Articles in December, 2011, Page 2

Race Cheater? Toss ‘Em in the Clank

Posted on December 19, 2011 by Cait — 8 Comments ↓

I have to admit I loved reading this one; in Kenya’s Safaricom Kisumu Marathon over the weekend course officials caught runners cutting the course. What did they do? Arrest them. There’s a point for the honest harriers!

Take that course cheaters!

I was thinking about this not very long ago when during a Thanksgiving Day Turkey trot a friend of mine was leading, then as he took a turn towards the finish line out of nowhere he saw a woman (pushing a jogging stroller no less) cut in from a side street up ahead and cross the line in front of him. It was determined she has shaved off quite a chunk from the 5k course and was rightfully disqualified. But I guess she did set the course record for the 2.2 mile race?

Really? Cutting a course, it makes me wonder what these people are trying to accomplish, does a ‘win’ really give you the same kind of satisfaction if you cheat to do it? Running is a very self-sacrificing kind of sport and part of the reason the majority of us do it is because it comes down to the sweat, pain, and anguish of hard work and dedication…that those PR’s and wins are hard fought and THAT’S what makes them so rewarding, am I right?

Course cutting is one kind of cheating, and I don’t think I even have to delve into the whole drug issue. Sadly, it’s a reality, no denying it. But I’ve always been of the camp of knowing I just couldn’t live with myself if I were dirty and out there competing. (Not to mention I’d feel gross being dirty with drugs period…I’d feel like I’d be walking around with a big scarlet letter on my chest…but that’s just me.)

Wouldn't a dirty victory feel hallow?

I’ve heard the ‘excuse’ some athletes that head down the road of drugs say: “Everyone else is doing it, so by taking these I’m only leveling the playing field.” That’s a cop-out, and while there will always be cheaters, that doesn’t mean that everyone has to lower themselves to that level. Sure, if you lose to a dirty athlete will it sting? Hell ya. But in the end you are still striving for your best and at least have the satisfaction of the PR’s and stand-out personal performances you do achieve.

Maybe Olive Oyl's been on the juice...

Sure, that warm and fuzzy feeling inside may not come with the prize money or the record or title, (How do you think poor Suzy Favor-Hamilton feels after losing out to so many races to Regina Jacobs after it finally was confirmed the latter had been using drugs…you can’t go back in time and reclaim every single loss!) but in the end I certainly believe athletes who’s achievements come clean and without cheating (any kind, course cutting included!) are far more respected and inspiring.

———–
I wanted to thank you all for the awesome comments I received on yesterday’s post about the gap in times between the genders. I really enjoyed reading your perspectives and I agree that because there are just more woman out there at races it lowers the time averages, and skews the picture the numbers portray. I also really liked the point Katherine brought up which has always sort of bugged me, in that certain qualifying or cut-off times for the women are ‘softer’ than the men. Doesn’t gender equality go both ways, why should it be easier for a woman to get into a certain race/event than a man? I would actually take that as an offense, don’t you think a woman can work her butt off just as much to push for that faster time? Just saying…
———–

1) Course cutting cheaters, have you ever had an experience with them? Were they caught? What do you think is a proper penalty?
How about after the race we put them in stocks and let the racers throw their banana peels and Powerbar wrappers at them? 😉

2) Drug cheating…I know it’s like opening up a can of worms, so I’ll just keep it short. What’s your opinion or what is an ‘excuse’ you think athletes use for taking them?

3) Softer race qualifying times for women, what are your thoughts on this?

Clash of the Genders – Males Racing Relatively Faster Than Women?

Posted on December 18, 2011 by Cait — 12 Comments ↓

Male runners working harder than their female counterparts? Reading this article in the Evolutionary Psychology Journal makes it sound like these professors have come to just this very conclusion.

Before all us runnerchicks get our bunhuggers in a bunch, let’s take a gander at their case evidence and logic. The prose is that the ‘average male’ is running relatively faster times than the ‘average female’ runners; that is to say that if you take the current World Record and leading times and then times that average runners race at, the the men are proportionally closer to these elite times than the women.

This is true despite the fact that the rate of increase in number of females who are now taking part in our sport is vastly more than the men. For example the increase in male participation from 1989 to 2009 in road races was 60% where for the women it was 498%. (for NCAA Track and Field it was 32% for the men and 98% for the women) Though there are other factors that quantify such a leap, namely females being ALLOWED to participate…that and for college, the inclusion of Title IX certainly has upped the numbers.

So going into the study, these professors hypothesized, “In any given race, about three to four times as many men as women ran relatively fast. The stable sex difference in relative performance shown here for non-elites constitutes new support for the hypothesis of an evolved male predisposition for enduring competitiveness.”

