This year I moved from a place that basically didn't have a winter, to a new home at 4000+ feet where our first snow hit at the beginning of October. I'm settling into my new environment, and looking into the baffling array of running related equipment to help out with the weather. Hat and gloves, yes, but gaiters? Balaclavas? Tights? Whoa...I used to look for clothing that would keep me as cool as possible, now I'm wondering how to keep my nose from falling off. :-)

So, I've had a recommendation for under armor tights; what else do you consider a must have for cold weather running?

So I blogged about it already (here), but something unusual and fantastic happened to me on my run today!

NOTHING HURT!

I have been having a terrible time with my right shin and my left knee lately, but neither of them bugged me on my 4 miler (my long run, haha... I love short weeks!). Yesterday for my 4 miles, my right shin was horrible. Today: nothing at all. It was lovely!

I also ended up running without socks. They kept falling off my heels and into my shoes and that just wasn't going to happen for the next 30 minutes. It was weird running sockless. It was nice, because my feet got a nice breeze... but I never realized before just how much dirt/sand gets in my shoes. Ick! :P

Hope everyone's runs today went well, too! :D

Rock and Roll Vegas is two weeks from today. PF Chang Rock and Roll in Phoenix is eight weeks from today.

I know that there are some of us who are doing one or both of them. How about a runners get together at these races?

After two weeks of just feeling numb and replaying what happened in my mind, and being angry and blaming myself, then the stupid driver, then the person who designed the intersection, then everyone, then concluding that life just sucks... I've at last come up with a mantra that will keep me going:
( Read more... )

Hi everyone

I'm back from a cool trail race (yeah, the feminist thingy, although still no woman entered the longer distance)

I decided to do the medium distance trail run, which according to the race info was 20 air kilometers, so definitely more than that actually.
The race itself was closer to orienteering, as there wasn't a set course, just checkpoints and punchcards(what are those called?) The weather was a bit gloomy, very thick fog everywhere(which did not clear up), everything dripping wet from the huge humidity, but it wasn't very cold.

Just a handful of women appeared at the start, so I was hoping they weren't all fast and I would not come in last. The "marathon" started first, the we were sent off together with the shortest distance runners. We were already up on a big hill, so the first part was downhill in a deep carpet of fallen leaves, totally wet and slippery with tons of rocks of different sizes underneath, but loved it! I was zooming down like crazy :) Passed a guy who seemed to have rolled his ankle, (stopped to ask if he was okay, of course) but he caught me not much later and we ended up running the whole thing together. It was nice! Also met another girl at the first big uphill part, where we chose to attack the hill straight up, taking the shortest possible way, almost vertical uphill on the side of the mountain, that is. IT.WAS.HARD. ...and very long...I was dying, but of course, did not show a thing of it :) When we finally reached the top there was a narrow, rocky path passing huge rock formations, then - huge relief! - some downhill again. I love running downhill on trails! At one part I was going way too fast and did not notice the muddy patch in front of me in time, and could not avoid stepping into the mud. The very second the water came in through the mesh on my shoes, I realized I had forgotten to bring another pair of shoes to change into...damn!

We cruised on, up and down hills, in ankle deep leaves, through mud, bushes whatever. Luckily, we didn't get lost and managed to find the almost ideal route (i.e. the shortest). The other girl took a pit stop and we didn't see her again(turns out she got lost a bit)
There was another major uphill section, then a muddy part and some level road to the finish. We got a cup of tea and that was it :)

As I was sitting there, chatting with friends, a friend rushes in and says with a huge smile: You'd better wait for the awards, because you're third among women! (there were no age groups) I was so happy! Then the awards ceremony started, they called the short distance first, then ours and they did not call me. The lady who was announced third had already left. I was disappointed, but first thought my friend had been wrong about the info. He was kind enough to check it and ask the organizers and turned out I WAS third. They messed up the times. So I got my awards, a medal and sports bag. Yay!

