Episode 4-470 – Kristina and Rediscovering Yourself Through Running

The RunRunLive 4.0 Podcast Episode 4-470 – Kristina and Rediscovering Yourself Through Running  (Audio: link) audio:http://www.RunRunLive.com/PodcastEpisodes/epi4470.mp3] Link   Zero Prostate Cancer 2021 Boston - MarathonBQ – How to Qualify for the Boston Marathon in 14 Weeks - Chris’ other show à Intro: Hello my friends and welcome to episode 4-470 of the RunRunLive Podcast.  I raced shortly after we last talked.  That’s right, the Mill Cities Relay.  I’ve been running this race with the club since 1995.  This year I put together a great team.  I had my regular running buddies Frank, Brian and Tim and invited Just Plain Dave up from Southern Mass to run with us.  I’m going to drop Dave’s race-report audio in here because I think it expresses the special nature of this event way better than I am capable of doing. It’s a 5-leg relay that starts in Nashua NH and follows the Merrimack River through Hudson, Chelmsford, Lowell, Dracut and ends in Lawrence.  It’s all the local running clubs and it’s a really special event.  We got great weather – 40’s and windless.  Dave kicked it off with a 6 ish mile leg, handed off to Brian for a 4.75-mile leg, then to me for a 2.5 mile leg, Tim for the long 9 miler and Frank with another 4.75 on the anchor into Lawrence.  Those guys crushed it.  I took the short leg because I’m a mess, but I figured I could manage 2.5 miles.  I’m pretty sure I could write a whole race report on that 2.5 miles.  It was a real eyeopener for me.  I didn’t realize how much fitness I’ve lost.  I came out of the handoff running hard.  There was a woman there beside me, so I pushed a little to get in front of her and out of her way.  I know this section of road like the back of my hand.  I used to work right there. I ran right past my old office.   I would run this road 3-4 times a week.  I got less than a ¼ mile into the leg and all the warning lights on my control panel started flashing red and sirens were going off.  It was like I had never run before in my life.  My body was telling me I was going to die.  First my body said “Hey, you can’t breathe, you’re having an asthma attack – you’re going to pass out.” And I said “that is ridiculous I don’t have asthma”, just clean up the form, breathe and relax…”  Then it said, “Oh my god dude, you are having a heart attack, you’re going to die.” And I had to say “no, shut up, I’m not having a heart attack…but I wasn’t so sure…” So I kept slowing down until it felt sustainable but I felt like I was crawling and that woman passed me and then another and another. And my body was saying, “You’re going to die, you should walk…” and I had to courageously persevere through the 2.5 miles that felt like 50 miles wearing lead boots.  My conclusion was it is time to bury my pride and get back into shape. I have reached the bottom. What do you do when you reach rock bottom?  You ask for help.  I can’t do what I used to do, but I can do something.  For instance, I know I ran a marathon in October using that 30-30 walk-run cadence.  I called Chris Twigs to ask for advice and he set up a plan, 3-days a week, for a hypothetical marathon somewhere around Patriots Day.  Why? Because I’m a working dog. I need to work.  It’s in my nature.  This is a new journey, perhaps a new season for me, and an opportunity to learn something.  I’m going to get some mileage back up and hope the knee repairs itself.  I’ll get lots of zone-1-2 to build fitness as I get back in shape.  If and when I can run hard again at least I’ll have some fitness to build on.  I’ll have patience.  And if at the end of this cycle the body responds fit and healthy, I’ll spin up something more aggressive for the next cycle over the summer.  I’m a week in and I started with a 10-mile 30/30 run on Sunday.  It also gives me the time to practice heeling with Ollie.  So that’s the new plan.  … Today we talk to Kristina.  I saw her talking about stuff on Facebook and it just seemed to me like she had a good story to tell, and I reached out.  It ended up being a very thoughtful and powerful interview.  Today’s theme is patience.  Section two will talk about the power of patience. Section one Be Dave’s audio. Sometimes we make the most progress when we learn to forgive ourselves, when we learn to be patient with ourselves and yes, love ourselves.  You can use those addictive qualities of your running life not as a hammer to beat yourself into performance, but as a soft power to support and enhance what’s already good inside you. Change that flame thrower to a patience thrower.  Patience. Leads to confidence, and to healthy decisions. On with the show.   About Zero ZERO — The End of Prostate Cancer is the leading national nonprofit with the mission to end prostate cancer. ZERO advances research, improves the lives of men and families, and inspires action. Link to my ZERO page: (for Donations) … I’ll remind you that the RunRunLive podcast is ad free and listener supported.  What does that mean? It means you don’t have to listen to me trying to sound sincere about Stamps.com or Audible.. (although, fyi, my MarathonBQ book is on audible) We do have a membership option where you can become a member and as a special thank you, you will get access to member’s only audio. There are book reviews, odd philosophical thoughts, zombie stories and I curate old episodes for you to listen to.  I recently added that guy who cut off is foot so he could keep training and my first call with Geoff Galloway.   “Curated” means I add some introductory comments and edit them up a bit.  So anyhow – become a member so I can keep paying my bills.   … The RunRunLive podcast is Ad Free and listener supported.  Section One – The Life -   … Kristina Folcik Thank you so much!! It was fun!! Www.kristinafolcik.com I help athletes improve their performance so they can go further and faster with fewer injuries. Www.rockhopperraces.com Premier running events in the white Mountains Have an awesome weekend!!! Thank you