It's Running Season!

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(Practical tips for your next race)

Running season has officially started! Whether you have already completed your first competition of the season, you are a dedicated runner who will soon try to beat a PR, or are somewhere in between, it is wise to stick to certain proven principals [and learn from the mistakes some of us have made] to be well prepared for race day and ensure the only surprise you have is that of beating your goal time.

What follows are rules to remember as it relates to resting, eating, clothing and logistics:

RESTING

1. "The night before the night before” - Do you remember pulling an all-nighter to study for exams in high school or college? Everyone does it because it works! The key to this handy trick lies in adrenaline, which allows the human body to function with little sleep. Getting several hours of sound, continuous sleep two nights before a race is probably the best thing you can do to perform well on race day. The night before you will likely be restless and jittery, especially if it’s your first time in an organized event. You will likely be wondering [even though I am warning you about it right now] if you trained enough, whether your sneakers are laced correctly, or if you’re going to make it on time to the starting line from the parking area. Keep in mind that the adrenaline rush from being at the starting line the morning of will carry you a long way during the race.
2. “Do your longest distance run about two weeks before your event” – If you are participating in a half marathon, for example, remember to do 11 or 12 miles two weeks before the event. Attempting to run a long distance a couple of days before will leave your legs tired, reducing your chances of meeting your goal time, and worse, increasing the likelihood of an injury.

EATING

1. “Don’t try anything new” - Take your own snacks and fuel to the event. Energy gels and hydration blocks of a brand and flavor that you have tried before, as well as citric fruits, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and bagels with light cream cheese, are all rich in carbohydrates and protein and suitable for consumption before the race. 
2. “When in doubt, don’t eat it” - ‘Carb up! Have a beer or two! You need to pack in the calories for tomorrow!’ While this sort of street advice may work for the lucky few that appear to be the proud owners of steel-lined stomachs, it simply doesn’t work for many of us. True, it is important to consume carbohydrates-rich foods before race day; but in reality, proper nutrition needs to be a focus of the entire length of your training.
   There are few things more distracting than to feel abdominal pain of any kind during a run. A close friend that was trying to beat his marathon PR at the 2010 Los Angeles marathon ate a piece of pizza off of a street vendor before the race started. He almost dropped off the course completely after slowing down to a walk due to stomach cramps. Pass on the fancy dinner at the seafood restaurant the night before the race, and celebrate beating your time goal instead on the evening after the event. In other words, ensure that the food you ingest for the couple of days before race day is either home-made or from a trusted restaurant, and doesn’t contain anything that could irritate your stomach.
3. “Hydrate!” – This one is self-explanatory. The two or so days before, it pays to drink a bit more water than usual. And during the race, make sure you stop at the stations carrying water and sports drinks.

CLOTHING - The rule of “don’t try anything new” also applies to running shoes and clothing. Remember, the name of the game here is to avoid surprises. So, with that in mind:

1. Break new tennis shoes in; they should be worn at least a couple of times before the day of the event.
2. Wear a t-shirt and socks made of polyester/nylon/spandex, or some type of combination of these materials; otherwise, you may experience the uncomfortable feeling of blisters and scrapes on your body caused by friction with cotton garments.
3. Wear an old sweater or a trash bag over you to keep warm at the start line; you can then throw to the side of the road as soon as you warm up after the start (most race organizers are aware of this and have a plan -usually, they donate the unwanted sweaters; so, don’t worry, you’re not being an irresponsible citizen)
4. Leave your running clothes ready the night before; attach your bib to your shirt, and place the magnetic strip on your shoelaces.

Lastly, map your way to the race and review your registration document so you know where the starting line is. Know where you will park, and where you will meet other runners (particularly for events with a large number of participants).

Keep these rules in mind and your next race experience should go smooth. Have a Happy Running Season!

"A winning effort begins with preparation."
Joe Gibbs, coach of the Washington Redskins, took his team to 10 super bowl games in 12 seasons.

