Little Miss Runshine

running

Corporate Challenge 2017

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This past Thursday I ran the JP  Morgan Chase Corporate Challenge and my company has been running it for many years now.  It’s always fun because we have runners of all levels.  Some come for the running but most come for the team bonding after the race.  We typically meet up and grab a beer and some food after.

The first Corporate Challenge was July 13, 1977 in Central park and was inspired by the firms who sponsor the NYC marathon.  The event hosts wanted to look for a way to have an event just for corporate runners.  Nowadays, all first place winners for each city will be invited to the championship that has an “olympic” style rotation where they visit cities throughout the challenge series.  This race started with 200 runners from 50 companies and has grown to what it is today in 2016 at 254,501 entrants from 7,612 companies for 13 cities in seven countries on five continents.  (Source)

For the everyday runner, it’s definitely not known as one of those races you PR.  The goal of this race is really to just have fun and an opportunity for some team bonding.  BUT…I actually did PR!!  Technically a PR for a 3.5 mile race isn’t too difficult because they are so rare, but my 5k time for the race was also a PR for me!  I ran the 3.5 mile race 23:48 (6:48 pace) and my 5k time was 20:55 (6:43 pace).  Previously I think my fastest was 6:58 pace!  I’m pretty excited because I felt pretty good after and have hope I can make some progress for my marathon training if I stick to it.  I had my coworker, Jay, take a celebratory jump photo for me.  And then I insisted that he take one too.  Let’s just say that I went for form and he went for height :)…

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Boston Run to Remember 2017 Recap

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I wrote about my race expectations and I’m pumped to say that I did much better than I thought I would!  Although I’m not back to my pre-injury PR, I have a post-injury PR!  I ran a 1:40: 50!  Previously my post-injury PR was 1:41:22…hey…a PR is a PR. 🙂

I am wondering if going into the race without any specific expectation or goal is helping me.  I ran just listening to my body. It was towards the end of the race where I could tell I was close to meeting 1:41 that I realized I could maybe pick it up.  The strange thing about this race and Philly is that although I raced well–I felt not so great.  I didn’t feel like I was running strong–my legs felt tired, my cardio felt not as strong as it had in the past races I ran well in.  I am wondering if I have this runners black out where I just forget how terrible I felt during the race!

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4 Reasons Why I love Social Running

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If you are pressed for time, you may not be a huge fan of social running.  Or maybe you feel a little nervous about not being the same pace as someone–I know that held me back.  I didn’t even like running with Dave who I should be comfortable with.  I just didn’t like the idea of having to talk while running or feeling like I was holding someone back.  Eventually I realized that social running was one of my favorite things!

Although I may want some runs to be “me” time when I get deep into marathon training–I hope to still incorporate social running.  There are a bunch of reasons why I changed my outlook on social running…

Not every run is supposed to be hard

Even when training hard for a race–you are supposed to include easy days.  I know that if I run alone or with music that I sometimes just want to get my run done and run too fast.  So why not force myself to have an easier run by running with someone and forcing a conversational pace.  You can also keep each other in line with the goal of the run.  There definitely have been times I have told a friend they are going too fast for a long run!

You get to be active and social

This is kind of a given but why not accomplish two things at once?  You can get your workout in and also spend some quality time with someone else!  Dave and I love our long runs together because we have a good 2 hour stint with no phones and just conversation.

I love meeting new people

When I head to run meet ups or run club–I usually meet at the very least one new person.  I’m definitely one of those introverted extroverts where it can be tough to get me out but I do enjoy the socializing and meeting new people.

It’s fun to inspire others to run!

It feels good to know you helped someone else and inspired them.  I love hearing that I’ve inspired someone to run or try a new workout.  And on the flip side–I also love when people inspire ME to do better.  Maybe someone at a run helped me get through a hill or keep pace on the last track workout run.  Whatever it is–doing the workout with someone else can help in so many ways!

So…Come run with me!

Cara from The Balanced Bod and I hosted a group run at New Balance Boylston street last night. Our goal is to help inspire people to find a balance between running and everything else and also just get inspired to run. We want it to be fun and something that everyone feels welcome to. Sometimes a running meetup can feel intimidating. We welcome all paces and wanted it to be a place where you can just meet other people in Boston! Join our group to stay tuned for events and get some running inspiration!

My Struggle with Running vs. Fitness Classes

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Photo by Nick Cosky Photography

I have the James Joyce Ramble 10k tomorrow and then my next race is the Boston Run to Remember half marathon in May.  I thought after the New Bedford half marathon that I’d really focus on my running.  I bought a Gilt City month to Everybody Fights FIDI to see if I could balance running from there and the classes but quite honestly I kept wanting to take classes!  I can’t help but love the sense of community and just how fun classes are.

The thing is–I really enjoy running too and there can be a sense of community there too!  I really enjoy the hard work put into training for a race and seeing results.  I also just like the act of running.  It gives me a way to clear my mind in a different way than classes.  It is also a time to catch up with whoever I’m running with.  I’m pretty happy that Dave and I run a similar pace because we will often do our long runs together and it’s a great way for us to catch up if we’ve had a long week.  We also really enjoy using races as excuses to travel and explore.

So how am I going to deal with my struggle of wanting to run and also take a million fitness classes?  I think I may try to get back into going to my run club (Cambridge Running Club aka CRC).  I think the hurdle (ha…ha…) has been that it’s been years since I’ve really done anything with the club so there’s the hurdle to get over of going again.  First up on the comeback to CRC is going to be track this Thursday night.  It has been literally FOREVER since I’ve done speed work outside of fitness classes that require speedwork–so it will be an interesting experience for me! 🙂

How do you fitness class addicts who also love running balance it all?