Kate Dugan

Plant-Powered Endurance

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On Running and Creating “Our Story”

September 12, 2016 by Kate Leave a Comment

Front Porch. Totally underrated.

Front Porch of our AirBnB house. Porches are totally underrated.

This weekend I had the pleasure of attending a 2-Day fitness business retreat in Asheville, North Carolina, which I’m going to call the Portland of the east (never having been to Portland, mind you). Asheville is a great little town, though my instincts tell me I’d like the surrounding rural areas even better. During the retreat, I was surrounded by nearly 100 really fit and very motivated women, most of whom are in the midst of starting health and fitness-related business. I met personal trainers, body builders, nutritionists, stay at home moms, doctors and former food addicts.

It was so inspiring to be amongst “my people”! I feel truly blessed to have been able to attend. Thank you to Michael for holding down the fort at home (never easy).

I had some exciting insights during my time in Asheville:

Preach, Jill! <3

Preach, Jill! <3

  1. There are lots of people out there who want to help others improve their health, wellness and fitness! Yeah.
  2. Most of these helpers (aka Coaches) have struggled with the thing they’re trying to improve for their clients at some point in the past. And they’re passionate about what they’re doing for that reason.
  3. The internet is enabling us to interact in a million different ways and it is changing all of the time – it’s pretty cool to watch the way we communicate shape our behaviors (I, hater of selfies, almost took a video of myself on the way home from my run tonight for InstaStories – almost, but then I chickened out. haha. But I’m committing to doing one very soon).
  4. The stories we tell ourselves are incredibly powerful and often automatic, based on what we’ve been told until now, BUT they should be challenged.  As the creators of our own stories, we have the freedom, perhaps the obligation, to decide to tell ourselves a new story. Then, of course, we have to work our butts off to make the new story a reality. Thanks to Jade Teta, for his wisdom on this.

This last one, is especially powerful, and it’s also why running has been so great for me. It has helped prove to me that I have the ability to rewrite my story.

We develop a sense of what we are capable of (or what we should do) from our parents and our peers. This begins at birth and never really ends. Parents have certain expectations of their children and they assume certain limitations. It’s totally normal & necessary. But, at some point, the pen shifts from parent to child and we should question it all and redirect.

A few years ago, I ran by a father with his young son. They were spectating The 5th Ave mile, a one mile race down 5th Avenue in NYC that happens in early September each year. The father was tall and lanky. As the fastest runners came by, the father told his son that he and his son did not / would not have the proper build to be that fast, especially over even longer distances. I felt like a witnessed something unique and sort of abusive. I resisted the tiny urge to intervene and tell the dad to shush. The father obviously had a limiting belief, and in that moment, he may have transferred it to his son. If his son does start to believe he doesn’t have a body for running, he will likely never know if he could be a fast runner because he won’t even try it now.

My Story

If you asked me in 2007, my first flirtation with running, if I would ever run a marathon, I would have said, “not a chance” or “I could never…” and if you would have mentioned Ironman, I probably would have just laughed or said, “those people are crazy”.

In 2007 I couldn’t run a mile. I was working a desk job, sitting for most of the day. That’s when my cube-mate, Meredith and I, decided to start walking 2 miles to and from work a few days a week. We walked and talked. And I loved it. Moving felt good.

And then another colleague suggested we do a relay marathon that fall with two other co-workers. I dug in my heels – “I am not a runner! I’m really slow”, but finally I caved to peer pressure. I hadn’t run a mile since high school, which ended 7 years prior. I really hated running. But Meredith and I made a plan. We would slowly build up our mileage by running together after work. There was a 5k on 9/11 downtown that we could race before the big event as a “test” to see what a race was really like.

The woman who sat behind me was a runner. “How do you breathe?” and “what do you think about when you’re running?” were amongst the many questions I bombarded her with one afternoon. She looked at me for a minute and then told me that she never really paid much attention to any of it. Hmm, I guess I’d figure it out as I went, though I couldn’t imagine it would ever become as automatic as she made it seem.

Morning run around UNC Asheville Campus

Morning run around UNC Asheville Campus

Those days, the start of my running “career”, seem like ages ago. I love looking back at how far I’ve come. What I know now is that most of us, probably all of us, could run a marathon or complete and ironman, if we just decide to and take action towards those goals. To me, that’s the beauty of those events.

But, especially if we don’t know people who are competing in marathons and ironman triathlons, we don’t realize that we could it, too. It seems out of reach entirely. The same rule applies to many things – getting into an Ivy League college, becoming a CEO, living abroad, or starting a social revolution. We definitely have far more power than we know now. We just have to decide what we want and commit to taking action to get there

As you might imagine, I’m feeling full of energy after my time in Asheville!

