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MENTOR PROGRAM NEWSLETTER March 29, 2017
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"Take chances, make mistakes. That's how you grow. Pain nourishes your courage. You have to fail in order to practice being brave." -
Mary Tyler Moore
"If you stumble, make it part of the dance."
"When someone told me I live in a fantasy land, I nearly fell off my unicorn."
"I'm going to stand outside. So if anyone asks, I'm outstanding."
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Congratulations to all who ran "Jill's Hills" last weekend! You become a stronger runner when you incorporate hills into your training. For those of you who stayed back at the Zoo, I hope you had an enjoyable run. Thanks to Paul and Jerry for leading last Saturday.
A COUPLE REMINDERS:
- Zoo officials have requested that we park in the SOUTH end of the Zoo parking lot (near the grass) so that the closer spots are available to families with small children and strollers.
- I will be making a slight revision to the training schedule for the beginners. We will be adding an extra 1/2 mile this week (10.5 instead of 10 miles), as well as at another point so that your longest run before our "practice run" will be 13 miles instead of the current 12.
I felt humbled by the e-mails I received last week from some of you in response to my Newsletter article
"What Is Good About This?" I appreciate the feedback! Writing is an effort of love for me, but one that takes a great deal of time and thought and typically means I only get an hour or two of sleep on Wednesday nights!
My article this week is titled
"We're Only Human After All." It discusses how even when we want to focus on being positive, it isn't always easy, and we sometimes fall into the "darkness" before we see the light. But it's OK to experience all emotions. What's important is what we do with them.
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For those of you new to our Mentor Group, you will recognize the Mentors who are here to help you train each Saturday morning by the bright green headbands or bandanas we wear. We are nick-named the "Green Bandits." We're eager to help you with your training for the 25K River Bank Run, so please don't hesitate to look for us if you have questions about your training, or if you just want someone to run with. My co-leaders include Kathy Haase, Paul Beuschel, Jerry Roersma, Deborah Snider, Abbie Stoppa, and Mike Lapp. I also want to thank Nan Hulst and Barb Minier for helping with aid stations each week.
Please remember to sign in each Saturday morning to take advantage of the "Reward Program" our Club implemented this year. The details are included in a separate space at the end of this Newsletter. We will be presenting our winner this Saturday morning with a free entry to the River Bank Run!
Keep up the strong work, and keep moving forward one step at a time!
Francine Robinson
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Informational Handouts & 25K Training Schedule
I will bring packets of information with me to the Zoo each Saturday with informational fliers and a 25K River Bank Run Training Schedule. These documents can also be downloaded from the Grand Rapids Running Club website (
www.grandrapidsrunningclub.org)
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The Miles for this Week - Saturday, April 1, 2017
Beginners: 10.5 miles. Intermediates: 12 miles
THE COURSE: This week will be an out-and-back. The turns will be marked with orange Grand Rapids Marathon road cones. A cone on the right means to turn right, and a cone on the left means to turn left. There will be two orange Grand Rapids Marathon road cones at the turnarounds. We will have two aid stations on the course.
THE COURSES:
The beginners (10.5 miles): Run out the south side of the Zoo to John Ball Park Dr.; turn left (east) on Butterworth and run to Garfield; left on Garfield to California St. (one block before Lake Michigan Drive); right on California to Seward; left on Seward; continue on Seward to Sixth Street; turn right on Sixth Street and cross the bridge to Monroe Ave.; left on Monroe Ave.; continue on Monroe until Guild Street, where there is a roundabout. This is the turnaround for the beginners and will be marked by two orange Grand Rapids Marathon road cones. Turn around and run back the same way.
http://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/1504504780
The intermediates (12 miles): Run out the south side of the Zoo to John Ball Park Dr.; turn left (east) on Butterworth and run to Garfield; left on Garfield to California St. (one block before Lake Michigan Drive); right on California to Seward; left on Seward; continue on Seward to Sixth Street; turn right on Sixth Street and cross the bridge to Monroe Ave.; left on Monroe Ave.; continue on Monroe until just past the Little League fields on your left (the Vet's Facility will be on your right). This is the turnaround for the beginners and will be marked by two orange Grand Rapids Marathon road cones. Turn around and run back the same way.
Please use caution when running on the roads, since these are not closed courses. Be particularly aware of traffic at busy intersections and run single file when vehicles are approaching. Your safety is our utmost concern.
