Run It Fast®

Here is a look at where everyone is running this weekend. We had 14 responses this week. Good luck to everyone and Run It Fast!

To join Run It Fast – The Club then click HERE to read more details.

Big Cottonwood Marathon and Half Participant Video from BrooksEE on Vimeo.

As marathoners we are always looking for the fastest course that we might be able to qualify for the Boston Marathon. Naturally, we look for legal advantages everywhere we can to make that happen, one of those being a fast course.

One of the fastest marathon courses currently is the Big Cottonwood Marathon and 1/2 Marathon in Salt Lake City, Utah. The race takes place on September 14, 2013.

The marathon starts at 9,700 feet of elevation and gradually unwinds downhill the entire way to 4,400 feet at the finish. That makes a 5,300 ft overall net loss/drop.

The half marathon starts at 7,200 feet of elevation and drops to 4,400 feet at the finish. Approximately 2,800 ft of elevation loss over 13.1 miles.

The video above shows Big Cottonwood to be a very scenic and beautiful race.

We get offers for discounts for Run It Fast – The Club to many races across the country but rarely post or share them unless we believe it’s a good race, good value, and will be a lot of fun. This one passes all of those tests.

Big Cottonwood is offering a discount to Run It Fast-Club members. Check your email or the Facebook Run It Fast-Club Group for more info on this discount or email us.

From the Big Cottonwood RD Josh Rohatinsky:

Extremely fast course, Boston-qualifier, beautiful rocky mountain canyon with leaves changing colors, free race photos and personalized videos to all our participants, awesome medals, shirts, and swag, etc. In fact, one thing we’ve done that gets a lot of play is share an example of the personalized videos we gave to all our participants last year. You can check it out at the link below and fee free to include it in your post.

Let me know if there’s anything else you need, and we’ll get cranking. Happy to have you guys joining us this September – you’re going to love it!

Watch the video: http://vimeo.com/53715113
More info and to signup: http://www.bigcottonwoodmarathon.com/
Date: 9/14/2013
Location: Big Cottonwood Canyon in Salt Lake City, Utah.

We will have several runners from Run It Fast – The Club at this race.  It’s beautiful and fast as you can see in the video above.

We hope to see you there! – #RunItFast

This creative and unique finisher’s medal is from the 2011 Flying Pig Marathon in Cincinnati, Ohio that took place on May 1, 2011.

It was the first two-sided medal that I have received for finishing a race.  The front had a ‘flying pig’ with the phrase “I HIGHTAILED IT,” and the back of the medal had the backside of a ‘flying pig’ with the phrase “I MADE A RUN FOR IT” with the skyline of Cincy in the background.

The decorative ribbon (see photo below) completed this first class medal. The ribbon was thick, with flying piggies, and the name of the race on it.

Flying Pig Marathon Website

I’ve run a few marathons… Okay, scratch that, I’ve run a lot of marathons. And for every race, there is the infamous pre-race breakfast debate. Coffee? Carbs? What can I eat that will give energy and won’t give my stomach flip flops at mile 5?

I know some of you are creatures of habit. You have the same meal before every race, whether it be peanut butter toast, oatmeal or bagels with bananas.

Not being stomach shy about trying new foods before a race, I’ve experimented with a lot of different options.

Knowing my body has 26.2 miles to cover, I’m a firm believer in good nutrition before the race.  But there are days when I just can’t choke down another bagel, especially at 4:30 in the morning! So I flex my options from time to time, and my new pre-race running love has been muffins! Depending on the variety, you can get substantially
the same amount of calories and carbs from them as a bagel, and it’s just a nice change of pace.

Being a particularly adventurous nut in the kitchen, I’m always trying new recipes and after a few rounds of using my family as taste-testers, and adding my own twists, I’ve finally got it!

So bake up a batch of Dana’s Triple Awesome Muffins and try them out for a pre or post run snack! Solid wholesomeness, they might just make it on your pre-race breakfast menu! These muffins are every bit as tasty as healthy, but don’t have a high caloric volume. If you plan to eat them pre-marathon, you’ll want to stock up on a few.

And if you have a family like mine, you’ll be glad you took the extra, because there won’t be any left waiting for you when you get back!

Dana’s Triple Awesome Muffins

These babies pack a lot of goodness in every bite and are one of my
favorites to make!  If you want to make it your own, add a little flax
seed, or replace some of the flour with ground oats. Some people like
adding a crumb topping with oats too. But whatever you do, make them!
Eat them! And Run!

Ingredients:

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all purpose flour
3 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1 egg
3/4 cup skim milk
1/2 cup agave nectar (low glycemic organic sweetener)*
2 Tbs butter (melted)
1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
11/2 cups frozen mixed berries (raspberries, blueberries, marionberries)

Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl. In another bowl, beat eggs,
milk, applesauce, agave nectar, and butter. Fold mixture into dry
ingredients just until moist. Fold in berries. Makes enough batter for
12 mega sized muffins. Make sure to spray your muffin pan with non-stick
cooking spray! Bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes and test with a toothpick
to ensure fully cooked. Cool for 5 minutes and remove from pan to wire
rack. Enjoy!

*Don’t have any agave nectar? We’ll run to whole foods store and buy
some! Or if you must, you can substitute 1 cup sugar instead.

Nutrional Info Per awesome mega muffin (estimated)
Calories – 155
Fat – 2.5
Protein – 3.7
Carbs – 30
Sodium – 113mg