I have been consistently running, training hard and improving my abilities for almost two years now. During this time I have noticed all that life has brought me. Life does not stay still while we continue to run, it continues to happen all around us despite our wishing we could press pause once in a while. How nice would that be if we could pause life in the middle of the day when things get stressful, go for a good long run and then return to whatever was going on feeling great and ready to take on the world!?

But what I have noticed is that during the last two years a few things changed in my life as my running improved. First, I became a runner, an athlete, and as a result my overall confidence has improved. When I am faced with a hard decision in life I can usually think of a hard training run or race and think about how I got through that. Life is full of choices, and as runners we choose to take the hard road. We choose to suffer in the heat or cold. We choose to work hard. And as a result we are rewarded. I find that when I am on the road running a long run, or on the track doing speed work there comes a point during the workout that I question my abilities. Can I really finish this? I am so tired. I would like to stop and walk a little. No! Keep going! Keep going! And at the end of the workout I can honestly say that I am so glad I kept going! I always feel so much better than before I started, and with the accomplishment brings a great sense of pride and confidence.

The next time you face a challenge in life remember your accomplishments in running and how you got there. Whether it be a new job, new family member or friend, loss of a loved one, or a hard decision: perseverance, hard work, mental toughness and belief in yourself. These are the qualities we all build within ourselves as runners. And these are the qualities we use in everyday life.

Ode to “the Stick”

“The Stick” is a hard task master, unassuming at first with its benign appearance.

It doesn’t look like much, almost not worth a second glance,

It asks you to trust it and then it rolls over thighs creating tingles and burning and sweet pain as it locates and eases ropes, bumps and knots.

It luxuriates on calves and quads, neck and traps, pressing harder and working out spasms, twitches and tensions.

Stress is abandoned, replaced with stillness and calm, pierced only by hard breaths and gasps.

Lactic acid silenced once more until the next hard endeavor,

                                                                                                  “The Stick”, it’s job complete, waits patiently.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

“The Stick” is a wondrous invention, bringing together cylindrical, hard plastic rollers with a sturdy plastic rod and squishy handles.  The literature calls it “A Toothbrush for Muscles” but it is much more than that. 

I was first introduced to “The Stick” at the best running store on the planet – Jacksonville Running Company (JRC).  It seemed like any other hot, Saturday morning in Florida.  My dear friend, Jody and I had just finished 8 miles and I was minding my own business when all of a sudden I heard moans and groans coming from the floor near my feet.  I looked down and there was Jody – sweating all over the nice wood floor – rolling “The Stick” over her calves and making these noises.  I had to turn away…I felt like I was witnessing someting quite private until she gasped, “Katrina – you have GOT to try this!”    Then Jason told us that “The Stick” sometimes made him stop breathing…..  We stayed there for about 10 more minutes rolling the stick over our leg muscles until we regained our modesty and were finally able to tear ourselves away and go on about our day. 

I tried to put “The Stick” out of my mind but my muscles retained the memory of it and were crying out for relief.  Two days later I was at back at JRC on my lunch hour.  I needed to replenish my stash of GU and see if the pink technical socks were back in stock …oh who am I kidding, I went there to purchase my very own “Stick”!  I stood in front of the display looking at the different types and agonizing over which one would be best.  I could buy both sizes, right?  That’s not excessive!   I finally selected the smaller model after Lindsay convinced me that it was stiffer and had less give.  I barely got out of JRC before it was out of the package and on my leg.  I only had 30 more minutes before I had to go back to work.  I half heartedly questioned whether it would be appropriate to “Stick” myself in the office (it is now a verb and a noun), so I brought it upstairs.  My friend and co-worker Amber tried it out and liked it and even the head of HR, stopping by on another matter, was coaxed into trying “The Stick”. 

“The Stick” was waiting at home for me, but now I bring it in the car so it is readily available post run.  I’ve stopped worrying about what onlookers might think if they catch me, mouth open, straining in the front seat of my car, stick not visible unless you are looking directly in the window. 

If you have not tried “The Stick” you are missing out!