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"We're Only Human After All"
"I will love the light for it shows me the way, yet I will endure the darkness because it shows me the stars." Og Mandino
"Being positive does not mean ignoring the negative. . . Being positive means overcoming the negative."
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"I always like to look on the optimistic side of life, but I am realistic enough to know that life is a complex matter."
Walt Disney
This quote from Walt Disney ties in with what I wanted to discuss today. I have written many times about the importance of staying positive when training for an endurance event such as the 25K River Bank Run, and that positivity was the emphasis in last week's article,
"What Is Good About This?"
But does that mean we should have a perpetual smile on our face, and walk around with our eyes glazed over like the Moonies who handed out flowers at the airports during the 1960s? Of course not.
In fact, we can sometimes feel pressure to "put on a happy face" when we don't really feel all that happy inside.
When we're going through difficult times, we're often told to get over it, or move on. And then perhaps we feel guilty for not counting our blessings or for not continually adopting an "attitude of gratitude."
I believe the lines often get blurred between "negative thinking" and "negative emotions." We are sentient beings and cannot deny our feelings, positive and negative. In fact, suppressing our negative emotions can cause stress and anxiety that actually threaten our mental, emotional and physical well-being.
Negative emotions are even necessary to our survival. For example, fear can keep us from putting ourselves in a dangerous situation. If we didn't experience disappointment, we might not be inspired to better ourselves or to look within ourselves for necessary change. If we didn't allow ourselves to grieve after experiencing a loss, it would be difficult to see the light ahead. In other words, when we allow ourselves to completely feel a negative emotion, we are better equipped to go beyond it and notice the brighter side of the situation.
I had time to think about this last week while running the Skidaway Marathon in Savannah, Georgia--26.2 miles worth of time to think about it! The weather forecast was for temperatures hotter than I've trained in, so standing at the start line at 7 a.m.--when it was already 65 and humid--I was beginning to stress over how challenging it is for me to run in hot weather. But I knew ahead of time it was going to be hot, so I had gone to the race website earlier that week to determine how many aid stations they would have along the course so I could plan my hydration strategy. I also planned my pacing strategy, because I have ended up in a medical tent in the past from dehydration. This is one example of using my negative emotions of anxiety, stress, and fear to make sure I was prepared for a successful journey.
Skidaway Island is a beautiful resort community in Savannah, with extravagant houses, gorgeous landscaping, salt marshes, golf courses, wildlife (yeah, including alligators), and tree-lined roads. It was a beautiful course for a marathon. The residents welcomed the runners, and a few families had set up aid stations for the runners, one that included homemade chocolate chip cookies! My "Plan A" was to start with the 4-1/2 hour pace group and see if I could stay with them to the end. Unfortunately, that didn't last long as my body seemed to react negatively to the humidity. I had them in my sights until I had to make a couple pit stops, and soon they had completely disappeared ahead of me. When I got to the halfway point, I was around 2:16, and I knew with the heat I could not run negative splits (i.e., meaning running the second half of an event faster than the first). So I devised a Plan B, which was to hopefully finish in under 4:40.
As hard as I tried, I was having difficulty being positive. I began the negative talk: "This is going to be brutal. The second half will be a death march, etc." I considered my advice to you last week; that is, that I should ask myself, "What is good about this?" However, in that moment, my answer was, "Bah, humbug! Nothing feels good right now!" I let myself have that little tantrum for a brief moment, and then I told myself, "OK, suck it up buttercup. Now let's get serious and focus!"
It really wasn't difficult to find the positives: I was making progress, I was enjoying the runners at the back of the pack (who are much more talkative than those runners racing in the front), and my body was adapting to weather conditions that I will be facing soon, possibly in Boston. Soon my positive thinking actually made me feel stronger and more confident.
I also started focusing more on the journey and not thinking about how far I had to go yet or how much hotter it would get before I finished. Instead, I thanked every police officer directing traffic, acknowledged the great volunteers at the aid stations, and chatted with the other runners who were running alongside me.
I even found some humor along the way. I had been running in shorts and a singlet, plus dumping water all over me at each aid station to cool myself off. At one point I turned a corner and witnessed a spectator dressed in long pants and a puffy down jacket! I chuckled and thought to myself, "She must be a Georgia native, thinking anything under 80 degrees is cold!"
