Cait’s Articles at , Page 21

About Cait

Freelance writer, artist, & graphic designer. Founder of Ezzere Running Shirts http://ezzere.com/ #runner #writer #blogger #artist #designer Run. Laugh. Be.

Runners, Superheros, and Princesses Re-defined

Posted on March 21, 2013 by Cait — 6 Comments ↓

In MY version of fairy tales, the princesses all run, with names like Kara Goucher and Shalane Flanagan. In my comic books the heros wear Dri-FIT racing gear, they don’t need pseudo-names, Dathan Ritzenhein and Meb Keflezighi will do just fine. The truth is in ‘normal people’ land that’s more than enough to fly under the radar mostly unnoticed. The pap’s are too tied up stalking Honey Boo Boo. 😉

Running princesses are sweet but an epic force on the track. Steely eyed mid-repeat, tough as nails. So don’t confuse sweet and nice with damsel in distress, heck, if a runner dude is tanking mid-run they best keep looking over their shoulder because they very will may be passed.

Perhaps the power of the running superheros isn’t so much super strength, super endurance, or super speed, it’s just guts, grit, and the ability to push themselves harder than any sane person would. MENTAL strength is something you can’t teach, or quite explain, that’s what makes it all the more alluring and admirable.

So little girls, don’t dress up in doily dresses, but opt for Tempo Shorts…trust me, there are plenty of fun colors. Little boys, you don’t need to steal your sister’s tights and find a cape, micro-fiber running tights will do just fine.

Runners are, by definition alone, super heros and the most kick@$$ kinds of princesses.

1) When you were a kid, what was your favorite kind of character?
I won’t lie, I was obsessed with wanting to be a mermaid. Ariel and that movie Splash were on constant repeat.

2) What is a way you’ve felt like a kind of super hero in your running experience or journey?

3) What do you feel is a kind of super power that is possessed by runners?
I’ll say the people with the most mental tenacity win in my book.

Running and the Science of Nutrient Timing: WHEN to eat to best fuel your performance

Posted on March 19, 2013 by Cait — 23 Comments ↓

Running and fueling the machine. In my recent article for Competitor: Nutrient Timing is Everything for Runners I really like the bottom line to everything my go-to sports nutritionist Krista Austin Ph.D. professes, “Food is a performance tool.” She teaches her runners to “eat to perform.”
runner eating
Runners are human, of course, but at the same time it would be naive to ignore the fact that what goes into your body has a direct correlation to what it is able to give you right back. Thankfully, I also like that quick on the heels of that Austin also says, “However, my policy is that at least once a week every athlete should have a ‘fun meal’ where they don’t think too much about what they are eating and just enjoy fun food-the key is to watch the portion sizes.”

It’s all a matter of balance. Just as runners and training, balance, consistency, and the law of averages often wins out with their nutrition. That isn’t to say there aren’t times when the PERFORMANCE style of eating trumps the LIFE side of eating.

Case in point, the night before a race or the actual day of your race. Here is where, if you’re a runner, ignoring your taste buds and eating with your HEAD is the wiser choice. Austin has explained to me that Dathan Ritzenhein’s top pre-race meal of choice is plain, white rice. Is it his favorite tasting meal? Probably not, but you know what? He knows it sits well in his stomach, it will give him the non-complex carbs he’ll want in his system right before the gun goes off, and he knows it works. His race, his PERFORMANCE, is the priority. Taste buds can wait until after the finish line.

I’ve done numerous articles on runners and nutrition, a few you can revisit:

How Runners Can Stuff Their Faces at Restaurants But Still Perform at Their Best

Runners Going Gluten-Free: Could making the switch work for you?

