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Ever wanted to know what it is like to run a marathon and then go back for your runners?

2008 LA Marathon

It is 8 hours into the race and I am running on the course AGAINST the runners. I am somewhere in the 22 mile mark and they are starting to shut down the course to allow traffic back into the streets and there is the shuttle van picking up runners slowly riding opposite the runners waiting for any takers to get on to end their long day and get a DNF, did not finish. At this point there are only walkers, run/walkers and the injured doing everything they can to get to the finish line. And there I am running right next to the shuttle yelling at the runners  “don’t even think about it, don’t even think about getting on this shuttle, you are there, dig deep, stay tough” This is my constant message over and over as the shuttle and I pass hundreds of runners.

That day at LA marathon was an amazing journey to say the least. I did run the race that year. I ran with my training partner Erika. That year I was pacing her to a beat a 4:30 marathon. We had worked hard with long training nights mostly due to work schedules. That year was the first year they changed the course from Universal City to downtown L.A. The race in the later miles turned into quite a hotter day than usual. I remember getting to the 18 mile mark and feeling the heat. That seems to be the problem for most marathons in Los Angeles. The weather out here is gorgeous. But for marathon running,  this presents its challenges along with an unusual start time of 8am, it can get pretty hot out by the 15 mile mark. The race was pleasant and as Erika and I turned the corner at mile 26 to the finish it was clear we beat our goal time and this part of the race was a success.  We crossed the line and it was all smiles.

For me the real work started after this point. After completing the race I quickly ran back into the course and  started finding runners I knew and started running them in back to the finish line if they needed help. Some did and some didn’t. At mile 21 I ran into my first challenge that day. Michelle was a runner I had been training and coaching through the roadrunner program in Los Angeles. When I found her she wasn’t in such a good place. She was having bad cramps in her stomach from what appeared to be problems with the digestion of the sports gels and combinations of water and Gatorade intake.  She was struggling badly and we were running and walking and she was grimacing. Soon we were stopping completely and she was doing everything she could to keep herself from throwing up.  We would walk and she would stop. Things got worse as she started to feel very weak and before I knew it I was holding her by her waist. As we were standing in the middle of the course I was telling runners to go around. I was holding her hair from her face as she was really sick. She would muster enough determination to run a good 40 yards and then we would stop and repeat, holding her so she wouldn’t fall and holding her hair from her face telling runners to go around. This was our process for the next couple of miles to the finish. As we approached and got close to under the 26 mile mark I told her you made it and she was instantly out of her funk. I told her if she booked it she could beat 5 hours and she went into tears because all she wanted to do was beat her time from last year which was over 5 hours. At that moment Michelle put it in top speed and raced to the finish and that day despite our last miles of struggle and pure determination, Michelle got her time.

So I began my run against traffic once again from the finish line. I ran into a good number of friends and ran back and forth between the finish line and mile 21. I did this for a good three hours. It was quite an adrenaline rush. I also helped strangers besides the people I knew. My second challenge came with a stranger, a girl from the SRLA training program. I found her at mile 21 and she was in a really weak state with her arm around her Mom and her Mom carrying a lot of her weight. When I ran towards them it was pretty important for me to convince her Mom to let us sit her down so I could evaluate what kind of state she was in. The girl was not injured she was just really dehydrated and very weak. The girl barely had enough energy to look at me. I asked her Mom to wait for me and keep her there so I could get her some kind of salt in her body. Luckily I had put a $20 bill in my shorts that morning. I ran into one of the convenience stores along the course and grabbed a Gatorade and a little salt shaker and poured a healthy amount of salt into the Gatorade and ran back out to the girl and had her drink. Very quickly she was reacting to the salt going into her bloodstream and was starting to become very alert.  Her Mom quickly wanted to get her up and get going and I advised pretty strongly that her daughter needed medical attention and she should wait for first aid to come help. The girl was in tears telling me she wanted to finish and her Mom was telling me she would be fine. I walked with them for about 100 yards just to make sure she was a tad better. Her Mom insisted they were fine. I told her she should go to first aid first chance she crossed the line. I told the girl to stay tough and she put smiled at me, put her hand out and grabbed mine and squeezed it really hard. She could barely talk and I knew she was trying to say thank you through her hand. I watched her until she turned the corner. That was a tough one to leave.