Another time I was reading the back of a runner's t-shirt from a distance, and the large print said: "Anyone who has ever returned from Heaven has said the same thing . . ." But I couldn't see the small print--the answer that would potentially leave me more enlightened when I left the race site that day! Considering I am a person who hungers for inspiration, wisdom, and certitude, I began running faster in order to catch up with her and read the smaller print with the answer. However, when I got close enough to read it, the answer wasn't what I expected. Her shirt said: "Anyone who has ever returned from Heaven has said the same thing . . . try the gumbo." Yikes! It was a clever ad. for a restaurant!
I eventually made my way to the finish line and collected my finisher's medal. The temperature was 79 degrees, but fortunately the race provided small towels that were soaking in a tub of cold water filled with ice cubes. It felt heavenly squeezing the cold water over my head and wiping down my overheated body. I was momentarily disappointed with my time--4:36--and then reminded myself that I had successfully ran 26.2 miles in hot humid weather, only two weeks after the D.C. Marathon, and still experiencing some pain from my foot injury that hasn't completely healed. I was happy to see Jim, who was there to pick me up, and who took one look at me and made that face you see on many non-runners: a little respect, but mostly confusion over why runners like us undertake such extreme challenges! Of course, the answer is different for each of us.
So what I want you to take away from this article is the reminder that even when we set our sights on being positive, we will have those "Bah, humbug!" moments. It doesn't mean we're weak. As expressed in the lyrics of the song "Something About You" by Level 42, it simply means: "We're only human after all."
It's all part of the process of growing. When you feel negative emotions surface, let them come. What matters is what we do with them.
If you feel negative emotions surface during your training, or in any other situation, first acknowledge them. After that, begin thinking positive
thoughts and using
positive focus. Using that strategy will help you see "the good" in the situation, and the positive thoughts will eventually bring forth positive emotions. This is because you will be working from the inside out. Your smile will be genuine, not forced. You will experience more joy and contentment, and you will understand that the light will come from the darkness. Remember,
"Life is like photography. You use the negatives to develop."
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HOPE NETWORK 1 IN 5 MARATHON RELAY
Lace up for mental health at this year's Hope Network One in Five Marathon Relay on May 27, 2017, at Millennium Park in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
At the relay, teams of five will complete a full marathon. The first four runners each complete a 5-mile loop, and the last represents the one in five adults who will face a mental illness this year by taking on a more challenging 6.2-mile route. Proceeds directly fund early intervention programming, along with Hope Network services for those currently battling mental illness.
Register at
www.1in5relay.com and get $25 off your team's entry when you use coupon code "RUN2017" at checkout. You can register your team now as an individual and have teammates join at any time.
Please note the other events being offered in addition to the Marathon Relay. There is a 1.5 mile
Community Walk, a 6.2 mile individual race, a 6.2 mile accessibility race, and a 1 in 5 virtual 10K. See www.1in5relay.com for more details.
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GR RUNNING CLUB MENTOR GROUP "REWARD" PROGRAM
As mentioned briefly above, the GRRC Mentor Group has implemented a "Reward Program" as an incentive for you to sign in at each Saturday morning training run. For those of you who have previously signed in, we have your name on a typed list already and will bring the list (alphabetized) to the Zoo so that you will only need to put a check mark next to your name. New runners should add their names (and e-mail addresses) the first time they sign in, and their names will be added to the alphabetic list for the following weeks.
Rewards will be given out monthly. We will count the check marks by your names at the end of each month. The person with the most check marks will get a prize for that month. If there is a tie, we will draw names for the prize. The winner this Saturday will be awarded a free entry to the River Bank Run! We are grateful to the Fifth Third River Bank Run for this very generous donation!
[P.S. Everyone has the chance to earn a reward by signing in a total of ten times during the training season. When you reach your 10th sign-in, you earn a
blue Buff-style headband with our GRRC logo, which are the same headbands as the green ones worn by the Mentors. If you don't want to wait and would like to purchase one now, they are available for $5.]
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Grand Rapids Running Club Group Runs
Saturdays and Sundays, 8 a.m., John Ball Park Zoo
The Grand Rapids Running Club meets year-round, every Saturday and Sunday, at 8 a.m., at John Ball Park Zoo (in the middle parking lot south of the duck pond). There are different groups running different paces and distances. You are welcome to join us! You do not have to be a member of the Grand Rapids Running Club to run with us. For more information on membership, go to the website: (www.grandrapidsrunningclub.org) and click on the tab that says "Join Us" to read the reasons why you should become a member.
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Grand Rapids Running Club
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