Hiatus...I guess you could call it that

My deepest apologies to all of you...I know the hundreds and hundreds of people that follow me have been awaiting the day that I return to ROA.

All kidding aside I wish I could tell you that I spent my hiatus on Nassau island in the Bahamas but infact it's been a very busy couple of months, with a lot of everything, except running. Yes this is true, in my last post I discussed how my foot had recently blew up and turned blue. Just as I expected my stress fracture has returned to plague me once more.

I haven't been able to run in almost two and a half months, missing the entirety of my last collegiate season of indoor track. The eliptical and The Bike have become my new training partners, and thank god they're not reading this because I'm going to say, they're not my friends!

As for the rest of my life it's been rather intense, I'm done with college classes forever, doing an internship for credits towards my last semester and still working full time. I'm interning at New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) and I LOVE it! (more to come on this for sure) I'm franticaly searching for an apartment, and nervously beginning my job search. We'll see what the next couple of weeks will hold.

One Fish Two Fish, Red Fish Blue FOOT!?!?

Let's just cut to the chase.

I had a stress fracture last cross country season.

I was out for at least three months because the stinking thing wouldn't heal.

I wore a boot for two of those three months.

I couldn't run, or use the elliptical and for the first month wasn't even aloud to bike.

I could swim, that was it.

It sucked.

It's been more than a year since then and I've been running without a hitch.

Well who would of thought when I woke up yesterday morning the same old hint of blue began forming on the top of my foot.

Is this serious?

I can't catch a break.

We'll see as the week goes on how this turns out.

Winter Time...Errrrr Maybe?

 Image courtesy of: flickr

After Mondays frigid first practice for indoor track that we had outside I was all excited ready to talk about running in the colder more winter months. Who would have known when I walked out the front door this morning to go to class that it would be 63 degrees!? Global warming? Or what is this? I'm not really complaining it's one more run where I can wear shorts and be comfortable.

Something To Say At ROA: A Quick Link Roundup

As the winter months are quickly approaching, or at least they're supposed to be, a lot of unseasoned runners maybe thinking what am I going to do? Well the answer is there are a lot of exercises that you can do once the snow finally hits Albany.

The first step to staying in shape or running in the winter is just motivation. You need to stay motivated. Nothing hurts more than falling asleep at night to a clean sidewalk, imagining your long run in the morning and waking up to a fresh foot of snow on the path you were dreaming of.

If you're worried about running in the snow because of your shoes don't be. Runner's World has five pages of good shoes for your winter running months. The most important thing is make no excuses, just get out there and do what you need to do trust me, you'll be thanking yourself later.

From The Windows To The Walls...Indoor Track Here We Come

My last season of indoor track starts tomorrow. Because Saint Rose doesn't have an indoor track, well a track at all for that matter, we will be hitting the streets for our first week of practice. Next week we'll be able to get into SUNY Albany's indoor track so that will be nice for some workouts.

It's been chilly and the wind has been crazy so we'll see how this upcoming week goes! I'm excited to get back out there with the team again, it's only been two weeks but I feel like it's been months.

Live-blogging The Troy Turkey Trot!

Follow me as I venture to the 62nd Troy Turkey Trot this fine morning!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

(Edit 10:57am)

I'm home from the Turkey Trot, what a great day for a race! A few of my live-blogs didn't come through on my twitter because they were images. I will post them directly below! Again, Happy Thanksgiving and for everyone who ran today great job!

9:42 am "Every race day staple!"

9:56 am "Packed as always!"

10:02 am "Lilly came out for the run today, her first day out with nearly 8,000 people. She's handling it pretty well!"

There you have it, those are the ones you missed!

Something To Say At ROA: A Quick Link Roundup

The 62nd annual Troy Turkey Trot will be held on Thanksgiving day, November 26th 2009.

The first Turkey Trot ever was in 1896 held rather locally in Buffalo NY. Since the beginning the Turkey Trot here in Troy has grown into one of the largest road races in upstate NY. There are at least 6,000 participants ready to hit the streets this Thanksgiving morning.