Through the study they built their argument into three points:

* Males tend to be more competitive than women and thus push themselves harder. (I have raced against, run alongside, and befriended women who I know have more mental grit than many men. Females may not generally be as outwardly apparent in being ‘out for blood’ but after the gun goes off, there are no favors for friends…everyone wants the win.) The professors do point out that the numbers are higher for females going to races more as pleasure runners, being interested in just finishing and having fun regardless of the time, than for men.

* The number of males who are putting in a larger volume and higher intensity training program is more than for females. (It does take faster paced workouts to lead to faster race times, no doubt, so here it becomes a difference of goals between the sexes perhaps. Are more of the males interested in chasing a PR and then including the uptempo work versus wanting to run sheerly for the pleasure of running?)

* Males report keeping up that higher training level longer than women. (This could be affected by some factors: certain injuries, life ie: time off for babies, and anemia are all things women tend to suffer from more often than men. It takes consistent training to lead to improvement so these interruptions are doing females no favors.)

End of study findings: “These findings strongly suggest that the sex difference in performance depth can be largely attributed to more men being motivated to engage in the training necessary to run relatively fast.”

I’m going to remain an unbiased party here and say that these are generalizations and there are exceptions on both ends. Numbers do show that the gap between the average runnerchick’s times and those of the elites is larger than for men. I think a part of that DOES come down to women having the self-security to believe they are possible of achieving things.

By nature girls grow up with no shortage of ‘mean girls’ chipping away at the old self-esteem. It take believing in your goals to see them actualized. Self-esteem is one of the biggest benefits of sports for females because here there is an arena where we CAN prove we are tough as nails and achieve feats we can be proud of.

Men and boys may have a leg-up on us in some respects with the self-esteem issue however I don’t feel that needs to be an accepted excuse. Instead, I know there are oh so many runnerchicks who are out there busting their @$$ and I hope in time the black and white numbers will reflect this.

1) What are your thoughts on this study?

2) What do you think may be factors in the discrepancy between the genders?

3) Male or female, when you go to a race what are your main intentions? Do you go for a PR and fast time or do you go the more pleasure runner route and don’t worry about the time?

I Read Minds – What We Can Learn From People Doing Crazy Things

Posted on December 17, 2011 by Cait — 2 Comments ↓

If you’re like me you love to people watch and often wonder what in the world people are doing or thinking sometimes. We could just ask them, but I think it’s better to come up with our own answers. And maybe, just maybe there are things we can glean from these folks…even if they are only tiny nuggets hidden in there.

Then some people are just straight up crazy...

* The guy grunting like a gorilla while doing squats. We really shouldn’t blame him, he’s been having a rough go as of late. His ‘roid dealer has been out of town and his supplies are wearing thin, so this weight load is feeling a LOT harder than it did last week. On top of that some roaches broke into his protein powder…was that a crunch he got on that last swig? Lesson: He’s smart and remember to refuel within 30 minutes of his workout…I’d go sans weevils and roaches though, there are better sources of protein.

* Jerk who just cut in front of you in the port-a-pot line at the race. Do they really think we didn’t notice that, really now? We’ll play along and give them the benefit of the doubt in that maybe they are on the verge of wetting themselves. They were guzzling those free Gatorade samples like they’d just come through the desert on a horse with no name. Though in the future they may want to remember this is only a 5k in the middle of December and all that liquid isn’t exactly necessary. Lesson: Yes, hydration is important, but the amount depends on the race distance and especially the conditions. If you’re in the middle of winter and you’re running a 5k race you probably want to cut the liquids 30 minutes out unless it’s little sips. Also, you can skip actually drinking during the event unless it’s being run at the Equator. Going in water/drink-logged can actually slow you down and give you cramps.

I mean, who does this guy think he is?

* Man you’re approaching while running who won’t let you pass. This is on the DEFCON Red level of annoyance if you’re a girl and I’m sure you’ve been there. I can say though even if you’re a guy and you find a slower-paced runner who refuses to acknowledge they are slower would be irksome. Obviously this runner is having ego problems, his girlfriend just dumped him and she’s going to be racing the Olympic Marathon Trials in January. You, a fast female, touched a bit of a raw nerve and he’s got something to prove…it’s not an excuse but at least we can feel sorry for him as he pants like the annoying dog he his. Lesson: This case is excruciatingly annoying, but if you’re running an easy day and you get sucked into purposely going harder to drop this guy it could end up biting you in the butt. Recovery days are important, so maybe try to cross to the other side of the street or go another route to avoid getting sucked into dropping the 6 minute miles. If it’s a race, elbow his butt to the side and put that guy in his place.