Timewise: ~20K, technical trail, 900meters elevation gain --> 177minutes (first woman came in at 122)

( Hardware :) )

I ran the Cranberry Crawl 5K this morning in Alexandria, VA. Since I have another race on Thanksgiving (on a tough 10K course), and I need a lot of time to recover from a true race effort, I ran this as a tempo run, rather than an out and out race, to save myself for Thursday (I was running the race because it’s part of a year-long series, and I’m currently in the lead for my division). My time ended up being 20:22, for second place female, and I was pretty happy with how easy the effort was for the time. ( Read more... )

Today I ran my first 10km race. The Fort Lewis Turkey Trot. My family drove down from Vancouver, Canada to visit and I ran the race with my 17 year old brother. It was rainy at the beginning but stopped and turned out to be a decent race. I started out too fast with sub 8min miles and just couldn't keep that pace. I ended with a time of 50:02. So close to beating 50minutes! I'm happy with my first 10km race and know what I need to improve on. I just get so easily distracted by other runners and people passing me that I get into this competition mode and think how dare you pass ME.

( Because everyone loves pictures )

Hi!

I have been running three times a week for a while getting my way through the Couch to 5K program - however I have come down ill with some icky cold/flu which means I haven't been able to run for a week and am not quite ready to start again yet.

I'm wondering what level I should start at when I do go back? Before I was ill I had literally just started week four. Should I start again from there?

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

My first (of potentially up to two) weeks of no running and eating a ton of crap is drawing to a close. I'll be looking for a bed today, because mine died last night (it was an air bed, when I told my mom this morning she immediately told me to stop having rough sex, yuuuup). I'll also be watching a lot of college football (GO HUSKERS!) and drinking some Dogfish Head Chicory Stout (yum!).

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

I heard this yesterday, it's from Vampire Weekend's yet-to-be-released new album and it, like most of their songs, makes me happier than I have any right to be:



Discuss... and HAPPY RUNNING!

Kel-Tec p32, $250.

Tiny, thin, light weight, inexpensive. It's not the best round for self defense, but it's way more demotivating than pepper spray. It kicks a lot though, because of how light it is.

I once had mine in an inside tuxedo pocket during a wedding. There is a clip you can attach to it to clip into your pants - looks like a folding knife. There's also a lanyard to wear it around your neck. One time I was walking through a mall with a friend, and he asked where it was. I replied "In my left hand." - in my pocket.

Pull the trigger before you lose the option.

I really wish people smaller than me didn't have to worry about their physical security so much, but if people know that runners in your area carry guns, people won't attack runners.



"To my mind it is wholly irresponsible to go into the world incapable of preventing violence, injury, crime, and death. How feeble is the mindset to accept defenselessness. How unnatural. How cheap. How cowardly. How pathetic." - Ted Nugent

.. I think I have shin splints, but only on my left leg. I started feeling a twinge on Monday, ran on Tuesday (hey, it felt fine after a few steps..), took Wednesday and Thursday off, ran yesterday (no pain at first - and then, lots of pain three miles in), and when I was supposed to do a 12-miler today, I ran two.

At first I just thought it was a stiff muscle, because it hurts on the inside of my left leg (just below the calf) on the "extension" part of walking - like, when my foot hits the ground and I go to push up and extend the leg to take a step, it hurts. But when I run, it also hurts on impact, more toward the front of the leg, which makes me think it's shin splints.

Sigh.

I'm running a 10k next week, a half in December, and a full marathon in January. I don't want to take time off! But I also don't want to get a worse injury.

I can think of two possible causes:
1) I changed shoes, from sorta-stability Brooks to neutral Brooks (I overpronate)
2) Have been consistently increasing my mileage with marathon schedule

I'm going to switch back to my old shoes for a little while, but I don't want to have to take any more days off than I have to! How long do you typically rest shin splints? Any exercises you'd recommend for ankles, shins, or calves?

:(

Amy Poehler's 10 Favourite Moments of Parks and Recreation (with clips)

"Parks and Recreation" has been on a real hot streak this fall. It's consistently been the best of NBC's Thursday comedies, and I'd go so far as to call it the best comedy airing on TV right now.

Unfortunately, not enough people are watching the hilarity, perhaps scared off by the show's bumpy beginnings last spring. So I enlisted "Parks and Recreation" star Amy Poehler to pick her favorite moments so far on the series.

(I like to hear her thoughts on the scenes, it's neat to know what was improvised and what she's really proud of.)

From the same site is a review of last night's episode HERE that compares Parks and Recreation to The Office.

So I have been training for the Phoenix Rock n Roll marathon in January. I recently had to stop running due to hip pain (so bad I am limping when I walk). I went to a doc and he suspects a stress fracture on the femoral neck, which is a pretty grim diagnosis. I am not allowed to run, swim, nothing until I see him again for x-rays on Wednesday. So, my question, does anyone have any experience with stress fractures in the hip and have an idea how long I might be out? I am a skier too, so I seriously fear this ruining ski season.

