Tag Archives: happy running

Ready

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Cadbury Mini Eggs, I’m ready for you to be gone now.

Remember how I’ve been talking nonstop about my obsession with these little gems and essentially all Easter candy since it came on the shelves around oh February 15?

Yea, I’m over it. It was fun while it lasted Mini Eggs, but this has gotten ridiculous. How can I move onto all of my other desserts when your endless bags are hanging around all the time?

FINE. I’ll finish them. But I am admittedly excited for these addictive little chocolates to be out of my house and off the shelves of every check-out line I come across.

Okay, glad we got through that. Hi, how are you?

I hope your weekend was splendid, and your week has started off great. Unless you haven’t seen one news source or been on the internet in the past 24 hours, I’m pretty sure everyone is well aware that the Boston Marathon was the talk of the town yesterday, in all its sweltering hot glory.

I am always impressed by this race and the amazing athletes it draws every year. However, I don’t think I’ve ever been more impressed by the grit and determination during the Boston Marathon more than I was yesterday. The heat added a whole new level of intensity to the already difficult miles ahead, and it forced all the runners to really show off their willpower. I was blown away by the resilience of all the runners, and I think everyone out there proved just why they were worthy of racing this historical route.

It made me even more eager to get my own BQ…..whensoever that may be 🙂

Once again, I am amused at the timing of the Universe and the ways in which it teaches us about ourselves. Of course, I know most things happen based on our own preparation and planning (or lack thereof), but sometimes I can’t help but think there is some cunning trickster (most of the time named Murphy’s Law) working endlessly to ensure that what we think we know isn’t always the case.

That being said, let’s go back to Friday’s post. If you missed out, it was full of reflections as to why marathon training is anything but a walk in the park. It’s challenging, it’s trying, and it does a sure-fire job of teaching us some humbling lessons. My biggest point in the post, and perhaps my greatest realization about my own training, is that running isn’t actually the hard part. Even when the runs are hard, they eventually end, and I know that the effort, no matter how brutal, will eventually land me in a better space, physically.

So, that post happened. And then came Saturday’s training run—22 miles, my last really long run before tapering begins in preparation for May 6th. And, to put it simply, every single one of those miles felt fantastic. I had some luck on my side—the day was pristine, and I had slept in one position through the entire night—but otherwise I was so pleasantly surprised by how great this run felt. My pace was very consistent (avg. 8:25 miles) and I was in one of those “can’t-stop-me-now” rhythms that we always hope for in a run. I didn’t wear my headphones for nearly 15 of the 22 miles, and I had a great time listening to my footsteps, the chirping birds, and the sunshine.

(I know you can’t hear sunshine, but sometimes…it almost feels like you can, you know?)

I practiced race-related things, including really opening it up at the end. In the last 2ish miles, I brought my pace down to half-marathon pace, and it felt really good to visualize and practice pushing it on tired legs. I finished feeling great, and I couldn’t shake the thought that I actually wanted…to run a bit more??

This feeling, along with the success of the final long run, helped me internalize one very confident thought:

I’m ready.

I don’t know if I ever felt this kind of satisfaction about my training during my first marathon (probably because I didn’t know what to expect), but after Saturday I was very decidedly confident in my preparation for race day. This sense of “readiness” triggered a different emotion as well, one that hasn’t left me since it first nestled into my brain this weekend: determination.

All my competitive thoughts have overwhelmed my forethought about Tacoma, and I’m ready to crush it. I’m truthfully not sure about what kind of time to anticipate,  and I’m still planning my exact race strategy, but what I do know is that I’m ready to give every little bit I have into this race. I trust my stamina and training, and now I’m really just ready to ignite all my competition and racing instincts.

This is different than how I felt the first time around. Sure, I wanted to do well and I definitely had time goals (I can’t not…it’s a problem), but this upcoming race has me really hungry and filled with ruthless anticipation. It feels good, and hopefully all this psyched/amped/animalistic energy can contain itself and only get stronger over the next two and a half weeks.

Tacoma has now become my prey, and I’m ready to hunt it down.

Be afraid T-town, and readers, please don’t be scared by my predatory remarks.

Today really solidified my “readiness” feelings, and I’m glad because I was a little worried that Saturday was just an affect of the excessively large amount of tortellini and bread I had the night before.

I wanted to get in one last “tempo run” before I really settle into taper mode. Mainly for my own confidence, and not so much for training purposes. Now, my version of a “tempo run” really just means that I want to finish a run in a certain period of time, and whichever pace I choose to divvy out over those miles is up to me. In a nutshell, go fast—and don’t stop going fast.

I went on my normal Tuesday-10-mile route, and ended in 80 minutes flat. Very pleased with it, and my greatest intent with this run was to practice pushing really hard at the end when I was already wiped. So, despite feeling very tired and worked by the end of it all, it  was great to again mentally conjure the feeling of pushing through the pain.

This run sealed the deal in terms of training prep, and now I’m excited to coast along the tapering wave.

 

So, please send along all your stress-free, injury-free tapering thoughts! I, of course, will be back in with more reports along the way. Also, I’m now taking wagers for the remaining lives of my toenails. My 4th toenail on BOTH feet are nearing death…black and beautiful, and I’m thinking it will be a miracle if I make it to the start line on May 6th with both in tact. Attractive stuff over here people.

___

Have a great week!

 

Warning: Sparkly Excitement Ahead

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You know how you secretly hate those people who are all “Happy Monday!” “Welcome to the week!” “I love life!”? Seriously, pretty much everyone is merely trying to get through this first day of the week, why do you need to shove it in our faces that you are hyped on Prozac and caffeine and unicorns all the time?

Yea, well…today, I am one of those people. So, if you aren’t feeling exclamation points and glass-over-flowing-with-excitement optimism this afternoon, go ahead and quietly scroll your arrow to the little “x” box at the top right corner of your screen and pretend like you were never here. No hard feelings.

Still with me? Sweet! Now let’s make some sweet sweet rainbows and sunshine together.

On Friday, I posted a bit about my hopefulness and hesitation for the fate of my spring marathon aspirations. Due to my knee being a huge a-hole and my training getting thwarted for two weeks, I was coming to terms with the fact that things may not pan out as I’d hoped.

And I was okay with it…I really was.

Then came yesterday’s run. Oh dear, sweet yesterday’s run.

After very grudgingly getting out of bed for an attempted “long run,” I decided that I would be shooting for 16 miles. That was the ideal, and if I had to cut it short, I would accept it. Because that’s the Smart Runner Bird I’m trying to be, remember?