The 5k race will start on 4th and Fulton Street. You can register online until 12pm on Wednesday November 25th. There will be some changes this year to the course and the race start times in order to enable a larger field of racers and hopefully solve previous years traffic problems.

The schedule of events looks like this:

7:45 a.m.………….. Turkey Walk
9:30 a.m.………….. Open 5K
10:30 a.m.………… Grade School 1 Mile
10:45 a.m.………… Open 10K

I will be fighting the traffic and mobs of people to Live-Blog the open 5k via my Twitter.

Hope to see you there!

My New Running Partner...Well Eventually

After waiting for three years today I finally got a puppy. She's a little American Bulldog and she is an absolute doll. Her name is Lilly, and you'll probably hearing more about her from here on out!

Do You Know Where The Turkeys Still Run On Thanksgiving?

That's true there will be turkeys still living on Thanksgiving this year, at least metaphorically speaking, and they'll be found at the 62nd Annual Troy Turkey Trot. I'll be there live-blogging the 5k!

I Hate Riding The Bike, I Do Not Hate Riding Bikes

Saint Rose has a pretty decent fitness center located on the top floor of the Events and Athletics Center (EAC). Over my past four years here I have become rather accustomed to this place whether I would have liked to or not. Over my four year running career at Saint Rose I have more often than not been injured. Because of injury I often haven't been able to run at all or have been on a strict schedule where I can only run a certain number of times a week.

Because of that I have turned to The Bike. Hear me out. Growing up and even still I love to ride bikes. There is a big difference between riding bikes and riding The Bike. I give The Bike a name because that is exactly what it is. When I was injured it was always said, "yep coach I'm going to the gym to hit The Bike."

The Bike is stationary, stands about four and a half feet tall and sits nearly a foot and a half from the large glass window of the gym that faces two stories above Western Ave.

I've tried to read books or class work on the bike. Failed miserably. I've tried to peruse through a magazine. Again not happening. There is nothing you can do on The Bike to make the time pass faster or to steer you away from complete boredom. 

I always resolve to jamming out on my iPod and getting the best possible workout I can while doing so. I figure if I have to be doing it than I might as well do it right.

There's always those days where I really can't get motivated and I end up staring at random bad drivers trying miserably to park along Western. At least I don't have to park The Bike!

Race Run, How Did That Happen

Ever gone on a run, and come across another runner? More likely than not the answer is yes, especially if you're from a city or suburban area. In Albany I find that no matter where I run I pass by numerous fellow runners. The situation I'm about to describe usually only happens in the summer. But on this brisk day in November I found myself in the same circumstance.

You're on a run, usually a decently long run, a six plus miler or so and you come across another runner say twenty feet ahead of you. The natural instinct inside of you to race sparks up. You have to constantly remind yourself that this isn't a race it is in fact just a workout and you need not search for your inner strength in order to pass this unsuspecting runner. You keep telling yourself over and over that you don't need to surge ahead. More likely than not, your mind and body do it anyway.

The catch is always after you pass them.

Once you've passed this runner you quickly realize you have five more miles to go and usually this person is going for a casual two miler or something along those lines. This means they're able to run quickly easily and you're trying to pace yourself. This puts you in the transition for turning your easy long run into an intense long tempo run, which is never fun, especially when you're not expecting it.

You'll continue to push because you clearly cannot let this person pass you back. This continues for the entirety until finally the other runner fades off or takes a turn behind you. You instantly pray to never do that again and then continue on your way with a much higher heart rate than you anticipated.

I Thought It Was Bad Before

I don't often talk about myself on this blog and I usually don't rant on and on about random things. In fact I think I've only done this once or maybe twice. I was stressed out beyond belief, I felt like there was not enough time in the day to do everything that I had to do and I wasn't happy about it.

But I've come to a realization.

Abby, You Aint Seen Nothing Yet.

Today I sat down and thought about next semester. It is my senior year of college and after the completion of next semester I am done forever. FOREVER, unless for some outlandish reason I decide to go to grad school. I have finished all my required classes for both my major and my minor in order to graduate in May.

