REALITY RUNNERS - PART 1

Nothing new to report today, so I thought I'd share another article I wrote for the MDRA magazine. Last time I introduced 7 runners I'll be tracking throughout the year. Below is the first installment of that series.

Reality Runners by Chad Austin

This is part one in a new ongoing series we’re publishing this year. In the last issue of RunMinnesota we introduced you to seven runners we’ll be tracking throughout the year. In each issue we will feature one or two of the runners and give brief updates on the others. In this issue we’re featuring Karen Spandl who is Boston-bound after 33 years of running and Amanda Bowman who missed all of the 2006 racing season due to injuries.

In this day and age when it seems like every new runner wants to run a marathon four months after their very first run, Karen Spandl took a different approach. She waited 31 years before making her marathon debut. At the age of 12, Karen decided to go out for the track team. Not knowing what events she would like, she figured just logging some miles would put her ahead of the game. She was hooked from the start and said “I found that I really enjoyed taking off, by myself for a run. That is when I was in my true element. Every summer, my miles increased more and more. I found myself running in rain, sleet, snow or 30 mph winds.”

Karen’s early training paid off as she began setting school records and eventually won a state title as part of a mile relay team. After high school she was recruited to run cross-country and track at Minnesota State University-Mankato. Even though Karen got married after one year of college and had a beautiful baby girl two years later, she always came back to the track to run and compete.

In the 20 years following college, Karen continued to run a lot of miles, but she never had the urge to race; “I loved the carefree attitude of running for my health. It was stress-free, as no one’s training schedule dictated my route, distance or speed. Self-satisfaction and the “high” I got from running was all I needed to keep me feeling content. Running was the one time during the day that I couldn’t get interrupted by any demands.”

Like for many people, the 20 years after college proved to be very busy for Karen as she gave birth to two more boys, started a career and went to graduate school. Then the children’s activities were becoming more and more time consuming. Karen had to squeeze in runs between practices, meets, and games.

Then in 2004, it happened. Karen met another hockey mom who ran half and full marathons. As they say, “Misery loves company.” Her new friend tried to convince Karen to run a marathon with her. She said, “I was not sold on the idea of running a marathon. But, I realized deep down in my heart, it was always a dream of mine.” In addition to being a dream, Karen found another reason to train for her first marathon; she needed an emotional outlet, stating, “I suddenly found myself single, after being married for 25 years. Running became cheap therapy!”

Karen decided on the inaugural Fargo Marathon in 2005. Like all sane runners, she promised herself that it would be a one-time thing; she would run one marathon, accomplish her dream and retire from marathons. Of course, her new running friends knew different, telling her that she’d be hooked. They were right and they were part of the reason Karen was hooked. “I had so much fun during that marathon and the training leading up to it. I was in awe with the support and friendships that developed from this kind of competition. It was completely different from my previous years of competition,” she said.

Karen ran just under 4:07 in her first attempt at the distance. In 2006, she set her sights on qualifying for the Boston Marathon at the Twin Cities Marathon. Needing a 3:50 marathon to meet her age-group standard, Karen improved by exactly 20 minutes, running just under 3:47. As a result, her third attempt at the distance will be in Beantown this year.

As many Minnesota runners have discovered, training through the winter for an April marathon can prove to be quite challenging; falling temperatures/rising mileage, shorter days/longer long runs, more and more snow/fewer and fewer runners on the roads. It can be a daunting task. Karen feels confident that even though she didn’t get in as much speedwork as she would have liked, she did put in the miles necessary to run as fast as her qualifying time. She’d like to average 8:30/mile pace to finish in 3:43 and set a PR along the way, something she’s done in every race she’s entered since her return to competitive running.

Whether or not Karen keeps her PR string alive at Boston won’t affect her view of life and running, she said, “I have come to realize that running is just a metaphor for life. Some days it is easy and the sun is shining with the wind on your back. Other days, it can be a hard run, up hill, with lots of aches and pains and the rain is hitting you in the face. But, whatever the day brings, I will always run to continue to find out who I am. I just keep enjoying and appreciating my physical health and thank God for the ability to run and still enjoy it. If Boston turns out to be my day for a disappointment, so be it. There will always be another race and another challenge!”

In our next issue, we will let you know how Karen did at Boston.

Amanda Bowman, 27, of Circle Pines started running in 2004. As with many new runners, she was hooked from the start and couldn’t get enough. That first year, she entered several 10K and half marathon races and even a 20 miler. After placing in her age group at some of the smaller races, she was eager to see what was in store for 2005. Little did she know that a series of injuries awaited her just around the corner.

When Spring 2005 rolled around, Amanda’s eagerness got the best of her and she over-trained. First, it was her IT band. After getting that in-check with the help of a chiropractor and some stretching exercises, she thought she was on the mend. But then she started feeling soreness in her right quad and hamstring. This time she said, “Since I was out of money, I kept up my stretches, used my foam roller and ran twice a week. This strategy worked and with the support of MDRA’s Fall Marathon Training group, I successfully completed the Twin Cities Marathon in 3:49.”

After the marathon, things got even worse as 2006 turned out to be a yearlong roller coaster ride of emotions. The pain in Amanda’s right leg continued and she searched desperately for a cure or, at the very least, a cause. After several chiropractor, physical therapist, and orthopedist appointments, she walked away hopeful, but ended up broken hearted. Even a trip to the Mayo Clinic, as part of their Runner’s Program, didn’t provide the answers Amanda was looking for. After being observed on a treadmill, the physical therapist said the position of her hips was very restrictive and caused her right knee to tilt inward and her right foot to point outward. Fixing that would make the problem worse, since it wasn’t her natural movement. Again, she left feeling very disappointed, since she wasn’t told my pain could be fixed.

