Mental Toughness

I have heard over and over that "you have to be born a runner, you can't just become a runner." Well, I beg to differ. Up until I graduated from my undergrad, I hated running. I thought running was a form of punishment. I grew up playing soccer and basketball, I didnt' know what it meant to be a long distance runner. Growing up, my dad had me doing sprints if I missed a shot in basketball. If we had a horrible game, we would most likely have a sprinting practice the following day. In college, the most common phrase out of Fessler's mouth was, "Sprint". Even though you had to be in shape and have the endurance to play 90 minutes of college soccer, it was still a game of mini-sprints. I never thought running longer than the length of a soccer field could be fun and challenging.

I got out of college, in route to grad school at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, and I suddenly became bored. I didnt' know how to NOT be an athlete after being a multiple sport athlete for four years in college. I knew grad school would be time consuming and challenging, but I needed something more... I needed a challenge physically. I came up with the crazy idea of running a full marathon...yes... 26.2 miles of pure HELL. Why did I think I would want to take on this challenge, I have no idea. The only one who believed in me was my dad. He said I could do anything if I put my mind to it. When I told him I wanted to train for a full marathon, and run it that fall, he said, "Shabba, you can do it, running is a mental sport, and no one can tell you its impossible." So I started training for my first marathon June 2004, and the race was the end of Sept, in Omaha, NE (I know, it sounds boring to run in Omaha, NE, but with grad school, I had to make sure it was a local race in case I had a lot of school work and clinicals). On July 28, 2004, I officially registered for the 2004 Omaha Marathon.

Wow, what the hell was I thinking? I hated running. Running was the worst idea I ever could have come up with. Coming from the medical field, I had to find out some answers about running, and if it was phsycially possible for me to run this great of a distance. With my little knowledge on slow-twitch and fast-twitch muscle fibers, I started researching these two to learn more. Our bodies are made up of different types of muscle fibers, all of which rely on different energy systems. Slow twitch fibers, as the name suggests, contract more slowly than fast twitch muscle fibers and they can contract for a longer period of time. We often call these 'endurance' muscles because they're great for aerobic activities that require endurance like running, cycling and swimming. In general, many of us will have about 50% slow twitch fibers and 50% fast twitch fibers, although it will differ between individuals. Successful long-distance runners will often have more slow twitch fibers while sprinters or bodybuilders will often have more fast twitch fibers. So I'm thinking, wow, I probably can complete a marathon. I had no idea how to train for something insane as this, so I googled "marathon training" and picked the first training program that came up.

My training went really well up until the beginning of August, when I learned that my father was killed in a plane crash. I immediately stopped training, and decided to focus on school and grief. But the more I sat around, the crazier I went. My father believed in me, and told me that I could run a marathon if I really wanted to. So the training continued, on very little sleep, very little food, and lack of focus. But running was what kept me sane... my dad kept me focused enough to finish the training, and complete my first marathon. I finished my first marathon in 4 hours 24 minutes. Not to shabby for a first timer who had never run a race in her life!

Marathons became addicting. I signed up for the 2005 Omaha Marathon, trained hard, got to mile 17 and had to drop out with a broken foot. Mental toughness would not have helped that pain I was experiencing during those 17 miles. 2006 I completed the Twin Cities Marathon with one of my best friends, Scott Zachmann. Mental toughness pushed us through the full race .I become extremely dehydrated, and his back started acting up. But instead of quiting and having our family pick us up, we pushed through the bumps, and we finished strong; 4 hours 16 min. 2007 I completed my third maratho, Grandma's Marathon in Duluth, MN. I had a personal best of 3 hours, 56 minutes, my first sub-4 hour marathon. After that race, I wanted more than just shaving off minutes, I wanted to qualify for Boston Marathon. That same fall, I completed Twin Cities marathon with a great friend, Lindsey Palmer. Now this girl is mentally tough. We had the most miserable weather a runner could ask for. Our training was through every type of weather, and race day came, and we had 80% humidity, and the start of the race was 81 degrees. I had no idea how we were going to complete this race. We took it one mile at a time, and 4 hours and 22 min. later, we finished. And what a great feeling that was. In 2008 Palmer and I started training for the Twin Cities marathon again, and I ran into some health issues. My heart was enlarged, and my heart cavity was too small, thus causing my blood pressure to be off the charts; not something a runner should have happen. I took myself out of the training, and got a bunch of tests done to make sure i was going to be ok. In the end, I learned that my muscle mass of my heart grew too large with all the training I had been doing, that i would have to limit my addiction to one marathon a year, and i would have to slow up my times in order to keep my heart rate in a safe zone. This didnt' make me happy one bit, I tried being tough, and attempted to run some shorter races, but that was not the solution. I knew I had to back off a bit, and not push myself. 2009 I got back at it. I signed up for the Inaugural Minneapolis Marathon, the training was great, and come race day, we had the most perfect weather a runner could ask for. I was at a great pace 8:30 min/mile up until mile 12, I started fading a bit, and then my heart started acting up around mile 17. I had come this far, i was not quitting. I slowed up, and ended up finishing my 5th marathon in 4 hours, 29 min. Not the time I wanted, but I also didn't want to be that runner on the news who had a heart attack and died during the race .I was smart, and my mental toughness got me through the race. And finally this year, I trained for the 2nd annual Minneapolis Marathon, and was all ready to taper off, and my husband and I found out we were expecting... mental toughness could not come into play on this one. That would be called mental stupidity.

Dont' worry, I'm starting to come to my conclusion. So thank you for reading up until this point so far! After learning that we had lost our baby, I had to get back into racing, and at this point in my life, a 1/2 marathon would make me happy. I had signed up for the Inaugural Red White and Boom! 1/2 marathon that was to take place on the 4th of July. I hadn't done a long run for almost 2 months, and mentally, i wasnt' trained to run that type of distance, but those factors were not going to stop me. I showed up race day, with 90% humidity, down-pouring rain, 83 degrees at 6:30am, and a lovely wind that was whipping from the southeast. I thought I was going to die. I got to mile 4, in tears, wishing my husband could come pick me up, and at that point, I remembered my dad, and him telling me I could push through it, and I WILL complete this half marathon. And I did just that. I finished in 2 hours 2 min, and 48 seconds. Not my ideal time, but I would take that time anyday with how much I had gone through during that race.

In my conclusion, what I'm trying to say, is that you are all runners. You have no excuse not to run. Our society is so obese its embarrassing. Running is all about mental toughness. If you put your mind to something, you will succeed. Everyone is born a runner. We all are made up with those slow-twitch muscle fibers that allow us to run a great distance. Now, some of you are thinking, wow, you are nuts, I am not a runner, no, actually i'm not nuts, you are just lazy. Now, if you dont' find running enjoying, than great, go find something to get your ass off the couch and be active. But we have no excuses to be fat. Genes do not fully contribute to obesity. They may play a small role, but you decide who you want to be. You be the change you want to see. You cannot leave it up to other's to workout for you. Its basic science. Increase heart rate + balance diet = healthy human. I'm sick and tired of hearing every excuse in the world to why they dont' run or exercise. If you think you can't, you have failed yourself already. Running (and exercising in general) is mental toughness, and with mental toughness, you can accomplish anything. If you dont' believe me, Sports Illustrated just had a recent article that human beings are genetically created to last long distances because of our up-right position and the make-up of our muscles. So there!

Thank you.