So then, I started to run. And I felt fantastic. And I kept running…and I still felt fantastic.

Call it cortisone, call it rest, call it luck, call it the Aleve I took literally 3 minutes before walking out the door, but no matter what it was…it worked. I kept running, waiting for my bursa sack to inflame and immobilize the rest of my leg the way it had been for the past two weeks.

NADA. NOTHING.

I stopped halfway through to stretch a bit, and while my knee tingled a bit, there was no indication that running was irritating or bothering it in any way. As I started off on the last half, you could not get the smile off my face. It was ridiculous and reminiscent of an elementary school “You Can Do It!” motivational poster…but I just couldn’t help it. The thought, “I’m back!” kept reverberating in my brain, and I relished every moment. It also didn’t hurt that despite a forecast of rain and wind, there was sunshine and {some} wind instead.

So proud of you Seattle, so proud of you knee.

I even threw in a mile long hill at the end of it all with a 300 ft. elevation gain for some added grunt, and the knee seemed to take it all in stride. I felt as if my knee was like, “Okay Robyn, since you actually did the right thing and laid off me I’ll suck it up and get better. You win.”

Total mileage? 17.22

SO PSYCHED. This was super encouraging, as I’ll {hopefully} still be able to get in two, 20+ milers before taper.

Please excuse my overly enthusiastic Tweet yesterday in which I had miscalculated my mileage before mapping it.

awkward.

No problem. 18 would have been great, but 17 is great too.

Side note: I have this weird thing about running distances that are odd numbers. As in, I am really uncomfortable with it, and I almost always try and run even numbers of miles. Half Marathons are great, but 13.1 is scary numerically to me. Fun Fact Monday. Well, maybe not fun, but maybe it helps make you feel more normal?

I even foam rolled afterwards and stretched! Improvements!

I would like to say this face was exaggerated, but that would be a lie. Self portrait attempts + quad mutilation via hunk of foam + face caked in salt= the essence of beauty.

And if I hadn’t already basked in pain-free running glory enough, I decided to do the wise injury-prevention thing and go to yoga yesterday afternoon. It was definitely not my best performance, and I stuck to all the easier versions of the poses, but my calves and hammies were very happy with all the stretchy attention the got. I think I fell asleep for a minute in savasana also, but that must mean I was really meditative and Zen. Right? Good.

And speaking of meditative and happiness and birdies, this was also a necessary end to the day:

Oh buttery, sugar-coated, pink, bird sugar cookie, I love you.

I am feeling wonderfully sore and sleepy today. After not doing a long run for a few weeks, those miles definitely wiped me out in the best possible way. I’m still on the watch for lingering injury pain, but yesterday was definitely a fat ole’ confidence boost kick-in-the-butt. {I also don’t think you can get more adjectives/descriptive nouns in one sentence. Way to go English major, way to utilize your inability to tone down your detailing.}

Nothing like a little patience to really make a run feel like solid gold.

Shake out run today, and presuming things keep going well, I’m looking forward to continuing on in this [final!] month of marathon training.

____

Now… please let me hear your lovely voices! Did you race this weekend? Long run? How’d it go? Are you as sad as I am that Alec Baldwin is engaged?

Foam Rolling 101

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Heyyy people!

I’d like to offer some instructional tips for using something that I believe to be a necessity for runners: the foam roller.

I recently received a request from one of my friends Maddy, who has been amping up her regular running, if I could talk a bit about the techniques of foam rolling. Now, I must disclose that I am not even close to certified in anything related to sports science, or real science for that matter. My advice/knowledge comes from having a father who is, quite literally, a sports scientist and from my own experimentation and research. I do a lot of reading on matters related to running, so I like to think I have the fundamentals down—but please know the advice I provide is almost completely based on my own experiences.

With that said…let’s talk foam rolling.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ah the foam roller. Both the best friend and the worst enemy of nearly everyone who uses it. If you are unfamiliar with what exactly a “foam roller” is, it is very much exactly as it sounds: It’s a log-shaped, rounded tube made of very condensed foam (see above). It is stiff enough to really have an impact, but still has enough give to not make it totally unbearable. You may have seen people at your gym using these contraptions—and chances are they had a very strained/pained look on their face that looked something like this:

This was supposed to be a funny exaggeration, but it's actually fairly accurate.

Frankly, using a foam roller is somewhat excruciating, but once you develop a bit of a tolerance for them, you’ll find yourself very grateful for these massage tools disguised as torture devices.

The most basic use of a foam roller is to relieve your muscles of their tension. By compressing your muscles (especially your big ones like your hamstrings and quads) you allow more blood flow to get to them which releases the lactate that makes you tight and sore. It’s a very self-intuitive device, and you can really contort yourself to “roll” any part of your body you think needs some tough-love.

As a runner, I primarily use the foam roller for my quads, my hips, and most frequently for my IT band. Your IT band is a thickened tissue that extends from the outside of your pelvis, down your hip, all the way to below the knee. This band is known for causing problems in runners, and it’s often the culprit for knee and hip pain.

I’ve included some pictures along with loose instructions for how to go about rolling your primary running muscles. Remember, the foam roller takes some getting used to—and although it might be unbearable at first, if you stick with it you’ll more than likely find it essential for staying injury free. Also, like I said— this device should be used according to what’s comfortable for you, so the techniques I’ll demonstrate aren’t necessarily the only way to use a foam roller. Just suggestions, this is how it works for me. Also, please forgive the awkwardness of my self photo taking…I spent the entire time trying not to laugh.

IT Band

Positioning yourself to roll your IT band is a little awkward at first, but you’ll get used to it. For most people who have never foam-rolled before, you might not even know where your IT band is—I sure didn’t! But, due to the all-mighty/pain inducing powers of the foam roller, it’s not too hard to find. Simply angle your hip/upper thigh above the roller until you feel it land on what feels like a band of tissue. It will probably hurt worse than your surrounding quadriceps, so once you feel a wince of pain—you’ve likely hit the IT band gold. You can stack your non-rolling leg on top of the leg being rolled, or you can use your free leg to stabilize yourself and sort-of push yourself back and forth across the roller. I’ve demonstrated the latter, and it’s definitely my preference.

I find that because the IT band covers a large portion of my leg (all of which is used during running), it’s best to roll it out in sections. This way, you can concrete very directly in different areas, giving you a better all-around roll out. The first section I concentrate on starts at the outside of my pelvis, down to just below my hip. I hold a lot of tension here, so I try and work this part really aggressively.

The second section I’ll do is the middle 6 inches or so of my quad. Try and keep the roller primarily on your IT band instead of rolling onto the larger portion of your quad, which can be tempting.

