The Magic of Falling in Love with Running

(AKA: This week's inspiring runners!)

Last Monday we ran 6 miles, two long loops on the bridle path around the reservoir. As crappy as the previous Saturday's 12 miler felt, this 6 miler felt an equal amount magical.

Magical because the rains lifted and the skyline glistened at sundown. Magical because I felt like I was floating. Magical because my head was in the right place. Magical because I was honored to run with Coach Sid.

First, you gotta read this article about Coach Sid and his wife Coach Asteria.

(pic taken after my 16-miler)

Sid and Asteria EXUDE warmth, care, passion, and running. They are two of our Team for Kids coaches and I'll admit, I go to team practices more to be around them than to run. Sid makes you want to move your feet. He discovered running in his late 30's and now in his early 70's he holds several World Championship titles for his age division. Sid's magic is he inspires you to fall in love with running. Asteria's magic is a kick in the ass when you need it (once she saw me walking, furrowed her brown and screamed, "No! Keep going!") and then she'll count it all joy and celebrate with you when you've accomplished your run. And I'll tell you, it feels great that out of 100+ team members, they know MY name.

I found myself running alongside Coach Sid on a magical Monday night. I think my pace was around 9:30. That's fast for me! He asked, "how are you doing?" To which I replied, "good, but am not sure I can keep up this pace." He responded, "We're gonna keep going, I'm right here with you." And keep going we did. He pushed me and I went toe-to-toe. On our final downhill, he coached me through some strides and our final pace was 8:20-something. He said, "see, you didn't think you could do it. you can." To which I replied, "Coach Sid, you have a gift from God and I thank you for sharing it with me." A 70-something ran my butt off and it was great.

Last night, another magical Monday, we ran a very easy 4 miles to recover from our 16 on Sunday. I found myself in Sid's group again, running with him the last 2 miles. We talked about pacing for the marathon. I expressed my worry that I wouldn't finish in under 5 hours and as a result would not get my name in the New York Times. I'd run 11 mins/mile during the 16 and if I do that on race day, my time will be over 5 hours. But I often find myself running between 9:30 and 10 mins/mile on shorter training runs. Sid assured me I'd finish in under 5 hours. He said encouragingly, that I have an easy pace and that many runners would kill for my easy pace. I'm not totally sure what that means as sometimes running doesn't feel all that easy to me, but hey, I'll take it!

Before I knew who Sid was, I'd see him at races, shouting encouragement from the course. I always wanted to know who that guy was, and now I count it magic to know both he and Asteria and magic that I am falling in love with running.