. Love it - love how everyone completes the run yet can bring some type of comedy in the toughness!!!

I always have the thought in my head before the group starts - I am going to make you do something that you wouldn't do on your own" and together this group pushes each other to achieve more.

So as the year ends, look back to see where you came from, how you've grown....and then, get excited to see where you can go, what you can do, achieve more than you think .....

"You must do the thing in which you think you cannot" Eleanor Roosevelt.

So, for the new year....what will it be????

A visit to Rockefeller Park for a run with the Westchester Group!

"If everyone is moving forward, then success takes care of itself" -


The Westchester Running group has a strong bond and a true feel of success!


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It always amazes me how when we get outside our own nucleus of friends, runners, familiar trails...that there are other groups that exist and share such a common passion. How to get that feel is to meet with them in their territory, not in a race where people come from all around...but in their weekly get togethers and experience the commodare and bonds that create the successes.

I feel so fortunate to have been invited to the Westchester area to represent Montrail - being part of their group run and giving a talk to share my passion and experiences as well as the awesome Montrail team that I am on. Karen, one of my Whole Running girls traveled along with me and really made it extra special in many ways!

I was and always am excited to explore a new area, new trail as well as meet new friends who share stories that help build my own - I continue to learn from experiences. And this past weekend was a great experience!

Who would have guessed that right near NYC is a state park, Rockefeller State Park in which you can run miles and miles (I'm told easily over 40!) of well maintained trails! Little did John Rockefeller know that his miles would be used by such a variety of runners!




And so the morning began with a wonderful group run which Christy and Dean and others from the Westchester Running Group who put this together. The people that were there were amazing and had amazing stories to share.

My talk for the day was based on two main topics "You can do more than you think" and "Failures are opportunities in disguise" - John Rockefeller quotes "I always tried to turn every disaster into an opportunity" - and isn't that a great way to keep you moving? And the stories that were shared based on these topics were priceless. I will share one (of many) : The man in the picture with me above, has just recovered from cancer treatments. He has run many many marathons, New York City Marathon 19 times - this last one was his slowest but the most rewarding and memorable - he sees a deeper perspective. Not only that, but he has traded a job of a business of high end design in New York City (I believe architectual kitchens and such) to helping less fortunate people who could use the help. I love to hear stories of people who have been through super tough times, fought through it and come out with a stronger soul and a new way of looking at life. Those moments and meetings are such a gift to really grasp a reality of importance of life.

Taking a situation, problem and turning into an opportunity. This can be applied to so many things!

As we shared our stories, we often used metaphors to our running - on the trails and the roads.- We talked about how we can learn from our experiences and look to ourselves as the biggest lessons to learn from "the experiment of one". Try, try again!

After the talk we went over all the wonderful shoes that Montrail has to offer. Montrail has an amazing 2012 line that can accommodate a variety of runners.

It was a great day all around. I feel a connection and a strong desire to go back to Rockefeller Park , where the Sleepy Hollow legend was created! Hmmmm...maybe a night time Halloween run next year!

Thanks again Westchester, for letting me join in! Hope to meet again soon!

Pinhoti 100 - Point to Point, with some side trails added on!

"We can do anything we want to do if we stick to it long enough" Helen Keller

The past month I ran two back to back 100 mile races - I do not think I will make a habit of it, but did it for these reasons:

1. I LOVE FALL!!!! I was able to not only enjoy the peak of Fall in where I live in New York, but was able to follow it backwards to the peak in Pennsylvania and then the peak in Alabama. And how lucky to have two races with perfect weather and perfect colors.

2. Testing Udo's Oil and the recovery benefits. I can say, its working. I've been taking it everyday for about 6 weeks now and can see the benefits of recovery (although I am not going to push the limits too much....!).

3. To enjoy being MENTALLY back in the game! It's so good to have the happy chatter in my head that was missing for awhile (relative that is....as you read below, there were moments!)- we all go through the up and down waves in our training, life, so on and so on. Oh, how wonderful it is, when the wave is up and its all "clicking again". Wooohooo, I will savor this!


OK - and now for the Pinhoti race report:

I have alot of respect for the race director Todd Henderson and his wife Jamie Henderson for organizing a point to point. That is hard and that is why they are not as common as loop 100's. All the aid stations, trail markings, transporting of people....lots of work. Pinhoti is predominately on single track trail even harder to manage. The trail was challenging - over rocks (covered with lots of leaves!), over creeks, up mountains but oh... lots of beauty.

I took a few falls due to looking up and around all of the beauty!!!!

