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Clove’s Training and Fertility Treatment Log: Weeks 3 & 4, Cycle Four

Written by Clove on June 18, 2013 · 3 Comments

Either way I can say bye to this for a while. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

We’re a little under two weeks from a big sea change here; I’ll either be miraculously pregnant, or I’ll be training for Burning River. The biggest change this week has been the shift in my mindset; I feel as if I’ve turned the corner from hoping and praying and moved on to envisioning a day at Burning River. In many ways, I feel as if I’m just waiting out these last two weeks so I can get started on my training, and I’m not sure that’s a bad thing. Read more

Avoiding the Running Comparison Trap

Written by Coriander on June 18, 2013 · 5 Comments

You and the runner you’re comparing yourself to.

How many times have these thoughts crossed your mind? “I can’t run with her – she’s faster than me.” “I wish I could run in cute shorts like her! She is so much skinnier than me.” “We’ve done all the same workouts, why did she PR and I didn’t?”

And sometimes we’re not putting ourselves down, but thinking things like “I’m better than her because I run full marathons, she only runs halves.” “I’m such a better runner than she ever will be.”

And the list goes on and on.

We’re compared to others as babies and it continues through the rest of our lives. We get ranked in school, graded on a curve, told not to act like the bad kids. As adults, it’s hard to avoid getting stuck in the comparison trap and we spend a lot of time comparing ourselves to other runners, coworkers, friends and even strangers we interact with.

As runners, comparisons are everywhere. We’re ranked by age group and gender placements. We’re put in corrals at race starts based on our previous or estimated performances. We only attend group runs with runners of similar pace. It gets old after a while, and to be honest, I’m sick of people telling me that I’m a better runner than they are because I run more miles in a week or being afraid to run with a local group because I think it’s full of better runners than I.

So how do we break out of the comparison trap? Read more

What to Do When Life Derails Your Training Plan

Written by Mint on June 17, 2013 · 2 Comments

My rock star

I can’t tell you how many times people have asked me: how do you fit it all in?

I usually shrug it off because I am not doing anything special. The truth is, most of us try to do what we can when we can. We are all pretty darn busy.

My story is this: my husband and I have 2 very active and awesome boys with busy schedules. They are our biggest priority, and we do our best to always be there for them. I am also a full-time private-practice lawyer. I love my job. To do it really well though, I frankly must be able to jump at every emergency and non-emergency that comes my way. This means I am always plugged in and I often work crazy hours and weekends if need be. My husband follows the same schedule, although he also owns his own law firm, which comes with a lot of additional administrative needs we balance.

Add in our passions: I train for and race marathons. My husband plays gigs. He is in a very successful local band and plays almost every weekend. Sometimes twice a weekend. These obligations may seem gratuitous to some, but they are very important to us.

We also give a lot to our community: I devote a lot of time to Girls on the Run (aka my second job) and we both work with other boards/community efforts.

Oh yeah: there is also grocery shopping, laundry, cleaning, etc. How many hours in the day are there again?

We usually balance it pretty well. But sometimes it gets a little crazy. Are you relating to this?

5 Things New Running Moms Need

Written by Salty on June 14, 2013 · 5 Comments

Did you hear the good news? Oiselle wearing, pro runner, Picky Bar and Believe I Am founder, prolific blogger and Runners World columnist Lauren Fleshman had her baby on Monday. Mazel Tov!

You might have expected some nod to Father’s Day in this Friday 5, but instead, inspired by Ms. Fleshman’s little bundle, I decided to make this one a nod to mother runners. (I swear it has nothing to do with the fact that 99.9% of our readers are female.) While we’ve discussed big things to help new moms keep the running going after baby comes – things like running strollers and treadmills and babysitters – I thought I might share the 5 lesser appreciated little things all new running moms should have on hand after the stork arrives. Read more

Salty’s Training Log – 6.8.13

Written by Salty on June 12, 2013 · 1 Comment

6 months means I get to eat and mommy gets to get back to the track!

Sometimes even the boss needs a break. The demands of three kids and other life stuff got on top of me and I needed a little vacation from Salty stuff. Sorry I’ve been m.i.a. with the training logs. I missed one and then thought I’d catch up the next week and then missed another and now it’s been over a month since I last posted a log. EEK!

In that time, I inched one year closer to becoming a master (38!), paced my friend Joanne to her first ever sub-1:40 half, son finished his first year of preschool and baby turned 6 months! Read more

That’s not Sweat. That’s Liquid AWESOME.

Written by Ginkgo on June 12, 2013 · 4 Comments

Sweat It Out! It’s good for you!