The final section is the area right above my knee. If you are someone who often experiences knee problems with running, rolling this area of your IT band could really help you out. After I finished my first marathon, my left knee hurt so band I could barely bend it—and it was because my IT band had tightened up so much.

I normally try and do about 45 seconds-1 minute per section of the band, or longer if I’m needing extra kneading.

Hamstrings

Lots of runners use the roller to loosen up their hamstrings, and it’s helpful because you can actually do both legs at once. Personally, I find that the simple bend over, touch-your-toes approach to stretching my hammies to be more effective than the roller, but every little bit helps.

Position the roller underneath your legs, on the area right below your butt. Hold yourself up with your hands about a foot behind you, and you should be able to move your legs back and forth across the roller. You can get experimental with your positioning, increasing and decreasing pressure in different areas.

Quadriceps

Quads and foam rollers have a very love/hate relationship. I’m not going to lie—rolling your quads is intense, and it often takes some conditioning to build up your resilience to it. Nevertheless, it is incredibly beneficial to loosen up such a big muscle, and I personally notice a huge difference in my recovery time between runs when I roll my quads.

 

 

 

 

 

The positioning I use for my quads is very similar to rolling the IT band, except I’ll roll a bit more toward my stomach instead of my side. Because the muscle is so big, you’ll probably find yourself rolling side to side in order to cover the whole thing. Again, the device is somewhat self-intuitive and a lot of it just takes some experimentation.

Calves

Oh the calves. I know this is where I hold the most tension in my legs, and it’s the area that can always use more stretching and rolling. Typically for working the stiffness out of these muscles, I use The Stick (or, I have someone use The Stick on me), but you can use the foam roller very easily. There are two degrees in which you can roll your calf muscles on the roller, one which is a little less intense, and one that gets a really deep burn.

To roll your calves, position yourself similar to how you would for rolling your hamstrings but with the roller underneath your calves. With your arms bent behind you, hoist yourself up and move your legs back and forth across the roller. This is the first level of calf rolling—it shouldn’t be too uncomfortable, and you can play around with the force by alternating how much weight is in your arms.

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you need a more deep-tissue, intense calf roll, you can place one ankle over another, placing all your weight onto one calf. You’ll definitely notice a difference in how much the distribution change alters the pressure, but just go slow, grit your teeth, and know that your calves are loving it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Glutes/Piriformis

Yep, running can hurt your bum. Your piriformis muscles, particularly, can get really tight and give a pinched feeling in the middle of your cheeks. Not fun, but foam rolling can definitely help with any pain in your rear—particularly because it’s such a big muscle, and therefore needs some intense massaging to really loosen the tension.

Rolling your piriformis muscle is very similar to the way you situate yourself for your IT band, but instead of positioning the foam roller under your hip, you put it directly on your butt. If your piriformis is tight, you’ll definitely know when you find it, as you’ll feel a bit of a sharp pain when the roller is under it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It sounds a little weird, but you should just kind of go to town in terms of rolling out your rear. It’s a tough group of muscles, and so you’ll be able to really roll the heck out of them. And, you’ll be thankful when you don’t feel the pinching feeling of mad piriformis muscles during your runs!

 

So, there’s a basic overview of foam rolling your primary running muscles. Of course, you can also roll your back and even your arms—but this should suffice as a start to the fundamentals of the roller. So next time you’re at the gym, give one a try. You might feel silly contorting yourself over this strange device, but know that when used appropriately and correctly it is very beneficial to your muscles. There’s a reason why many physical and sports therapists have these buggers in their offices—they are intended to provide a quick, intense, and thorough relief session for your muscles. Once you get more accustomed, the pain of it does start to turn into more of a hurt-so-good massage feel, especially when you know your muscles are in need of the blood flow.

I actually own my own roller, which I bought when I was injured, and although I was a little apprehensive about their pricing, I will say that I think they’re worth it. They are normally around $25-$30, which I know seems expensive for a hunk of foam, but I consider it an investment in injury prevention, which is worth a whole lot!

Let me know if you have any questions! I’ll do my best to answer. Again, I’m no expert, but I’m definitely in a healthy and stable relationship with my roller.

An {Exercise} Affair to Remember

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Happy Valentine’s Day!

I hope you have spent the day doting on a loved one, or simply doting on yourself. I personally see nothing wrong with showering yourself with love on Valentine’s Day, because—after all—shouldn’t we show ourselves the same kind of affection we show others? I think so.

If you’ve read this blog for more than 9 seconds, you know that I have a mild obsession for activities that make me sweat. Running is my numero uno {Read: The title of this blog.}, but as you know there are other physical activities that get me all giddy inside as well.

That being said, I’m realizing that my feelings for each of these activities is very parallel to stereotypical romantic relationships. Say what? you ask. Well, allow me to explain it to you in my Valentine’s Day Tribute to the Three Lovers in my exercise life.

SPINNING

Oh spinning, you dirty little Casanova.

Spinning is the essence of a steamy, infatuous, lustful relationship. You all know the kind. It’s gets you all hot and bothered (yes, literally) and you find yourself somewhat addicted after just a few meetings.

Just think of the kind of music that plays in spin. Fast, upbeat, invigorating, Britney…you get the point. It’s not true-love-let’s-have-babies music, it’s “You’re hot and I’m interested for tonight” music.

And the sweat. Oh, the sweat. Spinning can get your pores going more than any other cardio workout there is. I can run for 18 miles and never sweat the way spinning for an hour does. It’s not that running doesn’t know what it’s doing, and in fact—I do sweat a lot—but there’s really nothing quite like a good drenching from a spin class.

{Sex joke inserted here}

In the end, it’s not going to work out. The gym isn’t always open, classes and instructors come and go, but you never forget the jolt you get from spending an hour atop that bike.

I realize I’m walking right into these, but I’m not sorry?

 

YOGA

You know that best guy{or girl} friend you had all through those rubbish relationships? (Yep, Adele reference right there). The friend that had your back no matter what, and even if you didn’t talk for a few weeks, they were right there to pick you up.

That’s yoga.

Reliable, dependable, and ready to pick up your pieces when I’ve been spit out by my other lovers.

You see the other lovers, despite being debonaire and flirtatious, have a way of breaking me down. That’s the problem with intensely deep relationships—they can hurt just as easily as they can make me feel invincible. Luckily, yoga is there—ready to swoop in and cradle me in its loving, non-judgmental arms.

