Tag: RWrunstreak

Routine

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After a mini-hiatus from blogging and running,  I’m now refreshed and ready to get back into a routine again.

It’s interesting how intertwined these two areas of my life are. It always seems that the amount of miles I run heavily impacts that amount of writing I produce (More miles = more blog entries)

I recently ended a 39-day running streak, courtesy of the Runner’s World Run Streak, that I participated in.

For the past few weeks, I was counting down the days until I could stop my legs from moving that fast. Once July 4th hit, I wrapped up my last day of the running streak with an easy 4-miles in Central Park. The next day, I relaxed more than I have in the past few months. This continued until the following Wednesday.

Taking a step away from running and writing gave me the time I needed to break out of my routine, kick up my feet , and not worry about logging any runs, re-arranging my schedule, or missing out on events due to my running streak.

It was nice to take a breather.

Alas, I’m back and in the right mindset again.

I’d say that the longer I stay away from running, the more chaotic my life seems to get. It’s definitely the glue that holds everything together for me.

Happy Miles 🙂

RACE REPORT: FRNY 5-Mile Pride Run

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This is a tad bit overdue, but not so much to the point where I have completely lost the impact that this race had on me.

This past Saturday, June 29th, I ran my first race since the Big Sur Marathon back in April. I ran the 5-mile Front Runner’s New York Pride Run in Central Park. I signed up with my sister, which is automatically sentimental to me because anything I do with my sister has a great deal of significance. This was the longest distance race that she has ever entered and I couldn’t be more proud of her for completing it.

This race also greatly affected me in terms of realizing how far I have come with the hard work that I have put in throughout this past month. I am still in the midst of the Runner’s World Run Streak from Memorial Day, May 27th, up until this very day.

On Saturday, it was brutally humid and I just wasn’t in race mentality. Once the clock started, my legs felt like lead weights. In all seriousness, I had even considered walking at mile 3. I was tired, hot, and frustrated. I convinced myself that I wasn’t going to run a decent time. Miraculously, approaching mile 4, I began picking up my pace because I just wanted the race to be over already.

I crossed the finish line with the clock reading somewhere around 40:01 (give or take a few seconds)

In my head, I just kept repeating to myself, “I’ll take it. It’s not the best time, but it’s not the worst” and considering how I felt, I was amazed to even run anywhere near that time.

Upon finishing, I looked around in a complete daze and saw so many smiling faces. This race meant a lot more than what I perceived it for myself. It was a celebration for others. Then, I saw my sister running through the chute and I didn’t care an ounce about my performance. I ran alongside her to the finish line and was just happy.

Later that day, I searched in Google for results from the race. When I checked my chip time, I saw that I had actually PR-ed. I felt instant gratification and couldn’t believe that I had PR-ed after feeling like I had just ran the worst race of my life.

I looked back and thought about how much training I had invested for this race, without even realizing it.

I have been running for 36 consecutive days now.

To be able to run a race and PR after never getting one day of rest truly amazes me.

Every day, I surprise myself with the infinite possibilities that can be created from hard work, dedication, and perseverance; not only in myself, but everyone.

We all have a capabilities beyond our wildest dreams.

From what I have learned after all of this run-streaking is that we can create our own miracles. All you have to do is set a goal and make it happen, and it surely will.

Now here are some photos from this past Saturday:

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#RWrunstreak Update

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I have officially been running for 31 consecutive days.

Now that I think about, I’m not even quite sure why I decided to do this in the first place.

Over time, it seems that our reasons for doing things change over the course of the journey. Or maybe we just lose sight of the reasons.

For me, after a while, running every day just became second nature. Another daily routine, like brushing my teeth or eating a meal.

The Runner’s World Run Streak will be ending in exactly a week, however I’m not so sure if I’ll even end it just yet. Throughout my life, running has always been a form of therapy. A way to maintain a strong mental health. (And I’ve written about this before; when I stay away from running for a long enough period of time, I literally begin having mental breakdowns)

It’s always good to re-discover our reasons for the things we love to do. Without recognizing our reasons and motives for these things, everything just seems sort of meaningless. We need to feel that what we do has purpose. We need to feel that to attain happiness.

