As a back of the pack runner, I found this to be very interesting.  One goal in every race I enter is to run the entire thing without walking.  I don't always succeed, but I try.

<http://www.womentalksports.com/items/read/46/81529>

Well, I have done it again. Last year on this very day, I swore that I would not get talked into running another cross country race, but here I am, sweaty and exhausted, sitting down at my computer to recap the 2009 Southern California USATF Cross Country Championships.

I began running in September of 2008. Truthfully, I always flirted with the idea of being a runner. As a competitive swimmer, we used running as cross-training on occasion, and on those cold early mornings with my toes on the edge of a swimming pool that I was sure would be freezing enough to make me scream, I just wanted to lace up a pair of shoes and run far, far away. However, I always made that chilly plunge (typically once my coach pushed me in), and my running shoes sat in my swim bag, collecting more mold than mileage.

As I retired from swimming following my senior year of college at the University of Nebraska back in 2003, I took five good years to be a “normal” person who doesn’t attend six hours of practice per day and who could sleep in past 4:45am. I felt like a lazy bum during those years, but I think that my body truly needed rest and time off. I started competitive athletics (gymnastics, then swimming) at the age of nine, and didn’t really come up for a breath until my 22nd birthday.

Things changed during the summer of 2008 after I returned to my hometown of Eugene, Oregon to watch my college friends Ann Gaffigan (my roommate in the dorms back in 2000) and Anne Shadle, compete in the Track and Field Olympic Trials at Hayward Field. The intensely competitive atmosphere of that incredible event made me realize that the desire to train for something was not dead inside of me. I have no delusions about my place in the sport of distance running. I know that by beginning at the age of 27, I will never be a factor in competitive events or set anything other than personal records, but I get a strange satisfaction out of kicking my own butt into shape on the track week after week.

This brings me to Track Club Los Angeles (TCLA), where I have been training every Tuesday night with a group of adults who, like myself, aren’t willing to hang up their shoes just because college is over. Through TCLA, my coach, Eric Barron, encouraged me to run (notice that I did not use the word “compete”) at the Southern California USATF Cross Country Championships in both 2008 and 2009.

Last year, I was so new to the sport that I readily joined USATF and showed up to the race expecting a field like any other road race where I could blend into the masses. However, the field was made up of roughly 20 women whom had nearly all competed in the sport of cross country for their colleges, however long ago that may have been.

That day, it was 96 degrees at the start of the race and the air was filled with smoke from the seemingly annual Los Angeles fires. Never having to deal with overheating in a swimming race, the sun has become my kryptonite as a runner. Regardless of the shape that I am in, when I get too hot, I am simply done. So as I turned various shades of red while running the 6K race last November, the only thought that crossed my mind was, “I wonder if anyone would notice if I hid behind that tree and just quit.” Needless to say, my 2008 XC experience left me almost in tears as I crossed the finish line dizzy, dehydrated, and dead last.

I came up with a million excuses as to why I would not be running this race again in 2009. I had been injured over the spring and summer, the hills weren’t good for my still recovering hip, the weather would probably be scorching, blah, blah, blah. Truthfully, I just didn’t want to get last place and realize, yet again, that I am still very much a novice in this new sport that I have come to love.

Six days before this year’s race, I finally decided, with the encouragement (a nice word for “pressure”) from my TCLA teammates and coach that I would suck up my pride and represent my club again. After all, I would be the 5th girl, and we needed five to score. I spent the days between my decision to run and the race by obsessing over the weather forecast, pleading with friends on Facebook to come and run as well, and contemplating a sudden and fictitious bout of the dreaded swine flu.

Race day was upon me, and the weather, although sunny, was not unbearably hot. As the much faster runners around me were lacing up their spikes in preparation for the race, I readjusted the laces on my own regular running shoes to look cool and legitimate and cracked jokes with my teammate, Ginna Ladd, who was about as uncomfortable with the whole situation as I was (it should be noted that she just ran 3:03 at the Chicago Marathon and had no reason to feel out of place). I warned Ginna about the fast pace that the women took out in last year’s race and we agreed to stay controlled despite our nerves.

As I approached the starting line, I took a deep breath and told myself, “Just forget about getting last, who cares? Close your eyes, let them run away from you at the start, and concentrate on being tougher and faster than you were last year.” As it turns out, running my own race works much better for me than focusing on the widening gap between the lead pack and myself. As I was running the three-loop course, I finally realized that getting last place is not the worst thing in the world, but lacking the courage to step up to the line or the determination not to finish what you have started just might be.