Yoga brings me back to life when things get rough, and many would argue that it should be yoga that I end up with when all is said and done. The problem is, though, there isn’t any passion with yoga. Sure, it brightens my spirits and is fun to hang out with, however it doesn’t quite have the ability to get me going the same way my other lovers can.

Think Johnny and Marissa from the OC, Gustav the farm boy from Ever After, or Dan Humprey in this season of Gossip Girl.

All of them are {this} close to nabbing the leading lady, but at the end of the day, they are cast into the “we’ll always be friends” role.

By the way, if you didn’t understand any of those references, I’m slightly judging you.

Kidding, but for real you should watch Ever After. Or, hit up Netflix and let Gossip Girl ruin take over your “I’m way too old to watch this show but I can’t stop” adult life.

Running

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you the leading man in the production of my Exercise Love Life.

Running is the sappy love songs you pretend to hate in public but secretly belt in your car.

It’s the yin to my yang, the Noah to my Allie, the Mickey to my Minnie.

Okay, maybe that didn’t totally translate, but you get the point: Running is the love of my life, and no matter who else tickles my fancy, there will never be anything quite like running.

Running does all the things that a perfect mate should: It knows when I need it most, it challenges me to do my best, it helps make my days better no matter what, and—most of all—it’s unconditional. Running will always be there to rejuvenate my love for life and for myself. Sure, it can be tough on me, and sometimes I may even think I’ll give up on it. But even if my back is turned, running is still right there, ready to guide me when I need a hand to hold.

Being a runner is one of the titles I pride myself most on, not because I think it’s impressive or somehow gives me leverage, but I love the feeling of encompassing myself with an activity that is so simply happy.

Because in the end, all we want from our relationships is to make us happy. And although spinning and yoga can liven my mood, there is nothing quite like the overwhelming joy of a good run.

 

So there you have it. I’ve learned a lot from each of these relationships, just as we learn a lot from our relationships in our real lives. Certainly, the complexities of romance are far less simplistic than “How do I want to work out today?,” and I know it’s a lot harder to typecast actual people quite so stereotypically. However, when we strip relationships in our lives to their bare bones, both with people and the things we partake in, we can see the ways in which they build us up, knock us down, and how they have shaped our experiences.

And to those of you who know my history a bit, I must add this side note: BF might have held the best friend role in high school, but he has also been all three of these aforementioned relationships at one point or another, which together has given us a wonderfully dynamic, passionate, and all-around wonderful romance that I’m so grateful for everyday.

Hey, it’s V-Day. I had to give at least one sappy shout out.

 

Now, go eat your weight in truffles, and know that no matter who you may or may not be celebrating with, the most important kind of love is the kind you have for yourself. Because if there’s one thing I’ve learned over my 23 years, it’s that the ability to make ourselves happy is the most valuable Hallmark card of them all.

 

And yes, I do still watch Gossip Girl and have no intention of stopping.

 

NOW YOU! Tell me some of the loves in your life! Running, Ryan Gosling, Chipotle burritos, Harry Potter, anything!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Naked Running and other Happy Things

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This morning, I ran naked.

Except that I was wearing clothes, unfortunately.

Actually, I think running naked would be uncomfortable…both physically and socially.

Anyways, I did run sans watch and iPod, and I realized that it may have been the first time I’ve ever done this. Even though I’ve been growing accustom to running without music, I always know the start and stop times of my runs, at the very least. Obviously wearing a watch is essential to training properly in terms of gauging speed and splits and such. However, there is added pressure when wearing a watch—and this morning I found that it can be quite freeing to do some runs without knowledge of time.

I wasn’t too set on running this morning: My legs have been tired recently, I had a very poor performance on yesterday’s run, and I was kinda blah about the idea of running. However, building my mileage right now for Eugene is necessary, and I knew that a slow, short run-around would actually make my legs less stiff. The lack of strictness to this run is what inspired me to throw aside my watch and iPod, and just like that…off I went, naked, into the sunrise.

And it was beautiful; Seattle has been taken over by sunshine (I know, RIGHT?) and although I didn’t feel too fast, it was nice to just be. I also saw two lab puppies, which inevitably helps any situation go from 0 to perfect instantly.

I love puppies, I need one.

Anyways, let’s get to talking about our favorite things, shall we?

– berry veggie Naked juice

I am definitely a smoothie-at-home kind of person, but sometimes it’s quite nice to just buy a pre-made blend of fruits and veggies. This (new?) Naked juice is just the ticket, and I love it. If you don’t like beets or beet juice, I recommend staying away from this concoction, but if so I definitely suggest giving it a try. There’s also not as much sugar in it as other juices, which I appreciate because I prefer my added sugar to come from cookies, not from juice.

See? Like this big beauty.

-Neon Sports Bras

Yes, I realize this is a picture of my boobs. Sorry about that.

Yes, you are looking at that picture correctly. My shorts bra STAINED my shirt via profuse sweating. If that isn’t cool, I don’t know what is. It’s also disgusting, sure, but like…have you ever seen this happen before?? Remember yesterday how I told you I was super dehydrated from excessive sweat during spin? Here is my proof.

I’m reallllyyy hoping that my shirt isn’t permanently stained, but for right now I’ve determined that not only is this my favorite sports bra, its my favorite piece of clothing. It’s bad ass, and it tells my other clothes whats up.

– Optimistic Forecasts

Is this real life???

See that right there??? That’s SIX days of sunshine predicted for the Pacific Northwest. Not only sunshine, but temperatures that don’t warrant wearing two pairs of wool socks and devoting my paycheck to the heating bill.

LOVE IT.

Sure, it might not pan out exactly as predicted, but I enjoy feeling excited for our weather.

– Scramble with Friends

I’m. Obsessed.

If you have the ability to download this game (it’s free), and you feel the need to procrastinate an excessive amount, I insist you get this game. It’s just like Boggle, but online and less noisy.

Find me, I’ll play you.

– Single-Tone Hair

Awkward self-portrait in the car...but no longer two-tone! And look! Sun!

I have been on a bit of a hair-maintenance hiatus since August, and although I can typically withstand a few months of root-grow out, enough was enough.

I was starting to look a bit like I belonged on People of Walmart, therefore I gave in and finally returned to my pretending-to-be-a-blonde hairdo. And I love it, and fineeee….I guess I don’t need to wear a baseball cap every day of the week.

 

That’s all for Friday Favorites! I’m starting to think I’ll compile a master list of all the random favorite things I recount every week…I feel it would make me happy to read. And happiness is good. Speaking of, if you are looking for a good pick-me-up, I highly recommend this video:

Questions:

Do you ever run/workout without a watch or iPod?

What are some of your favorite things?

