A Runner's Journey: From Basketball to Bootcamp to a Brooklyn PR

Karlyn A

For most of my life, I was a basketball player. Then (what felt like suddenly), it was my last game in my senior year of college, and I was no longer a basketball player. It felt like a bit of an identity crisis, after basketball had been such an important part of who I was for the majority of my life. So, the summer after college, I didn’t know where to channel my athletic energy. I had always enjoyed running, so that became my new outlet.

I loved being pushed to my limit in my training for basketball, so I thought, “why not run a marathon?” I signed up for the Philadelphia Marathon in November 2011. I got a training plan, started running and thought I was all set. While I missed so much of what basketball had given me, the one thing I didn’t miss was weight training. This was a part of our team workout regimen that I never looked forward to, as we did heavy Olympic lifting. Therefore, I decided to just focus on what I did enjoy, running, and figured that was all I needed. As many of us know, however, that was a perfect recipe for injury. And alas, a little less than 2 months later, I had bursitis in my hip, and running a marathon that fall was out of the question.

I moved into the city during this time, and my hip was still not better even though I was weeks into physical therapy. I decided to try to a new doctor, and am so thankful I ended up going to see Dr. Jordan Metzl at the Hospital for Special Surgery. He told me about his workout, the IronStrength Workout, and said that I needed to come to his class that weekend. He told me that if I strengthened my kinetic chain by doing this a few times a week, my hip would get better and I would be back to running. To be honest, I was skeptical, but since nothing else was working I gave it a try. Well, it was hard to walk for a few days after that first class, but I did what he told me and completed the workout twice a week. Three weeks later, my hip felt great and I was running without any problem!

The reason I’m telling this story is this: the silver lining of my injury is that I fell back in love with cross-training. For basketball, I never had to think about cross-training. Not only were my workouts planned for me by my coaches, but there are so many different aspects of basketball that cross-training is essential for success. Turns out, for me (and I think many others), this is true for running as well. I continued to do Ironstrength, as well as other cardio-strength classes at Equinox, and started to do indoor cycling as well. Not only was I enjoying my workouts, but I felt stronger, all of which helped me to become a better runner.

Since then, I’ve gotten certified to teach cycling, and I teach an IronStrength-inspired workout to other teachers at my school (where I am a Kindergarten teacher). It is so fun to teach exercise classes, and has become something that I love to do! While I sub for adult cycling classes, I regularly teach a ‘tween’ class at the JCC. I have a great group of kids, and I feel so lucky to be able to share my passion for exercise with them, and hopefully inspire them to love working out as well.

I have also come to believe that cross-training can really help to improve running. Recently, I signed up for a progressive bootcamp that met 3 times a week. I found myself sore most of the time, and I had to cut back on my running for recovery. I loved how hard I was pushed though, so figured if I was running fewer miles for a few weeks it was no big deal. The AMRAP (As Many Rounds As Possible) method that has become popularized by CrossFit was a big part of this bootcamp -- we worked up to do 2.5 minutes of straight work. For instance, in the last week, we did as many rounds of 20 jump squats, 15 skaters, 10 chest-to-floor burpees, and 5 tuck jumps as possible in 2:30. 

Going into the Brooklyn Half in May, I didn’t know how it would go. I hadn’t run that much, but figured I would push for as long as I could and then see how I felt. Turns out all of those burpees were worth it -- I PR’d by more than a minute! While I plan on doing much more running to train for the NYC Marathon, this has proven to me just how effective strength-training and cross-training in general can be.

Triumphant at the Brooklyn Half
Thank You Bootcamp!

So in the past three years, I have redefined the athletic part of my identity. I am no longer a basketball player, but I am an indoor cyclist, a burpee loving strength trainer, and a runner. Turns out, the part I missed most about basketball was the team, but now I have a new team. Go Flyers!

-Karlyn A

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Dynamic Duos: Baby Jogger to Marathon

Gretchen K

Despite allowing life to kick us off the training plan, my mom and I managed to push through the headwind on Wall Street and cross the finish line of the 2014 NYC Half Marathon side by side 6 minutes ahead of our goal. Back at my apartment, my dad expressed his genuine (and somewhat unsurprised) congratulations at our unexpected success. And then he asked the usual question, “So do you think you guys could have done that by yourself?” The answer for both of us: no.

