David Michael Eppens Train: A Runner's Inspiration

Little Brother, Being Amazing

One of the most powerful factors in any runner's performance is inspiration. I firmly believe that any athlete - and runners especially (because I am one) - need to feel inspired to do their very best at any given race/meet/jog/workout. It's what makes you achieve more. It's what makes good runners great. It's what forces us to dig deep into ourselves and find that which we didn't think we had in order to achieve what we thought was impossible. Inspiration is essential.

However, inspiration does not just manifest itself out of thin air. You need to feel inspiration, to experience it - you can't just make it happen. Sometimes it comes from reading a book (or, dare I say it, a blog?), or from watching a sporting event on TV, or from your favorite running song, or watching your favorite athlete, or fear, or...from knowing someone who embodies everything that you wish you could be. And that's why this small little blog post, with it's small (but loyal!!!) following, in it's own small little way is dedicated to one of my biggest running inspirations and one of my biggest fans: David Michael Eppens, little brother, my best friend.




{Whoa guys - be forewarned before you keep going, I've been in varying degrees of bubbly intoxication since Wednesday and I'm already getting a little weepy - this may be a long one...}

The Beginning
When David was just a wee lad, he was not what anyone would call ahtletic. Our parents are both phenomenal runners. MumE has run 5 marathons and DadE's personal record (PR) for a 10K (6.2 miles) is 30:30. It definitely helps (but is not essential) to come from good stock! However, for the first 14 years of his life, David was content to play Star Fox and Mario Kart on his Nintendo 64 and to eat frozen, microwavable corn dogs like it was his mission in life.

I like to think that I had some small hand in the creation of "David: The Runner". When I came home for the summer after my freshman year of college, I found myself bored and restless and disgruntled. I ran every day just to waste some time, and more often than not I could thump Little Brother on the back of the head and convince him that he wanted to bike along side me. I'd also go to the gym to workout when the mood came upon me, and he was always willing to join me.

That summer came and went, but Eppens legend goes that after Ashleigh ventured back to SoCal for her Sophomore year at Concordia, David said to MuM one day, "Mom, will you buy me a pair of running shoes?" Of course, she was thrilled that her slightly chubby son was showing some degree of interest in any type of physical activity, and she bought him some shoes.

And So It Goes...
The rest, as they say, is history. There are too many countless motivational, inspiraction David running stories to share, but I'm going to try to anyway:

He ran his first 5K race in 26:something, and his next in 21:something and only got faster from there. He's been known to collapse on the track from running his heart out mere yards away from the finish line and, while one by one his competitors pass him by, get up and finish the race. He's single-handedly established a track and cross-country program at a small Christian high school in Ogden, Utah (with some help and support from some very inspirational people in their own right.) He joined the Navy to become a Rescue Swimmer, and while in training was dubbed the "Rescue Runner" by his instructors, who made him have a handicap during grueling track workouts because there was no one who even came close to being as fast as my Little Brother.





True Story
One of the primary motivations for me running this stupid marathon is because Little Brother has not. Nothing wrong with a little sibling rivalry, eh? He's ran every distance I ever have faster than I ever could. There is nothing for me to outdo him in except to run farther than he has (although, undoubtedly, sooner or later he will run a marathon and make my time seem embarrassing!) Little Brother - David, to those of you that don't really know him - is a HUGE inspiration in my life. He makes me want to run faster and be better, not just at running, but in everything.

Yesterday, Little Brother married the stunning Suzy. She's a gal so extraordinary that if you don't know her, you should wish that you did. I cannot imagine anyone more suited to spend the rest of her life with my dear Little Brother. I wish them nothing but happiness and blessings and sunshine and good waves and great powder.

I'm sorry I didn't sign your guest book. I love you both more than I could ever say and I'm so proud and happy for the both of you.



Amen.

PS - David, you may be a faster runner, but I'm a waaaaaay better dancer. What are we gonna do with you anyway?

It Was Sublime

Greetings from Zion! I made it into Salt Lake City safe and sound last night and am now happily hiding out on a couch, about to take (another) nap and working to get past this nasty hangover! Ugh...I'm not as young as I once was. After my mini "welcome home" party, I am definitely feeling worse for the wear.

But, I have some happiness to share with you all today! My last workout before I left Hawaii was the dreaded Tuesday Track Day. You all know that Tuesdays are by far my least favorite workout of the week. This past Tuesday, however, something was a little different. I added another 800 to my workout* and I was nervous because I had yet to be consistent even when I was only doing 4x800 and I didn't know how well I was going to do. And how did I do?

