For a highly competitive personality, dropping out of a race is a tough call to make, even in the face of an injury negatively affecting performance. Feeling the race number pinned to my shirt and knowing there is a clock ticking creates a fierce drive to push my body to its limits in the face of adversity and the environment, regardless of my position in the lead or trying to catch the leaders. Even races…
As a lifetime reader, and a runner for nearly is long, it’s funny to think that I rarely read books about running or runners. Whether this is a planned habit or merely chance, my often daily escape to the written world rarely touches upon my favorite habit. When offered the chance to enjoy and learn from the experiences of another runner in the book written by Kate Edwards, I figured it would be worth my…
One of the most common things I hear as a coach and trainer is “I am so slow compared to what I used to be”. I get it. I think we all get it in one way or another. As we get older, as our body changes, as our LIFE changes, our abilities change. This is normal, natural, and to be expected. However, it doesn’t make it an easy pill to swallow. This doesn’t mean…
This shall be my 2016 running recap post, assuming that I really had much of a running season. In a moment of awakening sparked by a notification from a Facebook group, I was able to look at the year in a new light. It was nice change, as other than a memorable but torturous experience at the Boston Marathon, the ongoing injury issues I battled in 2016 made me wish I could forget the year.…
A lot can change in a year. With two decades of running under my belt, I have had quite the string of races connected with miles of training to ensure that I am continuously striving to better my capabilities. Up until this past year, I have experienced only mild brushes with injury and been blessed with an unbelievably long time of uninterrupted strong running. Then 2016 happened….
This post was written by Natalie Smith. Feel free to Submit a Guest Post in the “Contact Us” tab if you are wanting to write a preview or recap your running experiences as well! The views in this post do not necessarily reflect those of Run Oregon. One lady’s journey to and from running and maybe back again someday… All runners have heard it at least once before: “don’t over train or you’ll get hurt.” I know I…
I know, I got it backwards from the standard iteration. It basically sums up where I am right now in regards to my running. I ended up straining my calf bad enough to follow the advice of some of my more experienced friends and take a little time off. As I understand it, when I pulled my right calf at the Y2K Half, I may not have taken enough time off to heal, making the…
When you have been training long enough, you begin to take your fitness for granted. The ability to traverse a certain distance, at a certain speed, is not a question, but a given. As I headed to Forest Grove from McMinnville, enjoying the beautiful back roads on a chilly January morning, I had no idea I was about to get a rude wake up call. I have attended the Y2K event for years now, in…
Have you ever been in a race for which you have trained for four months, and were thinking “I wish I was at home feeling dizzy and achy right now!” Yea, me neither… Today is the Rock’n’Roll Portland half marathon. I joined a training group in late January, followed the program, did the long runs, picked up my number and shirt at the expo, and was ready to Rock Portland on Sunday!
This post was originally published on OregonLive.com on December 16, 2008 and was one of our top-read posts of all time. As a result, we have moved it here. In almost any marathon, you can watch as spectators at the finish will pick out a runner, point at them, whisper something into their friends’ ear, and then such a look of pity as you can’t even imagine will cross their face. It’s the face of…
