Hi! My name is Loren Waldo, and I’m one of the new faces you’ll see struggling to keep up with the group through the streets and sidewalks of Long Beach. I’ve been running for about three years, and have found it to have a myriad of benefits…both physically and spiritually. I look forward to meeting each and every one of you during our future runs. While I’ve participated in a few races since moving from Oklahoma City in August, I wanted to share my Long Beach Half Marathon story with you. There’s a reason why there are so many training plans for successfully running long distances: you’re SUPPOSED to have a plan. My plan was to hurry through a training schedule, and my legs paid the price!
Upon completion of my second (and hopefully last) full marathon in April, I made a promise to myself to significantly reduce my weekly mileage…from thirty miles to no more than fifteen. My reasoning was simple: my body and mind needed a break from the routine, and the imminent Oklahoma summer makes running downright miserable at any hour of the day. I kept my promise, running “long” runs no greater than six miles and participating in the occasional weekend 5K race. However, when I accepted a promotion with my company and transferred to Long Beach in August, I considered rushing through a training plan to run the Long Beach Marathon. Luckily for me, I scrapped that idea when I realized I was only running once or twice a week for the last month or two. I moved into a condominium in downtown Long Beach in late September, and once I realized I lived on the marathon route, registered for the half marathon. I adopted a two-week training plan (which I don’t recommend to anybody) that consisted of one forty-five minute long run one weekend, a seventy-five minute long run the next weekend, and the half marathon the next. My goal was straightforward: run eight-minute miles as long as possible. I maintained that pace for the first ten miles, but by the time I saw the 11-mile marker, I felt like I was in the final few miles of a marathon. I could do nothing but smile as countless runners passed me on Ocean Boulevard…each one of them looking much more graceful and also smiling much more. I managed to make it to the finish line in 1:47:37. I was disappointed in my finish, but personally impressed because of my intimate knowledge of my lackluster training plan. Although my lack of training translated into me being very sore for a few days, I was definitely glad I participated!
I’ve told many of my friends that running is a lot like playing golf with your friends: when the race is over, nobody really cares about what your time was but yourself, and sometimes you don’t even care. Whether it’s a leisurely training run or a weekend race, everybody that participates is equal once the running is over. That’s one of the two best things about running. The other one is the quality of the people that run. The friendships and camaraderie developed along the way is what keeps me involved. Some of my greatest friends in life I’ve met through running. Running takes a lot of dedication and motivation to get out and do it. Running groups like AREC are great for providing the extra support needed for some of us to get out and do it.