amyneff

I'll be in Baltimore at the Hyatt on Light Street for the next few days for work. Any good recommendations for runs in that area and the safety factor for running in the early morning or evening?

Interesting article in the NY Times.

http://ethicist.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/10/are-high-tech-prostheses-fair/

Good morning, runners! Super cute guest host hbfs here again to fill in for supermanz.

What's everyone up to today? I have class, am epic laundry/room excavation project, and practice, which is going to be some kind of taper-friendly light workout. We're getting ready for NCAA DIII Mideast Regionals on Saturday :)

In lieu of a question today, I thought it'd be fun to play a game. So this is Two Truths and a Lie. In your comment, post two things that are true about you and one equally-credible looking lie (or two equally incredible truths and one lie). And then we'll guess which one's the lie :)

Here are mine:
1. When I was 17, I played a munchkin in a community production of The Wizard of Oz. (TRUE!)
2. I once climbed through an open window of a locked building in order to skinny dip in a fountain. (ALSO TRUE. I've skinny dipped in more than one fountain, too.)
3. I didn’t get my driver’s license until I was 18 years old. (False! I was almost 18, though - it was November of my senior year.)

Here's a few more sets of two more truths and a lie:
1. In high school, a lot of people knew me by the nickname "Barn"
2. I am addicted to coffee
3. I've kept the same running long since 3-12-2002

1. I'm left-handed
2. I read Gone With The Wind in less than four days
3. I have a phobia of escalators

Running enthusiasts, I wish to ask you something.

Let's say you have a friend or an acquaintance, someone who says they want to learn to love to run but can't get over the physical hump of being out-of-shape, on top of bad Fun Run memories from high school and middle school. They don't necessarily dislike running but just can't get into it and get themselves to do it often enough TO get into it.

What advice do you have for wannabes? How would you encourage them or help them adjust to the runner's lifestyle?

okay so heres the story
its long because it actually is dammit!! haha
anyway
7th grade i started having knee problems with my right knee - over time it wound up being in both knees
a feeling of INCREDIBLE pressure right beneath my knee cap (by beneath i mean the gooshy part between my knee cap and top of my shin bone) and pain when moving it (i can feel a slight popping)
over the next 5 years i went tomultiple doctors and specialists and here are some of the prognosees:

"you need physical therapy"
"its patella tendonitis - just rest"
"your faking it"
"the fat pat under you knee swells when you work out - ice it"
"your quads arent strong enough in the right places"
"knee cap out of alignment"
"too much unchecked swelling lets try a cortizone shot"
"im all out of options lets go in and check surgically" <--- yep i got surgery

about a year ago on my right knee they went in and looked around cleaned out some gook and ultimately found out that my meniscus was fraying and probably had been over the past 5 years
this was a year ago and ive been FINE - recovered in about 3 months, ran indoors and outdoors BOTH hurdles! and up until tonight have had NO PAIN

the pain that is back tonight is in my OTHER knee which is also a previous victim of this weird ailment
its not meniscus this time unless its causeing the REST of my knee to swell without it actually hurting
all i know right now is that this specific pain has yet to be diagnosed and no matter whether im moving or sitting/laying still the pain persists
ive iced it, taken meds, etc its always follwed in my right knees footsteps so i dont know if it ALSO needs cleaning out but my right knee is fine no problems at all (good news!) i just dont want to get ANOTHER surgery even if it helps
but this pain is SO crippling and so sudden im concerned
im going to go to the school trainers tomorrow and be like look dont give me that "tendonitis" bull shit i KNOW its not that fake disease :P

my only other observation was that i was having some discomfort when pivoting doing drills today at track
i guess we'll see but if anyone else has any ideas or suggestions
im ALL ears id rather hear from people with experience than doctors who make me pay THOUSANDS of dollars for unsuccessful tests and remedies and a 15 minute session in which they just tell me to rest

hope everyones having a bettter night than i am!
x0 maddie

ps sorry about the length :[

yet more proof that every good thing in American culture today was created by Jim Henson and the Muppets

Hello everyone!

Quick update before my question: I've been running longer distances lately. 4.6 yesterday (in 2.3 mile intervals to my friends house and back). I found this great site with a training schedule including push ups and curl ups to prepare me for bootcamp. Still no shipdate, but I take the DLAB on Thursday. I am so impatient!

My question is what are your opinions on running with weights? My friend gave me some gloves with weights to increase arm muscle while running since I love to run and hate the rest, but I'm not sure if they are safe or if it is a good idea. Is there any danger or something that I should know about?

Thanks!
-Jay

I did complete the Denver Half Marathon three weeks ago. It was far from a stellar performance. After I asked about my last long run on, what, 10/1/09, I did a 7-miler that day and promptly ended up horrendously ill that weekend and still don't remember the vast majority of the next 10 days or so. After 10/1/09 I didn't run again until 4 days before the race and that was a really good 5-miler. Mom and I survived the half, though.