Katrina Papillon

After trying to independently rebuild my running with meager results, I joined PRS.  Coach Paul provided excellent structure, guidance, and support to return me to injury-free running and, most importantly, rediscover the joy in running. Coach Paul has an exceptional and holistic understanding for coaching all levels of runners to achieve their goals.

Although I have relocated to Virginia, Coach Paul continues to coach me. He uses online running logs, e-mail, and phone calls to provide continuous guidance and feedback.

-Shelley Knewstep-Watkins

None of this comes as a surprise.  I remember playing basketball in Middle School and missing what would have been the crucial game winning basket as the buzzer sounded.  I remember taking tennis lessons at the Y and after two summers being told by the instructor that tennis wasn’t for me.  I played field hockey the Fall of my freshman year in High School and was placed on the Thirds team because there was nowhere else to put the girls who could not make Varsity or JV (playing a sport was required at my school.)  I did love field hockey, I loved wearing the uniform - red polo shirt and short plaid skirt with white shin guards, while pushing myself to run the length of the field in pursuit of that little white ball.  I especially liked being able to knock other players in the shins with my stick.  I still have that stick!  And I remember playing intramural softball one summer and being put in left field because no girls ever hit balls out there.  It was very quiet and very far away from the action and I hated when I had to go in and face the pitcher.  Funny enough I was also on the Track team, one Spring, in High School – not as a runner, no….I struggled even on the warm up runs, so I decided that I would throw discus and shotput (don’t laugh out loud.)  I was on the Varsity team, but only because there was no JV.  In fact, the Coaches had me throw “exhibition” at track meets so that my dismal performance would not drag down the team’s scores.  I even took yoga as an adult and was told by three different instructors, after a year and a half of trying, that maybe yoga was not for me (I guess hyperventilating and stomach cramps aren’t the goal?)

When I turned 40, I decided that after about 14 years of couch potato life and carrying an extra 90 lbs on my 5′3 frame, it was time to get real, get healthy and be in the best shape of my life.  A couple of friends were avid runners and so I decided in January 2009 that I would run the Gate River Run and the Mud Run in 2010.  I started walking and what I thought was running (huffing and puffing about 100 yards and then walking again).  I lost about 30 lbs in the first 4 months and then decided to kick up my training by joining a gym.  I signed up with a personal trainer with a year commitment and promises that I would achieve all of my goals.  For 10 months I worked out 1-2 hours per day – 6 days a week, both cardio and weight training – and failed to lose a pound or gain any ground with my BMI.  I knew I was healthier and my clothes fit slightly better but I was not seeing the results I desired.  My 4th trainer (yes I went through 3 before finding the right one), was in tune with my running goals and suggested Personal Running Solutions and she gave Paul my number.  Paul called me the week before Christmas 2009 and we set our first session for the following week.  I was terrified.  I had run on the treadmill and could do about 15 minutes without stopping, at a very slow pace, but I was really scared about running outside. With a person I did not know.  Somewhere in Jacksonville that I had never been to before.  And did I mention I was supposed to run??

The first few sessions went okay, and I continued to turn up even after hip pain and cold weather and then breathing problems.  But I told myself that after the Mud Run I would never have to run again.  I hated every second of it. 

Gradually something changed.  I started hating it less and started to look forward to meeting Coach and my friends for a run on the trails at UNF.  Who would have thought that I was secretly a cross country runner?  I completed the Gate River Run and then the Mud Run came and went and I still kept scheduling workouts with Coach AND dragging my friends along.  I started surreptitiously reading Runner’s World and buying running clothes and talking about running to anyone who would listen.  I loved being around runners and being a visitor in the running community.  I even organized and led a team from work for the 2010 Corporate Run this past April, we had super cool t-shirts and everything.  Although I was not among the top 3 individual scores from the team that counted (I came in fourth, after a coworker who was not a runner and had not trained at all,)  I am still learning to not measure my success against others – hard for a competitive perfectionist.