* The person who continually tells you how ‘lucky’ you are to be so slim and eat like a trucker and asks for the secrets; she is perpetually wanting to lose the same 10 pounds. The people who complain about this but avoid any kind of physical exertion like the plague do hit a nerve; it’s because you could tell them the same thing all the time but without their motivation to do it you could just be talking to the wall. While we could say, “I just ran for 90 minutes and lifted weights…it’s not luck I bust my @$$,” what this person is really thinking is, “Ugh, the pattern on her shirt is really dorky, this cookie tastes like poop but oh well I’ll have another. I need to vent to this thin person about how much I would like the scale to be lower, but I don’t actually want to do anything about it. I just need to vent.” Lesson: Sometimes people ask the same questions all the time and don’t really want an answer. Sometimes they DO want an answer and will put it to good use. It takes internal motivation to reach for our goals and you can’t teach that or make someone do it unless they want to. I am always happy to offer up advice but I do it once and drop it if they reeeeeaally don’t want to listen. 😛

1) Do you have people like this you’ve seen in your daily lives?

2) I think we all have bad days and at times this can lead us to act and do things that are just plain out of character and we’d usually not act like that. I do try to give people slack and like to think that if they’re being rude then maybe it’s just a bad day…I know I have them. BUT, who’s the last person that you really think deserved a swift kick in the tootie?

3) Back to self-motivation, when people ask you ‘how’ you keep running every day what do you tell them?
I just don’t like myself when I don’t.

Beauty in the Flaws and Success in the Failures

Posted on December 16, 2011 by Cait — 10 Comments ↓

My aunt’s an artist and she has a saying, “Accidental art.” It’s not so much a saying as a phrase for life; if you make a mistake take a look at it again and you just might see that this ‘accident’ made it better.

There was a Native American tribe that used to purposefully hide a flaw in every piece of art, pottery, and weavings they did because they knew that humans weren’t perfect and nothing ever is…nor should it be.

Certainly not perfect...

Though, as a bit of a perfectionist, I don’t always remember this. I get so furious when a detail isn’t EXACTLY how I envisioned it in my mind and could waste hours trying to get it just right. Sometimes I need to just let go and reiterate, “Accidental art.”

Still not perfect.

The same goes for training and racing; you can’t always predict how things will go. No matter how much you may plan, envision, strategize, calculate and dream you can’t completely control the outcome. That can be frustrating but it’s a part of our sport and it can be suprisitingly euphoric too.

An athlete at the top of their game could come into a race and just feel horrible, for them it would be additedly depressing; though for the upset underdog who had the race of his life it could be a pincale of their career.

How can we take these supposed failures and make this ‘accidental art’? LEARN FROM THEM.

A bad race could be the ‘best’ thing that ever happened to you if you take away something from it and never repeat a mistake again. You go out too fast in the first race of the season and die a horrible death; championships roll around and you run negative splits and run your best race.

You come to the track and the workout is not going at all how it was planned. You could chuck the watch and get through it knowing that the effort is there, you might adjust the workout (if it was long intervals but you’re flat try doing some speedy 200’s) and aim to get a different kind of benefit. Finally you could just get through it and know it’s more a test of your mental grit. Later try to find out if there could be a reason you felt so crummy (check your recovery, easy runs, nutrition, sleeping, etc.) and see if you could correct that.

Thankfully there is always another workout around the corner and if you ‘messed up’ one you get another chance to redo it. The beauty of workouts are they are just practice for races; if you’re going to make a mistake make it there and learn from it.

However, in the end sometimes you just plain feel like junk and that’s just the legs you were dealt with for the day. It’s that margin of unknown in our sport. While we feel safe and in control with the black and white numbers and times that come with running, we have to acknowledge that our bodies will forever throw at us the element of surprise.

You can choose to wallow in the failures or instead look at it again and make some ‘accidental art.’

1) Are you a perfectionist? In some things or all? How do you try to ‘let go’ of details that aren’t so important?
I’m a perfectionist in things I decide I really care about…sadly for my chemistry classes the same can’t be said there. 😛

2) How do you handle bad workouts or races?

3) Last thing you can admit to failing epically at?
I promised myself I’d organize my mountain of ‘stuff’…I’m not winning there. I can’t say I love all my failures…but sometimes we need to cut ourselves some slack and keep moving on. 😛

Choose Your Own Adventure – Creating Your Own Weight and Strength Routine

Posted on December 15, 2011 by Cait — 17 Comments ↓

Does anyone else remember those books? My favorite were the Goosebumps Choose Your Own Adventure. This one will be with a fitness twist, but we’ll get to that in a short bit.