1 - 3:34

2 - 3:36

3 - 3:35

4 - 3:37

5 - 3:36

I was so proud of myself! Not only did my times get faster from last week, but I was able to stay consistent! I'm not sure exactly what happened, but I think some of the contributing factors were that 1) I took pressure off myself to hit the 3:30 mark. I just told myself to run hard and stay consistent and that that was more important than my time. Funny how when I changed my frame of mind, the time stayed where I wanted it to anyway! 2) I was very, very well hydrated which I think I hadn't been the last few times I was on the track. 3) I put Sublime on shuffle on the sexy yellow iPod instead of my usual highly motivational tunes. Maybe hearing Bradley sing about 40s and weed kept me calmer? Who knows! But it was amazing to feel like I was showing improvement. Getting a sense of accomplishment is very motivating.

I was travelling all day yesterday so wasn't able to run, and I'm definitely in no shape today, but tomorrow I completely intend to get a good, hilly run in up here in the thin air. I've got MuM and lots of cousins around so I should be able to find a running partner to huff and puff with me. I'll let you know how it goes!


*My track days usually go something like this: 10 minute warm up, 5x800 meters with a two minute recovery time between each 800, and a 10 minute cool down.

Skirt Chasing

Oh yes, here it is. Since the beginning when I knew I was going to start a blog, I knew I was going to write about this. So I'm all abuzz with anticipation (or maybe that's the caffeine...?)

Today's topic is: the running skirt! Brilliant! Here's a crappy photo of me in The Skirt right before it's first trial:



Now, it's a funny thing about skirts. Women have been trying for centuries to not to have to wear skirts. 100 years ago or so, women were shocking the world by wearing pants - and if I'm not mistaken, in many countries and even cultures within the United States, women are still required to wear dresses or skirts.

But, now that most of us with two X chromosomes are free to wear whatever we want from the waist down, we have before us a marvelous opportunity! Thanks to all those brave, bold women who went before us making it so we don't have to wear skirts, we now get to wear skirts! Hooray for choices! Hooray for options! Hooray for being proud to be a girl and being able to wear skirts! I can run in anything I want from my husband's undershirts to my sassy skirt, and to me that is just fabulous.

I purchased my running skirt from Target. It's basic black, is made by Champion, and can be purchased here if you are so inclined. It hits just above the knee and has shorts underneath, a drawstring waist, and a neat little place to stash your house key.

The biggest problem I thought I would encounter is chub rub (for you skinny people out there, this is the chaffing that occurs on your upper thighs when they rub together too much on long runs) but I found that this was not a problem at all and, apart from looking way cuter, the skirt performed just like my go-to black Nike running shorts.

For those of you who have been following this blog for the last couple of weeks, you know that I readily embrace all that is feminine in the stinky, sweaty world of sports. I honestly can't figure out why it's taken me this long to purchase a skirt and sport it. I also did a little research, and found this great article from Runner's World where else, right?) and I really think it's worth reading.

It's written by this gal Kristin Armstrong and she gives a great overview of how the running skirt got started and what it's doing for women who run. Here are a few of my favorite quotes from the article, so if you're in a rush and can't read it, you can still get the gist:

"Her motivation has never been just to look pretty, but to look pretty while kicking butt"

"I believe that a woman is even more powerful when she feels pretty"

"But after years of running, I figured I had earned the right, at least by miles alone, to show some leg"

And here is my favorite, which was the perfect conclusion to a great article and thus a great conclusion to this post as well:

"One of the best things about being a woman today is that we have so many options. Whether we are in the boardroom, on the home front, or on the starting line, we can bring it on like a man, but it doesn't mean we have to look like one."

Amen, sister.

A Note on LSD and the Weekly Weigh-In (a day late)

Greetings! I know, I know. I slacked again. I'm sorry! There were just too many things to do this weekend: sleep! run! movie buffet! sleep! church! beach! So I apologize for not updating as diligently as I should. The upside of that is that I have all sorts of blog fodder for you to chew on, so let's get to it, shall we?

LSD
No, I'm not talking about some psychedelic drug. If you want to read about that, go here. I'm talking about Long, Slow Distance - and it's a necessary component of any running regime, no matter if you're training for a marathon or a 5K.

