Category Archives: Fitness

See my vest: A RoadNoise road test

Posted on September 13, 2012 | 11 comments

Guest post alert! Loyal long-time readers (you rock, by the way) will have noticed Hubby’s influence on this blog, especially in the shopping department. I let him loose this week for his second guest post…

There have been a few times when my shopping has been the inspiration for posts at Stride & Joy: Bunny Bars; Bai; Mamma Chia.

Most of these products we continue to buy in bulk. This must concern the delivery man when he is lugging up heavy boxes of beverages from Amazon and wondering why the hell these two can’t just order T-shirts! A few months back, he got his wish – something light, something filled with music, something that is making me run to a different tune.

I had tried a number of options for headphones during runs, but the wires would always get tangled, or the headphones would slide out of my ears because of the water I douse myself with. Sometimes I think the folks at the water stops must feel they are encountering Ted Striker when I throw another cup of water over my noggin’ . Well, if those folks are of an Airplane-appreciating age …

It became more frustrating on longer runs, and there are only so many runs with bands along the route. Something had to be done. So instead of resorting to running with a boom box, or backup vocalists, I was fortunate enough to find salvation from a group of fellow frustrated runners with some product savvy.

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Posted in Fitness, Reviews, Running, Sports

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52 Weeks, 52 Runs. No. 39: Don’t let that scenery fool you

Posted on September 10, 2012 | 19 comments

I didn’t think anything could ever be as physically challenging for me as last month’s SeaWheeze half-marathon, especially considering that my calves spearheaded a full-blown mutiny during it. But I was naive. Little did I know that lurking around the corner was the New Hampshire 10 Miler, waiting, despite the slightly shorter distance, to assume its place as my Toughest. Run. Ever.

NH 10 Miler

Pretty perilous.

This race (my second-longest run yet and No. 39 in the 52 Weeks challenge) fell firmly into the pretty-but-perilous category. What is it with scenic runs? I’m not sure if we’re supposed to be so distracted by nature that we don’t notice the torture, but that rarely works for me. The 10-miler was around Lake Massabesic, which looked quite lovely on the map. I initially envisioned a nice easy loop around the lake, with cool breezes and water views. I really need to stop envisioning things. A fellow runner snapped me out of it when he described the course as a “roller coaster.” This was bad.

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Posted in 52 Weeks, 52 Runs, Fitness, Humor, Running

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52 Weeks, 52 Runs. No. 38: A big sweaty blur

Posted on September 4, 2012 | 5 comments

I have been struck with an affliction that I’m going to call 5K Brain. When I sat down to write about last weekend’s run, the 10th annual Marcia Lemkin Lung Cancer Foundation 5K, I could barely remember it. This has nothing to do with the quality of the race or the excellent cause it supported. I guess when you do one run every weekend (and sometimes two), there’s going to come a time when they all bleed into one giant, sweaty, event.

Contributing to my case of 5K Brain this particular weekend was the fact that the Marcia Lemkin run was in Lowell, MA, site of the Jack Kerouac 5K, the First Run 5K, and the Hynes Tavern 5-Miler. You can see how a girl might get confused. (Maybe we should just move there and save ourselves the drive.)

Marcia Lemkin 5K

Pre-race scenery in downtown Lowell.

But I place the real blame for my problem firmly on the sun (because obviously it’s not my fault). It has turned my mind into a big pile of melty mush. Extensive scientific research (i.e, reading all the blog posts in which I complain about how hot it’s been) proves it. Running over and over and over and over in the heat has melted my brain.

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Posted in 52 Weeks, 52 Runs, Fitness, Humor, Running

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Shirts so good: part three

Posted on August 29, 2012 | 21 comments

It’s that time again, otherwise known as “I keep forgetting to take photos of all the race shirts, so now I have enough to make another gallery.” The collection keeps growing. I like the shirts from the Shipyard Old Port Half Marathon & 5K, the Stowe 8 Miler and the Providence Rock ’n’ Roll Half Marathon for an obvious reason: they fit! Also, the Marcia Lemkin 5K, even though it doesn’t look too flash, is a yellow fluorescent tee from Brooks; night running, here I come. Maybe.

But my absolute favorite from this stash, which could well turn out to be my all-time favorite, is the Shark Weekend tank top. Why don’t more summer runs give these out?

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Posted in Fitness, Humor, Running, The shirt collection

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52 Weeks, 52 Runs. No. 36: Too much fun to be a run

Posted on August 21, 2012 | 22 comments

I barely had time to recover from the SeaWheeze Half before being plunged back into the realm of teeny shorts, at Harborthon 5K on Boston’s Long Island. We frequented this event last year, but I was a mere spectator (which, granted, meant a lot more beer). This year, I was legitimate, although a part of me longed for the good old days of lawn slacking.

This run really has no business being called a run at all. It’s a massive outdoor party that happens to have a 5K in the middle of it.

Harborthon 5K

The scene: Boston’s Long Island.

Harborthon supports Camp Harbor View, which was created in 2007 by Boston’s mayor and a local businessman to provide an affordable summer camp for at-risk inner-city kids. It’s a remarkable setting, with great facilities, a beach, a baseball diamond, and gorgeous views of the city. The camp also offers year-round programming and social service support. All in all, an excellent reason for a run.

Harborthon 5K

The view!

There’s customarily no public access to Long Island, so the race organizers put together an elaborate system of buses and ferries to get us to where we needed to be. We chilled while the rest of the runners arrived in installments, soaking up the pre-entertainment, the lovely view, and the warm night air. All we needed was beer and food. But no, someone thought it was a good idea to make us run three miles for it. Geez.

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Posted in 52 Weeks, 52 Runs, Fitness, Humor, Running

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