So you have decided for some reason to run an ultramarathon. What’s the next step? Sign up for one. Wait a second, though, before you commit to something. There are a few things you ought to consider: What shape you’re in now and how long it would likely take you to get into ultra shape. If you’re in shape to … Read More
Running (Freakishly) Long Distances
Hi, my name is Emily, and I like to run long distances. Not super long distances. I’m not one of the hardy individuals who straps on their sneakers to run fifty, sixty, even one hundred or more miles at a time. Not yet, anyway. But I do run a good number of marathons and 50K (31 mile) races, which are … Read More
My First Half-Marathon: 5 Survival Tips
Three months of training have finally come to an end and Steve and I are now less than 24 hours from our first half-marathon. While I know I’ve done (most of) the training, I can’t say that I feel completely prepared to run 13.1 miles. We’ve been a bit schedule-challenged the past 2-3 weeks, so I’m nervous about having missed a … Read More
Escaping Disappointment: Avoiding a “Bad Race”
Having run quite a large number of races at this point, I knew it was only a matter of time before one of them was going to be pretty awful. The last race I ran gave me a PR, but the instant I finished I felt as if it was a waste of time and I was ready to go … Read More
Run Fast to Get Faster
“I’m not a real runner, I’m way too slow.” Does that sound familiar? For the first few months after I’d taken up running, I was convinced that my 2-3 mile jaunts at a ten to twelve minute a mile pace were way too snail-like to lump me in to the category of runners who were “real”. As if, somehow, being … Read More
Photo Finish
Just received an email the other day reminding me that “Time is running out to order race photos!” from the organizers of a 10k race that we did at the end of October. It prompted me to jot down a few quick thoughts about my first experience with race photos and share them with you. Initially, when we signed up for … Read More