Skirt Run Take 2

Greetings readers and runners!  This post is late in coming (as most of my posts tend to be) but I am excited to announce a joint fundraising effort with Rebecca for an organization that is very important to us, Girls On The Run Boston (www.gotrboston.org).  Girls on the Run is an after school program for young girls that helps them navigate their way through issues they encounter at an influential age, all while training for an end of season 5K.  We are both actively involved with the program, with Rebecca coaching the Beacon Hill team and both of us serving on the chapter’s Advisory Council.  I am also the head of the Solemates program for our local chapter.  By running as Solemates, we hope to raise the money we need to subsidize girls’ tuition for the program, pay for space for practices, and support our girls in every way possible.

Rebecca will be running as a Solemate in both the Reach the Beach Massachusetts race and the Run To Remember Half Marathon in Boston.  This will be her first relay race and second half marathon.  I will be running as a Solemate in the Boston Marathon, my second marathon.  Despite the intense training required for both, it helps knowing we’re doing it for a great cause.

To sweeten the deal for all you would-be supporters, here’s our pledge to you: For every $10 you donate, you’ll be entered into a raffle drawing for Rebecca to hand-knit the project of your choosing, e.g. scarf, socks, hat, cowl or mittens or other similarly sized item AND will bake you two dozen cookies, although it will be the oven doing the baking part, to be 100% honest.  If you’ve ever seen anything Rebecca’s knit, you know this is a great prize.  $20 gets you 2 entries, $26.20 gets you 3.

For my part, if we raise $1,000, I will run Boston in a skirt, which has been generously donated by Marathon Sports.  Here is what I believe the skirt will look like:

If you would like to be a part of our fundraising effort, please visit our First Giving page at http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/randmrobertson/team-solemates-2012.  We both thank you for your support!

Everyday Sources Of Inspiration

It’s easy to be inspired by the best runners out there.  Ryan Hall is an unparalleled talent who struck out on his own and continued to get better, regardless of what you think of his personal beliefs, which are just that, personal.  Meb has gotten better with age and showed Nike they made a big mistake by winning the Marathon Trials in Skechers.  Desi?  I challenge you to find a way she doesn’t inspire.  Sage Canaday, a guy who puts himself out there, seeks to maximize his personal talent, and demonstrates an entrepreneurial spirit that will be sure to lead to post-running success.   As a Brooks ID runner, I do my best to set a good example for other runners and proselytize the Run Happy philosophy, but that doesn’t mean I can’t be inspired by others.

Every morning on my drive to work I see the same group of runners out on the roads of Andover.  There are two in particular who couldn’t be further apart in terms of speed and “runner aesthetics” but who inspire me equally.  The first guy is quick, lithe, and runs with power.  You can tell he is a man training for something with a purpose.  The second guy is, well, the opposite.  He’s a big guy who runs at a pace that one might call “plodding.”  You won’t see him in tights, or minimalist shoes, or a running jacket.  Instead, on the coldest mornings, he is out there in his golf pullover, baggy basketball shorts, and MAYBE a headband.  Personally, I love my running clothes and “looking like a runner.”  But neither speed nor clothes make for the stuff of inspiration.  It’s these two guys who get out on the road every morning and run their pace for their own reasons to accomplish their own goals, whether it’s breaking 19 in a 5K or finishing a 5K (neither of which I know to be these two gentlemen’s goals).

These two guys make me want to be a better runner.  They make me want to ditch the comfort of the treadmill and hit the roads in the cold more often.  They inspire me without the need for logos or slogans.  Run Happy gentlemen, and continue to inspire daily!

Pet Project: Threshold Talent

Hello one and all!  I thought it was about time I do a short post on my little pet project that I’ve been working on, which I’ve dubbed Threshold Talent.  I have taken on some runners and running-related organizations that I represent as an agent in an effort to grow the sport that I love so dearly.  I have no illusions of becoming the Ari Gold of the running world, those guys are already out there and have the infrastructure and full-time availability to make that happen.  Instead, I’m hoping to do what I can to help those runners that might otherwise slip under the radar pick up a sponsor or race entry here and there to make their lives a little easier and get that much closer to reaching their full potential.

So far I have connected with some fantastic runners through Threshold Talent, hopefully making at least a small impact in their running careers along the way.  If you are interested in discussing the possibility of joining the Threshold Talent team, please head on over to my site at www.thresholdtalent.com or e-mail me at thresholdtalent@gmail.com!

