running
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Forward: Run Goals Unlocked
Normally around this time of year, I find myself in a state of contemplation, reflecting on the year behind me. I thought I’d post a summary or two about 2015 running and cycling, but when I sat down to write, it didn’t work. This year I devoted a lot of time to “big thoughts,” sad thoughts, fears. I reflected on how I can… Continue reading
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A Marathon DNF: the Mustard’s Off the Hot Dog
After wrapping up the Marine Corps Marathon, I was riding a big post-marathon endorphin high. I’d run three marathons in six weeks, and my body had held up remarkably well. I felt a little tired, but had no notable lingering aches or pains. Continue reading
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A Marine Corps Marathon State of Mind
Sunday, for the fifth time, I joined more than 31,000 other runners in one of the largest running spectacles in the country– the Marine Corps Marathon. Now that I have run multiple editions of this event, I treat it like a 26.2-mile tour and fun run. I don’t worry about time, and this approach helps… Continue reading
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Freedom’s Run Marathon and C&O Bike Overnight
“It’s a privilege to run in the places you’ll be today,” Race Director Mark Cucuzzella said as we lined up at the Freedom’s Run Marathon start, the morning sun popping out over the tree-covered hills behind us. Continue reading
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Abebe Bikila International Peace Marathon: A Break from the Bicycling
All the recent weekend riding has been glorious, but I was craving a break so I signed up for the Abebe Bikila International Peace Marathon. This run is a double out-and-back course along 6.5 miles of the C&O Canal, and the start is about 10 kilometers from my house so practically ideal. Continue reading
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Running In a Dress: Nuu-Muu Review
Over the last year, one piece of workout gear has firmly inserted itself into my closet– the Nuu-Muu exercise dress. I use them for commuting, running, and even ran a marathon in one earlier this spring. Continue reading
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D.C. Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon: A Soggy Sign of Spring
Whenever the transition from winter to spring begins to occur, I greet it with incredulity. But how? Less than two weeks ago, the city was coated in snow. Ten days ago, I made a snowman during a snow day run. A UPI photographer even caught me in the act. Continue reading
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St. Patrick’s Day 5K Run Report
The last time I ran a 5K race was in 1991. As a long-distance touring cyclist and occasional marathon runner, I don’t participate in many short-distance running events. I have many excuses for this: the price per mile is high compared to a marathon or a brevet; I’m not fast; and mostly, I prefer endurance stuff. However, this… Continue reading
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Blink and You’ll Miss It: Rediscovering Home
An unexpected trip to Iowa gave me renewed practice with the geographic vagueries I use when describing my childhood home. North-central Iowa. Sixty miles from Des Moines. Seven miles off the interstate. Blink and you’ll miss it. I spent years resenting my no stoplights, “never heard of it” hometown. I yearned for the urban life– shopping… Continue reading
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Run Cocoon
During a week of intense uncertainty and worry, the running routine has become an effort to keep emotions in check and preserve some aspect of normal. Continue reading
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Whatevering Runner
After a few hours spent contemplating Facebook and the gray of the day, I convince myself that I am letting something good slip away by not going outside for a few running miles. I shelled out all that money on winter gear, why not give it a chance to shine. A clumsy sort-out of layers and I’m… Continue reading
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Like Father, Like Daughter: Passing On The Running Routine
My dad ran every day when I was growing up. Weekdays, weekends, even when he wasn’t feeling so hot. Every day I saw my father configure his days around work, family, and his daily run. Subconsciously, I memorized his running routine. Continue reading
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RunDC: 12 Months of Running in Washington, D.C.