So I was reading about this Schwarzenegger 5k challenge; the guise is to test a person’s speed AND strength. The participants are first asked to bench-press a certain percentage of their bodyweight until failure, wait 30 minutes and then go race a 5k. The 5k time is then adjusted depending on how many rep’s of the bench press the person did.

I don’t think I’ll even attempt the title, as I’m sure I’d have to bench press more than the bar, so I don’t think I’d make all that many. BUT, it brings up a very important point: Runners DO need strength.

Over the years I’ve come to embrace…errr, tolerate the weights and core work. I just find it more boring than running but I know how good it is for me:

* Build your strength = faster times. The stronger your legs are the more power you’ll be able to generate with each push-off…think more speed. The more strength your arms have will further increase your stride speed because your legs will only go so fast as your arms can pump. Stronger core will mean you can retain more efficient form as you tire (stay upright) which will translate into a faster clock time.

* More strength = more miles. You got it, the stronger you are muscularly the more miles your body can handle…at least handle safely and efficiently…again we get back to form.

* Better form and a stronger body = less injuries. Yup, you heard it here folks, core and weight work will lessen your chances of getting injured.

* More muscle mass = leaner you. You might weight the same, or even put on some pounds, but your body fat will go down and that means you’ll be rocking more muscle mass. Muscle burns more calories per pound than fat, so if you’re into that you’ll be increasing your metabolism throughout the entire day.

Now, the thing with weights and core work for runners is it’s more about higher repetitions and lower weights…we’re going for the leaner muscle tissue. Aim to work at least each major muscle group once per weight session (2-3 times a week on non-sequential days) and do it continuously. Move from exercise to exercise without resting; this will not only make it go by faster but keep your heart rate elevated.

Here’s where we make it ‘fun’, below I’ll list a category and then different exercises. Pick one exercise from each group, cycle through all the groups and you can then ‘choose your own routine’; though for each day that you pick a certain exercise from the group stick with the SAME one for all the sets. Though for the different days you can create plenty of diverse routines. Do 15 repetitions of each one and work your way up to three sets.

Group A:

Walking lunges (15 each leg)
Forward lunge – step forward into lunge than back to center (15 each leg)
Prisoner Squats – squat in place

Dumbbell Press

Group B

Push-up
Raised leg push-up (put your legs on a chair or step so they are at an incline, these are harder)
Dumbbell press – lay back on bench, dumbbell in each hand, arms straight up. Lower arms until they are at an 90n degree angle and then raise back up

Group C

Bicep curl – use two weights, one in each hand
Bicep curls – using a long weighted bar
Running arms – weight in each hand do a controlled motion as you use them in running

Group D

Bench dips – facing away from a chair, put your hands on the edge and legs extended in front of you. Start with arms straight, lower down until your bum is near the ground and arms bent at 90 degrees, then raise back up
Tricep kick backs – weights in each hand, bend forward at the hips and keep your arms even with your torso so that they are bent at 90 degrees. Weights in hand, extend at the elbows and lift until your arms are straight, then lower back down
Behind the Head Reach – lie facing up on a bench with a bar weight in your hands, bent at the elbows. Start with the bar hovering above your chest then lower it behind your head, over the edge of the bench until your shoulders are even with your ears and then lift back up to starting position.

Overhead Reach

Group E

Overhead reach – weight in each hand sit or stand with your torso straight and extend your arms straight above your head. Lower arms down until arms are at 90 degree then back up.
Side flies – weight in each hand, sit or stand with torso erect. Bend arms at 90 degree and place the weights together in front of your chest; keeping arms bent raise them laterally until they are even with your shoulders then back down
Front flies – weight in each hand, stand straight up, arms down at sides. Keep arms straight and raise weights up in front of you until arms are even with your shoulders and then back down.

Lat Pull-down
Group F

Bent over Row – position yourself facing down toward a bend, rest your left hand and left knee on the bench, keep your torso straight from bum to head. Drop your right arm down so it is dangling over the side of the bench and with a weight in hand. Lift your upper arm straight up until bent at 90 degree and even with your torso then back down. Repeat on other side.
Lat pull-downs – face one of the lat pull-down machines and pull-down
Total body flies – stand straight up holding a weight in each hand; crouch forward into a 3/4 squat and bring the weights together between your legs. As you stand back up cycle your arms up over your head until the dumbbells are touching and your arms are straight. Lower back down into squat and repeat.

Whew…hope all of that made sense to you. The thing with weights is that it is also smart to mix-it up so that your muscles don’t adapt and stop reacting to the stimuli. Of course you don’t have to change it every single time, but so long as you hit each muscle group you will be getting the benefits and while it may be more boring than running…it will help your running. 🙂

PS- this was more upper-body focused and meant to be done if you’ve already done some cardio/running. I’ll do another post centered on more leg exercises but you can also do plyometrics to target your legs.

