March 2009 Archives

Extra! Extra!

By Kaeti Hinck / March 2009

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)

Hill Training

By Kaeti Hinck / March 2009

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)

Odds and Ends

By Kaeti Hinck / March 2009

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.