This Holiday Season I'm Thinking Bread

For the past three years, my holiday ritual has included bread.

My friend Bonnie Alton, owner of the Great Harvest Bread Company in St. Paul, drafted me to help with their holiday production and shipping. ‘Sure,’ I thought. I like bread and packing tape. Why not? I really had no idea what I was getting into.

You may be familiar with Great Harvest through their omnipresent race rolls, a staple at many running events. You may have even tried a slice of their bread at one of the TSL events where we hire their sparkling staff to provide samples. If you haven’t been to their bakery you owe yourself a treat. And the moment you walk through the door, you’ll be asked if you want one, in the form of a free sample.

This time of year the shelves are filled with special breads and treats: Finnish Pulla, Challah and Julekaka breads; Egg Nog and Merry Cherry Tea Breads; hot cocoa mix, Very Merry Chocolate Cherry cookies, and my favorite, Pine Cone Crunch (peanuts and cherries dipped in chocolate with a dash of hot spices added).

Like most customers, I had no idea exactly what happened to make that bread appear on the shelf. I’d seen the people at the bread table, working in the background, but I obliviously accepted my free sample, bought my bread and treats and went home to enjoy them. Now I know how much teamwork and care is involved in making the breads and treats, and it makes them taste even better.

Each step of the process is a blend of factory-like production and craftsman-like care. The ingredients are top quality, never including trans fats or high fructose corn syrup. What really impressed me was the teamwork it takes. Each step of the way the flexible Great Harvest staff comes together to create their magic, then quickly goes on to the next step. The holiday staff includes all the veterans, returning college students on break, and raw rookies, thrown into the mix at the busiest time of year. The sense of purpose and camaraderie is impressive. Perhaps a few government agencies could take note!

I am assisting with production, but my main role is to ship boxes. You may have never thought about shipping bread and treats halfway across the country, but hundreds of other people have. I maintain a database that spits out shipping labels and customized gift cards. The back storeroom at the bakery is converted to an ad hoc shipping center. On our peak days we package and ship nearly 100 boxes. That includes weighing, printing and applying postage, and dropping them off at the post office. (Note: you don’t have to wait in line if you already y have postage on your boxes!)

My own holiday list is very short, but I get vicarious pleasure out of shipping other people’s gifts. And I can’t help wondering: why does Frank get cookies but Marge gets Oregon Herb bread?

The next few days will be more production than shipping. I’ll even get to work the counter, seeing many familiar faces on the other side. It reminds me of all I miss from my days working retail at my former running store, GBS Sports. There is something special about providing goods and services that people need and want, at fair prices, with everyone smiling at the end of the transaction.

Enjoy your own holiday traditions. And please stop in your nearest Great Harvest store. You’re in for a treat, and they’ll make sure you get it.

Twin Cities Great Harvest Locations:

Bonnie's Neighborhood Bread Business
534 Selby Ave
St Paul, MN
651-221-1057
www.stpaulbread.com

Tom & Sally's Family Owned Bread Store
4314 Upton Ave S
Minneapolis, MN
612-929-2899

Michael & Ruth's Minnetonka Bread Store
17416 Minnetonka Blvd
Minnetonka, MN
952-476-2515

Woodbury
8160 Coller Way
Woodbury, MN
651-578-9756

Burnsville
1100 E Co Rd 42
Burnsville, MN
952-891-4767

'Love Is Power' Is Advice for Runners

I’m reading a book about running. That by itself is not very remarkable. I’ve read dozens of books about running. This book is different. It’s the first running book I’ve read that makes the statement “love is power.”

I’ve come to know thousands of runners, and I’ve never heard it put quite that way. The odd little book is Gerry Lindgren’s Book on Running, written by “The Shadow of Gerry Lindgren,” which allows the story to be told in third person. Rick Kleyman, a longtime Minnesota high school coach, lent me the book recently.

Gerry Lindgren was probably America’s finest distance runner in the early 1960’s, setting American and world records in high school, college and beyond. You’ve probably never heard of him, or perhaps just vaguely recall the name.

