After my first day of medical school in the fall of 2015, I made my way to what would soon become my second home for the next couple of years—a study space we called the Blue Room. It was ratty and rundown, with a row of desks and cubicles under dim lighting and in near-constant dead silence. At the end of my usual row of cubicles, the wall featured a poster of Steve Prefontaine racing at Hayward Field, emblazoned with one of his famous quotes: "I'm going to work so that it's a pure guts race at the end, and if it is, I am the only one who can win it."
My college coach still holds a grudge against one of my teammates for asking, "Do you like... make up these workouts on the spot?" My teammate thought she was complimenting our coach in good fun, but the idea that he was just throwing workouts out there with no deeper thought was disconcerting, to say the least. It's a lesson that I took to heart, and still hold to this day: just because you "know your stuff" doesn't mean that you want to prescribe workouts on the fly.
Writing marathon training plans is just about second nature to me at this point. But that doesn't mean that a lot of time, effort, and love will go into each and every plan. So how does a coach know what will work for you? Click "Read More" to see the full post.
New York City was back at it again with the famed 5th Avenue Mile race this weekend, attracting the best of the best to compete on a beautiful, tree lined stretch of 5th Ave along Central Park. It's quite the event, with 22 heats of runners zooming through from about 8AM to 2PM . This race, more than other NYRR ones, truly shows the amazing spectrum of speed and ability out there, and should serve as evidence to any new runner that all you need to do is lace up--there's definitely a place for you!
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The Run for Texas Virtual 5k/10k was an idea that started on somewhat of a whim. Kelly and I are just two of your basic recreational running moms who saw the devastation caused by Hurricane Harvey and wanted to do something about it. We chose what many do--donating funds. We had seen that disaster relief agencies were unable to provide some basic supplies--even as crucial as diapers to families with small children, or to the elderly. We couldn't imagine living without the bare essentials in a dire time, and so chose to donate not only to the American Red Cross, but also to the Texas Diaper Bank.
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Last night, right after the sun set over theWilliamsburg Bridge, dozens of runners had the final hurrah of theTake the Bridge Summer Series, hosted byNovember Project Brooklyn. As spectators, what we have loved most about these races have been the unifying characteristics emanating from the runners each and every time. Chief among these? The lack of fear—of the bridge, of running, and of coming together with strangers to take over our city and run what is perhaps one of its coolest races. And above that, the lack of fear about having pure, unadulterated fun with every step.
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