Pain is temporary, pride is forever: an interview with the inspirational Natalie Chomin

My 8k is coming up and I am nervous, plain and simple. I ran my first practice 8k last week, and it went horribly awry: my allergies acted up, my shins hurt like crazy, my clothing was uncomfortable, and I felt discouraged and let down. I kept thinking to myself I’ve been working at this for nearly 6 months, and 5 miles is still challenging. Why am I even doing this? I want to quit. I’m going to finish the last out of everyone and feel terrible about myself. But I finished my run (if you could call it that), and I felt like I knew my worst case scenario.

Feeling sorry for myself, unmotivated, and disappointed, I sauntered into my house to check out facebook (where better to seek comfort?) when low and behold, an update from Jamie: a picture with the caption “Nat on her 40th km today in the BMO.” Ok I’m sitting here feeling bad about running an 8k and Natalie is on her 40th km of her marathon? I am in awe of this woman. All my negativity instantly went away, and was replaced with inspiration and motivation. I could get there one day too! But how? Well, ladies and gentelman, without further ado, I present to you my Q and A with the amazing, inspirational, and very very fast, Natalie Chomin herself.

Claire: How did you start running and why do you love it so much?

Natalie: I started running in elementary school and realized I loved to race, so that’s when I decided to try Cross Country and Track. I competed until I graduated High School [and did] other sports at the same time. When my High School days of running were over, I found myself craving that racing experience and decided to do my first half marathon. I really enjoyed it, and decided to start racing in triathlon, which I did for the past 5 years along with running shorter races. Last year I decided to take it up a notch and sign up for a full marathon and the rest is history!

Running is a funny thing. Sometimes I wonder “why do I do this every single day?”….especially when I am losing toenails, chaffing, blistering, missing out on social events, watching my diet and alcohol consumption and giving up my days off so I can run, and recover from, my weekly long runs which got up to 35 kms. But that’s what I love the most about running–the challenge and the high I get from achieving my goals. Nothing is comparable for me, and many people wonder why, but it’s become my escape.

C: What was your very first race like? How far was it and How did you feel after?

N: My first race outside of High School was the Victoria Half Marathon. It was 21.1 km, and it was a bit of a letdown. I had trained extremely hard and enjoyed that aspect immensely, but race day was a thumbs down. The weather was terrible, and I went out too fast with the built up adrenaline and hit a wall around 15km. After, I was happy I finished and overall it was a good first race, but I learned a lot from it.

C: What is the last week before a marathon like? In the days before the BMO marathon, what did you do to prepare?

N: The last week of training before a marathon includes tapering. You hit your highest weekly mileage around 2-3 weeks before the race then all your runs get shorter and less intense. In the days before the race, I focused on making sure my diet was getting a lot of simple carbohydrate for immediate glycogen stores, getting a lot of sleep and mentally preparing. I was extremely nervous, barely able to think/talk about anything else.

C: What types of cross training do you incorporate into your workout routine?

N: I like to do yoga 1-2 time a week, as well as biking or hiking; in the summer I do the Grouse Grind as one of my cross training days. I also do a core circuit twice a week, as having a strong core really improves your running performance.

C: What is normal running pain like? Where do you feel it most when you run for long distances? Shorter distances?

N: Pain is one of the biggest topics in marathon training. I thought I knew what it was like to experience pain from running before marathon training….but I was wrong. In long runs, one of my biggest issues was chaffing. I would literally be bleeding in the shower from the rubbing of my heart rate monitor, sports bra and sometime shorts/long spandex. Long runs also bring on cramping in the calves, and hamstrings, not to mention lactic acid build up occurring in the upper body. Tempo and speed workouts were just painful because they were tough cardiovascular workouts and I would get some acute muscle soreness afterwards.

C: What gets you through the tough times? When you are training what motivates you? When you are actually racing what pushes you to go faster and keep moving?

N: I go through some tough runs and tough stretches of time while training, which all runners definitely experience. On one of my long runs I was seriously questioning my decision to run a marathon. Why am I doing this? Why do I go through all this pain? Will I be able to finish the race? Maybe I should just do a half…..but I always am motivated by the one fact that never changes, I love a challenge, and achieving that goal is one of the best feelings in the world. Hands down. In a race, the adrenaline and the pounding of footsteps by the other runners around me drive me forward–knowing that pain is temporary, and pride is forever. I had a cross country coach tell me “run until there is literally no gas left in the tank”. Lots of times I have to dig extremely deep to find that bit of energy, but it’s there, and sometimes you have to get through times like that mentally when physically, there is nothing left.

C: Any final words of advice or encouragement for newbies like me?

N: I love it when I hear that someone is picking up running. Having confidence is very important when beginning a new sport. You have to know that YOU can do it, and no one else can tell you otherwise. I never thought I’d do a marathon…it was just too long of a distance, I used to think. But when I realized that the only thing holding me back is myself, I went for it. I would suggest signing up for a 5k, or whatever distance you feel would be a challenge and start training. I love having a race in mind, it motivates my workouts every single day. And when I am finished that race, knowing I achieved something that I set out to do, is an amazing feeling!

Happy Running!

