‘Running’ Articles at , Page 45

Bookends – Great Reads for Runners

Posted on December 22, 2011 by Cait — 9 Comments ↓

How often do I find myself saying, “I could talk about/read about running all day”? Probably too much…add to that now there are blogs and websites and maybe I should hang a sign on my door reading, ‘If I’m not seen for at least 48 hours, please come in and pry my glassy-eyed bum from the perma-seat’. Check that, I know I’d at least come out to workout…

Art: Cait Chock

Regardless, physiology and sports science fascinates me. Running news and runner yammerings do too; I know I’ve read some awesome running related books but I also know there are ones I’ve missed. I came across a post from Jay Johnsons’s site and have some new ones to add to my to-read list.

Some of the books I have read:

* Once a Runner – Jay listed this one, but really, if you’re a runner you have to read it. I’m sorry, during that epic 400 workout, who didn’t stop and wish they had the kahonas Quenton did? This one is a fiction work but very well done and with enough runner ‘inside’ jokes to make for a shelf book. (one you keep around even after you’ve read it)

* Running With the Buffalos – Again on the other list, and Jay is actually in it. The author followed the 1998 University of Colorado team in their prep and racing of NCAA Cross Country Championships; it is another one I think nearly all runners should read and can relate to. It is a motivational read and will make you want to get out there and grind out some serious long runs or repeats. Among the team that year was Adam Goucher.

* Fast Track – Training and Nutrition Secrets from Suzy Favor Hamilton – This was a very informative but interesting read too; it’s not just a dull ‘do this or that’ sort of book. Being a female runner and of course a Suzy fan it was especially fun to read her insights and as always what goes through a top competitor’s mind.

* Duel in the Sun – I was on the fence for how much I liked those this one, but here is why: I know Alberto Salazar and adore him and I thought that the book played him out to be the obvious bad guy in the duel. For commercial reasons I understand it’s best to have a hero and villain; now I also think the world of Dick Beardsely and know he makes for an excellent guy to root for, so I see we can’t have two heros I suppose. Still, the obvious slights on Salazar got to me; that aside the race itself is epic and crazy to read about.

* Staying the Course – A Runner’s Toughest Race – This one is an autobiography by Dick Beardsely and I encourage everyone to read it, even if you’re not a runner actually. Dick overcame so many obstacles in his life (freak accidents, drug addiction) and today is a motivational speaker…and one of the most postive people I know.

* Alberto Salazar’s Guide to Road Racing – As the title implies this one is another training book and good read. Lots of information not only about racing but core and strength work, and then of course the running tips and workouts not just from an athlete’s perspective but coach as well.

* Kara Goucher’s Running for Women – Awesome book and resource for women athletes; true you may think I’m biased because I’m friends with her but even with that aside I promise the book is worth it. Like Suzy’s book it is engaging in that it includes personal anecdotes and insights with the information.

* Running the Edge – This is a newer one from Adam Goucher and Tim Cantalano. I have yet to read it but plan to, it is not only about running but how running has impacted other areas of their lives and made them stronger, better people for it.

Good heavens, I planned on making this a short post because I’m pinched on time, but obviously that plan derailed. I’ve got others, but I think these are the top reads and they stick out in my mind the most. I hope you are all surviving the whirlwind of the holiday season! 🙂

1) Best running related book you’ve read or want to read?

2) Best book period you have read or the one you are currently reading?

3) Which of Santa’s reindeer are the fastest? Which one is the slowest, slacking off, and obviously making the rest of them pull extra dead weight??
I know the answers and they will be forthcoming…

A Self-Massage Survival Guide and Running Through the Holidays

Posted on December 21, 2011 by Cait — 8 Comments ↓

You know how I was saying not too long ago about runners being in a sort of constant pain from one thing or the other? If you want a real laugh take a gander at this chick the first few steps of any run…*snap crackle pop*…it isn’t coming from the Rice Krispies.

I know I’m not the only one, it’s hilarious (in that kind of way) because regular runners and even record holders/world-class athletes alike have a tendency to look a bit like Frankenstein before they are ‘warmed’ into that run.

On-going ‘this’ or ‘that’ is part of the game but we’re riding a thin line between a flare-up or actual injury that can keep us out. Staving them off is a bit of a battle, if you will, and the best way to win is to stay ahead of the enemies…err, game…err, injuries…hehe.

In case you missed it in the January issue of Running Times I did a piece on one of the ways to stay ahead of the game and be proactive in staying healthy: self-massage. The article is now available online if you want to read it HERE: Self-Massage the Runner’s Way. We all can’t afford regular massage therapy sessions, although I think we’d all LOVE it, but we have two hands and can put them to our own use. 🙂

Moving on because there has been to much bummer injury talk as of late and there are much more happy and exciting things to talk about! Namely the holidays…no matter what you celebrate I believe there is at least one thing or the next that warrants holiday status.

I’m really lucky that this year I don’t have to do any of the big travel…I’m not a fan of being stuck waiting in lines for eternity at the airports or having a security check that’s just short of a body cavity search. I jest, never had that pleasure, but for whatever reason I’m ALWAYS that unlucky ‘random’ person who has to go to that separate line and have the personnel unstuff and sift through my bags. I’m beginning to think I must look like some kind of creeper??