There is still the occasional set back.  Like the day I went to Publix and was at the checkout purchasing the latest edition of Runner’s World, accompanied by two friends who happened to be thin and beautiful, and the older man bagging my purchases looked at me and then right past me to my friend Amber and said “You must be the runner.”  I had been feeling really good that day but that comment felt like a punch in the stomach… as if I was a poser and a fraud.  I bit back the tears and made the decision to ignore him.  Or the well meaning, very dear friend who said, “You are just not built to be a runner,”  after I told her about a bad training run.  Or the days when my legs feel like they are moving through mud and every step is a struggle.  I continue on.

I have now officially joined the Marathon Mania running group and am training for the Tour de Pain, and three half marathons in October, November and December of this year.  Don’t tell anyone, but I am even thinking about attempting the full Donna………

So what makes me think I can be a runner?  Coach made it possible for me to think and now believe that I am a runner.  He has never once told me “Maybe running isn’t for you.”    He has encouraged and believed in me when I did not believe in myself.  Now running and I have a better relationship.  I no longer hate it but I still get butterflies when I have to run with other people because I do not want to fail.  Old habits die hard.

And since the Mud Run in March I have lost another 25 pounds!  Running has made all the difference.

Thank you Coach for making this non-athlete believe and become a runner after all!

Katrina Papillon

I ran the Celebration 5K on Sunday, July 4th and got a PR – and all because I had Coach’s words in my head pushing out the barrage of negative self talk that had settled in for the duration.   I was tired and hot and thinking about all the other things I would rather be doing, including getting a root canal.  I was thinking about my friends, most of whom had already finished the race, and I was worrying about keeping them waiting.  I was thinking about my running buddy Judy and hoping that she achieved her goal (she did by the way!)  I was thinking, “Please legs – please keep moving forward and DO NOT STOP.”  I was worrying about dry heaving at the end of the race and about how totally un-hot I must look with my bright red face, streams of perspiration dripping off my nose and crotch sweat.   Mostly I was thinking “Oh please…a little walking couldn’t hurt, could it? ”  (Apparently I do a lot of pleading with my inner self.) 

All of a sudden, when I needed it most, Coach’s voice popped into my head, “Think positive, YOU CAN DO THIS!”   I wasn’t sure how much further it was to the finish but those words kept me going and I was able to push myself harder.  And then Coach joined me a couple hundred meters from the finish, shouting more words of encouragement.

Truth be told, I dry heaved most of the last 200 meters, but I stopped caring about what I looked like or the pleasures of dental work and let my inner voice take over.  I crossed the finish line with a PR that was 22 seconds faster than my last 5K.

So think positive and be amazed at what you can accomplish!

Katrina Papillon

Celebration 5K, 7/4/10

Whether your goal is to run your first half or full marathon or compete and run faster than you ever have before this is the program for you. This Marathon Mania program starts June 26th, 2010.

Bronze Training Package $200.00

• 16 week program to prepare for the marathon or half marathon
• Specific and individualized training plans for all levels/abilities
• 3 Weekly supervised speed and/or distance sessions
• Expert coaching
• A friendly and motivational network of runners
• Jacksonville Running Company/Personal Running Solutions Singlet 

Silver Training Package $425.00

Includes Bronze package plus choice of:

• Strength training with Timed Exercise, meets 2 times per week
• Or, 3 massage sessions with Jenny Lindley, BS, LMT

This package would normally cost $800.00 which means you get a $375.00 discount.

Gold Training Package $725.00

• Basic Running Program
• Strength Training with Timed Exercise
• 3 massage sessions with Jenny Lindley, BS, LMT
• $100 Gift Certificate to Jacksonville Running Company

This package would normally cost $1500.00 which means you get over 50% off.

Choose your package

Bronze Package $200.00 Silver Package $425.00 Gold Package $725.00

If you want to be able to run your first 5km or compete and run faster than you ever have before this is the program for you. This Short Sweet and on Your Feet 5km program starts June 26th, 2010 and last for 10 weeks.