The Post-Run Refuel: Why 30 minutes is your winning window of opportunity

Dreaming of cake works as motivation…just wait until after the finish line! 😉

My latest one is on nutrient TIMING and just how crucial WHEN you eat is when tied to your running performance. Read the original article, but here are some more tips I’ve got from talking to Austin:

* Think long term goals AND short term nutrition goals: With nutrient timing there are macro and micro cycles; the macro would be your BIG training goal, think an entire season or build-up for a marathon. Tailor your food choices and nutrition goals for that, but within each multi-week/month macro cycle fit in 3-10 day micro cycles. An example- A macro cycle would be if you’re training for a marathon, a micro cycle IN that would be a week where you’re focusing on building your speed with shorter intervals. For the micro cycle your eating would be different than in your longer/base phase.

* A second recovery window: We’ve all heard that within 30 minutes of finishing your workout you NEED to get protein and carbs back into your system. What I didn’t know was that there is ANOTHER window of time that is particularly important to refuel your stores: just before bed. Aim to get 20-25 grams of protein, preferably in the form of dairy (cottage cheese, milk), with some carbs. It’s been found the muscles will respond to this, and it also aids with sleeping.

* Marathoners and carbs: Yes, we need carbs as runners, but a mistake many marathoners in training can make is just over-doing the carbs. Meb Keflezighi has become more strict with his carb intake as he’s gotten older; he’s moved up in distance but switched some of those carb calories over to fats and protein and they help keep him fuller. He’s a lot more picky about the KINDS of carbs he eats, WHEN he eats them, and WHICH training phase he’s in.

For more information on how to time your eating so that it’s best fueling your running performance check out the article.

Food is fun, one of the BEST perks of being a runner is we have way more entitlement to stuff our faces. BUT there are times when we must stuff our faces with our brains…because in fueling our bodies right we can fuel them to perform at their optimum level. Read as: Run PR’s! 🙂

1) What is something you learned from either this post or from the article? If nothing care to share a tidbit of your own?

2) What is your go-to pre-race meal?

3) What is your go-to post-race meal or ‘fun meal’?

Runners, Racing, and Kicking Butt

Posted on March 17, 2013 by Cait — 14 Comments ↓

For runners the weekends usually mean two things: races and long runs. In honor of the first I’ve brought you a little running cartoon.
runner girl
Okay, okay, I’m not suggesting we all become snarky, “I just kicked your butt” runners…or, well maybe I am. How about I want you all to go out there and kick@$$ but let’s keep the majority of the snarky comments in our heads??

Oh, even better, you can bring all your runner snark here and let it out! 😉

Go, run, kick some butt! 🙂

———-
Racing ultimately comes down to an inward battle, it’s a matter of MENTALLY pushing further than what your body is ‘telling’ you it is capable of. HERE, HERE, and HERE are all posts relating to improving your mental toughness.

More cartoons and my Runner’s Strip comic HERE! 🙂
———-

1) Pick a race distance, and where does the real pain start to set in?
I’ll pick a 5k…that first mile really is deceptively ‘easy’…second mile you start to feel it, then BAM if you were ‘stupid’ that first mile, you REALLY feel it that third. The last .12 then is lost in a fog of, “Where is that darn finish line?!” 😉

2) If you have a race on Saturday, do you come back with a long run on Sunday? Or how do you work a long run in, if you do?
I suggest, depending on how hard the race was, you either do a longer cool-down and make Saturday the double-duty race/long run day. Or if it’s early in the season long run on Sunday after race.

3) What does your running weekend look like?

Running For YOUR Epic

Posted on March 15, 2013 by Cait — 25 Comments ↓

If you’re going to do something, why not make it epic? This quote has been running through my mind lately; 1) I’m working on a pretty exciting project, stay tuned for details and 2) It also has to do with THIS cartoon and the story behind it..sorry, Mo, I stole your word! 😉

But back to the quote, and going for epic. Perhaps I should edit it to say: “If you’re going to do something, why not TRY and make it epic.”
peacock runner
Because the truth of the matter is you very well may not wind up making it all the way to epic. I’m not being pessimistic, just realistic. Some people would argue that quote is setting people up for disappointment, “If I’m never going to run in the Olympics, be the best in the world, or set a World Record, then where is the point in all this training?”

