‘Running’ Articles at , Page 46

What to do After You Cross That Finish Line (If Your Lunch Comes Up, Try to Miss Your Shoes)

Posted on December 5, 2011 by Cait — 17 Comments ↓

So I had the fine pleasure of watching one of my friends finish her first marathon this morning…gotta love that agony/excited to be almost done/thanks for cheering for me/oh lord I want to be done look that she gave down that final stretch. 🙂

Bam, finish line.

Her choice of race fuel, was our sugary little friends. 🙂

It made me think about what you do after you cross that line. It was interesting to watch what different people did today: hunch over and almost…oh, there it comes. Dazed and confused sort of try to meander the finish chute until a race official comes and guides them so they don’t run into the fence. Shouts of excitement and well-founded pride. Many came to a dead-halt and after 26.2 miles I don’t blame them.

While every race and every distance of course offers its own challenges (speed vs. endurance, hills vs. track, etc.) there are some general things that we should all keep in mind after you cross that line or break that finishing tape.

Smile for the camera...people are watching. 😉

* Collect yourself and be a good sport: this might sound kind of ‘Hallmarky’ but it’s very true; whether you are a winner or anywhere else, people respect a good sport. If you win and are still unhappy with the time, put on a fake smile and congratulate the other finishers. If you put up an obvious stink you insult your competition…in front of people, even if your race was stinky, at least be considerate…then you can rage away once you get some privacy.

* Workout: say what? This may sound kind of crazy but hear me out. Depending on where the race was in relation to your season, how long it was, and some other factors you could actually jump on a prime time to increase your fitness by going right into a workout after you cross the finish line. When I was training with the Nike Oregon Project, this is something Alberto Salazar is known for in training his athletes. There are a few reasons; one, physiologically after a race there are a TON of hormones coursing through your system and it’s at this elevated time that it is found you can get more benefit working out in this window than a day you do just a ‘normal workout’. Two, if the race was only a 5k, most of our workouts would have worked out to be more volume. Three, if you’re waiting to peak for a race much later in the season, you would benefit from getting in a more volume workout. Finally, I think there is a huge mental benefit too…workout out when you’re already tired proves you can do more than you think. The last thing I’ll say, and it ties into the endorphins and hormones after a race, you will actually feel a LOT better than you think in that workout. So jog an easy mile or so and then do your mini-workout (ex: 3 or 4 x 800) Tip though: in your race, don’t even think about having a workout after or that you still have more. That will just hold yourself back, so still go out there and race.

* Cool-down: okay, I’ll grant those marathon finishers a free pass on this one for the most part…BUT after any other race you DO NOT want to go from an all-out effort to zilch. All that lactic acid that built up will just sit and stew in your muscles; as counterintuitive as it sounds running, no matter how unappealing it sounds, is the BEST thing you can do to recover.

* Chow down – refuel and rehydrate: there is a crucial 30 minute window of time that you NEED to get food back into your depleted muscles. Think a combo of protein and carbs (a bar would work as it’s easy and fast, but you could do some turkey and a bagel…etc) and make it your first priority once you are done running. I’m blanking on the exact percentage here, but it’s somewhere around a 60% drop in muscle recovery if you wait until after that 30 minutes…no good.

* Ice/Massage/Stretch: if you did a really hard effort and have access to ice right after that may be worth a grimace-worthy bath. And as always, treating your body right and staving off an injury is an ongoing kind of upkeep in our sport. Be smart, don’t neglect the ‘little’ things and you’ll be far better off in the long run.

The last thing I want to say which is also very important: chuck self-consciousnees OUT THE DOOR!! Now, I did make some wise-cracks about people in the finishing chute, but I make fun of myself too. I have never had a good running shot, and I joke about it, because I really don’t care. Running is tough stuff, you don’t need to look pretty. So if you cross the line with a loogie stuck to your cheek, have dried salt all over, and your mouth is twisted into a wry look of disgust or pain…who the heck cares? I’ve been there, and so has everyone else. Wear that pain proud, and be proud of yourself. 🙂

1) Worst mistake you’ve made after finishing a race?
Probably the cool-down, I was young and didn’t want to run another step…I paid for it in soreness later.

