Running

With a creative spirit also comes this irritating trait.

| cheriarmour

I’m horribly forgetful.  Horribly, horribly forgetful.  The only way I remember to keep my class schedule and show up to places is that I write every single thing, every single appointment down I have in an appointment  book, and once it’s written, it’s real.

Last week after a Zumba party…
Zumba Party

…I decided in order to keep up with my streak (more on that later), I needed to run, even though it was after 10pm.  But I didn’t want to miss my mile, my honey was gone for the weekend, and I was feeling antsy. So still wearing my Santa hat from the party, I drove to my old condo, which is in a super populated, well-lit area, don’t worry.  I parked my car, hid my keys somewhere in the car, and closed the door.  When I went to test the door to make sure it was still unlocked, I found, much to my immediate horror, that I had locked the door with my keys inside.

Damnit.

I called AAA from my phone, which I’d thankfully not locked in the car, and since in my experience, AAA takes years to get to you to unlock your car, I decided to go for my run, since it was also about 40 degrees out, and I wasn’t necessarily interested in freezing as I waited.  So down the road I went in my purple Moving Comfort jacket and Santa hat.  I’m sure I got a lot of strange looks.

Murphy’s Law must have been at work, because not a half-mile down the road, I got a call, which I answered mid-run from the tow-truck driver.

“Yeah I’ll be there in 10 minutes…”

And in the fastest lockout time in history, I arrived back to my car to the tow truck driver waiting on me.  So I jogged up, and explained to her why I was jogging around downtown at night with a Santa hat on.

Bruise

Now, in completely different news, I discovered this bruise the other night on my thigh, and I cannot, for the life of me, remember how or when I could have whacked myself so hard that me, being the dark-skinned girl that I am, could bruise like this. My forgetfulness at its finest…

My year of running. #runchat #run

| cheriarmour

I cannot believe that we’re approaching the end of the year. I don’t know where the year went, but I feel so hashtag blessed that I’m still here.  It has been an absolutely beautiful year.  I’ve experienced a ton – good and bad, but I’m excited to see what 2014 in store for me and my family.

yearofrunning 225x300 How was your year of running?

I stole this fun idea to sum up my year of running from Miss Zippy, and I encourage you guys to go ahead and steal it from me now!  I’m nosy as hell, so I’d really like to know about your year – and I’ll post this to my Facebook status so some of you guys can play, and I’ll pull some of your comments into my blog.

What was your:

  • Best race experience?  Hands down, my best race experience this year was the Nike Women’s Half Marathon, which I blogged about back in April.  The race itself was awesome.  The weather was beautiful, the terrain was flat, and it was just incredibly well-organized, and I feel super lucky, because for the second year in a row, I won my lottery entrance into the race.  Eep!  Additionally, I am so enamored of Washington, D.C., and spending the weekend there with good friends made the weekend super duper enjoyable.  Now I hope this year my ENTIRE name makes it onto the wall of race participant names they plaster the street with in Georgetown.  ‘Member this?

Billboard

  • Best run? I need to choose a few.  One of my best runs was in Asheville, the weekend of Alexa’s bacherlorette party up in Asheville….

cabin 4

And this view of the river we stayed along…
Cabin 3
And I’d have to say my second favorite best run was a run I did with my brother the day after Thanksgiving a few weeks ago.   It was just fun to work out with a member of my family who kicked my butt.  It’s also so nice to talk to that kid, who’s really impressed me with how he’s matured in the past year.  Kid gets up at 3:45 to go to swim practice, and still manages to make it to school each day.  Like – bye.  Amazing.

  • Best new piece of gear?  Geez, that’s hard.  I have a lot of good stuff.  But I think my favorite piece that I’ve acquired this year would either be my Glycerin 11s, cause that shoe update was so  sweet, or this purple Moving Comfort full-zip that work gave us at the company holiday party.  I have a problem staying warm, so the fact this jacket can stand up to some of the ungodly temps we’ve had lately around here in the mornings says a lot to me.

