apiekarewicz@gmail.com – Page 4

The Sound of Silence

“Hello, darkness, my old friend.

I’ve come to talk to you again.

Because a vision softly creeping, left its seeds while I was sleeping.

And the vision that was planted in my brain

Still remains

Within the sounds of silence.”

This song has always struck a chord with me- not just because I first heard it watching The Graduate and will forever have the closing scene of Dustin Hoffman desperately banging on the glass in the church ingrained in my mind. It’s more than that. This song makes you think, and it made me realize how vital it is to always find a way to embrace the sound of silence.

When is the last time you drove in your car without the radio on? Or the last time you ate dinner by yourself with zero distractions? Even when I’m sipping my coffee or getting ready in the morning, I find myself listening to music or turning the tv on in an attempt to mask the silence. The more I think about it, the more I realize that silence is a scary thing for me. It is scary because it forces me to think. It forces me to wonder about the world. And most importantly, it forces me out of my comfort zone.

As a distance runner, I am already thought to be a little crazy… and I tend to get many funny questions from my non-running friends. One of the most frequent questions I get from my friends is,

“You don’t listen to music when you run?!”

“Don’t you get bored?!”

“What do you think about for so long?!”

Don’t get me wrong, there are many long runs and countless track workouts where I definitely get through the pain and monotony with my little iPod by my side, but I have come to find that my best runs are the ones where I truly embrace the sound of silence.

There is something to be said about running alone. When we run with no distractions, we often times encounter a sense of peace that seems impossible to find anywhere else. When I run and I hear the familiar sound of my feet hitting the ground and my steady breaths in and out, there is a zen-like experience that takes place. I embrace the silence and find that I can temporarily escape the noise of the real world.

In today’s society, silence is not only hard to find, it is also greatly under-appreciated. I think all human beings have an unconscious desire to constantly seek comfort. While nobody can deny that comfort is a wonderful thing, it is important to be able to learn how to deal with the uncomfortable as well.

By pushing distractions aside, silence is able to create a space for awareness to occur, and this awareness can many times bring about feelings of discomfort. We become aware of our fears, as well as our desires. And while this awareness may at times be extremely uncomfortable, it can also lead to some of the most meaningful and enlightening moments. And it is these moments that we all search for because they are what bring meaning and understanding to our lives. When I run and I encounter these moments, I feel invincible. It brings me the strength and the courage to believe that anything is possible.

Next time you find yourself in the car by yourself, try not to turn the radio on. And before you go for a run, leave the headphones and the iPod at home. You may surprise yourself with the magic you find within the sound of silence.

“True silence is the rest of the mind, and is to the spirit what sleep is to the body- nourishment and refreshment.”

Stress, Recover, Improve

Wake up, drink coffee, eat breakfast, go to the bathroom, go for a run. We all know this to be the standard/ideal version of a runner’s morning routine. Especially the pre-run toilet time 🙂 For me, this is the routine that comprises most of the days of my life. So what happens when your body shuts down and you are finally forced to step away from training and take time off? Well, my friends, I have recently discovered the habits that comprise the life of a resting runner…a whole lot of restlessness, bitchiness, and aggression. But also, you get to stay up late and sleep in! You can eat those pancakes or waffles instead of oatmeal and a banana! You can catch up on your trashy tv shows! You can drink wine AND eat dessert! You can start that hobby you always thought about doing! (cough start a blog cough cough). Rest is not all bad folks- and when you do get the green light to run again, it will be that much sweeter!

stress, recover (drink wine), improve — Wine? Why yes, please.

In the world of competitive running, being injured is simply part of the game. As we pound the pavement over and over again in blind pursuit of a goal, we forget the damage that we are putting on our bodies. Sometimes, the only way we can convince our mind to listen to our body, is when the damage is too far gone and our body finally cries out in despair, typically in the form of an injury. And then come the words every athlete dreads hearing, “You need to rest.”

