Story Time

Leave a comment

We all love a good story, don’t we? Whether the story is true or make-believe, a well-contrived story, with well-developed characters, full of drama, heroes, and villains galore delight us whether we are young  or old. Stories are essential for growing our imaginations and enlarging our compassion for others. Many if not most stories are designed and constructed to teach a life lesson…how to live happily or not. And I think the reason we enjoy a good story from time to time is because stories have the ability to instruct us without judging us; stories give us a safe platform to explore the world through the eyes and ears of others.

Whether these others are real or fictional it does not matter, because stories of every genre become the fodder for our own belief system. And then we must look at our own story, because we are authors  too.  Authors of our own lives, writing each chapter, each scene, every moment of every day. Whether we realize it or not, our life is our story that will be read by those in our world (our family, our co-workers, our friends and associates). What lessons are we teaching? What lessons are we learning? How much of our story is based on fiction? How much is based on reality? As our own biographers, we have the authority to write and re-write our story each and every day…for better or worse!

There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you. Maya Angelou

You’re writing the story of your life one moment at a time.
(from The HeartMath Solution)

Run Training…Tempo Time

1 Comment

A 500 mile training base may seem like an astronomical goal to achieve for novice or recreational runners. However, as discussed in a previous post (Run Training…500 Miles), laying this foundation is a critical step in developing a runner’s fitness and running economy. At some point before reaching their 500 miles though, many runners are wanting to increase their running speed often before they increase their running distance. This need for speed seems primal and perhaps it is even hard-wired into a runner’s psyche. From my experience, once I was able to run comfortably for 3 miles, I wanted to beat my own run times, and run those 3 miles faster. Intuitively, I began to employ ‘tempo runs’ into my 3 to 5 mile runs long before I knew about this bread and butter workout. Simply described, tempo runs (also known as lactate threshold) describe a comfortably hard pace which a runner can sustain for at least 20 minutes. The actual pace of that 20-minute period is individual to each runner’s current fitness level; the key training outcome of performing weekly tempo runs is that these workouts will actually help you become a stronger, faster runner! How do you gauge if you are running too fast during your tempo run? I like to keep it simple and suggest that if you can’t hold your up-tempo pace for at least 10 to 20 minutes, then you are running too fast. The purpose of a tempo run is to train your body to become efficient, in fuel metabolism and running mechanics. The tempo-run is not an all-out sprint; rather, it is learning to pick a pace that is not conversational which can be maintained over a one or two-mile distance. It takes time to practice and dial in your comfortably hard pace, but if you have a need for speed, this is a worthwhile training tool to add to your runner’s toolbox. Read this article from Runner’s World for an in-depth explanation of the mechanics and benefits of tempo training.

 

Strength Begets Strength

Leave a comment

Similar to the way we gain unwanted pounds over months and years, we can accumulate strength over months and years when we engage in focused fitness activities. I train older adults in physical fitness using running, strength, and Zumba Gold group classes. It is always a delight to hear from these folks during and after their weeks of training that they are able to complete activities of daily living (lifting, shoveling, pulling weeds, walking, etc) with greater ease and no muscle strains or joint aches as a result of their improved physical fitness. They seem amazed that they are now able to do tasks that require a measure of strength and endurance which their younger selves could not perform only a few months or years ago. I assure them that their improvements will continue for as long as they maintain their fitness programs, yes, even into their 7th, 8th and 9th decades. How is this possible? Because it is an immutable law of nature. A body in motion, stays in motion. When once the habit to stay physically active is engrained onto the hard drive of our psyche, it is possible to delay, maybe even stall, the aging process with regular bouts of  moderately intense exercise. Many elders have gone before us and proved this true; and many more 70, 80 and 90+ year old athletes continue to complete in competitive athletic events and break records every time they show up. For myself, and I think it may be true for most adults who are not sporting competitors, the most alluring reason to stay strong and fit into our later decades is to become the best that we can be (in body, mind and spirit) when we cross our final finish line. Whether you are 50 or 70 or 90 years old, it is never too late to become more active than you were in your youth. If you have even the slightest inclination to get moving, then take that as your inspiration and move it! Walk, run, dance, hop, skip, jump…don’t wait another day…just move it. Strength begets (gives birth to) strength, not by thinking about being physically active, but by being physically active…every day.

It is my prayer that none of us will allow where we start to determine how we finish. T.D. Jakes

I have always had the initial faith that if God put something on my mind and in my heart, it could and should be done, but both elements must work together-mind to initiate it and the heart to propel it.
Sister Madonna Buder ~ 85 year old tri-athlete