Tag Archives: running

In Defense of Lightness

11 Jul

Recently, I had a night out with my dear friend, Rebecca, to see Chris Isaak at the Orange Peel. My familiarity with Chris Isaak was limited to his album Heart-Shaped World and mostly his sexy crooning “Oh, I wanna fall in love” on his most well-known tune, Wicked Game. I had no idea that he was the rockabilly God he proved himself to be. Rebecca and I danced the night away under the breeze of the Orange Peel’s gigantic ceiling fan. After the show, basking in the music and dancing afterglow, I realized I hadn’t felt more myself in a very long time.

I was reminded of a piece of writing from 1999, my first year living in California:

I want to move like there is no yesterday. I want to hear the boom boom boom of the deepest drum and feel my butt grow big and shake it. I want to move this heaviness right off my bones. I want to hear the 3-part la-la-la singing ‘Take me to heaven!’ and let it lift this heaviness right out of the swamp. I want to laugh and smile and shout for joy with the lightness of life that it’s been a while since I’ve felt. Oh, I feel the sugar, and I feel the itch and I feel the oily skin and the big breasts and full belly but who cares when you are so light and moving to the boom boom boom. And I’ll grab that boy and give him a big kiss and sing ‘Take me to heaven!’ or maybe I’ll just smile to myself that I had that thought, but I’ll be living and I’ll be moving and no heaviness will be known… that gravity person, no friend of mine. Maybe it’ll be a New Orleans zydeco man singin’ ‘We all went down to the Audubon Zoo’ and the little 2-step will be shaking me up. Maybe it’ll be the rickety-rack of that old washboard and accordion, with those long-haired hippies shaking their shoulders up and down. Or maybe there’ll be no music at all, it won’t matter, cuz I’ll be moving and I’ll be dancing in defense of my lightness.

When I feel most disconnected from myself, when I feel depressed by life, when I feel heavy and weighted down, these are the times when my energy is the most stagnant. As my friend and creative mentor, Heather Bleasdell, says, “Healthy energy is moving energy.” It is essential for me to get my energy moving, to clear the accumulation of emotion and mental head tripping, as well as the emotion of others that I may inadvertently take on in my work as a therapist. And my favorite ways for moving my energy over the years? Well, that’s easy… music, yoga and running.

This summer, in response to this reawakened awareness of the need to clear the stagnation, I have joined a women’s running group. My favorite local trainer, Marty Harwood-Edes of Crave Change, who is on a mission to empower women on their fitness and health journeys, has partnered with another trainer, Tera Pruett, to sponsor this group running experience. I have joined with the intention of training for my Ramblin’ Rose 2011 event goal, the Half Marathon in Durham, October 16th. (You can read about my Ramblin’ Rose 2010 experience here.)

One of the recommendations in the training process is to tell people about the goal you are working towards, so that is what I am doing here. With the intention of getting my energy flowing, and in defense of my lightness, I will be training for the Ramblin’ Rose Half Marathon in October.

That, and getting down at some more music shows with Rebecca, of course.

What do you do in defense of your lightness? Leave a comment if you feel inspired.

* Note: Many of my clients struggle with compulsive overexercise. In this blogpost, I am not endorsing this behavior, rather promoting a healthy exercise balance. If you feel you struggle with compulsive overexercise, please seek professional help. A helpful resource is the book: The Exercise Balance: What’s Too Much, What’s Too Little, and What’s Just Right For You! by Pauline Powers.

Ramblin’ Rose 2010

10 Oct

On Sunday, September 26th, my little sister, Becky, and I joined the ranks of the Ramblin’ Rose Super Sprint Triathletes. We had such a blast at this event – realizing our triathlete potential quite unexpectedly. Our older sister, Katie, had participated in this event 2 years ago, and got us on board to join her in the fun. I would have never signed up for a triathlon if it hadn’t been for Katie. My swimming skills amount to doggie paddling and my own creative variation of the breaststroke…  and Becky and I have forever joked about how we cheated our way through the Guppies and Minnows swim class at the Y when we were kids. But I signed up in support of my sister despite this limitation, ’cause that’s what a sister does.

