Welcome to another installment of the LubDub show (formerly the Run Pub Podcast), brought to you by the Providence Heart to Start Program and the Oregon Brewery Running Series!
The LubDub is a weekly podcast and interactive video show where we talk to experts about running and walking and learn from program champions who provide motivation and inspiration as we embark on this 12-week journey as a community united in becoming our best, healthiest selves.
The Oregon Brewery Running Series hosts family-friendly, 5K fun running and walking events that start and end at some of Oregon’s best breweries. If you’re looking for an un-timed 5K in Portland or around the state, click the link below and join us!
In This Episode
This week, we are joined by Heart to Start Champions Shannon Sherry and Jen Drew, who keep us going through a word of encouragement and information about the annual Ugly Christmas Sweater contest!
And our main guest in this episode is running writer Mark Remy who shares three guidelines that will help anyone find or regain joy through running or walking. If you’re not familiar with Mark, he has written “a bunch of” books about running and for many years was a writer and editor for Runner’s World, the world’s largest running publication. In 2015, shortly after moving with his family to Portland, he launched the satirical website DumbRunner.com. Mark has run 28 marathons and more half-marathons and 5Ks than he can remember.
Enjoy!
THE ONLY 3 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT RUNNING
Earlier this year, I asked Mark to share with our community about how to keep focused on what’s important. To “stop and smell the proverbial roses” if you will. Mark’s first thought, keep it simple.
“Running isn’t easy, but it’s simple if you’re doing it right. It’s so easy to over think and make running more complicated than it needs to be. Needless complications are one of my pet peeves.”
So the following three pieces of advice are distilled down from our conversation. Listen to the interview above to get more context around each.
JUST GO!
This is geared more towards the person on the couch, or person too intimidated to get out the door. Mark says the best thing runners should do is just get out the door and start running! “It’s not that hard. There’s the door. There are your feet. Just go…if that means the end of the block, that’s a start!”
This is a great reminder, even if you have been running 2 years or 20. There are always things in life that will get in the way of running if we let them.
BE PATIENT
Running can be easy, but it’s a long process. You don’t need to accomplish everything today, and often, taking a long-term perspective on running is the best way to “become” a better runner.
“Be patient in expecting results,” Mark says. “Too many people get out there and expect instant results. They get frustrated because we’re in such a culture of instant gratification.”
Running will teach you the value of how to be patient. “…if you want to train for a race that’s 4 months away…you gotta be patient.” Take the long view of running and make it a lifestyle.
PAY ATTENTION
Pay attention to your body. “If you start and are immediately gasping for breath, you’re probably going too hard,” says Mark. It’s also equally as important to pay attention to your surroundings (other runners, cyclists, traffic, etc).
But he takes it one step further.
“Pay attention to the world…to what’s happening around you (not just threats), but pay attention beautiful things, especially if you’re on a trail run, or just look for it around you… even just the beauty and music around you.”
About Mark Remy
Each week, we are joined by an expert who sheds some light on one aspect of the running and walking journey. These are people at the top of their fields in a variety of things. Mark just happens to be a close personal friend of mine, and someone I look up to for a variety of reasons.
I asked all of the guests in this episode what is a source of joy for them right now. Mark shared about their new family kittens.
“…we have two kittens who are adorable and they’re a true source of joy in every sense of the word they really are. They don’t know anything about running. They don’t know anything about the pandemic. They don’t know anything apart from being wide-eyed about everything that’s happening around them and loving to play and sleep… They’re adorable together and the kids love them and we all love them together. And it’s, fun.”
He has also written for a bunch of other publications, too, and it’s really, really good stuff!
About Jen Drew and Shannon Sherry
Shannon Sherry has been an avid participant in the West Portland Heart to Start group and proudly takes over the champion role each December for the annual Festive/Ugly Sweater workout/competition. Shannon is an advanced practice practitioner and also the clinical coordinator for Basecamp’s PATHFINDERS Peer Mentor Program that will be entering its fourth year in 2021.
One small moment of Joy for Shannon over the past several months has been baking bread.
“…the one thing that I never thought that I would ever think about doing is making bread!”
She has become a bit of an expert and since she couldn’t find any yeast in store, created her own sourdough starter! She bakes 2 -4 loaves every weekend.
Shannon told us the reason she got involved with Heart to Start was because of the patients.
“…watching them change their own lives was so neat to see. And so I really joined. Partly to support patients, but also to be part of the community and to cheer them on.”
Shannon also shared that running is very much a mental thing, and it’s important to just break down a big goal into smaller pieces.
“…and I think so much of it is in our heads and we could just get out the door. That’s one step in the right direction.”
Jen Drew is also an APP (advanced practice practitioner) at the Providence Heart Institute based out of the Providence Heart Clinic – Bridgeport location. She helps lead the South Portland group that would have been in its third season this year.
For Jen, all the fun activities she has been able to do with her teenage kids has been a HUGE source of joy for her.
“…I have dinner with my children every night. I play ping pong almost every night. We do puzzles. There’s puzzles all over our dining room table. I feel like the amount of family time and the bonding that I’ve had with my family and my kids, which I don’t think I would have had otherwise because of all their teenage fun-ness, they get to do it with me instead.”
She initially became a Champion for slightly personal reasons. Her father had a heart attack, and she wanted to help encourage him to get active.
“…part of it was to motivate my dad to get back out there and do some running. [but also] bring that same [Heart to Start] community back to my community where I live, is motivational.”
Jen’s word of inspiration was to just keep putting in the heard work. It’s worth it!
“Just keep doing it because it is it just when you’re finished, even though you might struggle to get there, you might struggle to get out there. It might be raining and cold, but when you’re done, you feel so good when you get to the target event at the end. I mean, you feel like you’ve accomplished something. So just keep at it every day’s a new day, but, um, just keep going.”
These two women brought a lot of fun to the show! They kicked off the Festive/Ugly Sweater Week with the invitation that next Monday, 12/21 everyone wears their outfit to the podcast! These two will also pick the winner(s) of the photos submitted.
About Providence Heart to Start
We’re excited to be partnering with our friends from the Providence Heart to Start program to offer you a FREE 12-week running/walking training program! Rather than focusing on pace or ability, Heart to Start encourages taking several small steps (i.e. weekly training) and working toward a remarkable finish (i.e. goal event) where we celebrate each other as a community.
Unlike our previous monthly challenges, this challenge starts Monday, November 16, and ends on Friday, February 5. Set a challenging 12-week mileage goal and work really hard to reach it by the end!
