At the end of every year, I like to look back at my mileage.  This year, I ran 2245 miles (I probably ran more, but I  just didn’t log it).  This is the equivalent of a trip to Perryville, MO and back.   I averaged 6.15 miles a day.

Chuck and I drove that distance over Christmas and it took us 38 hours in a car.  It took me 299 hours to run that distance or 12.45 days.   This is an average of 49 minutes per day.

Next Christmas, if I start running on December 18th I can be home just in time to open presents with my family!

we welcomed a new addition to our family this week:  toby, a 10 mth old vizsla pup.  we researched dog breeds extensively before we decided that a vizsla was right for us.  my husband wanted a larger hunting dog, similar to the weimaraners with which he was raised.  my criteria was simple:  i wanted a running partner.

today, i took him out for our first run together to see if he would be a suitable running partner.   we ran our first mile today in 8:04.  i stopped him after the first mile, looked at my watch, then gave him the ‘paw’ (similar to humans giving each other “knuckles” or “the rock”).   toby and i ran a two more miles, the last one in 7:33.

nice work, toby!  i think you’re going to be a great training partner!

a few of my favorite running quotes to inspire you this sunday morning:

“Every morning when I wake up, I try to wake with a Smile on my face, Enthusiasm in my voice, Joy in my heart and Faith in my soul.”
~ Dick Beardsley

“If one could run without getting tired I don’t think one would often want to do anything else.”
~ C.S. Lewis

“You triumph over the adversity, that’s what the marathon is all about and therefore you know that there isn’t anything in life that you cannot triumph over after that.”
~ Katherine Switzer

“Sometimes the moments that challenge us the most are the ones that define us.”
~ Deena Kastor

“Running is a lifetime pursuit. If you set goals and have passion and believe in yourself, anything is possible”
~Joan Benoit Samuelson

what i love about the above quotes is that they are not about running hard and fast, but they touch on the spirit of running and how it spills over from the sport and into our lives.

running isn’t a simple act, it’s a lifestyle, a worldview, and an attitude.    it’s an attitude of discipline, confidence, triumph, peace, and joy.

in the last few weeks i’ve had a couple people ask me about how to prepare to run through the winter.  i thought it might be a good topic for my ‘ask the big mo’ series…..  there are many aspects of running in the winter, so this may be a multi-part series.

Winter running is a totally different animal and winter athletes are a special breed.  It takes extra commitment, determination, and endurance to continue your training throughout the winter months regardless if your sport is running, biking, or ultimate frisbee.

Everything about winter running takes additional effort — more effort to get dressed, to wake up in the dark, to train in the snow, blah blah blah.  Sure, it’s an additional challenge, but you’ll be such a strong runner when spring comes around.

To prepare for a winter of running, the first thing to do is gear up.  Having the right clothing system for any condition is the first step toward being comfortable while running.   And if you’re comfortable while running, you’re more likely to run.   Just in time for christmas, i’ll share some of my favorite pieces of winter running gear.

Bright jacket — unless you can get out at lunch or don’t mind the treadmill, you’ll be running in the dark.  I don’t much of either, so I am always running in the dark.  I wear my Brooks Nightlife jacket everyday.  i also run with a Petzl Tikka Plus headlamp, mostly to be seen rather than to see.  I swear by it because it’s lightweight but has a long battery life.

Windproof clothing – the cold isn’t bad, but the wind is terrible.  I swear someone would think I have Terret’s if they saw me run in the winter wind — I’ll randomly start yelling “i hate  you wind!  i curse you!”  I always run with a windbreaker, which is why I go with the brooks jacket rather than just a heavier shirt.  I also like zippers because you can ventilate as your temperature fluctuates which isn’t possible with a pullover shirt.

Tights – Finding the right pants was a challenge, because cheap tights allow too much wind to blow through.  I can get away with any ole pants/tights down to the 30s, but colder than that and I double up.  I love my Brooks Wanugi (I think they’re called Silver Bullet pants now) because they are warm and are windproof.  Windproof is key on these.