Hello friends. I know that I've been neglecting all of you lately, but I'm currently working 3 jobs. One of them involves using a high-power pressure washer to wash shit and straw off of livestock trailers and speaking with my coworkers in Spanish, one involves mixing mortar, carrying large stones (5-60lbs) and smoothing and finishing joints on a chimney and the third involves a very serious DISCOUNT ON RUNNING SHOES!!! (No, really, I'm putting my engineering degree to excellent use!) I'll be working about 15 hours a week at the Sport Chek in Stratford, ON and I'm super excited! All of the other people in sales are teenagers so I'm gonna kick their butts in numbers (it's not commission, I just want to beat the kids) and use my entire paycheck every week to buy new runners!!!

Also, I went in for x-rays today to see if I have a stress fracture in my right foot/ankle. The radiologist told me that it'll be about a week before my doctor gets the results. I've only gone running once since my marathon and it was so painful that I didn't go again. I'm giving it 5 weeks to heal (which, I figure, is enough to heal pretty much any ailment from stress fracture to sprain) and then I'm starting to train for my 50k that's in March.

To all of you who have had stress fractures, how did you know you were injured? When I first got injured I was playing dodgeball with my students and I jumped up to celebrate our win and when I hit the ground my left ankle couldn't handle it and just gave out under me. That doesn't really sound like a sprain to me. I almost hope that it IS a stress fracture because I was trying to make small talk with the technician and her response when I asked if they see many stress fractures was that they're really rare and she almost never gets any. I read somewhere that they often don't show up in x-rays though, even when one is present.

I was looking at some of the Iron Girl stats from the past two years. I thought them to be interesting.

               ten mile        five kilometer
Category    2008    2009       2008      2009
Avg time  1:41:15  1:40:07    40:02     39:49
1st place 0:58:45  1:03:27    19:15     19:15
Last pl.  2:27:31  2:45:00  1:55:17   2:08:38
Finishers     686      622     1010       781

There was one runner in my AG in the 10-mile last year; her time was 2:01:00. I was the only runner in my AG this year; my time was 2:05:08.

None of the seven runners in the 5K in my AG last year ran the 5K this year, and I was the only one of the seven to run the 10-mile this year.

This year's 5K winner in the AG would have come in 6th last year, and last year's last place finisher in the AG would have come in 3rd this year. There were six runners in the AG this year

I got my race photos from the Chilly Half Marathon yesterday, and although I NEVER order race photos, I ended up purchasing a few of these. I'm so excited because I don't have any running pictures! In the 14 years I've been racing, these are the only pictures of me running that actually look good. In all others I'm either doing something disgusting, making a terrible face, or look like I want to kill someone. I believe these photos were taken around mile 10 after three pitstops, I was finally feeling better and trying to make up for lost time.
( two pictures under cut )
X-posted to _gatecrasher_

My kid sister (she's 64 years old) asked me for advice on how to get started running. We live on opposite sides of the country, and haven't seen each other in about ten years, but I know that she has a bad back and is severely overweight.

I told her to start by jogging 15 seconds, followed by walking for a minute, and repeating that until 20 minutes have elapsed, and that she should do it three times a week, with a day off after each time.

I added that if she can't do it for 20 minutes, not to worry, but to keep at it until she's able to do it for 20 minutes for three days. Then to increase it to 30-second jog and a one-minute walk for 20 minutes. After she is able to do that three days in a week, I'll tell her what to do next.

I plan to gradually work her up to the point where she can do the first week of the Couch to 5K program, and then put her on it.

Good morning, runners!

It's finally the weekend, and I couldn't be happier. Yesterday's "hopefully I will cross-train and lift" became "help, I am imprisoned in developmental biology lab and I never want to see another aphid ever again." Luckily, this was mitigated by a delicious Thanksgiving dinner at the dining hall.

What are your running plans? What are your weekend plans? As soon as I get off of work, I plan on high-tailing it off of campus, where I can pretend that my homework doesn't exist. (Lalalala, can't hear you) I think we're going to try to hit up the Fridays after Five special at the Baltimore Aquarium - admission is only $8 after 5pm on Fridays, and you still have three hours to explore before closing!

Have a great weekend and happy running!