Archive for November, 2009
Tunes
Posted by: | CommentsI am sorely in need of some new running mixes, I wiped my ipod clean to start from scratch and then have been lax in re-loading it so I’m getting kind of sick of the small number of songs I have on there. I put a lot of thought into a mix, I include mostly fast songs to keep me motivated with a few mellow ones intermixed for a little bit of cool down. Runner’s World has an interesting collection of mixes by runners that’s worth a look.
While there are some songs I get sick of after a while, there are some I could listen to a million times. Here’s my “I could listen to this forever” mix. What’s yours?
- Here Comes the Sun – Beatles My favorite song ever, I have 7 different versions in my iTunes.
- Early in the Morning - Peter, Paul and Mary – It’s a short, fast song and I just love them.
- Jai Ho – Slumdog Millionaire soundtrack - I used to work across the street from an Indian grocery/restaurant and often went to lunch there. They had a giant screen tv that was always playing a Bollywood musical which are endlessly fascinating. This song is from the Bollywood’esque dance number at the end of Slumdog Millionaire.
- The Sweet Escape – Gwen Stefani - Don’t know why, this song just sucks me in and next thing I know my running stride is more of a bouncy dance move.
- Heavy Metal Drummer – Wilco -Even though I wasn’t into heavy metal, I’m into this song about a heavy metal band.
- The Way We Get By – Spoon – Gotta give some love to an Austin band, well they deserve it.
- Lenders in the Temple – Conor Oberst - And now some love for one of my hometown artists, this song reminds me a lot of Elliott Smith
- Son of Sam – Elliott Smith – Cool voice, tortured soul.
- Fidelity – Regina Spektor - Catchy and sweet.
- Come Wind Come Rain – Vashti Bunyan - I love simple music, an understated singer, a music not over-arranged. Yeah, I totally do not get Lady Gaga.
Keep it simple
Posted by: | Comments
Is anyone else annoyed already with the plethora of great “tips” in every fitness, health, or women’s magazine about how not to go overboard during the holidays and gain weight? It seems even though deep down we know a magic bullet doesn’t exist, we’re still looking for it. If you want to not gain weight during the holidays you need to do what you should do all of the time, eat sensibly and exercise. I could give you 500 different dumb ways to do that like – clean the house for 2 1/2 hours but holy cow, that’s a big dose of NO FUN! So why not stay active by finding fun ways to do it?
Like a turkey trot, a race on Thanksgiving that lots of cities have. Most are family events like ours here in Austin. I’ve never done the one here but my brother and I did a turkey trot outside Omaha a few times and it was a great way to start our Thanksgiving. My friend Sandy said she was going to do the one here so I checked it out and was delighted to see that they have a kids 1K and allow jogging strollers and even have awards for the top jogging stroller finishers.* So on Thursday my husband, daughter, and I will all be participating in a turkey trot before we trot home to our marathon of food. I am hoping it’s a new family tradition for us. Why not spend your Thanksgiving morning starting a new family tradition with a turkey trot? Even if you are not a runner, many of them welcome walkers too. Hey, you could burn enough calories to have a guilt free piece of apple pie, and as my idol The Barefoot Contessa would say “how bad can that be?”
*I was thinking of seeing if I can unleash some real live wild turkeys to get my husband going fast enough to bring home that jogging stroller prize.
Here’s something for your running mix because the title is as cool as the song, it’s called Gorgeous Behavior. It’s for all of you, because you’re all gorgeous!
Back in the saddle
Posted by: | Comments
Today was my first post-marathon run. I’ve got something weird going on with one of my quads but I was too excited to try out my new running skirt to put off my run another day. Back in April I did a women’s half marathon and I saw tons of women wearing running skirts. And I thought they looked really cute and seemed pretty flattering to lots of body types. I decided to try one. I got one that had sort of a boy short underneath and let me just say Wedgieville got a new member of the population that day. I abandoned those fantasies of me looking cute while running and went back to the running shorts that haven’t been half eaten by my dog.
But a few days before the marathon I was at my friend Sandy’s house and she was telling me she was going to wear her running skirt for her half marathon. She showed it to me and it was super cute and the liner was more like a running short liner. I decided to try again because I am nothing if not relentless in my pursuit of comfort. I checked out the site where she got hers, Runningskirts.com, and to my delight, they had some on sale. Mine arrived a few days ago and today was the maiden voyage. Happily, I have emigrated from Wedgieville! The skirt is awesome. It sits low which I like because I have a very short torso. The material is lightweight and wicking and the liner is great. The liner is just like a running short liner and did not ride up at all. It does not have a key pocket inside but does have two outside pockets with velcro and I put my house key in there and it stayed safely inside. I used their sizing guide to order a size 2 which is supposed to be for a women’s size 4-6. It fits and is comfy, however I like a little more bagginess so I think I’m going to order a size up for my next one. Another very cool thing that I saw on their site is that they sell maternity skirts too. Anyone who’s tried to find maternity workout gear knows that your options are very limited so this is a very good thing. If you are looking for something new to add to your running wardrobe, definitely check out these running skirts.
I’m happy to be back in the running saddle, now that the goal I’ve been working for the past 4 months is crossed off my list, I need to start working on some more goals. I think once a year is about all I need for marathons but I’d like to better my half marathon time and do some triathlons next year. Right now though, I just need to run enough to work off holiday gorging!
How about a little Gene Autry for your running mix today to go along with the picture of my daughter and Rocky the pony. It was her second birthday, which I believe is the traditional “pony in your suburban backyard” birthday. Hey, we live in Texas!
Race Photos
Posted by: | Comments
Our race photos from Sunday were just posted online and I think this is now a perfect record for my initial thought when looking at them to be “wow, I look terrible, I look like I’m going to fall over and die.” Flattering, eh? It’s the nature of the beast I suppose, who is going to look cute and refreshed after running so many miles? I always feel like the race photos are kind of blah too, it’s just someone sitting there for hours continuously snapping the shutter from a fixed position. My brother on the other hand has made sort of a side career out of race photography. This is one of his pictures from Ironman Wisconsin a few years ago. It just seems like he’s captured the essence of the runner. Maybe because I’ve done that race but when I look at that picture I get a sense for what that guy is feeling at that moment.
Regardless of how you think you look in your race photos, buy one. I promise when you come across it during a move or look at it years later, you will be inspired by the person you see. No matter how hard the race was, you’ll look at the picture and find yourself flooded with the good memories, with the feeling you had when finally crossed the finish line. When you are having a really bad day or need some motivation, look at some old race photos, it will do wonders to your ego.
Here’s something for your running mix to remind you to smile in your race pics. I just read that instead of saying “cheese” you should say “money” when someone is taking your picture, it’s supposedly more flattering. I think the only “money” that will make my race photos more flattering is the kind paid to a skilled photoshop artisan but my SI Swimsuit Modeling days are long gone anyway so I’m done caring about that.