New Year’s Day Run

One of the great benefits of being a member of a running club  is the chance to meet runners who inspire you to do things you might not do otherwise if left to your own devices.  As a member of the Goon Squad Runners, there are many such runners, but one in particular is the man known as Thunder God, or Thor Kirleis.  For the second year in a row, Thor organized a New Year’s Day run along the full Boston Marathon Course and invited others to join him on his crazy/ridiculous trek.  Because I’m training for the full marathon myself, I didn’t want to risk injury by doing the full marathon, even if it was going to be at a slow pace, so at roughly the last minute, i.e. 2:30 p.m. the day before, I e-mailed Thor asking if I could jump in halfway through and run them in the rest of the way.

This run was not one for speedwork, or for pushing beyond barriers and bringing on the pain.  This was a run built around the idea of camaraderie and the great feeling you can get when running with some people you know, some you don’t, and really just having an experience that can’t be replicated.  To begin with, we had absolutely amazing weather, not just amazing for New Year’s Day in Boston weather, but amazing weather for any run, any time of year. I ran most of the time with Thor, though I did manage to drop him a few times on The Hills…when he went back down to run them again. One of the great things the group did was, no matter the gap between us at the time, we would stop at every town border sign to get a group shot.  For example:

 

Running the course again for the first time since my one and only Boston Marathon, I was flooded with memories from Patriot’s Day 2009.  We passed the spot where I saw Rebecca on the course, a miracle in and of itself, where we saw my running buddy Vaughan’s parents, where I remember getting somewhat choked up with the realization that no matter how long it might take, I knew I was going to finish the race.  I have to say my favorite moment though is the time you can first see the Citgo sign in Kenmore Square.  Being a longtime Boston Red Sox fan, the Citgo sign is one of the landmarks of Boston for me.  That, and it means your day is almost at and end.  Thor was nice enough to get a great shot for me.

Passing through Kenmore, we took the final right on Hereford, left on Boylston, and made our way to the finish.  I ran ahead to get a video of the group that ran the entire way coming in, after which we took a final finish line shot.

Everyone was in excellent spirits at the end and, after grabbing some dry clothes, we headed off for a celebratory pint or two at Solas Pub in Boston.

All in all, this was a fantastic way to start my 2012 training.  Many thanks to Thor, Mr. Methane, and rest of the intrepid crew for a great New Year’s Day run!

Big News All Around!

I got a double dose of big news in the last week that I am happy to share with all of you.  First, I learned that I’ve been invited back into the Brooks ID (Inspire Daily) program, this year as a Race Director. This will be my third year as an ID member and I’ve been very grateful to Brooks for the opportunity to represent a great brand these last few years.  Not only have I been very pleased with the product, but Brooks has given me a lot of support to help me help my local running community.  For those curious, I train in the Brooks Adrenalines, ST Racers, and Pure Flows.

The next big piece of news is that I will be running the 2012 Boston Marathon for the second time!  In return for providing a great deal of volunteers to the BAA, they give my running club, the Shamrock Runners, 4 numbers to dole out as the club sees fit.  After some hemming and hawing, OK, a lot of hemming and hawing, I decided to throw my name in the hat and see if Lady Luck was in my corner.  After finally having decided to enter, I had really gotten my hopes up on running Boston this year, so it was a great relief when I heard my name called.  I am very grateful to the Shamrocks for the opportunity to run Boston in 2012.  My first time running it in 2009 was a fantastic experience, difficult though it was, and I’m hoping to better my time this year out.  I’m also grateful to my wife, Rebecca, for giving me the green light to run even though it means a significant time commitment.

In what may be an example of “be careful what you wish for,” I know that this now means a long winter of hard training so that when I toe the line in Hopkinton I will have put myself in a position to succeed.  I have a mix of excitement, anxiety, and outright fear about what lies ahead of me, but I am looking forward to the challenge and am going to be sure that I focus my mental energy on all the great things about running this historic raise, as opposed to thinking about rough winter training and the aches and pains associated with it.  I hope to use this space to track my progress, and announce my charity plans for the run as well.  Above all, I hope to continue to Inspire  Daily, even I’m only inspiring myself!

Run Happy!

