#5.-The Sustainer-Med City 2017

The Sustainer

 The Sustainer for the runner is also how one “sustains” oneself. Running is an incredibly taxing endeavor, no matter what the distance. Attention to detail is necessary in sustaining our health and wellness. Otherwise you are likely to become injured or burn out. The runner as sustainer must be generous, supportive, nurturing and the caretaker for themselves. They cannot rely on anyone else for this role. They know what they need most. The shadow side of the Sustainer is imbalance, either mentally or physically. Over worked, overly taxed, no longer finding joy in the process. To sustain oneself, it must be high priority to eat properly, sleep enough, recover adequately and sustain the lifestyle that you have chosen. By doing this you can run more, longer and enjoy the process.

#5. Med City Marathon- Rochester, MN

After Madison I was done with marathons for the year. I went from one full marathon my first year, to three my second year! I continued to run through the winter after Madison, motived to do just as many if not more, the following year. I built up my long runs in the winter and went back to Rochester for another Med City Marathon to use as a long run for my next marathon, in Anchorage Alaska! It was different doing a marathon as a long run. It meant that I hadn’t put the miles in before the race since I was using the race instead of a 20-mile run. It is quite hard to have the chance during a Minnesota winter to get several good 3-4 hour long runs in with the bitter cold sticking around well into March. 1 hr. runs are no problem, but over 2 hours can be difficult. I only run outside, I don’t own a treadmill and being outside is a big part of the reason I run. I did a half marathon race as a long run for Med City a couple of weeks before.

For me, Med City evoked the Sustainer archetype. I was sustaining my miles and providing myself with all the self-care I could muster on this journey. Now that I was challenging myself to more and more marathons each year, I needed to be smart and nurturing to stay healthy and strong. At this point in my running journey I knew I couldn’t rely on anyone else, this was my hobby, my passion, and I needed to be self-sufficient if I was going to keep at it.

When Med City came around, I knew exactly what to do, since I had done in the previous year. I made the trip down to Rochester solo again and did the same hotel, the same restaurant, did the same routine. I was beginning to feel like a veteran. The race came around and it was a beautiful day. I had no expectations of the race since it was instead of doing a long run at home. I thought I might as well take in the race atmosphere and have the water aid stations, on course support and of course get a medal for my effort!

I enjoyed the scenery of rolling hills in the farm fields into the city, then the winding path next to the river into a nature area that you follow for quite a ways. In that race I enjoy seeing the fast runners heading back as I’m heading out and seeing how strong they look. It’s very motivating. It was still difficult, all marathons are. I think since I hadn’t done the long runs during the winter my legs were especially tired. My time was my slowest to date, however that was not a concern of mine in the least. However, the amount of pain I was in, made me wonder how in the world I was going to do another just a couple of weeks later in Anchorage, Alaska the last day of a week-long family vacation.