1) Do you do weight work? Do you like it?

2) Would you do that Schwarzenegger challenge?

3) What’s your favorite kind of core or strength work?

24 Hours of Running

Posted on December 14, 2011 by Cait — 11 Comments ↓

No, not me, but many do it. Ultras. As if 26.2 miles weren’t enough, let’s kick it up a notch.

I’ve never really been 100% certain about how I felt about ultra marathons. Trust me, I’m an Obsessive Compulsive Runner to the bone (or at least getting in some kind of workout if I can’t actually run) but it really made me question if I’m THAT OCR-ish. “Could I actually keep going that long? Would I want to go that long? Would I get bored because you are running at a ‘slower’ pace? How the heck would I even start that thing, ‘okay, one mile down, 115 to go?!’ ”

Ya, that would be after the finish line!

Then another part of me brings up, “Dang, how much fun would it be to chow down after one of those ultra’s…heck even DURING one of those things!”

The event does fascinate me but I’m not sure I’d ever actually do one. I mean being able to run a 15-minute 5k fascinates me and I know for darn sure I’ll never actually do one of those! But back to ultra’s, they are growing in popularity and getting more press as of late, so here are a few of my own personal experiences as well as factoids I’ve found:

* I’ve always counted Alberto Salazar as one of my heros (both running and as a person) and to hear some of the stories about how he trained for the Comrades Marathon are EPIC. He went on to demolish the course record, but he’s said that race was one of the hardest things in the world. It took everything to keep going…that says a flipping lot in my book. If a man with that much grit, who did long runs wearing a weight vest, did repeat miles on a treadmill to have the heater blasting in his face to best mimic the conditions of Comrades, tell me that race almost did him in, it really makes me question if I could hack that.

* Very recently I had the pleasure to interview Michael Wardian, a current ultra marathon superstar. He’s unique in the man races an insane amount but still retains an incredible amount of speed; he’ll do 100 mile races and come back a day or two later to run a marathon. He’s got a qualifying time for the Olympic Marathon Trials this January AND he’s earned a silver medal at the 100k World Championships…that is range. Even more astounding to me was that he still has a ‘regular job’ despite criss-crossing the globe on a weekly basis AND does the majority of his training on a treadmill. Why a treadmill? Because that way he can babysit his two young children…I respect that even more. Next time you think the treadmill is too mind-numbing, think of Michael busting out some ultra long runs in his basement.

* Another famous ultra marathoner, Scott Jurek, attempted to break the 24 hour record (188 miles) this past weekend in Taiwan. While he fell short he still clocked 106 miles and retains the US record of 165 miles. I think what gets me here is that in Taiwan the race was held on a 400 meter track. Seriously?! I think the mental burnout factor alone is crazy.

* A few years back there were two prominent runners who were the ‘face’ of ultra running: Pam Reed and Dean Karnazas. They both wrote books and the media liked to play it up to be a sort of rivalry…Pam the nice, mom versus the boisterous and ‘celeb-hungry’ Dean. Dean did come to Nike while I was still there and I don’t think it’s fair to judge people without really knowing them and I want to keep this a positive post, I will just say he’s not lacking in the ego.

So ultra’s. Would you, could you run for THAT long? Do you find them appealing?

As it stands for me, I think it’s fascinating, but it brings up a bit of an insecurity in myself…I honestly don’t know if I could do it.

1) Have you ever though about doing an ultra marathon?

2) Does the thought of running that long appeal to you?
The other thing, is I think I’d just get too antsy running at the pace you have to in order to finish…I’d want to get done…lol.

3) Any tidbits you’d like to throw in here about the event?

When Life Throws junk Your Way…

Posted on December 13, 2011 by Cait — 9 Comments ↓

“Live for the unexpected.” Whoever said that I’m sure wasn’t rolling along the freeway and BAM had their tire blow out…if that had been the case I think their choice of word may have been more along the lines of, “F***” (eeerrr, I mean, “Fudge”…anyone who thought of A Christmas Story just now gets bonus points.)

The thing is, life can be awesome and grant you the highest of highs, but it can also offer up some pretty extreme blows. The thing is, and although when you’re in the midst of a low it’s nearly impossible to pull yourself out of ‘yourself’ and remember this: we all go through junk, crap, shiznit…so you are not alone. Misery loves company, right?