I’m halfway through the book, so I’ll save a review of the full content for a later date, but I was struck by some of his comments. The ‘love is power’ theme is repeated throughout the book. He expands on it: “Love is power! When your running is done unselfishly, for the benefit, happiness, and welfare of other people, you tap into a power base other people don’t have. Love is power!” Even more pointedly, he contends: “When you live to glorify yourself, energy flows out of you. When you live selflessly for other people, energy flows into you. You can carry a greater load and never get tired.”

Lindgren expands on this idea of power, comparing it to force. “Force is pushing against something. For every force, there is an equal and opposite force acting against it. Forcing something can only be done temporarily. People burn out. But power is always there, not working against anything. You strain into a force but relax into power. Love provides the energy. Relax into love-energy as a runner and let yourself run faster rather than forcing yourself to run. The more your running is motivated by love the faster you can run.”

What he is saying is strangely synchronous with the teachings of ChiRunning, which I’ve passed on since I became a certified instructor in 2006. In ChiRunning we talk about not meeting a force with a force. We talk about relaxing to run faster rather than pushing off harder. We talk about tapping into Chi energy. We talk about it being process oriented rather than goal oriented. The similarities are striking.

Lindgren was known for running himself ragged, and his form was not what we teach in ChiRunning. But this idea of tapping into something greater than you is shared by both.

I was recently at an event to celebrate the athletes of Team USA Minnesota. The team was formed in 2001 to support post-collegiate athletes seeking to compete at national and international competitions. I am a board member, so I have seen the organization since it’s infancy. I know how hard the athletes work, and how much effort the coach puts in. While they all have healthy enough egos to want to win races and medals, they all come at it from the perspective of wanting to make America more competitive in distance running. That starts by putting in the hard work and challenging their teammates in practice and other Americans in races. Now Americans are gaining respect once again internationally.

Lindgren did not have the benefit of such an organization when he came out of college, but he understood the importance of such big dreams. He writes, “Dream an enormous dream. An enormous dream is a reason to sacrifice yourself to running. Winning a gold medal or setting a world record are not worthy of enormous dream status because they are selfish. Dream a dream of changing the world. That is what I am trying to tell you in this book. It is possible. All those foolish kid dreams you quit dreaming as you grew older are not just kid dreams. Your running life could change the world. Dream an enormous dream.”

Look at your running. Are you using force or power? Are you inspiring others? You don’t have to set world records to be an inspiration. I was inspired to run by seeing my parents make the effort. What got you started?

As Lindgren says, love is power, and by sharing that love you help create an endless supply of power for the future.

Remember Ryan and Rocky

On Saturday, November 3, 2007, the lines got blurry. The line between ecstasy and tragedy, between fit and feeble, between alive and dead. When Ryan Shay, age 28, Olympic marathon hopeful, died five miles into the US marathon trials race, the lines blurred.

The day began well in New York City, with a strong field contending for the three places on the US Olympic marathon team. The NBC Today show missed the start of the race while they were doing weather, but the racers sped away, and media coverage switched to the commercial-free Internet. With a new laptop in the house, I moved to the sofa to enjoy the simple pleasure of a great race.

The pace was slow as the field passed the first few miles, reminiscent of the parade-type start of cycling events like the Tour de France. Shay was in the front pack, and had undoubtedly run thousands of miles at that pace or faster. Why did his heart fail him this time, after powering him forward so many times? The initial autopsy was inconclusive, so we’re left to wonder, and to grieve.

The race ended with the selection of an impressive US Olympic marathon team: Ryan Hall (2:09:02) set a marathon trials record, Dathan Ritzenhein (2:11:07) ran strongly in second, and Brian Sell (2:11:40) willed his way to the third and final spot. The alternate spots were filled by Khalid Khannouchi (2:12:34), US record holder, and Jason Lehmkuhle (2:12:54), the Team USA Minnesota runner who ran a personal best by over three minutes. As the online coverage was ending, there was mention of Shay being taken away in an ambulance, but no real sense of what had happened.

When the athletes were notified of Shays death, their joy quickly turned to sorrow. Not only was Shay a fellow competitor, he was connected in deeper ways to many in the field. Hall’s wife was in Shay’s recent wedding. Ritzenhein and Sell shared Michigan roots with Shay. Even Minnesotan Lehmkuhle had trained with Shay during a winter stint in Arizona.

