‘Running’ Articles at , Page 50

Some More Track Champs Talk and Snotty Dogs

Posted on September 3, 2011 by Cait — 14 Comments ↓

Okay so today again, as a good little track nerd, I’ll need to bring up the Women’s 5k that happened over there at the World Track Champs. I’m partial to the women’s distance events, but there is tons of action and I’m sorry to not spread the love, but that’s how I’m going to roll…

I was talking yesterday about the A-FREAKING-MAZING women’s 1500 that brought home the first Gold for an American distance race in 28 years and today, while it was back to the slew of Africans leading the field there things worth mentioning.

Lauren Fleshman came out to be the first American (and person of non-African descent in the race) and she placed 7^th with 15:09. Yes, the winner, Vivian Jepkemoi Cheruiyot (that’s a mouthful), deserves major props herself for pulling off the double win for the 5k and 10k and beating out tough fields.

That said, being an American chick-a-dee I think it’s pretty stand-out that Lauren actually placed 8^th at the USA Track Champs, wouldn’t have even gone to the World Champs had not another athlete pulled out, and then she came out and was 7^th in the World. Anyways, she actually has a really cool account of her entire experience over at her own blog, which I found fun to read.

Back to this lowly little runnerchick, no big hoopla or megatron, instead it was some Gossip Girl fueled entertainment. 10 miler on the tready followed by abs and core. Hey, I had forgotten in all this techie website drama that I actually added a new tap up top. It’s just a list of some of the workouts or suggestions that I’ve jammered on about so far. If you’re interested feel free, if not, no worries either! 🙂

Sorry to keep this one short, but I’m feeling rather boring as of late, and sometimes it’s better to just put a fork in it rather than yammer on until the food is so cold and disgusting you never want to catch sight of it again!

1) Any fun weekend plans for people? Any races on tap?

2) I feel bad because I’m not really a well-rounded sports person. I have been to maybe one or two ‘real’ baseball or basketball games (the others were my bro’s so I don’t count those) and after about two minutes I get the ‘okay, now what’ syndrome and want to do something else. What sports are you a big fan of and love to watch?

3) I’m sitting with my family’s Boston Terriers, I think it’s so cute/disgusting/hilarious that because their noses are so punched in, when they sneeze it’s like a full body convulsion, nasal spray eruption. That said I get grossed out if spit/snot flies on my face, but I know people who will stop short of nearly French-kissing their pets. How ‘licky-lovey’ comfortable are you with your pets? This is a really random one, so sorry.

America Wins One FINALLY on the Track and Pictures of Dreams Realized

Posted on September 2, 2011 by Cait — 5 Comments ↓

So I have to start this post off with a huge congrats to Jenny Simpson (previously Barringer) who won the Gold Medal in the 1500 meters at the World Track Champs. She is the first American to win any Gold for any distance race for 28 years!! Finally we have broken the African dominance streak…hehe. 🙂 If you’re not a huge track fan, I’ll let it slide and tell you you’re missing out later, you should still appreciate this feat and go read up on what’s going on at the World Track Champs scene.

Looking at the faces and reactions of the various athletes crossing the finish line is always really fun. There are those moments that capture utter euphoria at a dream finally recognized, the athletes who have poured their hearts and souls into this moment for years, never a guarantee that all of that work would in the end grant them a Gold Medal. There are those shy receptions of breaking the tape from the ones who were the overwhelming favorites going into the race and already have multiple Golds waiting back at home.

There are the comical ones sometimes, tossing up hand gestures, one guy looks like he’s strumming an air guitar, others sticking their tongues out. I’m not judging; hey, if you win you can do what you like, some people find it disrespectful but I think so long as you don’t turn around and run down the homestretch backwards or break into some MC Hammer running man you’re alright.

My favorites though are the moments that capture pure shock. The ones where you can clearly see that an athlete is living out ‘one of those days’ on the track and even they haven’t even fully been able to wrap their heads around the fact that they may be, in fact, the person running. I mean of course they put the training in with the hopes of achieving such a feat, you have to have confidence in yourself, but there are no sure things in track…when you get to the line you still have to get through those laps before hitting the medal podium no matter who you are or your past accolades.

These shock moments come from runners who don’t necessarily come home with the Gold either. Heck, are you kidding me, when you get to that level you should throw your own flipping party over any medal in my book. Some of the happiest harriers captured have been the ones coming in second or third…sometimes to the point where their achievement almost overshadows the actual winner of the race.

Shalane Flanagan’s bronze at the last Olympics in the 10k was one, the year before when Kara Goucher snagged the bronze at the same event in the World Champs are just two examples. I loved looking at those pictures.

So Jenny’s 1500 meters pictures…track fan or not, you can’t help but be excited for her when you see the snaps of her crossing the finish line.

1) In your mind’s eye what would the moment of your own dream realized look like? If you have achieved this already do you already have a picture of just such an event?