Girls On The Run Find Your Solemate Fun Run

Greetings my happy runners and readers!  I wanted to use this space to tell you about an upcoming event R and I are involved with the Boston chapter of Girls On The Run (http://www.gotrboston.com/).  If you haven’t heard of it, GOTR is a new learning program for girls 8 – 13 years old combining a training program culminating in a 5k fun run with self-esteem enhancing, uplifting workouts.  The 24 lesson curriculum teaches life skills through group processing, running games, and workouts.  Along with our coaches and board members, runners can get involved with Girls On The Run by joining the SoleMates charity running program.  SoleMates allows you to individually raise money for Girls On The Run by running the race of your choosing (though the group is affiliated with certain races as well).  For more info, please check out the website at http://www.girlsontherunsolemates.org/about_solemates.html

On July 13, 2011, we will be putting on the First Annual Find Your Solemate Fun Run.  The night begins at 6:00 p.m. with a meet and greet featuring legendary Boston Marathon Champion Bill Rogers and local charity team marathon coach Rick Muhr at the Bill Rogers Running Center at Faneuil Hall.  At 7:00 p.m. we will head out for either a 2.5 or 5 mile fun run, ending at The Black Rose where everyone gets a free drink ticket and light food.  $15 for pre-registration, $20 day of.  The event flyer is pictured below.  For more information, visit http://www.tinyurl.com/findyoursolemate.  We look forward to seeing you there!

 

Running For The Hansons: Book Review

We all know, or at least have a pretty good idea, of the lives that professional athletes like Tom Brady, Kobe Bryant, and Alex Rodriguez have.  In short, they’re ballers.  Fancy cars, mansions, and a singular obligation to perform on the field.  These guys don’t have day jobs, unless you count shooting commercials as a day job.  I don’t.  Less understood is the world of the professional runner, whose life likely has little to do with the three gentlemen referenced above.  What Chris Lear’s Running With The Buffaloes did to illuminate the world of D-1 collegiate running at the University of Colorado, Sage Canaday’s new book, Running For The Hansons, does for the world of professional running as he chronicles his training with the Hansons-Brooks Distance Project (otherwise known as Hansons-Brooks ODP).

In Running For The Hansons, we learn about Sage’s path from high-level high school runner to Cornell University and on to ODP.  In brief, the Distance Project is a professional training group founded by the Hanson brothers Michigan.  As you may have guessed by the team name, Brooks Running provides sponsorship for the team, both in gear and lucrative bonuses for runners achieving certain time and place goals.  So far, the two biggest names to have slipped on the fantastically garish ODP uniforms (I’m being serious here, go bold or go home I say when it comes to running gear colors) are Olympian Brian Sell and 2011 Boston Marathon runner-up Desiree Davilla.  For anyone watching, Desi, as she’s more commonly known, produced one of the more inspiring performances ever as she fought tooth and nail with two Kenyan racers, clearly gassed but unwilling to give up.  The ODP team is now making a name for itself alongside teams like Nike’s Oregon Track Club, Mammoth Running Club, and Team USA Minnesota.  With young guns like Sage Canaday on the squad, ODP will continue to increase its visibility on the national racing scene.

[OFF-TOPIC NOTE: I can’t help but tell you, dear reader, that as I write this review I am seated on a plane next to a grown man wearing a fanny pack and watching that Justin Bieber movie.  I anticipate an Amber Alert concerning this man sometime in the near future.]

Well, that was less than brief, but on to the review.  Running For The Hansons alternates between chapters on Sage’s life, his training, his racing, and the Hansons team more generally, with chapters devoted to Sell and Davilla.  The chapters about Sage on a personal level are the most striking  as they reveal not only the self-doubts that many of us amateur runners struggle with, but also the relentless drive and determination that many of us amateur runners wish we could conjure up.  While it’s tough to commiserate with him when he describes being the fat guy at 150 pounds, it’s easy to empathize when, after a particularly disheartening race he finds himself asking “what am I doing with my life?  Is this what I want?”  Although Sage recognizes that someday he may have to get a “real” job, he also knows that he is blessed with a true gift and is determined to see how far he can take that gift.

