Recently a friend of mine, Chris (@mrhump), introduced me to Twitter and @dailymile. He told me about the support and motivation he had gotten from people through those channels.
At first, this seemed strange to me! Why would a bunch of people who don't know me, and has most likely ran way more miles than me, care about my training? Why would someone in California or New York, who I've never met and who just finished running 10 miles, care that I just ran 5 (at a way slower pace)? Why would people take time out of their very busy lives to give me advice or tell me what a great job I'm doing?
This was sure to fail!
I took his advice and joined both Twitter and DailyMile. I already have facebook and I'm posting my training there. My family is supportive and my friends are letting me know how bad my knees are going to get and all of the better things that I could have done with those 2 hours instead of running. So, why do I need another form of social media, much less two of them, in my already busy life?
The answers came quickly! People who I had never met before not only didn't mind giving advice, they seemed eager to give it. They not only cared that I had ran 5 miles, they seemed excited for me. When my bad luck struck (bilateral hip stress fractures) they were there to assure me that I would recover and be back to running in no time. People, who have never met me, are taking time out of their busy day to care! If only we could get the rest of the world to care this much the world would be a much better place!
I just want to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you for your support, your advice, your time and most of all your friendship. I think the impact of social media on training, and life in general, is undervalued by many (including myself at one point in time). I also want to thank @mrhump for getting me started, and for all of the support and advice he has sent my way!
Recently my brother, who lives 7 hours away, began a C25K program and I was able to introduce him to DailyMile as well. DailyMile is now allowing me to give him the support and advice that I can't give in person because we live so far away. Many of you have already welcomed him to DailyMile, and I thank you!
I found the answers to the question that I asked, why would people care? Because the running community is like a family, and they do care!
What impact has social media had on your training/life?
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Getting started
This is my first blog post ever. I thought it would be a good way for me to log my experiences while training for my first marathon. So, here it goes....
Back in August of 2010 I decided I wanted to start running. I wanted to get healthy and I was tired of being out of breath and tired all of the time. I really knew nothing about running other that how much I hated it. The last time I ran was at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) in 2006. I was in basic training for my job and it was a requirement. I ended up with severe knee pain, in both knees, and barely finished the academy (after cortisone shots in both knees). I swore I would never run again! So why did I have this sudden desire to run again? I still can't answer that!
So I began doing research, I read blogs, subscribed to websites, watched videos and asked questions on forums. By the end of September I felt that I was ready to begin my journey into running. I set my sights on running a 5K at the end of October and even went ahead and registered for it.
Unfortunately my job sent me back to FLETC for a 3 week training class and I missed the 5K. While I was there I continued running. At some point on one of those runs a thought crossed my mind "I want to run a marathon"! I researched it and found a 16 week plan for beginners who want to run a marathon. Then I found a marathon near my hometown, the Mercedes Marathon in Birmingham, AL.
I began the training program, slowly increasing my weekly mileage and my weekend long runs. Slowly I fell in love with running, my body felt great! I couldn't wait for my next run, it's all I could think about.
Sometime in Novemeber, around Thanksgiving, my ankles began hurting. On one run, it was supposed to be a 5 miler I think, I had to quit after just over a mile, I had been running for right at 2 months and had never quit a run before, but there was no continuing. Over the next week or so I took it easy and slowly began to run through the ankle pain.....and then......the knee pain hit!
Yes the same knee pain that made me swear never to run again was back. I thought I was doomed, I thought this was the end of my plan to run a marathon! Luckily it wasn't, this time I was able to work through it, it hurt, but I worked through it!
Finally the end of December came, my mileage was increasing and I finally felt like "I CAN DO THIS!". I was running farther than I had ever imagined that I could, I was pushing myself harder that I ever thought I could, and I was loving it!
On my last run, January 2, 20011, I made it 18 miles. 18 MILES! I was so happy, I couldn't believe that the guy who swore he would never run again just ran that far! I took my normal after long run ice cold bath, but this time something was different. This time I could barely walk afterwards, this time there was pain in my hips, not soreness but PAIN! I knew something was wrong!
Initial X-rays gave me some hope, there was no signs of any fractures and the doctor started treating me for inflamation. Over the next couple of weeks the pain never went away and so this time I had an MRI. The MRI results were not as good! Stress fractures in both hips was the diagnosis, 6 weeks recovery time!
I was crushed. I wanted this marathon bad! I could almost taste it! I was less than a month away from it and now I can't run it. The doctor assured me that I would be running again, he even said he had no doubt I will run a marathon, this was good news. He said I can still cross train while recovering, biking and swimming are ok!
And so, while my quest to run THIS marathon has ended, a new quest to recover and bounce back from this injury has began!
Back in August of 2010 I decided I wanted to start running. I wanted to get healthy and I was tired of being out of breath and tired all of the time. I really knew nothing about running other that how much I hated it. The last time I ran was at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) in 2006. I was in basic training for my job and it was a requirement. I ended up with severe knee pain, in both knees, and barely finished the academy (after cortisone shots in both knees). I swore I would never run again! So why did I have this sudden desire to run again? I still can't answer that!
So I began doing research, I read blogs, subscribed to websites, watched videos and asked questions on forums. By the end of September I felt that I was ready to begin my journey into running. I set my sights on running a 5K at the end of October and even went ahead and registered for it.
Unfortunately my job sent me back to FLETC for a 3 week training class and I missed the 5K. While I was there I continued running. At some point on one of those runs a thought crossed my mind "I want to run a marathon"! I researched it and found a 16 week plan for beginners who want to run a marathon. Then I found a marathon near my hometown, the Mercedes Marathon in Birmingham, AL.
I began the training program, slowly increasing my weekly mileage and my weekend long runs. Slowly I fell in love with running, my body felt great! I couldn't wait for my next run, it's all I could think about.
Sometime in Novemeber, around Thanksgiving, my ankles began hurting. On one run, it was supposed to be a 5 miler I think, I had to quit after just over a mile, I had been running for right at 2 months and had never quit a run before, but there was no continuing. Over the next week or so I took it easy and slowly began to run through the ankle pain.....and then......the knee pain hit!
Yes the same knee pain that made me swear never to run again was back. I thought I was doomed, I thought this was the end of my plan to run a marathon! Luckily it wasn't, this time I was able to work through it, it hurt, but I worked through it!
Finally the end of December came, my mileage was increasing and I finally felt like "I CAN DO THIS!". I was running farther than I had ever imagined that I could, I was pushing myself harder that I ever thought I could, and I was loving it!
On my last run, January 2, 20011, I made it 18 miles. 18 MILES! I was so happy, I couldn't believe that the guy who swore he would never run again just ran that far! I took my normal after long run ice cold bath, but this time something was different. This time I could barely walk afterwards, this time there was pain in my hips, not soreness but PAIN! I knew something was wrong!
Initial X-rays gave me some hope, there was no signs of any fractures and the doctor started treating me for inflamation. Over the next couple of weeks the pain never went away and so this time I had an MRI. The MRI results were not as good! Stress fractures in both hips was the diagnosis, 6 weeks recovery time!
I was crushed. I wanted this marathon bad! I could almost taste it! I was less than a month away from it and now I can't run it. The doctor assured me that I would be running again, he even said he had no doubt I will run a marathon, this was good news. He said I can still cross train while recovering, biking and swimming are ok!
And so, while my quest to run THIS marathon has ended, a new quest to recover and bounce back from this injury has began!
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