Just Some Halloween Spirit!

And if you think you couldn't run a marathon before try running 26.2 miles in these costumes.

Happy Halloween!

 

 

Pictures courtesy of EliteFeet  

Something To Say At ROA: A Quick Link Roundup

Not everyone in Albany who's running has been cold lately.

We've got all kinds of political talk coming up, and new representatives running for office's and boards and such, as you can tell I don't follow it all to well. Apparently Republicans feel they need to target Syracuse, Albany, Watertown and Plattsburgh because they are all "distinct areas."

"Distinct" they are.

I've run at Lemoyne College (just outside of Syracuse), The University of Albany and SUNY Plattsburgh, and each of them offer a variety of different terrain and running conditions. But I don't think that's what the Republicans meant.

There are in fact many local races coming up that aren't political.

The Siena Men's and Women's cross country teams will be holding the Spooky Siena Scramble on Halloween day. More information can be found here. I've never run this particular race, but I've ran in costume and it's quite fun. Runner's World has some funny ideas for running-themed costumes that can also be worn while running.

The 34th annual Stockade-Athon will be held on November 8th and it's always a fun race. The Stockade-Athon is a 15k, so it's probably only for more serious runners.

GetSetNY has a list of more upcoming local races.

Rainy Day Runs

 I love to run in the rain during the summer. There's nothing like the feeling of a sweltering hot Sunday run when the rain starts to pour down in sheets. I say Sunday run because Sundays are usually the longest distance run of the week.

I hate really hate running in the rain in the fall/winter months. 

I really hate really freaking hate running in the rain in the fall/winter months.

I especially I really freaking hate running in the rain in the fall/winter months  really freaking hate running in the rain in the fall/winter months when I'm sick.

So rain rain go away come again some summer day.

Thank goodness for us practice today was just a quick and easy four to five miles. Also thank goodness for us the rain had calmed down to a steady sprinkle by the time we took off on our warm-up. Warm-up was no small feat for us because the girls were directly behind the boys (normally we have a little gap between the two teams). The problem is when you're running in a pack you cannot see what is coming directly in front of you. Therefore your leader would jump to the side to avoid a massive puddle, and you would be left to quickly react and find another way around. Mind you at this point we were still in the mindset of not completely soaking our socks and sneakers.

Our run was pleasant. The rain had almost completely died off by our first mile although it got rather chilly. I would assume our breath could be seen by the cars passing by us. All in all it wasn't the worst rainy day run I've ever had, but I still could have done without it and opted for a nice bike or treadmill workout.

We had to make a quick decision to do our striders on the sidewalk back at school because the courtyard where we normally do them was  quite swampy. Our striders are done to remind our body of the race day finishing kick. While we mave have ran an easy run we still want to make sure we keep the body ready for that lactic acid rush.

While nothing too crazy or exciting happened I didn't mind, I was in need of a break from Albany's antics.

Too Sick To Function

I'm sick as a dog today so I won't be attending practice. I feel like a waste of life. I actually got a lot done today but I always feel groggy if I don't run or do some sort of exercise. I contemplated going to the gym and jumping on the bike for an easy 45 minutes.

But then I decided against it.

I miss the team though, it's so weird that this is almost over. I know I have another whole semester, and I have Indoor and Outdoor track coming but still college is almost over.

I will run for the rest of my life, but I won't have a team to run with for the rest of my life.

I Didn't Want To Regret It, But I Think I Might.

This summer I battled with myself on whether or not I was going to race this Cross Country season which will complete my last year of college.

That's a scary thought in itself.

I self finance my education, my apartment, my bills, everything and Cross Country takes up a lot of time. A lot of time for practice and meets equals a lot of missed hours at work. Which equals less money to go towards my education, my apartment, my bills.

I fought with myself for a while and ultimately decided against it. My scholarship at Saint Rose is for Track and Field, meaning I am required to do Track but not Cross Country. I love Cross Country and I love my team which is why this was so hard for me. I worked out a deal with my Track coach that instead of doing pre-season with them I would be running with my Cross Country team on the days when I worked in the morning so I could get to practice at night.

