My Running Journey & Why AvocadoRunners?

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I had a friend ask me a couple weeks ago “where did you come up with Avocado Runners for your blog?”  Nikki, my friend from Nicollet, (doesn’t that have a nice ring to it?) was quite curious which made me think, just maybe a few others are as well?

The answer was easy!  I eat an avocado almost daily and I love to run!

Lets begin with my running journey, which has definitely been that, a journey.

I have been running since before I was a teenager, which means over 4 decades.  You could go as far as to say, I’ve been running before it was “cool” to run.  In fact, I remember getting a bit of flack back in my day….I was a geek, weird, and some even said I was obsessed, or sick, or both. But you know what, it never stopped me from running.

I am almost 54 years “young” and PRAISE GOD, I am still able to run.  I am not talking about a casual 3 mile run either, but I am actually still running marathons.  I’ve completed 22 marathons and headed to Rome next Spring for their Jubilee Marathon.  I am pretty stoked!  Some still think I am a bit crazy but at least I now have friends and family members who have have accepted my dedication to running!  Holy crap, I even have family members who run now?.

Maratona di Roma 2016 Tech Shirt

Unfortunately my plans to run Chicago this Fall didn’t go as planned, which is most likely a future blog post, but lets just say, as an aging runner, I realized this wasn’t my summer to train for a fall marathon.  I read a blog post a while back and after reading this, sending this post to my mentor I respect and admire, I realized this sounded familiar.  I just wan’t feeling it.

One of the things I’ve learned is running is a journey; and I am on a new journey as an aging runner.  I have to realize my limits and to be ok with them.  It’s definitely not easy!  I have to agree…..“Running is freedom, running is self-worth, running is empowerment, running is camaraderie and fellowship.  Running can be about testing limits, but sometimes, true courage is knowing what your limits are and being ok with that.”  

My journey as a marathoner began way back in the ’80’s.  This is me in my very first marathon.  By the looks of the pic, I’d say running apparel has come a long way!  I finished with a very respectable time of 3:38.  I was specially happy, since I wasn’t even sure I’d finish.  My parents were there at the finish line, and although they didn’t really approve of my “running hobby,” they were very proud of me, from what I remember.  My dad even gave up opening duck hunting weekend to see me cross the finish line, which was HUGE.

After this first marathon I went back to running shorter distances, mostly because I didn’t have much support from family and none of my friends at that time, were runners.  At least not marathon runners.  The running community has grown world wide so I am no longer considered weird, sick, or obsessed.  Some still call me crazy, but I still love to run!

Karen’s First Marathon

Years after that first marathon, a friend from Winthrop, Mn asked “Would you like to run WhistleStop with me and my friend?”  She new I loved to run, and also knew I was racing other distances,  and encouraged me to run this marathon.  This is about the same time I found Shaklee, started eating better, and supplementing.  What a difference it’s made.

This began my marathon journey all over again, only this time I kept running marathons using Hal Higdon’s Novice Training Program.  I continued to follow his programs all the way to the Advanced 1 Program.  I encourage you to follow him on FB since he posts great tips, information, and stories daily.  He’s one of the greatest.

I’ve had some incredible marathons, but I’ll always remember that First BQ up in Ashland, WI in 2005.  Trust me, not easy, especially coming back from Hyponatremia at age 40.  I’ll spare you the details, but being in a coma for a few days was a bit scary for me, my family, co-workers, and friends.

It took about a year to come back from that episode, but I did and just a couple years later I was back stronger than ever, and I BQ’d.  Such a good feeling!  I’ll never forget calling my mom and telling her “I am Boston Bound!”   She was so HAPPY for me since she thought once I ran Boston I’d be done with Marathons.  HA.

My brother accompanied me to Boston in 2006 and he was amazing.  He navigated us through the subway system, made sure I got on the right bus, and even gave me a shout out at mile 18 where he gave me a big hug.  Later he found me at the finish line, at letter “S”, where we agreed to meet up.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

I continued to qualify for Boston several times after but never made the trip back for several reasons; one being I had no travel companion and its a lot of money to ask a friend, and or family member, to join me on “my” venture.  To be honest, it wasn’t a priority at that time.  It was enough to qualify.

I am now married and truth be told, since the bombing a couple years ago, I am finally eager to try and re-qualify.  It won’t be easy, but nothing in life worth working for ever is.  I thank God every day I can still run and that alone is a blessing.  Everything else is a BONUS!  Some marathons were harder than others, but everyone of them have been amazing.  Um, who am I kidding, they’re all hard, some just faster than others.

Next time I run Boston, and there will be a next one, my husband who is my number one fan, will be there to support me.  So I named my blog AvocadoRunners because we’re a team.  Rob may not be running marathons anymore, and our dream to travel and participate in these traveling runs together might have changed slightly, but we’re still a team and I know one thing, he loves me!

As far as the Avocado part.  I eat one daily as I mentioned above.  Enough said.  Oh and one more thing, I have been told I make a killer guacamole.

SO I hope I have answered your question Nikki and anyone else who may be a bit curious.

[reminder]Do you Run? If so how many years have you been running? [/reminder]



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One response to “My Running Journey & Why AvocadoRunners?”
  1. […] definitely have changed since than.  I no longer feel alone!  I mentioned this in an earlier post but to be honest, I have learned so much from other runners and I am so glad I no longer feel like […]

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