Hi! My name is Judy Mick, also known as The Streaking Runner. More about my name later! I am passionate about running and helping runners to stay runners for life. So many runners start a running program and quit for some reason or another – I want to help them get started correctly and keep running for life!
Throughout the years I’ve run numerous races at all distances. As I’ve grown older, though, I find myself running the longer distances – marathons and half-marathons. And, I always plan a race in Florida during January or February to get out of the cold!
I started running in college (around 1978) to basically try to stay in shape (you know, beer and pizza at all hours). There was also a secondary reason. My best friend and roommate was trying to catch the eye of a member of the cross country team. Well, it worked on all counts, she married the runner and I’m still running!
My main claim to fame is that I have not missed a day of running since November 20 1985! Thus the name: The Streaking Runner. I absolutely love running and I know that it has kept me healthy all these years – and probably more sane!
In this blog, we’ll be talking about many different aspects of running – from staying overall fit, proper clothes, shoes, fun races, continuing to run as you get older, etc. Feel free to comment to let me know anything you’d like to see.
I’m also a firm believer in positive attitude and motivation. Positive attitude can make all the difference in all area of life – including running!
If you’re a Facebook or Twitter user, I’d love for you to connect with me there! Just click on the link to get to my Facebook Fan Page (and please “like” me while you’re there) and to follow me on Twitter! I’d love to keep in touch!
You know him. The runner that is super-obsessed with his running. He has to run a certain distance on a certain day at a certain pace – no matter what. This runner is ultra-serious and very structured.
Now, I’ll admit – I’m obsessed with my running. I need to get my run in each day. But, if I don’t quite feel like doing what’s on my schedule – there’s always tomorrow. I’m a firm believer is listening to my body – if it says wait until tomorrow to do that 20-miler – that’s what I’m going to do.
Our super-obsessed friend, in my opinion, has lost touch with the pure fun and joy of running. Yes, we need to be serious when we are training for a certain event – such as a longer race like a half-marathon or marathon. The longer training runs have to be put in to be able to complete our goal.
However, it’s OK to take a day or two and just have fun. Go out without timing yourself. Turn down whatever road you feel like. Have no structure to your run. Just go out and enjoy the scenery around you. I bet the uber-runner doesn’t take his focus off his work-out long enough to see what’s around him.
Many runners get frustrated with their running for this very reason. They become SO obsessed with their times and their distances that they forget that running is fun. Or it should be!
Remember the fun that you had when you were a kid. You’d run and jump and play – and had a great time. Also, remember the fun that you had when you first starting running. You don’t ever want to lose that feeling! Become a kid again – even if it’s just for a day. Just go out and run – no watch, no distance – just for the pure joy of running! If you’ve been a little burned out with your running – this should do the trick.
Another way to have fun is to just run a race for the fun of it! I’ve done this several times. I may be running with a friend who is running their first race. I may have been on vacation and happened upon a local 10K and decided to enter. Whatever – do a run simply for fun. It’s a blast to run and not be a slave to your watch. And, to be happy when you finish – no matter what your time was.
It’s great to be serious about your running I know I am. If I wasn’t serious – I wouldn’t run every day. But, I also believe in having fun in everything that I do in life – and running is a big part of my life.
All runners have their little quirks! OK, most of us have more than one – and I’m no different. And, one of my biggest ones – it’s one of my running confessions – I’m a Weather Channel junkie!
Runners need to know what the weather is when they head out the door. And, if they are going to be on the run for more than an hour or two – they need to know how much the temperature is going to fluctuate. It can make the difference between having a great run and having a miserable run.
So, the Weather Channel is crucial to me!
For every day runs – I’ll check it out when I go to bed just to get an idea of what the weather is going to be the next morning. If I have to get up and run super early – I’ll know what clothes to lay out so that I don’t wake up my hubby pulling everything together.
When I get up in the morning, the first thing that I do – even before I feed my kitty – is to turn on the Weather Channel and see what the temperature is. In addition, I check out the humidity and the wind speed. Also, if I am going to be running for more than an hour – I’ll look at the hourly forecast to see what the temperature is going to be along the way and at the end.
Another way that the Weather Channel helps me tremendously in my running is when I am going out of town – whether to a race or just on a personal trip. The first thing I do before I start packing is to check out the 10 day forecast that they do to see what the weather is going to be. I want to make sure that I am packing the clothes that I’ll need for the time that I’m gong to be gone. If you’ve ever been away – and the weather changes from the way that it was before you left – you know how important it is to know this!