But Running For The Hansons isn’t all deep thoughts and ponderous moments.  Sage also tells us of what is essentially a frat house full of skinny very fast dudes.  This isn’t a luxury condo in the mountains outfitted with zero-g treadmills where the athletes essentially are either running or resting.  No, Sage lives in a drafty old house, provided for him by the Hansons and inhabited by runners who are either running or working at one of the Hansons’ multiple running stores.  Working in the shop provides Sage with fodder for one of my favorite chapters where he describes the various types of people that come into the shop seeking his assistance.  For anyone who has either worked in retail, or spent a great deal of time in running stores, and I’ve done both, it is spot-on.  Sage somehow simultaneously made the me both envious of his life as a pro runner and thankful I worked a job with a steady paycheck that didn’t depend on my ability to get from Point A to Point B faster than the next guy.

As for the training, Sage gives the reader a very good idea of just what it takes to become a world-class runner.  If you thought your 30-40 miles/week was going to get you there, I have good news, you’re about a third of the way there.  A typical daily run for the Hansons-Brooks crew is a long run for most of us done at a pace that many of us would be happy to run for a quarter mile repeat.  When it comes to racing, we learn about the amenities big races bestow on the elites as well as the highs and lows these elites can feel at the finish line when their livelihoods depend on what the clock shows.  Even though my times will never be within an order of magnitude to Sage’s (I don’t actually know what that means mathematically, suffice to say he is wicked fast), he makes it easy to relate to that feeling that comes when expectations are met/unmet (I don’t want to give anything away).

The humanity that Sage lends to his writing is what makes Running For The Hansons such a compelling read.  He doesn’t fill his writing with religious references and you won’t see him in Runners’ World advertising for a Japanese car company (no, I won’t name the gangly blonde runner I am subtly referencing here).  Instead, his writing speaks to the amateur runner hoping to understand his world a little better, cutting through all pretense.  If you’re looking for inspiration for your summer training, a revealing autobiography, or an interesting read on being a professional runner, I highly recommend you check out Sage Canaday’s Running For The Hansons.

To learn more about Sage’s book, check out his website at: http://vo2maxproductions.com/

[Full disclosure: Although I purchased this book myself, I am a member of the Brooks ID team and therefore affiliated with Brooks Running.]

Marathon Sports 5 Mile Race Report

Sometimes the tail wags the dog when it comes to picking which races to run in.  In this case, the Marathon Sports 5 Mile Race offered the promise of a sweet Brooks tech t-shirt for a limited number of entrants, plenty of motivation for me to try my first race at a distance in between 5K and half-marathon.  In addition to the shirt, the race promised a mix of surfaces and a good chance to test myself on what was described as a “moderately difficult” course.  It didn’t disappoint.

The race started at Weston High School and I have to say Marathon Sports did a great job in terms of directing people to the multiple parking lots, which can be a headache and cause of stress at many other races.  Set up on the school’s large grassy fields was a mini race expo and a large number of port-o-potties very close to the start line, also very much appreciated.  Not much to speak of in terms of booths at the expo, though the people at the Brooks booth were very helpful and eager to talk.  Otherwise it was a very easy process to pick up my number and shirt and I was soon toeing the line to start.

The race started rather unconventionally for a “road” race.  Taking me back to my high school cross country days, the race started on a grassy field with a bunch start.  With no chip timing, it was important to get close to the start line to not lose too much time.  There was a big mix of very competitive looking runners and more “recreational” runners, with the BAA team doing its best to position itself at the front of the pack, even though I am informed by Mrs. Yeti that none of them did particularly well.  A slight downhill out of the gate led to a quick start punctuated by nearly running into a metal gate post and the entire field running smack into a wooden barricade where we were supposed to turn left.  Those two incidents proved to be the only hiccups on the course.

As promised, the course featured a mix of rolling hills, decent downhill sections, and long flats, mostly on pavement for the better part of the course.  None of the hills was especially difficult, but the course had an unrelenting sense to it with few opportunities to really settle into a rhythm on the flats.  There were also a decent number of turns on the course.  Having race volunteers calling out splits at each mile was great but the water stops could have been slightly better staffed I think.

Winding through the streets of the neighborhood around the school, we eventually looped back towards the school itself, this time detouring around back to a grassy section covering a little over a quarter mile.  I can’t say I loved this section, not being a big fan of running on grass because I feel like it saps my energy.  Grass turned into a very short trail section, which proved fairly rocky, before transitioning onto the school’s track, which had a modern artificial surface, for the last 300 meters of the race.  Spurred on by a couple Race Menu team members shouting “Go get ‘em Big G!” I kicked in for a time of 36:02, basically running roughly even 7 minute miles for the first 3 miles then 7:30s for the last two.  I’ll take the setting of a new PR any day, even if it’s a default PR.