Because of this I will be interning full time next semester.
My internship is not paid.
I need to intern full time in order to receive twelve credits.
I need to have twelve credits in order to be full time.
I need to be full time in order to run Track & Field.
I need to have time in the day to go to practice for Track & Field.
I need to have time in the weekend to go to Track & Field races.
I need to run Track & Field because I'm on scholarship, and I love it.
I need to keep my scholarship because otherwise I can't afford my tuition.
I need to pay my many bills and my rent.
I need to work to pay my many bills and rent.
I need to have hours to go to work.
I somehow need to have more time to get laundry and other errands done.
I need lastly to have 30 stinking seconds to breath between all of this.
I want to have time to try and enjoy my last days in college.

How this is going to happen boggles my mind. I do however realize that in order for this to happen I need to manage my time like Tom Brady in a fourth quarter come-back drive (except for Sunday night, what a let down for us Patriot fans).

I have started to do this. I am not going to let things pile up like I did before. I am going to do things before they are due. I am going to rely a lot on my boyfriend to help around the house, not something I would like to do, but something I know he will gladly accept. I am going to get to bed earlier so I have energy to accomplish all these tasks.

It is going to be hard. But I know this too shall pass.

Something To Say At ROA: A Quick Link Roundup

Cross Country ended last Sunday. Indoor track starts after Thanksgiving break. I am now supposed to be taking part in "active-rest," sounds rather contradictory, does it not?

Active-rest by my own personal definition means you may not run like you would have during the training season but you must stay active. There are various other ways to stay active for runners besides running. Many of which will help you shed a couple of pounds you may gain during your active-rest stage.


Cross training is the best way to achieve active-rest and also is a smart bet for reducing injury between seasons and during the season. Cross training is also an excellent way to stay in ship during the cold and snowy winter days.

A special thanks to Runner's World for a majority of these informative articles.

I'm Back!

I'm back! I hope you enjoyed reading Mary Catherine's posts as much as I did. I would like to thank her for doing such a great job and giving this whole running thing a great shot. I had a good time taking over my guest blog The Art of Adaptation where I learned so much about disabilities and especially Cerebral Palsy. I was able to incorporate my love for running with the idea of intertwining athletics and disabilities. All in all it was a great week but I'm happy to be back here at ROA.

Running Out of Time [by Mary Catherine Owen]

I've had a wonderful time guest blogging for Abby here on ROA, but my tenure is coming to an end. I've gained a greater appreciation for running and people who do it, and I hope I introduced you to at least one interesting tidbit of information this week.

If you're interested in reading my usual blog, you can find me at Dissecting the Smiling Goat, talking about one of NBC's dearly departed dramedies, Ed. And if you're not nerdy enough to venture over there, thanks for reading my posts this week!

Running as Fast as Wii Can [by Mary Catherine Owen]

It's a strange world we live in when people are running in front of their televisions while also watching animated versions of themselves run.

That being said, I totally want a Wii Fit now.

Running Over Western Avenue: My First Visit to the Fitness Center [by Mary Catherine Owen]

Photo courtesy of The College of Saint Rose

I did it. I bit the bullet and went to Saint Rose's fitness center.

This is something that I have long intended to do, but never have done for one specific reason: I am intimidated by people who actually know how to exercise. I need some sort of gym full of clueless people, with lots of helpful, non-judgmental, non-buff trainers to teach you how to use the machines without killing yourself. But as I don't know where to find one of those, off to the third floor of the Events and Athletics Center I went.

And then came back down to the first floor when I discovered there was no drinking fountain to fill up my water bottle.

Eventually I made it back upstairs and in the door. I had to admit to the people at the desk that I had never been to the fitness center before, because they now make you authorize your ID card to gain access. I did, and then asked the work study student if I was "good to go," trying to appear eager to start burning calories. Unfortunately, the answer was yes, so I headed over to the bank of treadmills and what I believe were elliptical machines.

