I’d have to completely agree with my girl Hannah and her Friday Faves post: This week is all about TRACK, the glorious oval that I have a love/hate relationship with. (Concerning the title, those are tongue-in-cheek words of advice I’d tell my track teammates before they’d head out for their race – sort of like the theater version of “Break a Leg.”) Here’s what happened:
Last week, one of my favorite track studs Lauren Fleshman had her baby! And guess what? She wrote about it. Hint: It includes a jalapeño-induced labor. Read the rest – it’ll make you laugh, cry, and awww all at the same time.
It happens as rarely as this chick gets to the gym, but track is on TV this weekend! USA Nationals is on alllllll weekend long. Best. Birthday. Surprise. Ever. Here’s where to watch it.
If this title(s) doesn’t tickle your inner track geek, I don’t know what will. Also, this blog me to a T. Read it.
My hurdle walkover session with Hannah at Lehigh made it on RW’s Instagram. Shout out to my alma mater, say what?
Some other RW staffers and I attempted the Beep Test this week – people who refer to it as the “Bleep Test” are entirely accurate. I’d take track intervals over that any day of the week. (Stay tuned for the (probably very embarrassing) video.)
And finally, this isn’t track related, but JOIN US for Sunday’s #RunChat! Here are the deets:
QUOTE OF THE POST: Via Shalane Flanagan, who CRUSHED the USA National 10-K last night. Way to go! (Shameless plug – I’ve been making these “fancy quotes” for RW – tweet ’em, pin ’em, post ’em, what have you!)
It’s been almost two months since my last marathon. Believe it or not, all I can think about is running another dang marathon. I’ve been considering squeezing in the El Paso Marathon in my hometown between Disney and (hopefully) Boston. And thanks to twitter, I physically can’t avoid seeing everyone’s super inspring tweets about their races each weekend. (Oh and Spirit of the Marathon II literally made me want to go for a run right after the movie). Bahhh can’t Marine Corps come any faster?!? 129 days is way to far away. I’m in full-blown marathon withdrawal – it feels sort of like…taper crazies?
So with that said, here’s my not-mid-marathon-training-but-still-marathon-related post about what I call “26.2 trigger songs.” During a late-night convo with my roomie (check out her blog if you’re a fitness junkie – it’s awesome!), I realized that I have a song or two for each of my marathons that, whenever I hear it, reminds me of the race. For some, it’s a specific moment and I can picture it clearly. I’d bet I’ll forever associate those songs with each marathon. That’s why I call ’em trigger songs. Without further ado, here’s my playlist so far!
This came on around mile 24, and, despite the crazy amount of pain I was in, I began singing along, completely and entirely having a blast. Then I turned the corner away from the music and the hurt returned. Still, it carried me through some vital moments in that first, perfect marathon.
I will shamelessly admit that I LOVE this song. And yes, I’ll break into the dance whenever it comes on regardless of where I am. This race happened in the midst of the Gangnam craze, and it’s all Disney played all weekend long (except they bleeped out “sexy” in the chorus, so it was more like Heyyyyyyyyyyyyy…ladyyyyyyy – it was as awkward as it sounds). I danced to it in the pre-race tent, during the race, and even managed to eek out a few moves post-marathon despite my cramping legs. Way too much fun.
This came on around mile 10 (maybe?), and I’ll never forget seeing the sea of runners in front of me throwing their arms up in the air doing the dance while running. It’s such a classic song, and it was so fun seeing everyone do it in unison.
My brother is a boss at finding songs before they become mainstream and popular. This is one of them. He’d been playing it for me when I was home for Christmas, and I always think of him when it comes on. It played a lot between Hopkinton and Boston, and I smiled to myself every time – carried me through some tough miles! Love you (big) little bro!
Played by a tuxedoed man on a baby grand piano next to the Bixby Bridge, this echoed throughout the canyon at the halfway point of Big Sur. It’s by no means a “pump up” song, but given the breathtaking setting, it felt so right at that moment. And with all that happened at Boston and what this race signified because of that tragedy, this song brings me to tears without fail. I’ve heard the original Christina Perri version on the radio a couple times since then, and it instantly reminds me of how I felt in Boston and Big Sur. It’s an elegant, poignant song that makes those emotions bubble right back to the surface. Music has a way of doing that, huh?
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I’ll update this post as I do more marathons. No doubt each will have its own trigger song.
Tell me about your trigger song moments below!
QUOTE OF THE POST: “Some people create with words or with music or with a brush and paints. I like to make something beautiful when I run. I like to make people stop and say, ‘I’ve never seen anyone run like that before.’ It’s more than just a race, it’s a style. It’s doing something better than anyone else. It’s being creative.” – Pre
Lauren had her baby this week!!! Some people might care more about Kate Middleton’s baby, but RUNNERS care about Lo’s cutie pie, Jude: Congrats Lo and Jesse! Couldn’t be happier for ya!
There are few things we at RW care more about than running shoes and beer, which led to this tweet after our summer beer-tasting last week:
Beer-tasting with the @runnersworld crew means listening to coworker dorks hold forth on which beers pair well with which running shoes.
The fact that I kept up the #RWRunStreak by logging a mile in my apartment’s parking garage yesterday morning to avoid getting struck by lightning. Hells yes. Day 18!
We saw Spirit of the Marathon II on Wednesday! It was freakin’ awesome and basically, I need to run with those Italian cousins (and also just run in Rome in general). Kudos Jon!
Finally, I added a few photos to my About Me page from way back when. Check it out! =)
QUOTE OF THE POST: “Running is in my blood — the adrenaline flows before the races, the love/hate of butterflies in your stomach.” – Marcus O’Sullivan
My coworker ran 40 miles for his 40th birthday. If that’s not nuts, I don’t know what is. (But I won’t lie, I sorta, kinda want to run 23 for my 23rd in a few weeks!)
It’s day 12 of the RW Run Streak! Still going strong over here. Stay tuned for an update to my original post.
QUOTE OF THE POST: “There is no such thing as bad weather, just soft people.” – Bill Bowerman
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