I'm not in great shape, but I have always been intrigued by adventure races. The idea of pushing yourself to the limits in the great outdoors seems rewarding to me.

My goal is to complete an upcoming adventure race here in Massachusetts. It's a one-day race that includes mountain biking, kayaking, and trail running.

Details can be found here.

I'll be back to share my training progress, and if I survive, I'll try to post some photos as well.

I'll be running with Team THRIVE! co-captain Jim Hill. If you see us on the course, he'll be the one who's bleeding with a big grin on his face; I'll be the short guy who looks like he's about to pass out.

Wish me luck! (Just don't say "break a leg".)

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Thanks for sharing your goal! I'm now finally going for the run I've been putting off all day, because as you said in the newsletter, I don't want the feeling that I didn't accomplish what I meant to - and I know I'll feel better if I go... for a few minutes anyway!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Kris,

quote:

he'll be the one who's bleeding with a big grin on his face

I should post the picture of me at the first Muddy Buddy; rising up from the sand/mud, dripping water, yelling in pain 'cause I just bruised my ribs on the bottom.

Oh yeah, good times!

I started running about 4 1/2 years ago. Since then, I've run in a lot of races, ranging from 3 to 13.1 miles. (Ok, so there's been more of the 3 than the 13.1, but who's counting?) I'm not fast, but I'm having fun, and I feel much better about myself since I began.

There's a local 3-mile road race that Jim & I ran as a "graduation" from the walk-run program where we started running. Somewhere along the line after that, we read an article about a man in his 70's or 80's who had run a race in his hometown for 50 years straight, and was showing no signs of stopping. We were impressed by his stamina, not to mention the fact that he was still willing and able to run at his age. We decided to run our local race every year for as long we could, in the hopes that we'd make it to 50 (and beyond!) as well.

The race was last week, and I was afraid I would have to break my "streak" already, having been sidelined last month by health issues. I couldn't run for over a week, and when I came back, it was for very short distances, and much slower than I'd been going. A couple days before the race I made it through 2 1/2 miles without stopping, but I still hadn't gone 3 miles. I decided to participate in the race anyway, even if I had to walk. I'm happy to say I finished the race, and although my time was nowhere near what I'd run on the course for the last 3 years, it was better than the first year. AND I didn't have to walk.

So I adventured, and I gained.

quote:

My goal is to complete an upcoming adventure race here in Massachusetts. It's a one-day race that includes mountain biking, kayaking, and trail running.

I'll be back to share my training progress, and if I survive, I'll try to post some photos as well.

Matt, I'm looking forward to hearing about your adventures in training!
KAED!

Thanks for sharing your running commentary. (ouch.) I love the fact that you had the courage to run the race and didn't sit on the sidelines even though you had every excuse to do so!

I'm sad to report that my training has not been going well. The excuses are there:

Too much work.
Too much travel.
Too many late nights.
Too many excuses.

In thinking back, I realize now that (despite being a handsome and talented coach) I approached this goal all wrong.I had no plan and I tried to do it alone. As I know too well, this is a recipe for disaster. (One I see played out with others every day - ironic, eh?)

We're all human. We're going to make mistakes. I believe the most important thing in a time like this is the response. So here's my response.

I reached out to Jim to see if we can work together to develop a reasonable but helpful training program for the weeks leading up to the race. This will help me develop my plan and increase my chances of getting the work done.

My personal definition of success for this race contains simply two items:

1. Complete the race
2. Have fun

(Not necessarily in that order.)

Congratulations on completing your run. I'm very proud of you. I'll do my best to return the favor.

Thanks!

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Matt,
Thanks for admitting that training isn't going well. Sometimes actually declaring it is the kickstart you need to make a change. (For me, anyway.) And having this fabulous board to share your progress - or lack thereof - is your chance to ask for help, right? Who knew you would become the coachee?

quote:

Originally posted by Matthew Poepsel:
My personal definition of success for this race contains simply two items:

1. Complete the race
2. Have fun

(Not necessarily in that order.)

Whenever I do a race, I try to have echelons of success goals, the first of which is always to finish (hopefully in the same number of pieces that I began in). After that, I try to have my "reasonable finish time" goal, followed by my "ideal finish time" goal. Sometimes, there are more inbetween goals, depending on the length of the race.

I like to have lots of goals in longer races, because it gives me lots of chances to celebrate while I'm still running. This comes in especially handy when I'm tired, sore, or realizing that I'm not going to reach that "ideal goal". Make them as easy as you want - the point is to acknowledge that you're doing something, even if it isn't as fast or as much as you want it to be. So maybe your goal is to wait until you're done to pass out. There's nothing wrong with that, right?

So how's the training going now? (Consider this a friendly push toward THRIVE-ability...)

If you must know, this one got away from me. It seems that my life is full of "doing", but I am growing a bit worried about my quality of life. I do enjoy exercising when I do it, but I'm having trouble fitting it all in.

Any suggestions?

This is my first post. My reason for posting is I am thinking of a friend of mine who's story may give you a little push and motivation.
She is a mother of four and a school teacher. She has a very busy life, but she also ran 100 miles in a twenty four hour period. It's called a twenty four hour run. You run as much as you can in a 24hr period. Can you believe this I could not but I was there I saw it. She has also run a 50 mile cross country run and the Boston Marathon. She is not a professional speed runner, but she loves running. She says that it is the only things that keeps her going at times. It is her time for reflection.
Just a little motivation!!!!

Hi Birdy -

Welcome aboard and thanks for the story.

I have heard of those 24 hour runs. Sounds crazy, but in some odd way they appeal to me too.

I run (fairly) frequently and love the tme to reflect, gather my wool and dream/plan. I know that if I'm stressing out about something before I go, by the time I'm back home the anxiety side of stress is gone. The issues may still be there, but I'm better equipped to deal with them.

Cheers!

quote:

You run as much as you can in a 24hr period.

I like the idea of just doing as much as you can in 24 hours. Ok, it doesn't have to be running - just whatever goal you're working toward. If you set aside an amount of time to do nothing but take steps to acheive that goal, and then just do as much as you can in that time, wow - think of what you could get done. Now if I just had 24 hours... maybe I'll start with 24 minutes!