I’m Back and Busy Watching the Pro’s Bring Fire to the Track at World Champs

Posted on August 29, 2011 by Cait — 5 Comments ↓

Goodness, me! Wow, sorry to have been gone for a few days there, don’t you hate it when work and life stuff gets in the way of the real important things? Blogging that is. I would say that it’s a pain in the butt should ANYTHING get in the way of running or working out, but we all know that would be a lie since there isn’t anything that I’d let get in the way of that one. 😉

But yea, I’ve been busily working on a few freelancing projects that have sucked up all my ‘would-be-blogging-and-blog-trolling’ time…so my apologies. The good news is that rather soon I’ll be rolling out some new art here…what, you’re not sick of the recycled ones yet? Good. Hehe.

I hope your weekends have been going well and if you’re living under a rock, I’ll tell you that the World Track Champs are currently underway. Now, I’m totally biased towards both the longer distances and my friends, so fair warning that’s really all I’ll be mentioning. Hey, it’s my blog so deal with it. 😉 But really, you can check the full results at the IAAF site and Paul Merca has a stand-out track and field blog which you should hop on over too.

Back to my biased little two cents; I was really rooting for our girls in the 10k there. Shalane Flanagan and Kara Goucher especially, I’m sure the 7^th and 13^th places respectively weren’t what they had gone in there vying for but we all know that on any given day all we can give is what the legs are willing to put out.

Kara though has shown her guts in just spiking up; she’s coming back from a stress reaction in her femur…and should I also remind you that she did push a human being out from between her loins this past year…just saying. 😉 Still, I never counted her out of putting it all out there, she’s one of the most mentally tough people I know. But again, injuries suck the big one and always have a ‘nice’ way of popping up at the least opportune time. Though, is there ever a good time for an injury? Me thinks not!

That said, all the athletes competing there have enough of the stuff to even BE there in the first place! And as a track fan it’s fun to watch or read all about it. In the men’s 10k there was a big upset in that Kenenisa Bekele didn’t win the very first 10k he’s ever entered; he actually DNF’ed. So the title went to a dark horse in a sprint to the finish, as much as it’s sad to watch a great runner DNF it is nice to spread the gold medal love around I suppose?

Back to us regular runner peons…hehe. 🙂 Did anyone have a race of their own this weekend? If so it’s bragging time! Just some easy miles for me with the distraction of some Disney. I wonder if Kara and Shalane were thinking of Disney related material while busting ther @$$e$ on the track? ;

Well, sorry to keep this short but back to the grind! Oh, before I forget…I need to address that for whatever reason stupid WordPress is now staging a revolt against me! All of my reply comments seem to disappear a few hour after I post them…I don’t know what is up?!?! So, please don’t think I’m ignoring you guys, I love comments and I reply to them! It’s WordPress, maybe somewhere in a dark alley it is selling the comments it stole from me. 🙁

1) What was the most fun thing you’ve done this weekend?

2) Do you enjoy going out and watching/cheering for track races? Do you actually stay and watch the full 25 laps or are you a dork who uses that time as a potty break?

3) Last thing you ate?

Cinnamon raise English muffins.

Warning: Lurker in Car Watching Runners on the Road

Posted on August 24, 2011 by Cait — 9 Comments ↓

I had a couple funny thoughts yesterday as I was driving. I was coming up on a local community college (actually before they were stinkers and paved over it in lieu of a giant parking lot, there was a cross-country course that I probably ran the most races on during all of my entire high school school years) and as I was nearing the campus I see a looooong trail of guys running on the side of the road.

Because it’s horribly hot around these parts (actually record setting lows for summer in the Sacto area, but remember I’m a recent Portland, OR transplant, so I’m still adjusting!!) they were shirtless but sporting those heinously long shorts that go to about knee level.

It's too hot and I'm NOT liking the 'toasty weather'

So thought process: these are obviously not the guys on the cross-country team, or if they are they are the first year guys who are still too embarrassed to wear real running shorts. Scratch that, this CAN’T be the cross team because this particular college cut both their cross AND track programs…for shame. Then, as I see this surfer wanna-be looking guy surge to the front, I think, “Oh look, here goes Rocky thinking he has something to prove.” Is it mean that I wanted to actually reverse the car and follow them to watch Surfer Rocky crash and burn and get swallowed up by the rest of the pack?

To Surfer Rocky’s credit I soon realized they were doing those Elephant Runs where the last guy in the line surges to the front. So I figured it must have been the wrestling team because for whatever reason I seem to find wrestlers are always out there doing those Elephant Runs, or they are the guys sporting full on sweat suits and running around the track trying to make weight.

So let’s back track here. The guys were probably at most a half mile from the campus…at most…but I’m sure they felt it was tortuously long. That’s okay, it’s all relative, you throw me on a wrestling mat and I’d crumble to the ground in about two seconds. Wow, I think the little runner elitist in me is showing…I’m being mean, and I didn’t follow them, for all I know they were out there running 6 miles.

Though, if they were I’m sure they were coming back with a mean case of chaffage due to those long PE style shorts. Now, it did take me a while to fully embrace running clothing, don’t get me wrong. I started with soccer shorts and worked to those ‘real’ runner shorts with the liners. And it did take me some time and prodding to wrap my head around the bunhuggers. But once I went there I never went back.

