Lupe's Race to the Row report

Submitted by Lupe Steele @LupeSteele

I wasn’t really supposed to run in Race To The Row 408K; it was a last minute decision. My sister and her in-laws were participating in the event and she asked if I could join. In addition to doing pretty much whatever my big sister tells me to do, I figured it would only be fair to run with her and her in-laws since she’d be joining me for the Hollywood Half in April. The Race To The Row started at the HP Pavilion (where the San Jose Sharks play) and it ended in Santana Row, an upscale shopping/residential area of San Jose that’s made to look like a gorgeous and elegant town in Paris… with a Gucci, Best Buy and Wahoo Fish Tacos.

I am not one for last minute races. I didn’t prep my outfit or my #Run3rd sign and dedication sheet, but I seized the run anyway! (Carpe Runem?) Anyway, latest book that I’ve been into is Born to Run and this inspiring book enjoins the reader to relish in life, love the run and embrace the pain (my pain being that the cuteness level of my outfit would have to take a backseat for the sake of expediency). Oh, the horror!

 This was the first race after my lovely birthday adventure at the Neverland 5K. How could any race compare to my Disneyland weekend and meeting Sean and his family? Well, I knew it wouldn’t; however, once I learned that each race would have its own specific meaning, this run really became about trying to dig deep inside of my noggin and find my inner joy. I’d finally gain a better understanding of what people say about “loving to run.”

Most of my running has been about other people, for causes dear to my heart. I #Run3rd for all of your beautiful and inspiring dedications; I run for my family, so that I can be an example to my beautiful little boys. Sans everyone else, I run to be trim and slim. It’s not a bad thing to run for fitness, but I’m learning that if I want some material and aesthetic gain out of running, I will never be able to truly appreciate the art of running, that at the essence of it is to be free and to love what you’re doing and be in the moment.

To learn to love running, I had to gain an understanding of how to run properly so I sought the help of the guy I’ve been hearing so much about at the runDisney events. I turned to Jeff Galloway. You know what they say… “When in doubt, get the app!” (Well, they don’t say that, but I just did). Anyway, I looked up Mr. Galloway’s mobile training app. I’ve been working with Jeff’s app over the last several weeks, logging in some running time each day and getting to know how this whole thing works. The 408K was my opportunity to take Jeff with me on the road—in app form!

I arrived at the 408K as plain as can be, no cute outfit and no make-up. At the venue I heard a barrage of people complaining about Daylight Savings Time or how cold it was or the length of the run. I met up with my sister and brother-in-law and plugged into the sexy tone of Mr. Jeff Galloway. I listened to Jeff and worked on my breathing, my stride and I walked when he cued me to walk. I thought about my #Run3rd family, which I typically do on my runs. I thought about Sean and the Loyals having a blast at the Toronto Comic Con. I thought about Gus and his dedication to all the teens struggling to fit in and I thought about my kiddos, hoping they’d be proud of their mama. At about mile 3, I changed my thought process and I started to think about the book I was reading Born to Run. As I began to feel pain in my left knee and calf, I thought about the Tahamuran tribe and how they are able to see past the pain. They just run like Forrest, Forrest Gump. As I began to think about them, I too started to see past the pain. And Holy Moly, this actually works! I no longer was feeling the pain and I was beginning to feel a surge of energy. Jeff Galloway and the Tahamuran Tribe are onto something! Could I actually be learning to love running?

I felt the start of something great, and then the race was over. Such is life. I ran past the finish line and ran into a couple of colleagues before running into my sister and her in-laws. I was eager to do this again and excited to feel this high and to see all this theory being into practice. Well, that was until I realized my next public event is the Hollywood Half. And here are the nerves! Oh crap, I soon realized that I’d be running in the midst of several of my fellow #Run3rd Captains including Sean Astin and I was going to eat their dust. Although they’re all very talented and beautiful people, they can be intimidating with their running skills. I love them so, but not these jitters I’m getting.

Oh well, I guess I’ll have to do some more research on the Tahamuran tribe and update my Galloway app. No matter what, I’ll continue my quest to #Run3rd for you all, Run 2nd for David, Tristan and Alexander and Run 1st for me.