Run It Fast®

Good luck to you all this weekend and Run It Fast!

Joshua Holmes – Denmark Dash 5K and some training runs on the trail!

Travis Hutchinson – Running in Bozeman at 5,000 ft. Nice getaway trip for the weekend. Plan on doing 35 miles in 2 runs!

rebecca kell – Running Warm Your Heart 5K with several friends.

John Shepard – I will be at @BigRiverRunning‘s Castlewood Cup on Saturday. Completely pumped.

Lisa Gonzales – I’m running the La Jolla Canyon 50K on Sunday. My 2nd! Woo!

Kiki – I’m running in the Making Tracks for Celiacs 5K in Hoover, AL.

Ev•••••• – Saturday, 5 miler – Ortega River Run 2012, Jacksonville, FL.

Carissa – ….conference meet!!! #emutf

Lauren Karn – Disney princess half marathon 🙂 @DisneySports

Indika McCampbell – time to get nice long 17mile training run on the trails this weekend!!

Paul – Xterra GA Thrill in the hills marathon

jjfrankelman – Trek Up the Tower in Omaha! Race up 40 flights of stairs.

elizabeth v rehmer – Disney baby!!! Princess half and my first time to Disney!

Susie K – 8 mile training run in Montauk, Long Island, NY 🙂

Tisha White – Mardi Gras Mambo 10K in Baton Rouge this Saturday

Jonathan Stewart – 16 easy breezy miles in J town. AJM just around the corner.

Heather Bily – #ragnardelsol. Bring it!!!

Lisa B. – Ft Worth. Cowtown Challenge 🙂

Kevin Ronayne – looong training runs this weekend in Central Mass

Jonathan Harrison – Leah & @ScottStader are running the Oxford Run 4 Hope Half Marathon in Oxford, MS.

Chad Lapp – running the febapple frozen 50k – south mountain preserve – NJ on Saturday!

Mike Kottmer – Mud In Your Eye 8K

jen bussey – in snowy calgary, helping my friend train for her first 1/2 marathon in prague mar 31 🙂

Danielle Elyse – I am RUNNING into the ocean for the Seaside Polar Bear Plunge on Saturday!! lol

Kevin Kozuszek – The Castlewood Cup 15k trail race by @bigriverrunning. It’s the best reason to train during the winter.

James Meredith – Sticking close to home, 8 miles; last long run before Little Rock, hoping to avoid injury, fatigue. Tapering can be a challenge.

We Run This – running in the fresh snow of WI…if it sticks around that long’

Camille Breckenridge –  #Oxford Run for Hope 5K

Casey – Princess 1/2 Marathon at Disney World on Sunday!

Gina Sassone – Super Spartan 8 mile obstacle course in Miami@Spartan_Race

Fernando Avila Alvar – at the parque tangamanga!

Lindsay Edwards – The Disney Princess Half Marathon in Orlando on Sunday!!! #disneymagic #readytorun

Sarah Malaney – 6 mile run Saturday with the Bridge the Gap Half Marathon training group!

Angie Gerber – 18 mile training run in beautiful Trout Lake, WA. Snow and wind will not stop us!

Nathan Bugg – <–Cowtown 10k in Ft.Worth Texas

Kimberly Tucker – Runniny my last long run before my half in NOLA next Sunday!

Chris Mateer – 5k/3k double at the SUNYAC championships….should be a fun weekend, both races are looking stacked!

Herk the Giant – 15km along the Birmingham Canal Main Line Upper and Lower levels via Smethwick

Connor Sorrells – george rogers clark 10 miler in vincennes indiana

William McArthur – half marathon race from Colorines to Valle de Bravo – Mexico!

Dina Kwit – Scenic City Half Marathon, Tenn.

AMI Round the Bays – wellington’s biggest ever fun run will gave 12,000 people running #AMIRoundTheBays

Kelly Belch – Doing my first 7k tomorrow for @Wgtnroundthebay ‘s. Very nervous and excited at the same time #cheeky7k

Jimmer0 – Running the Snow Joke half tomorrow in Seeley Lake, Montana.

Justin Gillette – Helping organize the Goshen Indoor Marathon…2 marathons held Saturday (8am and 230pm start times) and 1 on Sunday (7am start). One brave man is going to run all 3….204 laps on indoor track per race.