Okay, the point of this post is NOT to be a downer, so wait for it because I do have a reason for this bleak intro and even tie it into running. One thing we love about running is that it is ever constant, it doesn’t change much. You can always count on a mile being a mile, a minute run is a minute run…even if you’d wish you’d covered more distance in that minute than you did. The times are non-negotiable, as are the distances…it’s very clear-cut, black and white. One reason I enjoy this sport is you can’t argue with the outcome…you win if you cross the line first, there aren’t any politics involved such as in gymnastics and scoring sports. You break tape = you win.

Life is NOT a constant. It throws you for loops, lippy-dippies, and the like. When life’s craziness collides with running that’s when things can get interesting. Personal case study: when life deals out say, an injury or a sickness, and it derails the ever-constant running (ie: missed runs) it royally cheeses me off, “Hey, Running, I thought you were a constant and I could depend on you…what in the heck?!”

But running and life go hand in hand; and such is the case with everyone. This plays out in affecting our sport in a variety of ways: when athletes line up for the gun to a degree they are all equals despite what their PR’s are. Why? Because of life. We have no idea what’s going on ‘behind the scenes’ and what they are dealing with…coming off of an injury, a flu, a change of coach, or another huge life stressor.

People can discount or ‘poo-poo’ at how much life stress can derail training plans and say that if it affects your running than you are just mentally weak…but that is a fallacy. Running is very mental and humans are creatures of emotion; while the better athletes may be able to more adeptly channel those, or compartmentalize, better than others that doesn’t mean they aren’t human in the end.

Why do I bring this up? A lot of reasons. One, because to put it out there that if you’re dealing with a life loopy and it derails your constant running, it’s okay to be cheesed off, but know that you’re not alone and that in the end the low will come back up, but to do that you have to keep your head up and keep plugging away. “Stay the Course.”

Second, remember that if your running performances are dipping and you don’t know WHY look to the obvious of course (resting, recovering, nutrition, sleeping, etc) but also look to life stressors. Have you moved, had a ton of deadlines stressing you out, a death in the family…you can’t ignore these and think they are no part of the equation. Factor that in, I’m not saying to skip the runs or workouts, but perhaps adjust them or adjust the times you want to hit…heck, chuck the watch and just go off of effort…give yourself some slack. (I hardly ever say that so when I do I mean it…haha.)

Finally, there can be a lot of negativity in our sport. Message boards can be toxic, as can outside observers who have no idea what is going on. As they say, “It’s WAY easier to look at these professional runners, or any other runner for that matter, and add in your two cents…but I’d like to see any of these nay-sayers get out there and race.” I’ll say it like this, “Spike up or shut up.”

I don’t need to step on a little podium, and I’m sorry…I have friends that race at a high level and are constantly under scrutiny. I’m a person who doesn’t really care if you hate on me, but bad talk my family or friends and it riles me up. 😛 Instead of bagging on people for a performance that an anonymous unknown deems is ‘below’ them, how about cheering them on for overcoming some ‘life junk’ and getting excited to see them bust it out of the gates next time?

There I’m done…sorry, this was a bit more of a multi-tangent post so maybe you’re still here, maybe not. In closing, take the loopies that mess with our adorably constant running world and know that in the end you WILL get back to the land of safe, black and white numbers…you’ll just have to work for it. 😉

1) How do you handle ‘life stress’ are you the kind of person who turns to running more or less?
Definitely more. If something is driving me crazy or even making me feel sad I’ll turn to a nice run…if I have a good run I feel like I’ve accomplished something.

2) How do you compartmentalize; if there are other stressors but you have a big race, how do you manage that?
Hmm…when I was racing I was pretty good at just shutting down and focusing on the race regardless. Usually I’m excited to race and just go…plus, back to the first question, running makes me feel better so I use that to help.

3) There are always negative people who want to tear down people at the top; on the internet it is worsened by the anonymity. Why all the hate…discuss?

Running Goes Greek – Are You Brave Enough to Pledge?

Posted on December 12, 2011 by Cait — 5 Comments ↓

I was never in a sorority. I never rushed, I never felt the urge to. I’ve always found the whole thing a little scary actually; one of my best friends during high school went on to rush a fraternity…Kevin, yes I still remember the time you called me at 1am freezing, walking to a bus-stop in nothing but your boxers and totally lost somewhere in LA. How you retained your cellphone is still a mystery.

Enter random cow running picture.

Yes, I’m probably being stereotypical, and one can venture to say they are not all bad…and maybe the girls are less cruel in their hazing. Though, I’m a girl and can attest that girls have their own breed of cruelness: destroy them mentally.