 

I Try to Only Talk About Running…

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…but then I get all existential and philosophical about life. I can’t help it, and I blame running. You see, running is a sport, indeed, but it’s also my therapy, my quiet space, and my drawing board. That’s why my posts seem to read like a self-help book sometimes, and I’m sorry about that.

This post, furthermore, which was supposed to be all about my awesome start to marathon training, turned into a combination of thoughts on running and happiness. Which, at least to me, somehow always go hand-in-hand.

But I digress….moving on:

There’s something magical about good days.

Yesterday was a good day, and I loved it. Let me tell you why.

I’ll preface it with something I realized yesterday, as things were going swimmingly, and it’s something I need to recognize more in my own life.

It’s important for us to pay attention when things are going good. And I mean really, really pay attention. Whether our good moods are due to the events and people around us, or simply because our stars have aligned correctly, I’ve found that taking notes on why we’re feeling so good fills us with a feeling of gratitude.

And gratitude, in my opinion, influences everything for the better: It shines a light on all the good things going on in our lives, while simultaneously taking power away from the not-so-good things. When we’re appreciative of the things we have, the things we don’t have seem to become less important, and we can focus our energy instead on all the positives around us. And when you start looking, there are a lot of positives.

In other words, acknowledging just one good thing can be infectious…and I credit this practice to why yesterday was so darn good.

I started out the day clad in rain-ready running gear, which was a very good decision as it rained the entire run and continued to rain, oh, the whole day after. Love you Seattle, love you.

The rain didn’t matter on this run though, as it was as close to perfect of a run as I can hope for.

I felt strong, calm, and completely balanced in terms of my energy. I normally feel alright from miles 1-3, great from 4-8, and then meh from 9-10 on my normal Tuesday runs, however yesterday I felt fantastic the entire time. Also, I ran dead even 8-minute splits, which I was psyched about. I’m not going to say out loud that I might be secretly training to run 8:10 miles for 26.2 miles in the hope that a certain race in a certain town might accept me to run in 2013, but if I were—this run would make me feel more confident about such a goal.

Afterward, I lifted and foam rolled and basked in the quintessential essence of a runner’s high.

Moving on, I continued to let this great start to my day weave its way into my morning: I had a fantastic breakfast, I worked productively, I smiled at everyone, and all that other flowers and sunshiney stuff that happens when you’re in a great mood.

I practiced yoga at my lunch break with my favorite instructor, and to my elation was able to hold a hand stand for TEN SECONDS. This never happens. Normally I’m just kicking back and forth on my mat whenever handstand time comes around, however the magic of the day infused itself in my shoulders and I was able to hold it. I was PUMPED, and the instructor winked at me after I came down.

{giddy}

I rode the wave of gratitude for these small tokens of affirmation, and the rest of my day continued to be all-around wonderful.

When I got home, BF had made cookies again (twice in a week!), and we made dinner together and watched a riveting episode of Dexter. Please understand the joy of walking up to your front door and, without even opening it, smelling freshly baked cookies inside.

Yes, I picked the right guy.

Except I’m getting concerned his chocolate chip cookies might compete with mine….and therefore we might have an issue…

So there you have it. As I look back, nothing was spectacular about the day: Babies weren’t born (well, they were somewhere, but I did not see them therefore it doesn’t count), I didn’t win the lottery, and no one knocked on my door with a basket full of golden retriever puppies. In fact, my day was 100% normal: I ran, I worked, I yoga’ed, I hung out with BF, and I watched Dexter slice up people’s cheeks(it’s a good thing, trust me.) However, these are all the things that make me happy on a day-to-day basis, and yesterday I feel like I was able to fully appreciate what each of them brings to my life.

It’s the little things, truly, and I’m learning more every day that being present isn’t just for yoga class or meditation—it’s for every day. The beautiful thing about the present is that it’s always there, waiting for you the look up say hello to it.

 

 

 

State of Emergency

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In case you don’t live in Seattle, or you haven’t read anything on Yahoo, Weather.com, or any other news source, the PNW is facing some insane weather conditions. Schools have been closed for two days (looking like it will be three), ice and snow have been falling from the sky—yes I said ice—, and power outages are happening all over. So far, so good here. Still have power, no car calamities, and BF has been working from home for the past two days. Having a WFH buddy has been fun.

To those of you new to this blog…BF is the secret identity name of my boyfriend.

BF, I know you've been around me for 48 hours straight, but hopefully you still like me.

Yesterday, as we awoke and the roads had been laden with ice and snow, I decided that it was a great excuse to take a day off from exercise. I haven’t taken a day off in a while, and so it was the perfect set up to laze around inside. And laze we did. Apart from a short walk at the end of the day and two trips to Starbucks, we stayed in our little home all day. Mac and cheese included.

By the time we were up this morning, I was getting a bit restless. I hadn’t run outside since Saturday…and normally when I take a day off I am up and ready to go the next day ASAP. That doesn’t work so well when ice has coated the snow. Gym was not open, clearly. Literally, there was a layer of ice ON TOP of the several inches of snow, and you needed to break through it in order to clear any of it away. Cleaning our cars off was neat. Driving was even neater.

The best part? Frozen rain fell all morning; little pelts of freezing misery, which made the whole melting thing really difficult.

We are in a State of Emergency, as declared by the state, and the National Guard has been called.

So, what did I decide to do this afternoon?

A run is the best idea during an ice storm.

So, some of you may think I’m a fool and crazy. And that means you’re very smart, I am.

No one should feel the need the run on top of snow and ice, with a headwind, with mini icicles blowing in their face. If this doesn’t sound appealing to you, then I applaud you for being sane.

I am not sane, and I was in my own State of Emergency. This run, however, was awesome.

I didn’t realize how bad my cabin fever had been until I started putting on my running clothes. I hadn’t run outside since Saturday, and so I was really antsy to feel that wind in my face and get some miles behind me. Also, as I officially declared that marathon training had commenced on Tuesday, it was a bit paralyzing to have my wonderful running path stolen from me by Mother Nature.

Screw you, Mother Nature, I say.

(Not really, I’m sure she’s an  awesome lady and snow is actually really pretty when it doesn’t inhibit my ability to run.)

But seriously, I decided to act on my habitual, compulsive defiance of obvious variables and go for it. I bundled in an ear warmer, billed hat (most key element), half-zip, long socks, tights, and gloves (second most key element) and I went on my somewhat-apprehensive-but-kind-of-excited merry way.

