by megrunnergirl

Friday Faves | Seriously Silly

Get ready, this week’s list is full of both silly (see #1) and serious (scroll down to the bottom!) blog posts and tweets. Have at it people:

And in this week’s selection of favorited tweets:

If you’re wondering why I posted the tweet above with Matt Long, read this and watch this, and prepare to be amazed, inspired, and moved by this man’s story.

QUOTE OF THE POST: “Whether you believe you can or believe you can’t, you’re probably right.” – Henry Ford

by megrunnergirl

Race Report | 2013 NYC Half

nychalfOn Tuesday, I made the last-minute decision to race Sunday’s NYC Half because heck, I’d be in the city anyway visiting friends, and I figured it would be a perfect pre-Boston training run. Plus, throughout this marathon build-up, my impatience for the big Beantown weekend has made me desperate to put my singlet and a bib on. (Side note: I’m seriously loving the fact that I’m beginning to want to race now. I used to dread race days because of the anxiety they would cause, but now all I want to do is cross every finish line I can get my feet on.)

After getting maybe three hours of sleep on Saturday night–thank you St. Patrick’s day for that brilliant decision!–I pulled myself out of bed, nibbled on a Picky Bar and tried to rehydrate a bit. My friends (who by the way are SO sweet because they got up early to take me to the start) and I hopped on the subway at 6:30 a.m. and arrived at the Central Park starting line just in time for the 7:30 gun. (I literally shed my layers, ran to my corral, hit up a porta-potty, and started the race, all within maybe ten minutes. Definitely NOT my usual pre-race routine, that’s for sure!)

The game plan for this race was to feel out the first few miles and go from there–if I felt good, I’d try to race it; if not, I’d settle in and enjoy the ride. Deep down I wanted to shoot for a PR. My fastest half is my first one I ran in Philadelphia in 2011. It was just after my cross country season ended, and my fitness from that got me a 1:35:01 finish time. I remember running a few sub-7:00 miles, and I wasn’t sure if I was at that level now. Regardless, nabbing a PR was on my radar. Why not go for it if the opportunity presented itself, right?

Sure enough, I actually felt pretty good. Despite having to weave through crowds for the first three miles, I easily hit 7:10ish pace, running through the 5K in 21:59. Central Park was absolutely stunning that early in the morning, which kept me happy and distracted. At this point, I decided to see if I could hold that pace for as long as I could.

ts2Once we finished a full six-mile loop through the park, we turned onto 7th Avenue. And holy wow was it breathtaking. The entire road was closed off for almost a mile, and I got chills taking in the view while I ran in the middle of the street between the towering buildings toward Times Square. For me, Times Square means insane chaos in the form of distracted masses of tourists and speeding taxi cabs. But this morning, the road was ours and the usual blaring NYC soundtrack was replaced with screaming spectators. I even got an unexpected shout-out from a friend on the sidelines! Needless to say, my pace picked up a bit, and I ran the fastest mile of the race.

The course then turned toward the Hudson River for a miles-worth of freezing headwinds before we started miles eight through 13 on the Westside Highway. This was my least favorite part of the course, but I was excited to still be (somewhat comfortably) hitting around 7:10 pace. The PR was becoming more and more of a possibility, so I turned my focus toward maintaining my pace for as long as I could. Around mile nine, I gave myself a recovery mile and eased up a bit because that speedy 7th Avenue mile was coming back to bite me in the a**. Thankfully, the slower mile paid off, and I was able to drop it back down to the low 7s at mile 10. Along the way, I caught a glimpse of the Statue of Liberty in the distance–how cool?!?–and we ran right beside the new Trade Center, which was a humbling experience to say the least.

When we reached mile 11, I did the math and figured out that I would be right at my PR if I ran 8-minute pace for the final 2.1 miles. I was still miraculously cruising along at 7:10 pace. A PR was definitely within reach. Talk about an awesome feeling.

I pushed the pace a much as I could for the final meters of the race and crossed the line in 1:33:31. I PR’d by exactly a minute and a half.

Post-race with the ever-incredible Kyle who graciously lugged my gear from the start to the finish. Thank you!

