Uncategorized

Wise Sayings

May 24, 2012 by Kristy 11 Comments

My Dad is the king of sayings and catch-phrases, especially from commercials. Two of my favorite “Dad” sayings are:

No one ever drowned in sweat – although I did object to this once last summer during a 17-miler in 100 degree temps.

sweaty beast – summer 2011

Sometimes you get the bear, sometimes the bear gets you – god, do I love this one. Something as simple as scoring a great parking spot in a crowded mall during Christmas season (sometimes you get the bear) to having a fantastic training cycle and then a less-than-stellar performance on race day(sometimes the bear gets you).

A few of my other favorites:

What goes around comes around – sometimes the only way I can justify not hurting someone (kidding…kind of), is to repeat this to myself. Mean people get what is theirs eventually.

That which matters the most should never give way to that which matters the least – from the lululemon manifesto (which is full of wise sayings). Sometimes a reminder of perspective is needed.

Jealousy works the opposite way you want it to – also from the lululemon manifesto. We always want what we don’t have. I want Kara Goucher’s legs and speed and, on occasion, straight hair with cute side bangs but it’s not happening. The sooner you appreciate what you have, the better off you will be. I’m learning to appreciate my short, muscular legs for powering me through marathons and any small improvements in speed are celebrated. And my hair…well, 9 months out of the year curly hair is great to have.

If you think you can, you can. If you think you can’t, you can’t – a great lesson for all things in life but I apply this to marathoning more than anything. A great training cycle and great race day weather mean nothing if you don’t believe you can do it. And when I say believe I mean that deep down in-your-gut feeling of “yes, I got this”.

Do what you love and success will follow – if I didn’t believe this I would probably be in the fetal position somewhere crying. I am doing what I love – coaching, albeit part-time – and I repeat this to myself often. Someday, someday…

Got a favorite saying to share?

Monday in Numbers

May 21, 2012 by Kristy 13 Comments

10: the hours of sleep I got last night. We took a red eye flight home from Kauai and the dude next to me was very lax in minding his personal space (I was sitting in the middle). I normally sleep fine on a plane but every time I nodded off I felt a strange arm or leg mosey over into my limited personal space. Eww. I was practically in Matt’s lap by the time we landed.

236: number of unread emails when I returned to work today. I was pleasantly surprised!

0: number of miles ran this morning. It was raining when I woke up. Normally I run in the rain but it gets tricky when it’s an “in the office” day (M, W, Th). If my hair is soaking wet, I’ll need to wash it which adds a significant amount of time to my morning routine. Silly? Yes…but I get up in just the right amount of time to run, shower, and throw my hair into a ponytail.

14: number of miles hiked in Kauai. I already wrote about our 6-mile hike along the Kalalau Trail and on Friday we did an 8-mile hike along the Pihea Trail to the Alaka’i Swamp Trail. It was muddy and steep at parts but more than half the trail had a boardwalk to make things easier.

At the turnaround point (mile 4) you are supposed to be treated to a wonderful view of Kilohana Lookout for your efforts…weather pending. Key words right there. This is what we were supposed to see:

Beautiful, huh? (via)

Instead a cloud rolled in exactly when we got there and we saw this:

Not kidding. We were literally stuck in a cloud.

Oh well, you win some you lose some. We knew there was a possibility of a cloud rolling in and blocking the view; it was a great hike otherwise. We did meet a very friendly rat who begged for food!

Kauai Running: North Shore vs. South Shore

May 17, 2012 by Kristy 13 Comments

I love to run on vacation. No expectations, no pressure…just run to offset dessert calories. Or, in my case, beer calories. It’s a great way to explore a city or a town. I’ve managed easy 3-milers in the very early AM (before it gets ungodly hot) for the past 3 days.

We split our time in Kauai between the North Shore and South Shore. We stayed in Princeville (at the Westin – highly recommend it) for the NS and at Poipu Beach (Sheraton – also very nice) for the SS.

The NS is definitely more scenic with views of the ocean and Na Pali Coast. The Na Pali Coast is like the Golden Gate Bridge to me – I will never get sick of staring at it.

The SS is nice too but no mountain views. However, it is significantly cooler with a nice ocean breeze.

The best thing about running in a beach town is you can step right outside your hotel and follow the other runners – no need to do any research. For cities, I definitely do my homework. I don’t want to end up in a shady area (suggestions for running in Paris/London are welcome!).

Do you run on vacation? I love the change of scenery. My favorite place to run is still San Fran. I haven’t found any place that can beat it.

Na Pali Hike

May 14, 2012 by Kristy 12 Comments

Greetings from Kauai!

This will be short and sweet as I have some Miller Lite drinking to do poolside!

Today Matt and I hiked some of the Na’Pali Coast. I say some since it’s a 11-mile hike one way along some pretty narrow cliffs with great, big drops. I’m terrified (repeat, terrified) of heights and did my research ahead of time – these cliffs were no joke. Our plan was to go out maybe 3 miles (so we wouldn’t reach the cliffs; they come in around mile 6) and turnaround and get in a decent 6-mile hike.

That’s exactly what we did and it was spectacular, gorgeous, and amazing.

Warning signs at the very beginning…

One mile down…

Lunch near a waterfall…

The hike was tough coming back since we had to go mostly uphill. My feet hurt from all the uneven footing, although I must brag I didn’t fall once. I’m a total klutz when running and have scars to prove it. It was so worth it. The camera can’t even begin to capture how beautiful the views were.

Vacation-palooza

May 9, 2012 by Kristy 16 Comments

What a week.

The whole 9-to-5 thing got really busy (bad) and coaching got busy (very good).

Enter vacation-palooza. Next week kicks off the first of 2 vacations we have lined up: Kauai then Paris/London. Considering they are 2 weeks apart makes for a fun and stressful month.

My running shoes will be in tow for both vacations but I’m not stressing about getting in the miles. We’ll be on our feet most days anyway hiking around Kauai and exploring Paris/London on foot.

That’s all I got, folks – short and sweet today! I may post from Kauai or unplug from blogging. We’ll see.

Good luck to everyone racing this weekend!

Spontaneity

May 6, 2012 by Kristy 22 Comments

aka – Broad Street Run recap.

Warning: I’m going to start out negative and end on a positive note. This race is a bit of a nightmare. Back in the day, it used to be a fun and relatively small event. Now, it’s hysteria. From the expo, to parking, to the subway ride, to the porta potties…long lines everywhere. But what else can you expect when you allow 40,000 runners in? Broad needs to take a lesson from the Cherry Blossom 10-Miler – start doing a lottery system and cap the damn race!

So why do I run it every year? I love the course. Flat, fast, and straight ahead. And they do have good food at the finish.

I said earlier this week that I didn’t have a plan since I wasn’t sure how my legs would hold up 3 weeks post-Boston. My current PR is 1:19:13, from Cherry Blossom last year. I wasn’t sure I could beat it and frankly, I didn’t care. Honest. I just wanted to have a good time out there.

I started out Mile 1 just under 8:00 pace. I felt good but everyone always feel good during Mile 1.

By Mile 5 I was still running under 8:00 but I was just waiting for the dead marathon legs to set in.

Mile 6…still waiting for dead legs.

During Mile 7 I did the math and realized I could PR. I kicked it up a notch.

I crossed the finish line in 1:18:28 – a new PR!

Spontaneity works well, apparently. I may have to implement the no-plan plan more often. And all that speed work I did for Boston didn’t go to waste!

Do you have a love-hate relationship with a specific race because of its size? For me, it’s definitely Broad Street. But I love the course and the tradition of doing it each year.