Moving Comfort

  • Best piece of running advice you received?  Put one foot in front of the other.  A co-worker told me this as I was training for Shamrock in March, and that’s really all you can do, in racing, and in life.  When a race becomes challenging or miserable, you have to tell yourself to place one foot in front of the other.  There’s simply not another option.
  • Most inspirational runner?  I cannot pick just one, because working with runners, I am so inspired by my coworkers.  Jenny, who I ran Shamrock with, was a mother, a wife, and still found time to run that full with me.  Kerri teachers a full yoga course load, works, and trained hard and well enough to qualify for Boston.  Kerry runs a big race a month.  Fast.  Shelly is pregnant and still running.  I could go on and on and on, but you get it.  My coworkers rock, and when I don’t feel like working at my running, I think of them, and I usually can muster up enough to get moving.
  • If you could sum up your year in a couple of words, what would they be? Be present.  Don’t let worry or anxiety steal your happiness.

Now it’s your turn – fill me in in the comments, on your blog, on my Facebook, or Tweet me little tidbits!

New reads! #runchat

| cheriarmour

I swore, after my last marathon, during which I sobbed and vomited miles 18-26.2, that I would not run another marathon until after we got married.  One, because of the sheer volume of time I had to dedicate to training (most Sundays were dedicated to running), and two, because of the misery that vomiting during a race could potentially bring.  I really wanted to focus on wedding stuff and wedding planning (which is a total blast, ps, and I’ll fill you guys in as I do more stuff).

So anyways, fast forward to December, where everyone is talking about their spring races.  And I literally have this disease called FOMO (fear of missing out), and I almost can’t stand not running a race during spring race season when everyone else is running around having their fun.

Also, I think I’m addicted to the feeling when you finally cross the finish line.  I’ve only crossed a marathon finish line twice, and I’m not sure I’m ready to hang the shoes up until after I become a Mrs.

Basically, I’m seriously toying with the idea of doing Rock n’ Roll in Raleigh.  

If I do this, and that’s a big friggin’ IF, I need to do this right.  Like I absolutely refuse to get sick and cry though another race.  Not gonna happen.

Hanson

 

Insert new reads here.  A friend PR’d at Chicago using this method.  I’m not sure that I’m going with this method – there are a TON of miles a week as opposed to regular marathon training, and it is definitely something I need to fully commit to.  But I’m very interested in the book in general, and super excited to tell you guys what I learn.

What do you guys think?  I’m getting married in August, should leave plenty of time to profusely apologize to my spouse for neglecting him between January and April.  What do you think – can this marathon be done? 

New shoes are important! #runchat

| cheriarmour

Runner’s world published this staggering number last week that runners who rotate shoes (and I am the queen of the rotation because of my job),. reduce their chance of injury by 39% That’s incredible!

For someone who doesn’t work in running retail, there may be a few factors keeping you from buying new shoes, or buying more to rotate (the best way to get some bang for your buck).

  • “My shoes aren’t even worn out!” I hear this all the time.  And then you ask the customer when they last replaced the shoe.  They’ll swear it was three months ago.  But when you look back in the records, it’s over a year ago.  The official number is this.  Shoes get about 350 miles on them.  Minimalist shoes get even less, about 250.  Shoes naturally start to break down after about a year, so even if the shoe was just sitting in your closet, the shoe has lost some juice.
  • “I only wear my shoes to go to the store”.  This logic blows my mind.  If you wear your shoes every day for a year and a half to do your errands, your shopping, your trips to the post office, and your trips to the Y, what do you think is happening to them?  You don’t have to be running marathons to wear your shoes out.
  • “Shoes cost too much.”  A good shoe is gonna start at about $110.  And depending on the amount of cushioning, they can climb to $175.  Yes, it’s an investment, but you’re protecting your body from the earth.  Why would you want to pay $60?
  • “I don’t have time to get shoes.”  Take the time to get fitted one good pair.  If you like it, stick with that shoe for a while, at least until the update.  That should give you 9 months to a year of not having to try on shoes and wait on a fitting.

unnamed

 

And even though I’m the person who knows this stuff, it occurred to me at some point a few weeks ago that Austin’s shoes might have been worn out.  He’d been complaining that his IT band was hurting when we ran, so I told him to jump on my foam roller.  And thenI looked down at his feet and realized he was wearing the same Brooks Glycerins I’d gotten him at some point last summer.  We’d been either running or in the gym an average of 5-6 days a week since then, and if that wasn’t enough evidence, the, *ahem* fragrance from the shoes should have given it away.  The shoes had aged out right under my nose (hee hee).