Post-race with the ever-incredible Kyle who graciously lugged my gear from the start to the finish. Thank you!

After the race, I spoke with my mom, and she pointed out that I was still able to have a great race despite not doing my usual, super-OCD pre-race routine. She reminded me of how in high school and college I used to get so anxious literally days before a race. I’d waste far too much energy on my nerves, and I’d freak out if I didn’t get in the proper warmup or eat the right thing. But today, all of that went out the window. I went into it with a “just get out, have fun and race if it feels right” attitude.  I ended up snagging my first PR in over a year.

Though I certainly don’t intend to repeat what I did yesterday, it’s nice to know that I can still race well even if some curveball gets thrown my way. Once again, I learned that having the right atitude about a race–especially in the final few days beforehand–plays SUCH a big role in its outcome. (This should be obvious, but as we all know, it’s an incredibly frustrating and hard lesson to learn.) Once the race starts, just focus on running. Go with how you feel at that moment, not how you think you should feel. (So what if I only got three hours of sleep? I actually felt smooth and fast!) Don’t sweat the small hiccups that you’ll inevitably experience because they’ll just weigh you down.

Overall, I’m SO happy I decided to run. The NYC Half is definitely in my top three road races I’ve ever done, and I’d highly recommend running it someday. Yesterday I realized that I’m in as good as, if not better, shape than I was in college. Now I’m even more pumped for Boston! Just 27 more days people! 27 DAYS!

QUOTE OF THE POST: “Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself. And that no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams.” – Paulo Coelho

by megrunnergirl

Friday Faves | Pies and Surprises!

In no particular order of importance (or on any scale whatsoever), here’s this week’s Friday Faves…just a teeny tiny bit late:

  • In what might be the sweetest (pun intended) use of social media ever, two sinfully delicious pies were delivered to my coworkers desk in celebration of Pi(e) Day. She tweeted that she wished we had pie at RW HQ, and not two hours later, @Stridebox had pies delivered to her desk. Long story short, this:

    lead to this:BFWEaNjCYAAZ_Q9Seriously. Read the whole story via Storify here.

  • For the ladies: Now I might be mistaken for a 12-year-old boy when it come to my chest, but this post titled “Have Boobs, Will Test Your Sports Bras” from Once Upon A (L)ime had me laughing literally every other line (and also made me grateful that I’m small). She’s my newest follow on my blog reader, and I can’t wait to read what else she has to say!
  • I added two races to my race calendar this week: the NYC Half on Sunday (stay tuned for a Race Report) and the Golden Gate Relay (I found out one of my legs goes over the Golden Gate Bridge! AHH!) Best. Surprise. Ever!
  • These still-so-freakin’-cool Flyknits left over from the paint-themed photo shoot for the Spring Shoe Guide:
  • “8. Running when all I want to do is eat and sleep and stay snuggled under a nice comfy blanket.” – from Shalane Flanagan’s post about 13 things she hates about running. She should pin Jordan’s tweet (below) up somewhere because it’s awesome. I should, too.
  • This video for the Boston Marathon Banner Day. Gives me chills! 30 MORE DAYS!

QUOTE OF THE POST: “I love this time of spring. It’s starting to get warm, the end of training is in sight (or at least the taper is), and I can practically smell the vaseline Boston feels so close. I’m so excited for you. There is nothing like the first Boston! It’s so much fun! We’re going to have a great time.” – in an email from my coworker, gazillion-time marathoner, and RW Challenge coach extraordinaire, Jen Van Allen

by megrunnergirl

Rediscovering Steve PREfontaine

photo-1Recently I’ve been inundated with all things Steve Prefontaine. It all started with this seriously epic Pre stop sign that our art director created for a feature in the April 2013 issue of RW (pick up a copy and read it because it’s really, really good). My coworker then interofficed me his copy of Pre with instructions to finish it before the Boston Marathon. After getting over a (teeny tiny) obsession with the TV show Friday Night Lights, I dove right in.

The book satisfied every fiber of my inner #runnerd. It covered details from his entire career, clarifying the scope of his impressive and inspirational dominance in the sport. Because I was born nearly 20 years after his death, Pre has always been quite literally the stuff of legends. Like any other runner, I know his most famous quotes by heart. And yes, I was one of those geeks that had a poster of him in my dorm room at college. (Click here to see proof. It’s above the TV.) He’s one of the most enduring running idols ever, but I never really knew why.