I never want to lose sight of the reasons I run. Knowing why I love running gives me hope that a feeling like this can last. A feeling of passion.

In life, we stray from many things. The love we feel in a relationship. The love for our job. Sometimes even the love of life.

It’s necessary to be in touch with our reasons for the things we love to do. It’s necessary to survive.

Spontaneity

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Lately, my unplanned days have ended up being my best and most happy/exciting days. And for me to say this is absolutely shocking (This is coming from someone who’s life is based on the very foundation that everything must be pre-planned, pre-known, and pre-meditated)

However, knowing as much as I could possibly know about myself up until this point, I’ve realized that trying to be too in control of a situation never works out in the end. It often just leaves me with high hopes that are eventually shattered into a heaping pile of disappointment. That, or, I mess things up before they even begin. Or get sick.

Yesterday marked my 24th consecutive day of running, (due to the Runner’s World Run Streak) but more importantly, it was also a 5K PR day for me.

My co-workers and I spontaneously decided to do a 5K race in Prospect Park in Brooklyn. Originally, I had plans to attend a “Runner’s Happy Hour” event that I was invited to by another co-worker. Instead, I decided to change up my plans and run the 5K because honestly, I’d rather spend $5 on running than $5 on drinking.

I found that it ended up being the best decision I made all day.

I had no expectations for this race at all and I learned that when you make a spontaneous decision that fast, there’s really no time to over-think the situation or stress out about the outcome.

I’ve always envied people who would just “go with the flow” or “let things happen” I never understood how someone could live like that. I was always a believer in “If you want something, go get it”, and that’s how I’ve always done things. That’s how things have always worked out for me in terms of success.

Yet, I now know that this mindset doesn’t apply to every situation, especially when it comes to having fun.

Yesterday, I went with the flow and let nature take its course. I didn’t stress or worry, and I ended up placing 1st in my age group and running a 5K time of 21:30 that I never imagined I could get back to after high school. It was a small restoration in my confidence and my overall quality of life.

A re-occurring theme that I am now settling on for this blog is balance. It’s a skill that I’ve been trying to grab a hold of and will continue to grab a hold of for the rest of my life. It’s necessary.

Sometimes you need to be serious, and sometimes you need to be fun. Not too much of one or the other.

So, I will leave off with this quote:

“Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all” – Helen Keller

#RWrunstreak

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Earlier on, I blogged about stagnancy (Refer to: On Setting New Goals) After I ran the Big Sur Marathon and the dust had settled, my excitement finally wore off. I began feeling the itch to create a new goal for myself. Luckily, an opportunity presented itself in the form of the Runner’s World Summer Run Streak 2013.

This opportunity was perfect for me because the rules had already been laid out and it was just up to me to adhere to them (The rules are simple: Run at least 1 mile every day beginning on Memorial Day, May 27th and ending on Independence Day, July 4th)

The first time that I tried the Runner’s World Run Streak, it was around Thanksgiving/My birthday, and I basically chickened out within the first few days of starting.

This time around, I have no excuse. It’s a perfect way to stay in shape for the Summer as well as train for upcoming Summer/Fall races. I couldn’t ask for a better deal.

I’m currently on Day 15 of consecutively running and I feel pretty amazing.

I’ve been cutting back on the mileage when my legs need the rest, but for the most part, my runs have been very strong and consistent.

The next race on my calendar is on June 29th, where I’ll be participating in the Front Runners 5-Mile Pride Run in Central Park.

I’m happy to say that I made the initiative and took action in my time of stagnancy and now I have my sights set on new running goals. I have approximately 3 weeks left of my run streak and at this point, I’m going the distance, both figuratively and literally (Yes, that was a bit corny)

And transitioning from this, I can also say that I’ve been feeling very optimistic about other areas of my life again.

Looking back on past posts, it’s interesting to see the drastic change in my attitude from one day to the next.

Sometimes, all you really need is a little spark to get you started. From there, it’s up to you to keep the fire going.