The morning of the race, many took a bus from the finish line to the start - it was a cold morning!!!! At about 6:11 the race started and within a few miles, the layers were coming off. I had no crew and put all that I needed in my pack - clothes, food, headlamp(with fresh batteries), etc etc.

Up until the first aid station, I was running in a pack and just talking away! It was nice to take it easy....but I was getting antsy to be alone. After the first aid station I took off and ventured out myself. It was pretty easy to navigate in the day time - majority of the trail was to follow the blue markers.

Wow, was in my head often - the palette of colors on the ground, all around, just heavenly. The sun was rising and a comfortable warmth set in. The temps were perfect. Really, I don't think I was even thinking of running but the wonderland I was running in!

I am so thankful for Todd who mentioned to the aid stations about my celiacs - allergy to gluten/wheat. My lovely food allergy has messed up plenty of races for me. So.... aid station 3, a woman named Mercy called out my name - and WHAT A SURPRISE - she had gluten free brownies, rice krispie treats, pretzels, broth....I just went crazy with the food! I think I shoved about 10 lbs of food in my pack (a bit exaggerated) for the the journey on . Never have I seen a gluten free aid station. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

And then, back to solitude. The day time flew by pretty fast. There was another runner named Phil, who I was playing leap frog with from mile 40 0n. That is the only other runner I saw for the rest of the race.

I took some crazy falls, used some crazy words, had alot of crazy thoughts.....was in a pretty happy, crazy mood.....and then...THE NIGHT.

The night, was not easy. Navigating was a bit tough for not only me, but everyone. So I arrive at an aid station just when the sun was disappearing (not sure what number) to hear a volunteer ask me how I got behind Phil (I was a bit ahead of him at this time). I didn't give much thought to it other than they must have been thinking of someone else. Quickly ventured in to the woods as the darkness was setting in. As I was moving along a couple of miles in the dark woods I see this headlight coming at me - now that's a first! Its Phil! We both sat there for what seemed like hours (probably 5 minutes) arguing who is going the right way - I convinced Phil to follow me (he has no idea of my past history of getting lost many of times). So, we run with a bit of anxiety to wondering where we will end up...and then, another headlight comes our way and my heart just sank thinking I totally screwed up - but I DIDN'T! It was a pacer looking for his runner. We popped out of the single track trail to the next aid station and both of us where just a bit mentally out of whack. So we gave up the leap frog game for awhile and decided to run together . Well, well, well...a couple of miles in to the trail we loose all site of any markers. We are literally bushwhacking through the woods looking for a marker. Finally, we find it and Phil is thinking we are running back in the same direction - and I of course, reassure him that we are not. And now, we have run out to the aid station...to the same *&#@ aid station we were just at. I am having a full out temper tantrum at this moment. But deep breathing and self talking to pull it together and both Phil and I dare to venture back in the "twilight zone" which I felt like I was in. So, we get back in the woods with some adrenaline speed to try to make up time back to the "SPOT" or black hole or other such names I called it. We finally find the markers to continue on. Just nuts.

Phil and I separated again and we ran on our own for a bit. The cold sets in, the wind picks up, and I am so thankful for my arm warmers and jacket in my pack. The next few miles were definitely hard to navigate but successfully popped out at the correct aid stations. Until....the aid station roughly in the 80's somewhere caused another mishap, another "moment". Leaving that aid station seemed like an easy trot- but is was the one that just mentally broke me. Could not find a marker for miles. I was told to go 41/2 miles down the path and making a right to getting back on the single track trail - sounds easy right?hmmm. And miles, and miles and miles ...where is this right trail, where are the markers? The words out of my mouth were scary! And to stop with the details...I got lost yet again.....this time, back tracking for awhile to find Phil who was equally upset. So, we stuck together to finally find the trail which was much farther than the 4 1/2! Made our right and did what we could to bring us mentally back. We talked about lots - made up running games (OK, run hard for 10 minutes and take it easy for a few). We talked about how great it will be to be in a hot shower and a warm bed.......I can surely laugh about it now. And all the time we had wasted getting lost (miles and miles of getting lost) it surprised us that no one passed us!

Finally the road which lead to the track and to the FINISH!!!!!!!!! The Pinhoti 107 sounds about right.

All in all...with all the mishaps, I loved the volunteers, the course, my friends for the day.....

You never know what is going to happen, but you can control yourself and your emotions to pull it together and keep moving forward. This was a good test of will to pull it together.

Maybe a compass can be added to my pack next time........

"Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did" Newt Gingrich