Back on my 300th post (which by now has been awhile ago - 4/13 to be exact), I offered up an "Ask me anything" opportunity. You all asked such interesting things and I'm honored to have a chance to address them (albeit slowly). If you missed the other previous answers, feel free to click HERE for part 1, click HERE for part 2, and click HERE for part 3 which was one of my most popular posts ever (thanks, Z for the shout out). Today's question comes from Kimberly at Healthystrides. Don't know Kimberly? You definitely need to check out her blog. She's truly a remarkably amazing person with a great sense of humor!
Here's what Kimberly commented, "I want to know ... how much you love me? Ha! Just kidding. What I really want to know is how you stay so positive. You are always such a (much needed) source of optimism and encouragement, which I admire. Also, what's your dream destination race?"
First, I love you and your blog sooo much! I'm beyond thankful our paths crossed a year ago at the running store and that we have stayed in touch. I thoroughly enjoyed out Ladies' Night Out a few weeks ago - totally great to spend some time chatting and getting to know you better. You're amazing - I hope one day that I can be half as successful as you are!!!! (Now, pay me the $20 you owe me for saying such nice things about you!!!! WINK!)
Second, thanks for the nice compliment. I definitely try to be optimistic. Can I share a quick story? Too bad here goes - skip ahead if you wanna! Everyone at work will say that I am one of the most upbeat and energetic people they know. I'd say it's pretty unanimous at work that I might be one of the most "manic" people around. So . . . in the summer of 2009 when I had coordinated and then got roped into participating into the 10K training program everyone (including myself) discovered a completely different side of my personality. The program leader who is also my running mentor "M" will tell everyone still to this day "Wells L is sooooo incredibly positive and upbeat about every aspect of life, but bring on the walking or running and she turns into this incredibly negative person." It's true - back then I was even blown away by the level of negativity I brought to the whole walking/running thing. Today . . . I have a much more positive outlook on it . . . . until about mile 9 or 10 then the negativity comes back (just ask "L" or "C" - it gets REALLY ugly!!!!). No idea why the ugly negative monster reared it's head back then, but other than that - yeah, I'm generally try hard to be a source of encouragement and motivation for others. I really thrive on helping people feel as if they can accomplish their goals or to help them get past a bad day or hurdle. I think it this upbeat spirit came from teaching middle school which is 20% education and 80% cheerleader/entertainer!!! So back to the real question - how do I stay so positive, hmm - well, I guess my trials compare to so many others in the world an that no matter how bad things "feel" - they're only temporary. I have really found the world has soooo many negative people that I just feel obligated to be as positive as possible to counter all that ugliness!
Finally, you want to know what my dream destination race would be. That's a REALLY GOOD question that I feel terribly unprepared to answer. I'm still SO new to racing that I don't know a lot of destination races. Does running in Madrid with you count? Okay - we would need a buy one get one free sponsor for that. In the last few months a lot of people have talked about how great the Nike Women's Half Marathon is - so that's kind of interesting. I'm pretty excited about Big Sur in November. I hear there is a Marathon Cruise where you get off at the different ports and run 4-6 miles so that by the end of the cruise you do a full marathon. My new bloggy friend "Allie" in MO (who we're going to meet in St. Louis in October) told me about the cruise race. Additionally, Richelle at Running Toward a Higher Calling, has made the Team Ortho races in MN sound pretty fun (still on the maybe in 2012 list). I guess that in leu of knowing a specific race I definitely want to do here are some things I like in a race:
-BIG 6,000+
-Love the all women events (St. Pete's WHM was life changing!)
-Nice temp
-Nice people at the race
-Nice swag
-Spend time with my running buddies ("C" and I had a blast in FL, and the 3 of us had fun in Indy)
So I guess I ask you - what is/are your dream destination race(s)?
This is just my hypothesis, but I think one reason why your mood turns sour during a run is because you've dealt with a lot of pain and injury. How is your foot doing, by the way?
ReplyDeleteThere's a great all-women's event here in the Twin Cities called Women Run the Cities. There's a 10-miler and a 5K race, although I've heard that this year, a 10K is being added. The crowd is small, though... maybe around 1500-2000 participants.
I want to run Twin Cities Marathon next year. That would be my first marathon. I also want to do the Garry Bjorklund Half-Marathon, held the same day as Grandma's Marathon in Duluth, MN. I LOVE Duluth... it's so beautiful. There are other races I want to do, but right now I'm just focusing on all the things I have to accomplish (non-running stuff) this year and doing the few races that I can do.