Will run for pie: Feaster Five Thanksgiving Day Road Race

Posted on November 25, 2011 | 8 comments

This was a momentous Turkey Day – for reasons that had nothing to do with Pilgrims and very little to do with turkey. Rather, Thanksgiving 2011 occasioned my running the Feaster Five in Andover, Massachusetts, which was not only my first 5K since early October but my inaugural attempt to run in the big chill. It was also my first time playing human dodgem.

This was a big run.

Feaster Five Thanksgiving Day Race

The start of the Feaster Five. At this point, half the runners had already crossed the start line (the banner in the distance). It took me a full six minutes to get there.

For a novice like me who has thus far dabbled in warm-weather races of a few hundred people, it was quite something to be among the 10,000 or so folks – clad in sweaters, gloves, beanies and, in some cases, hats shaped like turkeys (disturbing) – who had gathered on this gorgeous but frigid morning.

I was nervous about the cold. Though my hatred of heat is well documented, the chilly air has been known to wreak havoc on my asthmatic lungs (which of course is why I choose to live in New England).

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These tights are hard core. Unlike me

Posted on November 23, 2011 | 11 comments

CW-X Expert Insulator TightsWhen you live in Freezingtown, USA (also known as Boston), running outdoors takes on a whole new chilly, windy, frostbitery dimension – one I was quite unprepared for in the apparel department.

Apparently, I needed fancy new tights.

We’re definitely not talking your average, everyday gym leggings here. The stretchy marvels that were delivered to my abode yesterday, made by CW-X (the company also does compression socks – which still give me the fear), are from another universe™. They insulate, you see, with “WarmStretch™ temperature-regulation fabric to maintain a constant comfortable surface temperature in a variety of conditions – perfect for the cold weather athlete” (um, that’s me!) –  according to the CW-X website. They also feature Support Web™, which uses “kinesiology-taping technology to create an exoskeletal support system” (well, I do need all the support I can get).

The thing is, these tights are just so full of awesome, there’s no way I can possibly live up to them. (Did I mention that mine are called Insulator Expert Tights? That’s right, EXPERT.) I put them on and immediately feel like a fraud. They’re for marathon runners for whom a 5K is a casual jog around the block; not for me, who breaks into a lavish sweat after half a mile and still hasn’t managed to go 5K without walking.

They scream hard core where I scream: “Where’s the couch?”

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Mamma Chia: Can I resist ya?

Posted on November 17, 2011 | 5 comments

Mamma Chia Rasperry PassionUntil recently, my only exposure to chia was in the form of those hairy Pets that were big in the ’90s (they also now come in the form of a chia George Washington and a chia Abraham Lincoln, which is just wrong).

But I learned via Hubby, who brought home a packet of chia seeds and implored me to make a pudding out of them (I haven’t yet), that chia is known as “the running food.” As lore has it, the Aztecs, Mayans and Incas could run all day  powered by these tiny seeds.

To test the theory, I warily consented to try Mamma Chia (also procured by Hubby, who seems to be on the payroll of Big Chia). This “vitality beverage” – which is apparently loaded with omega-3, antioxidants and other healthful ingredients du jour – claims to be “fun for your mouth – great for your body.” I was dubious.

However, as Australia is the world’s biggest producer of chia, I decided to give Mamma Chia a go – in the interests of national pride, of course.

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Best. Series. Ever.

Posted on November 12, 2011 | 6 comments
willrunforbeer.com

Now this is a goal I can meet. http://www.willrunforbeer.com.

Although I’ve been on a bit of a running hiatus during my sojourn Down Under, there will be no rest when I get back to New England (which during my five-week absence has nastily decided to morph from late-summer bliss to early-fall bone-chill). I will scarcely have time to draw breath before I am back scarcely drawing breath in a nose-hair-freezing 5K run.

But that’s OK, because Hubby has discovered something wonderful: the Will Run for Beer 2012 Race Series.

That’s right. Will. Run. For. Beer.

Now, I’m more of a G&T girl myself, but I say cheers to any event that combines running with post-race glass-hoisting (experts say you need to stretch out those arms, after all). This series, which has been going since 2008 (the Before Time), is put on by a New Hampshire company called Loco and sponsored by Portsmouth, N.H.’s Smuttynose Brewing Co. Need I say more.

There will, of course, be updates from the series as I go along, but our presence will definitely be felt at the Smuttynose Palooza in Milford, N.H., on January 14. One, because it’s a relay half-marathon (I can just run a bit!) that’s indoors; and two, because the website asks the probing question: “What is a Palooza?”

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A return to the site of my running shame

Posted on November 5, 2011 | 1 comment
Brooks Spring Into Shape Sydney Series

The setting doesn't get more Australian than this. The start of the Brooks Spring Into Shape Sydney Series Race 2, in Parramatta Park.

When I was in high school, some (ahem) years ago, I got a zero on my report card for failing – twice – to run the mandatory cross country (I can’t recall the precise distance; it was a few kilometers masquerading as an eternity. All I know is I had to get picked up in a car). For someone who prided herself on doing well in school, this epic fail was unacceptable. I never quite got over it.

So it was with mixed feelings that I returned to the site of my shame –  Parramatta Park, in Sydney’s western suburbs – to run one half of the Brooks Spring Into Shape Series, benefiting the Heart Foundation.

But this time I was ready. No knee-length skirt and sensible brown shoes for me (I was forced to run my second attempt in my Catholic school uniform. Not that it really mattered; I failed wearing sneakers too). No, this time I had eight 5Ks under my belt, a pair of brilliant shorts and an iPhone. And it was only a 4K. I was going to triumph.

In your face, Parramatta Park!

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