Photo courtesy of Precor

I chose a treadmill (a PrecorUSA 954i model, in case you're interested), set down my stuff on the little shelves next to the control panel, and stared at the buttons for about a minute. The article I read about how to use a treadmill told me to familiarize myself with the controls before beginning; I located "Quick Start" and "Stop," and figured that was good enough. I pressed start, and away it went.

I forgot my MP3 player and wasn't sure there'd be a place to rest my book while I walked, so I was resigned to walk in silence like a loser. At first, I was inwardly freaking out about not being able to walk on the belt without holding onto the handlebar-things in front of me. I gradually got the hang of it and let go, and began ramping up my speed in little increments. Then I got a little bolder and changed the incline as well.

Photo courtesy of The College of Saint Rose

The machines in the fitness center automatically turn off after 30 minutes. About eight minutes into my walking, a girl got on the treadmill next to me and began running. Not wanting to look too lame, I bumped up my speed even more. It wasn't that effective; she was running at an 8.0 speed (miles per hour, I assume), whereas I peaked at 4.3 and then started panicking that I couldn't walk fast enough to keep up with the machine.

Around the five minutes remaining mark, I began to slow my speed back down. I was a little disappointed that I hadn't felt able to attempt running, since that would have made more sense for this blog. However, just staying on the treadmill and not eliciting confused stares (that I was aware of, anyway) was a big accomplishment for me.

When my 30 minutes were up, I stopped the treadmill, tried not to fall over while walking on the very stationary ground, and managed to take one picture of the fitness center sign before my camera's batteries died.

I don't know about you, but I'd call that a pretty successful first visit.

Can You Tell Me How to Run, How to Run on Sesame Street? [by Mary Catherine Owen]

Photo courtesy of MyAirShoes.com

If you've been on Google's homepage in the past week, or if you're just a fan like me, then you might be aware that today is Sesame Street's 40th anniversary, the show having debuted on November 10, 1969.

Sesame Street is usually known for teaching letters and numbers, but they have always covered other important topics as well, such as health and fitness.

The Sesame Street website has an awesome archive of videos from all 40 years of the show, including ones about running. There are also plenty to be found on YouTube, as you can see from some of my favorites below.

Grover's Monster Workout Video


This is so '80s-looking, but according to Muppet Wiki, it actually first aired in 2003. Either way, I want Grover to be my personal trainer.

Monsterpiece Theater: Chariots of Fur

I love the closeups of the puppet feet -- and the super-slow-motion sequence at the end!

Gordon's Morning Run

I guess Chariots of Fire is an easy target to parody.

Happy birthday to Sesame Street, the longest-running children's television show! (See what I did there?)

Learning to Run: Advice for the Running-Challenged [by Mary Catherine Owen]

Photo courtesy of MotivatedPhotos.com

I would be the first to tell you that I am not a good runner. People assume that because I have long legs (I'm 5'11"), I must be fast, but I prefer to use my powers of tallness for power walking or reaching things on the top shelf.

In that spirit, here are some examples of resources I could use to improve my running (or, you know, learn how to do it in the first place). Fellow running misfits, take note.

This video about proper running form shows how your body should move while running long distances.

I took a quiz about the 11 most common running mistakes and was told that I was an expert runner. If you say so, Women's Health! I think I just made some good educated guesses.

I like this author's approach to running as something that should be enjoyed, regardless of one's ability level.

The Complete Running Blog Network (whose tagline -- "bloggers with a running addiction/runners with a blogging addiction" -- would describe Abby well, I think) has a special archive of bloggers' posts about learning how to run.

I have a phobia of going to the gym because I don't know how to use a treadmill. I hope these guidelines help me when I take my inaugural trip to the campus fitness center this week.

Running Blind [by Mary Catherine Owen]

Hi, everyone! My name is Mary Catherine Owen; before you get too confused, let me explain that Abby has graciously offered me a chance to guest blog for ROA for the next week.

Abby and I are classmates and both of us are writers, but in terms of running, we couldn't be more different. She likes to run and does it often. I run as a means to get out of the pouring rain, or when late to class.

That's why I'm excited for the opportunity to broaden my horizons and explore the world of running. Hopefully I can do the topic justice!