I promised my mom I’d never be a dork running in running tights. Though, the reason was more that I just HATE anything tight and constrictive, I don’t like feeling cased in like a sausage. But flashforward to the first cold-cold day and I was donning tights.

Running clothes aren’t made with the goal of parading in as little clothing as possible, showing off potentially embarrassing shorts tan lines for the guys. They are made that way because they’re more efficient and let’s face it, save us the pains of massive amounts of chaffage. They take us so far, BodyGlide takes us the rest of the way. 😉

Anyways, no, I wasn’t stalking this team out there running I was stuck at a light…but I will admit that I do look at and do a little mental assessment of anyone I see outside running on the road. Am I the only one that does that?

If I’m injured at the time it’s with a little bit of annoyed envy, hey, I’m only human. If they are trucking I tip my imaginary hat to them and send them good mental positive vibes to keep it up. If I see them slow down purposely so that they ‘miss’ the light so that they can stop, I shake my head a bit. If I see them packing a camel pack, three water bottles, a gel cartridge belt, and a watch the size of a computer mouse, I take them for a newbie.

I can’t help but look. And I think I’m pretty good at picking out the people who are running because they are runners and those who are doing it begrudgingly (wrestling team). We’ll call it runner-dar. 😉

**Disclaimer: I will NEVER be so low as to roll down my window and yell, “Run, Forest, Run!” I have less respect for people than I do for Charlie Sheen. Finally, I would like to note that I give anyone who is at least out there working out credit for doing it…keep on moooooving people! 🙂

1) Do you look at and kind of ‘assess’ people you see running on the street?

2) Do you kind of laugh sometimes when you see what certain people are running in or running with?

I’ve talked about this before, but people who run in jeans continue to amaze me.

3) Do you remember being forced to do Elephant Runs in PE?

Yup. There are lots of other names for those I know.

4) Are you just as appalled as I am that this community college not only paved over the cross course, they mowed over the track for a bigger football training field, the cross country team was the first team to be cut, and finally, ya, the track team was soon to follow in being pushed into the black hole vortex of nothingness?

New Friends and Things I’ve Learned About Running

Posted on August 23, 2011 by Cait — 9 Comments ↓

So kind of a hectic Tuesday. Forget the whole song and dance about Manic Mondays. Actually, I’ve always hated the part in that song where she is singing the praises of Sundays and says, “My I don’t have to run days…” forget that noise. Yes, I’m nitpicky and if I want to hate the song just because it’s hating on running I’ll do that.

The GOOD news is that I’m finally with wheels! Hurrah, I’ve got a car…it’s been a long time coming. Next stop DMV…and I’m not looking forward to that, so I’ll push it off as long as possible. I think I have like only 10 days so not much time to push of the inevitable.

So I’m also excited because for the past few days I’ve been talking with a wonderful new runner friend, Aron, over at XC Nation. I have been known to blabber on about running forever and I may have met my match…in a good way, I love ya Aron! 🙂

Anyways, so I’ve been learning a lot from him myself and hearing some amazing stories from; the people he’s met, talked to, read up on, interviewed, and all that jazz. (PS- he’s super hard core and ran a 20 miler at sub-six min pace, got gang green, had to have his toe amputated, went BACK out running soon after, got sick and had to go back to the hospital…but is back at it today. I mean, c’mon who really needs a toe anyways, Aron’s out there busting out the miles! 😉 *that last part was said with sarcasm, remember that next time you try to come up with a better excuse to skip a run*)

It’s a great site for high schoolers because it offers not just national rankings and current news but also schools them about the runners before their time that helped bring our sport to what it is today. It’s also brought up a lot of memories from my own cross days and things I’ve learned from racing and running in general.

1) Running makes you tough…if you do it right. I think the reason our sport gets a bad rep is because even just our easy days aren’t ‘easy’ I mean you’re always going to get to a point of discomfort, that’s the truth.

2) Running sucks but we love it anyways. I am a fan of those new shirts that read that, some people got all upset about them, but I like the slogan.

3) But there are times when we can be the creepers rolling along with a big smile on our face. I’ve done it, but maybe it only looks like a real smile in my mind…I always look horrible in any running picture I see!

4) The Runner’s Inner Circle. It’s there, we’re one giant group, we ‘get each other.’

5) Runners are quirky. I don’t need to rattle off my lists of quirks, and I say this as a good thing to all you other runners. Now, I know there are the ‘cool’ runner people that outwardly appear to be sort of like the popular kids at the high school, and yes some do have actual fashion sense and don’t wear running clothes all the time. BUT, even they have certain oddities that when you get to know them you can laugh and recognize, “Okay, yea, I guess all runners are a little quirky.”

6) The power of Pop-Tarts. I guess that whole pro-high fructose corn syrup campaign should add some awesome pre-race fuelage to the list. I jest, I’m sure it’s just crap food, but for a stretch of about four years I HAD to have my Pop-Tarts before my race. Now, later when I learned more and got more ‘serious’ I mixed it up…but do I need to remind everyone that Bill Rodgers used to slather mayo on cold pizza to refuel after his hard workouts and long runs?

