introductions, encouragology, etc

Hi all, I just wanted to say a quick “hey!” and hope that you’ll keep checking in even though Doree and Lukas apparently both have stress fractures! I’m Liz (yrfriendliz on tumblr), I’m about a month shy of 25, I live in Denver, and I am a new runner.

I wanted to join in as the voice of an encouragologist — someone who tries REALLY hard to make running work in her life. I was NOT a cross country runner in high school and I just started during my last year of grad school as a way of letting out stress. Since then I’ve run a few 5ks and a 10k (the Bolder Boulder, which is incredibly fun and challenging, even for a relatively shorter race) and right now I am training for the Colorado half marathon in May.

When I emailed Doree I told her that my running has often made me feel like the girl who WANTS TO BE a really great poet, but who only ends up churning out mediocre product and bad similes about trees. You know? I work very hard but I still don’t seem to be reaching what all of the other natural runners (and in Colorado, there are people who run marathons into their 80s and run at elevations of 12,000 feet) can do. But you know what? I don’t really care, dudes. Running has improved my life immensely (I lost around 10 pounds and stopped smoking so there’s THAT) and it’s given me a personal, physical goal. And there’s nothing like finishing a big race with a bunch of people, all with their own personal motivation. I love race time.

I actually have the Colder Boulder 5k tomorrow (it’s like 60 degrees in Denver today so no snow! which is good! cause I am always nervous running on ice or snow or if it’s below like 40 degrees), but the next few months I plan on discussing training at high altitudes, adjusting from the outdoor to indoor run, how to make the workout more fun (playlists! OH MAN do I need some new music suggestions!), food, shoooz and even some of the reading I’m doing to get psyched up. Happy to be trying to help keep us motivated and MOVING.