Run, Karla, Run!

New York, New York. Photo by Fergal Carr.

Cue the theme from Rocky: “Gonna fly now…. Getting strong now…” Yee-haw. Marathon season is here. This week marks the start of training for the 2010 ING New York City Marathon. Come Nov. 7, I’ll be strong and ready to fly.

Or will I?

This past weekend, I took a sailing class out in New York Harbor. We sailed from lower Manhattan past the Statue of Liberty to the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, the iconic start of the race. It was a view of the bridge I’ve never seen before. As the boat cruised underneath, I looked up at the mass of steel and bolts looming above me. My blood rushed. In just 16 weeks I would be crossing that bridge at the start of the New York City Marathon.

I looked back up the bay toward Manhattan. The island was tiny in the distance, seemingly a word away. I gulped. Read the rest of this entry →

Photo by Mike Baird

On Saturday in New York City, Great Britain’s Paula Radcliffe and the U.S.’s Kara Goucher will both run the NYRR New York Mini 10K, the world’s oldest women’s race. Radcliffe is the marathon world record holder and Goucher is an Olympian and up-and-coming marathoner who has placed third in the NYC and Boston marathons.

They’re running the Mini—but not racing it. Both five months pregnant and due on the same day in September, the superstars and friends have decided to treat the historic event as a fun run.

“It’s an excuse for us to get together; a chance to hang together before we get too pregnant to travel,” Goucher told The New York Times. “We are really just running it for fun. Not racing.”

Running a race for fun without “racing” it, is one of the many joys of running. It allows you to soak up all the energy of the community while getting in good run, and it’s way better than slogging out a tempo or other training run by yourself. It’s a great way to run with friends, and it’s also an excellent exercise in restraint. Forcing yourself to hold back—which can be hard amongst the excitement—is good training for your next big race. Read the rest of this entry →

Happy National Running Day! Runners don’t usually need any excuses to lace up our joggers and hit the road, track or trail. But if we do, National Running Day is about as good as any.

Running groups across the country have planned events in cities far and wide from San Francisco to El Paso and Little Rock to Washington, D.C., to celebrate putting one foot in front of another. There are 87 official events for runners and walkers alike.

Most of the events—which include group runs galore—will take place after work hours today starting around 6 pm. To find an event near you visit Runningday.org. Their handy participation calendar lets you search by city, state, zip code or event name.

And if there isn’t an event where you live, it’s still easy to participate: all you have to do is go for a run or walk. Read the rest of this entry →

You’ve got questions. I’ll find the answers. “Ask the Running Nerd” is back.

Question:

My husband and I are scheduled to run our first half-marathon in July.  I have been running on my own without any training plan for a few months now and today I went for a 10-mile run.  We’re 10 weeks away from the race and I’m not sure what my training should look like for the next several weeks.  I don’t want to lose the endurance I’ve worked for thus far, but I also don’t want to injure myself before the race. Any ideas?

—Kerry Read the rest of this entry →

Photo by Michal Zacharzewski

Bad runs, like bad things, happen to good people. More specifically, they happen to good runners; and, they happen to all of us. Bad runs can be insidious; they can infect your mind and your training, especially if you’re unable to shake them off.

After a particularly bad run, I learned that you must—to borrow a lyric from Dorothy Fields—pick yourself up, dust yourself off, start all over again.

Last Saturday, I had an especially bad run. It was the first 85-degree day, with clear skies and about 50 percent humidity. When I set out for a 10K, I knew it would be tough. The hotter it is, the slower we’re able to run—as much as 5 percent slower for every 10 degrees above 55, according to coach extraordinaire Jeff Galloway. Experts like the folks over at Endurance Science even have empirical data to prove it.

So I expected to take it easy and run a bit slower. But I didn’t expect it to be demoralizing. Read the rest of this entry →

I stared down the track in front of me. I’d already run a 1600, two 800s and four 400s at an all-out pace. Now just one more 800 stood between me and the end of the workout.

“Group 4, you’re up!” my coach yelled.

“Why do we have to run another 800?” someone moaned.

“Because it mentally prepares you to run fast,” he said. “You speed up over the course of the intervals and then you try to hold that pace for one last 800.”

“It’s mental torture,” I said.

He laughed. “All right, this is all-out,” he said. “This should hurt. Group 4, go!”

I had a cramp in my left foot, a stitch in my right side, and I still hadn’t caught my breath from the last interval. To make matters worse, the parks department hadn’t turned on the water fountains and I forgot my water bottle. Everything in me wanted to say, “Meh, I’ve done enough.”

But I took one look at the rest of the runners in my group, and I thought, “I can do this.”

There are so many reasons to train with a friend or a team. Camaraderie, accountability and encouragement are some of them. But my favorite reason to show up to team speed workouts is that I like to run with the fast crowd. It’s inspirational, motivational and encourages me to push myself harder than I ever would on my own. Read the rest of this entry →

It’s been a long winter, and here in New York, it looks to be a very wet spring. Which means ever more runs on “the dreadmill” before I’m back to road running full time.

It’s known as “the dreadmill” for a reason. Running on a treadmill can be nauseating at best and downright aggravating at worst. But sometimes I actually—gasp—enjoy the treadmill. Dare I say it? I have come to love it. Read the rest of this entry →

Photo by Phil Hospod

You’ve got questions. I’ll find the answers. Welcome to “Ask the Running Nerd.”

Question:

I’ve been running off and on for about 10 years, and I recently became more serious about my running – I joined a team, set some goals and am becoming more consistent with my workouts. As a result, I’ve been increasing my mileage, and I’ve met some really great like-minded runners. Unfortunately, I’ve also encountered 5 women in the last 2 months who have suffered some type of foot fracture. These women range in age from 23 to 38; some have been running competitively since high school and others are relatively new to the sport. I’m hoping to avoid this seemingly common injury myself. What causes these types of injuries in women and how can I avoid them?

–Cindy, New York City Read the rest of this entry →

The eight-year-old in me is bouncing off the walls. When I read not once, not twice, but three times in Runner’s World that multiple studies have concluded chocolate milk is the perfect recovery drink, I wanted to break out in song, kiss the stranger next to me on the subway and click my heels in the air. And it’s not just Runner’s World covering the evidence stacked in chocolate milk’s favor; Fitness magazine, CBS News and AskMen.com among others have reported chocolate milk’s benefits.  Read the rest of this entry →

It’s a New Year. And that can only mean one thing: time to make some New Year’s resolutions.

I’m a goal-oriented person. So along with my general resolutions—which usually include things like “run a marathon”—I’m making a list of running resolutions. Here goes.

1. Get faster

2. Fast enough to race a sub 2-hour half-marathon

3. Even faster to race a sub 4-hour marathon

Sounds simple enough, right? Well… Read the rest of this entry →