2 forms of head gear are better than one

And truly, it wasn’t as bad as I thought. The snow was compacted enough (thanks fellow West Seattle snow strollers!) that I didn’t really sink into it, and there was enough ice pellets/snow on top of the compacted snow to add some traction. I had to watch my step pretty carefully, and there were points where I had to keep my head down completely so as to avoid getting ice bullets in my eyes, but overall it worked out perfectly fine.

The end of my run was a trek up the hill by our house, which if you haven’t heard, is a  monster of a climb. At this point, it was snowing pretty significantly—and let me tell you about how much fun it is to run up a mega steep incline with non-compacted snow to slosh through.

Hint: it’s not.

So despite the slowww going at the end, I finished 12.75 miles (a bit more than I normally intend to do on Thursdays), and I was thoroughly infused with a sparkly feeling of adventure and accomplishment.

post-run giddiness/shivering

It’s really quite liberating to defy all the norms of inhibiting weather and go out and face it head on. I loved this run, not just because it was necessary and made me feel better about beginning marathon training, but because it helped me remember that running is so accessible—no matter the conditions. Sure, I was slower than normal and had frozen sweat/snot on my face the whole time (hot, yes), but I felt incredibly free—of both my cabin fever and the restraints that we so often let get us down.

 

Currently, BF is planning on working from home again tomorrow, and he made the impulsive decision to bake us some cookies.

APPROVE

Wait, you thought I dated him for his looks, humor, and charm?

Nah.

…kidding

…am I?

 

Hope everyone in Seattle is safe and warm, and everyone who’s not here…enjoy your ice-free sky. Bad weather really makes you not take things for granted, such has a windshield that doesn’t take HALF AN HOUR to chip/scrap/defrost.

Question: What’s your favorite snow day activity?

 

Sweating the Sweet Stuff

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On Saturday morning during spin class, as I was sweating like an obese man dressed in sweats walking through Death Valley, I was thinking about the difference between vacation time and our normal routines—namely, the difference in our fitness/food habits. Obviously when we’re on vacation (specifically around the holidays), it’s natural for us to want to relax and ease into a more indulgent routine. And rightfully so, as vacation is a time for relaxing and partaking in things we wouldn’t do on a regular basis (i.e. sleeping in, having a drink or 4, and actively seeking out 3 different desserts in one night).

Yes, this was me at Christmas.

And it’s fine…because we’re on vacation, and no vacation lasts forever.

However, personally I get a bit stressed out thinking about the lack of discipline that comes with vacations. I know it seems a bit counter-intuitive to the whole idea of a vacation, but because I’m normally very active and eat healthfully, the thought of derailing from that routine worries me. Once I’m on vacation and can loosen up a bit, I’m normally thankful for the break, but I always wish that the thought of taking time off from my regimented schedule wouldn’t be so frightening.

To help describe my point a bit more clearly, this was my brain during spin yesterday:

“This is seriously hard…I’m glad I can still keep up after being gone for so long.”

“Wait, didn’t you have a heart attack that taking time off would ruin every ounce of fitness you have?”

“And weren’t you stressed that all the wonderful holiday goodies you would consume would all of a sudden balloon you up to the point that none of your clothes would fit?”

“Yea, yea…irrational.”

“Of course it was irrational! You spend 98% of the time trying your hardest to stay in shape, why the hell should a week of fun undo any of that?”

“Ew gross, I think your earlobes are dripping”

Okay, that was a bit unstructured, but here’s my point: If you try your best to stay marginally in shape and healthy, then there’s no reason to worry over the occasional extra  drinks and desserts. I am constantly back-and-forth in my own brain with this battle, and I think a lot of people (mainly girls) are susceptible to this exact same mind game. We get down on ourselves before we even indulge for fear that we’ve lost all sense of discipline and are somehow weaker because we’ve “given in.”

Here’s the reality: Life is too short to beat ourselves up over these insignificant things. Our society—namely women’s magazines, commercials, realty shows, etc.—perpetually bombards us with the messages of: “Lose that Last 5!” “Think Skinny!” and “How to Resist Temptation,” all of which might as well say, “You Better Say No to Everything Containing Carbs, Sugar, and Fat if You Ever Want to Feel Pretty!”

To be blunt, I think this is bullshit, and I’m so afraid that this is the understanding of health and beauty that women today are being fed.

Hey Women's Health, Self, Fitness Mag, etc...screw you and your vodka-and-soda water only preaching.

I completely understand that this country is facing a severe obesity epidemic, and I completely agree that the U.S.’s understanding of healthy portions and food is seriously distorted. In no way am I undermining the efforts to make our country healthier, but I believe there is a huge difference between promoting balance and promoting deprivation.

Balance is the single most important thing in regards to being happy and healthy, in my opinion. We are human, therefore symmetry is key; too much laziness and not enough exercise will eventually deplete our bodies and spirits—and the exact opposite is also true.

The same thing goes for food—when we concentrate solely on being so healthy that every single thing we put in our mouths is predetermined and allows no room for spontaneity, we lose the joy of treating ourselves and we become a hollow, uptight, and (sorry) boring person who only cares about carrots and calories.

I say these things from a very experienced-based standpoint, as I have been all of these people: I have been so concentrated on exercising that my body gave up on me. I have been so focused on only consuming wholesome things that I couldn’t enjoy ice cream or drinks or Chipotle outings with friends. I have been such a dessert addict that I’d go to bed with a marginal stomach ache every night because I could never just resist the temptation.

These are all versions of myself that at one time or another have overtaken my sense of balance. Each of them tends to creep up every so often, however I have come to a place where I know myself well enough to know that investing all my energy into being the perfect athlete or the perfect eater only sucks away all other passions in my life.

I consider this a couple's shot. Sorry BF, Chipotle and I have a special bond.

That brings me to the title of this post: Sweating the Sweet Stuff. And I am going highlight why it is important that we don’t sweat the sweet stuff while we do sweat the sweet stuff.

“Say, wha?” You say…

Well, the term “sweat” here is a homonym.

Don’t Sweat the Sweet Stuff…

Guess what? You live in an age where cookies, beer, chips & guac, etc. are going to pop up—and that’s because these things go hand-in-hand with celebrations and a festive atmosphere. With that said, it is okay to eat these things. Instead of spending the before, during, and after of a party hating yourself for considering, indulging, and then regretting the choices to eat these things—how about trying to push aside the berating qualms of society for just one night, and enjoy yourself. I am willing to bet that not only will you have a much more enjoyable time, but you will also find you are more likely to quit while you’re ahead. Deprivation activates an animalistic/binge mentality: If you chronically deprive yourself from certain foods, they then become so coveted and idealistic that they hold a certain power over you.