True, most people won’t ever set a National or World Record, they won’t come home with a Gold Medal. But the thing is, I’ll guarantee you that you’ll run and set a Personal Record at some point…probably more.

Insert obligatory eye-roll here. But let me continue. The people who don’t at least TRY for epic really are just afraid to step out of their comfort zone. Their comfort zone is safe, it ensure they won’t really fail, it also ensure they probably really won’t excel…they’ll just be nice, safe, *gasp* mediocre. Now, mediocre is totally OKAY, nothing wrong with it at all. But the thing is, if you’re NOT okay with mediocre, you’re always welcomed to TRY for epic.

Running is awesome because it is a sport where anyone can improve with hard work, grit, determination, and self-motivation. The feelings of PR’s and knowing you pushed yourself to new limits are indescribably self-fulfilling. The feeling of KILLING it in a track workout or race are, in a word, epic.

Why not shoot for epic?

Define epic…it is greatness, it is awesomeness, it is rewarding, it is awes-freaking-tastic. But all of those can be different for different people. You see, epic doesn’t have to be defined as setting a World Record or being a total flop of a failure. YOUR epic may be realizing that you much stronger, faster, fitter, mentally stronger than your ‘mind’ told you that you were.
keep running
Quite honestly, you may wind up short along the way. A goal you don’t hit, eventually you will set your last PR…*single tear*. When you hit the climax, what the heck happens if you DON’T hit what, in your mind, was your ‘epic’?

You would be allowed to be disappointed. But I GUARANTEE you that you’re much higher up on the ‘epic scale’ than when you started. Running and training your @$$ off, you maybe didn’t hit the pinnacle you wanted, but dang-nam-it you improved.

You didn’t sit at mediocre. You TRIED.

If you’re going to do something, give it your all. If you truly want it, believe in it, and you find it rewarding…TRY for epic.

What holds most people back? Ultimately fear. Right behind it a lack of motivation…lol.

But I think fear is the root of it. Fear of the work it would take. Fear of failure. Fear you’re not good enough. Fear you’re not as good as you think you are…aha…that one!

That brings up the question: Would you rather stay at mediocre but live with the assumption that if you DID try then you would be awesome OR go out on a limb and try, then be faced with the reality that you didn’t quite measure up? Going with the first one will keep you in the safety bubble of mediocre.
track runner
Don’t let insecurities, fear, failures, hard work, REALLY hard work [umm, trust me, track workouts need a whole new word for REALLY. HARD. WORK.], and set-backs rob you from trying for YOUR epic.

Be different, test yourself, push yourself, be unique, FIND YOUR epic. Hell, go run. 😉

1) Define what ‘epic’ would be for you? Pick a goal, it doesn’t necessarily have to be running related.

2) Define what falling short of that epic would mean to you?
Sure it sucks, but we CAN cope with sucky.

3) What has been something that’s held you back from getting to your epic, or holding you back from TRYING for your epic?

Universal Awareness for Runners Yelling, “Track”

Posted on March 12, 2013 by Cait — 16 Comments ↓

Find me a track runner who doesn’t have Lane One mindless pedestrian stories and I’ll show you a unicorn who poops gold.

There really needs to be more universal awareness for the word, “Track!” It seems pretty flipping clear to me, no? As it is, when you’re in the middle of a 5 mile tempo, gut-wrenching 400’s, or dare we even THINK about, a race…having to yell anything seems like a burden. We may say, “Track,” but you know we’re all thinking, “Look, A-hole, wise up and move the eff outta my way…I’m busting my @$$ and you’re walking a 15min mile…clear the heck out of LANE ONE!”
runner yelling track
If you knew it wouldn’t ruin your split, you know all runners harbor the fantasy of dropping shoulder and just plowing through the oblivious idiot. For all of us who have fruitlessly, wished, go read Mo’s account of an epic Lane One throw-down. I’m only sorry it messed up the runners’ repeat.