Marj Mitchell I forgot to write I will be doing a 19 miles on the hilly trails for week 13, marathon#2 training, it’s also my birthday and I can’t think of a better thing to do on my special day than to run long:)

The Run It Fast Running Club

Run It Fast is a way of life for both beginning and veteran endurance athletes. RIF is open to everyone and is simply a motto for pushing past your own limits to go further, faster, and do more than you ever have before. Everyone’s ‘Fast’ is relative and 100% subjective.

As a part of the Run It Fast Running Club you will receive a Run It Fast tech shirt for joining. There is not a better way to receive encouragement at a race than to be sporting the RIF shirt. You will hear ‘Run It Fast’ at the exact moment your energy dips or you need that extra push to finish that race or set a new PR.

In addition, you will have access to Run It Fast coaches to discuss running your first 5K, half marathon, marathon, or ultra. You will also receive discounts on Run It Fast clothing/merchandise and to future RIF races, events, and non-RIF races where we can procure a group discount.

We are also working on creating a place on RunItFast.com for you to store your races and results in addition to a point system to rank runners to create end of the year awards based on total distance, speed, and other factors.

If you’ve wanted to be part of a national running community to encourage and be encouraged by others you will enjoy being a part of the Run It Fast Team.

Membership Pricing:
New Members: $35 (includes Run It Fast tech shirt & shipping)
Renewals $15 per year

First 150 to join will be entered into a drawing for a free Garmin 310XT GPS watch!

First member from each different state will be entered into a drawing for a Running Warehouse gift card!

Benefits: Run It Fast tech shirt, RIF membership card, becoming part of RIF community, discounts at various races/RIF events and running stores, access to RIF coaches, place to store and keep track of your races, discounts on RIF merchandise and gear, point scoring system for male and female runner of the year and other awards.

The sooner you join the lower your Run It Fast badge # will be.

*If you already have a Run It Fast shirt then please email RIF at RunItFast@gmail.com for a discount code to join (without shirt, unless you want another one).

Sara Hall won the women’s USA Cross Country Championships in St. Louis just moments ago.

Sara beat Molly Huddle in a finish so close that the winner wasn’t known until several minutes after the race.  The judges finally decided that Hall had won the race by a nose.

Some on Twitter were saying that Huddle crossed the timing mat first but that Hall’s lean got her across the tape first.  Sounds like a Hollywood ending.

Sara is the wife of American marathoner Ryan Hall.

Follow Sara Hall on Twitter @SaraHall3

[finish line photo courtesy of Ryan Hall]

BFF Time on the Trails

2011 ended with a challenging 100 mile race, Ancient Oaks 100, and after some time off and the New Year, I decided to get back to the basics of why I love to run. As much as I enjoy the challenge of finishing a race with a time goal in mind, I needed to take a step back from that and focus on why I really run.

Fat Ass 50k is a GUTS race that is has been a tradition for me since 2009. All week, I was excited to travel with Dena Cyr to Sweetwater Creek Park in Lithia Springs, GA, see all of my GUTS friends, and enjoy some time on the trails.

Competitor, the for-profit group that owns and puts on the popular, yet controversial Rock ‘n’ Roll marathon and 1/2 marathon races is not making too many new friends with the inaugural Rock ‘n’ Roll St. Pete 1/2 Marathon that takes place this weekend in St. Petersburg, Florida (event website).

The biggest complaint this time is the unexpected costs and inconveniences that runners anticipate encountering on Sunday, February 12, 2012.

Rock ‘n’ Roll events are pricey. For this 1/2 marathon it is costing runners north of $105.00 ($125.00 if you sign up at the Expo on Saturday).  That is a lot of money for a HALF MARATHON. Almost $10 bucks a mile! Ouch!!!

But no one is forcing runners to pay that much and Rock ‘n’ Roll/Competitor is having record turnouts across the country.  I have stopped running the more expensive races myself.  I did get into the 2012 Rock ‘n’ Roll New Orleans Marathon with some heavy discounts for $40.

I run lots of marathons and ultras. I try to have a simple formula on what I’m willing to pay for a race. I usually try to not pay more than $3/mile.  So roughly my limit for a 26.2 mile marathon is $78.60.  For an ultra-marathon it’s more like $2/mile (50 miler @ $100/limit or 100 miler @ $200/limit).

But normally I tend to try to stay away from RNR events, especially after the disaster on the Las Vegas strip this past December during the 2011 Rock ‘n’ Roll Las Vegas Marathon (and Half Marathon).

So why exactly are RNR St. Pete runners upset according to WTSP 10 in Tampa/St. Pete?