I am, again, speaking from experience…when I get too absorbed in staying 100% healthy, the thought of every possible bad-for-me food starts to take over my brain: Note: dreaming about donuts.

And this is ridiculous. Food should never, ever be a primary focus for your life.

Fact of the matter: Humans need to eat, point blank. It’s not something you can shy away from if you want to survive, and because it’s necessary—why should you let all your energy be consumed by it? Would you spend all your time focusing on when you need to blink or breath? No…and that’s because it’s something you can’t get around.

You can, however, focus your energy on how to achieve balance. You cannot survive without fruits and vegetables, and your body will revolt without them, but you will also go crazy if you are the person at every party who says “No” to everything offered, sips lemon water, and watches everyone else eat chocolate and drink wine without you. Also, you might notice your invitations to such events starts to decline…

Please note: I am in no way advocating a free pass for consistently binging without rhyme or reason. Remember, this is about balance. Wholesome foods are essential to our well-being, and above all else I believe that everyone should be educated on what we need to eat to stay healthy.

I am simply trying to speak against the notion that we should feel guilty about every time we “slip” from our healthy regimes. If you spend 80% of the time focusing on eating well, then I personally give you permission to indulge the other 20% of the time. The healthiest, happiest people I have ever known are the people that say yes to both apples and apple pie, running and rest days, spinach and Sirah, I think you get…

Do Sweat the Sweet Stuff

One of the best parts about staying active is the allowance of treats it provides. No, an extra mile every day doesn’t equal an extra cookie, but….kinda. Excess exercise equates additional calorie burn, therefore necessitating excess calorie consumption. Ideally, this will come in the form of additional nutrient dense foods. However, as athletes, we have the advantage of needed extra food. This is two-fold; while training, we need more food, and because we are inevitably going to sweat everything out, there is less pressure on us when we do have chocolate for dinner.

"I am running, but I am thinking about bagels."

With this said, finding a balance in terms of health is much more attainable when you incorporate exercise. You will have more energy, and your body will help you know exactly what it needs to stay happy. One of the reasons that I love training is because I become very in tune with what my body needs in terms of nutrients. Frequent activity not only boosts physical health in every way possible, but it will also help in tweaking your guilty mindset about “bad foods.”

That said, I would like state that I absolutely despise when people use the words “bad” and “good” when it comes to health and food. For the most part, we all know which foods are better for us than others, and we’ve been taught which foods are supposed to evoke a feeling of guilt within us. When we declare that we have been “bad” or “good,” we are immediately allowing our propaganda-filled brains to decide our self-worth for us.

Instead, congratulate yourself for making a healthy choice, remember how good your body felt, and establish a way to maintain a regular routine of it. Similarly, if you happen to have had one-too-many licks of cookie dough, forgive yourself, know that they were delicious, and recognize that they will not make you immediately gain 5 pounds. And if you really feel that bad about it, go for a half-hour run. I can almost guarantee that your guilt will evaporate—not because you know you burned it all off, but because running evaporates all negative thoughts and makes you feel awesome.

Another couple's shot. Cookie dough and I are a match made in heaven.

Admittedly, I am far from mastering the mentality of being in a completely happy balance. It is a daily battle for me, and there are times when I feel completely consumed by the negative thoughts that I have admonished in this post. And that’s because I’m human—and I simply can’t help it sometimes.

But I’m trying. And because I have been through so many different phases of figuring out the whole “healthy” thing, I believe I have established a basic methodology of how to be my happiest. I do not always obey my own beliefs, and I have to be very conscientious about not slipping into the grips of societal gimmicks, but these are the truths that I believe to wholly encompass the secrets of happiness.

So don’t sweat the sweet stuff, and I think you’ll realize that once you rid yourself of the guilt of eating the occasional treat, you will regain control over your confidence and ultimately strike a happy balance.

 

 

The Best Run of December and Gift Exchange

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I have an incredibly high level of excitement for the content going into this post, so bear with me and forgive my likely excessive use of exclamation points and ALL CAPS.

No time to mess around with silly anecdotes on life, let’s get down to business.

First of all, BF and I exchanged our Christmas gifts last night (we needed to celebrate early because we’ll both be getting on a plane on Saturday). The night was wonderful, complete with stockings, chocolate, great gifts and a dinner made by me. Little did BF know, I was secretly planning a mini carbo load for my long run this morning. I think the loaf of bread for two might have given me away…

Anyways, I’ll talk about our gift exchange in a bit, but first I need to detail why this morning’s run was simply—magical.

I wanted to get in a good long run before my lungs must submit to choking on the thin Colorado air (read Altitude Apprehension for more details), and so I made the switch from Sunday to Thursday for this week.

I was on the road around 6:20. The sky was completely dark, however it was incredibly clear, calm and silent. I took out my headphones almost immediately and basked in the stillness of the morning. The stars were shining brightly above, and the water was still except for the splash on the shoreline.

I was completely immersed in how beautiful it was, and I allowed my concentration to only focus on the run itself. I saw so many Christmas lights along the way, which was perhaps the best tour de lights I’ve ever taken.

By the time I reached the end of the run, I’d made it 17.43 miles—a bit further than intended— and the sky was blue and the sun was shining! Not quite what comes to mind when you think about Seattle in December. My legs were tired, but my mood was soaring—and I got a good kick realizing that I feel my absolute best when my face is covered in sweat salt and my calves are tight from the miles they’ve covered. It might sound strange, but truly—the sweat, exhaust, and, yes, smell after a long run is my happiest state.

 

Okay, moving onto the probably much more interesting part of this post—Christmas presents!

BF and I both did a good job this year if I do say so myself, and we now have more stocking candy than two people should ever have within reach. But don’t worry, we got it covered.

My stocking consisted of a pedometer(which I’ve wanted to play with for SO long!), tons of chocolate, a cookie monster shirt (he knows my true self), and a race registration! BF signed us up to relay a 10k race in January, and the best part is our team name:

Grizzly Bird

He is really a keeper folks.

Lindt truffles and a big blue Cookie Monster shirt. Happy camper

For BF, I got him a book called I Used to Know That (he thinks it will help him with nightly Jeopardy—PSH!), the Stick, and a running watch! He uses his cell phone timer to time his runs, therefore I thought it was time for an upgrade.

check out that Iron Man! oh and the watch is nice too.

YOU GUYS. You are not going to believe what BF got me.

Okay, well, both of my presents were so totally awesome—but this one is very very special to share with you:

BUMPER STICKERS!!!