2) Best tip you have for after a race?

3) Anyone race this weekend and care to brag on themselves?

City of Sin Forecasts Flocks of Runners With Un-sinly Missions

Posted on December 2, 2011 by Cait — 7 Comments ↓

All the cool kids are doing it. The marathon.

But we've established I'm FAR from cool already...

I was on the fence about writing one, and my reason is this: No I have not run a marathon *horrified gasps* but I still think of myself as a runner. The marathon has grown in popularity an insane amount in the recent years; it happens, the mile used to be the lovechild event but now it’s the 26.2’er.

Yet for as long as I can remember being a runner, anytime anyone see’s me out running or hears that I like to run I get this, “Do you run marathons?” When I answer no I can see their looks of shock…then disappointment…then pity, “Oh, poor girl, she thinks she’s a runner.”

Do not get me wrong, I would love to run a marathon one day, I haven’t yet for a few reasons but I do want to eventually. I do have the name One-speed Chock for a reason and I love long runs…so I’m sure it’ll happen. I have a tremendous amount of respect for the event, but I also have a tremendous amount of respect for the other events: would you walk up to the World Record holder in the mile, ask them if they have run a marathon, and then deem them an unworthy runner and give them that ‘pity’ look? 😉

Regardless of the reason, I do love seeing a mounting passion in people for running and if it takes the marathon to do it…godspeed! I think it’s just funny sometimes. THAT said…because that it’s an Olympic year fast approaching I wanted to do a quickie post on this.

Turns out that it won’t be hung-over bachelors, bachelorettes, or all the people in the middle wandering the streets of Las Vegas this weekend. Well, there probably will be those too, but the city of sin is being taken over by runners too! There are two big marathons this weekend, the first is the Rock n’ Roll Marathon in Vegas as well as the California International Marathon (CIM) in the Sacramento area. What do the two have in common?

They’re both faster courses AND the last ditch effort for anyone hoping to make an Olympic Marathon Trials Qualifying time. The trials will be in Houston, TX in January…ahhh, so the bar has been set, and I do know there are plenty of men and women lining up with some lofty goals and dreams.

Yet even if you’re not with Olympic Trials aspirations, best of luck to anyone who is running in either those marathons, and any other for that matter. My earlier ramble was of course no love lost on runners who ARE marathoners, more just poking fun at the mass public who lump all runners into a single category. 🙂 Mostly, just a teenie vent at the people who do offer up that pity look when they hear the phrase, “Yes, I’m a runner…but no, I’m not a marathoner.” 😉

If your feet are torn up from miles, you stank of sweat, and you know what a fartlek is you are a runner…and one day I’ll join the marathon club…

1) Do you know ‘that’ look I’m talking about, whether you do run marathons or not? Let’s get both perspectives!

2) Have you run a marathon or what is you choice event?

3) Do you know anyone running in either marathon this weekend? Are YOU running them? Any of them going for the time standard?
Yes I do some some people…gooooood luck! 🙂

4) You’re a runner if…

Redlining and the All Important ‘E’

Posted on November 29, 2011 by Cait — 18 Comments ↓

Warning: you are approaching empty.

This post is inspired by two things, so bear with me. The first is this hilarious picture from SkinnyRunner’s blog…who amongst us hasn’t played chicken with that empty gas alert gauge on our car? (okay Seinfeld fans smile at the flashback to Kramer here)

Is it just me or does it constantly seem like I’m trying to one-up the empty gauge. With gas, part of it is because I cringe as I whip out the debit card…it just seems like with gas I don’t get an actual, physical return. Yes, it gets me to where I need to be, but what do I actually GET…it feels like wasted money.