As a semi-exercise addict, telling me to take time off of running is like telling me to put my life on hold. It is hard for me to think straight, to enjoy life’s simple pleasures, and even to function as a normal human-being. But the fact of the matter is, rest is not only important, it is absolutely necessary. To be able to push our bodies to their limits, we must be able to properly recover. It is impossible to be at your peak of fitness at all times, and more importantly, to be able to reach your peak, you have to be good to your body. Eat well, sleep well, and REST well.

Stress. Recover. Improve. Three simple words that sum up the basic tenants of how to get faster. Most athletes are typically so disciplined and devoted to their training that they tend to overdo the stress phase of the cycle and neglect the recover phase. Many athletes have the flawed mentality that the more they train, the more fit they will become. They train hard every day, sometimes 2-3 times a day, and don’t give the body proper rest. Ultimately, without recovery one will never improve. It is the rest period after a workout that allows our body to adapt to the stress we just put it through and come back stronger than before.

Bill Bowerman, cofounder of Nike and coach of legendary runner, Steve Prefontaine, used to tell his athletes, “Stress, recover, improve, that’s all training is. You’d think any damn fool could do it.”

C’mon people, let’s not be fools! Rest and recover! I promise, the sun will come up tomorrow 🙂

“You know you’re hooked when taking a rest day takes more discipline than working out.”

Ellipti… What?!?

Have any of you ever had that dream where you’re running and feel like you’re floating on air? Yeah, me too and it’s great, but at High Point University, that dream can actually happen! On campus at their biomechanics lab, they have something called an alterG, or an anti-gravity treadmill, where you can adjust the percentage of your body weight to lessen the impact it has on your body. YOU CAN LITERALLY FLOAT ON AIR. If you haven’t had the chance to experience one of these heavenly devices, I highly recommend doing so. It is life-changing.

Click to watch me floating on air

Has your mind been blown? Not yet? Well, my friends, keep on reading. If the alterG wasn’t enough, last week I got introduced to another device sent from the heavens. Ladies and gentleman, may I introduce to you, The ElliptiGO!

My first experience with an ElliptiGO was on a stationary trainer at the biomechanics lab. By using the trainer to start with, rather than being forced to ride the ElliptiGO outside, I was able to get used to the feeling of riding, without the constant fear of falling on my ass. But after a couple rides on the trainer, I mustered up my courage, put my head down, (after safely putting on my helmet of course), and pedaled onto the track. Here is a brief synopsis of my first attempt:

“Whoa, what is this thing!? Please don’t fall. This is terrible! Hold on! Shit, I’m falling. Ouuuchhhh.”

As ‘fun’ as that first experience was, I did not want to get back on. My mind was yelling at me not to. But then I thought about all of the things in the past that I haven’t wanted to do, that I forced myself to push through, which allowed me to grow as an athlete. And so, I got back on. One slow lap at a time, I started to get the hang of it and also became readily aware of how hard I was breathing! Of all the various modes of cross-training I have done, nothing has felt so similar to running as riding the ElliptiGO. The burning legs (primarily hamstrings and glutes), the screaming lungs- it all brought back those wonderful memories of tempo runs and track intervals where your body hates you…but your heart and soul are on fire.

On my ride today, as I was exploring the city of Wilmington, NC, for the first time in a long time, my mind escaped reality. I was feeling grateful for the gift of movement and the beauty of nature. It was just me and the universe. And it was awesome. I still have at least another month before I have the green light to run again, but in the meantime, you can find me out and about, gliding along on the roads, with my new best friend, the ElliptiGO.

If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans

Today marks day 71 of being injured. In my 28 years of living, 17 of these years have been filled with injury-free running. Because of this, these past few months have felt like I am living somebody else’s life. It truly feels as if a part of me is missing. Running has become such an essential part of my daily life, that I consider it as necessary as eating and sleeping. It is my escape from reality; my escape from the worries and stress of this overwhelming, over-stimulated so-called thing we call ‘life’.