7) Running teaches you about life. I don’t know if I would have been able to face or deal with lots of ‘life junk’ if I wasn’t a runner.

So, I’ll leave this list off at the odd and random number 7. Some people call that a lucky number, I’ll call it I’m out of time and gotta wrap it up number! Haha…happy Tuesday to you all and next time I hear that Manic Monday song I hope to start a flash mob in protest…we’ll all rip off our normal people clothes and have on running gear and chant, “My I DO my run day!!!” 😉

1) Are there random song lyrics that bug you or you just hear them and they annoy you for some reason?

2) What can you add to our list about running?

3) Do people at DMV sometimes just make you laugh out loud?

Yes. A resounding yes.

When Garmins Turn into Gremlins and a Month of Fartleking Workouts to Refresh You Mentally

Posted on August 21, 2011 by Cait — 16 Comments ↓

Happy Saturfarts to you all!! If anyone has raced, I expect some bragging on your fine selves below pahleeez! 🙂

My workout was…surprise…9.5 miles on the treadmill to the distraction of Freaks and Geeks on the tube, followed by core and abs today. I know, I really am such a crazy person living on the edge and you never know what my workouts will be. 😉 Again, do as I say, not as I do, I know I should mix it up more.

So today I think I want to address a comment that was left HERE by the very fine Vanessa at The Gourmet Runner. It started when I read on her blog about a tempo run she had done. Basically she was saying how she was frustrated about not hitting the exact splits and that during her run she was constantly obsessing about what her pace might be, checking the Garmin, and that it was stressing her out.

Not a Gremlin but I wouldn't want to piss this guy off...

You can read my little comment I left her HERE if you like but I’ll sum it up, and I actually touched on this exact same thing in my own post HERE about things that could derail your race plan. Basically it’s this, in today’s age sometimes runners get sucked into information overload; I’ve seen people out there running at it looks like they’re hooked up to some kind of life support system between the iPods, watches, GPS trackers, Garmins, cell phones…etc. (Don’t get me started on the people fully decked out with fuel belts and three water bottles for a four miler…lol.)

Ummm, am I still the only person who (when I do run outside and am not being a weenie on the treadmill….haha) only wears a straight up watch? I don’t even own a Garmin or anything like that. Now, I’m just as obsessive about times and exact miles, trust me you can ask anyone who’s run with me, so I’m not saying I’m perfect about it and part of the reason I do like the treadmill is because I guess it has all of that info built in.

But, I digress, the point is that Vanessa’s workout was a 4 mile tempo at 9 min pace. She actually finished up the workout underpace but was frustrated because it was not ‘exactly’ what it should be and during the whole thing she was speeding up/slowing down depending on what the GARMIN was telling her. So here is a workout where she should leave feeling happy she’s actually fitter than she thought but she’s unhappy and the whole workout wasn’t even enjoyable because of the Garmin induced stresslevel. Can I call it a Gremlin at this point?

Workouts aren’t exactly supposed to be enjoyable, but the lactic acid will take care of that for you, so there is no need to make it harder on yourself. A coach once told their athlete (actually the athlete was my mom…lol.), “Don’t think. That’s my job, I’ll do it for you.” When you’re running, shut the brain off as best you can, zone out, and work on running hard.

Sure, we want to hit splits and times, we don’t want to loaf and we do need to check-in with the clock every now and again so we don’t let the lactic acid beast swallow us and if we are slowing down we need to know and try to pick up the pace. BUT you need to tread a fine line between being aware of the clock and not letting it stress you out to the point where it’s working against you. Running is so mental that if you’re obsessed too much you’ll be the one doing your undoing. (Reread that sentence, I’m convincing myself it does in fact make sense. 🙂 )

Think about running for FEEL too, you want to get to the point where you know what certain paces feel like. As you’re going along you want to stay relaxed, focus on keeping proper form, expending as little unnecessary energy as possible (don’t clench your fists or jaw, make sure your shoulders aren’t up to your chin), looking ahead, your breathing…and talking yourself through to the end.

Screw the Garmin, Vanessa, and run hard. Run for feel, and I’m pretty sure you’ll wind up running faster AND you’ll feel much better doing it.

In fact, if you want to read my little reply comment to her you can, and I told her that maybe doing some workouts that aren’t so ‘rigid’ for a period will give her mind a break too. Fartleks are perfect for this, you don’t know the exact distance, you don’t know the exact pace, you just run HARD for the sake of running hard and you’ll get in a great workout.

Try this: for the first week do a fartlek workout with sets of 1 minute hard and 1 minute easy. In Vanessa’s case I’d suggest that since her tempo run was about 36 minutes, she should aim for 18 repeats, so that would be 18 minutes of hard running. Later in the week she should run an un-Garmin tempo run for 36 minutes; take only the watch, run hard, she might come in running a little more than 4 miles, maybe a little less…who knows…live on the edge. (PS-it kinda goes without saying, but make sure and do a warm-up and cool-down with each hard workout…haha!)