And when I arrived home on Sunday, I was fortunate enough to attend a the NYC Kick-off for Team Humane League NYC, where I got to hang out with more of “my people”. It’s always wonderful to meet vegan athletes! We will be training every other Tuesday evening in Central Park. Please join us! (you don’t need to be vegetarian or vegan, just interested in helping farm animals and doing some running)

And, sign up here for weekly emails from moi about running & life.

Happy running,

Kate

Filed Under: Inspiration Tagged With: Motivation

2016: New Year, New You?

January 1, 2016 by Kate 1 Comment

There’s been a lot of backlash to what I call the, ‘New Year, New You’ mentality. I understand why – the people advocating slogans like these are usually attempting to make you feel crappy about yourself so that you buy something, which is not cool.

In the process, however, resolutions and goals have been demonized.

Call me cliché, but I still love the feeling of potential and anticipation of what’s to come that accompanies the start of a new year. An avid goal-setter myself, I wouldn’t miss the opportunity to evaluate the last year and define my aspirations for the next.

Let me caveat this…

Sure, I have experienced some pitfalls in my goal setting over the years. There were definitely moments where I focused more on the destination than the journey. There were times when I failed and struggled not to take it personally (failing and being a failure are very different). And other times when I set goals in an effort to transform myself when I really should have been cultivating love and appreciation for what is uniquely me.

At this point, I can usually decipher between a sexy goal tempting me (e.g., competing in a bikini contest), and one that is worth my time and energy. At the moment, I am generally able to accept what is & enjoy my journey while also maintaining a healthy appetite to improve, grow and develop. I guess you could say I have evolved into a mindful goal-setter. If you aren’t there yet, my suggestion is to focus first on cultivating a sense of love and appreciation for yourself. This is an incredibly worthwhile endeavor that will benefit you and everyone around you.

In case the goals topic excites you, here’s an interesting conversation between Tim Ferris and Leo Babauta debating the benefit of goals (or not).

You’ll find lots of articles that cite a failure rate of 92% when it comes to New Years Resolutions. For a while, I thought that sounded about right. After all, found myself cringing often hearing people talk about losing the same 15 pounds they attempted to lose last year and the year before that. It makes me sad that they are perpetually down on themselves because I’ve been there, too. And it’s no fun. See above… The first step is to love thyself… even the fat bits.

Last week while I was pedaling away on my bike on the trainer, I realized 92% of resolutions fail… that means that 8% succeed! That’s actually not so bad. Let me offer some perspective that may make you realize that being in the 8% is both desirable and attainable.

Categories you might not want to be in:

  • 68% of Americans frequently worry about their financial situation (Harris Poll)
  • 47% of Americans aren’t saving any of their income (The Daily Beast)
  • 35% of Americans are on welfare (2014, Census Bureau)
  • Only 33% of Americans are very happy (Harris Poll)

Stats that resonated with me:

  • 8% of Americans have a Master’s Degree
  • 7% of High School girls listed something other than shopping as their favorite pastime (Affluenza)
  • 5% of Americans travel overseas each year (Huffington Post)
  • 3% of American births are twins (yeah!)
  • 0.5% of Americans have run a marathon
  • 0.5% of Americans are vegan

In short – 8% doesn’t scare me. I’m used to spending time in the minority and I like it there. It shouldn’t scare you either. There are a few easy steps you can take to make sure your resolution is compelling enough to be successful.

  1. Start with something that really gets you going. It has to be emotionally charged. If your goal is something you could or should do, I can almost guarantee that you won’t be successful. Your goal should excite you. You probably feel nervous, but the nerves are accompanied by an array of positive emotions, too. When you imagine achieving your goal, you might feel teary or shaky. You might feel a smile creeping casually across your face. That’s the type of thing we’re looking for here.
  2. Write it down (the right way). This is important, not just because writing something down ingrains it in our brains, but it’s also because of how you willl write it. Make your goal a present tense statement. Make sure it’s SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic & time-bound). Here’s an example:IMG_4337
  3. Consider the daily actions required to get there. Now, let’s get into the details because any destination is really all about consistent behavior change on a daily basis, and this is HARD. So, what is required in order to achieve your goal? Can you make this fun, enjoyable or rewarding? How will you create accountability for yourself? What obstacles will you encounter? How will you manage them? How will you engage yourself when your energy is low? How will you feel on this journey?
  4. Re-write. If the actions above don’t seem do-able or desirable, re-evaluate your resulultion. Take some time. Don’t be afraid to tweak it or shift your focus entirely.