The road to the 2008 LA Marathon started at the end of August in 2007. I was a coach for the Roadrunner Program which was the official training program for the LA Marathon. Through this program beginners and seasoned marathoner’s are encouraged to run and train with full support for the 6 month program with coaching staff, clinics, pace leaders and water and bananas every Saturday. The program has a 99.9% finishing rate and prides itself on this. Every Saturday I stood on a stage prior to their long runs and talked and motivated them with different topics and ideas. Trying to inspire the inspired sometimes seems like a lot at times and often as I knew of an important training topic to bring up and educate I really had a lot of fun inspiring the troops Naturally every week I spoke from my heart and often went along with what I saw and observed from the questions of the runners. My goal was just to leave them with something inspiring and I think I did that week in and week out with stories of struggle and commitment and inspiration. Little did I know these stories would set the stage for what really was awaiting on race day several months later and I personally would have to draw everything I ever said and spoke about to complete that day in March.

After leaving the SRLA girl and her Mom I made my way back running towards runners. My goal was to find a run/walker in my training group who would be the last one coming in. I promised her I would come back for her at the start line at the beginning of the race that morning. Along the way as I kept running back I was inspired by the amazing stories out there. Runners who were injured holding their legs struggling to make it, runners in their 50’s, 60’s and 70’s. There was a man I ran into and he must have been in his late 70’s and he looked beat up, leaning to one side and walking with his daughter. I asked him if he was OK and he yelled at me as if I had insulted him, it was very clear he was determined and OK and had been here before. His daughter smiled at me and said he is good but thank you. I continued on and found a man on a wheel chair hunched over on his seat and stopped. His hands were taped up with the tape coming undone and blood on his fingers. I asked him of he was OK,  he was just really tired and exhausted in this 10 hour day he had put in at this point. I told him to let me help him and I pushed him for about 5 minutes and asked him what was his story. Why was he here? He went on to tell me he was a war veteran in Iraq. He had lost his leg in combat and was here trying to do this marathon for the fallen soldiers who were his friends and doing this for them. As he told me this story we were both brought to tears and he continued to cry as I pushed him in the dusk of the downtown skyline. He asked me to stop and told me this was his struggle and he needed to continue on his own with his own power. I agreed and shook his hand and watched him as he wheeled away slowly with his little American flag taped to the back of his chair.. I was touched and saluted him before I turned around and headed back out for my runner. I am sure his men and friends were looking down at him from above with smiles and admiration.

I finally found my runner and we are walking/running but mostly walking on the sidewalks with other participants struggling to finish. At this point all mile markers were gone and there were no more water stations and it was a mess, we are in the dark now mingling with the homeless and its starting to get weird. As we are approaching runners I am telling them to stay with me, soon enough we have a little group of 9 or so runners/walkers. We are all sharing water just trying to get into the finish. I am about 50 plus miles in from running back and forth all day after my marathon and I am starting to feel a bit disoriented. My runner is hurting and is starting to lean to  her left because her back is going out. Its been a long day for her and I start to think I may have to carry her in.

Eventually we made it to the final turn and this part of the race is closed off so we get to the middle of the street and we all come in, complete strangers all holding hands to the finish line. The camaraderie  is apparent along with the mutual respect. I hunch over and my body is in pain, it’s fatigued, it’s done and the only thing I can think about for some reason is ice cream. I make my way to my car and find the nearest store on the way home and I get a frozen ice cream and sit on the curb near the front door of the store and this little boy is walking with his mom and as they pass me the little boy says “ Mommy, that man stinks” I laugh to myself, continue to eat my ice cream and think to myself, “ if he only knew how good this ice cream taste and yea, I do stink”  I completed 68 miles in the City of Angels that day and everyone in my training group crossed the finish line. This was my 2008 LA Marathon.

As you can see,  running is magic and running will inspire. The human spirit is strong. It was strong in each of those runners I ran into along the way back to my runner. Keep aspiring to be great and continue to push your human spirit!