Mooooving (hey, okay, the cow fits now! Look at the pieces coming together!) past that though, I thought it might be fun to come up with our own running sorority/fraternity. We can make it a nice soro/frat (that will by my totally legit term here and I’m sure it’s what colleges everywhere use) because runners are a nice folk…

Rush:
* You want to join? Are you sure…okay, here goes. Strip down to your skivvies…just kidding. Trust me they aren’t skivvies but yes, these shorts are meant to be that short. Girls do race in glorified underwear though, but trust me they are more comfortable than you think. Boys, try not to blind us with your shorts tans.
* Take off the Converse and fit yourself in a REAL pair of shoes. Ones with advanced cushioning systems, arch support, cozy toe boxes. If you’re into fashion girls, don’t choose solely based on color patterns…sometimes running shoes are ugly, but you wear them anyways.
* A bit of math. If you ask how many laps around a track to a mile, you may be turned down off the bat. Get comfortable with the metric system until 5k’s and 10k’s equate to 3.1 and 5.2 miles respectively in a nanosecond.
* Dorkdom lingo. Learn fartlek, add it into conversations on a regular basis. Know the difference between motion control, stability, and neutral fitting…learn to recognize a pronator, supinator, and neutral foot type. In fact this should be a question to ask on a first day: “What is your foot type?” (just kidding on that last one.)

Hazing:
* I said runners were nice, and it’s true, all of the hazing is done to yourself by yourself. You will know you’re in the right direction when you’ve waken up in the middle of the night after a run/workout and had trouble getting out of bed as you normally would just to go to the bathroom. At that point you know the morning will be a rough one.
* Always know you will lie to yourself. You have to in order to get in the full number of repeats that the workout calls for.
* You may baft. You’ll certainly curse (at least in your head), you might feel a little woozy (wobbly leg syndrome), you may experience some tunnel-vision down the home stretch, you will continually wonder why you are doing this. But if you push through it and finish the answer will be clear to you.

Mixers:
* Workouts with teammates, run dates (umm, what’s sexier than two runners getting sweaty together?), group runs, and the trump card: races.
* Some rules here: be legit and honest when lining up according to the pace you CAN run. If you’re not going to be dropping say, 5 minute miles, and instead maybe 9 minute miles…that’s totally cool but don’t line up at the front of the line and block the actual 5 minute peeps.
* If you’re a guy of the soro/frat and you’re in a race and a girl is passing you…have the balls (yes, I said that) to let her pass. If you try to block her, box her in, elbow her, or any of the like…you are in fact LOSING some of your manhood and are treading grounds for being evicted.
* Hang and chill…like I said, runners are cool folks. The best ones are fierce and competitive when the gun goes off and will race to push themselves to their best…BUT after the finish line (and before the gun goes off) they are friendly, respectful, and did I say cool to be around?

Pull up a pile of sand and sit a spell...

Perks:
* If those aren’t obvious by now, you must go back to the Rush stage and repeat until the answer is clear. If you’re a runner, you know you’re a runner.

1) Were you ever part of the whole Greek thing?

2) Would you like to join this Running Soro/Frat? (I’m starting to coin the phrase: Obsessive Compulsive Runner and toying with adding it more distinctly into the blog theme/name. Heck, maybe I’ll copyright it…lol. Regardless, we could be the OCR’s.)

3) Anything you’d like to add as parameters to any of the steps above?

Check Me Out on RunningTimes.Com Yo…And Some Vicarious Running

Posted on December 11, 2011 by Cait — 16 Comments ↓

Weekends…let’s roll out the races. Can I just say I’m afflicted by more than a little runner-envy, I wish my darn foot would cooperate and release me from elliptical purgatory…just saying. 😉

Enough of that though, I’m thankful that I can at least cross-train, and maybe we can all get a vicarious speed fix from what some other awesome harriers are up to. If you’re a high-schooler and don’t live under a rock I’m sure you know that the Footlocker National Cross Country Championships were today down in San Diego, CA. I was lucky enough to go my junior year and I will say they make you feel like rockstars…for anyone who wasn’t a qualifier this year and not a senior, don’t give up and trust me, use it as a carrot for motivation to work your tail off to make it next year. 🙂

For the ‘adult’ set there were the USATF Cross Country Club Nationals up in Seattle, WA and I have to say I was really excited to see that Brie Felnagle won this year. I watched her race at the Nike Oregon/Washington Border Clash her senior year of high school and she is one of those runners who makes it looks effortless. She’s got some wheels and usually more of a 1500 meter gal on the track. In the guys’ race Jonathan Grey came out the winner but recently turned pro, Matt Centrowitz, took fourth. As I’m sure every good track nerd knows this kid is coming off of a mind-blowing track season, taking Bronze in the 1500 meters at this past World Champs. As a collegiate for the University of Oregon he was our fastest American…that has to sting, Lagat.