I’m not heartless, okay, there have been days where little kiddies are weaving in and out of Lane One. I’m not anti-child, but I’m also not going to lie and say that when I’m running and already feel like I’m dying, I really don’t want to have to play Chicken with your child. Parents, please, do all us runners a favor and bolster their love of track in Lanes 6-8.

Teenagers who think you’re funny, cackling at us from the infield or on the bleachers ‘kickin’ it’ after school. You’re not funny. But to their credit if they are clear of the inside lanes, by all means go about your business. The world will offer you its slap of reality soon enough. Enjoy thinking you’re the coolest things to ever walk the planet. Or, come down and join us for some fun on the track…you would actually be cool if you helped pace, we’d love you forever!

What it really boils down to is this: I don’t care what language you speak, I don’t care if you worship a deity or the all-mighty Swoosh. You can be purple or polka dot, you can be in love with Cheetos or Pop-Tarts, you can be cool and have an addiction for running or find your sweat elsewhere.

I’m one of the least judgmental people in the world, but when someone yells, “Track,” you better move the he## outta Lane One.

1) What is your worst Lane One horror story?
No joke, middle of a 3k race and I was almost impaled by a javelin…girl was holding it and decided to stroll across the turn just as I was rounding it.

2) Do you typically yell something out if you need your path cleared when running, or not?

3) What is another rule of the track that needs to be better enforced or the masses need some schooling on?

Running and Bunhuggers: All part of sensing it’s GO time

Posted on March 9, 2013 by Cait — 35 Comments ↓

Runners, when the bunhuggers come out it’s GO time.

People not in the sport of track and field, or non-runners, have asked, “Why in the world would you want to run in those?!” I’ve heard little kids giggle and balk, “She’s running in her underwear!” Even body conscious women have sneered, “Oh, look at her, who does she think she is?”
running in bunhuggers
Let me explain…bunhuggers are not

* worn in an attempt to steal your boyfriend.
* meant as some kind of ‘in your face, runners are HOT and we know it!’ statement.
* stupid.

Think of running in bunhuggers like running in your spikes.

You know the second you slip your feet into those spikes, lace them up, and head to the line it’s RACE TIME.

I’m sure there is the element of wind resistance, and yes, bunhuggers are comfortable. Trust me, there is nothing worse than racing with a wedgie…or running with shorts that bunch up in the front. My friend used to have a term for ‘those’ kinds of shorts, “My thighs eat them.”

A large part of racing is mental. Part of distinguishing a RACE from any other run is making it FEEL different. The energy, the electric buzz of the spectators, the nerves, the excitement, the competition, all of the feed into the race atmosphere.

Running your warm-up is just as much physically preparing your body as it is MENTALLY prepping you, getting into the zone.

When you kick off those bulky training shoes and slip on the spikes, you FEEL the race coming. As you strip off those sweats to the bunhuggers underneath you SENSE it…it’s almost here.

Run that final stride, poised and set at the line, it’s ON!

“Look good, feel good.”

1) Female runners, what do you prefer to race in? Do you run in bunhuggers, or have you?

2) On the other side, have you made fun of the bunhuggers? Do you find them silly, and not understand why people would run in them?

3) Guys, men get teased for the shorty running shorts in general. What style shorts do you prefer? What do you say to the dorks who make fun of running shorts?

4) What is a part of your ‘process’ in amping up for a race? What is something that makes you FEEL like it’s race time?

Runners and Fatigue: There’s a difference between hard training and digging into a hole

Posted on March 6, 2013 by Cait — 12 Comments ↓

After my last post I think we can all agree that distance runners have a warped perception of tired. Muting out the body constantly telling us, “I’m tired, can we stop please?” is all part of our sport.