We play chicken with the E in other areas of our life too. Just how much can I accomplish in this hour…I work best under pressure, so come the 11th hour and it’s crunch time you better watch me churn things out like a tornado. (little tip here: I know this about myself, so I try and ‘trick’ myself by setting a pre-deadline deadline…I’m anal about having something important done early)

With running, there are TONS of E’s…but here is where it’s a bit odd. Some of these E’s you need to avoid and others you need to kind of embrace and play around with. An obvious E is fuel, this is one you don’t want to play chicken with…we’ve all made the mistake of mistiming our eating (or making a really bad food choice too soon before a run…those curly, cheese and bean fries don’t taste too good the second time, no?) and it doesn’t feel too good to bonk.

Probably another not so smart food choice...

Injuries could count as E’s to avoid…especially if you sense one coming. Danger, Will, Robinson…abort. We feel that pull, get the sinking ping in our gut and know, “Uh-oh…I pushed it a little too far, shoulda been smart. Hope this one isn’t too bad.”

But here is an E that we need to always be working towards getting more comfortable with. This is where I tie into the second thing I read at Jay Johnson’s site: Getting comfortable with being uncomfortable. Pain. That little red alert gauge starts to light up when we feel that pain, that burning, the lactic acid shuffle. Our mind starts telling us to back off and cool it, but here is where we need to play chicken with that blasted little needle and E alert sign.

Redlining it, pushing the envelope just far enough, straddling that line. Sometimes we overshoot and bonk the rest of the workout or race…this is where bad races/workouts can be excellent teaching tools. But practice makes perfect and the more often you callous yourself to that uncomforted the better you get at reading yourself and properly straddling that line, so you finish with a killer workout and get the best out of yourself.

As Coach Jay puts it, you fail sometimes, yes, and end up with a less than ideal workout result. But that’s why we do them, they are practice for the races and you know what they say about all that practice…eventually you’ll get it right. So play chicken with your brain in the pain drain. Running is so mental, and this aspect of mental toughness, grit, is something that we can forever be improving at. Hardening ourselves up ever more, reaching different levels.

1) What other E’s do we have as runners? Is it one to avoid or one we need to play chicken with?

2) We all have moments of coming out the loser in our game of chicken…any good fail moments to share?
So many…I’ll do this one: a 10k track race and my splits were all over the place; not so much in the actual mile times but the laps, one super-fast then slow to compensate, like a fartlek in a race. Not good for the old bod and never got into any kind of rhythm. Well, the mile splits still were looking fine and I was on track for a good PR, so I pushed the fifth mile. Crazy how much difference a single lap can make, night and day. BAM…that last mile was about a minute slower, and that last 0.2 of that 6.2 miles never felt looooooonger.

3) What is a great lesson you took away from a fail moment?
Get into a rhythm dorkette.

Giving Thanks…The Runner’s Edition

Posted on November 28, 2011 by Cait — 6 Comments ↓

I was inspired by this list of 10 Little Things to be Thankful For – Running Edition by Adam Goucher and Tim Catalano. I really liked what they added, but I wanted to add a few more of mine as well. So here are a few more:

* Training partners sans the drama-rama: let’s be frank, girls especially can get a little catty, BUT you find the right kind of people and it can make for an AWESOME training group! Group dynamics can by tricky no matter the gender, so when you find a group that clicks…throw a party and don’t question. Having a partner to share the pacing workload is always a major plus: you’ll usually end up going faster but it will feel eaiser…crazy, I know. Plus, having someone to help pass mile after mile is always great too. 🙂

Well, I might draw the line here...

* Check stereotypes at the door: hack a loogie, pop a squat in a bush, let the gas pass from both ends. It happens when we’re running…we’ve all been there so it’s nice to have people that don’t pass judgement.

* Endorphins. I really don’t think I need to say much more here…hello my name is Cait, I am addicted to these suckers right here.

* Long runs: these and tempo runs where you feel on…priceless…love them. If the rest of the day goes to heck, if I’ve done one of these at least something feels right.

* Bodyglide: ummm, I don’t know about you but especially in the summer months I can get some chaffage where my tank top hits my shoulder…at least this can take the edge off.

* Bunhuggers: Adam and Tim called out that you might feel a little funny admitting that a certain ‘skimpier’ piece of attire might feel good, but any time I bust out the buns (and it’s been a LONG time, I think by now my buns have dust on them) I knew it was GO time…so it’s a mental thing too…like putting on the spikes.

