As I headed to the race it was still darkish, although it shouldn’t have been. But as usual, rain was threatening. Mid-40 temps, strong winds, the usual suspects around here lately. I parked in a church lot and ran a brief warmup over to the school for the start. Commence drizzle. I deliberated on whether [Read More]
Archives for 2011
5 Fun Things About Mom
1. In grade school my friends called my mom ‘cool Char’. They’d call her up on Friday nights and tell her to bring ‘the big car’ so all of us could pack into it for a ride to the ice rink. 2. The ‘big car’ was a bile-green metallic Buick station wagon circa 1970-something. We called it The [Read More]
Windy Half Marathon Race Report
I woke at 5am to temps in the low 60’s. Was this gonna be yet another hot race? I exchanged my long sleeve top and tights for a tank with Zensah sleeves and capris, all in stealth black with a cheetah headband. As I drove to the race I could hear the wind. Great. This [Read More]
Plyometric Interval Workout for Runners
Many of you have asked about my plyometric interval workout. Being a Run Less Run Faster girl, crosstraining is important to me and plyo intervals have been a part of my workout since the beginning of time. What are Plyometric Exercises? A variety of fast, explosive movements designed to build muscle power, endurance and develop the [Read More]
How I Qualified for Boston at the Grand Rapids Marathon
Many of you have asked about the marathon where I qualified for Boston. Although it was my intention to blog about my BQ journey, the procrastinator in me won out and my blog wasn’t born until just after I achieved that first BQ. I wrote a race report though, which until today, has not been [Read More]
Boston Marathon FAQs
The Boston Marathon is coming up fast! I’ve received so many questions regarding the marathon (thanks for asking, I am flattered!) I thought it only right to share them here. Are the Newton Hills really that big? It all depends what you did leading up to them. Did you hill train well? Did you hill [Read More]
The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Barefoot Running
This post contains affiliate links. Especially after reading Born To Run, I’ve tossed around the idea of barefoot running. I’ve worn Newtons for 3 years now. I even got these puppies last spring. My first foray into barefoot running though, happened before I got my Vibrams. Silly me planned on simply belting out a couple [Read More]
How to Avoid Vacation Weight Gain
Vacation time: We all love it but its not so easy to eat healthy when we’re away from home. Believe it or not, it IS possible to enjoy vacation AND avoid the weight gain that often comes with it. Week 3 of my Veggie-Centric diet is complete Week 1: -2 Week 2: No weigh-in due [Read More]
If You Put Kale in Your Smoothie…
If you put kale in your smoothie… Make sure you’re very careful. Because just as you’re enjoying the last bits of it’s green deliciousness the phone may ring. And if the phone rings, you must answer it. Because it could be the school nurse or one of your kids telling you she fell in gym [Read More]
March Madness Half Marathon
March Madness Half Marathon/Cupcake Marathon Race Report I watched the storm approach on Accuweather. Almost 2″ of rain was forecast, accompanied by 40mph winds. Should I stay or should I go? I could have made a strong case with plenty of reasonable excuses for skipping. But I knew I’d be ticked if I skipped the [Read More]