In addition to the $100+ entry to run, runners are being charged:

• $15 to park at the Expo on Friday or Saturday to pick up their race bib
• $15 to park near the start of the RNR St. Pete 1/2 on Sunday
• $10 to get a shuttle ride from the finish line of the race back to their car or walking 45 minutes back (the race finishes 2.3 miles from the start).

To quote an agree Facebook poster, “That’s absurd!  Pay to run, pay to park, pay to get to start/finish.  Just raise the entry fee and quit nickel and diming everyone!”

And that pretty much sums it up! However, if you are going to run a RNR event or a race in a large city then you should be prepared for additional costs and inconveniences.

Rock ‘n’ Roll isn’t without its flaws though as was mentioned repeatedly here after the trainwreck that was Rock ‘n’ Roll Las Vegas (see HERE).

Big events can be fun but the true beauty of running is often found at smaller races where you can actually run without obstruction and without stress.

Rock ‘n’ Roll St. Pete is expecting over 8,000 runners for the inaugural event.

Related: The Nightmare on the Strip: Rock ‘n’ Roll Las Vegas Marathon Full of Sin

[RNR marathons run: RNR Las Vegas (2x), RNR Country Music (2x), RNR San Diego (very first marathon), RNR New Orleans]

[source: WTSP Tampa]

Today is my 3^rd Running Birthday. I started running on January 18, 2009. I’ve changed a little since I started running. I’ve lost 75 pounds (for a total of 150), run 6 half marathons, 5 marathons, a few other odd distances, and one 12 Hour race. It’s been a wild and fun 3 years! I’ve been very lucky and I’m incredibly grateful  that I became a runner.

I’ve learned a lot in just 3 years and I know there is a lot more I need to learn, especially as I delve into ultrarunning. But the unknown of running doesn’t scare me anymore. It’ll come as I need it. Or I’ll learn from my mistakes. Hopefully. 😉

In no particular order…this is what I’ve learned from 3 years of running: 

1. I can do more than I think I can so do not set boundaries.
2. It’s better to not “think” about what you have to do (whether it’s training or racing or big tasks in life/work), just do it.
3. Running is as simple or as complicated as you want it to be. Simple soothes the soul, complicated makes it interesting.
4. But running is not hard. Seriously.
5. Patience & consistency are worth more than a flame and a burnout.
6. Runners come in all shapes, sizes, and ages and you can’t tell by looking at someone how far or fast they can run.
7. Tackling any distance begins with a single step. Take it.
8. The running community will support, help, and push you if you need it.
9. The scarier the challenge, the happier the finish.
10. NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE.

On Sunday, I went to watch a friend race in a local bike race and he introduced me to the others there as “This is Lisa, she’s a runner”. What’s funny is that I know him from the local bike shop and I would have thought he’d introduce me as cyclist to them. But no, my “identity” is runner now. Something that would have been inconceivable to me 3 years ago. Me? A runner? Impossible! But yeah, I’m a runner now. How cool is that?

Qualifying for the prestigious Boston Marathon is not easy to do. Some are able to pull it off on there first or second marathon. Others try to qualify for years and finally get there. And, then there are those who can never qualify no matter how much they want it.

I met Ami Roach at my neighborhood 5K nearly three years ago. She finished the 5k in 24 minutes which is a decent time, I thought. She shared with me that she would like to qualify for the Boston Marathon and needed a sub 3:40 finish time. She lit up when we talked about this. At this point, Ami had only ran a few marathons and her goal was to break 4 hours. I was excited for her that she was so driven to qualify for Boston but I knew deep down that she probably still had a long way to go. For most people, a lot is involved with knocking marathon times down.

Ami and I became running buddies after we met that day and began to run on a regular basis together. She shared with me that she used to weigh 254 pounds at 5’1”. Until she told me that she wore a size 20 shorts and showed me a few “before” photos, I really couldn’t imagine it. How could this super strong, powerful running machine once be morbidly obese? And on top of that, she had been overweight her entire life.

I tried to make sense of her weight problem by asking her a lot of questions. What was it like being that heavy? What was your daily life like? Did other people stare at you or ridicule you? And why couldn’t you lose weight?

Ami’s approach to weight loss was not by using fad diets, although she had tried many of them throughout the years. Over five years ago, she lost weight the good ‘ol fashioned way-eating less and moving more. She began to cook healthier and exercise by using “Biggest Loser” home video workouts and jogging on the treadmill in her home. She didn’t dare head outdoors out of being uncomfortable running in front of other people at such a heavy weight.

