what women want

Last night I was watching What Women Want and I was surprised that I had forgotten how much I liked the advertising pitch for Nike Running that is shown in the movie. During today’s lesson at GOTR the advertising pitch again stuck out in my head. In case y’all aren’t familiar with what I’m talking about, thank youtube for the wonderful footage.

What women want - Nike from Matthew Leem on Vimeo.

Today at girls on the run we talked about advertising, but more specifically supermodels and how the pictures we see in magazines and on TV aren’t always what these women look like in real life. We went through a slideshow of before and after photos of celebrities and popular icons that the girls would recognize, showing them how beautiful these women are before photoshop and airbrushing. Most importantly we talked about the expectations of our own appearances, and that we, and others, shouldn’t be expected to look like the women that we see in magazines. Being who we are is okay, and as one girl pointed out, its easier too, and no amount of airbrushing or photoshop or make up can make us better runners.

As fun as our inside lessons are, listening to these girls build confidence and make connections, it’s the laps outside that I look forward to the most. Although it is sometimes a struggle to get the girls running, it is always exciting to see progress and the self-confidence that comes along with that. This week the girls were faced with a goal of completing 3 miles during practice in preparation for their end of season 5k race in a few weeks. I headed out with two of my favorite little ones (well three if you count Kate’s stuffed dog that she runs with) and we completed our first mile in 12 minutes. With a little bit more nagging from me, we finished the next mile in 15, and aimed for 15 minutes for the last mile. As we set out on our last lap I knew the girls were tired but we continued on, setting small goals like running to the next lamp post and running to the bottom of the hill…and running to the top of the hill… and running to the next lamp post until we found ourselves running all the way back to the finish where we found the entire team welcoming us back with a makeshift finish line. My girls were the only ones to finish 3 miles today, and finishing was all that mattered. I am so proud of the strides these girls are making, physically and mentally towards coming strong and confident women and I can not wait to see them cross the finish line on December 3^rd with smiles and tears at their end of season race.

never underestimate the power of a good run.

or a good playlist. 

happy tuesday y'all.

GOTR

This week I started my first week as a coach for the Girls on the Run chapter closest to Clemson, located at the Anderson YMCA. If you're not familiar with Girls on the Run, straight from their website......

"Girls on the Run is a life-changing, experiential learning programs for girls age eight to thirteen years old. The programs combine training for a 3.1 mile running event with self-esteem enhancing, uplifting workouts. The goals of the programs are to encourage positive emotional, social, mental, spiritual and physical development. The objective of Girls on the Run is to educate and empower girls at an early age in order to prevent the display of at-risk activities in the future. At risk activities include substance/alcohol use, eating disorders, early onset of sexual activity, sedentary lifestyle, depression, suicide attempts and confrontations with the juvenile justice system."

It is my dream to someday work for Girls on the Run in the program development area! This week's lesson was right up my alley (ie. healthy eating!) I loved listening to the girls creative answers to trivia questions about the different food groups, what gives us energy, and what makes us powerful girls. 

One of our questions this week was "What is the doctor recommended running distance that girls our age (8-13) could train for?" As the program suggests, the recommended distance is 3 miles. One of the girls, when learning this answer, scoffed at this and said, 

"Well we can all run 3 miles, that's easy!" 

Her confidence was inspiring. 

Not only was she confident, but she was empowered by her ability to run. 

After one day spent with the girls in Anderson I fully believe in the positive effects that running can have on a young girl's self-confidence and optimism. I am incredibly excited to continue with these girls throughout the 'season' and watch each and every one of them recognize the power that they can achieve through running.

bitch to bacon, year two.

two weeks ago kayla reeves made the trek to the maineland while i ran the old port half marathon. this weekend we made the trip again to participate in the td bank beacon to beach 10k road race. the race allows over 6,000 entrants and minutes after registration opens all the spot are filled. kayla and i were lucky enough to get two spots during those critical moments and it was the first race we ran together since my very first 5k, the clark university 2nd annual green run.

for being one of the most prestigious races in maine, i can't say that this years bitch to bacon was as enjoyable as last year, but despite the heat/humidity and our relaxed attitude, it was a wonderful way to spend my last weekend in maine. its amazing how quickly i've fallen back into the pattern of seeing kayla almost every day and i'm surely dreading saying "see you later" next week, knowing that later will be much longer than a few days.