I crossed the finish line of the hilly 6K four minutes faster than I did last year, accepted my 17th place medal (there were only 18 runners, which need not be mentioned in further retellings of this story), and put on my flip-flops because my feet still think that running is torture and consistently punish me with impressively large blisters. As my times begin to drop and my weekly mileage continues to increase, I am reminded that although this sport is difficult and requires amounts of stamina that I’ve never tapped into before, I do love distance running, even if it is from the back of the pack.

Yay for holiday racing! Yesterday, I did the Webster Turkey Trot in Webster NY. It was a ridiculous experience, full of costumes (not worn by me), expletives (used extensively by all), and all tied together by a certain letsrun forum:


( Gobble Gobble! )And man, do I suck at LJ cuts :)

So I went to buy shoes today. Instead of getting any of the models I asked about on Monday, I wound up getting two pair of Asics Gel Nimbus 11. The store (Road Runner Sports) has a 60-day no-questions-asked return policy, so it's a fairly safe purchase; if I don't like them, I can return them for a full refund. (Only their VIP Club members can get a refund; everyone else gets store credit.)

What tipped me to them instead of the others is that they had a 15% off sale today, which coupled with my VIP Club discount, gave me 25% off on the price of the shoes.

I had been wearing stability shoes before (Asics 2140), but their "Shoe Dog" analysis (which is the most complete analysis I've seen in any shoe store in my admittedly limited experience) says that I have moderately high arches and normal pronation.

I walked 5K in them today, and will run 18 miles in them tomorrow. That should give me a good idea of whether I'll want to keep them. I plan to wear one pair all week (just when running, of course) and then wear them in the half marathon on Dec 6.

I haven't done a lot of research on it, but Costco.com has the Garmin Forerunner 405 for $229 delivered today.

Yesterday my friend and I drove over to Detroit for the Mashed Potato Mile (a warm-up for both of us), the Stuffing Strut (5K that my friend walked- and ran part of!) and Turkey Trot (10K that I ran).

( Read all about it )

Also, a question! I went to Running Fit (local running specialty store) for running tights today. They were having Black Friday sales. I tried on 3 pairs. One was too big and does not come in a smaller size. One was wayyyy too long. The third pair fit well! Naturally they were the $110 CWX tights!! They were not on sale but the guy gave me a 20% discount anyway (sweet!), so I got them for $93. Still way expensive, but I'm hoping it will be worth it.

( So a couple questions for those of you who wear running tights )

Just thought I'd pick the brains of the community on a few things:

- Is it worthwhile getting a slightly lighter shoe to race in, even though I'm quite slow (~8 min/mile pace for a 5k, 9 min/mile for half-marathon)? I usually train in Asics Gel-Kayano 15's, and I've done all my racing up to now in them or my old Kayano 14's too, but I'm considering a pair of Nike Lunarglides or Asics DS-Trainers for racing (5k to HM) and speedwork.

- Is it just me, or is buying knee-high boots a pain in the butt when you're a runner? I've found that every time I've gone shopping for boots lately, nothing fits around the top of the calf due to lots of muscle being there, and I'm not exactly huge (I'm a UK size 12 in clothes, I think that's about a US size 8).

- Any suggestions for improving my 5 mile time? I'm doing a 5 mile race on 31 January that I'd really like to get a strong PB in (preferably as close to 40 minutes as possible), and I'm looking for good training programs for that distance or 10k. I'm running about 20-25 miles a week at the moment, but am planning to build that up over the next while, because this month has mostly been about recovering from my marathon.

Thanks for your help, and happy Thanksgiving for yesterday to all the Americans here :)

I'm getting just a bit nervous about the big race tomorrow!! I have only run 2 10 mile races in my life. 10 miles is a very long distance for me to run seeing as I usually run 5 K races, but I know I can do it! I am also dragging my boyfriend along, even though he is really a sprinter, because he ran cross country so he can run distance too. I have to beat the science teacher that challenged me though, or I will never live it down!!!!! I hope my athsma doesn't get as bad as it did yesterday during my run, that is my only concern! Other than that I am ready!!! =)

Yesterday I ran the ( Manchester Road Race )


In summary, I hit all my goals: Run less than 55 minutes, run negative splits, run the whole thing with no walk breaks, and don't die. I was pretty darn happy with my performance.

Good morning runners! Here's the daily training thread!

