Confessions of an Amateur Athlete

There are a LOT of compression brands out there. When it comes to compression sleeves and socks,  there's only one that I've found that suits my needs and holds up to my standards.  And that's ZENSAH .  

As you may know, I've been battling some pretty painful Plantar Fasciitis.  It hit me 5 days before I left for my marathon. (Back story HERE )  I managed to get through my race, but thought I'd have recovered by now.  Well, long story short, I haven't. And the physical injury isn't the only thing I'm battling. The first week or two after the race wasn't too bad. But as the days whisked by, I began to get upset. An injured runner is like a dancer who can't dance.  I NEED to run.  Maybe it really IS an addiction. Maybe not.  But whatever the reason, all I know is I've spiraled through several emotional waves lately: ANGER    I would see runners out in groups or on solo runs, shooting passed me as I walked my dog.  And all I could think about is how badly I wanted to join them.  I wanted to scream back at them "I'm not running because I'm injured! Don't look at me!"   They're just throwing their athleticism in my face!...

A lot of friends/followers have been asking how my plantar fasciitis held up during the race after my cortisone shot.  (Back Story HERE ) Days leading up to the race, I was still sore.  On race day, when walking to the start line I was still feeling a dull pain.  The kind you get around mile 20 of a marathon.  So my stomach was doing flops.  This wasn't going to be easy! How did it go?  I believe a picture is worth a thousand words... so here's the answer: Mile 25 Needless to say, it HURT!  I managed to keep up with the 3:55 pace group with only slight discomfort, until Mile 18. That's when the $&@! hit the fan.  I could feel the tendon in my foot tight and throbbing something major.  I also knew that with the cortisone shot, I was opening up myself to risk of rupturing the tendon for life.  So I limped/walked the last few miles.   It definitely was painful.  Not just physical pain, but mental.  Runners...

gogorunning.com So one week out from The San Francisco Marathon , and I was feeling good. Was doing everything right... and getting excited. Until Monday I woke up and could barely put pressure on my heel. Plantar Fasciitis had struck... with a vengeance! Apparently my foot had had quite enough and was fed up. (Here's a great article on PLANTAR FASCIITIS for more detail on this injury) I iced my foot, stretched it, took plenty of ibuprofen... It was getting "tolerable" but I could tell there was no way it was going to be Marathon-ready in just five days. So I weighed my options. If my race were local, I'd resort to just cheering from the sidelines. But I've been eagerly waiting for this race for the past YEAR! Running across the Golden Gate Bridge has always been on my bucket list, and this was supposed to be my "fun" marathon of 2014!   s1.hubimg.com Friends had told me about getting a Cortisone shot. I'd never gotten o...

I'm running the San Francisco Marathon  next weekend, and I have finally reached the final stage of my Tapering: Acceptance. As many of us runners know, as we end our marathon training and start backing off our mileage, we go through a series of emotions.  Let me break it down for you. STAGE ONE: EUPHORIA p.gr-assets.com You've put the mileage in. You're feeling good.  Legs are sore, but it's a good sore.  Now you can just sit back and wait for the race...which you're going to ROCK of course! Everything is AWESOME!   STAGE TWO:  ANGER sharegif.com Dang it! You need to go run! And your IT Band/Knee/Hip/Foot feels achy.  You'd better NOT be getting injured.  It's too late in the game!  And you feel fat.  Just FAT.  Now...who hid the @&#*#@ Cookies!?! STAGE THREE: DEPRESSION 31.media.tumblr.com Yep.  This race is going to be horrible.  What if you don't finish?! Did y...

Let's face it. Who doesn't love snapping a good selfie out on their run??  It's how we share our adventures through social media, and with friends and family.  But fumbling with your phone while pounding the pavement is tricky if you've ever tried it! Since I will be snapping all sorts of pics this weekend at Ragnar Trail-Snowmass, I thought I'd share some tricks to perfecting your running selfie! Safety before Selfie!   This one's the most important.  Don't compromise your safety to get a good selfie! That means no snapping photos when you should be watching for traffic, or fumbling with your phone on difficult terrain.  Turn your sound on.   This way you'll here the camera clicks and know if your pic took.  But don't worry about double checking it until later.  Wait until you get home to critique your pics. Raise it high! Avoid the double-chin by raising your phone higher that eye-level.  Shoot FACING the light. ...

I called out for YOUR Questions on everything from running, gear, etc.  So here are my answers!  Didn't get a chance to fire off what's on your mind? No worries, you can always ask whatever you want in the comments below, and I'll be doing more "Ask Me Anything" posts along the way!  Here we go! Sarah asked: How are you able to run in the heat? Any special tips, tricks, gear, or supplements help you get through runs in the summer? I'm not a hot weather runner but my marathon training starts in July! I actually JUST did a post about my tricks to SURVIVING the HEAT! Check it out here: http://confessionsofanamateurathlete.blogspot.com/2014/04/surviving-hellish-heat.html   But I will say, my "coolest" trick (pardon the pun) is soaking a mesh hat and sticking it in the freezer.  Then I grab it right before my run.  Keeps my head cool and the ice water rolling down my neck is cold but feels great when its 100+ outside! Sabrina asked: The m...

ion-taylor-photography/flikr The temps are already picking up here in the desert!  So it's time to discuss my tricks to surviving the Arizona heat!  I say "surviving" the hellish heat because in Phoenix, we don't BEAT the heat... there's no beating 117+ digits.  Instead, we have to come up with ways to get in our long runs while not being burnt to a crisp in sweltering sun! Yes, it is a "dry heat", but so is an oven .  However, you'd be surprised what your body can get used to.  These days, I've acclimated so much that I'd prefer to go run in 90+ degrees then attempt a run in anything below 30. LOL. So how do I stay alive in the desert?  Here are the tricks I use during my summer training: Stay Hydrated This, of course, is the most important.  I always take EXTRA water with me.  I might normally only need a small handheld bottle for a quick tempo run, but during the summer I'll take a fuel belt to be safe.  My philos...

This Race Review comes from a point of view you may never have had a chance to see: A race organizer's perspective!  I played the role of course operations this weekend at the Pride Run 10K/5K .  In a nutshell, while everyone is out setting up the start/finish and the festivities there, I was in charge of getting the course set up for the runners (ie, cones, volunteers, water stations, signs, etc.)  This was like a 1/4 of the cones.  My dreams were full of these things all night afterwards! lol How did it go?  It was chaotic, it was stressful, but we pulled it off without any major hiccups!  And this was the first time the Phoenix Frontrunners had used this course (which is USATF certified too!).  The biggest issues were the things from the city we had asked for (cones, etc) were not there on time.  It's a good thing I work in news, so I'm used to cutting it close to extremely tight deadlines.  Nevertheless, it's a learning exper...