The week before the event, Katie decided she had too much going on to participate this year. I reconsidered my participation, doubting if I was truly prepared. However, I decided since I would be going down to Charlotte to cheer Becky on anyway, I might as well go for it.

My training for this event consisted of the following:

+ 2 mile run: began the Couch to 5K training program in April and completed a 5K in June, continued running 3x/wk

+ 250 yard swim: figured out exactly how many laps = 250 yards and practiced ONCE in my Mom’s neighborhood pool in July

+ 9 mile bike: took a few spin classes over the summer, rented a bike and did a few rides on vacation at the beach the week before the event

Once I got my body back into running and realized how manageable a 250 yard swim was, I felt fairly confident about completing the race. I figured I could get on a bike anytime, anywhere and do the 9 mile ride no problem. Becky did the research to learn what it meant to set-up a transition station and took care of all the logistics. Yay, Becky! Then for our final psych up, we went out the night before and got matching outfits, ’cause that’s what a sister does.

The morning of the triathlon, gathering with the 1000 other women who were anxiously awaiting to begin, Becky and I started questioning ourselves. What were we thinking signing up for a triathlon? Would we make everyone we were swimming with mad because we calculated the wrong swim time? Would running be crazy difficult after swimming and biking? We just needed to get in the pool and begin. Becky started her swim at 8:40am, 40 minutes before me, so I got to cheer her on for her 10 laps of the pool. I was inspired by how far she had come with her freestyle stroke since Guppies and Minnows class! When she finished, she disappeared from the pool area off to the next stage of the triathlon.

I was in the pool and began the triathlon at 9:22am. I was able to pull off my swim stroke without breaking into a doggie paddle, and was so exhilarated from the water. From there, I transitioned to the bike portion. Here’s where it became eventful for me. About 5 miles into the 9 mile bike ride, just as I was feeling confident about my riding, the left pedal and crank came off my bike. Of course, this really wasn’t that surprising since I didn’t think to get my bike tuned up before the race and hadn’t ridden my actual bike for several years. The bike mechanics came and attempted to help me fix the problem. But without the bolt, which I had probably left far behind on the road, my bike couldn’t be repaired along the race route. An event official showed up in a car to drive me back to the finish line. At this moment, I remembered my Dad’s race advice from when I ran a marathon many years ago: Run ’til you can’t run. Walk ’til you can’t walk. Crawl ’til you can’t crawl. And slither on in! I was not ready to stop or to accept defeat to my poor race preparation… I was determined to slither on in if I had to… so I walked my one-pedaled bike the remaining 4 miles.

I proudly finished the bike portion of the event, walking my bike across the transition line, waving my pedal in declaration that my positive attitude was no match for this obstacle. And my reward… by the time I was transitioning into the run, Becky had already completed the triathlon and had time to recuperate. She joined me and we ran my final 2 miles together, ’cause that’s what a sister does.

Of 961 finishers, I was number 937! Becky finished 345th. My hero.

So, any Asheville sisters or Asheville mamas want to join me for Ramblin’ Rose 2011?

This post is dedicated to my Title Nine Last Resort Sports Bra xo

Summer breeze… makes me feel fine

22 Jun

Oh yes, we did it! Couch to 5k complete. 1st 5K post baby. My little sister, Becky, and I ran the Summer Breeze 5K in Charlotte on Saturday. We had fun reminiscing about past running adventures while we ran, and feeling grateful for our Dad from whom we learned the joys of running. The race was organized so the men started a half an hour later than the women, so Kelly and Joseph decided to lay out of this one. They joined Becky’s husband, Mark, and their son, Solon, to cheer us on at the finish line.

My Aunt Karen gave me her Couch to 5K update after the last post… couch. You can do this program, Karen! Just download the podcasts and away you go.

Summer breeze makes me feel fine. 5K therapy is the best.

Couch to 5k update

29 May

I completed Week 6 Run 3 today… 5 minute warm-up walk, 25 minute run, and 5 minute cool down! I am proud of myself considering I couldn’t have imagined running for 25 minutes straight 6 weeks ago. I do have a running history, so I knew that I could do it in theory… I just didn’t know I could do it NOW. I love how when I start to make healthy changes, I feel a ripple effect of increased motivation to make more positive changes in my life. For example, these past 6 weeks I have been hearing the call of my yoga mat, and have tried to get on my mat daily, even if only for 5 minutes. I can relate to the idea that “An object at rest, stays at rest. An object in motion, stays in motion.” Taking on the couch to 5k challenge at this time in my life has been all about jump starting from my post-pregnancy inertia.