The following week, for the fartleks do sets of 2 minutes hard and 2 minutes easy. This time that would be 9 sets total for Vanessa. Later in the week try the un-Garmin tempo but make it a little longer and go for 45 minutes. (Anyone can do this, to adjust it for your own pace pick a time that would be about 5 miles for yourself.)

Third week she should do 6 sets of 3 minutes hard and 3 minutes easy. Instead of the tempo for her second workout late in the week she should do this: 2 x 16 minutes hard (she’ll be going faster so this should be around 2 miles) with 3 minute recovery jog between each, then finish with 4 x 1 minute hard/easy. The goal is to finish with something faster to get those legs mooooving.

Finally, the last week will be a pyramid style farlek:

1 min hard/easy

2 min hard/easy

3 min hard/easy

Repeat 2 more times.

Later in the week she’ll come back with a tempo run and we’ll let her use the Garmin but ONLY to see what her splits end up being. The rules are these: she can only look at the Garmin at the END of each mile to see the split and not between. She can’t think about it during the tempo run and try to run like it isn’t even there…just run hard. Run the freaking tempo. When she’s done, look over those splits and I’m pretty sure she’ll have run faster, but regardless, be happy with a solid, hard effort. 🙂

Don't let the Garmin turn into your ball and chain; use it as a training tool alone.

Wow, this turned out to be an EPIC post, so I hope there might still be a few weary eyes reading this. Sometimes taking a mental break from really regimented workouts is necessary and that’s why no one does straight up track workouts all year round, it’s just too easy to make it too stressful. So, perhaps a few others might do well to ditch their Garmins and have a little farleking fun. 😉

1) What do you run with? A watch, a Garmin, iPod, or any other techie thing?

2) What’s your favorite type of workout?I know I’ve asked this before, sorry, but my answer is still going to be a tempo run! 🙂

3) What are your fun weekend plans?

4) Not really a question, but sorry Vanessa for the way overload of unsolicited advice and don’t feel any pressure to actually do any of it…haha! But, if you happen to, do feel free to let me know how it goes. 🙂

The Story of Lane One…

Posted on August 20, 2011 by Cait — 8 Comments ↓

Lane 1 was the baby of the family. Her siblings liked to remind her of this fact as often as possible, mostly because they were jealous. The story goes that when she was paved, Papa Grand Stand put a little something special into her mix. It was a golden spike that he had carried with him and saved special for his baby girl.

track lane one

Whether or not this was in fact true didn’t really matter to her siblings, they didn’t like it one bit and Lane 2 especially. Of course we all love our siblings, but if love had a color for how Lane 2 felt towards Lane 1 it was puke green laced with envy-lime.

The reason for this jealousy isn’t fully unfounded, and who could blame them? Everyone loved Lane 1, everyone fought for her, elbowed, shoved, and dug in right up close to her rail. PR’s, heck even World Records, had come down to the wire as the athletes leaned for the tape across her physique. Lane 1 was holy ground.

Sure, one could argue that plenty of action occurred in Lane 2, even 3 or 4 on plenty occasions, but let’s be honest, nothing compares to Lane 1. I think the fact that Lane 2 rightly felt that they deserved just as much attention as its white line sharing sibling only made things worse, “Did you see that lean? Ya, well that just won themselves the Gold Medal, and do you know where that lean was? Ummm, hello?! It was right up on me! But does anyone care, no, it’s all about my snotty sister!”

You’d think Lanes 8 and 9 would be most bitter, but I think it was more just they had given up completely. They accepted long ago that they were forever and always the ugly stepsisters reserved for strides and even so low as to be used for additional warm-up area for runners prepping for their race to be run after the one currently in progress. Every now and again they got some attention, should a miscalculating hurdler go down and warrant some ‘oooh’s’ and ‘ahhh’s’ from the crowd, but not much else.

Lanes 4 through 7 played the typical middle children roles of the family. Lane 7 had adopted the second-mother role and made sure that all the lanes kept themselves neat and tidy and presentable come race days. This nagging usually was greeted with the typical grunts and groans, but the sibling lanes always followed orders, they too always wanted to look their best for the races. Well, except for that one time Lane 2 rebelled, refused to take care of a little wear and tear near the 200 meter mark and let it fester until it was an unsightly pothole. The subsequent repaving was her punishment and trust me she learned her lesson…no one likes a pot-holey track and if she thought she didn’t get enough love before, well, the scorn of a pothole made her furious.

Lane 6 was the comic relief of the bunch and liked to play commentator for the races, “Ouch, tough race for that guy, he shouldn’t have been wolfing down those chili cheese fries earlier. I hope he learned his lesson.” Lane 5 was sort of that ghost of the family, people sort of forgot she was even really there at times. This didn’t really bother her, this fading into the background, she was able to pick up some especially tantalizing tidbits and if Lane 5 were to talk more, would she ever have some whopping secrets to divulge. She stored these up like a squirrel collecting acorns, she documented these in a diary that one day she planned to publish, make millions, and rub in the faces of all her sister lanes.