So for about three weekends I badgered him to come down to the store.  He was too busy.  He was eating a sandwich.  He was asleep on the couch.  He couldn’t make it because someone on his fantasy football team was benched.  All sorts of excuses to not take off his shoes.  Finally, finally, on a rainy day last weekend, I cornered him in my kitchen.

“Let’s go right now.  What are you doing right now.”

He agreed, only after he ate a sandwich.  And off to the store we went.  After trying a few things on (the Glycerin had updated and felt a little funny to him), he settled on the Saucony Ride 6, and on a test run later, he reported zero IT band pain.  Win.

 

 

 

Chad Stafko, you are obnoxious.

| cheriarmour

Chad Stafko wrote this delightful little gem of an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal, entitled, “Ok, You’re a Runner. Get Over It”.

And by delightful, I mean totally obnoxious.

He expressed his irritation in the rise of people participating in the sport of running, and most specifically, with those 26.2 stickers you see on folks’ cars, which you affix to the bumper once you’ve completed a full marathon.

He theorizes that runners run only for attention, they run for the selfies, they run for the glory, and they don their gear so that people in society can identify them as runners.

There are folks that do everything for the attention that it will get them.  They like attention.  And there’s nothing the matter with that.

But to suggest that runners, and more specifically, marathoners do it for the attention, is just ludicrous.  I began running after I lost the almost 30 pounds that had crept on throughout college, and after I’d exhausted every other machine in the gym, taken every class there was to take, and I was looking for a means to maintain a healthy weight without boring myself to tears.

I’d read an article in Fitness Magazine, where Jillian Michaels was asked this question.

“What one thing do you never skip in your workout?

This is ironic. As much as I hate it, I run every time, like three miles. It makes you skinny, that’s why. It works.”

So I set out to run at least three miles a day to maintain my weight and the muscle I’d begun to build.

And then I ran a little further.

And next thing I knew, I’d signed up for a marathon, and was chugging along in the wind, wondering what in god’s name I’d been thinking of when I’d signed up.

I run because:

  • It helps me maintain a healthy weight. 
  • It’s cheap (relatively speaking).   It’s a little cheaper for me because I work in the best place ever, a Fleet Feet, where I have a lot of resources at my disposal.
  • You never “master” running.  It’s always a challenge.  There’s always something you can do better, you can always run a little faster or a little harder.  One day you’ll have a crappy run, another you’ll have a great one.  That’s cool.
  • The friendships that you form.  At last week’s Jingle Ball, a Raleigh event, the room was full of runners, people from my run club, good people who care about others.
  • It makes me feel pretty.  It makes me feel strong, pretty, and tall.

No nowhere on that list did I mention that I like to be seen.  Like I love the bragging rights.  That I wear the bright colors for the attention (I just happen to like bright colors, and they keep me from getting hit by a car especially during the winter months, when it’s dark for half the day).  I’ve purchased a 26.2 sticker, but I bought a new car soon after I finished my first marathon, so it never made it to my car.  I talk about fitness a lot because it changed my life.  But because I can be seen?  Because of the bragging rights?  Nope, I worked.  WE work for that sticker.  And if we do put it on our cars, it’s not a bragging thing, it’s to identify our brother’s and sisters in 26.2. 

Okay dolls, rant completely over.  I love you.

Check out my new running threads that I wear for attention!

Moving Comfort

 

This was our holiday gift we received from our lovely bosses form Fleet Feet, the Moving Comfort Foxie full-zip.  It’s gorgeous, has HUGE pockets, they got them embroidered for us, and I ran in it on Saturday – it’s toasty too!

So whenever I’m seeking my much-needed attention and validation from others, I’ll pop this bad boy on, and hit a public venue, where people can ooh and ahh over me.  Right, Chad Stafko?