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by ryanmichaelruiz on January 6, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Los Angeles, Marathon Running, motivation, Running
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Posted by ryanmichaelruiz on January 6, 2012

http://ryanmruiz.com/2012/01/06/ever-wanted-to-know-what-it-is-like-to-run-a-marathon-and-then-go-back-for-your-runners/

LIMITS

For many years I was honored to serve as the coach for the Roadrunner program in Los Angeles. During this time I constantly reminded runners of all abilities that during the course of a race, particularly in the later parts, you will start to feel fatigue, beat and begin to struggle mentally. This is usually the breaking point in a race. In a 5k it usually tends to be at the half way point. In a 10k this moment will occur somewhere around the 4 mile mark. The Half marathoner will experience this moment somewhere around the 9 mile mark and the marathoner will meet this moment around mile 20 or 21. At this moment your world is starting to fall apart, you reach that fork in the road and you have  THAT MOMENT when you have to decide on one of two choices. 1. Ease back a bit and take a little off. This is easy because you will slow down and the pain will go away BUT your race is compromised and your goal is more than likely thrown out the window. The is the easiest of the two. Or you have the other option. 2. Continue to press, the pain wont go away and you will go to the limit. It will be very uncomfortable. This is by far the hardest of the two and it is scary. It requires courage and a risk. IF you choose this option you can’t lose. If by chance you bonk and bonk hard you can always kick your shoes off at the end and know you gave everything you had and there is no greater satisfaction in that even if you missed your goal time. Or you will realize that somehow your body when pushed to the brink somehow responded and you realized you were stronger than you ever thought. Most runners never choose this option because it’s a hard place to go to, it’s much easier to relax and take option one and say to yourself, “next time, there will be other races”  This is true but what if I can convince you that your body will always respond? Would you try it? Keep reading.

There is a story on WNYC’s Radiolab program about a sports physiologist named David Jones who conducted a study with a bunch of bikers where he puts them on stationary bikes and put them in two separate groups and had them pedal about 40 kilometers or 24 miles. The two groups were given an energy drink but they were not allowed to drink it. The rule was to swish it in their mouth and spit it out. One group was given real energy drink to swish in their mouth and spit out, the other group of bikers were given fake energy drink to swish in their mouth and spit out. The energy drinks both tasted the same and nobody knew which drink was fake or real. So you would think nobody would get any benefit from this scenario because nobody is actually drinking the energy drink, nothing is getting into the body. Or in another scenario perhaps the taste would give a placebo effect equally. Well here is the result, only the people who swished the real energy drink got a boost. And actually it was a couple of minutes of a boost which can be the difference between finishing first and last in racing or getting that PR.  So maybe something in the first set of athletes who got the real energy drink, something inside them knew something. Here is the theory, there is an idea that has been floating around for quite some time called the central governor theory. which is that somewhere in your head there is a little circuit which is starting to show up in brain scans, there is this little circuit  that governs your energy supply. And when it feels like you are in danger of running low it will trigger signals of pain to be sent to your body to try to get you to rest. But what scientist are finding is that this governor circuit is actually conservative and will send you a pain to try to get you to stop WAY before you are out of juice. So if you were a fuel tank it will flash E when you still have a half tank left. So what happened with the bikers is the sugar landed on the tongue, the tongue sees the sugar, sends a message to the brain and the governor see’s this message and thinks “OH! we are about to get some energy well then I guess its OK for you to spend some energy so let me just give you some from my stash here” and so? you feel that boost. So the conclusion here is you have a reservoir of extra stuff but it is so deeply disguised that you can’t even know that its there. Think of a marathon if you have run one before, around mile 22 when the pain is starting to really creep in and you are feeling tired and spent, chances are you are not tired and spent, maybe you are feeling the effects of that governor lying to you. The reality is when the body is completely done and there is nothing left your body will go to the very last source for energy, your mind. They say running is 90% mental and 10% physical. Yes this could be an exaggeration but if you train your mind your body will follow. There are amazing people doing extraordinary things monthly in marathons all over the world. Runners with severe disabilities who line up on the start line of a marathon who in the back of your mind and many minds would imagine they really have no business out there. But in their minds they are convinced they will do whatever it takes to get to the finish line including playing with their governor in their head and convincing it otherwise.

I was at the finish line of the NYC Marathon this past November of 2011 in Central Park. Imagine nobody there, all support staff gone, no spectators in the bleachers, the finish line like a ghost town? Kind of hard to believe right? Well that was the case except it was past 8pm, over 10 hours from the start of the race and there were runners still coming in. It was the most amazing thing I have ever seen. There was one particular runner from Korea slowly coming in making his way to a 11 hour finish time. He had two prosthetic legs, one arm and was hobbling into the finish. The few of us there were all in tears cheering and clapping as loud as we could. Do you think his governor was kicking at mile 3? Probably. It was truly inspiring to see. After he crossed he was in such great spirits. He was tired but still refused to sit down. I asked him if I could take a picture with him and he gladly agreed. He spoke little english and after the photo was taken to the left here, he asked me if I ran because I had my medal and he gave me a hug to congratulate me. It was nice but he was my hero that day and I told him that. He took himself to the limit that day. Not sure whether this was his first marathon or 5th but I am sure somewhere in his life he came to that fork in the road and chose to do what really would be uncomfortable, to train with these disabilities and do what few in this world will ever accomplish, a marathon. It shows the body really has no limits and will always respond but only if you are willing to take it down the road and have the courage to take that risk.  He is a true example that anything is possible if you can believe it.