Really my only niggle with the race was the lack of water and other refreshments right at the finish line area, but they were right around the corner and I basically just missed it by going in a different direction from the finish line.  Overall, a great race experience!

Oak Bluffs Memorial Day 5K

The last time I ran a race in Oak Bluffs on Martha’s Vineyard, it was Thanksgiving Day morning this year.  That race was noteworthy for its lack of course markers (or volunteers on the course to let you know where to go), port-o-potties, and designated time-keepers other than a guy with his Timex watch (my mother-in-law ended up volunteering 2 minutes before the start to note incoming times).  Oh, and no safety pins for the race number.  With that in mind, I was hoping the Memorial Day 5K would be a little closer to what I normally think of for a 5K experience, and I was, mostly, not disappointed.  The race’s base of operations was the Wesley Hotel, one of the bigger hotels in Oak Bluffs.  There, I picked up my number and a pretty sweet teal race t-shirt.  The drawback of this hotel was that although it provided readily available bathrooms, there were only a couple, and they were also used by guests for the shower within them, which caused a long line especially right before the start.  This line forced me to jog around town to find the public restrooms, which then led to jogging to the start line about 1 minute before the start, barely having time to pin on my number and pull my flats on.  Oh, and did I mention it was already hot?  When I say “already,” I mean at the start time of 11 a.m.  Seriously, who starts a Memorial Day weekend race at 11 a.m.?

The race started at the public park in OB, which is right on the water.  I’m sure it would have made for a nice start if I wasn’t so focused on actually getting to start.  Not really having a chance to catch my breath, the siren of the lead police car sounded and the race was off with the course going through the heart of OB and past the Wesley before beginning a long incline.  Here are a couple pictures taken by Mrs. R/Yeti as I passed the Wesley, which you can’t see, and the harbor, which you can (note I’m the one in the neon green Brooks outfit):

I had heard before the race that the course was essentially uphill, then downhill and so had it in my head that I would try to take it easy at the beginning.  As usual, I failed at that.  The problem, I think, was that hill wasn’t all that tough, but there nonetheless.  There were no mile markers so I had no clue what my pace was, but I have to imagine that based on my later pace I would have gone through the first mile somewhere around 6:40, far too fast for me.

After winding through the back streets of OB, the course turned onto a secondary road which looked, and felt, like it hadn’t been paved since 1948.  That road slowly climbed to the high point of the East Chop lighthouse, which really barely came into view when you reached it.  At one point on the road there was a water stop, supposedly at the half-way point.  At this point I was around 11 minutes, having labored up the hill and feeling rather unspectacular in general.  By the time we began the descent, I was thoroughly dragging ass, though I did manage to pass some people on the downhill simply by virtue of knowing how to run it with less effort.  Still, when we reached the flat I just felt like I had no energy left and had resigned myself to a lousy time.  It was at this point that it would have been especially helpful to have mile markers so I at least could have known where I stood and maybe tried harder to find that extra gear.

The race finished on a curve before reaching the final straightaway, meaning that the finish was concealed until there were roughly 100 meters left.  When I finally saw the finish line, and the people ahead of me I might be able to catch, I started a kick, which Mrs. R/Yeti captured nicely.  Here’s the start of finish:

After I’ve passed one guy:

About to pass this woman right before the chute:

Final time?  21:47, good for 47th place and 7/24 in my age group.  I have to say I was pretty surprised with the time given how I felt at the half-way point (and how I ran after that as well).  With a much hillier course, warmer temperature, and hurried start, I’ll take it being 32 seconds slower than my BAA 5K time.  All in all a good race experience and a nice way to spend the morning, after which we went and got some well-deserved ice cream at Mad Martha’s in Edgartown.  Reese’s Cream, in case you were wondering.

Plus, I got a teal t-shirt, and what beats that?

p.s. Thanks to Mrs. R/Yeti for her support at the race and for the pictures!

