the best laid plans

Haley Cloyd is my best friend. She has been my competitor, my leader, my roommate, and my soulmate. Haley Cloyd and I often find ourselves in separate cities, which means we have to get creative with our connections. Tonight, we’re on a virtual date. Skype, and a beer. Cheers to keeping the communication with old [...]

It’s time to start thinking about ways to improve my gait, so tonight I took my camera to the gym to record my first runner’s gait analysis video. What’s a runner’s gait and why am I interested? “The running gait is a unique set of actions and reactions that your foot performs while in motion [...]

What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami My review rating: 5 of 5 starsHaruki Murakami is an interesting man. He’s done so much with his life, and it is always surprising to me to hear about his life as a runner. Through this book, he is extremely humble about his [...]

Nutrition for Women, Second Edition: How Eating Right Can Help You Look and Feel Your Best by Elizabeth Somer My review rating: 4 of 5 stars A lot of nutrition books seem to fall into two categories: gimmick, or text book. A gimmick: http://www.amazon.com/Fat-Smas… It may work, but it’s not for everyone, however everyone buys [...]

Women Who Run by Shanti Sosienski My review rating: 5 of 5 starsInspirational stories about highly motivated and driven runners… and they’re all women. This book is a must read for all women who run, especially if you’re looking for that extra push out the door with your running shoes on. Granted, it wont make [...]

Fast Track: Training and Nutrition Secrets from America’s Top Female Runner by Suzy Favor-Hamilton My review rating: 4 of 5 starsGreat book if you want to get technical. It offers some quality training advice, but where the book shines is in its nutrition content. A warning, though… unless you’re a nerd about nutrition for runners/athletes, [...]

Accepting the fact that I’m going to be a runner for the rest of my life has always been a challenge for me. I comfortably live from race to race, focusing on training in the shadow of whichever 5k, 1/2, or full marathon I just finished. I’ve been training seriously for the past few months, [...]

Tomorrow I’m running the Nike Women’s 1/2 marathon in San Francisco. On November 2nd, I’ll be running in the ING NYC Marathon. This afternoon I’m resting, drinking water, preparing, and watching the movie “Spirit of the Marathon.” Preparing for a marathon involves so much more than training, shoes, water, an entry ticket. Perhaps the most [...]

In less than two weeks I’m going to be lacing up my shoes and stepping onto the start line at the 2008 ING NYC Marathon. As I sit in my apartment, winding down from a short and sweet taper run, I’m filled with anxiety, energy, hope, thanks, and… OCD. Yes, it’s coming down to logistics, [...]

Holidays. Tradition. Family. These three words form a crescendo inside my bones as November and December round the corner of the calender. For most of the year they tick like a metronome, quietly rumbling in the depths of a memory I call home. But just past Halloween, the trio starts to scale its way into [...]