I believe everyday in some small way we are faced with forks in the road, some small, some big. In running you will have THAT MOMENT I described up above. If you take that risk and put it on the line, tell your governor NO and press forward  you will see your body respond when you thought you had nothing left. It is only when you do that, you will have the chance to not only reinvent your running but also your life. That is what we do, we take the lessons from running and apply them to life. 2012 will throw these forks in the road at you all year. Take that risk and take the road that is uncomfortable, that is scary and you will see new doors of possibilities open before your eyes. If you never test your limits you will never know your true potential. Have a great day and I will see you down the road less traveled.

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by ryanmichaelruiz on January 5, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Central Park, Los Angeles, Marathon Running, motivation, New York City, Running
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Posted by ryanmichaelruiz on January 5, 2012

http://ryanmruiz.com/2012/01/05/limits/

Half Marathon Pace Leading

  A few weeks ago there was a Holiday Half Marathon here in Los Angeles on the Los Angeles County fairgrounds. It is a fairly new event in the area and continues to grow yearly. Eventually the race will turn into a full marathon. This year was bigger then all the previous years due to the participation of the Students Run Los Angeles program here in Los Angles. The SRLA program is designed to help students in the LA area from 7th grade to the high school level train and run the LA Marathon in March. The goal of the program is in the process of learning to run and accomplish the challenge of a marathon it will help students conquer the challenges of school and pursue college after high school. The success rate over the years has been pretty great and big sponsors like Honda have played a big part in helping the kids in the inner cities of Los Angeles.

The race officials wanted official pace leaders to lead and help runners accomplish times in the race. From a 1:30 time all the way to a 2:45 time, pacer’s like myself carried sticks with the projected times on them. As you can see from the picture I carried the 2 hour pace sign. Carrying the stick and holding it up for 13.1 miles does pose its challenges but I think the pressure of trying to be perfect on pacing mile by mile is the real challenge. I had a pace bracelet with the time I should be at each mile so that helped. A 2 hour half marathon is about a 9:09 minute pace per mile. At the start line while we waited for the gun to go off I noticed a good number of runners lining up behind me hoping to hold on to me so they can get the finish at 2 hours. There is always someone asking if I think they can do it and the process is just trying to figure out what kind of running they are doing and at what pace they have been training at. It is always fun talking to runners telling them anything is possible and teaching them limits will be reached and its up to them whether they are open to reaching and pushing those limits.

So the gun goes off and instantly I realize a mile in I have quite a few runners following me. Possibly 50-60 at the start. The key is to start a little behind the pace, allow the body to warm up and actually be right on target around the three-mile mark. Everything worked to plan and at mile 6 I was just 3 seconds fast which is perfect. The job is to keep reminding runners to stay hydrated at water stops and to get the gels or gu’s in at the appropriate times. Going up hills I remind them to relax and keep the arms moving. Usually at the crest of the hills I let everyone know to shake off the arms which helps them reset their form from being so tense from a hill. At mile 10 I take a look around and I have only 6 runners with me from the 50-60 that attempted to run with me. From previous times pacing in races, 6 is actually pretty high as it is usually 1 or 2. The 6 remaining runners with me are starting to hurt and at this point of a half marathon it really starts to become a mental race. So I get in their heads and ask them at every mile to think of someone in their life and dedicate this mile to them. To keep that person in their mind, focus on them and don’t let them down, have a conversation with them and again, don’t let them down. These are the mental tricks you can do to help a runner push through in the last critical miles of a race. This process is starting to work and we do this mile by mile. As we hit mile 12 I tell them “this is it”, to gradually leave me and challenge themselves to push forward and get that mark under 2 hours. They all leave me except one. He is in the picture above and he stays with me as he is struggling physically and mentally. I push him and push him, we turn the final corner and we see the finish line and he moves forward ahead of me. Adrenaline has taken over and he finishes strong. As you can see from the picture I come in at the finish line right on target, 2 hours. It is an amazing feeling coming in and seeing the clock right at 2 hours. As I approach the finish line the announcer announces my name and tells the crowd “he is perfect, perfect pacing, 2 hours is here” I feel amazing as I approach the finish line, raise my arms to my side and I am quickly reminded again why I run. Running makes me feel amazing and helping runners achieve their goal of 2 hours feels so great.I get my medal and a few of the runners I ran in are there waiting with big thank you’s. It feels good to remind them they are capable of anything they want to do. Plus it’s always easier in those exact moments to convince them because at those moments they really feel invincible. Continue to find your limits and find a way to push through them. It isn’t until then that you have the opportunity to re-invent yourself.

