11 June 2008

Tag, you're it.....

I've been tagged by Irene, so here goes.

The Rules:

Tagging is easy. Just copy the following onto your post. The rules of the game are posted at the start of your blog post. In this case, I'm asking you 5 questions about running. Each player answers the 5 questions on their own blog. At the end of your post you tag 5 other people and post their names. Go to their blogs and leave a comment on their blogs telling them they've been tagged and to look at your blog for details. When they've answered the questions on their own blog, they come back to yours to tell you. Got that? (Stolen in it's entirety from Magazine Smiles ;)

The Questions:

1. How would you describe your running 10 years ago?
10 years ago I was just getting into running. I had purchased a marathon book in 1995 and had a dream of doing a marathon. But at 225 lbs that didn't seem likely. October 1997 I had started WW for the first time and by March 1998 I'd lost a good amount of weight. I decided to join a group and do the Honolulu Marathon that year. It didn't work out but I had taken my first steps towards becoming a runner.

2. What is your best/worst running experience?
It was actually the same race. My first marathon in 2001. I had joined a group and a friend and I, who was the same pace as me, did the whole thing together. We didn't run the whole way, in fact we walked a lot of it. Towards the end it was hot and it was beginning to feel like a death march. I saw the finish line and was never so happy to see anything in my life. I can still hear the song that was playing when we danced (literally) across the finish line together. I was on top of the world. Only a few short years before I was huge, now I was doing a marathon. I was ecstatic. I got my medal and t-shirt, some nutrition, chatted with some friends, and sat down to relax. Over the next 1/2 hour my plantar seized up and I don't think I walked right for a month. I swore I would never do another marathon. It took me 4 years before I attempted another one, which turned out much better :)

3. Why do you run?
I just love it. I ran in middle school until I injured my knee. When I started running again, 25 years later, it brought back all those feelings from when I was a kid. I still get that feeling every time I head out on a run. I guess running reminds me of childhood and freedom and that's why I continue to do it.

4. What is the best or worst piece of running advice that you've been given about running? When I was starting running, a local coach told me to just keep moving. If I need to take a break either shuffle my feet or walk briskly, but keep moving. Once you stop it's over. I've always followed that advice and it's gotten me through lots of brutal training runs and races. I say it to myself frequently, Just Keep Moving.

5. Tell us something surprising about yourself that not many people would know.
Let's see, I don't want to shock you guys too much ;) I've mentioned in another meme that I worked in an adult theater in my early 20's. I will further say that this theater featured live dancers and I was a cashier for awhile. Later I did other things, but I'm not saying what :)


It's here that I'm supposed to tag 5 people, but everyone has been tagged already. So here's the deal, if you haven't done this meme yet, consider yourself tagged.

2 comments:

Irene said...

Love the advice on #4! I wish somebody would have told me that, too!

Ellie Hamilton said...

OK, I'm in, I came, I saw, I played, I passed it on!

Another week down

 Well the first week back from spring break wasn't bad at all. I was looking forward to the weekend though, so I'm very glad it'...