Running with Juan Archila

Leading up to the Martinsville Half-Marathon, Run MHC will feature the stories of other runners so you can hear different perspectives on how various people began running and what motivates them. Today's guest blogger is Juan Archila of Atlanta, Georgia. Juan is an architect, a husband and a father of two. He has been running for the past three years. 

After years of telling myself that I needed to get back into running, but never finding enough time, a wake-up call came in late 2010 when I was 30 years old.  A cholesterol test revealed that my numbers were great… for an 80-year-old.  At 30, though, I was at a high risk for health problems, and it was due to poor diet and exercise habits.  I love my cheeseburger, though, so adjusting my diet seemed unrealistic, but making time for running was not only something I wanted to do, but now needed to do for my health and for my young family. 

On January 1, 2011, I made the commitment to run regularly.  I chose the Couch-to-5k (C25k) running program, and set the Leprechaun Road Race 5K (Dublin, GA) on March 19, 2011 as my goal race.  With knee brace firmly in place on a brisk New Year’s Day morning, I set out on my journey.  Three years later, not only did I finish the 5K, I’ve done the Peachtree Road Race 10K in Atlanta on July 4 (three years in a row), the Rock ‘N Roll Half Marathon in Philadelphia, and countless 5Ks, 4-Milers, 10Ks, a 12K and a 15K since.  I am currently training for the Rock ‘N Roll Half Marathon in San Francisco after getting over a shin injury late last year. 

5 Mile Milestone!

59 Days to Go - I felt bad not going to the YMCA's training session the night before. I heard that they had a great time running in the snow but where I live, out in a rural community, it's important to get home before the snow sets in. There's a half mile incline between my home and the main road that does not get salted or scraped by VDOT. #CountryLife

58 Days to Go - Our training coaches sent out an email to the group reminding everyone of our training assignments for the week -  I needed to get in a five miler before the next session. They also sent a wonderful story to share from a fellow runner.

“A few years ago I was running in insanely high winds.  The type of wind that pushes you back a foot for every two feet you go. I may have had a little of a runners high or maybe I was just being my insane self but every time the wind would smack me in the face and push me back I would pound my chest and yell (yes literally yell out loud) “That’s all you got”. Last week I ran again in strong winds and this time I thanked the wind.  I literally said out loud “thank you wind for making me stronger”. I welcome opportunities like high winds, rain, snow extreme heat or cold, for I know it makes me stronger, better and tougher. When I finally get to the starting line I know I am ready for anything that day holds.  I also know I will crush my competitors that decided during training that it was too windy, too rainy, too cold or too hot to run. Embrace adversity for it will give you the edge to victory!”

This was definitely something I needed to hear. Reality check - it might be cold or raining on race day and there's no turning back at that point. Training in the elements is important so that you are ready for race day, no matter what mother nature brings. After work I headed to the YMCA to run on the treadmill since it was quickly getting dark outside. I ran two miles before getting bored. Treadmills are nice to have but pale in comparison to actually running outdoors.

It's All About Perspective...

61 Days to Go - Knowing that an impending snow was on the way, I decided to take the opportunity to get in a long run on the Monday holiday. It was a gorgeous day with temps in the high 50's. After running 3.12 miles the previous day, I was ready to up my mileage and I wanted to beat 4.06 miles, my highest mileage to date.

I took off and started running in a residential neighborhood. The first mile was brutal, the second mile I felt better and by the third mile I was smiling.

Why, you ask?

A week ago, Sharon took me running on a hill that I thought was going to kill me. That day I plugged away, huffing and puffing as she cheered me on and pushed through the hill. On this day, I dreaded the hill as I ran toward it remembering how ominous it was. When I got to the bottom I looked up and thought, "Well that's not so bad; I've got this!" And I did. The second time around it was so much easier.

Now the next hill after that one... we've still got some work to do, but maybe third time's the charm! It's true that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

I finished the run with 4.11 miles at a pace of 10:42 per mile on a route with 376 feet of elevation gain. I felt great! Take a good look at what intimidates you and get ready to laugh when you conquer it. #WeCanDoThis

60 Days to Go - There's a nice blanket of snow on the ground outside my house so I passed on the training group session this evening. A little disappointing because I really wanted to run with the group but I'll catch up on the mileage this week.