There has been so many times that I’ve heard someone say that they wish they had packed their gloves but they didn’t know it was going to turn cold………….
And, yes, it’s sad – but I know when there are new forecasters or they change the times that they are on air. Boy, I am a junkie!
Seriously, though, the Weather Channel can help you with your running. It helps you to be prepared for what you will encounter on your run. And, that’s a good thing! Become a fellow junkie!
Do you get tired of people telling you that they don’t have time to run? Runners hear this from non-runners all the time. It’s kind of like their excuse for not running. ”I don’t have time to run”. With an emphasis on the “I”.
Well, the other day, I sort of went off on someone who said this to me! I just looked at them and asked them if they thought that I was a slacker since I took the time to run each day. OK, maybe I shouldn’t have said that – but they got the idea! :-)
Many runners don’t have time to run – we go about making time to run. I know that it is that way with me. There are many days where I don’t have the time – but I make the time. I know how much better I’ll feel – and how much better I’ll be able to handle the rest of my day after I run.
It may be that I have to run at 4 or 5 in the morning – but that’s what I’ll do.
Today’s podcast talks about that – and some tips for making the time to get your run in.
I love to tell everyone about running gizmos and gadgets that I love and use! And, I also want to be sure to tell why I love them so much. Here is something that I use almost every day! If you subscribe to my newsletter – you know that I talk about this a lot. My running stick! It just wouldn’t be right for me not to give you a review of this – and why you definitely need one.
The Stick is so simple in its design – but it works wonderfully! The roller part of The Stick is about 11 inches long with the whole thing measuring 20 inches. There are 10 little rollers that move as you roll this over your muscles.
I bought mine over 20 years ago as a little race in Tennessee. It wasn’t even an expo – this guy was just going around after the race while we were waiting for the results. He showed how easy it was to use. Of course, being the running gadget person that I am – I had to have one!
I ran it over my legs a few times and it did seem to help with that “after race” soreness. Then, truthfully – I didn’t even think about it again for a couple of weeks. Then, one day after a long and hard run – my legs were screaming at me. I remembered that cute little massager that I had purchased a few weeks back.
I pulled it out of my closet and ran it over my quads, hammies and calves. It was amazing how it really helped my leg muscles to recover from that long run. I was hooked – again!
But, I didn’t forget about it this time. I use it after almost every run to help speed up recovery. It’s one of the first things that will get packed when I go away for a trip – and it is always close at hand.
The Stick is great for all runners – no matter what your level is. When you are first beginning to run – it is great for that initial soreness that you get when you start using those leg muscles that didn’t do much before. If you’ve been running for years – it’s great after those speed workouts or long runs. It’s cheaper than going for a massage every week – and you can do this every day!
And, if you are one of us that may be getting a little more “mature” – this is great for your muscles because as we age – it does take a little longer to recover after a hard/long workout. The Stick will help that process along.
I’ve been using my Stick for many, many years. It is truly one of the things that I recommend to all runners! Please help out your leg muscles and get them one of these! They will thank you! You can find them at http://judyruns.com/thestick
Where is your favorite place to run? If money or logistics were not a problem – where would you like to run? That was a question that I asked on my Facebook page the other day. I loved the answers that I got to that question.
It also got me to thinking about my favorite places to run – and where I would love to run if I could.
My absolute favorite place to run is at the beach. Any beach. As long as there is sand, sun, the ocean and palm trees – I’m a happy little camper. I do love running along the boardwalk at Virginia Beach. You have the ocean right there beside you – but you are running on a nice flat surface. Great!
There’s another place that I love to run. My husband and I travel to the mountains in Tennessee several times a year. There is a 13 mile road that loops through Cades Cove. It goes back and you can see how they lived in the early years. You can also see bear, deer, and other wildlife. It’s a nice (and challenging) run. The neat thing is that 2 times a week – the park doesn’t let automotive traffic through until 10:00. So, you can get a nice, scenic, pleasant run in.
Then, I thought about where I would like to run.
The first place that popped into my mind was The Great Wall of China. I think that it would be really special to run there. And, the history – and what you would see from there!
Then, I have this thing about bridges. I don’t know why – but I LOVE to run across bridges! Some of it may be the fact that I love being around water – but running bridges really rock in my book.
One of the bridges that would be on my list is the Sydney Harbour Bridge in Australia. I always thought that it would be great to visit Australia – and that bridge is absolutely spectacular!
What better bridge to run across than The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. How special that would be!
So, there you go. My favorite places to run – plus the places where I would most like to run. How about you? Where would you like to run? Leave a comment and let us all know!