Tomorrow I’m already putting my cheering pants on for Kara Goucher, Shalane Flanagan and Lisa Koll (Uhl) in the Miami Beach Half Marathon tomorrow. I’ll further be sending positive vibes to Simon Bairu and Tim Nelson, also members of the Nike Oregon Track Club. Of course anyone and everyone who’s racing good luck, I’m not playing favorites. 🙂

Speaking of races, I know it is really common for people who finish a race that they’ve been shooting for and thinking of for months and months and to react as such: excitement…and then coming off of the high feeling as if, “okay, now what?” It’s called post-race anti-climacticism (okay, guilty, I made that up), but sometimes people express feeling even a little depressed or like they have nothing else to shoot for or motivate them to run.

Well, if you want my two cents, I’ve written it all up here online at Running Times: ‘Stuck in Waiting: Staying motivated through the lull between season’ so you can wander on over there if you’d like. To tide you over I’ll say this:

*if you need a race to motivate you to run, that’s okay, just find one and sign up for it.
*if you just did, say, a marathon and feel like, “been there, done that” challenge yourself with a totally different goal. Maybe work on speed and try to get a fast 5k out of yourself…and vica versa.
*everyone has dips in motivation, so don’t feel like a ‘bad runner’ because of it…in the article there are tips to get you through that

That’s it for this runnerchick tonight! Congrats to any and all racers of today and GOOD LUCK to those of tomorrow…remember, I’m vicariously getting my miles from your feet…just saying. 😉

1) Did you do and cross country races recently or in the past? Do you prefer cross country or trail courses, track races, or road races?

2) What’s a tip you have for getting yourself through a lapse in motivation?

3) Did you race this weekend or have one tomorrow?

Sweet Running Shirts and Motivations to Run

Posted on December 10, 2011 by Cait — 12 Comments ↓

Today I had a meeting with a local running shoe store to talk about some marketing work; creating a newsletter, adding some content to their website, and generating some ideas to let everyone know that yes, in fact, Fleet Feet Fair Oaks is THE best running store around. 🙂

Umm, what other store has a super hero foot??

Actually, side tangent here, I love how it’s come full circle, Fleet Feet was my very first job ever when I was back in high school. I had a blast learning about shoes, getting to interact with runners and get paid, plus I didn’t hate the discount I got…let’s just say most of my paycheck went right back into the store. Now I’m back but doing other work…still getting paid to be around runners = winning.

Back to the store today, on my way out I noticed some screened tee’s and the manager told me that they are always looking for fun new phrases to put on the tees. One of the ones they had today was: ‘I run so I can drink beer’. I think that resonates with plenty of folks, but here are some of the one-liners that were rolling around my head:

* Running fueled by Pop-Tarts (you could really insert anything here, we all have our addictions)
* Miles-a-holic
* Obsessive Compulsive Runner (actually, this is my favorite and I’ve wanted a shirt with this screen on it for years)
* Run Muddy (trail season is upon us)
* I’m a girl and yes, I can beat you, nice try but I can hear you panting like a dying dog
* I feel a fartlek coming on
* Running addict…I don’t plan on reforming
* Clydesdales: We do it louder and prouder
* Thank you for stating the obvious: I’m skinny. I run and I could eat you under the table.
* Don’t talk to me until I’ve had my endorphins
* I’m injured: I withhold the right to be a bi***

I guess maybe my tees would only sell once discounted?? 😉

What do you think, would you buy a shirt with any of these on them? Probably not…

On another note, we also got to talking about what is motivating to runners. I think that is pretty broad; some people would say world record setting races, races with an underdog upset, athletes who have battled back after terrible injuries/tragedies, someone finishing their very first 10k when before they never thought they’d finish a mile, a high schooler who never made the scoring team rising to the occasion and helping their team to a surprise victory, a busy mom who also works and still finds time to train like a maniac, a 100-year old man finishing a marathon…the possibilities are limitless.

What I think it comes down to is what you connect with. If your aspirations are of PR’s and faster times then perhaps you connect more with the Seb Coe races, the Shalane Flanagan performances, the Usain Bolt show-downs. Though if you are new to the sport you might connect more with the neighbor you’ve seen running for years and watching them achieve their personal bests. Maybe you connect with a parent; you never believed you were a runner or that you could keep up with your dad but then comes the day and you’re running alongside him…gasp, maybe even beating him. 😉

What’s great about our sport is there are stories that range from Olympic medals to finishers that still push themselves to the finish line even if the race crew is breaking down the course. We ALL get out there and put the miles in…heck, there may be no race at all, just you, your feet, and the miles between.

1) Do you have a running shirt slogan you’d like screened on a tee?

2) What are one of the biggest ‘perks’ you get from being a runner?

3) What motivates you the most in terms of running stories or feats?