Sundays are my designated LSD days because church doesn't start until 10:15 a.m. and that means I can sleep in until 7 (yes, that's right. Sleep in until 7. If you're a runner and you also have a life to accomplish during the day, prepare to make some sleep sacrifices.) This Sunday I decided I would leave the dogs behind and run out towards Lanikai Beach Park. I used my sweet Nike+ to guide me and turn around at the 5 mile mark (bonus: the amazing little contraption counted up to 5 and then started counting back down again when I headed toward home. Epic.) I ended my run 1 hour and 25 minutes after I started it. If you do the math (which the amazing does for you!) that's averaging an 8:30 pace. Now, full disclosure: I stopped and walked and stretched it out twice - once right after the turn-around and once when I had to show the gate guard my ID when I got to the gate. Neither time was more than a minute by my estimation. But I may be being generous, next time I just won't walk and then there won't be a problem!

More full disclosure: It hurt. Bad. I felt like jell-o for the rest of the day (albeit jell-o with a great feeling of accomplishment!) So many times while I was trudging along on my way back, all I could think was: "This hurts. My legs hurt. My feet hurt. My left hip hurts. My back hurts. What was I thinking? I am unprepared for this. I'm going to be sooo late for church! How am I only on mile 6? 7? 8? 9? This is ridiculous. I think I'm going to do this for 26? I'm insane. I can't." I think a lot of runners out there know what I'm talking about. It could be a 2 mile run or 20. iPod or not, I couldn't get out of my mind. It was a real struggle mentally. I had a coach tell me once that my body can do so much more than my mind tells me it can. I tried to keep telling myself that, but around mile 7 it wasn't all that much help. Like I've mentioned before: sometimes running just sucks.

"So" you're out there thinking to yourself, "I have indeed been in that running situation. How should I deal next time I'm in agony and feel like quitting?" Well, this is what I did: I tried to counteract the negative thoughts with positive ones. I tried to concentrate on parts of my body that didn't hurt instead of the ones that did. I thought of Billy. I tought of how B.A. I would feel when I was done. I thought of getting to that tree up there. Now that car. Now that instersection.

It still hurt, but somehow, the miles kept falling away, and I kept getting closer to home and now I'm writing this a day later and I'm getting excited just thinking about doing it again. Something in my brain blocks out the hurtful parts and just remembers the motivational parts. The mind is a funny thing.

For those of you out there who don't think LSD is for you, think again. Long, Slow Distance runs are nothing more than longer, slower runs than anything that usually do. Add 1/4 mile or 2 miles...it doesn't have to be major. I found a great article on the LSD run on Runner's World (my go-to source. Can you tell?) Read it here.

And, to wrap it up, here's a shot of my ideal post-LSD meal:



The Weekly Weigh-In
Apres my long run, I stepped on the scale. 139.6. Brilliant! No, wait....something is amiss. I weighed myself on Tuesday and it's only Sunday. NO way did I lose 5 lbs in as many days. Talking to beautful Teresa, she informed me that the best way to weigh yourself is as such:

*once a week
*first thing in the morning
*you can pee first, but NOTHING else

It's not really fair to weigh myself after I've sweated out all my water weight, I guess. "But, but, but..." I lamented, "That's when I'm the skinniest, is after my long run!" Doesn't count. Skewed reading. Boo. So on Tuesday Morning, I'm going to try again. First thing. Before a run. We'll see how my ego takes it. I'll keep you posted.

All in all, I'm feeling great about training. Taking 2 days off in a row last week felt like heaven and I'm glad my motivation is staying up. I'm looking forward to training at altitude this week when I head to Utah for my little brother's wedding! I haven't run in Utah in years, it seems. I'm sure my beautiful mother will kick my butt and show me how it's done - but I still can't wait!

See you again TOMORROW! (I'm determined!) On Saturday I ran in my new running skirt and I can't wait to talk to you about it! Maybe we can get a discussion going on feminism and athleticism in the 2000s ;) Love it!

Where I Run

It's hard to write about running when you haven't run in 2 days. Kind of leaves me searching for material. I suppose I could talk about the importance of rest and giving your body a break, but instead I'm just going to show you pictures of the places I run, so that when I talk about them, you know what I'm talking about.

My dear friend Flo asked me what my favorite terrain to run on was. The answer is dirt roads. Or old gravel roads that are just the right amount of packed down. But mostly dirt roads. The are the BEST terrain to run on, because they're kinder on your joints than pavement, but offer more scenery than a track.