* The ability to run: being healthy made their cut too, but it needs to be reiterated. Any time I start to forget how lucky I am to just be able to do the simple motion, something usually causes me to stop and check myself. Don’t be ‘greedy’ and miffed if you aren’t able to do such-and-such workout, at least you can at least DO a run.

* Pop-tarts and grubbage: what list on this runnerchick’s list would be complete without these babies?

1) What are you thankful for, runner edition?

2) What is something you aren’t thankful for?
Going to have to say that I’m not a fan or random people yelling things at me while I’m running…or throwing things at me.

3) What are you excited for this week?
Not sure yet…time will tell?

‘Twas the Night Before Some High School Cross Meets

Posted on November 26, 2011 by Cait — 5 Comments ↓

Cross-country champs comes but once a year. 🙂 Okay, I won’t go too crazy on that sentiment because technically there are LOTS of things that come but once a year…for instance 9:36 on 11/25/11 only comes but once a year too, right? Haha.

But because there are plenty of seasons wrapping up here I wanted to do a post. Yes, for all the NCAA fans those cross champs happened on Monday. Congrats to all the great college showings there! Living in California, during high school I really associated Thanksgiving weekend with the State Championships; California likes to be all special and be the VERY last state to hold their champs and it is tomorrow.

Along with that, the National High School meets are starting the rounds; there will be Nike Team Cross Champs (NXN) as well as the first few Footlocker Regional Meets. Now, even though I’m FAR graduated and becoming a geriatric, I still get a little excited buzz when I think about all these meets.

Especially in high school, the first time you go to any of these events they seem, in a word: Epic. We’ll just say Nike does know how to do it right and you start to feel a bit like a rock star…and being a sport where you’re not exactly thought of as holding that status, it feels weird. Oh, and did I mention the schwag? Ya, that’s not a bad deal either. 😉

So, to all those athletes and teams prepping for these big races: Good Luck. I’ll just say a few things, some words, and some fond memories:

* CA State Champs: I don’t know what the weather forecast is in Fresno, but my Soph year it was a mud slide, some real cross country. What’s great about cross is times really can get chucked out the window (varying courses and conditions do that) and it’s really competition…vying for the win, getting one more spot higher to help your team’s score. Get gutsy.

* State Champs again: the night before my Junior year my coach said some rather inspiring words that I still remember today — “The first mile is just about keeping the nerves in check…be smart and don’t go out too fast, but get out fast enough that you’re not stuck behind so many people that you then have to weed your way to the front. The second mile is tactical…stay smooth and strong, start thinking about moving up and putting yourself where you want to be. The last mile is heart…how bad do you want this?”

* Footlocker West: my Frosh year this thing blew me away. I was in runner-dorkette awe, I lined up and remember looking to my right and left and seeing harriers that were idols to me. Looking back I’ll just say this to anyone: on the starting line we’re all equals. Sure, there are people that may be faster or in better shape, but on any given day you don’t know what the future holds. Remember you belong on the starting line and race for yourself, race your best.

* Footlocker Nationals: I only got to go once, but think about regionals on steroids. (please people, know I’m joking, there are no actual drugs involved here…haha) Live it up while you’re there, relish those freebies and meeting the pro runners that rock…soak up the experience. Be focused on the race, yes, but don’t be so intense that you ignore how lucky it is you get to be there…so have fun. That is what cross is about too. Have fun (actually I always liked the distractions before because they help limit getting overly nervous), and then when the start gun cracks, go for it. You can be both: a person and a racer…and in that racer role you can be fierce and ‘out for blood’ but after you cross the line you can be the nicest person in the world. The athletes I respect the most are like that…they can kick your @$$, turn around and congratulate you, and cool-down with you all in the span of an hour.

Good luck racers, and even if you too are a ‘geriatric’ far removed from high school or college cross country don’t worry you can still be excited for these guys. PLUS…the USATF rounds are still to come and the road racer warriors are never to be ignored. 🙂

1) What is one of your fond memories from high school or college? If you race for a team it can be about that but it doesn’t have to be.