Shoes — some people use traction on their shoes, but I run on the roads and don’t really need it.  I have YaxTrax which I’ll wear on freshly fallen snow, but very rarely.  If it’s a true blizzard (read:  more than a foot of snow and the roads haven’t been plowed), I’ll break out my Kahtoola MicroSpikes, but I only did that once or twice last year.  Otherwise, I’ll only wear them on trails in the winter.  Another option that I have used were IceSpikes, which screw into your shoes, but then you have to dedicate a pair of shoes for the Spikes and they aren’t good to run in if there is no snow or ice.   When it’s icy or snowy, I usually just slow down and step carefully rather than rely on my shoes to provide traction.

Gloves are tough for me — I usually go with wool mittens because every other glove I’ve tried leaves me with frostbitten fingers before the end of the run.

I also swear by my Buff.   It can be a neck gaiter, face mask, headband, or beanie.  Since I normally run pre-dawn in the wind and cold, I usually have a chapped face and raw nose!   I’ll wear the Buff like a face mask on windy days to protect my face.

Other random thoughts:

I go with black clothes if I’m running in the daylight because they absorb more sun and keep me warm.  Obviously, at night I don the sexy construction crew fluorescent yellow jacket.

Don’t wear cotton!  Cotton won’t keep you warm after it gets wet, so your sweat will just make you cold.  Go with synthetic clothes.

Wool socks —  I swear by Smart Wool light weight crew socks.  The top part of a running shoe is porous and the cold air flows right through to your toes.  Wool, just like synthetic clothing, will stay warm when it gets wet with sweat.

malcolm gladwell, in his book ‘outliers’, repeatedly mentions the concept of the ‘10,000 hour rule.‘  

the rule is simple, gladwell claims that the key to success in any field is, to a large extent, a matter of practicing a specific task for a total of around 10,000 hours.

practice makes perfect, right?  can this be true in running?  

we don’t think of training as ‘practice’.  we believe that we become better runners by running more miles we increase our VO2 max and lactate threshold.  we improve running economy and train our mental capacity to endure long distances and the subsequent pain and challenges.  we have very scientific words for ‘practice’.  

we don’t think of our daily run as ‘practice’ for an approaching race like a violinist practices for an upcoming recital.  the violinist practices so that they memorize their music or develop the muscle memory necessary to effortlessly, thoughtlessly, flawlessly move their fingers over their instrument’s strings.  we move our legs, which doesn’t take much memorization. 

but, we too practice.  however, mundane the word ‘practice’ my sound compared to the word ‘training.’

and to be a better runner, we must also practice.  consistently.

many people have asked me, upon just starting to run, ‘does it ever get easier?’  we have the notion that running, since it’s such a simple sport, is easy and doesn’t require much practice.  

if we apply the 10,000 hour rule to running, we might have a different expectation.  rather than buying a pair of running shoes on january 1st, fresh off our new year’s resolution, and expecting to be a runner on january 2nd (conveniently, my birthday!) we would realize that we might not really sink into the groove of running until hundreds of hours later.  for me, the 10,000 hour rule, considering i average around 7.75 miles per hour, i would hit the mark at around 77,500 miles!   in 2010 and 2011, i have ran a little over 2,000 miles each year.  

does that mean i need 39 years to be a good runner?  dear lord, i hope not.  i think it’s ridiculous to think that we need to log 10,000 hours of running to be a ‘real runner’ however, i think the message of practice isn’t to be taken lightly.  to quote aristotle:

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”

therefore, i’ll continue to pound the pavement for hours at a time striving for excellence and that golden 10,000 hour mark.  

just maybe i can include non-running but running related activities into the 10,000 hour rule, like reading about running, dreaming about running, and (oh yes, please) blogging about running.  

with those hours in the calculation, i might be a successful runner by the time i turn ed whitlock’s age!

i’m slightly offended that my blog wasn’t featured… but i’ll try to get over it.  i guess i’m as good of blogger as i am runner…..which is to say, rather mediocre!  good thing i do both for the pure enjoyment of it and not for a living wage.

check out outside magazine’s top 10 running blogs.

a video to capture the transcendent, almost psychedelic experience of the simple act of running

140 days until the Boston Marathon.

Let the 20 week training programs begin!

Patagonia ran an ad in the NYT this week in preparation for black friday.  as most stores were advertising that they were opening at midnight and enticing consumers to buy as possible, patagonia was asking its customers to cut back.  i love this mentality.

a bold statement and effective ad campaign.