Attuning to Running: Part 2

This is the second part of my paper, The Road to Running, about how I became a runner. Here is Part 1.

The Road to Running (continued)

Duringthe most inactive years of my life, my brother was becoming a runner when hestarted taking running classes at his university, which required him to participatein 5 and 10K races. After a few semesters, he started running half marathons,and even a marathon, a full 26.2 miles. I admired him for his diligence in histraining and endurance, yet thought he was slightly crazy for running thoseridiculously long distances. Again, I secretly wished that I were a runnerbecause since childhood, my brother and I were competitive and I liked to considermyself the better athlete. I rationalized with myself that I had talentselsewhere; I was the better snowboarder and volleyball player.

Thefirst time I tagged along with my brother to one of his half marathons was thefirst time I ever spectated a race. I was surprised by how exciting it was towatch hoards of sweaty people run by; some wore funny t-shirts, neon coloredtutus, and even a banana costume. It was a spectacle, to say the least. I wasalso surprised by the diversity of runners; the speedy, gazelle-like runnerswere leading the pack, but the vast majority of runners weren’t pro-athletes.There were all different body types and fitness levels represented. Some peopleran at a slower pace while others walked. The one thing everyone had in commonwas the desire and courage to take on the 13.1 mile challenge. After attending mybrother’s races, the question would still linger in my head: Could I run thatfar? Am I physically capable of doing it? When I thought about it too much, thedistance seemed too daunting and I thought I should try tackling a 5K first.

Istarted slowly. When I first started running, I felt that I couldn’t suck inenough oxygen to supply my fatigued muscles. My problem was that I was runningtoo fast. I had to find a pace that I could sustain without losing my breath.At a more relaxed pace, I could just focus on breathing and the steady rhythmof my feet. I found that within the first 10 minutes of a run, I would fallinto a pattern of breathing in synch with the cadence of my footfalls; itstarted to feel natural, and even easy. Next, I focused on how long I couldrun, to ignore the voice in my head that wants to quit. Just run for 15 minuteswithout stopping. Those 15 minutes became 20, then 30 minutes. The first time Iran five miles, in about 50 minutes, I was amazed at myself. Running was stillboth a physical and mental challenge; physical, when my muscles feel weak andfatigued, and mental, when I want to quit mid-run. But the exhilaration ofreaching a personal record and seeing how much I had improved kept me going. Istill wasn’t consistent, and my laziness got the best of me. I found excuses tonot run: I was tired; it’s raining, or too hot, or too cold. The sporadic weekswhen I did run gave me confidence that I couldbe a runner, if only I did it more often.

Attuning to Running: Part 1

I would like to share a paper that I wrote this past semester about my running. The prompt was "write about something that you used to hate, and now love". The first thing I thought to write about was running: I used to hate it! Something changed over the past year, and now I genuinely love it! Writing this paper made me reflect on how my mentality towards running changed. It's a bit long, so I'll post it in three parts. Enjoy :)

The Road to Running

I was in 7^th grade, in physical education class, and we were doing fitness tests all week. How long could I hold a chin-up, how fast could I sprint 50 meters, how far could I stretch towards my toes? I considered myself pretty athletic, not particularly fast, but I enjoyed sports and physical activity. The most dreaded test, however, was the timed one-mile run. One mile seemed so long, and the minutes always seemed to drag on when doing a physically painful activity such as running. Within a minute, my breathing would become labored, my feet felt heavy, and I still had three and a half laps around the soccer field to go. At the end, my lungs felt like they were burning inside, and I would be breathless. My PE teacher told me I had 10 minutes to run the mile. I ran and walked it in twelve, and I didn’t care. I just wasn’t a runner.

Although I probably seemed incredibly unfit when I was in middle school, I actually wasn’t. Throughout my childhood, I spent a lot of time outdoors doing the things I loved: mountain biking, rollerblading, skiing, and hiking. My dad taught me how to ride a two-wheeler by the time I was three years old, and I have a photograph of myself sitting on a bike, smiling with squinty eyes and dimples, with a bandage on my nose from a scrape that I probably got from falling off. I just got right back on and kept going. I loved playing outside, expending my endless energy riding my bike or rollerblading around the neighborhood, and exploring the woods with my friends. As a child, I never thought about exercising; playing was my exercise. It was sheer joy, and it came effortlessly.  

In high school, I tried out for the girls’ volleyball team, made junior varsity, and found a new sport to love. Before then, I had never played a team sport, or any competitive sport for that matter. I had a great coach who was very strict, and she would make us run as punishment. If one teammate was late to practice, the rest of us had to run around the gym until she showed up, and then run some more while the tardy teammate watched. For conditioning, and occasionally as punishment, we had to run up a large hill near our school. Everyone dreaded hills; our thighs would start to ache halfway up, and at the top, we had to do pushups, squats, or block jumps, then walk (or hobble) back down, and do it again and again. When our legs felt like lead as we gasped for breath near the top of the hill, I always plastered a smile on my face and gasped “Keep it up!” to my teammates. Although I dreaded the pain, I kept a good attitude to pump up my teammates and told everyone I loved running hills. They thought I was crazy for being so enthusiastic, but as the team captain, I was motivated to pour all my effort into the workouts, hoping to support my teammates with my energy. By the end of practice, my muscles would feel so fatigued that I could barely walk, but I always felt a great sense of accomplishment after a hard workout. Playing junior varsity and varsity volleyball in high school taught me to be disciplined, tolerate pain and find reward in pushing my physical limits.