On November 19, 2016, I crossed the Philadelphia Marathon finish line in a time of 2:56:42. That race, sparked in me an inner flame, and after some careful rumination and discussions with my coach, I decided to chase my dream of qualifying for the 2020 Olympic Marathon Trials. Once the new year began, I was finally recovered and ready to get back into some tough training, with my eyes set on winning the gold medal in the half marathon at the Maccabiah Games (Jewish Olympics) in July in Israel. However, it seemed that life had a different set of plans…

The first week of January, my boyfriend took me sledding to his backyard home in North Carolina. Growing up in Florida my entire life, I had never experienced the thrills of sledding, and on my very first ‘thrill-ride’, I crashed into a tree and broke my wrist. For the next three weeks, I was in a cast and my training was limited to biking and ellipticaling. Just as I was finally allowed to start running again, I got the flu. After another couple weeks, I was slowly able to get back into my training regimen. I began logging in my miles and was getting more fit than I had ever been. In April I hopped into a 5k road race and surprised myself by running a personal best of 18:15. I was so excited that my hard work was paying off and I couldn’t wait to race in Israel. A couple weeks later, I started having some severe pain in my low back and finally decided to see a doctor. On May 13th, I got diagnosed with a sacral stress fracture.

To say that this injury left me devastated is a vast understatement. It left me feeling like it was hard to breathe. As I came to terms with the diagnosis, I made the decision that this injury was not going to get the best of me. The next 6 weeks entailed me doing 2-3 workouts a day, consisting of 90-120 minute intervals on the elliptical, bike and in the pool, aqua-running. In addition, I began to see a local physical therapist who was helping me rehab 3x/week doing 45-60 minutes of strengthening exercises per session. I also had access to one of the best biomechanics labs in the country at High Point University, and was able to use an alterG (anti-gravity treadmill that allows you to run at a certain percentage of your body weight). With one of the best physical therapists on my side, and a coach who provided me with some of the hardest cross-training workouts I had ever done, I still believed that I was going to win that gold medal.

The week before I left for Israel, I was running on the alterG on a Monday and felt a weird cramping sensation in my left quadricep. I didn’t think much of it, and like a stubborn runner, I ran through it. On Wednesday, the same thing happened, and that is when I began to worry. I took the next few days very easy and was looking forward to attempt my first run back on land in 6 weeks that Sunday. As I jogged my first half mile that Sunday morning, I couldn’t help but smile. FINALLY- I was back at it. Or so I thought. I started my 10×400 interval session, just running comfortably at half marathon pace, trying to ease my legs back into running, and the same cramping sensation began. After the third interval, I limped home defeated emotionally and physically. The day before I left for Israel, I got diagnosed with a level II quadricep strain and told that I would likely not be able to compete in the Maccabi Games.

As I boarded my flight the following day, surrounded by some of the best Jewish athletes in the USA, I was a rollercoaster of emotions. I was thrilled to meet these incredible athletes from all over the country, but I was also in such despair over my situation. Throughout the next two weeks I did my best to focus on the moment and soak in the unforgettable places I was visiting, but I couldn’t help but feel overshadowed by a dark cloud of sadness. Yet still, I had the lingering hope for a miracle. On July 10th, I got on the start line ready to give it everything I could with the hope that I could finish despite my injuries. I pushed my body until it could go no more, and at 10 kilometers, I made the heart wrenching decision to stop. With two strained quads, I know I did all that I could, and I take comfort in the fact that I have no regrets. I poured my heart and soul into my training and there is nothing I would have done differently.

Throughout this whole experience, I feel like I was being tested. Ultimately it is the way we respond to situations that prove our true character, and if there is one thing that this experience has taught me it is that we always have a choice. We can respond with graciousness and accept the challenges life throws our way, or we can be weak and choose to be victims to our circumstances and wither away. At the end of the day, this experience had very little to do with a half-marathon race. The history and significance of where I went cannot be understated. My grandfather said that he was able to see his dreams come true with the birth of his grandchildren and the creation of the State of Israel. I was given the opportunity to travel throughout Israel for three weeks and made friendships that I know will last a lifetime. I am surrounded by a family that one can only dream of having and living in a world where anything is possible. I have a lot to be grateful for, and that is what I choose to focus on. I will not stop fighting, and I will never give up.