I learned A LOT about Pre from reading the book. But what struck me was how genuinely normal he was. Here are my three passages that struck me the most:

  • “Before any race, Pre would always say how he didn’t feel good and didn’t want to run,” teammate Steve Bence recollects. “No matter where the race was or how important it was, he was saying, ‘Aw, I wish I wasn’t running; I don’t think I’m going to run well…’ Then he’d go out and run like heck.” The self-doubt that plagues most runners–even Steve Prefontaine–quickly disappeared after the challenge had been met and conquered. – Even Pre, who won 78 percent of his outdoor track races, got pre-race anxiety. That’s something to remember when I’m freaking out before a race.
  • …it hadn’t been all that long since the time Prefontaine was out on an easy-day road run with the then-freshmen Terry Williams, Dave Taylor, and several others. It was supposed to be a relaxed 10-miler, but one runner took off and disappeared, which nettled Pre to no small degree. So near the end of the run, when Taylor and Williams started to pick it up, it was too much for Pre. He caught up with the two of them, grabbed each by the shoulder and started screaming that there was no way they would ever make it, that they were both going to burn out so fast. – He might’ve gotten up every morning at 6 a.m. for a run (often his first of two for the day), but he knew how to train in moderation. Take your easy days easy, and leave the hard efforts for workout days.    
  • Training was not always all that much fun, as Pre himself admitted. “It really gets grim until the competition begins,” he once said. “You have to wonder at times what you’re doing out there. Over the years, I’ve given myself a thousand reasons to keep running, but it always comes back to where it started. It comes down to the self-satisfaction and a sense of achievement.” – Like Pre, figure out why you love to run, write it down or post it where you can see it often, and remind yourself of those reasons when you’re struggling to pull yourself out of bed for a run or hurting in the middle of a workout.
photo

Thanks Bart Yasso for introducing me!

What capped off the book were the parts about Pre’s relationship with Frank Shorter. [Fair warning: This will likely sound very silly/obvious/cliche/dumb, but I get pretty intrigued by weird connections like this.] I met Frank and Bill Rodgers at the Falmouth Road Race last year and watched them speak on a panel. I also ran into both of them at the hotel at the Walt Disney World Marathon. But I didn’t realize then was that Frank was Pre’s close friend and training partner. He was also the last person to see Pre alive. (Pre dropped him off right before the accident). When I finished the book, I couldn’t wrap my brain around the fact that I’d met (and spoken to, and shaken hands with) someone who knew Pre. [Cue the obvious!] Pre was very much a real person. That’s what I call crazy bonkers.

Immersing myself in the seven-time American record holder’s life added color to my previously hazy perception of Pre. I now appreciate his words that have been plastered on runners’ walls for years; they no longer seem cliche, which makes them all the more inspirational and moving.

If you’re in need of a little motivation, I’d highly recommend geeking out a bit with Pre. It’s worth it. (And yep, I’ll be watching Without Limits this weekend, and I’d bet money that I’ll be in tears at the end!)

P.S. Here’s the opening spread of the Runner’s World article. Pretty sweet, huh?

photo-2

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

by megrunnergirl

Friday Faves | From the Twitterverse

For this edition of “Friday Faves,” I pulled a few of my “favorited” tweets from this week:

QUOTE OF THE POST: “For me, running is a lifestyle and an art.  I’m far more interested in the magic of it than the mechanics.” – Lorraine Moller

by megrunnergirl

A Reality Check in the Form of Bootcamp

On Monday, I got guilt-tripped into attending a bootcamp session that my work put on during lunch. To be honest, I really wasn’t in the mood to display my glaring lack of upper-body strength (my coworkers and I liken our flimsy limbs to those on windsock men) and coordination to the world, not to mention I haven’t lifted in almost a year. But heck, hadn’t I just knocked out a super-hilly 20-miler last weekend? Bootcamp should be a piece of cake compared to that…Man was that logic flawed.

For warmup, we had to do bear crawls while dodging rabbit poo. Awesome.

