September 2012
3 posts
IF YOU WANT TO RUN THE NYC MARATHON, OR KNOW SOMEONE WHO DOES, GIVE ME A SHOUT!
In other news… I’m heading to Philadelphia tomorrow to run the Rock ‘n’ Roll half marathon on Sunday. This was one of my favorite races last year—had such a fun weekend involving, but not limited to, the requisite post-race cheesesteaks and night-before beers outside by a fire!
Beers + Mizzou...
Looking back on my first triathlon, this past Saturday, I realize that I dealt with my anxiety by simply ignoring it. I was totally clueless about whether I’d be able to run with my Achilles soreness, but I figured it wasn’t worth worrying about—I’d just see if I could run when it came time to run. And there were so many unknowns about the swim (what it’d be like to swim in...
Lake George Triathlon!
I’ll write a full race recap tomorrow but right now will just say…
3:23:38—I finished and am officially a triathlete!
August 2012
13 posts
So I’ve been most nervous about the swim of the Lake George Triathlon (I’ll be doing it in THREE DAYS, eek), but yesterday I had a scare that made me question the run as well. (And that is NO GOOD—running is my thing, and I was supposed to make up for my super-slow swim on that leg!)
I went out for a jog yesterday morning, and my Achilles felt about the same as it did during the Color...
we are doing a triathlon in five days. Gulp.
That was the subject line of an email my friend Anna just sent me. Yep, she’s going the tri with me on Saturday. She’s actually done triathlons before, so I don’t know why she’s nervous! I rode my bike yesterday and this morning and am going to get in another swim and maybe a run or two before race day… in FIVE days…?
I basically went completely against what I...
It happened
I officially got nervous about my first tri, which is taking place in eight days (WTF?!).
I was nervous when I first signed up. But then I had a strong swim the next day and started reading up on transition tips and stuff and felt all excited about it. I didn’t even realize I was worried. Until about 3 a.m. last night—at which point I woke up and had a mini panic attack in my bed.
There...
Respect the triathlon
I can’t remember whom, but I recently heard someone say, “Respect the marathon.” Or maybe I read that in a quote. But either way, it stuck out to me. When you’re running a lot and have several races on the calendar, it’s easy to get in a mindset that running 26.2 miles is no biggie. Which is just dumb. Even if you’re just running for fun and have no particular...
I had a good brick workout last night: Rode 14 miles, then ran 5. And felt really strong. Major confidence booster! But I wasn’t really concerned about the bike and run anyway. The swim, on the other hand… Yeah, I went to swim this morning and felt much less confident.
I met with a triathlon coach, Scott Berlinger of Full Throttle Endurance. Scott developed a tri training plan for...
If only I could run as fast as my train of...
I have a really short attention span. No really. I think it’d be fascinating to study the things I find on the Internet in the course of a day and map out the train of thought that led me to them.
I was doing some prelim research for a story I want to pitch to Outside magazine and somehow ended up at this craft blog Make It and Love It. And found these cute headbands:
I’ve been...
Saturday morning, I got in 14 miles in my new Brooks shoes. It’s my first time trying Ghost—I usually get Glycerin, but Ghost was on sale, so figured why not. They felt good. I kind of prefer Mizunos, for how lightweight and snug around my feet that they feel, but it’s pretty great to step into some Brooks after I’m used to Mizunos; it’s like running in a cloud!
I stayed...
Well, luckily, I had a good swim this morning to wipe that memory of the sucky swim on Tuesday from my brain. After a swim-pull-kick warmup, I did intervals of 25 yards hard, 25 easy. Then did 200 yards of pull at steady effort in between to break it up and some kick to cool down. I didn’t go all that long (I think 1,200 yards total), but I felt strong and fast (for me) during it. So it was...
A Runner's Belief →
I found this NYTimes article a few days ago and really liked it. Beyond Ryan’s explanation of how he’s training by faith, without a traditional coach, reading how other athletes weighed in is interesting. I especially love the quote from Kara Goucher: “He believes in what he is doing. As an athlete, that is everything. If you don’t, it’s a disaster.”
And I LOVE this photo...
In the past, before I bit the bullet and signed up for the Lake George Triathlon, I often said that I didn’t think I really wanted to commit to doing a tri—because I already run quite a bit, and adding regular biking and swimming to the schedule seemed like, well, more than I wanted to do. And now that I’m doing it, I can confirm that yes, it is more than I want to do.
haha, okay, no...
July 2012
3 posts
After work last night, I went to Paragon Sports near Union Square to try some on tri gear. I initially thought I’d buy a tri suit, despite the fact that it would mean shelling out at least $150-ish for a garment I might wear only once (if I hate the race and vow never to do one again). But I think I’ve decided to get tri shorts and a top instead—so in the event that I do hate the race...
I'm finally gonna give it a tri!
I’ve been really bad about blogging here lately. For one thing, summer is crazy-busy. But mostly, I just haven’t felt like I’ve had anything all that worthwhile to say.
But I’m going to commit to writing more for at least the next month—because a few weeks ago, I threw caution to the wind and signed up for my first triathlon. I’d been thinking of it for a few years,...
Warming up for race season…
So, we’re training now? Apparently! I’m running the Marine Corps Marathon in October, followed by Kiawah Island again in December, and I guess MCM is 16 weeks away. I don’t even have a schedule yet; my friend Bailey is creating one for me. (I am counting on him to help me BQ again this fall. If I don’t, it’s on him! You heard it here first.)
I don’t have a...