Jairo Ospina

Running, Racing, and Rituals (Part 3)

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As we discussed in the first two parts of this article, the relationship between running and racing is very obvious. Your personal training enables you to participate in organized races; the better your training goes, the better you will do when competition comes. But why rituals? What rituals have to do with running and racing? Are these really related?

Rituals

Rituals are institutional. Every sport discipline has its characteristic demands, conditioning, and routines. Anything repetitive is also ritual; something that you repeat over a period of time and do it the same way every time to preserve its integrity and ensure its results. Think about it. Running in the strict sense of this definition is ritualistic. You pick a breathing pattern, choose a comfortable pace, move your left leg in front of your right leg, and repeat over and over until you get to your destination.

Running Ragnar at Sunset through Malibu, CA-1

I recently participated in the Ragnar Relay Race, Los Angeles. Their slogan is: “Run. Drive. Sleep? Repeat.” Without expanding on the details of this event, which I am planning to do in a later post, you can infer its cyclical personality, so true, that they made it into their tagline. Running and racing also have rituals typical of the sport. For example, the stretching, warming up, running, cool-off, stretching routine; the circling around of the race track for speed training, with jogging and speed repeats; or even the ritual of choosing the right kind of shoes. Faith is full of rituals. Our experiences of faith are enhanced, directed, even stimulated by rituals that have been institutionalized by many years of practice and proven results.

The Scriptures are full of rites and costumes that we can use today to help us in growing our faith and express our devotion to God and to one another. Worship, music, church attendance, daily prayer and scripture study, and service to others, are just examples of the exercises of our faith. To this matter, the Bible encourages us “to work out [our] salvation with fear and trembling” NIV: Philippians 2:12.

A word of caution here; many assign rituals a negative connotation, see them as boring endeavor, and regard them as ineffective practices. However, rituals are to our faith what strength training work out is to our running. They may seem boring and ineffective, but constitute the calisthenics of a stronger spiritual life, of guaranteed of endurance and a race without injuries.

So get your mind set to do what is needed to build up your spiritual muscles by recognizing, understanding, and building up the personal, corporate, and ritualistic elements of your faith without fear or shame.

[Part 1] [Part 2]

Vladimir Lugo
vlugo@race-of-faith.com

Running, Racing, and Rituals (Part 2)

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In the first part of this three-part article, we discussed the relationship that exists between running and your spiritual life as a personal discipline. This article will explore the relationship between racing as the corporate experience of faith.

Racing

Racing is corporate. Racing is running with others in a competition of some sort and not just by yourself. Every race has its organization, rules, and purpose. Things like the corporation or institution that organizes the race, their agreements with the proper authorities regarding the use of the public facilities, the scheduling of the event and all the logistics, the official rules that govern the course, distance, tracking, and safety, whether the race purpose is commercial, athletic, or charitable, and so on, are all part of the corporate nature of racing. Through the corporate nature of racing we learn that a marathon is 26.2 miles and there are national and international organizations that certify race courses. Even the unwritten rules of expected behavior and sportsmanship give racing its corporate character.

Faith is personal in the sense of each running his or her own course; discovering his or her own purpose in life. However, and especially true in our American society with its individualistic emphasis, we often forget that faith is also corporate. Faith is corporate in the sense of each running in a race, hence, the race of faith. I very often encounter people that struggle in this area; "I believe in God but not in the church," is a comment I hear now with more frequency than ever. This is equivalent of saying "I will run my own marathon of 1 mile." The race of faith has its own organizing factors, its own rules and expected behaviors, and its own corporate objectives.

We are of encouragement to others and we are encouraged by others in our corporate race of faith. This dual role of helper and helped will preserve our focus on running in such way so that we are counted among the winners. We now want to win for ourselves, but also want to win for those who follow us, and will follow us. Understanding the corporate nature of faith will help us stay on right on track.

[Part 1] [Part 3]

Vladimir Lugo
vlugo@race-of-faith.com

Running, Racing, and Rituals (Part 1)

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It was a cold morning in Southern California. Perhaps a morning like any other in the beginning of the fall season, foggy, overcast, humid; nothing extraordinary about it, really, except for the fact that I was meeting with a group of other runners for the first time to take the longest run of my life. Two miles! Two miles that marked the beginning of my running season. We gathered together at a local park; stretched; warmed up; walked. Then we ran. The company of others made it go by quickly, actually, and back at the park, we stretched some more; ate a snack, and went home.