Today I'll be setting up the Christmas tree (I love the holiday season between Thanksgiving and Christmas!) and taking my parents on a tour of the various areas of Gunpowder Falls State Park; There will probably be some walking along the trails.

So what is everyone else up to today, training and otherwise?

Today is something like the biggest shopping day of the year here in the US. So question! How do you do your holiday shopping? Did you brave the crowds and trampling risks this morning at 5am? Or do you wait til the last minute?

The satellite internet here is being finicky so just pretend I posted a youtube clip of Sinbad and Ahhhnold fighting over a toy in Jingle All The Way.

Discuss... and HAPPY RUNNING!

Yesterday I ran the Berbee Derby 10K. I was a little more nervous for this race than for any of my other races because this was the first time I had raced the distance before. A PR was no longer a given! I had run this race last year in 57:50 (a 9:18/mile pace), so obviously I wanted to beat that (hopefully easy goal). My medium goal was to run it all under a 9:00 pace. And my ridiculously hard goal was to run it at an 8:26 pace, because race calculators would predict my next marathon time at 4:00. I pretty much knew that that wasn't going to happen, since 8 weeks ago I ran my marathon in 4:38. And I've taken it fairly easy since then.

So off we went. I didn't have too much of a strategy besides to run at whatever pace below 9:00 felt manageable. There were 1540 other people running the 10k, and I had lined up near the back, so the first mile was spent dodging people. The first mile felt good, and I think I did that in about 8:40. By the second mile, I could definitely feel that I was running harder than normal. But that's okay, it's a race! My 5k time was 26:54, which I was very happy about. I decided my goal at that point was 54:00.

I was still passing people, but I couldn't tell if I was maintaining/increasing my pace or if others were just slowing down more than me. Once I reached mile 5, I could hear the announcer, so even though I desperately wanted to slow down at that point, I knew it was almost over. And yet, it seemed so far away. I remembered that the final 1.2 miles seemed awfully difficult last year, and the same thing happened this year! There were a couple of decent hills that I remembered, so I thought I was in the clear after that. But then there was one more big one. My watch said 50:00, so I knew that if I met my goal, there was just 4 more minutes of this to go. I pushed. I passed an 11 year old boy who was running with his dad, begging him to slow down (they did for the hill, and then they still beat me by 20 seconds :)). Mile 6 came and I gave it all I had, which didn't end up being a sprint, but something faster than what I had been running. I had to dogde 5K walkers who were finishing at the same time, which I found very annoying. And then, I finished!

Final chip time: 54:19 (8:45 pace).

I'm pretty pleased with how I ran this race. Although I had positive splits, the second half's pace was just 10 seconds slower than the first half. Considering the hills and the strong headwind, I don't think that's too bad. AND, I'm happy that I had raced hard enough that I didn't have the energy to sprint the last bit to the end. Even in my marathon, I sprinted to the finish. I'm glad that I had given it my all during this race and had nothing left over. And it's pretty awesome that I shaved 3:30 off my time from last year. :) Next year's goal: sub-50:00.

Well, I had the EXACT same experience as sensualedge: I mistakenly signed up for a 5 mi race thinking it was a 5k. So, I had never ran 5 miles prior to this race! Additionally, I live in Florida so we essentially have zero hills, and the race was in NY (where I am visiting family for Thanksgiving) so that was a bit different. There was one really big hill that I just walked. Otherwise, I pretty much ran the whole thing, dropping to a walk only a few times momentarily to catch my breath when necessary. My goal was 50 minutes or less, and I got 53:19, so I didn't quite make my goal but it wasn't terrible either.

Results: http://results.active.com/pages/oneResult.jsp?pID=70088093&rsID=87557

( Pic of me after I finished )

So I posted something about my injury last week, but I now have a clear diagnosis. Turns out it is multiple stress fractures in my femoral neck and my pelvis. I was training for a marathon when this happened, and it's been attributed to bone density and over training. Anyways, that's a pretty awful diagnosis because I am not allowed to run for 3-6 months, and I am an avid skier, and I won't be out this season either. The doctor told me I can start swimming, and I can bike after new years. So, my question is, has anyone dealt with this before? Any recommendations for excercise? I am on 1000 mg of Calcium a day also, any other recommendations for supplements?

I've got a serious charley horse (calves - I realize this term is used differently sometimes) problem. Growing up I had a few nocturnal charley horses that would wake me up screaming once in a while, but it's never been as frequent as lately. Recently it's been probably once a week. Sometimes when I'm sleeping, when I'm sitting down and studying, today in the car. It's never a result of running, but I can't help but feel like they're aggravated from all the running anyways. They're extremely painful and I'm really sick of suddenly being unable to stand... Pretty frequently. Anybody who has had these knows they're pretty painful...