"Just Keep Running..."

65 Days to Go - During the week I was contacted by a friend who's been reading the blog and was interested in running; we'll call her "Joy." I invited Joy to come running with me. She is an avid walker but had not run in quite a while. Joy had the same wishes as me to get in better shape so that she could keep up with a growing child. She admitted that she was concerned about being able to run a half-mile so I challenged her to do just that and try her best at half a mile.

I began running on my own, to get in my miles, and had arranged to pass by Joy's office when she got off work. I reached the three mile mark right as she came outside and then we began running together. When Joy felt like she needed to slow down we did and at one point when she felt like stopping, we power walked. We picked the pace back up and when she was at a point of desperation I informed her that she had already run four-tenths of a mile and needed to go just one more. The look on Joy's face was priceless - instead of worry it was suddenly "hey, I can do this!" She ended up running 0.66 mile and didn't give up. My total mileage was 3.66 at a pace of 11:03 per mile. Joy agreed to run a half-mile again in the following days to get stronger at it. I'm so proud of "Joy" and am sharing this story to remind all my readers that you've got to start somewhere to move forward!

64 Days to Go - I really wanted to reach the four mile mark and knew that I'd need a little motivation so I called on Sharon to run with me. Not only did she agree to help me get in four miles but she also brought along three other inspiring ladies to run with us. One of the ladies was this week's guest blogger, Tiffany.

Running with Tiffany Coleman

Leading up to the Martinsville Half-Marathon, I'll feature the stories of other runners so you can hear different perspectives on how various people began running and what motivates them. Today's guest blogger is Tiffany Coleman of Martinsville, who has been running for about six years now. I had the opportunity to run with Tiffany today and enjoyed getting to know her a little better. 

My name is Tiffany Coleman, I am 41 years old, I have been married for 12 years and I am a mother of 2 daughters CW age 8 and B age 6. My whole life I have been an active person who loves the outdoors. Every morning at 6 am I walked with one of my dearest friends.  She moved out of town after B was born and I dreaded walking alone in the dark…but I did. Then my brother made a suggestion that changed my life…..J who is 7 years older than me suggested running…….Hmmm I thought I could burn just as many calories in half of the time! 

Oh Happy Day!

January 14th was a momentous day for a number of reasons. First, it was my son's fifth birthday. Second, it was the first official day of the YMCA's half-marathon training program. Knowing that I would be running with the group after work, we had a series of mini birthday celebrations for "H" which included a special birthday breakfast and a class party. 

After work, Darrin took H to hang out with family members while I went to run. (We would meet up later for another small dinner celebration.) I walked into the Y and was greeted by lots of friendly faces. Some were confident as they had already been running greater distances, some were worried because they were not sure about running three miles, but all of us were eager to take the next step and give it a try. 

Twelve participants showed up to run. A handful of others stopped by to drop off their registration forms so that they could begin the program next week.
So... if you missed the first session, that's not an excuse - there will be more new runners next week!

Our instructors, Becky and Richard, explained that we would be running three miles. The route was from the YMCA down Starling Ave. to Hwy 220 and back, then we would run two laps around the YMCA block. Since the longest distance I had run so far was 2.51 miles, I was a little nervous but felt good knowing that no one would be left behind.

Words of Wisdom

We're 67 days away from the Martinsville Half-Marathon, 5K & Relay and my personal goal for today was to run 1.5 miles during my lunch break. In the past two weeks I've picked up lots of great tips but the absolute best piece of advice that I can give anyone interested in running is to find a veteran runner that you can connect with. Training for a race is intimidating but hearing from others that they once had the same concerns and challenges as you is very motivating.

Today, all of the advice that I've been hearing from veteran runners really helped me out. I seemed to have a million excuses not to run. I knew I needed to run and I wanted to run but doubt can creep in telling you that your stomach doesn't feel good, you have a headache, there's more work left to be done, I might get cold, etc.