This month, Zoomersmagazine.com features Guest Athlete, Lynn Pomeroy. An avid competitive runner and accomplished architect, Lynn shares with us his insights on racing and how he incorporated his training in his busy schedule. We thank Lynn for his generous advice and for taking time out of a tremendously busy day to share his thoughts!

Whenever there is a desire to begin a new activity that involves a commitment of time and work, it is important to remember the emotional cycles of change.

Whenever we want to change something, we usually experience this cycle, so if we know where we are in the cycle, it can help us understand the process we are going through and stay motivated to complete our goal.

The first stage in this cycle is uninformed optimism. This is the stage where you are excited about the new goal of running and the benefits running will bring you, but you are unaware of the work involved.

Now you have started to run and it is more difficult than you thought. You begin to have doubts, wonder if you can do this and see little change or reward. You have reached the second stage of the cycles of change, informed pessimism.

You know something about running now, but you are pessimistic if you can keep going. This is the most difficult time and the stage where most people quit. If you keep going, you will begin to see results and benefits to the work you have been putting in and you will become hopeful. You will enter the cycle of hopeful realism.

Now you have been running consistently and are feeling optimistic for good reason. You have realized positive changes and benefits based on your efforts. With this optimism, you are more motivated to keep going and make running a more permanent part of your life and have entered the final cycle of change, informed optimism.

If you are a beginning runner, try to remember these emotional cycles of change, as they can help to motivate you to keep going.

There are several other important things to consider when you begin to run. These are the physical things that if not attended to can cause problems or injuries.

Shoes are very important, so when considering running shoes, go to a store that specializes in running and try a number of shoes. Good stores will allow you to run in them and trained staff can help you determine which shoes are best suited for your running mechanics.

Start slow. Do not try to do too much too fast. Do not increase your mileage more than 10% per week. Most physicians recommend that you do not run more than every other day. Once you attain a good level of fitness, you can increase the frequency of your runs in order to add more miles. Some elite runners run twice a day and average over 100 miles per week.

To lessen the risk of injury avoid running on hard surfaces. Dirt trails or roads, grass and cushioned tracks are best. I started running about two years ago to lose some weight and to increase my fitness.

I was not interested in running a marathon or racing. I was 54 at the time and at 5'-8", weighed 165 pounds. I began by jogging a 1/2 a mile. Within a few months, I was up to 3 miles. A few months more, I ran 5 to 6 miles. By the end of the first year, I ran a half marathon, 13 miles!

During this first year, I had lost 20 pounds and was aerobically fit. Then, a friend asked me to run with him in a local 10K race (6.2 miles). I decided to start relatively slow, run a comfortable race and to make sure I finished. At the end of 5 miles, I felt very comfortable, picked up my pace and finished my first race 3rd in my age group.

Earlier this year, one of my nephews invited me to run with him, another nephew, and a number of their friends in the annual Hood to Coast relay in Oregon, which is a 195 mile relay race consisting of 1000 teams of 12 runners each.

Each participant runs 3 legs of approximately 6 miles each. The race begins from the side of

Mount Hood at about 7,500 feet and ends at Seaside, Oregon. I had merely 8-9 months to prepare for my second race.

If you plan to race, it is best to build a large base of miles to condition your body for strength and fitness. I began running 20 miles per week and built up to 40 miles per week over the next eight months. A 40 mile week consisted of Monday off; Tuesday 6 miles; Wednesday 8 miles; Thursday off; Friday 6 miles; Saturday 8 miles; Sunday 12 miles.

In order to gain speed, I trained by running intervals of shorter distances at faster speeds. Interval training increases your heart rate so your heart becomes accustomed to operating at a higher rate for longer periods of time. Intervals are usually 400-1600 meters. The last 16 weeks of my training I added more intense interval training.

At this time, my normal week was Monday off; Tuesday easy 6 miles; Wednesday 800; 1,200 or 1600 meter repeats for a total of 6 miles + 2-200 meter and 4-100 meter repeats; Thursday-off; Friday easy 6 miles Saturday, similar to Wednesday; Sunday 12-15 miles.

Overall, I was doing well, feeling great and weighed 130-132 pounds, strong and in excellent aerobic condition.

But then, three weeks before the race, I injured my hamstrings and strained the pyriformis muscles on my left side while doing speed work. All of this work, well over 1,000 miles of training and now I may not be able to participate in the race!

This was extremely frustrating for me, but now I had a new challenge. How could I overcome this injury to the point where I could compete?

Well, I took a week off, which is the best thing to do when injured. Then began with some very easy, slow runs followed by icing the affected muscles.

I visited a sports massage therapist and worked out on a stair machine to maintain my aerobic edge while not straining my hamstrings.

I also visited an orthopedic surgeon who prescribed an anti-inflammatory.

I continued icing the muscles after each run, or stair machine workout, and took the medication to reduce inflammation in the muscle tissues. The pyriformis strain was pressuring the sciatic nerve that caused a sharp pain down the back of my thigh.

At my wife's urging, I visited an acupuncturist who eliminated the nerve pain during the first visit. After three additional visits the hamstring and pyriformis pain was substantially reduced. I also continued with the massage therapy.

My mileage was down substantially, but I would have had to start tapering off before race day anyway, just not this soon. I did not run for three days prior to the race.

Finally, I flew to Portland, joined my running mates and set off for Mount Hood. Our team started at 5:30 p.m. Friday evening. I stretched thoroughly and was able to warm up for several minutes before beginning my first leg, a hilly 7 miles, at around 9 p.m.

I decided to go out with a moderate pace, trying not to re-injure myself. Forty-nine minutes later, I finished without any pain and immediately stretched and iced my muscles.

My next leg began at around 4:30 am Saturday morning. I stretched thoroughly with the aid of one of my team mates who is a sports massage therapist, warmed up and began with a moderate pace.

Surprisingly my injury did not reappear and I was able to complete the leg in approximately 7 minute mile splits. This was much slower than my training and goal times, but it was ALL UPHILL and I was still feeling good. I stretched again and iced the muscles.

My third and final leg began around 12:30 p.m. Saturday afternoon, approximately 15.5 hours since my first leg began. Stretching for the third leg was somewhat painful since my muscles had tightened significantly since the first two legs.

The Hood to Coast race is not difficult because of the mileage. The race tested you because you had to divide the mileage into three legs with long lapses and no real rest between them. By the third leg you are tired, your legs are tight and stiff but the excitement of the moment and the urging of your teammates push you on.

My third leg was just shy of 6 miles and since my injury was not bothering me, I decided to go out faster. I finished my last leg in less than 6:30 mile splits. This was closer to my training times and my goals of 6: 20 splits!

When I started running I never thought I would race, but I have found that racing is a lot of fun. For most runners the race is not to win, but to better personal goals and to have fun doing it. I like setting challenges to run faster and farther then focusing until I achieve those goals, then raising them again.

Remember the process of warming up, stretching, working out, cooling down and stretching again. Stretching is one of the most important things you can do to avoid injury.