I still hated running, though. When I went to college, I didn’t play any sports and barely exercised. Although I had a gym membership, I rarely went to the gym. I hated exercise for the sake of exercise. When I am playing a sport, it is fun because there is a goal other than exercising. Running on a treadmill or an elliptical seemed so monotonous. The few times I dragged myself to the gym, I stared at the clock the whole time, wondering why time was going so slowly. I felt good about myself afterwards, but that wasn’t enough motivation for me to go to the gym regularly. Living on a college campus and in close proximity to one of the largest urban parks in the nation, I regularly saw people running. I secretly wished that I could be a runner, that I could have the willpower to exercise and run on a regular basis, not just when a coach was yelling at me. I tried running around the neighborhood a few times, especially on the gorgeous spring days in St. Louis, but the habit just didn’t stick. I still had a mental block that kept me from putting on my shoes and pushing myself out the door.

Once, when I was studying abroad, living in Germany, I asked my roommate why she ran. A few times a week, my roommate would go out for a run in the evenings, while I just opted to go for a walk when I felt like it. My roommate’s answer surprised me for some reason: she actually hated to run, but made herself do it anyways to prevent gaining weight. I shouldn’t have been surprised since a lot of people run for this reason, but I couldn’t help thinking that if you hate something so much, why make yourself do it? Wouldn’t finding something that you find more enjoyable be more effective as a weight-loss tool? Some may call it laziness, but I wouldn’t force myself to do something that I hated if it were only a means to an end.  

Mother's Day

I haven't been home to celebrate Mother's Day with my mom for the past four years. Usually, I just give her a call and send a card, and once, I sent her flowers. Growing up, I would get up really early to make my mom breakfast and set the table as nicely as I could with a vase of freshly picked flowers. I loved making her pancakes, scones, quiche, served with fresh fruit.

This year, I sent her a handmade card. I hope she gets it in time.

What are you doing for Mother's Day?

Tower Grove Farmer's Market

Run- 7.75 mi
Time- 66 mins

I've been wanting to go to Tower Grove Farmer's Market for a very long time. It's a completely local farmer's market at Tower Grove Park that's only open on Saturdays. It's a bit far from where I live, and public transportation there isn't very convenient. By car, it's about a 15 minute drive.

This morning, I finally decided to go. I planned on running there and meeting up with my friends so I could get a car ride back. It was a 5.5 mile run there, and then I ran around the length of the park to look around. It's really pretty, especially now that it's spring time.

There were pretty fountains and cute pavilions. I wish I lived closer so I could run there more often. The farmer's market was located in the middle of the park. There were quite a few vendors selling fresh herbs, meats, eggs, bread and pastries, local honey, ice pops, grilled cheese, and craft vendors selling jewelry, bags, and other handmade items.

After my run, I was mainly thirsty, but I was also getting pretty hungry. Seeing all the food just made me want to eat it all, and I had a hard time deciding on what to get! There were also food trucks, one selling vegan fare such as sweet potato falafel, veggie burgers, and breakfast tacos. The other one had sweet and savory crepes. After much contemplation, I decided on a crepe filled with prosciutto, goat cheese, apples, and apple butter. It was really yummy!

I also picked up a rosemary-olive baguette and a dark rye bagel made by a local bakery co-op, and half a dozen farm fresh eggs. There was this really cute tea shop in a re-purposed trailer. I went inside to look around, and it really did smell nice in there :)

I'm sad that I didn't take advantage of this farmer's market sooner. This is my last Saturday in St. Louis, so my last chance to visit the market. I'm really glad I did.

The London Tea Room

On Wednesday, my friends and I went downtown to go to The London Tea Room for afternoon tea. The London Tea Room is a cute tea shop with a huge variety of teas, pastries, and bites for lunch, such as sandwiches, salads, and soups. Take a look at their menu online. It's really funny! They offer a full afternoon tea, complete with finger sandwiches, scones with jam and Devonshire cream, and an assortment of pastries for dessert. Since going to the tea room was on my bucket list, my friends and I decided to go all out and spring for the full tea. It's a bit pricey, but oh so worth it!

For the full tea, we had to call a day ahead to make reservations. When we got there, the table was already set and waiting for us. We were handed a menu listing all their teas. It was so hard to choose, all of them looked so good! I finally decided on Vanilla Mint Pu-ehr.

The teacups were really cute :) The pu-ehr was a good choice. Slightly minty, smooth and sweet. It was perfect with a touch of cream and sprinkling of sugar. Each of us got a whole pot of tea! That was about 3-4 teacups. I finished my pot by the end, taking a sip or two in between bites, and it was the perfect amount.

After the tea was served, the food was brought out on a three tiered tower of delicious-ness. I want all my food served this way. From the bottom up: cucumber and cream cheese sandwich, ham and cheese, smoked salmon and cream cheese, current scones, lemon tarts, macarons, and chocolate pudding cups.

Let's take a closer look at those pastries...

So fancy! We started from the bottom, and savored the food slowly, sipping on our teas. This was definitely one of the best meals I've ever had.

We each got out own little jar of jam. So cute! I've always wanted to try Devonshire cream. It's like delicious, super soft and spreadable butter. I slathered my scone with a lot of it.

That scone. It was delicious and huge! The tea doesn't seem like a lot of food, since it's composed of small finger foods, but after that scone, I was getting pretty full. Everyone was excited to finally get to the desserts, and they did not disappoint. I got a pistachio macaron (the green one). The lemon tart was my favorite, though. The lemon curd was tart and sweet, and the crust was crumbly and buttery. So much yums.

If you are ever in St. Louis, I would definitely recommend visiting the London Tea Room. The other food on their menu looks really good, and it's a really nice place to have a cup of tea.