My First Half Marathon

Yes, I ran my first half marathon yesterday. It was a great day, but not everything went as planned. Funny story. As you can see, I ate a big meal last night to fuel up for my race.

I even posted that PIC of my food on FACEBOOK, I was so pleased with my pre-race fuel. (Organic burgers, organic broccoli, salad with cheese & white peach, and a small bowl of pasta.) Well, unfortunately, all of that food was thrown up around 1 am race day! I couldn’t believe it: FOOD POISONING!

Strange, I had just been thinking about the last time I had this experience, MAN DOES IT SUCK! The last time was way worse, I was dry heaving. But this time was no picnic, I was woken up @ 1am by the craziest pressure in my stomach, proceeded to throw up EVERYTHING I had eaten, and the race was in 6 hours. My sink was literally 5 inches high with vomit! I didn’t have the presence of mind to snap a PIC, but I wish I had. GROSS!!!

The strange part is that I have been so engaged with my food ever since reading “The Omnivore’s Dillema” by Micheal Pollan (Awesome Book) I have been buying food from the green market (almost exclusively from organic and beyond organic farmers), and I have been really enjoying cooking and eating healthy food. SO FOOD POISONING CAME AS A REAL SURPRISE. Here is the amazing part. After all the sacrifice, all the hard work, all the discipline, I could have easily gotten into a terrible head space.

• Why did this happen to me?
• It’s not fair?
• I have to do a good time, I am a PERSONAL TRAINER, need to lead by example!
• What am I going to do? What am I going to do? What the hell am I going to do?

Well, here is the funny part. As hard as the race was today, the moments I am proudest of, are the ones that followed throwing up. Seriously. I simply CHOSE not to go there; energy follows focus. I chose to focus on accepting that moment and not getting ahead of myself by thinking about the moments that would soon follow (getting to the race, warming up, the horn that starts the race, keeping to my strategy, my goal). I took it one moment at a time, which is so hard to do sometimes. Think about it. IT’S NOT FAIR ??? Tell that to the tens of thousands of children that starve to death around the world every day. THAT AIN’T FAIR EITHER.

Mind Over Matter, Soul Before Flesh

Don’t get me wrong, I had a right to be upset; I had sacrificed a lot for this race, but I CHOSE not to go there. Honestly, I think it is all the meditation and qigong that I have been doing lately. Excellent for calming oneself, accepting the moment, and relaxing, highly recommended for anyone with anxiety issues or trouble falling asleep.

Where the mind goes, the body follows; I fell asleep 30 minutes after I was finished throwing up! This is true for all of life, and running is no exception; it’s a total head game. If you are using your breath and your focus to relax the brain, your body will relax too, even in the middle of a ridiculously humid race or an epic battle with food poisoning.

So that was my proudest moment of my race experience. Funny, right? Who knew that the seemingly “worst possible situation” could be used and transformed to be a major accomplishment. Not only did I not get ahead of myself and get anxious, but I even embraced the moment while being sick. I was totally keeled over the sink, and in between barfs, sincerely laughing at myself. Funny and weird, right? Laughing at oneself is a great life skill. I made it to the race on time with 6 hours sleep. Sure, my stomach didn’t feel great, but I just went with the flow and kept my head, cool, calm, and collected.

The Race

My primary goal was to finish the race, without knee pain, and without having to walk. I don’t have any major knee issues, but I didn’t want to start getting any and I have seen way too many runners whose gait looks painful just to watch. It is amazing to see the people that limp across the finish line. Not cool: your joints are more important than anything, including the heart and a race. Lose the use of a knee or a hip and see how easy it is to stimulate your heart with exercise. Still possible, but NOT EASY AT ALL. I was able to avoid any joint issues by increasing my intensity very gradually over the course of 12 weeks, and by mainly training on the dirt paths in Central Park and not on concrete.

My secondary goal was to finish in 1:30 minutes (6:50 min/mile pace). It was way too hot. I doubt any race records were broken today, the humidity was crazy, and it was my first endurance race. My plan had been to pace 7:10 in the park, and then start shaving down my pace 5 seconds every mile that followed. I came out of the gate HOT, all the adrenalin I suppose, and ran the first mile in 6:35. As soon as I realized, I settle back into a 7:25 pace.

I was cool as a cucumber running through the park (love the hills and the shade). Running down 7^th Avenue through Time Square without any cars was an awesome experience, and the crowd cheering and music helped us push though the heat and humidity. Then we hit the West Side Highway for the final 4 miles. UGH! That sucked, the last 3 miles were very painful. That was the only time my focus started to falter. I couldn’t get the thought out of my head, “Why would anyone run this far !? This sucks!”