2) Any words of advice you have for anyone going out for a race?

3) Are you racing this weekend?

Turkey Trots, Charity Bets, and Some Holiday Tomorrow…

Posted on November 24, 2011 by Cait — 11 Comments ↓

Fair warning, this post will be all over the place. It’ll be dishing up a fine slew of sides, sort of it’s own little bloggy feast. In a break from any kind of tradition, we’ll start with the main course.

Gobble, Gobble, turkey wobble. Yes, Thanksgiving is tomorrow for those of us in the States and I’ll break out the festivities early. I’m pretty sure that yes, indeed, the first Thanksgiving involved a mad dash for the bird, racing bibs and all.

Whether you are partaking in a Turkey Trot of some kind or not, there are a slew around and a big one going on in California is the Run to Feed the Hungry in Sacramento. Now, this race is kinda special to me (cue sappy little music…haha) because back looooong ago it was one of the very first 5k road races I ever did. Actually, it was the first one that was more than a dozen or so runners and here is my funny little story:

I had just joined a local running club and had no idea what this whole running thing was outside of you ran until it hurt and you crossed a line. I was fuzzy on the kilometer thing but got that it was a little over 3 miles…pick jaw off the floor, yes, three miles was long back then!

I was young and following the leader, the other girls lined up in the front row and while the Run to Feed the Hungry wasn’t as colossal as it is today it was in the multi-thousands at that point and I wasn’t in any kind of fast-person-deserves-to-be-in-the-front shape, we’ll just say that. Right before the gun went off my mom grabbed my shoulder, white knuckled, “Honey, just so you know you need to get out fast. There are LOTS of people behind you and I’m not kidding if you go down you will get trampled to death.” Thanks, Mom.

BOOM…gun goes off. The good news is I am alive today. Anyways, I remember it was a lot of fun, but not going to lie a major highlight was probably the slew of eats afterwards…I remember pizza.

This year, the Run to Feed the Hungry has a fun little twist. For anyone who doesn’t know, Michael Stember (he grew up around these parts and it has a local appeal here too) is dusting off the racing flats and running for charity. There is a deal though, he is challenged to run a sub-18 minute 5k. Now, if you look at his past PR’s, he is a former Olympian after all, you’d laugh and say he should be able to run it backwards. But, he hasn’t been competitive for awhile, and I can attest that if you don’t use it you lose it. 😉

Anyways, I give him props for both putting himself out there and making a dash for charity. My bet is he does break 18 (I doubt he’d put himself out THAT far without some kind of gauge in his fitness) and the American Indian Model Schools get some charity proceeds.

Speaking of fast runners there are also some big guns racing in a Silicon Valley Turkey Trot; one of them is Dathan Ritzenhein. Trust me he’ll break 18 minutes and it’s one of his first races back from a long line of injuries so GOOD LUCK to him!

Told you this was all over this place, and we’ll end with some mashed taters and pumpkin pie. I am a fan of pumpkin pie, but mostly because I scoop out the top part and save the crust for last…it is the best part and I like it all soggy from the pumpkin stuff. Wow, yum.

On that note, Happy Thanksgiving to all!

1) Are you running in any turkey themed races tomorrow?
No, I’m not but trust me I’ll be putting in my sweat session.

2) Putting yourself out there and broadcasting a goal certainly ups the ante; if others know what you’re shooting for you can’t really take it back. Do you have one you’d like to share? Are you vying for any PR’s?

3) Something you are thankful for?
My family and some cool friends.

Run, Little Graham Crackers, Run!!

Posted on November 22, 2011 by Cait — 8 Comments ↓

If graham crackers had legs, I’m pretty sure they’d put them to good use. 🙂

I did this one as a design for a running club; their ‘torturous’ mentor/leader is the graham in the front with the bite out of his head. 🙂 While it may look like the crew of bitty grahams are in varying degrees of torture, that is NOT the truth…they are learning that running takes some sweat, and maybe a tear or two at times? 😉

Naww, no tears, but certainly a looguie or two, am I right?!