My mom and I have always been a team. We called ourselves pals ever since my biological dad Rodney unexpectedly passed when I was a toddler (Note: She is since remarried to Taner). As the very definition of dynamic suggests, there is undoubtedly a force between us strong enough to span the 1,800 miles between New York City and Denver making us a sure-fire dynamic duo.

Pals forever! (Gretchen: Age 2)

My mom started running in college “to burn off the beer calories” as she likes to remember. As she moved around the country for work, joining a running club was on the top of her list in each new city. Needing a male running companion for safety and an extra push in the early mornings, she found a running friend in Rodney, which eventually led to marriage, a daughter, and a blissful life taking turns cheering for each other at races across the country. After my dad passed, my mom again turned to running in the hopes of using some physical pain to mask some of the emotional trauma.

My first memories of running are from my hours spent in a red baby jogger wrapped in a blanket munching on an ego waffle in a coffee filter and counting squirrels (dead or alive) along the streets of Kansas City. In a stroke of grief stricken desperation (or genius) my mom decided to fulfill Rodney’s dream of completing the Hawaii Ironman in Kona. This is where my hours in the baby jogger really started to multiply. Luckily for my mom, I was a very satisfied baby as long as I knew where she was—in this case she was the steady and determined engine pushing me along through neighborhood after neighborhood.

Gretchen and Rachel training for the Kona Ironman together

In 1995, my mom finally crossed the finish line in Kona in 13:15:32 for more people than herself. I was five at the time, and while my memory wasn’t the most reliable and I might be slightly biased, I still remember her smile being the biggest as she crossed the storied line with her hands over her head as if she won the race outright. It was a welcoming sight after seeing countless finishers collapsing across the line into the waiting hands of volunteers with wheelchairs. Her smile was HUGE! And I will never forget the pretty Hawaiian girl handing me the lei to put around her neck. This feat was a group effort for sure.

Rachel, Taner, and Gretchen at the Ironman in 1995

Following in my mom’s footsteps, I started running in college too. I was always one of the better runners on my field hockey team in high school, but it was during college that I started to appreciate the sport for its own therapeutic power. It was a chance for me to spend some time by myself; a precious commodity when living in a sorority house.

When I was 19, I decided I wanted to run a marathon before I turned 20. And in typical Kodanaz family fashion, any bucket list item needs a small twist to up the ante. We had already planned a family vacation to Scandinavia and by serendipity the Helsinki Marathon happened to be the same weekend we were going to be there. That summer was the first time my mom and I started running together, and it was a bit of a rocky start. Perhaps I was overwhelmed by the looming 26 miles or maybe I was insecure by her admirable endurance, but as always she was patient. She coached me through each long run with a mix of cheerleading and tough love, once rightfully leaving me trudging along in tears 50 yards behind her after a breakdown on a 20-mile run.

The Helsinki Marathon was my first, and I am delighted to say that I drank the Kool-Aid during that run, even after the effects of sightseeing and drinking our way through Scandinavia leading up to race day had made their mark on my aching feet. At kilometer 35, when the ‘wall’ had more than announced its presence, I was exhausted and determined and exhilarated.

The Disney Princess Half Marathon in Orlando.
We were 2^nd place
in the mother-daughter team division!

Since then my mom and I have run many races together in every distance: the Disney Princess Half Marathon as a mother-daughter team where she paced me to my first sub-1:50 half marathon, the Great Wall of ChinaMarathon where I learned the hard way the difference between mental and physical strength, and the 2013 More/Fitness Half on the 21^st anniversary of Rod’s passing. And now that I am stronger and over my initial insecurities, it is safe to say that she is my best (and favorite—sorry guys!) running buddy. Even with the distance we seem to be stride for stride on both the strong days and the ‘waddle days’ as we like to call them. We feed off of each other’s energy like I have never experienced with anyone else. As my dad often jokes, the umbilical cord is definitely still attached.

Rachel and Gretchen at the Bronx 10-Miler

And this energy extends beyond the pavement. It is her guidance and strength to persevere that gets me through the big life moments (e.g., moving to the city), and the small (e.g., making it through the Harlem Hills).  I am (and will be) forever grateful that I get to share the joys and pains of running (and pretty much everything else) with such an inspiring wing woman. I am also forever indebted to running for giving my family life over and over again. And from all the miles I have witnessed and run myself, I know that each step forward will only bring me that much closer to a goal, a start line, a finish line, a life, a love, a continued happiness.

We look forward to kicking butt in the streets of NYC on November 2!

