Blog Archives

Rebuilding my mental toughness

1/21/2020

Lately if I’m not running with friends, I’m not running at all. I have not had the motivation or the mental fortitude to go run solo. This is a new phase for me. I’ve had moments in life where running has not been fun at all for me. This is not that. I still really enjoy running. In fact after each run lately I’ve been a bit emotional because I’m so thankful for the experience. It is really hard to explain. I have a lot more feelings than I ever really gave myself credit for. Bottom line, my running has been more beneficial for my emotional health than my physical health lately.

That is all about to change though. Last week I announced, that for the first time in a year, I’ve set a goal race with the intention of setting a personal best (Greg fast) in the half marathon. That means I need to get fit both mentally and physically. Today before I meet with my coach I want to lay out what that means for me mentally. I’m not sure if I’ve ever mentioned this on the blog, but I’m a very competitive person. One of the reasons I like running so much is that I can be as competitive as I want to be and it doesn’t really hurt anyone because I’m competing against myself. This outlet for my competitive spirit has done wonders for me socially, as I generally am much more easy going than I was as a younger man.

For me, if I’m going to train, it is going to be all inclusive. This means I plan to use the gym, dive into the pool and stick to my recovery. I also understand that I’ll be running some solo miles again real soon. I need to get comfortable with being uncomfortable again. Something I haven’t done running in quite some time now. My intention is to once again work with Coach Jacqui Meadors. Coach is a blend between a third big sister, second mother to me and a running mentor. She won’t hesitate to crush my soul while running up a hill, she’ll also freak out if I slide for 10 feet on ice in the middle of the street and she will be there for me no matter what. I’m confident that she can hold me accountable and recognize my pitiful excuses while appropriately correcting my actions should the need arise.

The mental side of running is truly unique. Even for my fun run with friends I still battle inside my head before we head out. I try to make excuses to bail on the run. I didn't sleep well, I'm too sore, the kid is sick, I don't have time for this and the list goes on. The truth is no matter what level you are on, committing to running (especially in a South Dakota winter) is hard work mentally. It almost always feels great when you finish a run and in my experience it is almost always difficult to get started. It is all of these feelings that make running great.

That brings me to the home front. I noted last week that by the time I got to LA my heart wasn’t truly into racing. I might not have mentioned this last week, but I won’t be alone in Deadwood. Both Chelsea and I will be training for this race. That is a different blog post though. Mentally, what that means for me though is that this race isn’t all about me in my household. This will be a family affair and we will both have a super fan base waiting for us at the finish line. We will be balancing our training time with our parenting time and supporting each other as we prepare for this event. We are at our best when we are each other’s number one teammate. I think that this experience will bring us closer together as a family and if winter ever ends I can hopefully bring Violet on some training runs with me!

Greg Koch is the Co-Owner and General Manager of 605 Running Company and Co-Produces the Sioux Falls Skedaddle Half Marathon. He serves on the Board of Directors for Downtown Sioux Falls, the 605 Race Crew and the Sioux Falls Area Running Club. When Greg isn’t with his family or working he enjoys being outside biking, kayaking, golfing or playing church softball.

Instagram: gregrun605
YouTube: 605 Running Company
Facebook: facebook.com/greg.koch.583

Join me in Deadwood! Register for the race here and use the code “rundeadwood2020” to save $10.00 off of your registration fee. This code doesn’t last forever though so be sure to sign-up by May 29th!

1 Comment

A Full-Fledged Running Parent

1/14/2020

1 Comment

The time has come. When you struggle on a goal race it takes a lot out of your soul. It is time I talk about my LA Marathon experience. You see this time last year I was pounding out sixty to seventy mile weeks and hyper focused on running a huge marathon PR. This race was going to be the pièce de résistance of my running career prior to being a father. I kept an extensive training journal that I hope to one day give to my daughter someday.

Have I ever mentioned how little I really knew about parenting prior to being a Dad? It is comical how one year ago my thought process was that I will not be running serious races again for at least three years. How on earth would I be able to find the time to properly train for a half marathon or God forbid a full marathon. Looking at my life now as a new Dad and thinking about how I thought it would be is eye opening. It shouldn’t have felt like it was completely out of the realm of possibility. For some reason though I thought that my running life had to be put completely on hold in order to raise my daughter.

So I ran on through polar vortexes, I logged endless miles on treadmills, I badgered friends to come to LA with me and I sold my wife on the idea that this was it for the marathon (she obviously knew better than that). When the great last hurrah of a trip came to fruition I bonked hard. Travel went well. The race build-up went well. Our accommodations were phenomenal. I made some truly great memories on that trip. When it came time to run though my heart was never truly in it.