To start out talking about the Garmin Forerunner 10 – I just want to say that my needs for a running watch on most days is pretty simple. I just want a watch to record my time, distance and be able to see each mile when I’m done to see if I got faster or slower on the 2nd half of my run.
For years – more years than I care to say – I used one of the Timex Ironman watches. In fact, I still wear one around during the day. In fact, it’s what I wear to bed and use for an alarm in the mornings. I absolutely loved that watch – and I still recommend it for runners that are just getting started. It will record your time, distance and splits.
About 4 or 5 years ago, my hubby and I were at a race expo and he bought me a Garmin Forerunner 405 GPS watch. I fell in love and have really enjoyed it!
However, the 405 has a lot of bells and whistles that I don’t use. Also, sometimes the bezel that you have to use to get from screen to screen can be a nuisance. Yes, you get used to it – but if it’s really humid or raining – you have to lock the bezel or the watch goes a little freaky. But, overall – I really liked it and used it every day.
Then, I came across the Garmin Forerunner 10. It’s smaller and does not use the bezel system. It has 4 buttons – like my beloved Timex! It records time, distance and calories. A few of the reviews stated that you could not get mile splits after a run. That is somewhat untrue. After a run is completed – you can see how far you ran, calories burned and average speed per mile. However, when you upload your watch to the Garmin software (it’s free) – you can get more details from your run. Each mile splits – plus elevation. So, if you are watching your splits (like most of us do) it’s not a problem with this watch.
Another thing – if you use the run/walk method – this watch can be set to let you know when to walk and when to run.
One of the things that I did not like about my Forerunner 405 was how big it is. Granted, you can see the numbers really well (especially for us “more mature” runners) – but the watch itself is rather bulky if you have small wrists. The Forerunner 10 suits me much better in that regard.
Oh, yeah, did I mention that it comes in a variety of cool colors! Yep, you’re right – I got the pink one!
If you are looking for a running watch that will give you good information about your run – but you don’t want to spend an arm and a leg – the Forerunner 10 is your watch. It’s also a great watch if you want to graduate up from a “regular” running watch – but not sure if you want to go the full-blown route.
I highly recommend that you give this watch a try. You can take a look at it at: http://judyruns.com/forerunner10 . I really think that you’ll like it!
Spring is here – and for runners that means the beginning of road racing season!
I can remember when we used to look for a fairly local race each week-end. It didn’t matter if it was a 5K or a 10K – we wanted to be out there every week-end!
And, with racing season comes pre-race rituals. You know – those little things that you do the week before, the day before, the night before and the morning of race day. If you’ve ever run a road race – I’m sure that you have them!
In today’s podcast, I share what some of my pre-race rituals are.
What about you? Do you have any things that you make sure you do before a race? Leave a comment and let me know! I’d love to hear from you. Especially if they are quirky ones! :-)
Run Happy!
Judy
P.S. This is what keeps me energized for my runs! The original PowerBar – always Banana flavor! PowerBar and Pepsi – yep, works for me! :-)
As you’ve been hearing me talk about for the last few months – and yes, I’m sure you may be tired of hearing me talk about it – but I’ve been going through a little bout of Plantar Fasciitis. OK, to be truthful, it was more than a little bout – but I am definitely getting better!
Plantar Fasciitis is something that affects many runners. So, I thought that if I share what I’ve been doing to myself – it may help any of you that may be going through the same thing.
What I Did To Get Plantar Fasciitis
First of all, I’m not entirely sure how it happened – but I’m pretty sure it happened when I was running in my hometown the week of New Year’s. New Year’s Day I had done a super run that was mostly uphill. It had felt great. The next few mornings were a little icy – so I was altering my stride slightly to make up for the ice. Still no problems. However, when I got back home and was doing an easy 4 miler – after a mile – my foot was killing me. I limped back home.
The next morning, my heel was still sore – really sore – so I did a super easy mile on m treadmill. Same thing the next day. The third or fourth day – I did 2 miles – and the pain did subside as I ran farther. However, since the treadmill is a more forgiving surface than the roads – I kept my runs indoors.
Eventually, I had graduated to 5 miles on the treadmill – so I thought that I was on my way to recovery! In the past, I think I’ve had Plantar Fasciitis one or two other times. After a month or so – all was well, so I figured it was the same this time. So, I decided to do an easy 4 miles outside. After a mile – I knew that I had made a mistake. My foot was killing me!
