Inspiration

Posts Tagged ‘Inspiration’

Inspired

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Boston 2015, Boston 2016, boston marathon, BQ, Inspiration, inspired on April 22, 2014| 4 Comments »

Dear Caleb, Maddy, John, Pete, Judith, Julie, Justin, Alain, Kathleen, Jamie, Brendan, Alett, Hugh, Tommy, Jim, Nancy, Mike, Paul, Ronnie, and Rick, along with the 32,000 others who ran with you,

I watched my social media feeds yesterday with more than a twinge of jealousy. The looks on your faces, your posts, the posts by your loved ones, all conveyed what was a spectacular day. Some of you finished with PRs, some of you you finished strong, some of you managed to just get through it and some of you decided it just wasn’t your day…

…all of you inspired.

All of you, in your own way, stoked a fire in me that has too long been on ember-mode. On Saturday I had a slow, trudging 11-miler that made me wonder if I would ever get back to where you were yesterday. Watching your smiles and tears yesterday made me hungry again.

This morning I went out for a short 3.1 mile run. My legs felt like logs and my pace was inconsistent at best, but 23:28 later, I knew the comeback had begun.

Running is back in my life and I have each and every one of you to thank for it! Whether it’s Boston 2015 or Boston 2016, I know that I will once again toe the line in Hopkinton for the greatest Marathon on Earth.

Thank you for the inspiration,

Luau

*I apologize for any names I may have missed…if I know you and I know you ran Boston yesterday, this letter is for you too!

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Ghosts and Phantoms

Posted in motivation, other, training, tagged Inspiration, marathon, motivation, running, training on July 22, 2011| 3 Comments »

[tweetmeme source=”luau” only_single=false http://www.URL.com]

Manchester Marathon 2009 – Mile 20 – frozen quads.

Boston Marathon 2010 – Mile 20 – minor bonk.

Providence Marathon 2010 – Mile 1 – buckling knee.

New York City Marathon 2010 – Miles 5, 13, 20 and 22 – nausea and cramps.

Boston Marathon 2011 – Mile 17 – Major bonk.

The Ghosts of marathons past are rising up and swirling around me.

Knee twinge.

Back Spasm.

Foot pain.

The Phantom pains are emerging for their regular “1 week before the marathon” visit.

***

These Ghosts and Phantoms haunt me. They sit on my shoulder and ask me questions like, “do you really want to run this marathon?”, “why are you going to put yourself through this?”, “are you ready for all of that pain?”, “are you ready to fail?”

These ghosts and phantoms are always there, but their voices get louder every time I am in the closing days of marathon training. It doesn’t help that this training cycle has been a complete wash. Most of the time their voices can be ignored, in part because during training, there is nothing “official” at stake. But with one week to go these ghosts, these phantoms will not be ignored. Every time I see another runner out there training, or I walk by my training log, or I see the current temperature outside, they make their noise.

But there are other ghosts…

***

Manchester Marathon 2009 – Mile 26.2 – 1st marathon!

Boston Marathon 2010 – Mile 26.2 – 1st Boston – PR!

Providence Marathon 2010 – Mile 26.2 – PR!

Smuttynose Marathon 2010 – All of it! – PR & BQ!!!

New York City Marathon 2010 – Mile 26.2 – finishing despite the pain.

Boston Marathon 2011 – Miles 20 – 26.2 – drinking beer and chatting with friends as I jogged to the finish.

These are also ghosts and not all ghosts need to be scary. Just like Glinda proved that not all witches are ugly or evil, these ghosts also shout out as next Friday night get closer and closer. These are the ghosts I will choose to listen to. Like I said, the training cycle for this upcoming marathon has been almost non-existent. Who knows what kind of mojo I will bring to Wakefield. If temperatures are what they are today, I will simply change my goals for race day, but as for now, I will continue to strive for 3:15 and hope the good ghosts of marathons past will help carry me to the finish.

Why do you run?

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Posted in motivation, tagged excuses, Inspiration, running on March 22, 2010| 4 Comments »

“I can’t believe just a year ago I couldn’t run a mile. And I certainly had no clue what the hell gu and sports beans were.”
-Tweet by Jenn_If_Er

I read this tweet by my friend Jenn on Saturday and I was inspired. A year ago she couldn’t run a mile. A little over a week ago she ran the Dallas Rock N Roll Half Marathon, and despite a nagging hamstring, she finished strong. She and a few friends decided to get a little nutty and wore tutu’s for the race.

That's Jenn second from the right

This past Saturday, she ran a 10K in her hometown and won her age division. This is a woman who couldn’t run a mile a year ago.

I have not always been a runner, but I have always been able to run. If a friend randomly asked me to go for a jog, I could hang for 3 miles, maybe even 4 or 5 if I had to. I didn’t like it, but I could do it.

Jenn couldn’t run a mile a year ago. This last weekend she won her division in a 10K race.

I am inspired to work harder, get better and most importantly continue to enjoy this obsession we call running.

Jenn – You are Inspiration.

You can fine Jenn at www.jenn-journey.blogspot.com