Run-Up Grill…not serving any wussies. 😉

However, that post also touched on the ‘sanity line’ and runners sometimes having trouble tuning BACK into what feeling tired really means. There’s a difference between telling your brain to ‘shove it’ in order to push through that last interval and then straight up digging yourself into a hole and being a glutton for punishment. Runners often see admitting they are tired as a sign of weakness.

Like so many other things in our sport, here is yet another ambiguity. Pushing enough, but not too much. Training hard, but not too hard. Doing more, but no, not too much. Sheesh, there seems to never be a definite answer! The truth is, it usually comes down to knowing yourself. With running, a whole part of the process is learning to read your body, be more attuned to it than the average person. To sense things others wouldn’t even notice. To a runner, a slight 5% dip in how you feel is magnified because that may translate to a 40% drop in how you feel when you’re actually running, when you want to PERFORM. We’ll call it the performance magnification…to the Average Joe, they may not notice that 5% because they’re not doing anything to where that margin is an issue.

BAD TIRED

* Prolonged: If you’re in training mode, it’s fairly normal that your ‘easy days’ sort of sound like a contradiction. Or at least the recovery runs after a hard workout. Still, you go easy and come back strong a few days later. However, if you notice a prolonged period where every run is feeling like you’re pulling bricks something may need to be adjusted. A few days, normal, a few weeks…not.

* No Snap: If your hard workouts FEEL harder than the paces should, and you’re running above the effort level for multiple workouts/weeks then something may be off. Here it is often a case of going too hard on your recovery days and not being fully recovered for the days that matter: the HARD workouts.

* All Day: Running fatigue is usually normal, but there is that kind of bone marrow deep tired that lasts all day and is more intense, obviously, when you try to run, that indicates a problem. Here it’s smart to get some blood work and check to see if there is a medical issue, like low iron.

Be a runner down to the bones, but don’t be bone-tired.

DIG OUT OF THE HOLE

It usually takes us stubborn runners LONGER than it should to finally admit that we are tired and something needs to be adjusted. It’s always easier to catch it earlier, because it makes turning things around a LOT easier.

* Easy Days: Make sure those easy days you REALLY make the effort easy, forget about the pace and run for effort. It’s honestly amazing how many people could turn things around or be better if they took their easy days easier…that allows you to get more quality out of your hard sessions and THOSE are the workouts that count come race day.

* Regroup: If you’re flat for workouts, take a few more recovery days. A small step back early isn’t going to cost you that much if it gets you out of the hole and back on track.

* A Break: The deeper the hole, sometimes a full break is necessary. A break should come after a really hard, intense season or race anyways. If you peaked much too early in the season and you’re nose-diving, maybe just take a break and regroup for next season. HERE is my article on peaking too early.

* A Mini-Break: Sometimes you don’t need a full two weeks or ten days off, mini-breaks lasting a few days, or at least a few days of just really backing off or cutting your mileage and intensity, can work some mini-miracles.

So yea, runners can ignore tired like it’s nobody’s business. I’m proud of that, you should be too…because we can push past what most people would even bother with. It makes us better runners, and better people, I believe too.

However, as with all the other running ambiguities, it’s important to be able to tune BACK into tired when you’re, well, too tired…lol.

1) Finish the sentence: I’m proud that as a runner I can push through pain and fatigue, one time I pushed through to a new level of pain was…

2) Finish this sentence: I’m proud that as a runner, I realized it was NOT mentally weak to admit I was tired and I…

3) What is one way you have dug out of the hole of fatigue?

Distance Runners and a Skewed Tired Scale

Posted on March 2, 2013 by Cait — 26 Comments ↓

It’s probably runner elitist of me, but if someone’s not a distance runner and they complain about being tired, I can’t help the little voice in my brain from thinking, “Okay, they’re tired gauge isn’t the same.” Oops, my snark is showing.
tired runner
Distance runners, I’ll open the umbrella to include endurance athletes in general, work off of a totally different spectrum of tired. In fact, we really don’t even START the barometer below a 5 or 6, we’re living in a constant, chronic tired level where ‘normal’ people would probably complain.