Girls don’t sweat. Just like they don’t burp. And they don’t fart. And they always smell like roses. And they are made up of sugar and spice (especially us Salties) and everything nice, right?

Riiiigggghhhhtttt…..

As the weather heats up here in good ol’ Columbus, Ohio, (finally!) and I prepare for a long weekend in the humid and salt-laden air of Hilton Head South Carolina, I’m facing the one thing I really don’t like about running: sweat. A few days ago, I was running with my dog around 8 a.m. and it was already 80 degrees with a fog warning. As sweat began dripping down my face and staining my cute t-shirt, Otto was panting but looked as beautiful as ever…no sweat. Why is it that we humans are cursed with this natural occurence of liquid excretion? Especially in, of all places, our armpits? Yuck.

Let’s explore, shall we?

Why You Need a Training Log

Written by Licorice on June 11, 2013 · 6 Comments

Keeping records is important!

If you don’t currently keep a training log, it might sound like a lot of extra work. Why bother? Isn’t checking boxes off on your training plan enough?

The benefits of logging your runs are, perhaps, a bit more obvious if you’re training for a specific event or race. During your training it can seem tedious to log every little variable of each workout, including how you felt (before, during, and after), what you wore, what you ate and drank, and what the weather was like. However, having all of that information recorded can be incredibly helpful in the lead-up to the race.

But where do you start? How do you pick a log? What do you put in it? What do you do with all that information, if anything? And again…why?

Badwater 101

Written by Clove on June 10, 2013 · 5 Comments

Badwater.

In short, it’s 135 miles across Death Valley in 120 degree temperatures. The pavement alone reaches up to 128 degrees.

It’s nothing short of epic. It’s Coriander’s long-term stretch goal, and her post awhile back was enough to get me reminiscent of my four trips there; twice crewing the official race and twice “playing with fire.” And let’s not lie, I’ve got my eye on that sucker too. But I’ve got a secret. A big secret that I’m so excited to share with our Salty readers.

DB was selected to run Badwater this July. It has been a dream of his for more than five years now; a dream of his before he ever ran his first 100 mile race. A dream of his before it was ever a dream of mine. I could not be more proud of him or more excited for him. He had to run qualifying races and submit an extensive application. And worst of all, then he had to just … wait.

Running Badwater has always been a dream of his, but running this Badwater has special meaning.

He will turn 50 years old on July 16, 2013 – the day he finishes Badwater for the first time. Read more

5 Rules for Dealing with Runner Women Over Fifty

Written by Chipotle on June 7, 2013 · 18 Comments

It’s Friday 5 time!

There was a time when women were ashamed of turning fifty, but these days things have changed! Most women my age are strong, beautiful, and sexy as hell, and I am proud to represent them on Salty Running! Forty can be the new thirty and thirty can be the new twenty, but you won’t catch me trying to be anything other than fifty and fabulous.

Some younger runners may think that’s strange, but it doesn’t bother me. Well… not as long as they know how to behave when I’m around. It is amazing how many times I’ve had to explain the following 5 rules to those much younger than I am. Read more

On the Road Less Traveled with Mark and Alana Hadley

Written by Salty on June 6, 2013 · 6 Comments

Mark and Alana Hadley on the eve of her marathon debut!

It was one of the most anticipated American female marathon debuts ever. On May 19th, North Carolina high school sophomore Alana Hadley toed the line at the Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon looking to run somewhere in the neighborhood of 2:40 for her first crack at the 26.2 distance. Would she turn those 1:16:xx half marathons into marathon greatness? Would the 111 mile weeks pay off? Or would she crack under the pressure or crumble under the controversy that swirls around her?

Sixteen year-old Alana Hadley isn’t like most young American runners. She didn’t wait until middle school to pick up the sport; instead she began formal training at the ripe old age of 6. Unconventionally, she decoupled her running from her studies, choosing to forgo high school cross-country and track in favor of training on her own for road races under the watchful eye of her coach and father, Mark Hadley. Mark is the coach behind Molly Pritz’s debut 2:31 in the 2011 ING New York City Marathon and has coached many elite, sub-elite and average-Joe athletes. (You can read more about his coaching on his websites: Maximum Performance Running and Elite Marathoning).

Chances are you have a strong opinion about whether it was wise for such a young runner to attempt to race a marathon at such a high level and I invite you to share your opinions in the comments. I honestly wasn’t sure what I thought, but since Alana and Mark were going to be right in my neck of the woods, I headed to downtown Cleveland with Ginger the day before the race and sat down for a chat with them about being a young runner, about the controversy surrounding Alana’s jump to the marathon and about Mark’s training theories. Later, after the race, we discussed how her debut went and what’s next for Alana on the road less traveled. Read more