Erin Go Run

Anecdote:

2002. Pepperdine University. USD Toreros vs. Pepperdine Waves. Distance-5K. Weather is to be the Malibu expected, sunny and clear, slightly warmer for optimal running conditions. The race starts off as any other dual meet, we take our laps around the track and I situate myself in the middle of the pack. I tend to be in the first half of the mix, as it defines my running career. Average runner, somewhere in the first half of the finishers. Quietly coming in, nothing to praise and sing about, but something I can be proud of. Until, that is, this day. As those in the Cota era would know, I heard something that would make the bacteria in your intestines squirm. I was just running along my merry little way in my usual comfort zone (and quite comfortably since we hadn’t been introduced to buns yet) when somehow I got knocked out of that zone by my coach screaming at me.

Let me pause here and let you in on the famous Cota. For those of you that do not know him, I am not even going to begin trying to describe him to the very degree that he deserves. But what I will say is that he is one of those coaches that wouldn’t give two shits if you had a runny nose or menstral cramps. His two most memorable responses to our excuses have been “there are about 6 billion people in China that just don’t care” and “about 90% of mandatory is not mandatory.” He is also the coach that never spent much time trying to recruit runners, but managed to get coach of the year and led his team to their greatest finish in USD XC history. Ok back to the anecdote:

I am running along in what I think is my comfort level, typical for me, like we established. Out of nowhere, I hear my coach on the sideline, “Get out of that schnide, Erin! C’mon. Let’s go! Get out of that schnide, Erin.” 

Well, shoot. If anything is going to break my focus it is going to be something like “schnide” being screamed in my face. Immediately I became aware of my surroundings: XC course set on the Pepperdine campus (much like my high school home course) and a bunch of girls…. Wait, not a bunch of girls. Wow! Only a couple of girls! And what is this uncomfortable feeling?

It was me running out of my comfort zone. And in the end, it was me breaking a season 20 minute slump to finally finish a 5k in 19 minutes for the first time that year. So now you are asking, Erin, tell us. What is a schnide? To this day, I am still not exactly sure what a schnide is, but when I talked to my coach after the race, he said all I had to worry about is the race when I break out of it.

Moral of the story: I had a kick ass race that day and beat out almost the fleet of girls (came in like 5th or 6th overall). Joking. It is about breaking out of that barrier that you feel comfortable running in. This is especially important for marathon runners because we (when I say we, I am of course speaking for myself) feel that if we push too hard or start off too fast, we won’t have enough energy to make it until the end. There is no trick to breaking out of it. I think that is why it is called a schnide. It’s just a click in your running that allows you to break the comfort zone and to find comfort in the uncomfortable-ness of running.

I managed to run out of a schnide in high school and broke 19 minutes in a race; I ran out of this one in college and defined myself as a collegiate athlete; I will be damned if I don’t break out of this schnide and run the hell out of the next marathon. 

For most people, it feels good to get a little ego boost every once in a while. For the slightly cocky, we call it motivation. The trick is, to take what you are good at, and show it off. Not only will you feel better about yourself, but you can even begin telling yourself that you are motivating others to push themselves to your level. Everyone benefits.

I know not everyone runs every day with the same goals as I do (to run a 3 hour marathon), but they don’t know why I am running and I sure don’t know why they are. Maybe it’s a weight goal or a fitness test to see how they compare to their college days. Hey, someone else in the world might actually be trying to reach that 3 hour goal. The point is you can feed off of people that are out there doing what you do, just as they probably feed off of you.

I was running today again at lunch; not my standard squeeze-in-as-much-distance-before-the-boss-notices-i-took-more-than-an-hour-lunch run. My knee has been nagging me at the beginning of my runs; “the most critical part” some say. Dreading the risk of going too far and injuring myself, I wanted to take it easy. But after seeing some inspiring words from my high school mentor, I had to at least go out there and do something. Plus, what would everyone at work think if I skipped my run!?

As I began running, I came up behind a runner who saw me and probably got nervous of my speed and great running form (luckily no one can “see” an injury until it stops you from running). I started to pass him around a corner. I was on the outside, so we ran side by side for a couple of strides. I turned and gave the usual running wave that puts the running community in as much exclusivity as Hell’s Angels and other bikers. He panted, “I am going to try and keep up with you.” I took that as maybe he was gonna try and carry on a conversation and somehow that made me slow down, to which he replied, “No, you don’t have to slow down.”

Weellll alllright, if you say so.

So I admit; I ran a little harder than usual. How could I not if someone was going to try and pace off of me. Plus, this is the start of the ego boost. I didn’t have any music with me so I could hear his heavy breathing struggling to keep up with mine. It got a bit fainter as I continued down the business park road. Other 9 to 5ers walking around on their lunch were looking over; whether it was amazement that I was winning or just that people were running when it was about to rain I will never know. I thought I might have been getting too cocky and tired myself out because I suddenly heard his breathing heavier and heavier with every step that I began to hear as well. Then finally, just one or two strides behind me, he shouted, “Thanks for the push! Have a good run,” and he stopped running.

When I looked back, I put my hand up as I did originally and suddenly my ego was up and I was glad I decided to run. I started thinking about how fast I suddenly felt and must have looked to cars sitting at each of the intersections I had to cross. I thought of that guy and how he just got in a little bit of a workout when he probably wasn’t planning it. (OK, I also hoped that he was impressed with my speed). Now that’s what I call an ego boost! No, wait; I call it motivation…