This routine, adjusting the distance week after week, we were to perform for several months in preparation for our competitive race. It was through the succession of our training cycle that I started to reflect about my topic for this week. Is there really a connection between running, racing, rituals, and religion? If so, what can that connection teach us about our spiritual lives?

This three part article briefly explores the relationship between running, racing, and rituals and living a spiritual life. Let's start with a word about running.

Running

Running is personal. Believe it or not, every healthy person has the required resources and skills needed for running. If you can walk, you can run. Running is cheap in this sense: you do not need to spend a lot of money acquiring these resources and skills, because you already have them. There are no excuses to start running, except for the self-imposed; just get your legs moving and hit the road. Running is also personal in the sense that it allows you to discover your own capabilities. I did not know I could run until I started to run. I did not know I could run faster, longer, and more frequently until I made it my goal. I did not know I could break my personal records of pace, speed, and distance until I started to push myself.

Running brings a deep sense of spiritual awareness. God has provided you with everything you need to run your own race of faith. Your capacity for finding meaning in life, trusting, and passing on what you believe has been freely given by the grace of God. There are no excuses to run your best race of faith, except for the self-imposed. As you look for your purpose in life, trust God and those around you, and share your faith, you will discover your own spiritual gifts and areas of service, learning soon that you can be a difference in the world as you work out your faith.

[Part 2] [Part 3]

Vladimir Lugo
vlugo@race-of-faith.com

Racing as an Image of Faith

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Metaphors have the power to transform the mundane and trivial into the immortalized and spiritual. Having said that, it suddenly becomes clear how religion have used metaphors to exemplify and make sense, to expand and assure, to distinguish and grow faith. Metaphors, however, do not have any effect to the hearers unless they are able to connect with them in the intimate level. Only when we immerse ourselves in the explicit that is at hands, we are able to move into the implicit that is beyond. Then, and only then, we can fully embrace the faith hidden within each metaphor, catch the spirit within each allegory, and internalize the moral within each story.

This is my story. Not necessarily the most interesting and the most unique, but certainly the only one that counts; not on the basis of celebrity or public opinion, but simply because it is the only one I have, and the only one I can share without fear of copyright infringements. In telling my story, I have come across many metaphorical aha moments. Some of these I am planning to share soon and some others I will keep to myself until I feel they are ready to reproduce faith in others.

Race of Faith

Speaking of faith... faith is a race. Faith defined as the finding of purpose and meaning in life is a race, perhaps the very race of life. Faith as basic trust, in God and in other human beings, is a race, in fact a hurdle race; as I look back I can see how hard it has been to build that trust throughout the obstacles, disappointments, treasons, and frustrations of life. Faith as living a religious life and having a religious affiliation is also a race, perhaps a relay race, as we struggle to preserve tradition and morals and pass them on from our generation to the generations to come.

To no surprise Paul the apostle wrote often about the race of faith. He wrote to the church in Corinth: "Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win" GWT: 1 Corinthians 9:24.

I started my personal race of faith many years ago, when I was a teenager, but Paul's words did not take full meaning for me until I started to run last year in preparation for my first competitive race. My understanding of this metaphor took a new dimension as I started to enjoy running which such intensity that I felt compelled to share my reflections on this blog.

Faith of Race

This blog then deals with finding hints of faith in running as we train and participate in races and competitions. At the same time, we will provide practical advice to help you prepare for your own races, especially, your own race of faith. Hopefully, and with the collaboration of others, we will offer parallel discussions about the relationships between running, racing, rituals, and religion in general, as well as useful tips on running, participating in races, strength and speed training, hydration and nutrition, exercise gear, and the like, as we encourage you to live a balanced life; a life of physical, psychical, spiritual, and social harmony.

Vladimir Lugo
vlugo@race-of-faith.com