Talk about supportive!! BF made these Run Birdie Run bumper stickers as one of my gifts, and I’m seriously PSYCHED. There are 6 of each, and {hopefully} more will need to be made someday! I’m trying to restrain myself from using them up by plastering them on everything I own, but I think for starters my car will wear one of these beauties.

{shameless plug: if you want one for whatever reason (you like stickers, you like to run, you like birds, you enjoy this blog) please let me know and I will seriously hand deliver it to you}

I ALSO GOT ROLLERBLADES!!

insert childlike giggles when viewing this photo

I warned you about the CAPS, so don’t judge. But seriously, this is an awesome gift especially since we live near 7 miles of flat, paved ocean-view trail AND BF owns his own pair. Alki Beach, you aren’t gonna know what hit you!

Anyways, successful gift exchange, and I’m already excited to eat a few more truffles tonight. Or ten.

I hope everyone is enjoying the heart of the holiday season, and I’ll be back tomorrow for some Friday Favorites!

What are you thankful for this year? What are you most excited to give? What’s the most memorable gift you’ve received? Tell me please, I really enjoy comments.


“Santa, can you hear me?” Running Wish List

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First things first. Yes, my title is referencing the magical Britney Christmas song, “My Only Wish This Year.”

It will remain my favorite Christmas song of all time for the rest of my life.

Alright, now that we’re all caught up on my shamelessness, let’s talk about running.

First, THIS:

HA!

An old friend of mine from high school—who I ran with—sent me this the other day, and I got a big kick out of it. I think race photos are very humbling proof that if you think you look hot when you run, you’ll always be wrong.

Anyways.

Today, it happened again. I don’t know what’s going on with me—some sort of brain metamorphosis; I spent about 85% of my run in voluntary silence, and I loved it.

My brain juggled around numerous thoughts on running, writing, blogging, and other miscellaneous wonderful things. While I was playing this fun game of weaving through various thoughts and enjoying the crisp {frigid} morning air, I began thinking about my upcoming running goals. The list is somewhat substantial, both in length and content, and I can only attribute it to the fact that running is my most treasured hobby, therefore it comes with a lot of extraneous planning.

So, today—in honor of the holiday season—I thought I’d share with you my “Running Wish List.” My actual Christmas list is way too far-fetched and idealistic, and obviously I don’t want to be known as the materialistic running girl who wants anything and everything to do with Lululemon and workout gear. No, a “Running Wish List” is not only more plausible, but it offers a lot more potential for self fulfillment than a new pair of fabulously cut running tights.

So, without further ado…

This year in my running career I hope to…

1) Do a 12k in under an hour

Ah I hate saying these things out loud, because somehow it makes me feel much more accountable than keeping them in the back of my mind. However, this wish is due to the upcoming race BF and I are doing called the 12ks of Christmas. However hard I try, I cannot go into a race without a specific number pulsing in my head, and in this case it’s under the 60 minute mark. I will have to run pretty dead even 8 minute miles to do the 7.45 in under an hour, and although I’m confident I have it in me—it’s still pretty fast, and there isn’t much wiggle room

2) Get faster

I have been very purposefully resisting the plunge into integrating speed work into my routine. The fact of the matter is I would so much rather go out for a nice long, leisurely run than spend an hour on the track doing intervals and sprints. Understandable, right?

Unfortunately, I do want to get faster and speed work is the obvious gateway to that wish. Fine, I give in. 2012—you’ll see me on the track. Plus, my local running store West Seattle Runner offers weekly custom speed workouts. I have no excuse. Maybe I can use my old track spikes?

3) Get a BQ

Again, I can’t believe I’m saying this out loud. Now it’s real. Affirmed by the officiality of cyber space documentation. (No, officiality is not a work—but it should be and you get it.)

For those of you who don’t know, a BQ stands for Boston Qualifier—meaning you ran a  qualifying time to get into the Boston Marathon.

Okay, I KNOW I have only run one marathon and the loftiness of this goal is completely irrational and far fetched. I know this, trust me. However, the sprinter inside of me cannot help but want to reach the next level. And when your first marathon time is only 7 minutes away from qualifying for Boston, you cannot help but wonder how possible it could be. Those 7 minutes stick in my head pretty consistently, and I know that with some good solid training I can shave off that time. Also, Boston continues to lower their qualifying times, so if I don’t go for it soon the time will only be do-able by the Olympic hopefuls.

BTW…thanks a lot for this, Boston.

4) Get a new half marathon PR

I am seriously convinced that the race I ran my half PR in was a fluke. I ran way faster than I ever do, and I still have a hard time understanding how I was able to pull it off completely unintentionally. Therefore, the thought of breaking this PR is really daunting to me. Just doing the math of how fast those 13.1 miles need to be gives me a nervous stomach.

I haven’t done a half since that PR (mostly due to my injury and marathon training),and since my endurance/weekly mileage is higher than it was before running that race—I’m on a mission to set an intentional PR, no matter how gut-wrenching it might be.

5) Do more yoga, stretch more often, and fuel more appropriately

Okay, so I thought I would put a wish out there that was a bit more easily accessible, and doable on a day-to-day basis. The fact of the matter is that when I take good “running care” of myself, I’m a much happier and better runner. It sounds simple, but I think that all the extras that are required in this sport can easily fall to the wayside. Which is ridiculous, because as I’ve written before—the simple things such as proper stretching, adequate fuel intake, and ample hydration make all the difference when it comes to running performance.

In the next year, I’d like to try and do yoga—here goes—3 times a week. I feel so much better when I keep up on a yoga routine, simple as that. So despite my reluctance and excuses (typically consisting of wanting to sit on the couch and watch Jeopardy instead), I am vowing to get on my mat more. Additionally, I could do a much better job of pre and post run fueling and hydrating. I cannot tell you how many times in the middle of a run I think, “Why the F did I not just drink more water yesterday?” And then after I’m done, once again I don’t drink enough water. This is not acceptable as a runner—and I plan on changing this bad habit. Also, I’ve decided to eat more bagels and pasta—because, you know, as a runner I should. I get too wrapped up in getting all my food groups in that sometimes I forget—oh yea, on the night before a long run I should probably up the carbs. Ridiculous, I know. And this is a “wish” that is really freaking easy/awesome to fix.

 

So there you have it. My “Running Wish List” is out there for the “world” to see. It makes me nervous to say some of those bigger goals out loud, as they’ve remained in the depths of my running psyche. However, putting them out into the universe—even just in the sense that I can go back and read that I’ve said them—actually helps motivate me. And ultimately, saying them out loud is the first step to making them a reality.

Now You! What are some of your wishes, running or otherwise?