A High Knee Walker, a term my best friend, Denise and I made up to describe our unique style of running. No matter how hard & fast we paced ourselves it seems like we were continuously running in place. I’ve spent a whole year running and its simply pathetic how I was never able to improve my average mile of 10 min 30 sec. Simply amazing how I did keep up my endurance & control to finish a Half Marathon in 2 hours and a half.
The beginning as a high knee walker started in mid 2008. I was working out to one of those get off the Couch and Move It programs to train for a 5 mile race in Central Park. My training hit a dead end rather quickly when I became aware of an unexpected health issue and went thru a small surgical procedure to remove some pre-cancer cells in my cervix. 
Denise, my right hand lady, one of the strongest, empowering, inspirational friends in my life decided to run that race in my place with absolutely no prior training in running. Amazing! We found out that my surgery was a success, Dee proudly finished the race and since then we have called ourselves team VICTORY.
Running became a healing process for us. We joined the NY Road Runners Club in 2010. Nine qualifying races later including volunteer work we aimed high and ended up qualifying for the NYC Marathon for 2011. My biggest pride and joy aside from crossing all 9 finish lines was sharing the experience with Michael and the boys. Mike got motivated himself and ran the Father’s day race, my other best friend Vanessa ran the Self Magazine 4 mile race with us and Nathan participated in all the kid races. Nate the Great!
Long distance running became a challenge for me since I have a small bladder. Pit stops at MC D’s and Starbucks and the occasional “Pop a Squat” all became part of my running routine. I’ve come to find out that many professional runners use Adult Diapers, a guarantee run without stops. Hell to the No will I ever submit to that!!
Running is self-gratifying. Everything that goes into the training: the hard work, the regime, the laundry, the sweat, the pounds lost are only recognized with a big banner at the end of the race that says FINISH.
In October 2010, two years after my surgery I completed the Diva Half Marathon in Long Island NY. This race is the ultimate experience and gratification other than receiving a bagel and a banana after crossing the finish line. I’m talking about Dj’s, Firefighters, tutus, feather boas, tiaras, champagne toast and a Blinged out Metal. Super Experience!! Running is beyond therapy. It’s the source that nourishes my soul and physical appetite. I’ve stopped running for about six months now. I decided to slow down my pace and shift my energy at the moment to my new home and life in CT. I will return to running one day but in the meantime this blog and zumba workouts are my replacement outlets.
When I come to NY i will show you a few tricks i learned to improve the length of your stride at first it will slow you down because you have to go slower about what you are doing but once it becomes automatic you will be sure to lose about a 30secs to a min a mile
ReplyDeletesorry thats me Steph, i guess michelle is signed on
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