Workouts Begin

Three weeks of building up my mileage and now it is time to get back to doing workouts.  I was pretty excited after completing my first workout back. Not only did it not feel as treacherous as I had anticipated, but I was running the same times as the end of my fall training cycle last year and exerting the same effort (effort = heart rate)! 

First Workouts of Yore

Why was I expecting the workout to be so hard? Although this first workout back was an exception to the rule, I have plenty of vivid and not always pleasant memories of first workouts in the past. One that is particularly vivid was the summer of 2007 before my senior year at the University of Iowa. I was home in Tualatin, Oregon and it was a bright sunny morning without any rain (which is rare in Oregon!). My now husband Cole decided to be a good sport and ride the road bike along with me as I set out with the quest of completing my first workout back after a two week break –  a 30 minute tempo run.  I warmed up for a few miles and then rolled right into the workout, but things were not going my way. Meanwhile, Cole was riding beside me happy as a clam, chatting away about some nonsense or another. I tried to concentrate, let my body continue to warm up and find my rhythm. Running, struggling, battling… “STOP!!!” I yelled. Just a few miles into the workout I came to a dead stop and burst into tears. “How did I ever run so fast without it hurting so much?”  Cole asked me if I was OK, I snapped back that I was fine, that the workout was just hard. I didn’t know how I could run any faster and him being so happy wasn’t making it any better! I immediately felt even more terrible about treating him so badly, when he was doing me the favor of riding along with me. I eventually calmed down and was able to finish the workout, though it was at a little more conservative pace.

Running for Yourself

This retrospection brings me to a point. When I am out meeting new people and I explain what I do, I get the frequent response of “You run how much?! My refrigerator is running, and that is about how far I run too, from my couch to the refrigerator”.  Many people express their interest in running, but say that every time the start they end up quitting. 

Running is a difficult sport, no doubt, but is also one that can be extremely self fulfilling when given the chance. It is my strong belief that the people out there that say that “can’t run”, have not given the sport a real chance. You have to start out slow, building into it. That may mean you have to start out alternating walking and running, until you gain the stamina and cardiovascular fitness to run your entire route. As Christopher McDougall wrote, people are ‘Born to Run’.  So my advice to those of you naysayers out there is to give running a real chance. Start out slower than you think is necessary and set long term goals. In the end you will be reward with increased fitness and a soaring self-esteem!

The Journey Begins

My first marathon is looming in the distance; true it is still six months away, but the journey begins now.

~~History~~

I began running in 7^th grade and haven’t stopped since.  However, like many people running wasn’t always my passion.  Although I had already been running for a few years, I didn’t become passionate about the sport until I was a junior at Tualatin High School in Oregon. It was about this time that I decided that competitive running was probably something I could do even into my college years.

After winning 6 state titles in Oregon, I planted myself in the Hawkeye State under the coaching of Layne Anderson at the University of Iowa.  Like the abundant corn fields that grow and blanket the Iowa countryside, my running career also flourished.

I left Iowa a 4-time NCAA All-American, 2-time Big Ten Champion and school record holder.  But, could I really make it at the next level?

~~Professional Career~~

I graduated from Iowa in the spring of 2008 and joined Team USA Minnesota under the guidance of Coach Dennis Barker and management of Pat Goodwin.  I chose to stay in our nation's “bread basket” because Team USA Minnesota was impossible to turn down. With so much support from organizations like Life Time Fitness and Twin Cities in Motion, Minneapolis represents an aspiring Olympians dream come true.

So here I am now, three years later. I recently married my high school sweetheart Cole and so my last name changed from Armstrong to Peyton (hence the title of this blog “Leg Strong”, which middle school classmates used to call me after I informed them that NO, I am not related to Lance).  As of July, I am training for my first marathon. I love the track and will not be giving it up any time soon, but I want to try my hand at the 26.2 mile distance next winter at the Olympic Trials Marathon in Houston, Texas.  Follow me in my training and give me tips along the way… "Citius, Altius, Fortius."