March 2009 Archives

I recently had the pleasure of speaking with local journalist Kate Levinson for a story about using social media to support your health and fitness goals. The article was published today and you can read it here. Seriously, go read it -- Kate did a great job!

Most of my portion of the story focused on how I use Twitter to connect with other health seekers and to complain about keep track of my workouts. You can find me @RenovatingKaeti if that's your cup of tea. Blogging and microblogging have both been an unbelievable source of motivation and support for me. I have lots of goopy warm fuzzy feelings for all of you. Did you ever know that you're my heeeero, and everything I would like to beeee?

OK, I'm done.

SPEAKING of tea, I think Ima gonna need to drink a few cups this morning (it's a rainy March day here in Minnesota). Hope your Monday's a good one!

(Photo by dsevilla)

Tonight marks the beginning of my favorite least favorite part of training. It's a thin -- and steep -- line between love and hate when it comes to hill repeats. Why would someone torture herself by running up and down a hill, repeatedly, until she wants to collapse?

Let us count the ways:

• It builds strength in your major leg muscles in a way that normal endurance runs don't
• It increases aerobic capacity (like any interval workout)
• Hills will help make your stride more efficient and increase ankle flexion
• Runners who do hill training maintain fitness longer when taking time off
• And we should know by now to do as the Kenyans do.

It's the psychological warfare that makes these lumps of earth so intimidating. I get butterflies in anticipation of our hill workouts, yet it's never as bad as I think it's going to be. Sometimes it's even fun. It makes me feel stronger and victorious, a sort of "queen of the mountain" euphoria. And I feel the benefits in my subsequent runs almost immediately.

If you want tips on good form for hill training, this article offers a good overview. The main things to keep in mind: run light and upright, shorten your stride, slow down, and rest in between each hill repeat.

I know I'm not the only one who has this love-'em-hate-'em relationship. Do hills make you tremble with fear, too? How do you get over the hump?

(Photo by kmonojo)

Happy Monday, everyone. In the spirit of the day (Mondays are for phoning it in, right?), I've thrown together a short update on the very exciting sorta noteworthy things that have happened recently.

Last week I bought a couple of much-needed running necessities.

This is my new running journal. It just needed one small addition. (I'm not sure how helpful a three-option emotional spectrum is, but the little faces are kind of hilarious.)

I finally got new shoes. I've put more than 30 miles on them and I still haven't decided if I like them. The ones I *really* wanted aren't made in my size (see: clown feet).

We've done our long runs in single-digit temps almost every week, which means mountains of gear. I planned it out ahead of time so I wouldn't forget something critical and end up losing an appendage to frostbite.

Fun link: After seeing my Twitter friends using it for months, I finally checked out Dailymile. It's a site that allows you to track workouts, connect with other runners/cyclists/triathletes/what-have-yous, find races in your area, and you can link your Dailymile posts with your Twitter feed. I'm still exploring, but so far I love it. Great design and practical features! You can add me as a friend here.