The Pace Setter - Hudson Mohawk Road Runners Club

Welcome toRunning!by Alyssa Lotmore‘Just Run’ Coach andSchool Social Workerat Albany Preparatory Charter SchoolCoach: “We will compete in track meets androad races.”Student: “We run in the ROAD? Won’t we gethit by cars?”Introducing running, especially the worldof road racing, to my middle school students,or should I say scholars as we like to call them,was an interesting and exciting adventure.When Albany Prep was accepted into the HM-RRC’s Just Run program, which funds schoolsso that they are able to start a running-fitnessprogram, I was thrilled. Running has alwaysbeen such a central part of my life. I was excitedto be able to introduce this sport to myscholars.The first day of practice, over 30 scholarscame to practice. Many wore their uniformblack pants and long-sleeve purple shirts, otherschanged into jeans or heavy sweatpants,while several others wore their high-top basketballsneakers. I knew that most of the scholarshad never run before or had any idea about theproper clothing to train in. We started with thebasics – the proper attire and the importanceof warming up and stretching. I explained thedifference between a walk, jog, run, and sprintand demonstrated examples of each. I thenlet them start what was supposed to be thewarm-up jog but it looked more like the 100mdash. Teaching the art of running is more difficultthan I ever thought. (Here I would like topause and thank all my past coaches for beingable to teach me!)It took a few weeks, but my scholars soonwere able to go through their warm-up routineof jogging, stretching, and drills. They wereable to run continuously for a certain amountof time and do interval workouts. Competitionsin races such as the Delmar Dash andthe Freihofer’s Run added to the excitement ofrunning. Having athletes like 3-time OlympianBenita (Johnson) Willis and marathoner TaraMoody come to our school was an honorableand memorable experience for all the scholars,myself, and Albany Prep.The scholars built self-confidence and selfdisciplinefrom this program. They learnednot only about running, but about fitness andhealthy eating. Community service was alsoa requirement for this program, which onlyadded to the benefits of the Just Run program.I would like to say thank you to the HMRRC,especially Ken Skinner, for facilitating such aprogram to be started in the Capital Region. Ihope that it continues to grow and reach moreschools and youth. rDiscovering a Love ofRunningby Jen MasaI wasn’t always a runner. In fact, for themajority of my life, I wasn’t athletic at all. Idreaded “The Mile” in gym class and almostalways came in dead last. I didn’t have an athleticbone in my body, and I never thought Iwould.And then, two and a half years ago, somethingchanged. I wanted to get in shape. I was80 pounds overweight and tired of it. I wantedto work exercise into my daily routine. Oneday I decided to try running a bit during oneof my walks. If I could just run a half a milewithout stopping, I figured running would bethe quickest way to burn calories and get metoward my goal of losing weight faster. It did!Slowly I made it to running three miles withoutstopping, and with exercise and healthy eating,I lost 80 pounds!But, I wanted more. I needed a fitnessgoal. I signed up for a 5K in May of 2009.My goal for this race was to run, without stopping,the whole time; to finish, that was it!I was so nervous about it and hoped that Icould complete my goal. Without ever stoppingto walk, I finished the race in 37 minutes.I felt incredible. I felt like I had found myplace, like I’d discovered my passion. Wordscan’t even really describe the feeling I had – Ihad come from being 80 pounds overweightand non-athletic, to a person who successfullycompleted running a 3.1 mile race. I criedat the finish line, I was so proud of myself. Ihad never felt this feeling before and it wasso strange to me. Now, I wanted more - moreraces and longer distance. I had been bittenby the racing bug!Throughout the year I kept running, tryingto improve my 5K time, and increasing my distance.One of my goals in 2010 was to run theCDPHP Workforce Team Challenge alongsidemany of my co-workers. At first, I was nervousto sign up because I didn’t feel like a “real runner,”but I wanted to run another race, so Iwent for it! My first Workforce Team Challengewent really well. Even though it was a hot andhumid 93 degrees, I finished in 35 minutes. Ifelt great.The Workforce Team Challenge is the biggestrace in the Capital District. It is a 3.5 milerace from the Empire State Plaza, up throughand around Washington Park, and finishingback down on Madison Avenue by the NewYork State Museum. Over 9,000 runners wereregistered this year, with over 400 teams fromcompanies from across the state. My team hadover 60 runners! It was fun. The weather thisyear was warm, but not overly so. Even thoughit was pretty crowded and I was dodging runnersleft and right, and it was a bit hard to findmy “groove,” I still had a great time. The bestpart was beating my time from last year by fiveminutes! That’s my favorite part of a race: challengingmyself each and every race to see if Ican improve on my previous times.Since 2010, I’ve run dozens of races, includingtwo 15Ks, a 10 miler, and two halfmarathons. So, when the time came this yearto sign up, I did! Running one of the biggestraces in Albany alongside so many other peopleis definitely an exciting experience. Withso many runners, there is always somethingto see. The cheering from the crowd providesgreat motivation for the runners. And there’snothing better than gliding down the MadisonAvenue hill to the finish line.For me, running has become more thanjust a way to burn calories. It helps me relievestress and allows me to feel a sense of accomplishmentwhenever I finish a run or race. I canalways push myself farther and set new goalsfor myself. It teaches me more about myselfevery day and I believe because of it, I’m a betterperson. I’m healthier and happier than I’veever been in my life.*Currently, I blog about running, fitness, &food while maintaining my 80 pound weightloss at: http://www.jenisgreen.com . rThe Pace Setter – 23