I should have hit the Gatorade sooner; my blood sugar was too low. When I did, I was able to pick up for the final mile. Live and learn. I was able to finish in 1 hour 40 minutes (7:38 min/mile pace), which I am proud of. You can’t go crazy the first time you train for a half, you are taking your body into new territory in regards to force and adaptation, so it is easy to slip into over-training which will leave you sucking wind race day. I put in the work, but recovered smart, ate well, rested well, meditated, and did some cold plunges for regeneration. These were a great help, I would not have been able to train as hard consistently the last 3 weeks of the program, which consisted of high intensity low volume speed endurance workouts. I am proud of my accomplishment, and I felt amazing once I crossed the finish line. The ‘high’ lasted over an hour. It is empowering to break through barriers, particularly ones that are self-imposed. Everyone creates boundaries and limitation on what we think is possible.

WE ALL DO IT.

My thoughts when I started the program were, “Sure, I will give it a shot, but I am no runner”. Well, I am a runner now!!! I got my 1 mile pace down to 5:41 during my training program, a full minute and 10 seconds faster than my record, which I set in grade school when I was “a runner”. Age is nothing but a number baby, you get out of your body what you put into it, and anyone that tells you different is confused.

Our Race Team: Run the Half with Heidi Jones

I am so proud of our team. I was honored to be the strength coach and work with Jimmy Lynch, our running coach, in preparing our team for the big day. Our team is truly inspirational, they all overcame major challenges (lack of sight, cancer, overweight, over worked, never ran before) to run the NYC half marathon.

Run The Half W/Heidi Team Photo

They are truly inspirational. Dale ran his first half-marathon without the luxury of sight, with help from Bruce his guide. Dale is so low key and relaxed, he was a pleasure to train with, and Bruce went above and beyond the call of duty in supporting Dale. He was there with him every step of the way, they are both people I admire and look up to.

Dale Layne

Bruce Kaitlin

Allison, a cancer survivor, battled through the heat and humidity. She didn’t break her record, but no one did today, and I am proud of her for giving it her best shot. She also learned how to push herself harder, trainer smarter, and use strength training to compliment her running, so I am excited to see what she will do in the future.

Allisone Bewalder

Heather, who had never been athletic or into sports at all, and had never ran much let alone run a race, was able to finish her first half marathon with a smile on her face. AND SHE LIKES RUNNING NOW! That is the tipping point, the beginning of transformation, when exercise goes from something “I should do” to something “I want to do”. I am so proud of her.

Heather Cowan

Quiana accomplished her goal of finishing under 3 hours. She is very impressive, she had to battle a very tough work schedule, but she persisted and trained hard, and finished her first half marathon with tears in her eyes. This is the most common excuse, “I don’t have time”. Well she made the time. Her father had a heart attack when he weighed the same as her, and she was committed to make sure that the same never happened to her again.

Quiana Burns

Jimmy Lynch was our running coach, he is AN AMAZING TRAINER, a master of his craft, and I was honored to work with him and learn from him. The program he provided me was so on point and comprehensive, it really opened my eyes up. I will be even more confident when training my clients for endurance races.

Jimmy Lynch

The fabulous Miss Heidi Jones is one of those rare individuals who oozes intelligence, passion, and sincerity. She really cares about our team and encouraged us day in and day out. I am especially grateful to her for letting me contribute to this group, it has been an amazing and transformative experience for me as well, to a degree which I was not expecting.

Heidi Jones

Personal Trainer and Leading By Example

Most personal trainers are in great shape so it is easy to forget how hard it can be for people to change their lives, confront their barriers, and transform themselves. Trainers out there, I highly recommend that you enter a race with a client or starting a running group, you will be amazed at what can be accomplished with just a little bit of social support and social accountability. It’s a great way of empathizing with your clients, holding them accountable and leading by example.

Of course, you could make yourself really fat and then lose weight like that trainer in England, but I think it is best to push and break through whatever barriers and obstacles you already have. We all have them, even if you already look good and feel good, health is not about an absence of disease, but rather vitality, there is always more potential waiting to be realized. There is no need to go out and create more challenges; use the ones you already have.

I think Confucius said “A wise man using a bad situation just as much as a good situation”. Or maybe it was Lao Tzu.

Running is an analogy for life. If you can keep your cool and stay focused on your goal, you can accomplish dreams. It is also a great equalizer, much like death. Once you are out on the race course, who you are, what you do for work, and any other assets or baggage you may have MEANS NOTHING! The only thing that matters is “Did you prepare yourself?” and “Are you committed to this moment”?

Anyone can do it! Some highlights I saw included:

• men and women who were well into their seventies
• a 11 year old boy
• a girl who dribbled a basketball the whole way.

Thanks for everyone for their support! I am looking forward to more racing, in particular the Empire State Building Run Up in February. If you have any comments you would like to share, race day stories of your own, or questions, please leave them in the comments below.

Until next time, train smart.

Johnny Fitness