Bare legs for All!-B/C I was feeling goofy

Despite never liking shoes when I was younger (I lived in warmer climates with a grassy yard), I am not qualified to weigh in on the barefoot running debate. I am a communications major with limited knowledge about biology. This debate has made me pause and think about the essentials of running.

I have always thought that all it takes gear wise to run in perfect climates for me is a sports bra, shorts, socks and a good pair of shoes. Some runners will debate that socks are not a necessity and more runners are debating about if shoes are one. Men go without shirts often in the summers. I have questioned at the gym if some women were wearing sports bras under their shirts. So that leaves the essential piece of running gear to be a good pair of shorts.

Lets get rid of shorts too! Lets start a bare legs revolution. I am not going to advocate for the extreme (streaking) but would rather take a minimalist approach. Besides, there are public indecency laws that I do not want to be blamed for breaking. I am suggesting an alternative: bun-huggers.

As you can tell from the pictures below, they cover the essentials. I have raced my fastest in them and have gotten faster since wearing a pair. (There might not be a correlation). One does not see Kara Goucher, Anna Pierce or Jenny Barringer wearing shorts.



( Just a few of the styles ranging in length)
They are aerodynamic; shorts have been adding drag for years. That drag time must be adding seconds to our race time. The extra material is making our legs move in an unnatural manner that I am sure increases torque (there have been no studies so far). Our legs have all the covering they need especially if you don’t shave. Evolution has made it possible for us to be barelegged.

Doesn’t seem odd that clothing companies keep increasing the inseam of our shorts along with the price. Just look at how baggy basketball shorts have become. Bun-huggers are more environmentally friendly; they use less material and less time to manufacture.

Besides, why keep one’s finely toned legs under wraps? Haven’t we as runners worked hard enough for beautiful muscular legs? We have run on when others are warm under covers, on day when we think Mother Nature has hated us and at time when it seems the whole world is asleep.  We do all this to make our legs strong and faster.

So my fellow runners, lets raise our voices loudly and declare “Show some leg!”. Now who is with me?

Looks like I am tranversing the country this year

I GOT INTO GRAD SCHOOL AT UT AUSTIN!

I really doubted I would get in especially with my GRE scores (they weren't great). UT Austin was my first choice and they have a great communications program. I am super excited and 99.5% sure that is where I will be next year (.5% would be if I had a dreamjob offer).

So now how do I move from PA-TN-TX?

Valentine's day race..

“didn't have a camera by my side this time
hopping I would see the world with both my eyes
maybe I will tell you all about it when I'm
in the mood to lose my way with words” John Mayer 3x5

Starting this post out quoting a John Mayer song which means one thing, it can only get better from here.

I decided to race this weekend and of course me being who I am came to my final conclusion the night before. The race was just a 5k called the Cupid’s chase in Princeton, New Jersey (yes, that Princeton). The race was about  1.5 hours according to my GPS way from Emmaus. I usually never drive that far for a race but I have been itching to race for about month now, especially after hearing my teammates talk about indoor track back at Carson-Newman. I figured since I had no Valentine here there was really no reason not to travel.


I did practically everything wrong before this race.

If you have been following me at all, you know that I am very bad at shoveling snow. So after three days, I finally had to face the beast and shovel the rest of the snow off my car, Nicodemus ( yes, I have a nickname  for my car). The only problem is that I failed to build proper time into my schedule for this. I ended leaving  at 8:30 for a race that started at 10:00 which gave me very little time in case I got lost. By having to shovel the snow, I completely forgot to eat breakfast unless a cup of coffee and Tasty Kake counts. This time limit also made me forget that to check the weather, so I assumed it would be in the mid-30s which I count as short weather with winter top apparel (hat, gloves, under amour and jacket). The high was only 28 that day.

I found the exit for Princeton pretty easily but what I did not count on was my GPS to go crazy on where the exact location was located. So I pulled up to the race at exactly 9:48. I had enough time to sprint to registration, hand over my 20 dollars, pick up my red (way to big medium) shirt with Available printed across the back and run back to my car to remove my over sized sweat pants.

I made it the start line and tried to figure out where I needed to stand. I guess it comes from my background as a runner on an organized team but I am the worst at guessing where I need to line up. I am so use to lanes/boxes. So I spotted some fast and fit looking women and stood behind them. Looks can be deceiving, I ended up stuck behind a group of people for my first mile. Usually, this isn’t a problem, I am good at bobbing and weaving my way through the crowd. Due to the snow and ice the racers were shepherded unto sidewalk that weren’t very wide. Also due the recent snowfall, the snow was up to my thigh only making my legs colder. Finally, I came off the sidewalk and was able to fall into a good pace, I hit the first mile in 7:45 which is about 45 seconds off of what I would like to run for my first mile.

The race got better as we headed towards the one big climb and I was able smoothly past people. I hit the 2-mile mark in 15:00, which is  still off of what I would like to run but at least I was getting faster. I saw another female in front of me and began to focus on passing her before the end. With about a half mile to go I did.

My legs were starting to freeze at this time due to my stupidity at not putting tights on but I was able to open up my stride. I let my mind focus on the people cheering ( “Nice Stride” “If you run faster you can go get warm”) and was able to pick up a few more people before the finish line. I ended up running a 21:51- a full 1:10 off my PR for cross-country but I will take it considering all my silliness.

I was able to go grab my oversized sweat pants and shirt to put on before the award ceremonies and it was still cold! Runners were huddled around the outdoor heaters, getting to know each other almost a little too well (I secretly think this is what the race directors wanted). The top three women overall were not much further in front of me which was uplifting and not one broke 20. What I found funny was that all the top women finishers had Available shirts on while the top men finishers all wore the Unavailable shirts. I ended winning my age group and received a few "good jobs". Unfortunately the only number I received that day was my race number.