Ami explained to me that she had an epiphany after she ran her first 10K, which was in the 60 minute range, still at a heavier weight. She said that she realized at the finish that this was what she was meant to do…run.

I really wanted Ami to break 4 hours in the marathon for two reasons: 1) She wanted it desperately 2) What an incredible success story for someone to lose 130 pounds AND finish a sub4 hour marathon. We trained together and with others in our community and she continued to run marathons. Some of them close to the 4 hour mark and others were ten or more minutes off. I even paced in twice to finish in four hours but she still couldn’t do it no matter how much she wanted it.

At the Chicamauga Marathon last November, she missed the 4 hour mark by 6 seconds. Six measly seconds! She was determined to get a sub 4 hour marathon at that point and trained harder. She never gave up.

I used to wonder if Ami got sick and tired of always seeing me finish faster in every race that we do. Not that she is competitive with me but I can see how it could become frustrating at times. I also wondered if Ami would ever be able to get a sub 3:40 or even a sub 3:45 which is what her qualifying time changed to by turning 35 years old. I tried to be optimistic but I often thought, if she’s struggling so much breaking 4 hours, how is she going to knock off another 15 minutes? I continued to be supportive and of course never shared my doubts with her.

On a mission, Ami set out to run the Charlotte Marathon the following month and didn’t tell anyone except for myself and one other person. She was fed up with this, didn’t want any pressure, and headed to Charlotte to run a hilly marathon and break 4 hours. She not only broke 4 hours but she blew it away with a 3:53. Okay…now I’m thinking that she can qualify for Boston and she’s thinking that she can too.

A few marathons later used as training runs, she prepared herself to qualify at the Mercedes Marathon this past February. She had veteran runner, Scott Ludwig, pace her to finish in under 3:45:59. She finished in 3:44:12. This was Ami’s 21st marathon.  I have never seen her more happy in her life and she couldn’t wait to register for the Boston Marathon.

The Boston Marathon has become so popular in recent years that the standards to get in changed for 2012. Because Ami is in a competitive age group and she “barely” qualified, she missed getting in by 26 seconds. She was devasted but this fueled the fire even more. Hard training was not over. Now it was time for her to get ready to lower her time significantly for 2013 so that there is no chance that she will not make it in with her time.

Training became more intense and running buddy, Coach Joe Fejes pushed her even more. But, heading over to the park by herself to run a 0.67 mile significant incline at a 8:00 pace over and over was not unusual for Ami. She was driven. She wanted it. And she was not going to give up. The Savannah Marathon, which coincidently was one year later from the Chicamauga Marathon where she couldn’t break 4 hours, was the race that she had her sights on to crank it out. And, she was not using a pacer this time.

The morning of the Savannah Marathon, I was counting the minutes for the phone call. Did she break 3:40? Did she break 3:35? How did she do? When I got the call from her that she got 3:32:06, I was ecstatic and couldn’t control my enthusiasm. It’s a good thing that I was in a car parking lot with the windows closed or my loud screeches would have disturbed some people for sure.

Ami had an over 12 minute personal record AND she beat my marathon PR from 2009 by over a minute. She had done it and this was her 29th marathon.

A good friend of ours gave us free entry into the Zooma Women’s Half Marathon this past weekend so we both registered. Ami had run a 1:39 half just two days prior at the Thanksgiving Atlanta Half Marathon and I had a 100 mile race the following weekend, so we sort of decided that we would stick together and not push too terribly hard. When the gun went off, we suddenly found ourselves 2nd and 3rd overall and were running a 7 minute pace. Wow! I thought, I wouldn’t be able to keep this up. My goal for the rest of the race was to try and keep up with Ami who is clearly faster than myself at this point. I loved chasing Ami. She is finishing this race, on tired legs from a fast half marathon just 48 hours ago, before me. This was one of the best races of my life.

-Beth McCurdy

We asked on Twitter (@runitfast) where you were running this weekend and 22 of you responded!

Joshua Holmes – Recover from the Holidays 50k in Alabama and Downtown Dash 5k that night in Tennessee.

Kristen Jones – new years eve race in Rehoboth De and new years day race in Bethany beach! Racing in to the new year!!

Stanley Peyton – Harrisonburg Va #FirstNight 5k

Anwen Edwards – Running tomorrow morning with the girls around Llogerheads and Cilcain in North Wales. Hope the rain holes off.

Naresh Kumar – Recover from holidays 50K 🙂

Jeanie Olinger – doing my first New Year’s Run!

Lisa Ford – a 6mile new years day race x

Monkey Trent – Dirk’s FA 50k!