I did have to walk some of it after twisting my ankle at the beginning of mile 10. It scared me so badly that I started hyperventilating and couldn't breathe. It was awful so I walked a bit. I did meet my time goal, so I was content with that. Were I to be here again next year, the race would be way different as Rock N Roll bought the series. The expo sucked...I mean really SUCKED.

At any rate, I then took two weeks off. I had exams, a trip back to Michigan to visit my grandmother (non-Hodgkins lymphoma and just moved into assisted living and was asking for me) and life got crazy. Did a 6-mile race on 1 November. AWFUL...only words to describe it. Between two weeks of no running and then to discover it was a mountain trail race...yea, did not go very well at all.

Been running about every other day since then. Racing 7 miles this weekend...another trail race but it's not on a mountain side this time. heh

My plan is to keep up my mileage. It'll help with winter doldrums and the stress of school as I enter the final 3 weeks of the semester. I do have races scheduled all the way through the end of February so that will help, too.

At any rate, I'm here and still running.

I'm just starting marathon training now (for next April - Shakespeare Marathon, Stratford, UK) as some of you probably know and I have decided to try a more formal approach rather than the mile gathering I've done in the past.

I have a SmartCoach program from Runners World but being a bit of a 'lazy' runner in training, I've never done speed work or 'tempo' runs as just couldn't be bothered with the faff!! LOL!
So my question is a bit naieve! It says I am to do a 7 mile with 4 mile @6:32 (ie race pace) 
 
Should I be aiming to do this on a flat, lap type circuit or my normal 7 mile route with hills etc?!

Secondly, all my days training (including long run) are at the same pace initially of 7:48 a mile. Whilst this isn't a hassle or too hard really, I always believed that one or more of my days a week training (5 out of 7 per usual) should be at a considerably slower, almost recovery pace. Perhaps nearer 8:15-8:30??

Anyone got any thoughts? Glad to hear them! Thanks all!

I've been in a motivational slump, but today - encouraged by a 5.2km I registered to run on Thursday night - a friend and I decided to hit my local run spot for 4.4k of huffing and puffing.

Got up at 5am, she sent me a text 15 minutes later telling me she's on her way. We met in the carpark and got going. About 1km in it started to rain, we considered stopping after lap one but through stupidity or in the hope of the 'running high' we kept going... through the rain.. it was nice, really. Hydrating by absorption - hah. We were about 300m from the car park when we noticed one of the most spectacular rainbows that either of us (or the other runners on the track) had seen.
You could see where it started and where it ended (GOLD GOLD GOLD!!) it was vibrant and just beautiful.
If that wasn't reward enough for my run this morning, I don't know what was.

Despite the rainy season, I have to conduct my lessons as per normal. This is the semester where I see myself conducting more indoor circuit/conditioning classes than actual outdoor ball classes.

So guys, if you have any creative ideas on effective propless conditioning exercises so that I can have more variety during class, please share! You can also offer partner exercises as well. I can pair them up easily.

Don't worry if it is tough. In fact, the tougher the better! I will do them myself or with my colleague to make sure I can do it before I teach it.

PS. I teach volleyball by the way. ;)

PS. Currently some of the exercises varies along doing bicycle crunches, standard pushups, leg lifts, partner v crunch, bridges, half squats etc...

Just need more ideas. ;)

Thanks in advance!

I don't always post my race reports here, but I'm so freaking proud of myself that I'm doing so for this race. I ran a really good race.

( Enjoy...with pictures! )

But, here's a question: the past two races I've run that I've PR'ed at, I've almost thrown up at the finish line. Like, literally stomach clenching and heaving. This is a new phenomenon and one I'm pretty sure I don't like. Is this just a side-effect of running hard or what?

Hi runners!

I need the collective wisdom of this community for two issues I've been having:

1. How on earth do I rid myself of a side stitch? I know that correct breathing can prevent them in the first place, but I always seem to acquire a killer stitch in my right side about halfway through my run. Any tips for getting it to go away?

2. Due to an old ankle injury, I find myself in need of an ankle brace. Does anyone have recommendations for ankle braces that fit inside shoes?

Thanks!

I guess nobody told this kid that you are supposed to run in lightweight racing shoes.
Or if they did, he sure didn't bother listening. Instead he won his State Championships
wearing these...



I want to say those are Air Jordans, but I don't even know if they still make them or not.

Good morning runners! Here's the daily training thread!