This meant I would not be racing but just practicing with the team.
I did not want to regret my decision.

But I do.

I miss my team immensely. I understand I see them three times a week, but most of the fun comes during meets and over night events. I miss the racing and I miss the complete dedication to something I love.

I don't think I would have been able to survive on my own, monetarily speaking, if I had done both but I now wish that there had been another solution. This would have been the end of a chapter with my team if I had completed all four years, but now I feel a little sense of loss.

I wish to not regret this because there's nothing I can do about it now. But instead I will try to pull from it the good and move on knowing that some things just have to be done a certain way in order to endure situations you are put in.

Flashback to Elementary School

Coach decided we were going to have some fun at practice today. So we played games from elementary school gym class for 45 minutes while continuously running.

At first i wasn't excited.

But honestly once we got to game three or four we were all wicked into it. I think the kicker was the final game of group freeze tag.

It was an even match up. 
It became a seriously intense game.

Finally coach had to call it a four way tie. This was probably a good thing because we were all getting rather tired, and I think injury was soon to follow.

One Fist, Two Fist...Holy Crap Fight!!!

I should not be amazed anymore about some of the things I see on my day to day runs. But it seems every time something new and crazy happens I still have to do a double-take and really ask myself :

Did that really happen?

It was a gorgeous day for a run. The weather was just right and the team and I had good conversation flowing throughout the entirety of our seven-miler. Almost back at school, running down Ontario Street, we looked ahead to see six guys. I would say they were about 18-years old walking towards us on the sidewalk. None of us thought twice about this because we often share the sidewalk with others.

We got closer and their pack shifted left except for two of them. We were about ten feet from these two and began to shorten our stride trying to anticipate what they were doing, seeing as they had not yet moved. Next thing we knew we were witnessing a fist fight directly in front of us. We literally jumped out of the way into the road to avoid these swinging idiots.

Seriously? What the hell?

We looked back thinking that maybe they had been trying to show off in front of 15 girls but they were still going at it pretty fiercely. We couldn't do anything but laugh, so that we did...pretty hard.

That was enough excitement for the day at least that's what we thought. But of course that wasn't enough action for an Albany run.

Around 50 yards later we crossed Park Avenue. The three of us in front of our pack, myself included, nearly got nailed by an oncoming Honda Civic. The airhead was on her cell phone and decided it was smart to roll through the stop sign and somehow failed to miss all of us in brightly colored t-shirts running directly in front of her.

She seemingly failed to miss the Albany Police Car that was stopped at the adjacent red light.

Unfortunately for her the officer wasn't  missing anything. He let us pass then threw on his lights and siren and pulled her over 20 seconds later. Oh karma.

Just Don't Freakin Do It

I was walking home from the gym today and I saw it: my pet peeve

This unsuspecting middle-aged women annoyed me and she didn't even know it. Judging by her stride, she was a pretty avid runner. Nonetheless, she had committed the ultimate runner's fashion faux pas.
She was wearing black spandex with blue running shorts over top of them.

Please.

I'm begging you.

If you wear spandex pants to run in--Under Armour, or Nike spandex, I'm not talking leggings--DO NOT where shorts on top.

I don't know what it is, but over the years this has become one of my biggest pet peeves! It's not necessary. It doesn't even look functional and it's not comfortable.

This rule goes for runners only. If you're playing soccer or another recreational sport outside, then by all means wear shorts over your spandex.

But all you runners should be more seasoned than this.

I've discussed this with many other runners, and so far they have all agreed. By all means if you disagree and have supporting evidence for your case, please leave a comment.

So as the weather continues to get colder, you can find me throwing on my spandex for a run. But you better believe I'll be leaving the shorts at home!

Which one is better? You Decide!
                                                        Granted, it looks frumpy different when you're actually running in them, but I had already done my workout for the day and I wasn't about to be caught with shorts on over my spandex.

(Even if it was only for a five-minute span to take a picture!)

Oops, Forgot My Toilet Paper!