By now, Amanda was becoming emotionally and physically tired from all her attempts and failures to run. She made the difficult decision to skip Grandma’s Marathon. Given the pain she was in, she just wanted to get back to pain-free running and experiencing a “runner’s high” again. She said, “I remember feeling so powerful and confident. I could go as fast as I wanted and run for miles and miles. I got in my groove and nothing could stop me. What will it take for me to experience that happiness again?”

Well, with a new year, there’s new hope. Recently, a friend insisted that Amanda see one last chiropractor, Dr. Steven Moe. This time she arrived at her appointment with absolutely no expectations, but left with a heart full of hope. After an hour of balancing on a Bosu ball and standing on one foot while tilting her head, the doctor came to the conclusion that the entire right side of Amanda’s body was weak. With the help of some strength exercises and balance drills, along with some soft tissue work by Dr. William Carter, Amanda is on the road to recover. She said, “I have a long way to go before I’m 100%, but I think I’m getting closer. When I run, I take it slow, as speed is not a priority. I only wish I could go further than 5 miles without having something in my right leg hurt.”

To prove that Amanda is determined to accomplish her goals, she has signed up for Grandma’s Marathon again. In our next issue, we’ll see how well she’s progressing.

Braden Beam, 40, of St. Louis Park is currently training for his first Ironman. Most of his training throughout the winter was of the aerobic variety, which he describes as the easy, boring, uninteresting base training stage. For a Minnesota Ironman-in-training, that means hitting the pool 2-3 times per week, including swims up to two miles, biking on the indoor trainer a couple of times a week, including an intense class, and running 20 miles per week. Then, throw in lifting once a week and yoga twice a week, just for good measure.

Braden started to ramp up his training in April, especially his bike. Given that half of his race will consist of time on his bike, Braden will spend the next few months focusing on improving that leg of his triathlon. Coincidentally, April is also when his life began consisting almost exclusively of work and exercise, with a small smattering of social activities. Such is life for someone planning to complete an 11-13 hour event, four months away.

Last August, Kerry Rosane, 26 of Oronoco gave birth to her first child. Now she feels in better shape than ever and is eager for the spring racing season, so she can prove it. She has two marathons and two half Ironmans on her schedule for the year.

If the time crunch of a baby and training weren’t hard enough, Kerry has to deal with the fact that her husband is training for an Ironman. As Braden pointed out, it’s not really a big deal in the middle of winter. However, with spring in the air, triathletes are usually eager to get out on their bikes, for long periods of time.

While Kerry is confident about her fitness, it hasn’t come without complications throughout the winter. She dealt with lower back problems, as well as a sick child, which made getting in her training more difficult. She said, “Some days I wish I were not training but rather just working out to work out. I think I would get less frustrated when I don't get in quality workouts.”

Marc Windahl, 41, of Fargo, ND is in the middle of two large goals; 1) running his first marathon in May and 2) continuing a weight loss plan that has seen him lose 50 pounds in the last ten months.

Training for the Fargo Marathon has been up and down, including a health scare and the passing of a kidney stone. After getting a clean bill of health, Marc was back on track with his weekly mileage and long runs. Like most first-time marathoners, he admits to having fears and doubts about his ability to run 26.2 miles. He said, "I keep telling myself that a little pain now with long training runs will let me accomplish it
with less pain in May."

With the help of his training, his weight is still slowly coming off. "It seems to plateau and then drop. The main thing is to keep focused on the long-term and keep plugging away," he said. He plans to be below 220 pounds for the first time in 15 years when he steps to the line on May 19th.

Keenan Robbins, 23, of Mankato was hoping to return to a "decent level" of running this spring. Unfortunately, his indoor track season at Minnesota State-Mankato was non-existent. He said, "I just didn't get in the proper work that would leave me feeling confident and ready to race. I don't like to hit the track without a solid foundation of rhythm runs and hills, because I feel I need a solid muscular and aerobic foundation to prepare myself for the harder work on the track."

Keenan, who left a job with Nike in order to return to MSU has recently decided to return to Nike and move back to the Portland area. He stated, “John Truax at Nike is the driving force behind a lot of great things in Grassroots Running right now – things that are real, authentic, and full of passion for the sport. I felt it essential to be involved.”

The good news is Angie Voight, 30, of Minneapolis is fresh off a 2:58:13 PR at the Chevron Houston Marathon in January. The bad news is she's still 11 minutes away from her goal of qualifying for the Olympic Trials Marathon. On the bright side, Houston was run on less than ideal training. After about a month of solid mileage, Angie's knee began giving her problems. To hold it in-check, she began running every few days and then taking a few days off. Eventually she wasn't running at all. After taking two weeks completely off, Angie found herself only four weeks away from the race. "I had decided that I would cancel my trip to Houston because I didn't think I could finish the marathon or worse yet, that I would embarrass myself with my finishing time," she said. At the last minute, Angie changed her mind. For the race, she went out slowly, tried to stay relaxed and did not worry about her time. In the process, she learned this lesson, "I guess you don't always need ideal training to run a PR."

There you have it, part one of our yearlong series. Check out our next issue where we’ll feature two more runners, in addition to updates on the others.