old port half marathon, in review

march 2nd, 2010 i wrote my first blog post, just three months after my second acl reconstruction, i wrote "today i started training for my first half-marathon." now, almost a year and a half later i can successfully say that my training is over, and i can finally cross that first half-marathon off the list.

in true fashion, i suppose i will start out with my thank yous. i am forever gratefully for my ever-growing cheering squad. i was lucky enough to have three of the most important my people in my life bouncing around the race course, cheering me on throughout the thirteen miles. i am not quite sure my parents fully understand how much it meant to me to see them there at miles one, three, four, four and half, six, eleven and the finish. and of course, papa schutte repping his steps foundation t-shirt was enough to make me blink back the tears when i first spotted them out of the starting line. along with my parents, having kayla reeves along the course was all the motivation i needed to keep my legs moving. although i could have done without the vomit comment at mile eleven, she has constantly been a source of motivation, inspiration and consolation since day one. i can confidently say that without her, i would have given up a long time ago.

the quote at the top of this page states that "if you run, you are a runner. it doesn't matter how fast or how far. it doesn't matter if today is your first day or if you've been running for twenty years. there is no test to pass, no license to earn, no membership card to get. you just run." i also believe this applies to the running community. runners accept and encourage each other regardless, which is why i am so thankful to have met another inspirational runner at acs. elise has been a constant supporter and partner as we simultaneously trained for our first half marathons. although she was not along the race course, her support during the weeks leading up to race day was comparable and i am unbelievably excited for her to experience her first half on august 7th.

the prizes of this weekend include much more than my finishers medal, t-shirt, or pint glass. i have forever joined the 13.1 club and proved to myself that i am capable of things that i, and many others, never thought possible. i tried to look at my second acl tear as a set back, knowing that a set back is only a set up for a comeback. i think it is safe to say that i have made my comeback and i have savored every mile.

this certainly isn't over, there will always be more roads to discover and new races to run.

mind over matter

as i fully expected, yesterdays long run through the backwoods of central maine was just what i needed to boost my confidence for next weekend's race. it still amazes me that in ten miles i was able to cross three towns, seven wild chickens, eight different people that i know, and four red pick-up trucks (including one spotted from the i-95 overpass) i've never run ten miles before. during my training for twin-lights the longest run i completed was eight, so even yesterday i was doubtful about my ability to run as far as i did.

yesterday convinced me that mind over matter is really most important and that by staying positive this week only good things will be in store for me on sunday.

summer in the city

and here it is, my long overdue blog post. seeing how my last post was following boston marathon weekend it is probably time for an update?

where to start... I didn't register in time for the twin lights half marathon in order to secure a t-shirt, so I never registered at all and that plan fell by the wayside. It wasn't a horrible decision because kayla's graduation weekend was hectic enough without attempting to run my very first half as well.

summer is more than halfway over now and the majority of it has been spent in my somerville, ma apartment with the lovely paige begley, hostessing at the russell house tavern in harvard square, and working as an intern on the making strides against breast cancer walk of boston put on by the american cancer society. between the irregular schedules and sometimes late nights at russell house I haven't always been able to get in the best quality runs, but when I do I am often dodging cars and waiting for stoplights. more often than not it is during my runs that I find myself missing home the most.

living just across the charles from historic boston makes it hard not to imagine myself running boston someday (see previous post), but before boston must come a half marathon..and none other than the old port half marathon next sunday! I am beyond both nervous and excited to run my first half in one of my favorite places in maine, and I registered in time to receive the t-shirt which is always an added bonus. kayla reeves will be making the trek to the maine-lands to watch and I know that having her there will only mean positive things, as well as a guarantee of finish-line tears. I have a fresh playlist lined up for next week, a new pair of sneakers in an attempt to alleviate my recent knee pains...all that's left is my daunting 10-mile training run tonight and then a week of mid-distance runs before race day on sunday!

I am happy to be home this weekend for my last long run and I'm confident that running some of my favorite routes will give me the final inspiration and confidence I need to be prepared for next weekend.