My GPS decided to take me home yet a different way of which I came and I ended up touring around most of Princeton. I regretted not remembering to bring my camera but later decided maybe it was best just to have some mental snap-shots.

Snow Lessons..

Being a fairly educated person (I almost have the undergrad degree), I figured that I knew the basics of snow. The textbook definition of course is frozen precipitation in the form of white or translucent hexagonal ice crystals that fall in soft, white flakes. Pretty much it is cold and the way to defeat is for it to melt, salt helps the process. After the past few days, my upbringing as a Southerner left me with some new knowledge about this weather phenomenon. 

Lets go back to Tuesday; I knew that with word of the Snow-Apocalypse that I should go to the grocery store. We do this in the Tennessee when we get word of an inch of snow. Besides, I had run out of creamer. The lines were long and the store was having to stock up on milk (I prefer soymilk so I had no problem). It was a scene that I had figured. The smart choice of the day on my part was purchasing a shovel before heading back to the confines of my apartment.

The snow began falling like I had never seen before with visibility very low as I looked out my window. I snuggled up with a cup of hot chocolate and settled for a long winters nap. I got awaken at 11:00 P.M. by my advisor from Carson Newman with editing changes for my Honor thesis (but that is a whole different story). By that time, the snow had cover most everything and the offices were closed.

The snow continued the next day; I have never seen such a constant barrage. I decided to go investigate so not to get cabin fever. My first lesson was learned. Sperries, despite being boat shoes are not made for snow. I quickly turned around after maybe three steps out the door and looked through my closet for my fake Uggs. I was never a fan of these boots mostly because I saw no reason for them in the South. I had seen way too many girls wear them with shorts or short skirts and no tights. I had simply owned a pair for after ice baths.  After walking around for about 20 minutes I realized that I was not going to be able to get out on the roads and the fitness center was completely snowed in. I skipped on the running. The snow finally stopped around 5:00 P.M.

Thursday, I decided to work from home (mostly because of the honors thesis and another late night editing session with my advisor). Around 3:00, I had decided it look warm enough to go on a run. I dressed warmly though only in half tights and went out. Second lesson learned, just because roads are plowed does not mean sidewalks are. I ended steepling snow piles for 30 minutes. I then got this grand idea to run through an old abandoned golf course behind my complex. Lesson three learned-snow is not solid no matter how deep it is. I, being somewhat stupid, decided to go ahead and “run” (more like high knees) through it until I could get to next sidewalk.  Lesson four learned-half tights do not keep your calves warm in the snow.

I decided that I should shovel a bit around my car after my run. It was not easy and after 30 minutes it seemed like I made no dent in the snow. I gave up and figured I would do it in the morning. I woke up and hour early this morning to finish up the job but after an hour I was still not done. I had work in an hour. I gave up and ended walk to work this morning (which ended up being less time then driving?). Lesson six learned, snow does not melt quickly and clearing a car takes a long time.

I am just praying that somehow, that the snow I left clears. I plan on driving to race a 5k tomorrow.

11 Goals for 2010

Most people put out their goals in the first of the year, I'm a bit late.




1. Visit New York City- I'm only 115 miles away right now, this is a chance in a lifetime.



2. Run a Marathon-I'm signed up for Chicago.



3. PR! I want to explore different distances and hopefully PR.



4. Read more! I want to read for me and not school.



5. Get to know the Bible better- It has been awhile since my college classes..



6. Film a Work-out Wednesday- I know I can do this but it something I have always wanted to do.



7. Travel- What better time then now? I want to atleast make it to Savannah, GA, Brevard, NC and the West Coast.



8. Learn to really cook- I know how to bake but I want to learn how to really cook and well.



9. Develop my writing- I want to write more often and develop my tone.



10. Become better with a video camera- I want to learn angles and editing.



11. Graduate and find out what I am doing afterwards-Whether that is job or Grad. School.

Snow Apocolypse

More snow then I have ever seen in my life and it is still snowing

Treadmill trouble

I had my first experience with a real amount of snow this weekend (6.1 inches, not as much as Philadelphia but still quite a bit more then I am use to seeing as a Tennessee native). I could have run outside on Saturday, I am for sure but I did not want to chance. The news had me scared that I would slip, fall and then die a painful long horrible freezing death in a ditch. All that would identify me would be my road id (no, I don’t get paid to promote this).

So I decided to check out my apartments fitness center. I wrapped up in far too many layers of clothes, put on my fake UGG boots and sloshed to center. The center is this tiny room with two treadmills, a stationary bike, a couple of weight machines and elliptical. I felt like the whole time the woman on the elliptical was drafting off of me like in an 800 meters race it was so close. There were about 4 people in the small space and all seemed intently focused on the television that was turned to Animal planet.

I started the treadmill and as usual it starts off at a ridiculously slow pace (crawling for water in the Sahara pace). I bumped up to about 8:00 pace with the intention of bumping the pace up every 5-10 minutes depending on how I felt. 8:00 just felt slow. So I changed again thinking 7:30 would do. I stayed on that for about 5 more minutes before bumping again. Then that felt miserably slow. So I decided not to focus on the pace but rather just what the speed felt natural.

Needless to say, when I finished my run and reviewed the facts, I had run 6 miles at the average speed of 6:10 pace with the last mile at 5:00. If this is the truth, I need to enter some races and maybe find myself an elite coach. I know this has to be far from the truth, I venture to say I most likely closer to 7:00 min pace and maybe 5.5 miles.

I do not know whether to be upset about knowing the right numbers or happy that I actually made it through a treadmill run without worrying about pace.

SNOW!