The Anti-Running Runner

This book makes me appreciate that I can run. And that I can race. I started running in college, and it's a very uncompetitive, casual sport for me. I'm not fast, and I don't try to be. When I race, I simply want to finish. Maybe PR if I can. This book makes me want to run more than I do, and makes me want to set goals that I never set for myself before. Much in this book made my jaw drop. I enjoy my restful and lazy days, but reading about the life of Kathrine Switzer makes me think I'm enjoying far too many of those days. Her push for the inclusion of the women's marathon in the Olympics started with the simple notion in college that she wanted to run the Boston Marathon to see if she could. Medical experts in the 60's were telling women their uteruses would fall out if they ran that far. Yet Kathrine ran with the men on her track team and thought, if they can do it, I can do it. And she challenged her coach to train her for a marathon the same way he wou...

I love the feeling of finishing a race no matter what the distance. Every race is an accomplishment. There is no such thing as "just a 5K" or "just a half" or "just an insert race distance. " All races from 1K to 100 miles are difficult in their own way, though I personally will never know the difficulty of a race beyond 26.2 miles. My cousin, Alyssa, my best friend, Hea, and I ran the Women's Half Marathon yesterday. The race began at 7am amongst a crowd of 10,000 women. Right when the race started, Hea and I almost lost my cousin because she was in the eternal bathroom line. Luckily, she is a speedy girl and caught up to us about five minutes after the horn sent us all off. The pictures were taken by our good friend, Jeremy Carlson, who spotted us along the route several times. Thanks, J.J.! The downtown waterfront in St. Pete is a scene I know so well. We traveled past the Vinoy toward Snell Isle Bridge, made our way ...

This is the week I get to eat lots of carbs and train less. It's going to be a good week. Why, you may ask? Because the Women's Half Marathon is this Sunday in St. Petersburg! This last weekend I ran five miles Saturday and five miles Sunday with my hubby and Lance. Did I mention they are both in much better shape than me? They were sweet and stayed with me, though. We had a great time, and it was my last "longer" running before the race. I opted not to do 10 miles on Saturday like I originally planned and broke it up between the two days. I used my Nike+ sensor and ran at the park with the marked mileage so I know it's accurate. I now feel confident about going somewhere else with the sensor. Lance got good and tired for the rest of Saturday and Sunday, just the way we like him. I found out from Kathrine Switzer's Facebook page that she will be at the expo again this year for the race. I'm so excited to see her again. I got to chat with her...