See what I mean? This is a road by my house that I've never encountered another human being on yet. It's also a favorite place to walk the dogs becasue I can let them off their leashes to burn off steam without worrying about them chasing after the neighbor's kids. The problem with this road is that it's not nearly long enough :( It goes for about a half mile or so and then stops. It's a bummer, but I still like to encorporate it into some of my longer runs because it's so stinkin' pretty. Some more views:







If anyone out there knows of a dirt road in Hawaii that's not ridiculously hilly and that goes on for a long, long way, please let me know. If it's anywhere close to me, I'd be there all the time.

Sometimes, however, circumstances require one to run on a track, and if you must do so, the track at Camp Smith is pretty much the best you're gonna get as far as views go:



See? Pretty not bad huh? If you look closely, you can see the Arizona Memorial down there. The track is awful, no matter what, but running here sure beats the heck out of running on a track where bleachers and the parking lot are the only landscapes to gaze upon.

And then there's this:



This is Jay, myself and Little Brother in the middle of a run when we were all in Air Crew School in Pensacola, FL. Why did we stop to take a picture while we were running? Who knows! But it sure was fun. I'm sure many of my Navy friends remember without a great deal of fondness the Pensacola beach runs, but we were those crazy knuckleheads that actually went out and ran more just for the hell of it. I guess the point of this picture is: if you live near a large body of water, it's silly not to go out and run next to it. Beach trails are usually great, and running on hard sand is good for you, I hear. If you're really ambitious, you can run on the soft sand and that is one heckuva workout!

Anyway, so there's some snap shots of my little running world. I'll be back at it tomorrow with a run to talk about (and a new haircut to boot!) so I will see you then!

145

There. I said it. When I stepped on the scale on Tuesday, 145.0 is what it told me. Awesome. I'm 5'5" and 145 lbs. So now you all know - I'm all fully disclosed on the blog.

The stupid scale was purchased at Target this past weekend, and even though I had it on hand, it took me almost 2 days to work up the courage to step on it. How stupid is that? Very stupid. It's not all my fault, though. I wanted a pretty teak scale from Bed Bath & Beyond, but I ended up opting for cheap and convenient. I think it would have been easier if it was a prettier thing to look at. It just seems so....industrial? sad? ugly? I think I need to put stickers on it or paint it or something to make it look better so it's not just big ugly numbers staring up at me. Grrrrr...

Now the important thing will be to keep stepping on it every week. I've decided that Sunday mornings after my long runs is when I feel skinniest, so hopefully that's when I will be lightest. I'll let you know how it goes. This scale that I purchased also supposedly tells me what percent of my body is fat (24.6%) but I'm not sure I trust it as a reliable source. I suppose I will start to trust it as a reliable source as Operation: Sexy Bitch continues and the numbers and percents start heading on the decline.

Facing Reality
It's a rough thing when you come to the awful truth that what you have convinced yourself to be reality is, in fact, 26.2 miles or so away from the truth. Like when you step on a scale for the first time in months and realize you've gained 8 pounds. Or when you get a Nike+ thingy to plug into your amazing iPod to track your progress on your runs.



My MuM warned me: When I told her I was getting a Nike+ to track my mileage so I know for sure how far I've gone and how fast I've run, she said, "Don't do it! It sucks knowing that you're not running sub-8 minute miles anymore!" And it's so, so true. I used it for the first time yesterday on just a little run, and while it wasn't awful (I ran four miles averaging 8:30) it sure felt like I was moving a lot faster. It's very easy to get disheartened and want to quit when I start thinking about how fast I used to be and how much work it's going to take to get back there. It seems so much more simple to just not even try and to reflect back on the glory days rather than try to redeem them a little bit.

On the other hand, it's important for me track my miles accurately. It would a bad thing if I thought I was logging way more miles than I really was. I'd be in a sad, sore, bad way come December 12. So, the best thing is to just suck it up - I need to get over it, stop feeling sorry for heavier, slower self and just get out there and keep running, because that's the only thing that's going to make the scale or my new little personal trainer tell me what I want to hear (or see...whatever.)

