Running on Hope

Ten Reasons Why I Run

2009-07-21T11:36:00.000-07:00

In the heat of training, and in the boredom of it all also, I've been wondering lately why it is I run at all. Yesterday, on a run (of course), I came up with the top ten reasons why I run.

Top Ten Reasons I Run

1. It makes me feel good
2. It makes my body look good
3. It is a goal I can achieve
4. It makes me feel I have achieved something each day
5. It makes me feel capable
6. It makes me feel strong
7. It makes me feel happy
8. It is - sometimes - fun
9. It is something I can do alone and something that helps clear my ahead
10. Not running is not an option

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Oh Just Make it Stop

2009-07-19T11:34:00.000-07:00

Today, when I passed the two hour mark on my run, I was high with energy. I made it! I thought...and then I started thinking about running further. You see, whenever I pass a goal I have set for myself, I always want to push myself just a little further. What this means, is that I went for another two miles.

Although the psychology behind this is good - that if you aren't forcing yourself to finish you will overcome your expectations - biology wasn't on my side this time. I was just darn tired, and another two miles was pushing me a lot further than I had anticipated.

What was the result?

By the time I did finish those extra two miles - at a pace anyone should be ashamed of - I was angry and exhausted. The moral of this story is to stop while you're ahead (within reason, of course).

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What's the best song to Run to Today?

2009-07-15T11:33:00.000-07:00

Under African Skies.

Paul Simon.

Get it.

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What's the best song to Run to Today?

2009-07-10T11:31:00.000-07:00

Africa.

by Toto.

I heart it.

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The Training Begins

2009-07-01T11:28:00.000-07:00

It wasn't without fanfare that I began my training this week. I had water, and a fully loaded ipod, and even a snack or two in my pocket. All this for a 2 hour run, you say? Absolutely. At least when a two hour run is the first of many such longer runs throughout a very long training process.

Indeed, I find NOT getting good and geared up for a longer run leaves me much more unhappy afterwards. For me, it is better to tell myself I'm going to run a long way, and bring along the snacks and fuel I need to do so. Otherwise, I get tired and empty of blood sugar and just want to stop...

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Another Day

2009-06-21T11:27:00.000-07:00

My runs of late have been long and difficult, and I've become no stranger to two hours of boredom. Indeed, as I train, I get slower and slower. Is this possible?

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What's the Best Song to Run to Today?

2009-05-01T13:41:00.000-07:00

What's the best song to run to today?

Rehab. Amy Winehouse.

Yup.

That one.

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Hope Runs and Claire in The Huffington Post

2009-04-30T13:38:00.000-07:00

I'm psyched about this great article about me (Claire) and Hope Runs in the Huffington Post. Thanks to Julia Moulden for the great piece. Read away!

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Can You Run When You're Sick?

2009-04-28T13:34:00.000-07:00

Well, you can do anything (or most anything you want to do) but that's not the question.

Should you run when you're sick?

This week, I decided not to. However, in that decision, I got lots of other non-medical personnel advice. One person in particular seemed pretty convinced that running would get the bugs out of me.

So then I started doing some google research (ah the joys of being one's own doctor with a laptop)...

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Hope Runs in Cool Running

2009-04-27T13:43:00.000-07:00

Here's a nice new article about the Hope Runs 777: 7 Marathons, 7 Continents, 7 Weeks Challenge over at CoolRunning. The article was written by Skip Cleaver of Cool Running and we're psyched!

Check it out!

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What's the Best Song to Run to Today?

2009-04-26T13:29:00.000-07:00

What's the best song to run to today?

Toto's Africa.

Amazingly upbeat, great beats (yes, the word 'beat' has been used twice in one short sentence), and cool message.

Listen to Toto's Africa now and see if it just might be your next favorite song to run to.

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London Marathon: Tomorrow!

2009-04-25T13:23:00.000-07:00

The London Marathon is tomorrow, and as I go to bed feeling not very athletic and very sickly (thanks to antibiotics and sinus infections), I think of all the thousands of runners who should have eaten their carbs and drunk their water tonight.

Best of luck!

(And isn't this a great shot?)

...

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Boston Marathon Wrap Up

2009-04-22T13:24:00.000-07:00

I was very lucky to spend a beautiful weekend in warmer-than-usual Boston this fine marathon weekend, and am sad to leave to head back across the pond.

My Boston weekend was timed perfectly to kill two birds with one stone (or whatever the upbeat version of that phrase is!)...

Not only did I meet some amazing Kenyan runners, former Silver medal Olympians, and general amazing runners, but I also attended the wedding of a dear friend.

Marathons and Marriage. (I think people get married in the Las Vegas marathon, right?)

What's better?

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Boston Marathon: On A Monday?