Bronze Training Package $150.00

• 11 week program to prepare for 5k
• Specific and individualized training plans for all levels/abilities
• 3 Weekly supervised speed and/or distance sessions
• Expert coaching
• A friendly and motivational network of runners
• Jacksonville Running Company/Personal Running Solutions Singlet 

Silver Training Package $300.00

Includes Bronze package plus choice of:

• Strength training with Timed Exercise, meets 2 times per week
• Or, 2 massage sessions with Jenny Lindley, BS, LMT

This package would normally cost $420.00 which means you get a $120.00 discount

Gold Training Package $550.00

• Basic Running Program
• Strength Training with Timed Exercise
• 2 massage sessions with Jenny Lindley, BS, LMT
• $100 Gift Certificate to Jacksonville Running Company

This package would normally cost $750.00 which means you get a $200.00 discount

Choose your package

Bronze Package $150.00 Silver Package $300.00 Gold Package $550.00

The British version of runners world recently did an expose on the benefits of hill running. They suggest that hill running strengthens tendons and ligaments, reduces the risk of injury and improves overall running form. Most of us these days will incorporate some kind of strength training when we go to the gym and lift weights. The problem is that while these exercises do increase strength and muscular power, they do it in isolation of your running, focusing on individual joints and small sets of muscles.

Hill sessions, in contrast, force the muscles in your hips, legs, ankles and feet to contract in a coordinated fashion while supporting your full body weight, just as they have to during normal running. In addition, on uphill sections your muscles contract more powerfully than usual because they are forced to overcome gravity to move you up the hill. The result is more power, which in turn leads to longer, faster running strides.

Are you still not sold on running hills? The Karolinska Institute in Sweden carried out a study to see what the benefits of hill running were. One major study carried out on marathon runners discovered that after 12 weeks of twice-weekly hill sessions, the athletes’ running economy had improved by three per cent. Although the subjects were trained runners, that improvement would still have helped them clip as much as two minutes off a 10-mile time or six minutes off a marathon.

Other research, carried out by Dr Bengt Saltin, discovered that runners who trained on hills have much higher concentrations of aerobic enzymes – the chemicals which allow your muscles to function at high intensity for long periods without fatigue – in their quadriceps muscles than those who did all their running on flat terrain. Heightened aerobic power in your quads gives you improved knee lift while running and also accelerates each leg forward more quickly as you run, which improves your speed.

Those who run on hills have also been shown to be less likely to lose fitness when they take time off from training. And many scientists believe that hill training can improve the elasticity of muscles, tendons and ligaments, allowing these tissues to carry out more work with less effort and fatigue.

The following are three types of hill exercises that can be added to any running workout.

1.    The Basic Hill Interval. Add a set of hill running intervals (anywhere from 3-7 repetitions, ranging from 50 to 800 meters in distance), at a slow to moderate pace. This can be done as part of any run. During your run, you simply run up some hills. The pace is not a sprint or hard effort at all, and the point of doing such a set of intervals is to develop specific upper leg strength that develops the muscle used to lift the knees. Additionally, keep your hips forward and drive off of the back of your leg as your opposite knee is lifted high. There is sometimes a tendency to slouch or hunch forward the shoulders. This happens particularly if you are feeling fatigue, either in general or from the workout itself. Be sure to keep this from happening by maintaining a ‘proud’ form throughout the intervals.

2.    Hill Sprints. These are short but intense efforts on steep hills. Start with a few intervals of 8 to 10 seconds each, then very gradually increase repetitions and durations. When executing hill sprints, each stride should be strong. Focus on a powerful movement that brings your knees up as you drive hard off of the back of your opposite leg. The key here is to straighten the leg that is doing the driving. This movement translates into one thing: Power. If you find yourself slowing considerably or feeling quite fatigued, you have done enough repetitions.

3.    Hill Bounding. On a gentle hill, using your body as resistance by bounding as high as possible. There is little forward momentum needed here, as the point is to gain vertically more than horizontally. By landing on the ball of one’s foot, this action in turn forces the runner’s ankle to increase in flexibility and power, both up and down. It also strengthens leg muscles similarly to plyometric exercises. The number of repetitions, like the hill sprints, can be determined by performance during the intervals: If you begin to feel tired or your execution of the action begins to wain, it is most likely time to move on to a cool down in your workout.

