Sandy Runs

I have a home in an asylum.  Well, two homes really.  Am I crazy?  You decide: I am a Double Agent, a member of both the Marathon Maniacs and the Half Fanatics .  Our club is called The Asylum because you really do need to be a little crazy to belong.  But why wouldn't I want to join The Asylum?  It's become a community of runners to me.  I meet new members at different races, make friends, share couches when traveling to races, and keep in touch between races through Facebook. What's this all about, you ask?  These clubs are comprised of thousands of members who have run, and most likely continue to run, multiple races in short periods of time. Marathon Maniacs is for people who run full marathons (26.2 miles), and the Half Fanatics are characterized by running half marathons (13.1 miles).  I am Maniac #4436 and currently only at the Bronze or one star level.  I earned that rank by running 2 marathons in a 16 day period.  I did ...

It was my first trip to Hollywood and I was up at the crack of dawn on Saturday, April 7, 2012.   No, I wasn’t returning from a club or a late-night party.   I was getting ready to run the inaugural Hollywood Half Marathon !  This race was a class act, as you can see from the sparkly, bling-y medal. Love the inaugural Hollywood Half medal!  I decided months ago to run this race even though it meant traveling cross-country and searching for airfare on a holiday (Easter) weekend.  Yes, I was drawn by the medal, the glitz, the opportunity to run through a town I'd never visited.  But even more, I could tell early on that this event was special.  Race director Ken Nwadike Jr. and his wife Sabrina and their team planned every detail, added many special touches, and maintained great communication with the runners in the months, weeks, days, even hours leading up to the race.  And the race benefitted Covenant House California , a charity near and ...

I belong to several Facebook running groups and one of the recurring themes is: what do you eat and drink during a race?  The answers are as varied as the shapes and sizes of runners in a typical race.  It's a darn good thing there are choices, because there is no one-size-fits-all solution.  My best advice to new distance runners is to try various products in various amounts on your training runs close to home.  When you find out what works for you, stick with it.  So, what do I eat and drink during a race?  I thought you'd never ask. First of all, I maintain a daily regimen of high-quality supplements.  My brand of choice is Isotonix, distributed by a great company called Shop.com (I'd be happy to tell you a little more if you're interested).  The powdered supplements get mixed with water and are highly absorbable.  I take the Multivitamin + Iron, Calcium Plus, Vitamin D, Activated B Complex, and OPC-3 (an antioxidant blend) daily. ...

The Washington DC cherry blossoms, that is.  Well, they bloomed early this year due to wacky weather patterns and and a pre-mature Spring.  So what was left for the annual  Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Run  on April 1, 2012 were fun crowds, beautiful sights, and pretty trees, but no major blossoms to speak of. This was my third time running the coveted Cherry Blossom.  My first two were in 2005 and 2006 when you had to get online FAST to register before sell-out.  Nowadays, there is a lottery, and I lucked out by winning a spot. 2005 Cherry Blossom 10 Miler - my first time was cold and rainy with whipping winds! The weather for the 2012 race was pretty optimal for running: cool temperatures and overcast skies.  That meant that with the right clothes, I was perfectly dressed for the weather.  No sun meant it didn't get too hot and I didn't get sunburned.   2012 Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Run - the Purple Wave is about to start ...