2009-04-19T13:27:00.000-07:00

I've got my dates and times pretty confused around these parts, so when Hope Runs Lara told reminded me about some of our Sunday meetings, I looked at her confused. How are we meeting runners the day of the marathon?? Aren't they going to be, well, tired? Or, at least, busy?

That's when she kindly reminded me that the marathon is on a Monday, on Patriots' Day.

And that's when I kindly asked her if Patriots' Day was really a national holiday.

Anyone?

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A Year Without a Marathon

2009-04-14T15:24:00.000-07:00

As I get closer and closer to the 777 challenge, I start to get scared that I'm not running enough. Like, really really scared. It mostly revolves around the fact that other team members are running marathons. Napa, London, Boston, the team members are all over. I, in contrast, haven't run a full marathon in over a year. Will I forget how? Have I already forgotten how?

Sure, I've been doing other things this year. And I have been training. But I lack the marathons on my belt this 2009.

So here is the question of the day: Should I run a full marathon before the 777 begins next January, or should I be resting, training, and training more?

Opinions needed...

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New Article in Runner's World

2009-04-14T10:25:00.000-07:00

One of the volunteers for Hope Runs right now, Michelle, who used to work at Runner's World, has a great new piece on Hope Runs over at Runner's World.

Make sure to check it out here!

I love how the mention of Michelle getting hot on the run while the kids remain freezing in their wool hats...it is so unbelievably true;)

Claire

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Almost Here: The New Hope Runs Website

2009-03-18T02:54:00.000-07:00

We're psyched to be working on an improved website for Hope Runs with Erica over at Techno Mom Designs and the ever webby Jonathan. Here's the new header, which I just love. Hope Runs Lara and the kids jumping...

They're supposed to be stretching post-run, but...yeah....

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Natasha is Running The Shamrock Shuffle

2009-03-17T02:30:00.000-07:00

Natasha over at nat[dot]waz is running The Shamrock Shuffle in support for Hope Runs. She ran her first marathon in Chicago (it reached 84 degrees that day;) and is set to run 7 of them with us next year!

Good luck on the 8k Shamrock Shuffle - should be a bit easier than next year's races;)

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a 20 mile run on his first day in the usa...

2009-03-12T11:16:00.000-07:00

Oh yes, there's one thing I forgot to mention about James, as per the last post on his arrival in CA.

On his first day in the USA he ran a 20 mile training run with Jonathan (James and Jonathan above, years ago). Wow!

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Meet James!

2009-03-10T11:14:00.000-07:00

Meet James! (see his dirty shoes below)

James is an extraordinary young Kenyan man who served as the most committed runner and captain of the Hope Runs kids at Tumaini Children's Home for two years. Six weeks ago, his life changed dramatically when he arrived in CA to begin a two year stint of studying and training.

We are all thrilled for all that James has accomplished so far, and can't wait to watch as he progresses. Recently, James started a blog with his hosts (former Hope Runs volunteers) about his new life in Palo Alto and it is wonderful to read about all the new cultural crazy cultural experiences he is having.

I highly recommend you stop by here.

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Guest Post: Napa Valley Race Report

2009-03-08T10:51:00.000-07:00

I'm thrilled to be able to share this post by Julianne at I Heart Running. Julianne is one of the runners on our Hope Runs 777 team and it's so fun to read about her rainy, rainy, rainy marathon day in Napa! Enjoy!

Napa Valley Marathon Race Report

I completed my 7th marathon on Sunday and I have to say Napa Valley Marathon was one of the most grueling and painful races to date. Wait, let me start from the beginning. I've been training for this marathon since early January when I signed up for it. I had just run CIM in December and felt really good. I PR'd by 12 minutes at CIM and I felt like I could run another marathon pretty easily. So I started training, putting in the miles and hitting all the long runs. I wasn't planning on breaking another personal record this weekend but I wanted to do well. There was a lot of things I could control, like my training plan, nutrition, degree of workout, etc. One thing I didn't have control over was the weather.

I woke up Sunday morning at 4am to the sound of rain. It was expected. The weather forecast called for rain on Sunday. All week. I saw the heavy clouds forming by Sunset. But, I really really hoped that the rain would hold off until later Sunday. Like after I was done with the marathon. I've never run further than 8 miles in the rain and it wasn't because I chose to. I got caught in the rain! I heard the sound of rain, which I normally love but that morning, it was a sound of dread. I fell asleep for another 45 minutes and woke up. I got dressed, ate my pre-race peanut butter sandwich and faced the music. Questioning my sanity the whole time. I live about an hour away from Napa and as Duane drove me and my friend to the starting line, I saw the windshield wipers moving back and forth, back and forth. The rain was coming down. During the drive, I had all sorts of thoughts. Should I not run? What if I didn't finish? All sorts of doubts.

