"Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale,
A tale of Hard Core Training.
This tale goes on for miles and miles,
But we'll start at the beginning..."
This song, sung to the tune of Gilligan's Island, is my crazy, obsessed running group's anthem (created by our coach, Jen) as we run through the streets of Muncie any time, any day, in any weather. You might have seen us - six ladies, sometimes clad in bright orange hunting hats, who have entirely too much fun sweating it out together. Last year is when our passion for running first blossomed. I knew things were getting out of control when people in my classes would squint at me in recognition and say, "Hey! You're one of those running freaks!" I would nod my head in assent and silently ponder whether this was a good or bad thing.
But let's back up to the pre-Hard Core Training -- a time when the crunch of fresh sneakers pounding into the pavement didn't excite me, when I didn't feel the need to shout words of encouragement to any and every runner that came my way, when I didn't plan my schedule and weekends around running dates, when -- okay, okay, you get the picture.
In high school, the word "running" in my mind was likened to a debilitating disease (you know, the kind that eats away at your internal organs until there's nothing left but a hollow, dried-out husk of a person). I was a thespian and proud of it. My favorite bumper sticker was "Thespians Do It On Stage." I pitied anyone who had to labor through intense physical activity or suffer under the dictatorship of a rigorous coach. I would have preferred eating rotting slugs to running five miles.
Then college came, and along with it the frightening PEFWL classes that threaten immediate obesity and heart disease if you don't straighten up your health act, pronto. So I began to seek stimulating, fun ways to exercise. Predictably enough, I failed. There is nothing -- absolutely nothing -- fun or stimulating about working out by yourself in a dirty, over-crowded gym with huge testosterone-pumping guys grunting "Ughhh!" as they intimidate you away from the free weights.
I began to get desperate. Power walking? Old lady water aerobics? Jazzercize?
That's when I found my aerobic calling: Hard Core Training began. My slightly off-her-rocker, Cincinnatian friend, Lil' Jen Schneider came sprinting into my sister and I's dorm room one day shouting "Hey guys! Let's run a marathon!" He then introduced me to a running fanatic who is now my dear, dear Coach Jen Warrner. Coach Jen is the core of our running group. She finds endless ways, from weekly motivational e-mails to an assortment of prizes, to inspire us in our running. Though I was hesitant at first, running with this group of girls was somehow fun, for we entertained each other as we ran, with stories, jokes and running tips.
I am proud to say that my group participated in last the 2003 Indy Mini-Marathon and is currently training for this year's event. Running is now a way of life, and through the group I have gained my closest friends here at Ball State. As I witness the desperate attempts of pre-Spring Breakers to whip themselves into shape in the gym and find a real way to implement exercise into their daily life, I would like to offer some advice: find a supportive group of people to help you stay positive through your struggles and it will change your life.
Write to Carla at caalderman@bsu.edu
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