On Another Note
During my run yesterday, my left foot starting cramping soooo badly. Usually I can run through just about any little ache or side stitch, but this really hurt. Like knives in my arch with every step. So I stopped and massaged it and made a note to myself to eat more bananas for potassium. Well, when I told this little story to my beautiful friend Teresa, she told me that she had heard once from a nutritionist that cucumbers actually have even more potassium than bananas. Who knew?! "So", I said to myself, "I'm going to have to start adding more cucumbers into my diet" and that got me thinking...I've been eating pretty much the same 5 meals every day since Billy left. I bet that leaves me lacking in certain nutrients, vitamins, what have you. Now I'm no pharmacist, but I figured it might be a good idea to start taking a multi-vitamin every day. So I started this morning.

I'm sure this is just the first out of many little running "injuries" that I'll face in the course of training. It seems like this is going to force me into being more conscious of what kinds of foods I'm putting in, and not just purely concerned about calories (luckily, cucumbers are a remarkably low-cal food)

Tuesday Track Day and Some Fun ;)

Alright, before we get to the fun, lemme get the business out of the way. I repeated last week's track workout, but this time I ran it on the track at Kaneohe Bay (where we live). This track is a traditional quarter-miler and is like running on a gravel road. It was kind of loose in some places, and I could feel that my traction wasn't so great, but that still doesn't excuse my poor performance. Here are my 800 splits and the accompanying music that was blastin' in my noggin:

1 - 3:28 {Holla Back Girl - Gwen Stefani}

2 - 3:33 {Sunday Morning - No Doubt}

3 - 3:40 {The Sweet Escape - Gwen Stefani}

4 - 3:47 {Hey Baby - No Doubt}*

I had a 2-minute rest period in between each 800 and of course, a 10 minute warm-up and cool down (that's almost exactly how long it takes me to run to the track/back home from the track

*(Notice the theme for the day? There's a reason behind that. Read on...)

Ugh. I felt so good on the first 2. I was flying. Solid 7 minute mile pace and I wasn't even hurting so bad. What happened? No idea. What's worse is that my 400 splits on my 3rd & 4th were both right on the money at 1:45. I guess it's not so bad, since I was still way faster than the goal of an 8:00 mile pace, but there's nothing worse than having a bad workout. Except of course, not working out at all, and that's what almost happened.

My Day
It was one of those crappy days. It was Tuesday after a long weekend, the dogs kept me up pretty much all night, I had a less than enjoyable dr. appt in the afternoon (ladies, you understand this), the world was not on my side. How much did I want to go run? And on a track, no less! There's hardly words to describe my lack of enthusiasm. But, I felt like I had slacked off over the weekend and needed to get this dreaded workout knocked out. So I decided I needed to make it fun. So, I thought I'd try to get a little glam:



This is me with freshly applied mascara, eye liner, and lipstick to go on my run. You know what? It worked! Somewhere in there when I was getting "dolled up" I started to get kind of excited about my run. Crazy, huh? It made it fun, and I stopped thinking about how tired I was, how not in the mood I was and how unexcited I was about my run for long enough to get me out of the door and get moving. Most of you out there know that getting out the door and moving is half the battle. Once I had momentum going, it wasn't bad at all. It was SUPER hot even at 5:30 this afternoon when I headed out my front door, so by the time I made it to the track I'm sure all of it had been licked or sweated off. But I made it there and I did my workout and even though it wasn't what I wanted it to be, I can still say that I did it. And that's what it's about. I'll have more crappy workouts, but I guess you know what they say: "A bad day running is still better than a good day doing anything else"


Ok, no one says that. A bad day running sucks. Hell, sometimes a good day running sucks. Whatever...my point is, if you can make something completely dreadful just a little bit lovely, it might help you make it through whatever said dreadful task is. Moving on:

The Need For Speed:



Don't these glasses just make me look faster? MuM sent them to me at my request that she use her sweet sunglasses hook-up to get me some super light-weight, sporty, speedy, polarized running glasses. She sent me these. They are Smith "Baseline Square" in Dark Ale. They make me happy. They are ridiculously light-weight - to the point where I forgot they were even on. If you're in the market for a new pair of athletic sunglasses, these come highly recommended by this gal. If I'm not mistaken, the lenses can even be changed out for ones of a different color, if you are so inclined. Pretty sweet.

I'll leave you with this parting glimpse at another one of my running heroines. I can't believe I didn't mention her when I was writing about glam running before. She was the original glam girl on the track. Nevermind that she was probably using all sorts of steroids (they didnt' test back in the 80s like they do now). She's still B.A. And amazing. And stunning. And fast.

Flo Jo!







If Florence Griffith Joyner wears lipstick on a track well, then, it's alright with me!