For warmup, we had to do bear crawls while dodging rabbit poo. Awesome.

Not 10 minutes into the strength segment of the class, my air-squat-induced screaming quads and already-fading biceps and triceps thanks to endless sets of push-ups had me silently directing a steady stream of obscenities at our instructor. Say what now? You want us to do another set of mountain climbers and push-ups? I can’t even hold the plank position anymore! I mumbled to my coworker that I’d do mile repeats over this any day of the week. Adding insult to injury, we mixed in sets of step-ups and bench dips.

To cap off the session, the instructor challenged us to 200 air squats, 100 push-ups, and 50 burpees to divide between groups of two. Say what now?!? I stood there a little dumbfounded at the prospect of 50 push-ups after the already intense session we had just completed. But ahh alright, alright. Challenge accepted.

See that? Yeah, it was "soul-crushing."

See that? Yeah, it was “soul-crushing.”

My partner and I powered through the air squats–thank God for Pennsylvania’s crazy, quad-strengthening hills–but we were reduced to girly push-ups almost instantly. And forget any semblance of proper form when it came time for the burpees. We were the very definition of “weaksauce,” a term my younger brother would use to describe our pathetic efforts.

After the workout, my coworker encapsulated my dejected and dizzy thoughts perfectly: That bootcamp reminded me of how truly one-dimensional many runners are when it comes to strength. (My editor tweeted this, too: “Watching the workout, you could definitely tell the regular cross-trainers from the run-run-runners.”)

Well, I’m definitely a run-run-runner, that’s for sure.

On Tuesday, I woke up to a level of soreness that almost rivaled post-marathon pain, and it has persisted until now. I still can’t get up or sit down without wincing. I’ll admit that I’ve spent a good amount of time complaining about how insane and ridiculous that bootcamp was since Monday, but the nagging aches had me wondering if upper-body strength training really is all that important for runners. I totally understand the need for a strong core, but what does it matter if my arms can’t bench more than 50 pounds? I can get by without lifting, right?

Wrong.

I tweeted this to my followers: How often do you work on upper-body strength? Do you think it’s important for running? and the first response I received was this –

And this:

I knew deep down that I would probably get replies like these, but to get one from an elite runner like Lauren–who obviously knows what she’s talking abou–pretty much lit the fire under my (currently very sore) butt to seriously think about adding in some strength work. Since I’m so close to Boston, I don’t want to try anything new now that could mess up my training. But once April is over and there aren’t any major races on the horizon, I think this could be the perfect summer project. (So I don’t forget, I wrote it down for my May goal of the month in my Believe I Am journal.) Hopefully writing it down will make it happen!

Who knows, lifting might just be the missing piece I need toward breaking into the 3:1X’s!

Here’s what others had to say on Twitter:

QUOTE OF THE POST: “To be a good runner, you must first be a good athlete.” – Jay Johnson 

by megrunnergirl

Friday Faves | A Little Bit Of Everything

Although this week’s list is a little all over the place, it includes a bit of humor, sportsmanship, motivation, and inspiration:

  • In what might be the worst (and most hysterical) interview ever, a TV anchor asks Mo Farah if he’s ever run before after his win at the Rock ‘n’ Roll New Orleans Half-Marathon:
    If you think this is funny, check out this post created by my boss, Mark Remy. It takes the clip to a whole new level.
  • RW’s “Big Guy” blogger Ted Spiker wrote a short but sweet post about race-day perspective that even includes a nifty graphic. Head over and check it out!
  • Though it isn’t running related, this clip about a high school basketball player is a heartwarming example of an incredible act of sportsmanship, and it is worth sharing. What makes it especially cool is that I went to Franklin High School. I’m definitely a proud Cougar alum! Watch it:
  • This made me want to lace up and run, even though it was almost 9 p.m., via my Boston Bound, Steamtown Marathon racing buddy @WhitRunsThis: large
  • A good daily reminder, via Believe I Am: 480677_470756076312426_312079256_n
  • Love this. That is all.

‎QUOTE OF THE POST: “I’ve learned that finishing a marathon isn’t just an athletic achievement. It’s a state of mind that says anything is possible.” – John Hanc

by megrunnergirl

Friday Faves | (Run Nerdy) Graphics and Photos Galore!