Thanks for the interview, Natalie! You are phenomenal and I can’t wait to hear about what you do next!

Happy training to all my readers, whether you are a runner, a yogi, a swimmer, or a bob sledder.

Motivationally yours,

C

 

Taking My Own Advice… And Other Words of Wisdom, Presented by Yours Truly:

Sometimes when I read over what I have recently written, I am able to get better perspective on my own advice. I think I have a lot to teach myself, for example, on October 25th, I wrote that the hardest part about running would be making the time to get dressed, leave my house, and hit the pavement. Once I get to that point, I’m going to do the gosh darn run – it’s inevitable. On October 28th, I wrote about the good aspects of running for exercise, and I now have that bookmarked on my browser, because I find it heartening to read.

Today I cross trained for 30 minutes, and tomorrow is another running day. I am telling you all now, I am not going to skip tomorrow’s run. It’s going to happen, because I know (and I think you all know too) that I am more than disciplined enough to make myself put on a pair of shorts and runners and trot out into the cold (has everyone else noticed how freaking cold it’s gotten?!).

Something one of the teachers said during my last class at Bikram Yoga Seattle, was that the main reason they ask you not to leave class, is that if you allow yourself to leave class once, leaving will always be an option. If you don’t ever leave, it’s never an option to leave. The first time you do it is the hardest, after that it just gets easier and easier. The truth is, it is easy to skip a run. The world doesn’t end, time doesn’t stop, I haven’t been smote down by any God yet, but it does make me feel kind of bad about myself. That is arguably worse than most other consequences.

So some things I am going to do for myself this week:

*Make a new absolutely killer running playlist. Song suggestions appreciated and welcome btw.

*Drink more water. Since I’ve worked in the school district, I have drunk so much less water! I feel significantly worse because of that, and I need to get back in the habit. I used to drink 10 glasses a day easily, now I’m lucky if I get 3.

*Plan, plan, plan, and plan. I need to schedule my days better, right now they are too unstructured to be productive.

*Lastly, I am going to try my hardest to get more sleep at night. I need to wake the eff up.

So with those four goals in mind, I will depart. I hope to have a much more positive, successful, and fulfilling week this time around. What are your goals to make yourself healthier this week?

-C

 

Getting Over the Hump

There is a moment in every yoga class where I am convinced that I am not going to make it.

It usually comes right before we hit the floor. At the end of the standing series my muscles are shaking, there is sweat dripping into my eyes, my feet slip on the mat, my lungs threaten to burst, and, if I’m doing it right, I don’t even know my own name. This is the crux of the class, and I always know if I get through that few minutes, that it will all be downhill from there. If I can handle those few minutes of pain and suffering and exhaustion, I can handle anything.

Life, like yoga, come’s in series. There is a crux of each episode, and if you can get through it chances are you will have a moment to breathe. You will finish the standing series, hit the floor, and take your two-minute savasana. The problem is, life isn’t a set. You don’t know what pose is coming next, you don’t know when you will finally get to lie down. You have to just plug along, and be satisfied knowing that eventually you will make it through the crux of the situation.

I feel like I’ve hit the crux of my current situation, struggled through it, and I’m starting to wind down. I might not be in savasana yet, but I’m getting close. I am happier than I have been in a long time, although that happiness is tinged with a distinct pain sensation. Remember not to assign value to sensation, simply feel it, and allow it to wash over you. Winston Churchill said, “when you’re going through Hell, keep going.” Has anyone read Dante’s Divine Comedy? Dante kept going, he travelled through the depths of hell, into purgatory, through that, and do you know what he found? True love. So anytime you think you can’t make it, relax. You’re savasana is on its way.

-C

 

A Priority vs. An Option: Thoughts for Today

This post is a little different than usual. It was inspired by a quote on a friend’s facebook, and a conversation I had with a cousin of mine. I think it is so important that we take time in our lives to care for ourselves. It is easy to get caught up in other people, and assign value to ourselves based on others’ reactions to us. It is so valuable to remember that at the end of the day, we have to be our own personal advocates. In every area of life we have to advocate and care for ourselves.

One of the things one learns during the practice of yoga, is that with every moment comes a clean slate. Each second of your practice, and each second of your life, awards you the opportunity to start anew. The opportunity is always there, and it is within each of our power to grasp it whenever we so choose.

It’s easy to let decisions be made for you, it’s easy in life to be passive, but the truth is, if you want something you have to decide that you want it and then work for it. There is a quote that says something like “getting what you want is easy once you decide what that is.” Like deciding to hold a posture through to the end before you start it, you can’t do something unless you decide to do it.

Deciding to make a change in life is never easy, but it is important not to let others hold you back. Every moment is an opportunity to change your life for the better. The moment I decided to start doing Bikram Yoga I changed my life for the better. The moment I made the decision to attend UBC I made my life better. The moment of my initiation into Delta Gamma changed my life for the better. There are, of course, moments I regret, but ultimately I’ve made myself my priority in my life. If you aren’t your own priority, how can you expect to be anyone else’s?

Don’t make someone your priority, when you are only an option. Yoga is how I take care of myself, how do you make yourself a priority in your life?

-C