Though when it comes to the holiday season and traveling, people admit to sometimes finding it hard to squeeze in their workouts. Personally it would take something short of the apocalypse for me to not do something, but then again I’m also rather lucky to have a family who are pretty understanding as they too are fitness enthusiasts.

But if you’re NOT from a family of runners or have some extended travel plans, here are a few tips and tidbits:

* Get up early. Or that can be even earlIER if you’ve got a morning flight. I’ve gotten in runs outside of 4am to hop a flight…it’s not easy prying yourself out of bed but at least you don’t have to stop for any street traffic. The getting up an hour earlier also comes in handy if you’re staying with people who don’t ‘get’ the whole running thing; if you’re up and done before it ever effects them or impede plans that can win you some brownie points or at least help you avoid getting any flack.

* Adjust. If you’ve only got a short window of time and you want a quickie interval workout, then opt for faster farleks. You can bust out a good speedy 8-10×200 meters (200 recovery jog), with a short warm-up and cool-down in that time and it’s a quality workout that you could use anyways.

* Rope in others. A big thing with the holidays is of course family and friends, do the whole ‘kill two birds’ thing and go out for a run…everyone likes some company, right?

In the end though, if you end up needing to scale back your workouts or *gasp* miss a few days it’s not the end of the world. Consistency over the long haul is the most important thing, and there ARE bigger things in life than running in the end…hmmm, even if that was a bit painful to admit. 😉 jk.

1) Do you do much self-massage? Are you lucky enough to go in and get actual massages from others?

2) Best thing you do to be proactive on the running injuries front?

3) Are you traveling for the holidays? How do you get in your runs or do you take planned time off?

“The First Run is the Sweetest”…or Something Like That, Cat

Posted on December 20, 2011 by Cait — 13 Comments ↓

Six weeks and the legs went to the dogs! 🙂 I know I haven’t talked about it too much on here (I’ve been playing by the ‘if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all’ rules a bit.) but I injured my foot awhile back and was thus held captive to the cross-training.

Still working to find out exactly what was/is wrong with my foot but it stems from head-diving into all outdoor running when I’d been doing solely treadmill running for over a year. My case is a little odd, the reason I was a gerbil on the ‘mill for so long was because I was a little iffy running on the roads after getting hit by the car.

I pretty much chop-shopped my own little rehab program to even get back to being able to walk and then run (the doctors hadn’t seen/worked on a case like mine before) but I knew where I was and I knew where I wanted to end up…so just head in that direction! Anyways, I went to the treadmill on my road back to running but after so long a runnerchick needs to get some fresh air!

Opps a-daisies! (Art: Cait Chock)

I got a little overzealous, I admit, pressed my luck a bit and my foot had something to say about it. Lesson learned, and learn from my mistakes…do as I say, not as I do, right? Running on the treadmill is a lot more ‘forgiving’ than running on pavement so if you’re making a transition you need to do it gradually.

Anyways, six weeks of burning a hole in the elliptical and let me tell you: BAM that first run back (on the treadmill) was a bit of a sucker-punch to the face. That old saying of ‘use it or lose it’ applies to running, my friends. It’s just funny because it takes awhile for the mind to catch up; mentally you’re used to a certain pace feeling ‘easy’ or at one level of effort but then you need to check yourself when you’re coming back from a running break…even if you’ve been diligent with the cross-training, there is still going to be some work getting back into the swing of things with running.

But don’t get depressed, because the GOOD news is: muscle memory. While your legs will feel like foreign objects at first and be sore, they snap back relatively quickly and you’ll be surprised with the progress. (I am reminding myself of this very thing, we’ve all been through it before) It’s just a matter of mustering up, getting through the transition, and remaining positive…your legs will eventually be returned to you.

Yes it sucks, you don't have to do a dance, BUT slap a smile on a fake it 'til you make! (you don't even have to smile but remind yourself you'll get through it...mmk!) Art: Cait Chock

Even in the short time I’ve been getting some easy runs under my belt I’ve seen improvement…this morning I did a short/easy fartlek on the treadmill (I’m going to heed my own advice and start back on the treadmill for now) and while I was hardly on world record pace I was able to get the old legs moving and the endorphins rolling…and even better news I didn’t fly off the back end of the treadmill. 🙂

In closing, I’m hardly out of the woods yet, I’m still supplementing with cross-training but my message is simple: injuries bite the big one, but they are a necessary evil as I’ve said a million times. My biggest advice though is to allow some venting (keep it minimal and give yourself a time limit of wallowing), but stay positive and keep plugging away…and then do your cross-training. I tell you, if I had done nothing for six weeks the legs would have been ravaged by the dogs and not just bitten. 😉

1) Why is it that the first few miles back running after an injury are both euphoric but excruciating?
Happiness is from the mental relief, the pain are your legs revolting…that’s why I was grimacing like that, it was a smile on the inside. 🙂

2) Your go-to cross-training and how do you keep it interesting/effective?
Elliptical and intervals.

3) When on the final few intervals of a workout, what is your mental trick to keep on plowing through to the end?
Tell myself I’ve only got one more, break down the interval in my mind and think ‘only 30 seconds more’, and pick a point ahead of me and zone in on nothing else.

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?

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. 😛

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?

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?