This week was chock-full of motivational, inspirational, hysterical, (am I missing any other words that end in -al?) graphics and photos. Here are my favorites:

QUOTE OF THE POST: “I learned, one, you shouldn’t ever quit. And I learned, two, you’ll never be able to explain it to anybody.” – Jim Ryun

Read my other Friday Faves posts here. 

by megrunnergirl

That’s It, I’m Putting My Foot Down!

It’s a bit early for my February recap, but…

This month has been too darn full of excuses – I forgot to plan ahead, I’m tired from yesterday’s trip to NYC, I’d rather do an easy run than that scheduled workout, I need the extra rest day, I’ll do it tomor…ENOUGH! Enough, enough, enough.

Whenever I bail on a workout or a core session, I get this bitter taste in my mouth and it lingers until I get myself back on the road again. Yuck. It never fails. February was my first month trying to follow a training plan to prepare for Boston, and I’ll admit, I’ve done an absolutely crappy job following it so far. Rather than finding ways to fit in each key workout, I’ve found excuses to justify skipping them. It has been an unusual month, but just because I’ve been thrown a few curveballs doesn’t give me a free pass to let my training go all willy nilly. What happened to getting serious about Boston?

Not to mention my February Believe I Am goal is to get into the habit of doing more core. To make it more obvious in my journal, I’ve decided to highlight any core/yoga session in pink.

Do you see much pink this month?picstitch

No? Yeah, I don’t see much either. Grrrrrr…

So, because it worked so well last December, I’m self-imposing a “run streak” to get myself back on track. Since I’m in marathon training, I’m modifying it because rest is important: rather than running at least a mile every day, I’m requiring myself to do at minimum 15 minutes of core on every rest day and (at the very least) a plank session 5 times per week. I’m not allowed to take two rest days in a row – that’s when the laziness really starts to kick in – and ALL scheduled workouts need to happen. Period.

I’m not giving up all hope on my ability to follow a training plan, and I have an itching suspicion that the structure itself has me rebelling against it. But that doesn’t mean I can’t work find a happy medium. If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again, right?

Here’s to a strong finish to February and an even stronger March!

QUOTE OF THE POST: “The only thing standing between you and your goal is the bullshit story you keep telling yourself as to why you can’t achieve it.” –  Jordan Belfort 

by megrunnergirl

Friday Faves | Reasons Why I Love Running

In honor of Valentine’s Day (I’m sorry, I had to give in to the chiche cheesy-ness!), this week’s list touches on some of the reasons why I LOVE to run:

  • My quirky and super-clever boss Mark Remy writes some seriously brilliant blogs every week (check it out here), but this one from Monday is one of my all-time favorites: “The Most Important Word In Running”
  • Fellow Sister in Sport chica Morgan (@MoHoSjo) ran a speedy indoor 3K this past weekend and wrote a recap that made my feet literally itch to get back on the track. On running her PR: “A new PR flashes on the screen and I take in a long sweet drag of doing something that I have never done before…In the past I would run a PR and immediately begin thinking ahead to what I needed to run next. I absorb the moment, allow the endorphins to keep me up smiling all night, and I am delighted with the possibilities on the horizon but content with things as they are.” – Read the rest of “Breaking Speed Limits” here.
  • Here’s the most brilliant use of halftime during a basketball game ever:  
          Read more about the halftime mile at the University of Portland here.
  • This awesomeness via @TheRunnerProbs:
    BCykt8NCUAAVhZT
  • And also this via @ihaverun:life is like a marathon
  • Even though Valentine’s Day is SO NOT my holiday (and that I’m a day late now), I have to share this runner-inspired Valentine’s Day gift guide via Running For Dummies – “How To Win Her Running Heart”. A sneak peek:

    giftguide

    I NEED those undies!

QUOTE OF THE POST: “Running has always been a relief and a sanctuary—something that makes me feel good, both physically and mentally. For me it’s not so much about the health benefits. Those are great, but I believe that the best thing about running is the joy it brings to life.” – Kara Goucher

What do you love about running?