That last line there is something I’ve struggled to outright say out loud for a while now. Yes, the race went terribly from a physical standpoint. For whatever reason my body was done at the halfway point of that race. My ears were ringing so loud that at times I completely lost my balance and couldn’t focus. How I actually finished the race is a wonderment to me entirely. On race day though none of that really mattered. I missed my wife, I wanted to be closer to her not further away. I pushed for this damn marathon pilgrimage and for what? It all seems so silly now. Not the good times with close friends or the experiences we had, because those were truly great. For me though I realized that running in general was taking a different meaning in my life.

The last eight months have been really good for me. I basically buried my last marathon experience. For starters I didn’t really have any time to dwell on it. Chelsea and I have turned our house from a dwelling for a couple of kids to a home for a young family. I think parents will understand what I mean by that last line. I’ve continued to run and focus on my personal fitness journey, but it certainly hasn’t been the priority that it once was for me. That being said I did manage to run a half marathon in September and a 20k trail race in October. Both of those experiences taught me a lot about myself as an athlete. My training wasn’t nearly as intense and I adjusted my approach to each event. This adjustment showed me that while my fitness wasn’t where it once was I could still run quality times. Not PR times, but really darn close.

So with this new found enlightenment came that itch to get serious about running again. I’ve basically been on a nine month training break. I haven’t worked directly with a coach in two years and I know that training is going to look different. My goal is to run a marathon in the fall. To get there I know that I need to take the long view for my training. So I’m starting with a half marathon. I’m very excited to announce that I’ve got a goal race planned for spring 2020. I will once again be heading out to Deadwood, South Dakota to run the Deadwood Mickelson Trail Half Marathon. The plan is to work with Coach Jacqui Meadors and the goal is to comfortably break my half marathon PR. I’ll be sharing my plans, progress and training experiences here within the pages of this blog. I’ve got a few surprises and tidbits that I’ll be posting along the way too. For now I’ve once again surpassed my self-imposed word limit for a post so you’ll have to continue to read on for more details as I begin my journey as a full-fledged running parent.

Join me in Deadwood! Register for the race here and use the code “rundeadwood2020” to save $10.00 off of your registration fee. This code doesn’t last forever though so be sure to sign-up by May 29th!

1 Comment

Well, hello there 2020

1/7/2020

0 Comments

Today I moved a sofa into my garage at 6am in the morning. Somehow I’ve made it to a point in life where this is totally normal.

Okay, let’s break this down a bit. Chelsea and I finally decided it was time to move on from our college/newlywed furniture.

When I say we decided, what I really mean is that we thought we’d go buy a new recliner to add to our living room and ended up buying an entire new set of furniture. While wandering around the furniture store we discussed how we didn’t actually have adequate seating in our house to actually have family and friends over. This became apparent to us thanks to Violet. You see when you have a baby people actually want to come and visit you at your house. Thus, it was time to move on from the single big floppy sofa that was our first “real” purchase together as a couple.

So a phone call to the furniture mission later, I discovered that I needed to move the large sofa to the garage so it could be easily picked up and repurposed. When it comes to moving furniture our go-to call is Chelsea’s brother. He is big and strong, has moved a bunch of furniture in his life and only lives two blocks away. In theory we were all set. However, this is the one week that he is out-of-town for work. Like seriously, he has never gone out-of-town for work until this week. Bummer dude!

That is where the 6am shenanigans come into play. As I’ve mentioned before, our running community is incredible and some of my best friends have been made through countless miles at group runs, meet-ups and running club socials. Basically, since Violet was born I’ve had friends coming to my house every Tuesday to run with me at 5am. You read that last line correctly. Yes, the running store guy gets front door service from his running buddies so he can log some AM miles before the baby wakes. There are some weeks that my only running has been this Tuesday jog around my neighborhood. Just thinking back to the past eight months gets me a little bit emotional, those miles meant more to me than most will ever know.

So after a quick text about grabbing the AM miles I followed up with a casual,

“Hey, would you be willing to help me move a sofa tomorrow after our run?”

6am, 28 degrees outside and two guys moving a sofa. Totally normal.

I had a big year in 2019. Our business changed, we welcomed Violet to the world, we Skedaddled, I finished in 3rd place in a national marketing competition within the running industry, I ran the LA Marathon, traveled back to LA on a special invite to meet with a 5 billion dollar company, I set a 10 mile PR and got one haircut the entire year. I’m sure that I’m missing some major milestones, but I think you get the point. With all that being said I think 2020 is going to be even more exciting.

If moving large pieces of furniture in the early morning hours is the new normal just imagine what my team and I will accomplish this year. This is going to be a big year and I’m overjoyed to be sharing it with the Sioux Falls running community. Stay tuned and as always let me know what you want your local running store to look like and I’ll try to continue to shape this place in the image of the people of the community. After all we are a business built on building a community.

0 Comments