Never in my life have I been so excited to see a charge on my bank statement.

| cheriarmour

Yesterday, I was scrambling to find a dress for Thursday night’s Jingle Ball, a Ball in Raleigh where the requirements to enter are an unwrapped toy and your black tie finest.   I ended up ordering one on ModCloth, and when I went to check my bank statement, I nioticed a charge from Nike, for the low low price of $180 some-odd dollars, which only means one thing!

Nike Women's Half

 

For the second year in a row, I have been accepted to the Nike Women’s Half!  And this year, I’m hoping to be well under 2 hours.  Yay for some motivation to actually run in this frigid weather!

Race Etiquette Question

| cheriarmour

Happy Thanksgiving week everyone!  If I’m a little sporadic or spotty this week, forgive me – it’s Thanksgiving week and I’ll be making my way down to Charlotte AND my fabulous upper endoscopy is this week.

I can’t lie to you, I’m kind of pumped for the potential blogging that can come from me being under the influence of Propofol.  But anyhoo, I have a question for you guys, as a lot of yous embark on your Turkey Trots this week.  What is the proper etiquette on wearing your race shirt during a race?

I ask because I whipped out my Greensboro Marathon shirt for the first time on Saturday, complete with misprint (the shirt reads ‘Greensboro Half Marathon’ despite the fact that I vomited through 26, not 13 miles of bliss), but I saw some folks (not a lot, but enough), wearing their shirts at the race.  I don’t put a shirt on until a race is completed, the same way I wouldn’t try on a wedding dress even though I worked at a wedding dress shop (it’s true) because I feel like it might screw up my luck.  But what do you guys think?

I knew this blog was nearing a year old…

| cheriarmour

So last week, I went ahead and delved into the archives to find out when I’d launched this thing, and it was a year ago, November 19, 2012, that I launched the blog.

For those of you who sort of fell into reading my blog, the way it started was as an idea that’d actually come to me when I was running.  I’m Haitian, and in January of 2010, Haiti was stricken with a huge, huge earthquake, that devastated the capital, where my mother was born.  My idea was a simple one, run, run, and run, and have folks sponsor each mile (or give a lump sum), all the while, documenting my progress on this blog.

Archive

The idea went so swimmingly that I raised the money, and kept the blog going, well after time for donations had closed, and in time capturing my first and second marathons, my engagement to Austin, and in general, the awesome highs, and occasional lows of young adulthood, with generous helpings of working out

So a year later, and many runs, bags of epsom salts, running gear, recovery brewskies, 2 marathons, a few halfs, and a billion laughs along the way, blog is still here, and ready to rocket into more workouts, more running shoes, and more activity as we embark on year 2 of this incredible running journey.  Here’s to more selfies, a wedding, more running, some races, and a sick, healthy body.

Thanks overload.

| cheriarmour

On Friday, I told you guys I was thankful for my brother.  Still am.  Kid is taking his SATs Saturday, so send him your good vibes, PS.

Saturday, I stepped outside of my house, and it literally smelled like a Yankee Candle, “Autumn Sunrise” or something.  I stood and sniffed the air for a few seconds before I had to be over at the stinky gym.  Scents just weren’t the same.  I am so thankful for beautiful weather here in NC in the fall.

On Sunday, I was extra grateful for that extra hour – it allowed me to wake up a little earlier, pour myself a mimosa, and go cheer on some friends in the City of Oaks Marathon – a move that would prove to be deadly, as, for some ungodly reason, I’m considering another one.  If I tell you guys I’m running another one before our wedding, slap the shit out of me.  I don’t have time to be running 20 miles on Sunday mornings right now.  Halfs (halves, idk!) are fine, fulls are off-limits.  Unless I get a really good deal on Rock n’ Roll Raleigh.  Ugh. What is wrong with me?

Today, I’m so grateful that I was able to lace up a pair of shoes and head out the door before work for a quick run.  It means that when I’m done with work, I’m DONE, and I get to go home and enjoy my evening, without the pressure of a looming workout standing between me and dinner.  It’s wonderful to get your assignments done before they’re actually due, huh?