KEEP DREAMING AND KEEP RUNNING

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by ryanmichaelruiz on December 25, 2011  •  Permalink
Posted in Los Angeles, Marathon Running, Running
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Posted by ryanmichaelruiz on December 25, 2011

http://ryanmruiz.com/2011/12/25/half-marathon-pace-leading/

We are not rude, we just have somewhere to be

We are not rude, we just have somewhere to be. When I am in New York City everyone will ask me for directions at train stations, subways, and on the streets. Whenever I am in Los Angeles everyone will ask me for directions on trains and the streets. So what do I look like? The ultimate local? The funny thing is I have noticed is when someone asks me for directions in Los Angeles I am pretty patient and will answer their questions over and over because after all, don’t they always ask the same questions over and over? BUT when I am in New York I have no patience to answer someone if I am moving which seems to be every minute in the city. If I am on a train and someone asks me something, sure no problem, only if I am not getting off soon. In the streets, that is the worst and I suddenly become the typical “rude” New Yorker. But the truth is that in the city we plan out our destinations to the tee. We know how much time it takes to get to the subway or to catch a bus, or exactly what time the R train will be arriving, we then know exactly how much foot traffic will be above on the street at our stop and know exactly how much time you have to get to where you need to go once you are on the street en route to your destination. So suddenly when some tourist says, “excuse me can you help me”, ummm, no, sorry, I have no time to help you. Welcome to New York City, we are not really rude, we just have somewhere to be and people don’t understand this way of life that exist in the Big Apple. So today when I get off the train at Union Station in downtown LA and I am making my way to the next train a couple asks me how to get to Pershing Square and I say sure and practically write it on their foreheads for them because this is LA and people are slow here and do things very laid back which has made me the same way. As I help them with their directions with my Yankee hat on the guy says to me “New York Yankees?” I tell him it’s home and he says “you are so nice” and I tell him before I leave, “we are not rude, we just have somewhere to be” and he and his wife look at each other and say they never thought it about that way. And before they can look back at me from their maps, the train comes and I am gone because after all, I have somewhere to be……. even in Los Angeles.

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by ryanmichaelruiz on December 24, 2011  •  Permalink
Posted in Brooklyn, Los Angeles, New York City
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Posted by ryanmichaelruiz on December 24, 2011

http://ryanmruiz.com/2011/12/24/we-are-not-rude-we-just-have-somewhere-to-be/

Running Will Change Your Life

When I was a kid I always emulated my parents. They were both marathon runners and to me, going to the playground really meant going to a track where my Mom and Dad were running, probably hammering out laps and repeats. I may had figured out what 800 meters was before ABC’s.

Now I am coming up soon to 10 years of marathon running. After 24 marathons and a huge amount of half marathons and 5k’s and 10k’s behind me I realize how much running has changed my life and has taught me so many lessons.

The first time I crossed the finish line of a marathon was probably one of the greatest moments in my life. I had finally accomplished that pinnacle I had grown up admiring so much. But I truly felt like at that moment I was changed forever and my life would never be the same. Since crossing the finish line of that marathon I went on to become certified as a coach through USAT&F and give back to running what running has given to me.

