image by Letting Go of Control

As this weeks update for the fitness challenge, I am posting Victoria’s account of her training and running the Nike Human Race Run. Like with Rod, it is an inspiring story of going beyond where she thought she could—even going beyond past illnesses and limiting ideas. Congratulations, Victoria, you did this run on virtually no training too!

One of my goals this past summer was to focus on getting fit: making exercise a regular part of my life, eating more vegetables, and overall eating less. After nearly two months of going to a stretch/tone class roughly 3-4 times/week I’ve started feeling much stronger and loving the results—my clothes fit nicely with a little room, I have more physical energy, and my mental focus has improved, especially during my class as I focus on instructions in order to make the exercises as effective as possible.

So in Mid August, Uli mentioned that there was a worldwide race organized by Nike coming up called The Human Race. I wondered if it was a good idea to enter a race without much training beforehand, but being stronger from going to my stretch class regularly and seeing measured improvement in flexibility gave me the confidence to try running, so I signed up. 

Up until now, I thought running wouldn’t be a good sport for me because of childhood asthma and an assumption that I have weak knees. But walkers were welcome, so I decided to train as much as I could and then walk/run the race.

Having a goal to prepare for pushed me to train for it. Had I not registered, I’m pretty sure I would not have started running at all. And I’m so glad I did, because I found out that I like running, and want to do more of it. Had I not signed up, I would be less apt to run at all--putting it off by saying, “I would like to start running, yadda, yadda, yadda.” I’m beginning to see that if I want to become stronger physically and push myself past assumed limitations I will have to do things that scare me at first.  Having a date set, this past August 31st, pushed me to start running.

So I trained 1 week in all—not very long, I know. The Thursday before the race, I had a great training day and pushed myself beyond what I imagined I could handle. It was the first time that running actually felt good physically as my breathing regulated and I had a near experience of flying. I was completely surprised. The after-effects of focus, confidence, happiness, and freedom were so powerful. The next day, my right knee hurt, but I iced it and was fine for the race. 

Traveling to the race was exciting as I blended in with an ever increasing number of people wearing the official red race shirts. I waited for nearly an hour to get on the express bus to Randall’s Island, standing in line with hundreds on 125th Street in Harlem. Participating in a huge public event is pretty inspiring—it brings out the best in humanity, as all of us were there for the same reason: to push our bodies, and show collective support for 3 global organizations that are improving our world: the UN Refugee Agency, World Wildlife Fund, and the Lance Armstrong Foundation. The race shines as a model of how those of us who lead stable, healthy lives can combine our resources and intent to fund organizations that are helping individuals who are less fortunate. 

Attending my stretch/tone class gave me the idea to start doing another form of exercise, and one that I initiate and which depends on me, without the external encouragement that I tend to look for in an instructor. There is something empowering to taking on an exercise routine alone. I set an intention to do it and whether I push myself or not all depends on me going for it. Of course I decide how far I will push myself in a class too, but, with running, I initiate the exercise rather than depending on an instructor to set a time. I am finding that in many ways it’s the hardest yet most rewarding form of exercise to do. Running is an opportunity for me to observe my body—how do I run? Do I superpronate? What does it feel like? How’s my breathing? And, oh my, that pounding is MY heart!

During the race, I alternated running and walking. The first half of the 6 mile race went well, then I started getting tired at 3.5 miles. I started noticing the particular way that I was running. At around 4.5 miles, I was landing harder on my right leg than on my left. When I stopped to walk, I was coming down harder on my right leg; this is what probably led to my knee injury a few days before. 

Since the race I went to Jackrabbit Sports and got fitted for a pair of running shoes. I watched the way I run through having my gait analyzed. A gait analysisconsists of running on a tread mill in the store which is hooked up to a computer that slows down the running motion step by step. I learned that I actually overpronate on my left leg, meaning that I come down harder on my right leg, which is why it hurt during the race.  I got fitted for a comfy pair of Asics to help correct the problem.

I noticed that there were too many products from sponsors, water, Gatorade, energy bars littering the course and the area by the finish line. It looked as though a fraction of the drinks and freebees were consumed. In future events, Nike could definitely scale back on the amount of free promotional items from sponsors. 

It was awesome to finish the race, which I did in 1 hour 25 minutes. OK, that works out to 14 minute miles, a pretty slow speed, but I finished it, which is the most important part. It felt great to sweat profusely and taste dried salt on my face, getting in a deep stretch of my legs afterwards and feeling the euphoric runner’s high. I met a great woman, Jennifer, whom I started the race with. She’s been running for a year and we spoke about running shoes, training schedules, and the newness of beginning a sport in adulthood. I am looking forward to steadily increasing my running distance.

Did you run the Human Race?  It would be inspiring to hear stories from runners in any of the participating cities or if you did the race with a small self-organized group, please share with us in the comments.