I Did It All For the Boobies, Or, How I PR’ed at the B.A.A. 5K

Dear loyal readers,

Well, it’s certainly been a while since I’ve posted anything, mostly because I haven’t had anything worth posting and I figured I’d save you from reading something I barely considered worth writing.  However, that’s all changed as of this morning.  As many of you likely know, for the past month and a half I’ve embarked on raising $500 for the Susan G. Komen Foundation, which does tremendous work for breast cancer.  As an incentive to get donations, I promised that I would wear a running skirt during the BAA 5K if I could raise that amount.  Almost exclusively through the use of Twitter (where you can find me as @milesandtrials), I was able to raise a little bit over my goal, raising $520.40 total.  I have to say I’m completely blown away by the generosity of quasi-strangers and am very grateful for your support.  Also very deserving of thanks are Marathon Sports (http://www.marathonsports.com/), particularly Nick, and Brooks Running who combined to donate the outfit I wore.  Here is a picture of the back of the shirt that I wore, featuring the names of loved ones of my supporters:

So, now on to the race, to get the suspense over with, here’s a picture of me in my final race outfit:

Because we got a late start out the door this morning I drove like a madman into the city, already setting a PR for that drive.  I’ll spare you the gory details, but this was not a pretty GI morning, which had me rather anxious about how I would actually be during the race.  In fact, I have been rather anxious about the race in general for about a week.  I still felt like I was coming back from a lousy couple of weeks with hardly any training and have been feeling “heavier than my ideal race weight,” to put it mildly.  When asked this morning by a stranger in the elevator whether I was going for a PR today, I simply said that I was looking to have fun and did not expect anything big (note the use of foreshadowing).

The race itself went through the heart of downtown Boston, starting in Copley Square, going around Boston Common and then looping back to take a left (as opposed to the Marathon’s right) onto Hereford St. and finishing by crossing the Marathon’s finish line, which is pretty cool even for a 5K.  I made it to the start line with about 10 minutes to go and immediately needed to find a port-o-potty for the third time in 10 minutes.  Before any race I always find I have to go, regardless of any liquid I may or may not have had since the last time.  However, with no port-o-potties in sight and being hemmed in by metal barriers, I figured I’d have to just grit my teeth and bear it.

Trying to be a conscientious runner, I lined myself up at the anticipated 7 minute mile pace corral.  You could sense antsiness amongst the runners while the announcer went through introducing the distinguished guests, including Boston Billy Rogers.  Of course, I was very silly for hoping that everyone would be doing the right thing and lining up where they should have been.  As a result, I found myself struggling to cut through children, walkers, and slow runners while trying to hit my stride.  The need to “go” was so bad within the first half-mile that I considered veering off course at every alley, but the feeling went away eventually and I was able to think more about running than peeing.

My race plan was to try to take it relatively easy for the first mile so I could gauge how I felt and not die, like I always do.  I thought maybe a 7:15 first mile would set me up nicely.  Fail.  I glanced down at my watch at the first mile marker, which was located at the only “hill” on the course, going up Beacon Hill, before turning to the only downhill, and found I had gone through mile 1 in 6:54.  Ugh.  I thought that would be the death of me, that I’d never be able to recover.  Well, I was wrong.

Shockingly, I went through Mile 2 in 6:50, aided by the aforementioned downhill portion, but including 2 tight turns.  It was at this point that I really felt myself laboring.  Having made it this far though, I thought that I might be able to gut through 1.1 more miles without my usual slowing down and quasi-quitting.  I always know exactly when I take my foot off the gas and let myself slow down.  This race, whenever I felt like doing that I did two things: 1. I focused on quickening my turnover, which always makes me feel like I’m being propelled forward, and 2. I made up a new mantra, “There is no slow, there is only running.”  Through this mantra, I was able to convince myself that going slow was simply not an option.  As a result, of these adjustments, I went through mile 3 in 6:52.  Seeing the finish line in the distance, I took my mind back to every treadmill run I do where I add an increased speed kick for the last minute of every workout and knew that I could find one final gear to surge into to make it to the finish.

The end result?  An official time of 21:15, good for a nearly 30 second PR from what I ran a little under a year ago.  Maybe it was the lowered expectations and my desire to not waste a good start that led to it, or maybe I was just in better shape than I thought, but either way I was floating at the finish line.

Lessons learned from this race?  First of all, I have to say I liked running in the running skirt.  No, I’m not going to make a habit of it, but it was pretty comfortable.  This was also my first time running in arm warmers, courtesy of Brooks ID, and will definitely make more use of them in the future.  But, gear aside, I learned that I can push through pain and adversity when I dig deep and convince myself that things aren’t as bad as they feel.  I hope to carry that lesson with me in the future, both in training and in races.

Happy trails to you.