Sandy Runs

Over the weekend, I ran my 3 rd Marine Corps Marathon 10K. I love this event because it allows people who can’t, or choose not to, run the marathon to still be part of the action. I have run the Marine Corps Marathon (MCM) only once, in 2006. The first year I ran the 10K was 2011, when I was getting back into running after a long break, and I wasn’t yet trained up to marathon distance. The second year I ran the 10K was 2013, when I was injured and needed to do a shorter distance. This year, I was registered for the marathon, but deferred that entry to 2015 and registered separately for the 10K. I had scheduled myself too heavy with marathons this fall and needed a relatively easy race in between double marathon weekends in other states. After my 10K finish, getting warm in my hoodie Whatever reason someone has for choosing the 10K, it’s always a good race. The 10K and the marathon share some of the same course, but the start of the 10K is on the National Mall, whereas the m...

I don't like running double marathons (marathons on back-to-back days), but sometimes it makes a lot of sense logistically and financially to knock off two nearby states in a single trip. Last weekend I ran the Kansas City (MO) Marathon on Saturday and the Des Moines (IA) Marathon on Sunday, earning states #45 and #46. With mixed results. Here's how my weekend went. (Warning: double the marathons, double the photos in the blog!) The race directors of the two marathons must have realized that a lot of Marathon Maniacs , Half Fanatics and 50 States Marathon Club members were already doubling these races. For the first year, they teamed up to offer the I-35 Challenge: a bonus t-shirt and medal if you either ran both marathons or both half marathons. I was already registered for the marathons when they announced the challenge, so that was an added bonus to perform well. I love the interstate theme of the challenge; the cities were about a 3 hour drive apart via I-35 Thi...

Because, I do like it, right? It’s bad if I need to ask myself that, right? I only question this because I have fallen so far off the wagon of the training plan and goals I set for myself earlier this year. I hope that writing and sharing these thoughts will help me to remember why I like running and will reinforce better habits that I plan to develop after my crazy fall marathon schedule completes. A photo of myself running that I actually like; from 2012 Fox Valley Marathon (photo credit to Dave Mari) 1.       I like running because it’s exercise that is not boring. That is, if done outdoors. I always find running inside on a treadmill to be boring. All of those cardio machines in the gym are boring because the scenery never changes. I was always discouraged by this part of the gym. But when I started training for my first marathon, I was running with a group outside in Washington DC. Our long runs always included the National Mall, and then as our mi...

There is always a first time that each individual runner has a specific question or concern. It’s often difficult to remember that what is common knowledge to me is often new to someone else. There are some questions that I see frequently repeated among the various social networking sites/groups I belong to. So, that means they continue to be real concerns for people. Here, I attempt to address some of the common questions that come up. Q: Why does my GPS show the race course to be long? A: A GPS is a useful tool, but you cannot rely on it for a 100% accurate measurement of any course – ever. This does not mean that your device is faulty. It’s simply a fact that there are many variables that affect the accuracy of the measurement. Some examples are: 1) you actually ran more than the measured course minimum because of weaving around other runners, back-tracking to port-o-potties, not hitting the tangents “just so”, etc.; 2) there can be interference that affects the satellite readin...