I learned what happened to Shay when I was on a run/errand later that afternoon and received a call with the news. I was shocked.

The next day the New York City Marathon proceeded as usual, honoring both the victors and the fallen from the day before. Back in Minnesota, another group of runners gathered to honor Rocky Racette at the annual Rocky’s Run at the University of Minnesota Golf Course. Racette, a promising young runner from the University of Minnesota died in a car accident in 1981 at age 22. In her short time in the running community she too forged a web of connections. The race has been held every year since 1981 in her honor, and had a record turnout of nearly 400 this year.

On a sunny day with plenty of green grass in front of them, the gathered crowd paused to remember both Rocky and Ryan. On this day of blurred lines, runners sought out their community. They gathered to reflect and to run.

As I joined the gathering and ran my race, I was thankful that I was part of this community. When the lines are blurred, and things don’t make sense, there is something soothing about running. The breathing, the repetitive motion. There is something special about sharing that with others.

You don’t think of dying at age 22 or 28. Your life should be just starting, with many discoveries and challenges ahead. Sometimes the lines get blurred, and we are left with only questions and not answers. Those are times for gathering and sharing, and remembering. And then, somehow we move on.

On a cross country course the lines are painted for you. Your job is to follow them. In life, it’s not so easy, of course. The lines are there, but they are harder to find.

Remember Ryan and Rocky. Keep moving forward, and building your own community. In time you’ll notice that the lines will become less blurry.

I’m going out for a run.

---

Chris Fuller is a certifed ChiRunning instructor and race director for The Sporting Life events. Subscribe to this blog by scrolling to the bottom and using the subscribe link.

Dwindling Daylight Doesn't Doom Fitness

Are you feeling different today?

Living in the mid-latitudes of the northern hemisphere, we are treated to four distinct seasons. For many of us, that is one of the reasons why we live here. For others, some seasons are simply endured. Whether we like it or not, this is a time of change.

You know the drill: daylight is getting shorter and the weather is getting colder. How much shorter? We’re now at about 10.5 hours of daylight, compared to 15.5 hours on June 21, the summer solstice. We’re headed down to 8.75 hours of daylight at the winter solstice on December 22. Add to that a time switch on November 4 that will lop off an hour of evening sun and shift it to the morning. Through in a few clouds, and we might not see much of the sun during a typical day.

It’s getting colder too. Remember June? The average high was in the low 80s and lows in the upper 50s. The average high in late October is in the low 50s, with lows in the low 30s. In two months those numbers will be 24 and 8. Volatile daily patterns notwithstanding, the trend line is steadily down.

We respond to the changes in light and heat in a variety of ways. There is a natural tendency to slow down and conserve calories. We might even find ourselves eating more than normal as our old brain prepares us for winter. While it is important to be respectful of natural rhythms, it is possible to break the patterns that lead you to the sofa and away from fitness.

One of the big patterns to break is taking the fall and winter off from fitness building activities, and starting from nothing in the spring. That is a huge strain on your body, and means you are suffering through April and May as you slowly get fit. This year, try maintaining your fitness through the winter instead.

Here are seven tips to get you going:

1. Your first challenge is to establish a routine. It is always less likely that you will skip a workout when it is an integral part of your day, rather than an optional activity. You can still have some variety between morning and evening workouts, but make sure to commit to a schedule.

2. This is a great time of year to have a workout buddy. Whether two-legged or four, your buddy can be a great motivator to get out there for your workout. You wouldn’t want to disappoint, would you?

3. Embrace the changes. While in the summer finishing a run at 7:00 a.m. finds the sun well on the rise, after the time change, you’ll finish your run at daybreak. Everything looks a little different.

4. It’s okay to run less. This is a great time of year to try other activities, including indoor machines and winter outdoor activities. Dig out your skates, wax up your skis or head to the club. The change helps keep you motivated.

5. Resist the urge to overeat. It is a better idea just to buy a new coat rather than to try to eat yourself an extra layer of insulation. It will end up saving you money, and you’ll look great too!

