For the last two weeks during my break from training, my job has changed from running to "pretending". I say pretending because acting didn't work out for me. After running in the Olympic Trials, I had a photo shoot with Outside magazine and the guy was trying to get a real intense look out of me, but all I could do was laugh and sFormile. I am pretty sure I lost the cover as a result. It was then that I realized my career as an actor/model was never going to happen. All I could do was smile. I only had one "look."
Naturally, I was pretty nervous on the trip back from the Boston Marathon knowing that a week of photoshoots awaited, all of which would be requesting different poses and facial expressions that I would most likely not be able to manufacture. First up were commercials that Sara and I would be shooting for Team World Vision. It was during this shoot that I recieved the advice that would change my ability to "act" forever. Michael (the head guy for Team World Vision) suggested I see it as acting but rather "pretending." He was joking, but the funny thing was that his advice actually helped me to breakthrough my acting barrier. The next day I had a photo shoot with Asics where I would need to bring my "A" game. I got pretty nervous when I walked in and met 15 people whose sole purpose was to make sure that the pictures of looked good. For the first shot I had to put on baby oil and water to re-enact the finish of a race. Later on I had to hold an American flag with fans blowing on me. It was all pretty commical for me, but I realized that it is all part of the job, and my "pretending" mindset helped me get through it.
One thought that helped me pretend was picturing myself on the starting line of the Olympic Marathon. When I see myself there I have no problem getting an "intense" look on my face. So now I have two "looks," smiley Ryan and intense Ryan. Who knows maybe one day I will follow in Zoolanders footsteps and come out with a whole new look that will shock the world in Beijing!
I am now at the end of my two week recovery period, so fortunately I can start doing what I do best, train rather than act. A lot of people ask me about how much time off I take after a marathon and what I do. This time around it has been a little different than my first two marathons. Usually I finish the race and don't run another step or do any type of running for two weeks. However, with the Olympics just four months away, we planned to do a good job recovering. After the race ended I took a few minutes to colapse on the ground and get some fluids and recovery shakes in my body then I hobbled through a very slow cool down. After coming home, during my first week off I got massages almost daily followed by ice baths and went to the pool to swim and kick in effort to flush my legs out. The second week off I began to do some light jogging and strides to get my range of motion back. I don't particularly enjoy time off but I am learning to embrace it as part of the program to keep improving. I am usually antsy to run again after a week or so.
Today, I am glad to be able to return to running and start to focus on training for my first Olympic Games. It is truly starting to set in now that I am really going to the Olympics. It is sureal to get up in the morning and know that I am heading out on a run to prepare myself for the Olympics. I am blessed to be living my dream. It has been a long hard road, with lots of emotional highs and lows, but, with the help of God, my wife, my family, coaches, and teammates I am almost there.
If you are interested in a preview of the weekend photos check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JVbkKGHyUg or if you want to learn more about Team World Vision check out www.worldvision.org/team.