Does anyone else have this problem? I drink more water than anyone could ever imagine, but potassium would be a serious consideration. Any other causes you could think of...? I need to fix this.

Also, happy Thanksgiving!

And... My mom decided to do Couch to 5K. The whole family has officially been converted.

So I signed up for what I thought was a 5k turkey trot. When I looked back at the website, it turned out it was 5 MILES not 5k (I am such a putz) which I had never run before.
Not to be discouraged, I decided to give it a go. I was so nervous and excited that I got to the race site 1 hour early which was good because it took me 45 mn to find a parking spot. I made it to the start line literally 3 minutes before the gun sounded. I decided to run at a slower pace than my usual (about 9.50 mn/mile) and see if I had enough endurance to finish. Since I never ran this distance before, I did not set any expectations time wise other than I wanted to finish.
To my surprise, I managed an 11 mn/mile pace only stoppping to walk for my water break. I finished in 55.13 minutes which may not be great but to me was awesome and a real confidence builder for my plans to run a 10k in the spring and a marathon some day (maybe next summer?).
I feel so great about finishing comfortably. Running has truly changed my life this year. I have lost 40 lbs and am close to reaching my target BMI of 25. My achilles heel is still hilly segments of the run where I really struggle. Any advice regarding how to improve there is appreciated. I credit my awesome girlfriend for getting my fat ass off the couch and encouraging me to run with her in 5k events which I thought I could never do.

To all you runners out there, happy thanksgiving and see you at the finish line!!!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Today I rolled out of bed and quickly searched for some water. You see, yesterday was by birthday! I turned the big two four and, long story short, finally crawled into bed around 2am.

I got up to great the thankful day around 7am and woke all the drifters in my apartment because it was RACE DAY! We were running the Smoke the Turkey 5K in Toledo, Ohio. We weren’t going for the gold or anything. We were just going to take it nice and slow. Having fun (and not vomiting) was the name of the game.

Since I am not sure what my friend’s stances are on me publishing their names on my blog publically, I will give them all nicknames to save trouble and make it easier for it all to be published when I get a book deal. Hint, hint.

Today’s key players were my best friend Phedre, her boyfriend Delta and my boyfriend Hoppie.

Phedre and I were going to be running and I strapped Hoppie with a camera and Delta was in charge of staying awake and alert. I wasn’t too sick or tired from my birthday celebrations, but I can’t say the same for my companions. They were a little green and annoyed by my perky race day mood.

I was the only one registered to actually run. My dearest Phedre was broke as hell and was a race day bandit. Boo and hiss all you want but $25 bucks was a stretch for her and she didn’t steal any food from paying runners. We ran together the whole time in awesome, silly hats. I was a mouse and my bandit was a bear. We got a lot of compliments on those hats even though they made no sense at all.

Anywho, it was a chipped race but I took my Garmin 305 anyway just to see how accurate it was. We started (but didn’t hear a gun….) and we took off. We stayed at a pretty constant 10 minute mile. Not at all race pace for me but it was fun to just run with a friend and have a blast. We ran through a few suburbs and there was a constant crowd. At 1500 people, it may be the largest 5k I have ever raced. There were great spectators and great runners. Everyone was cheering each other on. We were some of the loudest cheerleaders. There was always a smile on our faces and I am pretty sure it was contagious.

Note: To the guy in the Lions hat. When two people are running shoulder to shoulder it is usually considered BAD FORM to burst between us, put your hands on our shoulders, push us apart and spit out, “Excuse me!” You are lucky I was in a good mood.

Towards the end I told Pherde we had .2 miles to go and we rounded the corner chanting, “We got this! Almost there! Push it out!” We came around the final corner and I said, “You see that guy in the orange shirt? We are going to beat him. Go!” And we kicked to the finish. I then noticed that there were three people in front of us with orange shirts. I didn’t care. We sprinted like there was something chasing us. I grabbed my best friends hand and we crossed together like champs.

Mile 1: 9:49.12
Mile 2: 10:36.73
Mile 3: 10:03.49
.1 Mile: 1:19.37

Final time: 31:48
Chip time: 31:46

It was an amazing race and a great first Turkey Trot for me. I am gearing up for my brother to come back from Basic Training. He has challenged me to a 5K when he is home. He is going to smoke me. Must look into speed work… Happy holidays kids! Be thankful and merry!



x-posted to my blog

Looked through the memories section, but didn't see anything specific about anyone who uses some version of a hands free leash when they run with a dog.