Jason Buike – to the liquor store : )

MAXIMILIAN – Deployed AF new years 10K, Kuwait

Lisa Hamilton – Halifax NS

Susan Eastman – 7.5-mile run tomorrow in Centerville MA; 5-miler on Sunday in Barnstable Village; next race Jan. 8 – winter Grand Prix series

Jaim – New Years Resolution Race, Rochester, MN! Supposed to be really windy….

RMP – at viveros México city

Lisa Gonzales – I’m running in San Francisco at the New Years One Day 12HR!!! Woo!!! Sorry, I’m just a little bit excited. 😉

Evan Gilead – I had the #needforspeed but my jet plane is in the shop. Second alternative, I went running.

Lionel Garcia – no races this week but #rundisney next weekend!

Ian Richards – Running from home probably 8 miles steady on Sunday.

Jared Friesen – 2 double digit back to back runs this weekend for a total of 32 miles in cold Alaska winter weather!

Erin Donovan – Albany, ny! Hangover half marathon

Aaron Johnstone – 14 mile training run tomorrow for the @austinmarathon! Just hit 1000 mi. for the year this morning!!!

Kiwi – Knoxville, TN

Steve Carleton – South Mills Recreational Trail, South Mills, NC

Ashley Hicks and Toni Carey created Black Girls RUN! (website) in 2009 to tackle obesity, disease, and workout apathy in the African-American community for women.

Black Girls RUN! Mission Statement:

The mission of Black Girls RUN! is to encourage African-American women to make fitness and healthy living a priority. According to the Centers for Disease Control, 80% of African-American women are overweight. BGR! wants to create a movement to lower that percentage and subsequently, lower the number of women with chronic diseases associated with an unhealthy diet and sedentary lifestyle.

The group has now grown to over 60 local clubs across the United States in a relatively short amount of time.

The ladies told the The Tennessean some of the obstacles African-American women face when it comes to wanting to run:

The message faces multiple obstacles: cultural perceptions, ingrained food and beauty customs, lack of a receptive environment or safe place to be active, and the belief that recreational running is simply not something black people do.

Carey even told the newspaper a reason her mom told her she was scared to run that is actually pretty funny.

“She told me black women don’t run,” Carey recalls. “And then she told me all the reasons why, including my uterus was going to fall out, which happens to be this myth that prevails. It’s crazy.”

Often though we are told myths or reasons why we can’t or shouldn’t run or do something we are curious about doing.  Often that excuse or reason is planted within us by someone who is afraid, scared, or sometimes even jealous that we want to do something so ‘foreign’ or ‘extreme’ to them.

Carey didn’t hold back in telling the newspaper another reason African-American women are sometimes timid to try running is their ‘hair.’

And though they often feel strange saying it, hair also impacts activity. Because of the products black women use to style their hair, they often don’t wash it every day. Sweating and then having to re-do their hair is a deterrent.

“As silly as it may sound, it really is a huge issue for black women,” Carey says. “Hair is supposed to look a certain way, you are supposed to fit in this certain stereotype. There’s a lot of apprehension going natural.”

Another reason Carey listed was that it’s not always safe to run through some of the neighborhoods that some women live in.

She concluded though that the biggest reason African-American women often don’t run is lack of an example or positive role model when it comes to athletics and running.

Every community of every ethnicity needs strong women like Ashley and Toni to lead, inspire, and motivate women and men alike to take better care of their health through education and being active.

Congrats to Ashley and Toni on what they’ve been able to accomplish in the African-American community in the past couple of years.

Black Girls RUN! Website

[image: Black Girls RUN!]

Bryon Powell over at IRunFar.com got his hands on a preview pair of the upcoming New Balance Minimus Amp MT1010 trail shoes earlier this week and wrote an impressive and detailed review of the minimal trail running shoe.  The shoe will be a descendent of the New Balance Minimus MT10 that was released in 2011.

The quick lowdown on the New Balance MT1010:

I see the New Balance MT1010 as a low-to-the-ground, lightweight (at 7.7 ounces for a US men’s 9, it’s the exact same weight at the MT110) trail shoe that’s protective and supportive enough for everyday trail running shoe for those of us who aren’t waifish, who don’t run like a gazelle, and who don’t always run on buffed out, rock-free trails. In other words, it’s a trail running shoe for most of us whether we’re training (20 or) 100 miles per week or running a 100-mile race over rugged terrain.

READ IRunFar.com’s Full Descriptive Review + Many Photos of the MT1010