Finally, as you decide where you’ll aim your focus in 2016, consider your relationships and how your resolution will impact the people closest to you, directly or indirectly. Check out this TED talk on What Makes Life Good. Hint: it’s the people!

Happy New Year! If you’ve set goals for 2016 or decided on a resolution, please share.

And check out Statistic Bran for more info about New Years Resolutions.

Filed Under: Inspiration, Ironman Tagged With: BHAGs, Goals, Ironman, Motivation

Why Running is a Team Sport

October 1, 2015 by Kate 1 Comment

Begrudgingly, I psyched myself up for a run yesterday morning. Wednesdays are usually my days off because Michael (significant other) coaches a 6am indoor run, goes directly to work for the day, and then coaches a group run at Lululemon in the evenings after work. His crazy schedule leaves me home with the dog, cat, and twins from 5am until I head off to work and then from around 6 to 9 o’clock pm. Unfortunately, I was sick with a cold this weekend and couldn’t muster the energy for a run on Monday, which has thrown the whole week off. I managed to squeeze in an easy treadmill run on Tuesday night for posterity. And, given the Wednesday scheduling constraints and because it’s crunch time, I opted to go to work an hour and fifteen minutes late Wednesday so I could squeeze in a kid-free run in the morning. As soon as my mom arrived to take care of the twins, I bolted out the door – 8:30 sharp. The heat has broken here in the North East. Still, I was drenched in sweat and dripping by the time I entered Central Park, which is just about 0.4 miles from our front door. The air was thick, which was not helping me breathe with my fluid-filled lungs. I was in the midst of having a pity party for myself when an older woman walking by with her dog shouted out, “good luck in the Chicago Marathon!”

“Thanks!” I yelled back, as I put on a smile and snapped out of my funk. I’d seen this woman before at the dog run where we sometimes take Redd (dog). More often than not, these days, Michael takes Redd on Saturday mornings with the twins while I am running long. Managing an energetic dog and two 1.5 year olds is no joke. How he also, apparently, managed to make friends, is beyond me!

In that moment, something struck me. For the first time, I realized that my upcoming marathon is not only about me. Yes, I’ve done the training and I’ll be the one out there in under two weeks (eek!), but it has all been enabled by an extremely wonderful team of people who are invested in my success. So invested, in fact, that they proudly tell acquaintances at the dog run about my training, for example.

Sometimes I feel guilty for taking time away from my little family to train. I wonder if Michael would he be happier if I didn’t run long distances. He would certainly have more time for his own training. But I know, in my heart of hearts, there is something extremely powerful in ‘the pursuit’ of a big, hairy, audacious goal, whether you’re experiencing it yourself or supporting someone you love. It’s a place where Michael and I have a deep connection. Training and racing goes beyond a simple physical test. In both, we experience great victories, devastating failures, small signs of progress, and moments when we ALMOST fail to muster the energy to go on. Whether it’s a 5k or an ultra marathon, a sprint triathlon or an ironman, these pursuits are so powerful because, if taken seriously, they really can be a microcosm of life.

Since having kids, my social time is so much more limited, yet I am so thankful for my wonderful team, including Michael, The Parentals, our extended family, my friends (in real life) & my twin mom friends (online). When the going gets tough out there and I feel the urge to abandon my goal because I’m in too much dang pain (marathons seem to bring out my inner baby), I am going to think of these people. In a very real way, my victory is their victory.

Because, let’s be real – there is nothing better in life than seeing the people you love take aim, work their buns off, and then seize their goals.

Filed Under: Inspiration, Marathon Training Tagged With: Inspiration, Marathon Training, Running

Inspiration: The Man in the Arena

August 2, 2015 by Kate Leave a Comment

The Man in the Arena

Filed Under: Inspiration

Inspiration: Making a Difference

July 11, 2015 by Kate Leave a Comment

Saturday Inspiration

Filed Under: Inspiration Tagged With: Inspiration

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About Me

Kate Dugan

I help moms balance training and a vegan lifestyle with motherhood (& real life).

I am a recreational distance runner, ironman triathlete, mother of 3-year-old twins, and a vegan. As an adult, I developed a passion for endurance sports and healthy plant-based eating, both of which have dramatically improved my health and well-being. My blog is where I share my journey & what I’ve learned!

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RRCA Certified Run Coach

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I am not a licensed medical professional. All views expressed on this website are based on my own personal research and experiences. Please consult your doctor with any medical issues, or before beginning a training program.

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