Run, Karla, Run!

Capital One Bank Dallas YMCA Turkey Trot (Photo courtesy of Dallas YMCA)

Ah, Thanksgiving and food. They go together like mashed potatoes and gravy. Thankfully, running and Thanksgiving also go hand-in-Turkey-feathered-hand. Why not earn your dinner at a Thanksgiving Day Turkey Trot? I ran a PR at a Turkey Trot last year and won an amazing box of cat goodies…even though I don’t own a cat. Hey, always happy to win anything at all.

Or better yet, eat and run at the same time at one of North America’s craziest food-themed races. What’s in it for you? Chocolate martinis, lemonade and beer, and homemade Twinkies, just to name a few things. I picked the cream of the crop for SHAPE.com.

What should you eat before you run? Check out this roundup of expert advice, including yours truly, at Steadyfoot.com.

America’s Best Turkey Trots

A pair of turkeys at the Buffalo YMCA Turkey Trot (Photo courtesy of Buffalo-Niagara YMCA)

Did you know there are 1,300 Thanksgiving-themed races in the U.S.? It’s the busiest running day of the year thanks to an abundance of Turkey Trots from coast to coast. I picked 10 of the oldest, biggest, and best to add to your bucket list. One of them is older than the Boston Marathon. Two of them give out whole pies at the finish. Yum!

Read about them all at America’s Best Turkey Trots on SHAPE.com.

10 Food-Fueled Races Around the Country

The NYC Pizza Run (Photo courtesy of NYC Pizza Run)

Interested in more than pie and turkey? These races put food front and center, including bacon, chocolate, corn dogs, cupcakes, doughnuts, pizza and more. Yes, you read that right: bacon. You’re welcome.

Check them out at 10 Food-Fueled Races Around the Country at SHAPE.com.

Ready for the Runner’s World Holiday Running Streak. (Photo: Phil Hospod)

As Thanksgiving Day rapidly approaches I’m struggling with an age-old running question: To streak or not to streak? Back in 2011, I participated in the first annual Runner’s World Holiday Running Streak. I ran at least a mile a day from Thanksgiving through New Year’s, logging 100 miles in 40 days during a month when I often sit on my butt. It was an excellent exercise in perseverance that helped me battle the gluttony of the holidays and sluggishness of cold, dark winter days. I didn’t run a fall marathon in 2011, so I was raring to go.

Come 2012, I’d finished the Philadelphia Marathon just four days before Thanksgiving and I didn’t have the running streak in me. I needed a break.

But this year, I’m debating taking the pledge once again. My fall marathon, the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon, is more than a month behind me and I’m feeling that familiar itch—the itch to train. I loved doing the running streak in 2011. It kept me honest and gave me a great training base for nabbing some personal bests in 2012, which proved to be one of my fastest years on record. Though I bested my 5K and 10K times this year, my half-marathon and marathon PRs from 2012 still stand.

But the Holiday Running Streak is a commitment. I found that squeezing in a mile was sometimes difficult. There were midnight runs, a pre-holiday party run in 3-inch heels, and post-dinner runs with creamed spinach jiggling in my belly. There were sick runs, runs during snowstorms in rural Quebec, and plain, old “I don’t want to” runs.

So how to decide whether or not to streak now? Read the rest of this entry →

Running two half-marathons in three weeks must be carefully planned to avoid injury. (Photo: Karla Bruning)

Back in November, I set out on a crazy quest to run at least a mile every day from Thanksgiving to New Year’s with the Runner’s World Holiday Running Streak. Come Jan. 1, I’d accumulated 100 miles in 40 days and had a solid training base.

So I decided to merge the end of the streak with the beginning of half-marathon training. I earmarked Disney’s Tinker Bell Half Marathon on Jan. 29 as a training run for a personal record attempt at Disney’s Princess Half Marathon on Feb. 26. Somehow, everything went according to plan. I crossed the finish line at the Princess Half two minutes faster than my previous PR.

Now I’m looking to capitalize on all that training and fitness by squeezing out one more race—the NYC Half on March 18. New York Road Runners and Motorola invited me to be a MOTOACTV NYC Half Marathon Ambassador for the race and give the new MOTOACTV device a test run.

But with just three weeks between Disney’s Princess Half and the NYC Half, I knew I’d be treading the thin line between capitalizing on training and courting injury. How can a runner prepare to tackle two half-marathons in three weeks? Read the rest of this entry →

Karla runs Central Park on New Year’s Day. Photo by Anne Hospod.

40 days, 40 runs, 100 miles. Snow, slush, sub-freezing temps. Treadmills, trails, roads, sidewalks. I’ve run them all as part of the Runner’s World Holiday Running Streak.

On Thanksgiving, I set out to run at least a mile a day every single day through New Year’s Day. It wasn’t always easy; squeezing in even a mile on some days was surprisingly difficult. But somehow I stuck with it, and I’m happy to throw my arms up in victory and say: I did it! I finished my last day in style: 7.75 miles in New York City’s resplendent Central Park.

At the start, I told Runner’s World’s “Training Daily” blog my reasons for attempting the streak: “My winter training is usually erratic, unfocused, and lackluster. And that’s putting it nicely. For once, I’d love to start spring training with a healthy base. I also like to eat—a lot. But when I run better, I eat better. So here’s hoping the streak will help keep my holiday sweet tooth in check.” Read the rest of this entry →

Photo by Phil Hospod

With 34 days down, my Runner’s World Holiday Running Streak officially rocked around the Christmas tree. Forget laughing all the way, I’m running all the way, logging at least a mile a day from Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day. I’ve made it through two of the big three holidays I celebrate: Thanksgiving and Christmas (with a little Hanukkah thrown in for my Jewish family and friends). There’s just one more holiday and five days to go. Read the rest of this entry →

Photo by Graham Horn

Oh winter. It’s my least favorite time of year. I know, the holidays are magical with the twinkle lights and the parties and the food. Mmm, the food. But the holidays can be challenging for a runner, especially if you live in the northern half of the country, or the world, for that matter. Temperatures drop, snow accumulates, days darken, parties are plentiful, and the reasons not to head out for a run become pretty easy to come by.

So the folks over at Runner’s World have cooked up a cure. Meghan G. Loftus, who writes the RW Training Daily blog, is leading the charge with a Holiday Running Streak. She’s pledging to run at least a mile a day, every day from Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day. And she’s looking for runners to join her. Read the rest of this entry →

What better way to prepare for stuffing a turkey (and yourself) than a Thanksgiving Turkey Trot? Photo by Xybermatthew.

Gobble, gobble! It’s not just what a turkey says. It’s also what most of us do on Thanksgiving Day. It’s certainly what I do. Corn-broccoli casserole? Check. My mom’s super amazing stuffing? Yum. Gravy, gravy, gravy? You bet. A crescent roll or two. Of course. Apple Kuchen? Love it. With a side of ice cream? Wouldn’t be the same without. And of course, turkey? Heck, yeah!

There’s a reason Thanksgiving is possibly the most beloved national holiday. It’s really a festival of food. And one of the many reasons I love to run is because I love to eat. Thanksgiving is no exception. What better way to prepare for stuffing a turkey (and yourself) than a Turkey Trot?

From coast to coast, runners and walkers alike will give thanks for the Turkey Trot. Thanksgiving is one of the biggest, and most fun, running days of the year. Read the rest of this entry →