My question is this - for those of you who do run with their dogs, and use a hands free leash - what kind do you use, and what do you think about it?

I've been researching on-line the various styles I can find from different manufacturers, and just have some serious hesitation about committing to one without getting some real life advice.

The top four I can find:

The Buddy System - appears to the simplest - and one of the cheapest, but how comfortable is this? I worry about the plastic clips and how sturdy they are if they are pulled unexpectedly and aggressively. I also worry about the width of the belt and chafing my sides or back.

Roamer by Ruff Gear - another inexpensive one, I just can't find much info about how it works. Doesn't appear that you can shorten in - am I wrong? The pictures on their site give me the impression that the leash is really long - longer than I prefer.

Larz Z-Hands Free - I think I like this one the best, but what concerns me is that while Google searching about where to buy this, I keep coming across entries asking how to take the company to small claims court. Doesn't give me much confidence. Their website doesn't seem have been updated in a few years either.

Cardio Canine - admittedly my least favorite of the bunch. I have no use for the water bottle, or the waist pouch, and it looks heavy with all of its clips. But it does look sturdy.

I've been running with my Little Black Dog for about 15 months now. Her name is Olive, and she's a 60 pound black lab - that's her in the userpic from last year's 12ks of Christmas - or like I prefer to call it, the Olive the Other Reindeer Run. Our longest runs so far have been in the 13 mile range, and I've used a regular hand held leash, but miss the arm pumping. I'd rather have something on my waist.

Any thoughts?

I ran the BCC Turkey Chase 10K today in Bethesda, MD, finishing with a chip time of 41:51 – this is a new PR for me, but I still think I have a lot of room to improve here – the course slowed me down some, and I also felt like I had a bit of an off day.

There’s no real reason not to have run faster – the weather was perfect, the previous rain should have cleared away all the pollen, I was well rested, and I ran a smart race. In short: no excuses -- some days are just faster than others. It’s the nature of the sport.( Read more... )

Good morning runners! HAPPY THANKSGIVING! Here's the daily training thread!

The only thing I'll be exercising today is the muscles in my jaw and stomach as I put away more food than some people eat in a week. I'm watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade right now and Meb is on a float that looks like the Statue of Liberty. I'll also be watching lots of football and college basketball until I pass out in a food coma sometime late this evening.

So what is everyone else doing today, training and otherwise?

I know it's a bit belated but GOOD LUCK to all the runners here taking part in that other great Thanksgiving tradition, the Turkey Trot. I can't wait to read all the triumphant race reports later.

Obvious question for today... What are you thankful for today (running-related or just in general, whatever you want to share)? Running-wise -- I'm exceedingly thankful for this community and all the awesome people I've had a chance to meet, and sometimes run with, over the past year or so at various races and places. It's definitely helped my running and motivation to run in so many, many ways. And I'm thankful for getting into the Brooks ID program this past summer because they make some shoes that really work for my feet and have helped me to some nice PRs this fall.

In lieu of a video today, check out this hilarious letsrun thread that porktruck awared me of yesterday.

ETA: I lied, there will be video. Enjoy:



GOBBLE GOBBLE... and HAPPY RUNNING!

Hey, I'm new to this community! I run cross country for my highschool and I absolutely love it! I am in my 5th year of running. I am about to run a 10 mile race on the alton river road on saturday, beautiful scenery and I can't wait!!! I'm gonna try to break an hour and 25 minutes! I would love to complete a marathon eventually, but I half to work up to a half marathon first, only 3 miles longer than the longest I have run!!!

I mostly run 3.1 mile or 5 k races, seeing as that is cross country distance for highschool. My p.r. is 20:25, and I hope to break 20 next year. Currently I am training for track, and I will probably run the 2 mile. My p.r. for that is 13:13 and I hold 2nd place on our school's record board for the 2 mile for indoor track.

That's all about me for now! I love to talk to people so send me a comment! Happy Thanksgiving!

Hi I'm new to this community. I just ran the Philadelphia Half Marathon on Sunday. It was my first half. My time wasn't amazing (2:31:10) but that's a PR for me! My next big race will be the Broad St Run in May.

I was wondering if anyone has some post-race recovery tips? How long should I wait before running again? (I took Monday and Tuesday off and I just started speed walking today).

Happy Thanksgiving!