-Gretchen K

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The Cockiness of the Unstoppable Runner has Faded

Diederik van Hoogstraten

Blogmaster's Note: This blog entry is an abridged version of the Afterword of Diederik's book, the Running Dutchman. 

My good friend and fellow Flyer Eddie R never struck me as a poet. But after we we ran the 2010 Boston Marathon together, he composed a haiku once he realized that my name consists of seven syllables—the second line of a haiku. He sent it to me without comment:

Finished ahead of

Diederik van Hoogstraten

Two six point two miles

And that’s how my friend made sure that two words—“beat Eddie”—ended up at the top of my to-do list. I am pleased to report it happened as soon as my book was printed in Dutch: I ran a 3:03 at the Amsterdam Marathon. I’m still working on my revenge haiku.

The time after a big race can be tough. This one goal has been the determining factor in life. It has been the reason plans were made (with running friends) and cancelled (with other friends). New York, with its tight-knit running community, is a great place to forge running friendships. So when the goal is reached, a new emptiness beckons. But the post-Boston days weren’t bad. Not long after Boston I joined my friend Chris Morgenroth, when she ran a half marathon in pouring rain a week after our marathon. Soon enough, the usual suspects and I were looping the park again. Before I knew it, we were having beers at the first Flyers New York Marathon meeting. We had entered the Era After Boston seamlessly.

It was time for new adventures, challenges, and distances. I was lucky to be a part of the 200-mile Ragnar relay in New York State, joining two vans full of Flyers, peanut butter, water, and baby wipes. We all ran three legs of varying distances. It was my first midnight run after enjoying a beer with dinner. It was also the first time I ran nine miles on no sleep, sick to my stomach, and dizzy after two earlier runs and lots of time in a moving van. This final stretch worried me, but it turned out one of my best runs ever: an hour and 15 minutes on hilly trails and roads in the sun, the van pulling up beside me with water and cheering team mates, and a runner’s high I have rarely experienced.

Running is one thing; talking about running is another. Haruki Murakami wrote that a true gentleman does not divulge details about his love life or his workout regime. Luckily, Murakami broke his own rule when he wrote What I Talk About When I Talk About Running. And when I wrote my book, The Running Dutchman -- published in Dutch in 2010 and soon to be published in English -- I decided that it would only make sense if I dared to be frank about my past, fears, and passions. Today, my doubts about opening up have faded, for I know that a handful of readers found inspiration in my story. 

Since finishing this book I have run with my sister Dorine—she who often said she would never run because she couldn’t run. My teenage niece Vera has joined me on runs too. They broke habits and went out for that first, daunting jog—often turning into runners for good.

In the meantime, I started to struggle. One evening in 2011 in Central Park I ran 800-meter repeats with my fellow Flyers. It was the end of a ridiculous 11-month stretch. During that time I had run four marathons under 3:10, doubling up on back-to-back races in the fall and spring. During one of two 50K’s I did in between, I fell on the trail as I checked out a female competitor’s behind, broke my hand, and still finished the race in fifth place. I don’t remember how many half marathons and 10K’s I entered that same year, but I do remember my happy 1:23 p.r. during the New York City half marathon. I also recall never once stopping for a break. The personal bests, the respect in the running community, and the occasional placement in my age group had become addictive. Always racing, I hadn’t thought much about the effects of the constant pushing and pounding of a body around 40. My joyful self-confidence had shifted into carelessness. While I am no psychoanalyst, it seems to me I was making up for lost time. Running feverishly, I was still trying to prove something: I’m not slow and addicted. I am not weak.

That summer evening I pushed hard. Leaning into a turn, I felt pain shoot up through the front of my right foot. I ignored it and finished the workout. The pain kept me awake at night, even though I rested and iced the foot. Of course I still showed up for speedwork the next Tuesday. Two weeks later I was on the operating table, watching my surgery to remove a snapped-off piece of bone. I felt powerless, and to counter those emotions, I think, I requested to be awake for my surgery. The images of the ordeal solved nothing. Instead they became haunting memories during a time of struggle, not just a quick interlude before the climax I had planned for the fall: a sub-three-hour marathon.

What followed was a cascade of injuries and doubts, leading me to revisit the very questions that running had answered over the years. I think I probably needed to experience it to shake off the cockiness of an obsessive runner.