When you have runners as friends there are things that you soon learn to not even bat an eye at, loogies are one of them. What’s more, training partners soon become a unique kind of friend; even if you might not exactly been a ‘perfect’ match in the ‘real world’ you find ways to find a common ground between the hours of miles and the shared gruel-fest during repeats.

Then again some of my very closest friends are runners…wow, big surprise. You see, they just ‘get’ us.

So, to those newbie little graham crackers, hang in there. Trust me, it may seem like you’re putting yourself through voluntary torture (and maybe you are) but through that sweat you will learn so much about yourself. And soon you’ll be embracing that lactic burning and *gasp* sort of start to like it in a perverse little way. 🙂

1) When did running flip from ‘I hate this, why am I doing this?’ to ‘I feel like a monster if I don’t get my run in?’

2) Who would win in a race, graham crackers or teddy grahams? 😉

A Case of Hearts — Heart Rate Monitors, Use Them or Lose Them?

Posted on November 16, 2011 by Cait — 13 Comments ↓

Remember how I said there was a difference between running and training? Watch this video interview with Shalane Flanagan and that’ll be the only further explanation needed. 🙂

That said, I came across an article all about heart rate monitors. Now, coincidently I had a discussion about these contraptions not so long ago and here is what I’ve come to realize: you either love them or hate them.

Ummm, if his heart rate monitor started beeping maybe it could double as a pick-up device too?

Here is what I think about them:
* Pro: they can be a great learning tool if you are new to running. Sometimes people just aren’t familiar with what a tempo or hard effort feels like…they need a slight nudge to ‘eh, pick it up buddy.’ Conversely, people can get overzealous and not go easy enough on their easy days and so a heart rate monitor can help them stay in check.

*Con: they are annoying and I always get strap chaffage. That’s just me; but I don’t like having any extra stuff on me when I run.

*Pro: if you have any medical issues or are again, just starting out, you want to make sure you’re being safe and all that jazz. If a doctor has told you to only go to a certain degree of effort, you best listen up.

*Con: it can suck you in and get you too technical. The same with Garmins, sometimes in our era there is the tendency to just get too obsessed about the details. What was my HR at mile 3.47, why did it spike here, why is it low there? All of those questions can start to cycle through and you end up overanalyzing things. What happened to just go and run?

*Pro: a reality check. If your workouts are suffering and you’re feeling run down, maybe pulling out the HR monitor for an easy run can reveal some things: if you’re running those easy days too hard you’ll find out. Then adjust and re-remember what easy feels like.

So there are pluses and minuses, as with anything. And as with anything maybe it is more a matter of striking a balance or only using the tool in it’s time and place. I think the longer you’ve been at it though you ‘know’ your body well enough and not need it as much. But to each their own!

PS- I will say that if you do check your heart rate first thing in the morning and start to notice that it’s higher than usual, you can sometimes get an early warning that something is awry. (ie: you’re overly tired, stressed, or about to get sick)

1) Have you used heart rate monitors? Do you like them?

2) How do you gauge effort on your runs, if you’re not on a marked trail or track?
My breathing and just perceived effort; if I’m doing a fartlek and just go hard when I’m supposed to. 😛

3) What’s rocking your Tuesday?

A Runner’s Reality — The Ever-Constant Annoying Aches and Pains

Posted on November 12, 2011 by Cait — 14 Comments ↓

Fun fact: virtually anyone who’s been running for at least a few years is always in some kind of pain. Not the everyday grinding it out, ‘that was a tough run’ type of pain, I mean in the sense of they are dealing with something.

For some it’s their achilles, tendonitis here, tight hamstring there, annoying adductor you are forever the pain in my @$$. You see, once you accumulate a certain number of miles your body starts to send you its own little ‘thank you notes’ in the form of niggling annoyances. Thank you, I love you too body. If you’re getting these thank you’s…hello, and welcome to the club.

I thought of posting this because of a conversation I was having yesterday with some of my best friends; one was asking about the ‘seriousness’ of feeling one such ‘thank you note’ and the conversation ended with, “The truth is, everyone has those things, I don’t get nervous until they start rating at least a 5 or 6 on the pain scale.” To sum it up: if you took time off for EVERY single nuisance for fear of it turning into something serious, you’d never get a run in.

