As evidenced by the fact that I write a blog, folks might say that I am a person who embraces “social networking.” I tend to agree, since besides this blog, I am also on Twitter and Facebook. One thing I enjoy about blogging, tweeting and “Facebooking” is building a sense of community for individuals who enjoy athletics, especially swimming, biking and running. I enjoy trying to help motivate others because it helps to motivate me.
One way I do this is by finding inspirational quotes and posting them on my Facebook wall. These quotes not only inspire me,but I hope they inspire others. One source of these inspirational quotes is a site from Runners World called “The Daily Kick in the Butt." You can subscribe to this feature too and get a daily quote that will hopefully motivate you or you can just check out my wall on Facebook.
One such quote the other day was:
"I ran to be free; I ran to avoid pain; I ran to feel pain; I ran out of love and hate and anger and joy."
Dagny Scott, "Runner's World Complete Book of Women's Running"
I run to be free: For me there is no other single way to express my freedom than heading out for a run. I leave my cell phone at home, so I can’t be bothered and pretty much un-tether myself from the rest of the world as best I can. It works especially well if I am on an unpaved trail and away from traffic and noise.
I run to avoid pain: For me, I need to get in my work-out because I have a race sometime down the road, and I will enjoy that race much more if I put in the time beforehand and thus avoid some of the pain that is sure to happen if I don’t train.
I run to feel the pain: This pain is of a different sort, the hard-to-describe pain. It is not sudden and shooting, it is not crippling. This pain is that joyful pain of pushing my old body to its extreme. This pain is so satisfying that it often turns into the elusive “runner's high.”
I run out of love, a love for my God, a love for my family. While I am far from a perfect being, running for love means that I do not waste what God has given me and I try to set a loving example of fitness for my family.
Let’s skip the next two for a minute and talk about joy. I run for the pure joy: I have never, not once, regretted going for a run. No matter how difficult the workout, or how extreme the heat/cold, I have always found a great deal of joy in each run.
That brings us back to hate and anger. I have to admit that, while I understand what Dagny is trying to say: "Without anger or hate how can we express joy and love?" But I just can’t bring myself to putting hate and anger into the context of running. I guess it is something to think about while I’m on a long run.
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I do want to invite everyone to check out the Kingstowne Striders, our local running group, which also has a fair number of triathletes. Visit our webpage or our Facebook page for information on regular Saturday and Sunday workouts and special workouts such as the Swim and Ride this Friday, July 1st on the Eastern Shore and the Celebrate your independance ride and/or run Monday July 4th at the National Harbor.
I don’t have any local race results to post from last weekend but here are some things to look forward to in the next couple of weeks. As I write this registration is still open for all of these events:
Find out what's happening in Kingstowne-Rose Hillwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
5K’s:
The Semper Fi 5K Jul 02, 2011 - Anacostia Park, Washington, DC
Capital Running Company Let Freedom Run 5K July 4, Fairfax, VA
Reston Firecracker 5K July 4, Reston, VA,
Obstacle races are becoming more popular with events like the Muddy Buddy and Warrior Dash, You could try The Metro Dash July 9, in Washington D.C.
Triathlons
If you are new to the sport and thinking about giving triathlon a shot, or just want to be able to compete at your top speed on a short course, there is a very friendly series of events directed by a group called Tri It Now, the are all hosted at The Freedom Aquatic & Fitness Center in Manassas, VA and they all feature pool swims, the next one is the 14.06 which is exactly one tenth the distance of an Ironman Triathlon, more information and registration on this and their other events at .
If you are looking for more of a challenge, and are willing to drive just a little longer, down at Colonial beach VA is the YMCA Colonial Beach Sprint on Saturday 9 July and the Olympic distance event the next day, Sunday 10 July, race them both for extra bragging rights! More information at the Setup Events Website.