Started decently enough... (with my friend Dennis, who PR'd by 12 minutes, btw!)

At the start line, starting 6 min after gun time! (I'm in the pink shirt!)

We parked not to far from the starting line and I had to use the Porta-Potty as usual. This was supposed to be a smaller race, with about 3000 runners. Apparently, everyone and their mother had to go because the lines were really long. To make a long story short, I started 6 minutes after the gun went off. I kissed Duane good bye, even took a photo of me at the starting line and then, off I went. Marathon #7! I wasn't really nervous or all that excited. I figured I'd just enjoy myself and see where the run took me. It was actually kind of nice to start late because I didn't have to weave through people and saved me a lot of energy. Maybe that's why I started off too fast. Maybe if I started on time, I wouldn't have rushed in the beginning? Did I mention, it was still raining?

Me around mile 3, still going strong!

Did I mention that it rained the WHOLE time???

The first couple of miles were a breeze, I passed a bunch of people and felt I even caught up to my pace group. I must have been running around 8:30 min pace. There were a few hills in the beginning, actually, hillier than I expected but I still had a lot of energy at this point. Then, around mile 3, I felt wetness all around my feet. My shoes were wet. And so were my socks. At almost mile 4, I glanced at my Nike+ Sportband to see how fast I was going. It was blank. My watch died. I totally panicked. I didn't even know how far I had gone! I saw Duane around mile 5 and I shouted to him, "My watch died! Please go find my other watch in the bottom of my gym bag." The poor guy had to run with me for a few yard to catch what I was saying. Good thing I brought my gym bag with me where I have an old Timex Ironman watch. When Duane caught up with me around mile 8, I was completely soaked, freezing and already tired. My shoes sloshed and felt really heavy. Duane passed my the Timex and when I looked at it, it was an hour off due to the Day Light Savings from last year! Ugh, why didn't I check before??

It went downhill pretty quickly from there. I was still on target for a sub 4 hour finish at around half way point. I was running a bit too fast and Duane actually missed me twice, somewhere around the half way point and also at mile 18ish. I didn't see him again until mile 23. I had expected to see him and was really sad that I didn't. I was really struggling and could have used his lovely smile. The amazing thing is that at time when I didn't see Duane, I got to see the ROHOs! The girls had told me that they were coming up to cheer for me, which was the most awesome thing ever. I had text'd them at 5am to tell them not to come due to the rain but they came anyway. All dressed in ROHO gear with the BEST signs in tow. I think I heard them from half a mile away, with their cheering and cow-bell'ing. There wasn't much crowd support for this marathon, not sure if it was the rain or not... but it was pretty lonely out there. So whenever I neared any kind of crowd, I figured the noise came from them. And it did! They were like a little ray of sunshine during a storm... literally! If you haven't seen their spectator reports, go check out Aron, Tara, Maritza and Kristin's blog. They have some awesome photos!! I love the signs!!

So, besides the little spots of ROHO sunshine, it was a tough run. So let's see, where was I? I was soaked to my socks, my Nike+ died... My Timex had the wrong time and I forgot how to set it and didn't bother to even start the timer. Oh and my left ankle started sending out sharp pains. And the best part was that I started to feel lots of irritation on the soles of my feet. Yep, blisters were forming. I did something really stupid. I bought brand new shoes a week before my marathon and I figured since they were Asics GT-2140s, shoes that I have never had issues with, I was good to go. Maybe under normal circumstances, that may have been ok even to run in a marathon. But in the rain, brand new shoes were probably not a smart choice. I felt irritation and pain in areas that I don't normally feel. Like on the balls of my feet. I am not going to share these blister photos with you because I wince every time I look at my feet. And I don't want to gross you out! I have a total of 5 blisters the size of a quarter EACH. One of which I freshly popped and drained tonight. They all hurt like a mother during the race but somehow, I was able to block them out!

Anyway, back to the run. Somehow, I managed to make it to mile 16 but at this point, I was done. I thought about quitting. But the idea of a DNF was worse than any physical pain. I knew Duane and the ROHO girls were out there waiting for me at the next landmark and I couldn't let them down! I already felt bad that they had to wait so long for me! Slowly, my sub 4 hour finish started slipping away from me. I had to walk a few times, every few miles, I walked for a few minutes. Around mile 22, I knew I couldn't stop anymore. Because it just hurt too much to start running again. My feet were screaming murder and I figured if I ran, I would finish that much faster. A few times, I had to choke back some tears, also because if I started crying, I knew I would hyperventilate. It was hard enough to breathe as it was!