Lane 4 was the prankster; usually, if you look real close, if a runner goes down in a big pack you can see it had something to do with Lane 4. Mamma Grand Stand tried to keep her in order, but to no avail. She’d constantly threaten to have her unruly daughter stripped off and resurfaced into the triple jump or shot-put areas, but Lane 4 knew all talk was pretty much an empty threat.

So Lane 1 shone. She glistened and shined, she glinted in the scorching heat, the beads of perspiration fell to her sacred ground from the harriers giving all they had and more. She elongated the shadows of the 10k racers dueling on as the evening sun set. She splashed in the downpours as the sprinters’ rapid fire legs raised in wild, explosive arcs across her formation.

She highlighted these runners’ accomplishments, swelled with pride as they mounted the podium on still wobbly legs. She cheered loudest of all because she truly felt each footstep, she had a kinship with each and every one of them. A part of her heart also ached for the ones that shed tears in addition to sweat.

Maybe that’s what set Lane 1 apart from all of her sisters, that she had a heart. Perhaps there really was truth behind that golden spike legend, and it granted her the ability to feel. To feel and know that to everyone that lined up on her sacred ground it was more than just a race, more than just laps around a track.

I’m a Runner So I Can Be Lazy

Posted on August 17, 2011 by Cait — 11 Comments ↓

I’m a runner so that means I can be selectively lazy.

On a typical day I’ll run at least 9 miles but if I’m driving I’ll be darned if I won’t scope out the closest possible parking spot.

I will also feel no guilt if on my way home I will pull up to the curb where my mailbox is, crane out the window and get it, and then drive across the street home.

I will lift weights and do my strength work but I’ll curse at the flipping iron rolly gate that weighs a bazillion pounds when it refuses to budge and allow me to close it.

I’ve busted my bum doing repeat 800’s or 5 miler tempo runs but then get schooled by a five year old in a race to the soccer ball. I’m a long distance chick, so hey, don’t judge.

I can talk about how important it is to stretch, I will dedicate myself to periods of being REALLY good and stretching like I should, but STILL not be able to touch my toes. My excuse is that my legs are seriously my whole body so proportionately my arms never stood a chance.

I love doing long runs, so 90 min’s and upwards, but I will complain about how flipping looooong it takes to walk anywhere. Funny how walking one mile time seems like an eternity. I think that’s why I just hate walking so much, I’m just impatient and I want to get there.

I like running so much also because you get ‘the most bang for your buck.’ I talk to cyclists and have been told that the ratio of running to cycling miles is about 3:1 or 4:1. Again, I’m impatient, I’d rather run for an hour than have numbbutt syndrome for three or four.

I will ask my sibling to hand me the piece of paper that is on the counter about five feet away, even if they might have to get up to do. Even if they say no, it was worth a shot.

On the flip side I HATE car rides, long flights, and anything that forces me to sit still for too long. This is, I know, sort of screwy because I can be sucked into my laptop for hours writing, FBing, etc. but I refuse to go to a movie that pushes too far past the two hour mark. Maybe it’s the idea that I am forced or ‘trapped’ in a car and there is no option of leaving??

I’m a runner and I can be selectively lazy; but I still retain the right to make fun of people who are just straight up lazy.

This was an old Mom's Day card I made...hence the kids tied up in the background. 😉

1) What are some of the funny, quirky things you ‘allow’ yourself to do because you workout?

2) What are just some random weird things you do?

3) What is the name of your third grade teacher? Can you remember? Do you have a particularly ‘traumatic’ grammar school moment that may or may not still influence something about you today?

Okay, third grade teacher was Mrs. Hayes, I will never forget her because I am dead certain she is the spawn of the devil. Random grammar school moment that I am also certain must have something to do with me eventually being self-conscious if I’m running too slow: second grade PE class, it had been raining in the morning and my mom had made me wear rubber rain boots to school. Back then you didn’t change for PE class so when they had us go and run, probably about 300 meters, I was about dead last because I was trucking bricks for shoes. Patrick McKibbin (look, I still vividly remember this) whizzed past me and says, “You’re slow.” I hated him for that for years.

Flies Stink and an Epic Length Post on the Benefits of Bad Races

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

Flies, what are their deal? They are attracted to all things refuse, decaying and dirty then at the same time feel like it’s okay to roll around in said filth and THEN come schmoozing up on me and my food? How wrong and to coin an annoying blonde haired child, “How rude?” (Stephanie was always my least favorite Tanner.)

I know we’ve all heard urban legend that the second a fly lands on anything it throws up, and so I ask, is that true? If so then I’m covered in sh** on top of being annoyed.

There are other ‘flies’ in life, the flies at the office would have to be those people that buzz around eavesdropping and then spread any juicy tidbits they pick up. Pretty much the same people would be flies at high school, only those flies are a hybrid with mosquitoes because they are out for blood. High school is a blood sport.