On May 15th, we celebrated my older sister Katie’s 39th birthday by running a 5k. My sisters Katie and Becky ran together up front and were my inspiration and cheerleaders. So strong and amazing. My dad and my husband, Kelly, joined me for the run/walk series, complete with Kelly pushing our 9 month old Joseph in the jog stroller. Becky, Kelly and Joseph will join me June 19th for the culmination couch to 5K run. I am excited already!

The kissmyblackass.org running podcasts have been essential in the training process. The rhythm and beat of the music have helped me get my body in motion, even on days like today where I felt heavy and low energy. The music styles have expanded from the Hip Hop selections of the first few weeks. However, those Hip Hop days were my favorite runs. Don’t get me wrong, I can appreciate 80′s music and the Teen Pop mix, but these styles don’t have the same propelling effect as the down and dirty Hip Hop grooves.

During week 3 I had an interesting experience with one of the song choices… You’s A Ho by Ludacris. I gotta say, the chorus has a catchy tune. It really sounds to me like it could be a theme from a classical dirge. And it gets stuck in your head. I found myself spontaneously singing it at work… “You’s a ho. You’s a ho. You’s a ho. I said that you’s a ho.” I started to realize what a crazy message this was to have stuck in my head. I had a revelation about negative self-talk: the way it is similar to having headphones in your ear playing a tune over and over again. I tried to explain this metaphor to a client, using the example of hearing “You’s a ho!” over and over in my head, encouraging her to take off the headphones of the current negative self-talk and replace it with a new message. I thought it was a brilliant metaphor until she told me upon her graduation from Tapestry that her most memorable individual session was when I called her a Ho.

I feel inspired to create my own Couch to 5k running podcasts, using music choices that inspire and empower women. My hope is that the songs supporting the runs would leave catchy choruses with positive messages stuck in your head. This will be an ongoing project, as I know it will be challenging to find time with everything else I am balancing in my life at the moment. The Embody Yourself Couch to 5k running podcasts… if you have song ideas, please comment!

Let’s get it started!

16 Apr

It has begun! I got everything lined up this week… re-joined the YMCA, did a 15 minute practice run with Joseph in child care, got myself a new pair of asics, squeezed these nursing mama breasts into a 5 dumbbell title nine no-bounce sports bra, loaded up the hip-hop couch to 5k running podcast onto my iPod and started back into my embodied movement practice. Yay!

Joseph lasted 25 minutes in child care before they had to come and get me… which got me through all of the running part of the podcast, then left my 5 minute cool down for the trip down the stairs from the track to the child care room. After going on lots of walks/hikes, getting in the occasional yoga practice and doing some weight lifting up in my office since having my baby, I decided I needed help with child care in order to commit to starting back to my personal reclaiming beauty movement practice. Yay for the Y! This mama is back in business… It feels so good to move my body. Don’t think I could have done the running today without the hip-hop inspiration from Suz. Charlotte got low low low low low low low low…

As a movement incentive, my older sister Katie signed me up for the Ramblin’ Rose Triathlon in Charlotte in September. The Ramblin’ Rose triathlon is a women-only event intended to inspire and empower women. This event gives me a goal to work towards as I get back into Strength/Lustre through my healthy body practices. The key for me now that I’m a mama is short and sweet practices and, of course, child care. Yay for the Y! (Did I say that already?)

When the Reclaiming Beauty Project starts this Fall, I want to be practicing what I preach. So, off I go… My first goal in preparing for the Ramblin’ Rose is to do the couch to 5k program 3 times a week. It is a 9 week program, so we’ll see if I’m up for adding more goals before then. It is really all about how Joseph acclimates to the child care.

Check out the Ramblin’ Rose events: http://www.ramblinroseevents.com/

And the Couch to 5k running program: http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_3/181.shtml

And of course, Suz’s Couch to 5k running podcasts: http://www.kissmyblackass.org/?page_id=86

i heart the Y