I am on my way to Kindergarten. My mom has packed my lunch for me. I stuff it in my backpack, shrug on my coat, and point my two little feet toward school. It’s three blocks away– three country blocks and I have five-year-old legs, but still… it’s three blocks. And I have 30 minutes… Continue reading
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Marine Corps Marathon: Celebrating Runners for 26.2 Miles
For 26.2 miles this past Sunday, I was a spec in a mammoth event, one of more than 27,000 people who swarmed the Washington, D.C. area for the opportunity to be part of an annual two-footed tour of the city—the Marine Corps Marathon. For 26.2 miles, people’s cheers and encouragement seeped into my heart, propelling me… Continue reading
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Functional Fitness, Everyday Joy
Today I ran into work, my eyes soaking in the fall colors as I breathed the aroma of wet ground from yesterday’s rain and the dying leaves on the pavement. Despite overcast skies, the 60-degree temperatures and quiet air made for delicious running conditions. I recalled my life in the city last year at this time, when the federal government… Continue reading
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Freedom’s Run Marathon: The Eventure Continues
Run Summary I first participated in Freedom’s Run Marathon in 2009, its inaugural year. I remembered loving the course — the way it rambled around Harpers Ferry, traveled along the C&O, and eventually crawled away from the Shenandoah River into the beautiful, hallowed, and hilly place that is Antietam Battlefield. I even liked the mileage… Continue reading
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Choose Your Own Eventure: C&O Bike Tour to a Marathon
Hello friends. I’ve just returned from a weekend concept ride I’ve been plotting for the past year. It involved a 134-mile mini bike tour from Washington, D.C., out the C&O to Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, and the Freedom’s Run marathon. I don’t know what I was expecting, but what I ended up with was a satisfying fall… Continue reading
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Run Commute Days
With the 2014 brevets completed, I turned to running. Continue reading
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Delayed Post-Marathon Satisfaction
During and even after running the D.C. Rock ‘n Roll Marathon on Saturday, I felt pretty glum. Frustrated that I had not run faster despite not setting a time goal. Mad at myself for lingering in a low point for five miles during the event. Disappointment despite finishing without injury. Continue reading
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D.C. Rock ‘n Roll Marathon: Run Hard, Brunch Harder*
I generally arrive at the starting line of the D.C. Rock ‘n Roll Marathon with wavering confidence. I love the course, which creatively sews together a scenic 26.2-mile tour through all four quadrants of the city, but spring marathons are generally a challenge for me. Continue reading
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Winter Run on a D.C. Snow(man) Day!
After yesterday’s dumping of snow over Washington, D.C. many schools and businesses, including my employer, declared a snow day. Yahoo! I fuel up on espresso, throw on my Gore-Tex Salomons, and hit the road. Snow days allow me to be a tourist in my own city. This “found time” frees me, and I can pad about… Continue reading
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Winter Days and Snowmen in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., generally does not see much winter weather. Most years we are only subjected to enough cold days and snowflakes to give us the sense that we live in a land of four seasons. Continue reading
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A Winter Run Through an Iowa Wind Farm
Over the past few years, the part of Iowa where I grew up has seen some big changes. As Iowa has become one of the largest generators of wind power in the United States, more and more of the state has become home to wind farms. This weekend I could not help but be drawn… Continue reading
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Postcard from Iowa
This weekend finds me back in Iowa, just in time for the first snowfall and winter chill. The snow was nothing too dramatic, enough to cover the ground and send a message to everyone that winter is on its way. Continue reading
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Marine Corps Marathon: From Frustration to Elation
Over my years of living in D.C., I’ve developed a fondness for local events. There are a few reasons why. Continue reading
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The Furlough, Fall Events, and a Marathon Taper
Taking the topic away from coffeeneuring for a moment, I wanted to post some thoughts about three separate, yet interrelated, topics: lions; tigers; and bears. Or really: how I spent my furlough days, the impact of the furlough on the fall event plans, and my marathon taper. It also gives me an opportunity to post… Continue reading
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Government Shutdown: Get Off My Lawn!
The government shutdown continues, much to many of our dismay. Also, the Coffeeneuring Challenge is in full swing, much to many of our great delight! Today I did a six-mile shutdown run (all activities will hereby be prefaced with “shutdown” until this ends, I tell you), which took me near the U.S. Capitol, by the… Continue reading
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Due to a Lapse in Appropriations… I Must Run
As the realization sank in last night that no agreement would be reached to fund the federal government past the end of September, I was filled with frustration and dismay. It’s disheartening to work earnestly to neatly wrap up the fiscal year only to be informed a few hours after you’ve arrived home that there… Continue reading
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International Peace Marathon: 26.2 Miles on the C&O Towpath
The alarm sounds at 5:40 a.m. Ugh. I turn over, fumble with my clock, and seriously consider ditching the International Peace Marathon for an extra hour or two of sleep. Having spent the night before carefully preparing a pre-run meal and assembling all my essentials for the day, I reluctantly think sleeping in is not… Continue reading
Chasing MailBoxes 