Being ticketed for a broken taillight could be a life ‘fly’ because unless you get tipped off by a friendly person watching you from the back, how are you to know? Ooooh, this is fun, so I’m going to keep going. Okay, how about going on a first date, you’re walking along on the beach thinking you’re all cool and romantic and BAM seagull poop lands right on your shoulder? True story, happened to my friend who shall remain nameless only a few weeks ago…so sad, he just started dating again and look what happened. 😛

I guess nothing to do but deal with those flies and swat them away the best that we can. Bad races and horrible workouts are obvious flies. Necessary evils that come with the territory. Heck, bad days in general, but when it comes to running and working out we ALL have those fly days…sadly sometimes fly weeks. Fly slumps. Been there, let’s not look back through those scrapbooks.

BUT, fly races can be good things:

*The Learning Tool: After you finish, mop up those tears, or wash out that mouth, and think. Could there be a reason that you had a less than stellar performance? Did you go out too fast in the beginning or make another obvious racing tactic blunder? Did you go too hard, too close to the big day? Did you not really prepare the way you should for the race? Are you overly tired? Races are like check-ins and if something’s not working then find a way to fix it.

*You Underestimated: Did you go in with an off race plan or maybe no race plan at all? Racing on the fly can be sort of liberating, but you still want to go in with at least some clear goal or tactic. If you knew certain people were in the race, or if you are on a cross team and you were hoping to beat a certain team, did you underestimate your competition? On the flip side, did you underestimate yourself? Did you hold back too long, maybe you should have surged on a certain lap, closed a gap sooner, made a decisive move? Planning mistakes happen, again, use them as a learning experience and be better prepared for next time.

*The Off-Taper: When you taper for a race that means you intentionally cut back mileage, the days leading up are easier. Tapering is a tricky science, all about finding the right balance between doing enough so that you are sharp and ready to go and not doing too much. Look and see if maybe your tapering was a little off. Tapering usually leaves people feeling like they have way too much excess energy and sometimes we have to force ourselves to not do any more than we should. On the flip side, you don’t want to do nothing or take out all fast running, which will leave you feeling sluggish and slow.

You got problems if THIS guy is beating you...

*Overdistance, Underdistance: Was this race ‘your’ race? I mean if you’re a miler and you go run a marathon, you may need to go in knowing that, “Hey, this race is going to be more of a challenge for me than the person who genetically is predisposed to running longer, marathon type distances.” The same for the marathoner running a mile race; it’s great to run a range of races but base the results off of you personally as a runner. If our marathoner runs a decent time FOR THEM in a mile race but comes in dead last, they need to be sure to keep things in perspective.

*Training Through: Did you train through this race? That means was this race not exactly ‘a really big race’ in your training program but instead one along the road to your ‘big goal’ race? This happens a lot for high school and college runners who have to go through league or prelim meets. You can’t rest up for everything because you’d never get in a solid block of training, so for many of the smaller meets you’ll go in without tapering and while you still may put forth your best effort, your legs have that extra workload in them and won’t be as fresh as when you eventually do taper for the big day. This is a big mental thing though because for some people these off races put doubts in their mind and they become afraid that come their ‘big goal’ race they will still feel flat. So you have to stay confident and know that come the big day you’ll be rested and ready.

*Something New: Trying something new on a race day isn’t something you should do. The pile of cheesy nachos an hour before the gun will bring you your own just desserts. In times like these, get through the race and let’s hope it’s a lesson learned.

*New Training: Anytime you go with or are transitioning to a new training method, program, or coach expect that to get results you’ll need to wait through the adjustment period. It takes a few months, yes months at least, to fully adjust to something new and see the results you want. Expect that, and if you really believe in the program stick it out and give it time. That said training philosophies and techniques are VERY personal and if something doesn’t click after an acceptable period of adjustment, reassess. Make sure anything you are doing you fully believe in, running and racing is mental, you have to believe in what you’re doing to make it work.

*Gut it Out: Making it to the finish line despite knowing that you’re having a bad race is one of the best ways to improve your mental fortitude. It’s a mind game. If you were to drop out and stop after each bad race, you run the risk of getting into a very bad habit. There are times when the smart thing to do is drop out, you don’t want to risk an injury, but I’d say for the majority of the time you should stick it out to the end. Why? It’s all mental, if you don’t force yourself to finish when it hurts and sucks too many times, you start to give yourself that ‘out’ and that ‘out’ becomes way too appealing any time a race or workout hurts…and running does hurt. 😉

*Test of Character: Lose as gracefully as you can, or if you don’t meet your goals give yourself an hour, maybe a day/night of wallow, but then get sane and productive.

*The Flies Gotcha: Look, sometimes there are just no reasons for bad races or bad days. The clouds align and they are stormy. To be honest, having exceptional races are a rarity, having good races you’d like to be the ‘almost’ majority, most of them are middle of the road or you at least hit some expectations, but there are plenty of fly races. Bad races and bad days come with the game. You do the most you can to swing the odds in your favor, but at the line it’s all in dem legs and dem legs can be moody like a menopausal woman.

1) What are other flies in life?

How about getting maybe 4 miles into a long run and already scoping out a place for a bathroom plot?

2) One good thing about bad races for you?

3) Worst bad race memory?

The one that instantly comes to mind was when I was running a 10k and through about 4 ½ miles stoked that I was underpace and on track to run a time I REALLY wanted. Crazy how much difference a lap or two can make, I CRAWLED in those last 5 laps. That race was one of the times I wanted to DNF soooo bad…but I didn’t. Haha…that last mile was horrendous!