6. Don’t forget the rewards. Okay, an extra treat every now and then can be a good thing. They don’t all have to be food, but do give yourself kudos for sticking to a fitness program.

7. Have fun! Try a new fall or winter event. Buy a new outfit. Take a fall or winter fitness vacation. Everything you do this time of year will pay off nicely come spring.

This is also a great time of year to break some bad habits. I teach ChiRunning, which involves using better posture and form. It is an exercise in gradual progress to learn to move in a new way. Fall and winter are a great time to start to make those changes, since you are less likely to be distracted by speed work, races and high mileage weeks.

When you adopt a plan for your fall and winter fitness, you’ll have an answer for my opening question. Are you feeling different today? "Yes...much better, thank you!"

---

Chris Fuller is a certifed ChiRunning instructor and race director for The Sporting Life events. He spends his fall and winter enjoying the change in seasons and hoping he'll get all the leaves raked before it snows.

Surviving a Melt-Down

If you are one of thousands of runners who ran a race in the upper Midwest last weekend, you might have noticed the heat. Record temperatures and high humidity are not what you would expect for an October race in the Twin Cities, Chicago or Milwaukee, but that’s what we had.

Despite the heat, you were probably one of the vast majority of runners that did not end up in the medical tent or hospital. You’ve likely heard a few of the dramatic stories like the television reporter who passed out just after 25 miles, but for most of you the story was less dramatic. It was hot, you drank water until you sloshed, and you made it to the finish line. Your time wasn’t what you hoped, but you survived.

[Insert your favorite invective or curse here]!

With all your training and preparation, it really bites to have the heat dominate your experience. You mentally rehearsed cruising to that finish line, feeling light as a feather and smiling from ear to ear. Instead you grimaced your way to the end, legs leaden and clothing drenched. Sure you got the medal, but you feel robbed.

As the hours after the race turn into days and then weeks, you can head toward a healthy recovery by taking a few key steps. You probably already know what to do physically (take some time away from running, get a massage, and start back gradually). These steps are more for your state of mind.

1) The first step to a healthy recovery is to acknowledge your mixed feelings. Your non-running friends might look at you in awe (or amusement) because you even finished under those conditions. Your running friends who shared the experience are dealing with their own emotional roller coaster. And your dog, well she’s just happy to see you.

2) Step two is to remind yourself what you did accomplish. Running a marathon (or half or ten-mile) is a major effort, and is not just a one-day experience. Regardless of how the day went, you prepared over a period of months, and no one and nothing can take that away from you.

3) Step three is to learn from any mistakes you made. You lost the weather lottery, but you can’t blame yourself for that. There may be other things about your race that are worth looking at though. Did you do enough and long enough runs in preparation? Did you start slow enough, given the conditions? Did you drink enough water? According to training guru Jeff Galloway, you should have slowed down 30-60 seconds per mile due to the heat and humidity. Did you start out at your goal pace and then slowly slide to a crawl? That’s something to change in the future.

4) Step four is to make peace with the experience. It may not have been everything you hoped for, but by taking ownership of it, you’ll find peace. You won’t wince every time some one mentions the word ‘marathon,’ or let out a low moan the next time you pin on a bib number.

5) Step five is to summon your ability to create a moment of innocence, and decide to try again. It may not be a marathon or even another race, but when you’ve made peace you’re ready to experience the fullness of life once more. Shed the negatives of your adult mind, and start with all the hope and aspirations and innocence of a child.

I didn’t run a fall marathon this year, but I had my own melt-down last year. I didn’t even need the heat. I ran myself into the ground by letting my ego overcome the wisdom I had acquired by learning and teaching ChiRunning. I can tell you from personal experience that you’ll feel better sooner if you take these steps.

It might also help to check the standings and pick a new pro football team to root for. Nothing rejuvenates you faster than a pleasant afternoon on the couch after a recovery run. Well, almost nothing. That look your dog gives you is pretty good too. We`ll go back to the `no dogs on the couch` rule tomorrow.

---

Chris Fuller is a certifed ChiRunning instructor and race director for The Sporting Life events. Say hello to Chris at the Paul Mausling XC Run on Sunday, October 14!.