All I can say is I hope to see some of you out on the hills in the coming weeks before the USA’s biggest 15km, the Gate River Run.

Happy Running! 

http://www.runnersworld.co.uk/general/everything-you-need-to-know-about-hill-training/159.html

Phys Ed: How Exercising Keeps Your Cells Young

Chev Wilkinson/Getty Images  

Recently, scientists in Germany gathered several groups of men and women to look at their cells’ life spans. Some of them were young and sedentary, others middle-aged and sedentary. Two other groups were, to put it mildly, active. The first of these consisted of professional runners in their 20s, most of them on the national track-and-field team, training about 45 miles per week. The last were serious, middle-aged longtime runners, with an average age of 51 and a typical training regimen of 50 miles per week, putting those young 45-mile-per-week sluggards to shame.

From the first, the scientists noted one aspect of their older runners. It ‘‘was striking,’’ recalls Dr. Christian Werner, an internal-medicine resident at Saarland University Clinic in Homburg, ‘‘to see in our study that many of the middle-aged athletes looked much younger than sedentary control subjects of the same age.’’  

Even more striking was what was going on beneath those deceptively youthful surfaces. When the scientists examined white blood cells from each of their subjects, they found that the cells in both the active and slothful young adults had similar-size telomeres. Telomeres are tiny caps on the end of DNA strands — the discovery of their function won several scientists the 2009 Nobel Prize in medicine. When cells divide and replicate these long strands of DNA, the telomere cap is snipped, a process that is believed to protect the rest of the DNA but leaves an increasingly abbreviated telomere. Eventually, if a cell’s telomeres become too short, the cell ‘‘either dies or enters a kind of suspended state,’’ says Stephen Roth, an associate professor of kinesiology at the University of Maryland who is studying exercise and telomeres. Most researchers now accept telomere length as a reliable marker of cell age. In general, the shorter the telomere, the functionally older and more tired the cell.

It’s not surprising, then, that the young subjects’ telomeres were about the same length, whether they ran exhaustively or sat around all day. None of them had been on earth long enough for multiple cell divisions to have snipped away at their telomeres. The young never appreciate robust telomere length until they’ve lost it.

There are plenty of reasons to exercise — in this column, I’ve pointed out more than a few — but the effect that regular activity may have on cellular aging could turn out to be the most profound. ‘‘It’s pretty exciting stuff,’’ says Thomas LaRocca, a Ph.D. candidate in the department of integrative physiology at the University of Colorado in Boulder, who has just completed a new study echoing Werner’s findings. In Mr. LaRocca’s work, people were tested both for their V02max — or maximum aerobic capacity, a widely accepted measure of physical fitness — and their white blood cells’ telomere length. In subjects 55 to 72, a higher V02max correlated closely with longer telomeres. The fitter a person was in middle age or onward, the younger their cells.

There are countless unanswered questions about how and why activity affects the DNA. For instance, Dr. Werner found that his older runners had more activity in their telomerase, a cellular enzyme thought to aid in lengthening and protecting telomeres. Exercise may be affecting telomerase activity and not telomeres directly. In addition, Stephen Roth has been measuring telomeres and telomerase activity in a wide variety of tissues in mice and has found, he says, the protective effects from exercise only in some tissues.

Another question is whether we must run 50 miles a week to benefit. The answer ‘‘can only be speculative at the moment,’’ Dr. Werner says, although since he jogs much less than that, he probably joins the rest of us in hoping not. Given his and his colleagues’ data, ‘‘one could speculate,’’ he concludes, ‘‘that any form of intense exercise that is regularly performed over a long period of time’’ will improve ‘‘telomere biology,’’ meaning that with enough activity, each of us could outpace the passing years.

An earlier version of this article stated incorrectly that the Saarland University Clinic is located in Hamburg.

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/27/phys-ed-how-exercising-keeps-your-cells-young/?ref=magazine