I once ran a marathon and then ran back on the course to mile 17 to get a runner/walker who was running her first marathon. She was a unique story because just a year and a half prior she was rushed to the hospital with heart issues and soon enough had triple bypass heart surgery. During her recovery she was told by the doctors if she didn’t change her life she would probably be at risk to die. So she figured she would start walking and then commit to running a marathon. At the time I was coaching the Roadrunners in Los Angeles and she came to my program determined and scared. I promised her that day when she first came to me with here concerns that If she committed and gave everything the program asked of her and I would in turn do the same. I promised her on race day I would come back for her and bring her into the finish line. We shook on it and as the program progressed, I kept my end of the bargain. To prepare for race day I practiced my endurance on Saturdays.  As a group we met Saturdays for the long run and I ran the required mileage that day and I would run back to her and run the rest of the way in with her. Our longest run was 20 miles and after running 20 that day and running back to her, there was no doubt in both of our minds we were confident for race day.

On race day at the start line I gave her a hug and she asked me if I was going to come back for her, you could tell she was very nervous. The gun went off, I ran my race with my runners, crossed the finish line and turned around and made my journey back to find her. Most runners were telling me I was going the wrong way or giving me the stare like what is this guy doing. Eventually after a grueling long trek back I found her at mile 17 and she was struggling mentally, as many first timers do. We walked and ran and walked and ran. It was an amazing 9 miles of true grit and inspiration. We were so far back in the race that the roads were reopened and we had to move to the sidewalks. The sun was starting to come down on the LA skyline and pretty soon we were in the dark. By the time we got to mile 25 we were both really depleted from the day of being out on a 26 mile course all day. We were almost 11 hours in and coming closer and closer to the finish.

As we approached the 26 mile banner which was still up, I told her she would have to make the last point two in by herself. I told her the finish line was something she needed to experience on her own. I did my part to get her there and wanted that to be HER moment. She gave me a hug and cried on my shoulder because she knew her dream had come true. This finish line up ahead was more than just a line on the road, it was the rebirth of her new life. I stood there in the middle of the street and watched her run in. As she got closer to the finish, about 20 yards or so away she ran with her hands above her as if she was about to come in first place to win the race. It was an amazing moment as she crossed. As I watched, tears were rolling down my cheeks as it was an amazing moment to finally see come into fruition. I walked down the street to the train station and went home.

To this day she continues to run and running is now a part of her lifestyle. Running in a big way did SAVE her life as well as CHANGE it. People often as me how I managed to put in 44 miles that day running back and forth and the answer is simple. I was born with a gift given to me by my parents who are runners. That day I went back I felt like I was honoring my parents for giving me that gift and gifts should never be wasted.

Keep dreaming, keep believing, keep moving forward and keep running!

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by ryanmichaelruiz on December 23, 2011  •  Permalink
Posted in Los Angeles, Marathon Running, Running
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Posted by ryanmichaelruiz on December 23, 2011

http://ryanmruiz.com/2011/12/23/running-will-change-your-life/

Speaking To A Running Club

This past weekend I spoke to a running group here in California. They are a group of runners of all abilities trying to finish up the second half of training for the LA Marathon this coming March in 2012. So i figured with their intended race time goals already in mind they really need to understand their success lies in their own hands and how they appraoch their training as well as their mind set. I have always felt running especially marathons is so mental. Of course the physical aspect is important, but when it counts and it is time to push yourself, the mind will carry you to places you didnt think were possible.

So the basis of my story to this club was my work with children. I worked with a famous Olympic marathon runner and he started a kids program to teach kids the power of running and the health benefits. We travelled around the nation and helped children and schools understand how fun running really is. It was remamkable to see these kids push themselves and run and run and run. Often we would have races and theses kids were amazing, often running more than their parents or school teachers thought they could. Kids are amazing because when you ask a kid what they want to be when they grow up they always say they want to be 10 things and they truly feel they can be all these things. In the running program they really felt they could do the runs without much prior practice. They just go. The reason they feel this way is because they are so young and noboby has told them they cant do these things. Their mind set is so unlimited.

In essence we were once kids and felt this way about not only the world but ourselves. We have to believe anything is possible and that we can do and be anything and we have to just go. Achieving a personal record for a marathon requires a mind set to believe and just go, to feel you can do anything you put your mind to. We have to remember to be like kids sometimes and know there are endless possibilities.

Ultimately running teaches us to be stronger and everything we learn from running we not only take with us in training but in life outside of running. That is running and that is life. Go out and believe you can be anything and do anything.

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by ryanmichaelruiz on December 23, 2011  •  Permalink
Posted in California, Los Angeles, Marathon Running, Running
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Posted by ryanmichaelruiz on December 23, 2011

http://ryanmruiz.com/2011/12/23/speaking-to-a-running-club/

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