I confess now that I barely avoided a return to “my own worst dark seasons,” to borrow a phrase from the novelist Barbara Kingsolver. Those were the seasons before I quit smoking a pack a day, the time before running saved me. Running had provided me with focus. My writing and thinking gained clarity. The motion of the body seemed to correspond with a stillness in the mind. “Runner” had become a part my identity. Who was I when I couldn’t run?

A right-foot sugery was followed by steroid injections for a back hernia and finally a left-knee sugery to fix a torn meniscus. Through it all I worked on my core and tried yoga. It has made me stronger, more balanced in body and mind. When I push myself now, I have found that I can again. I have gotten on my bike and into the pool and onto an Alter-G treadmill, allowing running to come back to me—gently, this time. Now I see triathlons and ultras in my future.

The cockiness of the unstoppable runner has faded. No personal bests have been recorded since I ran back-to-back 5-mile p.r.s at a 6:10 and 6:09 mile pace on the Central Park hills, one week apart in 2011. I think I will break my records again. What’s more important: I don’t really care. What matters is the simple forward motion on the trails and beaches where I’m free.

-Diederik van Hoogstraten

Blogmaster's Note: DJ's book will soon be available for sale. For those who may be interested in reading it, I'll provide information for purchasing a copy after the book comes out. -Dave K.

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Flyers Flashback Friday -- President's Letter, December 1992

Blogmaster's Note:  This year is the Flyer's 25th Anniversary as a running club in NYC.  In honoring our long history, this is the next in a series of posts featuring excerpts from Flyers newsletters dating back to 1992.  For prior posts under this category, please click HERE.

The article below first appeared in the Flyers newsletter that was published in December of 1992.  This President's Letter was written by then President Jerry Flower, and it provides a great sense of the inclusiveness, participatory structure, plans and goals of the Flyers during the early years of the club. To read the entire newsletter from which this article appeared, you'll need your Flyers password when you click HERE. -Dave K, NY Flyers Blogmaster

PRESIDENT'S LETTER

By Jerry Flower

Jerry Flower
1992

As we look toward 1993, I would like to share with you some of the decisions and plans agreed on by the Executive Committee to guide the Flyers during the next year. General meetings will be quarterly, scheduled in advance for the entire year. Each meeting will feature a program or speaker on a subject of general interest to runners and multi-sport athletes. Gordon Bloch will highlight the January 11 meeting in her talk on cross-training. I would welcome your ideas for future programs (specific topics, speakers, videos, films, etc.). Executive Committee meetings will be monthly, scheduled 3 months in advance for the convenience of all Flyers who would like to attend. The next dates are December 17 and January 4.

Committees

There will be 6 Standing Committees and 1 Special Committee to plan and carry out Flyer activities. Each officer will be a permanent member of a committee with responsibility for recruiting other members. Committees should meet prior to the January 11 meeting to generate ideas and formulate 1993 goals.

If you would be interested in working on a committee, contact the following people:

Membership Committee            Gordon Loh
Social Committee                Sabina McGarrahan
Finance Committee               Jonathan Federman
Publications Committee          Richard Garland
Sponsorship Committee           Laura Leale, 
                                Frank Fitts
                                Jerry Flower
Volunteer Services Committee    Mike Mantel, 
                                Jerry Flower
Awards Dinner Committee         Judy Morrill, 
                                Frank Grazioli

Teams

We want to continue to encourage member participation on Flyer running and multi-sport teams. Team captains play a key role in setting race priorities, maintaining race calendars, generating interest, and coordinating the logistics associated with races. The following people have agreed to be team captains for 1993:

Men's Running                   Eric Gibbs
Women's Running                 Sabina McGarrahan
Men's Masters Running           David Mark Brown
Women's Masters Running         Kathleen Nitscheim
Multi-sport Teams               To Be Named

(A meeting of Flyers interested in multi-sports will be held in January to discuss 1993 multi-sport events and priorities. A captain will be chosen then.)

Communications

As the Flyers expand (nearly 200 by year-end), we want to communicate in a consistent way who we are, what we stand for, what makes us unique, and what benefits we receive as members. A Flyer Fact Sheet has been prepared for this purpose. You will soon receive a copy along with a revised Membership Application. Feel free to make copies for friends or acquaintances who might like to join the Flyers, or ask Membership for a supply. The Fact Sheet will be updated during the year, so let me have your comments, suggestions and ideas for improvement.

On behalf of the officers, I would like to extend our warmest holiday greetings to all of you, and to wish everyone a healthy and successful New Year.

Regards
Jerry Flower

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