Above that, a 7 or 8 would encompass darn near every easy run. Those post-hard workout ‘easy’ runs would certainly kiss the 10 realm.

We run into an issue at 10; you see, there isn’t a real definite cap to this barometer for a few reasons: 1) breaking through to a new level of mental toughness always redefines what we constitute as tired/painful/hard, “Holy crap, now THAT was certainly the most pain I’ve endured…I didn’t know I could go that far!”

2) Distance runners have learned to cope with our sport by lying to ourselves. Part of those lies include denial: “I’m really not THAT tired”, “I can totally keep going, this is nothing”.

After 10 we sort of force ourselves numb…we don’t quantify the tired scale to numbers because it’s best to just NOT know, am I right? Distance runners bury their heads in the sand in terms of ‘tired’…of course we know we’re tired, but more often than not we aren’t going to complain unless it’s at a near cataclysmic level…or we finish the workout. 😛

Is this the most healthy thing? No, not always, there is that fine line between being tough enough to workout and race, and then being SMART enough to recognize it’s best to actually cut yourself a break. Of course there is always that line.

However, even with that ‘smart line’ intact, distance runners need to have a different tired/pain scale than ‘normal people’. If not, well, we’d all just be picking daisies out there and wiping the Cheetos residue from our fingers. 😉 [It should be noted that both are perfectly fine, AFTER you’ve gotten your run in for the day…lol.]

——–
Don’t let the ‘wrong’ kind of tired lag on too long, low iron is one instance of the WRONG TIRED level: Get checked if you think something’s off.

A coach is also there to talk ‘smart sense’ into runners if they notice over-fatigue.

Don’t discount the easy days either…make a marked difference between your hard workout days and recovery runs. If not, you won’t be recovering and then you won’t be able to get the quality you want from those hard workouts!
——–

1) Let your runner snark show, in terms of a tired scale and pain tolerance, do you think runners have a different one than ‘normal’ people?

2) What do you rate the ‘base’ level tired is for just the regular recovery and easy runs? To a certain point we’re always working, at least to discomfort, no?

3) How do you then decide between ‘push through it’ tired and ‘I need to back off/reassess’ tired?
It usually comes with learning lessons the hard way, sadly. That said, everyone is different and a whole part of running is learning to read your own body; you take advice from others and then it does take some tweaking to figure out how it best applies to yourself.

Running the Paces: Fitting the effort level to the numbers

Posted on February 27, 2013 by Cait — 15 Comments ↓

I’m a runner who hates excuses. If it’s windy I’d rather run into the wind instead of having it ‘help’ me to a faster time. Sort of like if there is going to be a kind of handicap I’d rather have it work against me.
tornado runner
My line of reasoning is that I’d rather be EXTRA sure I could hit the splits myself. It’s silly logic, but hey, I won’t judge your running quirks so don’t be judging mine. 😉 The thing is, EVEN though I hate giving myself ~~excuses~~ the benefit of the doubt, there comes a point where it’s NOT an excuse, it’s legit.

Wind. Heat. Frigidity. Altitude. These are legitimate factors that effect your running, racing, and performance. A 6 minute mile at sea level is NOT the same as running it at 6,000 feet, in a windstorm, and with sweltering temperatures. It’s just not.

Figuring out what your paces are equivalent to under ‘perfect’ conditions is tricky; lots of math and equations involved. But for training and race planning it’s important to KNOW those numbers.

Brain Rosetti, who founded The Run S.M.A.R.T. Project, recently told me about a new pace calculator their team just launched, The Jack Daniels’ Running Calculator (Daniels is one of the expert coaches offering private training services through The Run S.M.A.R.T Project; the others are all National and World class runners themselves with too many titles to prattle off here!).

The calculator is free for anyone to use, and doesn’t require any more math than a pre-K’er. You can take one of your recent race results, plug it in and the calculator it will give you some training paces to shoot for.