June 2012
1 post
Long time, no blog
It’s National Running Day, so I figured this deserves a post (even though I neglected to write a single one after the spectacular-ness that was the Cape Cod Ragnar, and after the Brooklyn Half Marathon, AND after last weekend’s crazy-intense four-hour bike ride to the hellish hills of Palisades Park in Jerz).
This morning, I celebrated the day with a 6-mile run along the Hudson. It...
May 2012
1 post
Ragnar, here we come!!
So I’m running a Ragnar relay race in Cape Cod this weekend. My friend Meredith and I started talking about it last fall; hard to believe it’s finally here!
Tonight after work, our team of 12 (plus two drivers) will load into two huge-ass vans and make our way up there. I seriously don’t know how all of our gear is going to fit into two vans: When you have to bring clothes to...
April 2012
6 posts
My alarm went off this morning, and I considered just going back to sleep. The Ride to Montauk isn’t for another two months, so, I reasoned, there’s no real rush to start riding yet. Last summer I completed the Ride after having my bike only two weeks. Okay, so that was a ROUGH experience, and I’d like to be much more ready for it this year and be able to enjoy it more. Yet even...
WatchI’m going to Boston this weekend to see a Bosox game but—much MORE IMPORTANT!—to see some friends run the marathon on Monday! Bailey, one of my best friends from high school, plus my roomie, Greg (running with charity), plus my Ragnar relay race teammate Andy (running as a guide with Achilles), will all be toeing the start line Monday morning. I can’t wait to see them on the course and...
Tips to get the most benefit out of intervals →
By yours truly.
Thinking about how to tackle the easy downtime between the hard parts of speed workouts has always intrigued me (is it okay to just stand there, or do you HAVE TO keep jogging?)… so I pitched this piece to Men’s Fitness. Let me know what you think!
Caballo Blanco found dead →
Just read this on runnersworld.com. (It’s from yesterday, so maybe it’s old news.) If you’ve read Born to Run, you’re familiar with the man known as “white horse.” If you haven’t read it, you should. Even if you’re not a runner.
Here’s another piece about him. I love the first line: “Go out and run for ‘Caballo Blanco’...
March 2012
7 posts
It was very hard to get up this morning. Outside was gray and foggy, and my bed was cozy. But a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad thought about putting on a bikini in just a few months popped into my head—yikes—and I no longer could deny the fact that I needed to go for a run. So I pulled myself out of bed, pulled on clothes, and got in a quick 3.5 miles (fueled by Robyn and old-school...
Registered!
MCM, here I come! Again!
And guess I am lucky, because it filled up in 2 hours 41 minutes—apparently the fastest sell-out in U.S. marathon history. Insane.
I had a dream last night...
That’s both the title of a kickass Butthole Surfers’ song from the Romeo and Juliet soundtrack (Juliet is up in heaven, a pocket full of pills)… and ALSO what actually happened while I was sleeping. And MY dream was about….
Running a marathon!
Dream me was like, “Sweet, now I’ve run SEVEN marathons!” And wouldn’t you know, I had this dream on the...
February 2012
5 posts
I swear, the past few mornings that I’ve gotten up to run or hit the gym before work, it’s felt like spring. No, it’s still not quite warm enough, but there’s something in the air… I’m really stoked to have a good, long run on the first day it’s nice enough that I can head out with no gloves!
That being said, I’m gonna be in the snow tomorrow! I’m...
I went to the gym last night, came home, got in bed, and watched Miracle (the Disney movie about the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team) on my computer. (Some cool perspectives about the movie and the actual game here.) I don’t remember what made me think of it, but something did… I first saw it with my friend Erin in college and loved it and bought it but hadn’t watched in a while. After...
I really wanted to take the day off, so I could spend Super Bowl Sunday chowing down on bad-for-me foods and sucking back bad-for-me drinks and spend Should Be a National Holiday Monday being lazy and sleeping in. But I had to come into the office this morning for an interview with Nathan Adrian, a U.S. Olympic swimmer who’s in NYC talking with editors about the recovery benefits of...
January 2012
7 posts
What are your favorite websites/blogs for health...
"Anyone who writes Deena Kastor off is a fool.” →
Amid Missouri basketball and NFL playoffs viewing tomorrow, I might have to check in and see how the Olympic Trials are going… Love her—go, Deena!
first run of 2012
That’s what I did Saturday morning. It was only about 5 miles, and it felt fine but kind of weird, like my limbs weren’t used to running. Which is probably because, um, I haven’t really been running much. After the Kiawah Island Marathon last month, I declared that I wouldn’t be running the rest of 2011 or the first two months of 2012—except for days when I truly felt like...
kiawah island marathon race recap, part 2
So there we were, Meredith, Johnny, and I, at the start line of the marathon. They didn’t want to go out as fast as I did, so they laid back a bit when I edged forward. The gun went off, and we were off, and my first two miles were under pace (which I knew they would be), clocking in at sub-7:30 each. And at that point I noticed that Meredith was ahead of me. Seeing her dash away made me...
December 2011
3 posts
kiawah island marathon race recap, part 1
A week ago I was in South Carolina, surrounded by trees and sand and the ocean and feeling instantly relaxed. And in denial that Meredith, Johnny and I were about to run a marathon the next day.
It was going to be my sixth marathon—my third of the year—and I wondered if the more races I run, the easier each is going to feel. Maybe that’s part of it, but also, the Kiawah Island Marathon is...
November 2011
16 posts
This time tomorrow, I will be here:
Our fitness director at SHAPE asked me to go on a press trip to St. John’s in the USVI. It took a ton of persuading on her part, but finally I gave in and agreed to go. The stuff I do for this job, I swear. :)
We’re going to be hiking, snorkeling, and playing with new fitness gear. It will be the perfect quick break from the overcast windiness of...