Some more photos for your enjoyment... Courtesy of Duane's excellent photography... LOL! My husband might be bad at taking running photos but he's pretty fabulous!

Yeah, I was suffering and in PAIN.

Why are the last 6 miles the LONGEST miles in history? In my delirious-ness, I somehow managed to knock out those last 6 miles... seeing Duane at mile 23 helped and the ROHO girls at mile 25.5. Heh. They were there at the very end. Jumping up and down, waving their arms and shaking their cow bells. I wish you guys could have seen what I saw. It really took all my energy, not to cry. I was exhausted, whipped, a bit defeated but never felt so loved!

And when I crossed that finish line and saw my finish time of 4:20:XX, I was a little surprised. I thought I would finish much later.

My official chip time is 4:15:19. Not my best but certainly not my worst. It was probably one of the most emotional and challenging race, ever. Not because the course is hard... The Nike Women's Marathon takes the cake for that one but because so many things went wrong for me. If only the weather cooperated, if only my NIke+ didn't die, if only my shoes were broken in, if only my ankle didn't hurt, if only my feet didn't blister... if only I had trained more, if only... Gosh, let me get out of my pity party. There are so many "if onlys" but it is what it is. I don't want to dwell on all the things that went wrong. There will be good races and bad races.

And this will be one of those that I'll learn from. I ran 150 miles each in January and February but I don't think those miles really prepared me for this race. As for the post-race hoopla, I didn't have the energy to do much. I congratulated other finishers and took pictures with my friends from Twitter (who, by the way all happened to all PR or run really great races IN THE RAIN) got my post-race soup. All I wanted to do was get out of my wet shoes and clothes. I was a little delirious at this point and almost forgot about my friend Dennis, who we gave a ride to! Oops. He also PR'd by 12 minutes and finished a 3:36 race. Hello, 12 minutes? Grrrrr. I was supposed to meet up with the ROHOs but I just couldn't. Emotionally and physically, I was drained. We got back home and Duane made me the most delicious cheeseburger ever. I ate two. And then passed out promptly. I needed some alone time to lick my wound and forget about the morning. I woke up feeling much better. It looked like it finally stopped raining, too. I thought about my finish time and didn't feel so bad about 4:15:19. After all, I ran my 7th marathon...

Did I mention I chaffed around my ankle, where my socks sat? Sorry for the mug shot of my foot. It ain't pretty on this side, just think what it looks like on the other side!

I wish I could share my blister photos but seriously, I am embarrassed to show them to you guys!

Was it all worth it? YES, of course!!!

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Article in Ode Magazine: Social Entrepreneurs Go MainStream

2009-03-06T10:03:00.001-08:00

I'm happy about the nice article by Andrew Tolve and great picture spread by J Carrier in Ode Magazine this month. See the online version here.

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The Best Running Movie?

2009-03-05T17:04:00.000-08:00

...or is the worst?

I am desperate to see Running the Sahara. Why? Because I love crazy, weird, excruciating endurance events, particularly when I'm simply watching someone else do it from the comfort of my couch - nachos and all.

Have you seen this movie? Are you also surprised that Matt Damon produced it (I think Ben Affleck ran a marathon once...but Matt?)

I'm this close to coughing up the 9.99 on itunes...

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Keep Your Running PlayList Sacred

2009-03-04T17:36:00.000-08:00

Here's my problem: I love a song, I listen to it a lot. I love another song, I listen to that a lot. Story continues....

So this means, if I find a song I love, I listen to it all the time.

When I'm running.
When I'm working on my computer.
When I'm commuting.

All the time.

Pretty soon, I'm firing up my ipod to go on a run and I'm thinking "oh no - I have to listen to that same old playlist again?"

Talk about bad motivation in the first few minutes of running. The answer to this self-induced problem, of course, is to keep your play list sacred.

Make a marathon playlist (or a running playlist) and only listen to it when running.

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Ten Months to Get in Shape (Really in Shape)

2009-03-03T20:39:00.000-08:00

I was doing some work on the website at Hope Runs today (no - no changes live to see), and realized that, according to the ticker we have going on the site, that the Hope Runs 777 Challenge: 7 Marathons 7 Continents 7 Weeks is set to start in 326 days.

Now - aside from the joy and excitement this brings me. It also brings me dread. Dread that I realize I have very few months left of non-training running ahead of me. In ten months, I must be in wildly different shape than I am now. Running is one thing, but training is another. I haven't run any marathons since the fall of 2007 - so it's been nearly 16 months since my last two. I ran two in a week that fall to test out the whole 777 strategy (marathons on weekends, week of rest in between) and found myself tired, but not horribly spent.

Today, though, I am nowhere near in the shape I was then. And nowhere near in the shape I need to be for 10 months from now.

Time to get cracking....

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