WARNING: This post is not to be read while eating. Some will handle this post better than others after the realization that this is a natural occurrence. I hope you will now grasp the realization that everyone poops.

I've never run a marathon. I've thought about running a marathon after I graduate. I'm just not sure.


Something I do think about, however, is how people go to the bathroom in a marathon.

I've been in a running environment for a long time. Precisely I've been running competitively since the fourth grade which makes it about 12 years. Because of this I've learned and seen and the whole idea of pooping and peeing (yes I said it) doesn't come as a shocker to me.

I've become accustomed to Porta-Potties, I'm not afraid to use them, and better yet I don't think twice about relieving myself in the woods. I would think this falls true for many other long time runners. If you attend any race you'll more than likely see the line of these iridescent blue toilets not to mention you'll see a even longer line of runners waiting outside them.

One of the first things I remember about being on my high school team was how quickly we all jumped into talking about our digestive cycles.

Runners share a bond because since day one it's something we've all become comfortable with talking about for the simple fact that everyone poops and everyone pees (again I said it).

The worst position to be in is 15 miles deep into the woods when you realize you have to go number two.

Trust me.

Not only have you more than likely forgot to bring along a few sheets of toilet paper but at this point your bodies extremely tired and more than likely having a hard time holding things in, if you get my drift.

Then there is peeing while racing.

This Runners World forum discusses a variety of times that fellow runners have witnessed or taken part in peeing during a race. The first time I saw this happen was at the New York State Cross Country Championship meet my freshman or sophomore year of high school. I would say at least 4 out of the top 10 female finishers had wet their Spankies. I was a little put off by this but soon realized the likelihood of this happening to myself, or one of my teammates was basically inevitable.

You maybe asking yourself the question "Why do runners pee during a race?" You have to understand that the amount of fluids that runners take in daily is way more than the daily human. This is especially the case for marathon runners. So the combination of drinking an excess amount of fluids and running for as long as six hours at a time equals a large chance for urination. Not to mention that fact that your body is completely drained allowing all effort from your muscles to focus on moving your legs and not holding in your bladder.

Paula Radcliffe a nationally known marathon runner shows us how to relieve yourself in a classy manner while running and going on to win the London Marathon.

Whether you're a high school athlete or a world famous one, this kind of stuff happens. If it happens to you don't be embarrassed if you're witnessing this try not to cringe and always remember bring an extra pair of underwear.

Fast Community Servers

I'm sure you've all seen them lately; the vast array of knocked over garbage cans littering the sidewalks or even worse the roads.

It's the worst thing when you're driving down a one way street and there's a garbage can or 5 in the middle of the road. You're left with the option to bump it enough with your front end to get it out of the way or put the car in park, get out, and move it to the side (because god knows you're not about to nail the thing and see what comes flying out...or maybe you are).

Well yesterday the team and I took it up ourselves to help out the innocent drivers and walkers of Albany. I'd say we turned upright at least 15 cans on our 6 mile run covering mostly main streets. Not to mention at least 10 that we removed from the road.

It's all about the little things!

Spankies!

I was doing some re-arranging in my room today and came across my old high school uniform (which I was probably supposed to return, sorry coach).

I remember the day my high school team got our new uniforms.

We were scared.

We had made the transformation from woman's running shorts to Spankies (see definition number six). Most of us were scared but we all saw this transformation as not only a new uniform but we now "looked" faster.

It's funny how something you wear can change your complete persona. Most of the fast teams in our Section have Spankies, and now we were a team to be reckoned with and we had the Spankies to prove it.

We decided to wear our new Spankies at practice the day before our first meet so we could adjust to them (after all from running in shorts your entire life to practically running in underwear in front of crowds of people can be a bit nerve racking at times).

As captain I probably should have picked a better place to warm up that day rather than around the soccer fields where we found the Men's Soccer team oogling over us as we strided by.

None the less Spankies are rather comfortable for race days, and most teams who race in them love them.

At the collegiate level we've mostly all changed to spandex shorts. These are the same material, but a lot more comfortable and a lot less revealing.