Saturday, July 24, 2010

Knocking on the Gait

My hair is brown. My eyes are green. I'm the slowest runner that you've ever seen.

My name is Clelyn, a Houstonian according to the U.S. Census Bureau, but a California trail runner at heart. The only difference is that I still have a job. Bahdumching! I have been running inconsistently since I was twelve, and consistently for the past year. Because I have finally hit my stride, (pun intended) I deem myself a runner and will be blogging as such from here on.

Running Background-

Races

To be honest, the last time I raced was high school cross country, though not for lack of trying. I inflicted a 3rd degree sprain on my ankle two weeks before the Austin Marathon last year.
See "Weaknesses" section for explanation.

Goals
Houston Marathon. We'll see if I win the lottery.

Strengths
Endurance. I love those nasty, foot-bloodying, headache-inducing, weekend long runs. Those runs are by far my favorite part of training.

Weaknesses
Inexperience/Arrogance. I push myself too hard when I shouldn't, and not hard enough when I should. I somehow think I'm smarter than training plans that real athletes and coaches develop to help disorganized, poor planners such as myself. I'm just now developing a more efficient gait a la Pose Method. I have a lot to learn.

KLUTZINESS. I defy you to show me any human with normal skeletal/muscular function that has fallen from running in a straight line on a surface as flat as Houston's more than me. If there be root or rock, no matter how small, I will find it. A crack in the side walk brings me to my knees- no - brings me to my face. Bloody knees, bruised shins, scraped palms, a black eye, even, are constant proof that I, to put it romantically, run with reckless abandon. I even dashed my marathon hopes last year from tripping over......brace yourself.......NOTHING. This is the one weakness for which I have no solution, but may at least serve some entertainment for this blog in the future.


In future blogs, I plan to post about my training specifics, post interviews with more successful runners than myself, share recipes (don't tell my husband, but I actually can cook), and hope to share my experiences as I work through Jeff Galloway's marathon training plan. Comments, questions, and encouragement are appreciated!

2 comments:

  1. I am going to keep up with you in the hopes you'll inspire me! Very cool-you are a great writer!

    ReplyDelete