Additionally, you can have it factor in temperatures, wind speeds, and altitude. That way you are able to get a solid idea of the ‘effort level’ versus the actual black and white numbers. Because in going back to running that mile run at 6,000 feet in our windstorm the numbers aren’t the full story.

Now any logical “I want to run faster” runner will get smart and put in the goal race time and let it spit out the training paces. Works well for motivation as much as planning ahead.

I do have to say that I’m of the thinking that if you’re seriously training for something it is SO beneficial to have a coach to give you a kind of training program. Mostly because as a runner it’s far ‘easier’ to just run and take the mind out of it as much as possible. Let a someone else (a coach) do all the thinking; a runner who OVER-THINKS their training is headed for a disaster. Not everyone has a coach, so at least with tools like these more runners are able to wisely go forward in mapping out their own training.

That said, runners can be numbers nerds, and it’s fun to play around with. Did you know that if you wanted to run a 30 minute 10k you should be doing mile repeats at 4:55. If you’re at altitude that could affect it by 5.5 seconds/mile. 😉

1) Excuses are one thing but LEGIT factors are another. How do you try to factor the elements into your training? (ie: wind, temp, etc.)

2) Do you use any kind of race or training calculators?

3) Do you have a coach? If you’re training for something how do you come up with your training plans?

Runners Saying it Like it Is: “PR’s are fun”

Posted on February 25, 2013 by Cait — 18 Comments ↓

After running the Rock ‘n’ Roll Half-Marathon in New Orleans Shalane Flanagan Tweeted something all runners can relate to, “Running PR’s are fun!” Succinct. To. The. Point.
kara goucher and shalane flanagan
Flanagan followed it up in THIS Competitor recap with, “I think anytime you can run a personal best, that’s something special. You can’t take those for granted.” So true. The thing with PR’s is they become quite rare. Elusive like that unicorn that poops out gold bricks. 😉

They are especially rare as you improve and get faster. Sure, you start running and the improvement curve is such that you could lop minutes off of successive 5k’s like it’s nothing. That incentive to keep stepping up your game becomes more enticing, you cross the line fresh off of your last PR and think, “Okay, bring on the NEXT!”

From there the PR’s probably still come, but they are in shorter intervals, no longer full minutes. They become more hard fought, you must start reaching into new levels of mental toughness. You get more calloused as a runner both physically and mentally.
peacock runner
It then gets to the point where those PR’s stick for awhile. Weeks, months, years maybe. Funny how much HARDER you must FIGHT and PUSH for single seconds. Tenths of a second. Hundredths even. Regardless of level, elite or mortals of the world, everyone is fighting for those dang seconds.

Time hangs in the balance, the irony is that as you watch the clock tick down as you barrel for the home stretch on the cusp of what could be a new PR, the seconds FEEL excruciatingly long but they seem to TICK OFF much too quickly. Will you make it to the line in time?

Then there are the days when you know you are a much better runner than the ‘old’ you. It’s been awhile since you dusted off that PR and it’s high time you smash the crap out of it. THOSE races are da## exciting. Running for the finish line you don’t even have to plead or bargain with the clock. You just know.

Those days are what make all that hard stuff worth it. Though the rewards can be tauntingly bittersweet as they don’t come often enough for the distance runner. But it’s okay, you can’t feel too bad for us, because if you STICK IT OUT and then greet that next PR the feeling makes it totally worth it.

Because like Flanagan summed up in a mere four words is quite true and need no further elaboration, “Running PR’s is fun!”

1) Finish the sentence: Running PR’s is…

2) Try to quantify the level of exertion one second of a PR takes to a long-standing PR compared to the minutes you can lop off when you first start.
Hmmm, because I’m the famous mathematician that I am I will say it’s five times the cubed rate of seven factorial.

3) Is there a distance you haven’t raced yet and looking forward to setting a newbie PR streak?