4) Speaking of, did anyone race this weekend, how did it go? I’m hoping that this post didn’t reopen any fresh wounds. 😉

In a Galaxy Far, Far Away I Picked Up Some Racing Tips

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

Okay, I sort of feel wonky about doing this post because it’s been about a zillion years since I last actually raced. But I was talking with some friends of mine and the whole subject of race tactics and such came up. That, and I know that a lot of my bloggy friends have big races coming up or they are training for, so I thought it might benefit a few folks out there to offer up some things that I’ve learned along the way. There is way too much to go on and on about regarding races, so I’ll probably have to make this a topic to return to again later. (Look there, every now and again when you come here you might actually be able to take something of worth away…haha)

Fire up those quads...

*Run the tangents: this one might some sort of ‘basic’ or ‘duh’ but I’m not kidding you that it took me forever to actually really apply it. One reason was because I just didn’t think about it or figured an extra few steps couldn’t really make all that much difference, but it adds up. There is a reason that you’ll see people hugging the curves or in a road race cross to the other side of the street to run as close to the little taped off markers as possible; there is also a reason why on the track you usually want to pass someone on a straightaway so you can go around them without running extra distance. If you’re going to focus on something during a race, look for the shortest routes to get to the end; this adds up even more the longer you go and if it comes to the finish line and you see you missed a PR by a few seconds, do you want to be kicking yourself in the bum thinking you could have beaten it if only you didn’t run a few turns too wide?

*Slap yourself into focus: it’s easy to let your mind wander…guilty (moreso though just in everyday life)! But whenever I am in a race or a hard workout I don’t tend to wander, the pain usually tries to take my focus. 😉 But really, you don’t want to be caught in mindless wandering, that will usually lead to the legs slowing down and you might not even be aware of it. So if you catch yourself starting to drift, slap yourself back to the moment, look at the person in front of you and key off of them. Stare a hole into their back and don’t let them get any further ahead of you, instead catch up to them, try to pass, and if you do, then look for the next person in front…pick people off one little bugger at a time. 😉 haha.

*Chuck the baggage: I see more and more people going gadgecized. It’s like before heading out for a run or race they are plugged into more things than NASA. Granted I’m maybe too ‘outdated’ but sometimes it’s good to ignore the garmin, the watch even, and just race off of feel. This is good for a few reasons; one, you can freak yourself out if you feel great and are clicking along but look at the clock and think, “Holy heck, I’m way ahead of pace, am I going to blow-up?” This can mess with you mentally and sometimes cause you to slow down when you’re on the verge of a breakthrough race. Second, constantly checking on your pace isn’t always necessary, as you become more experienced you want to be able to be in tune with your body and ‘know’ what paces feel like.

I don't even think I spy a watch on any of them...do you?

*Still, splits help: wow, so now I am going to contradict myself because there ARE times when the watch is playing to your benefit! Examples: giving you a clear warning you may be going out too fast, a nice kick in the tush if you have mentally checked-out and slowed down, are hitting target pace and a motivator to keep doing that, and there are other instances. The thing is, the clock has its time (horrible pun, sorry) and place, but in the end YOU are the one out there and how you feel is going to trump whatever the clock does say. So if looking at the splits is only going to stress you out or you’re having a bad day and the legs just didn’t show up, then the time can be a little defeating and better to just get through the race at that point.

Bwahaha...we've all been there.

*Hold dem horses: this one was mentioned in the last but it deserves it own because it’s one of the biggest mistakes you can make…going out too fast. We are all guilty but trust me that bootylock crawl to the finish is our only reward. Race day excitement makes it easy to get sucked into this but an experienced racer knows that even if that adrenaline makes the early mile pace feel much easier, it will catch up to you trifold. They say for every second you go out too fast the first mile, you’ll end up slowing down by at least 10 sec’s by the end…trust me it might be even more than that and it will certainly feel much longer. Trying to ‘get ahead’ and under your pace thinking you’ll get a ‘cushion’ by doing that will actually work against you…much better to pick it up and get faster as you go along, all about those negative splits.

Those are just a few tips and hopefully they might be of some use for you. I also want to bring up that there are benefits of ‘bad’ races or workouts and also how you can mentally come back after those…all jabber for another post as this one is getting mighty lengthy!

1) What’s one of your racing tips?

2) Do you have a funny story of you making an obvious racing blunder?

For awhile I used to not run the tangents because somehow in my mind I thought it might be ‘cheating’ or like I was trying to run less than the ‘real’ distance. Stupid, I know. The race directors measure the course gauging off of the shortest distance marked by cones (read: the tangents) and on the track, so long as you’re not crossing that white line you’re golden. 😛

3) When your mind does wander when you’re running or racing where does it go?

I get song lyrics stuck in my head, which can work to my benefit sometimes. I also get random words or phrases stuck in my head; when I was taking Spanish in high school there would be times where I’d honestly keep thinking ‘la luz’ in my head.