The power of inspiration is contagious!
I've discovered through training for my first half marathon that people innately enjoy rooting for another's success. It feels good to help another person push through their challenges and possibly if we see a friend or family member succeeding with an endeavor we then feel that maybe we ourselves have potential to achieve our own accomplishments. We inspire others to get moving on their dreams, and they inspire us to keep going on ours. Inspiration is cyclical in scope and quite simple to share with another. So thank you to all my friends, family, coach, passerby's who give a thumbs up while running, drivers who honk, kids who ask questions and authors who inadvertently inspire by their experience. Let us continue to inspire each other to improvement and living a more vital life.
Training for a long distance run is doing just that, helping me become mentally and physically stronger through the effort I exert. I love that about running, it makes me better. Lately, as I prepare for my half, I have been reading about how to run more efficiently, which leads me to revisiting high school biology. I've been reading about how fatigue in running has more to do with how we fuel our cells than the distance. The big boss is Mitochondria, the cell's power producers, which convert energy into forms that are usable by the cell. To run well, we must give our cells and our body plenty of water and energy through sports and protein drinks. As you've read here before, my favorite and most beneficial protein drink is Muscle Milk for it fuels instantly, but it is a post drink. During my runs I consume water and gatorade, but research shows you should drink during runs that are longer than an hour. Today before my four miler I drank gatorade, nothing during the run, and water followed by Muscle Milk upon completing my run.
My longest run to date is actually 13 miles, but my last long run was a 9.5 distance this past Thursday. That day was very hot, and I did not run a route that provided shade which made my last 2 miles very hard to push through in the 90 degree weather. I took Friday off from training, walked 2 miles on the beach Saturday and did my short easy four mile run this morning in the partial shade. Tomorrow I will do 7, Tuesday I'll put in 4 and take Wednesday off for travel. As you may have noticed I have begun tapering as my half is in 15 days. So far, I am pleased with the work I have done to date, and I'm excited to show myself the results on August 14.
Until then, let's all stay healthy, happy and hydrated!
Yours in energy,
The Roadrunner