Of course, this is a little ‘tough love’ saying, so let me put the obligatory disclaimer here: of COURSE you have to be smart enough to recognize the difference between the real pain of an injury (or onset of an actual injury) and just the dull sort of pain/ache that consistent training will cause. Back to our little pain scale, if you’re hovering below a 5 (say a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being excruciating you’re about to cry every footfall) I don’t get too worried. Do a little self-treatment and go on your way.

Yes, this is coming from the person that probably errs too far on the, ‘I will get my workout in come h-e-double hockey-stick or high water,’ heck I was temped to pop back up and keep on trucking after being hit by a car until I looked down…oops, blast those bones sticking out I guess that may put a hamper on my stride! BUT, there is a common ground here.

A few weeks back another friend said, “The weirdest thing happened to me on my run today, I felt really junky that first mile but then after that had a really great run.”

I replied, “What?! Is that the first time that’s happened to you?! Every first mile feels like a slap to the face…it takes a bit to warm into it, I look like a geriatric that first mile!”

You see, I love running. But she is a fickle little lover. She gets really testy and makes me work for that first mile, prove that I am in fact committed. She likes to send me these ‘thank you notes’ that I’m really not all that thankful for, but like I good partner I just roll my eyes and put up with her because I know in the end she makes me a better, happier, saner person.

1) What is your little ‘thank you note’?
The aforementioned adductor circa 2002.

2) When do you start actually worrying that it might be something serious?
In truth there is always a part of my brain that shouts, “What the heck, THAT is new, is it something?!” But I talk myself into rational mode and assess the situation. Usually it just goes away, and I don’t really get worry-worried unless it’s at least a 7-ish.

3) What are you looking forward to this weekend?

Baby, It’s Gettin Cold Out…Runners Beware

Posted on November 10, 2011 by Cait — 6 Comments ↓

Is winter here yet?! Well, at least for me I’m saying it’s cold out! (I know, I know, I’m a big weather weenie and acknowledge that I don’t even have a ‘real winter’ compared to most states!)

Art: Cait Chock Designs

As with our summer season there are things you need to remember come winter…so let’s have a little refresher course to all us runners out there. And if you see a big, fat man in a red suit chasing you…I hate to break it to you but he’s not really Santa and I’d suggest you make like a record-holder and RUN!

* Think layers!! I know, this sounds like an obvious, but I’ve been guilty of this in the past; I tend to heat up rather quickly and I don’t want a bunch of extra clothes bogging me down. But, it’s far better to go in overdressed than underdressed…your muscles do NOT like the shock of cold weather and you put yourself at risk of an injury.

* Keep drinking. Even though you might not feel like it, you’re losing a lot of sweat and moisture; you won’t see the big pit stains because the cold weather causes it to evaporate, but trust me it’s there. You also lose water through respiration…do don’t let the hydration slack during this time.

* Don’t stretch. Wow, that sounds wrong, doesn’t it?! What I mean is DO NOT stretch cold muscles; you’ll rip, tear, pull something. You should only be stretching after you’ve warmed up (run for at least 10 minutes) or AFTER your run…not before. Finally, if it’s really cold out stretch real fast because your temperature will drop fast and your muscles will then, in effect, be cold again. 🙂

* Get back in. If you do have a real winter, there are times when running on the treadmill is the SMART thing to do. You’re not a ‘weenie’…you won’t be too happy if you go out and slip on some black ice or other winter hazard and wind up injured. Plus, indoors you can sometimes get in a better quality workout. (ie: if you’re planning on a tempo run but the roads are slicked over with ice or snow and there are gale force winds, I’ll bet you’ll be able to run faster/safer indoors.)

So, winter is blowing in and let’s not let it pelt us with any injuries or other sorts. Sorry, I was reaching for a bad pun or something to close with and am seriously lacking.

1) Words of advice for winter running/working out?

2) Do you have a ‘real winter’? Also, any crazy winter running stories?

3) What are you most looking forward to this winter?