I had a really great 10 miler yesterday on the NCR trail. And this morning I wake up to legs that feel quite fresh still, and raring for more miles. So miles I will give them. I'm headed out on a 3 hour drive to western Maryland where I'll be til Wednesday doing search & rescue training (the much cuter hbfs will be handling two more days of dailies duty and when I return I'll have internet in my house which means me doing this regularly again and a race report to go with it!). When I get to the cabin, I'm gonna do a 90 minute run around the trails, probably covering 10-11 miles. The weather is beautiful here; it's supposed to be mid 60s out there and clear.

So how is everyone else starting off their week, training and otherwise?

Question! How was your weekend? Highlights to gush about? Lowlights to grumble about? Hangovers you're still trying to shake?

In keeping with this month's music "theme" enjoy some Wyclef:



Discuss... and HAPPY RUNNING!

This is how to start the week off with a smile: CHAINS has been nominated to the longlist of the Carnegie Medal!  What is the Carnegie Medal, you ask? It is the top award for children's novels in England, sort of a combination of the Newbery and the National Book Awards. I am completely blown away by this - honored, stunned and very, very happy.


  British hardcover                                British paperback




I had a blast at the American Association of School Librarians conference this weekend. I signed thousands of books, met countless friendly and passionate librarians and gave a speech. Thank you to everyone who made my conference so much fun.

Half a ballroom of librarians. (The other half of the room was filled, too!)

Many people asked me to post my speech online. We will be doing that soon. Here are a couple of snippets that people responded to the most. Permission is granted to reproduce, with proper acknowledgments, of course.

I talked about the recent censorship challenges my books have faced and then said this:

"I believe that every time a library budget is cut, every time a librarian’s hours are cut -  or the position is eliminated completely -  it is another form of censorship. It is stealing from children and interfering with their education.

Taking books out of libraries and taking librarians out of libraries are just like ripping the roof off of a school. And maybe that’s how we need to describe it, in the dire, stark terms of reality. You can't run a school that doesn't have a roof. You can't run a school without librarians and libraries.

Book people – like you and me – tend to be a little uncomfortable with conflict. We value discussion, we respect other opinions. We avoid fights.

 When I was kid, I was not allowed to start fights. If I did, I knew that I’d be in a whole lot more trouble when I got home than I could ever be at school.But my mother – she of the hats and gloves and ugly purses -  told me that if anybody ever hit me first, I was allowed to punch back as hard as I could.

“Don’t you ever start a fight,” Mother said.  “But if somebody picks a fight with you, by God, you finish it.”

The people who do not value books or librarians have picked a fight with me. That was a mistake.

They are ripping the roof off our libraries, off our schools. They are exposing our children to ignorance and condemning them to poverty. When they rip the roof off of libraries, they weaken our country."

 

[I'm cutting out a little from this section]

 

"Those of us who truly, deeply care about the health and happiness of kids and teenagers have a sacred obligation to help them along their path to adulthood. We are charged to create and to find the very best books for these children.

 

To hand a book to a child or a gawky adolescent is to rescue her from the unforgiving isolation of illiteracy and transport her to the joyful and rewarding kingdom of an open mind. 

 

I cannot think of a job more difficult or more important than yours. Reading is not a subject matter. It is a survival tool, the  requirement of modern living.  Libraries are not luxuries. Libraries are the lifeblood of our schools and the foundation of our culture."

I hope my words might help, a little.

One last conference note. The other banquet  speaker was Charles R. Smith Jr. Do you know his work? Have you heard him speak? If not, go out RIGHT NOW and pick up some of his books. Then arrange to have him visit your school - he is the best speaker I have seen in a very long time.

Charles and I sitting on chairs that look like thrones.... it was approaching midnight and we had just finished signing a kajillion books and so we look a bit tired. But how can you turn down the chance to be photographed in a chair that looks like a throne?

Sorry, folks.  I should have spent a little more time seeing how this community operates before assuming that posting updates to my blog was an appropriate use of space here.  Sorry for clogging the pages.    

Happy running!

effin j 

No, I didn't run it; I was a "caller". For some reason, neither the organization that times the race nor the organization that runs it have clocks to put at the mile markers, so they have volunteers calling out the times.

I called the 3 mile and 6 mile points of the 10K and the 3 mile point of the 5K.

The 10K started at 8 am and the 5K started at 9:15 am. there were people still in the 10K race when the leaders of the 5K were crossing the finish line Some people did a double header and ran both races.

The winning time for the 10K was 29:49 (4:48 pace); the first woman to cross the finish line did it in 35:41 (which is about my PR for a 5K), a 5:43 pace. She was 24th overall.

The winning time for the 5K was 14:07; a 4:33 pace. The first woman across the finish line was 19th overall, with a time of 16:45, a pace of 5:24. She was 19th overall.

What's the best way, any way really, to go from couch to 5k? I've been walking 1 - 2 miles a day. I am overweight, really overweight, and I'm a bit worried about destroying my joints by running. But I want to run to lose weight faster, and finish a 5k.