It’s Time To See Someone
So, back to the treadmill. And, I figured it was time to see my friendly chiropractor! And, since he is also a cyclist and sometimes runner – I knew that he would not say first thing – “don’t run”.
He checked me out – and did some adjustments on my foot. Luckily, he had been to a couple of seminars on dealing with extremities. Yay! I saw him a couple times a week to start, then once a week and now I’m done to once a month. Whatever he did seemed to help speed up my healing process.
In addition, I was icing and doing stretching exercises – religiously! Here’s a video that I made of the stretches that I did.
Back To Running Outside
Now, it was time to graduate back to the roads. But, I was going to be smart about it this time! If you’ve been running on the treadmill for a while due to weather or injury – you need to work your way slowly back out to the roads.
At first, I only did one run a week outside – the rest of the week on the treadmill. Then, 3 days a week and eventually last week – I ran every run outside! It sounds crazy – but a major win!
Another thing that I’ve been doing is to not run the whole way. In addition to working your way back to the roads slowly and methodically, you also need to do it by time and mileage. Don’t make your first run outside a long run. You’ll just be setting yourself up to get hurt again.
I started outside by running so far and then walking so far. To start, I’d run ½ mile, walk for 1 minute, run ½ mile, walk for 1 minute until I had completed my distance.
Then, I’d run ½ mile, walk for 45 seconds, run ½ mile, walk for 45 seconds, etc. Walk breaks then became 30 seconds.
This week, my longest run is 6 miles – and I’m running a mile, walking for 30 seconds, mile, 30 seconds, etc. After next week, I’m going to try to run a shorter distance (2 or 3 miles without a walk break).
If you are going through Plantar Fasciitis – or any injury, for that matter – I can’t emphasize enough to come back slowly. You just can’t go out and start running what you were doing before you got injured. I hope that my story will help you if you find yourself in a similar situation. Remember that you are in the running thing for the long haul – at, least I hope that you are! So, be smart so that you can keep running for life!
The horrible events of last Monday at the Boston Marathon once again proved how people can come together in the midst of a crisis. People were helping those hurt – and runners coming off the course after running 26.2 miles and lending a hand wherever they could.
Not all of us are in a position to go to Boston physically to help – but we can help in other ways. Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick and Boston Mayor Menino have announced the formation of The One Fund Boston. The purpose of this fund is “to raise money to help those families that are most affected by the tragic events that unfolded during Monday’s Boston Marathon”.
There are several ways to donate to this fund. You can go to http://onefundboston.org and make a donation.
There are also companies that have manufactured items for sale for runners that have 100% of the proceeds going to One Fund Boston. My friends at Lift Your Sole have a super necklace for sale that you can wear to show your support for Boston. (Yes, mine is one the way!) You can find it at: http://judyruns.com/bostonstrong
Gone For A Run have also made these shirts with the proceeds going to the fund. It’s a great shirt – and a wonderful way to show your support for Boston. http://goneforarun.com
So, if you are uncomfortable in just donating cash – and I know that many people are – you can buy one a necklace or a shirt for yourself. These are reputable companies that are donating 100% of the proceeds to One Fund Boston.
First of all, I’ve been wearing Asics running shoes for more years than I can remember. It seems like most of the time – and there have been exceptions – that putting on a new pair of Asics is like putting on a favorite pair of bedroom slippers.
The Asics GT-2000 is no exception. And, yes, I’ll admit – I was drawn to them by the pretty purple color. If you’ve been running very long – you know that for years and years, running shoes have been pretty boring. All, white or cream with different color stripes or swooshes or whatever is on your brand. And the stripes were usually some sort of blue.
A couple of years ago – stripes starting getting more colorful – I remember my first pair of slimer green ones. Then, last year – all the pretties starting coming out. Bright pinks, purples, greens – I love it!
Anyway, I did a little research before I ordered these – yes, I did even though they were pretty! It turns out that the Asics GT-2000 is a good shoe with the cushioning and support that I need in a shoe.
I’m a neutral runner – but running high mileage – cushioning and support is super important to me! The GT-2000 has the gel cushioning in the front and the rear of the shoe to absorb shock. I won’t bore you with all the technology behind how Asics makes their shoes so supportive – it’s just important to know that they do!
When I got these in the mail last week – I was reluctant to immediately put them on and head out the door. I’ve been battling Plantar Fasciitis for a couple of months and have just started doing all my runs outdoors again. The treadmill has been my friend during recovery due to the softer surface that is more forgiving.
But, I put them on and headed out the door for an easy 3 miler. And, was I pleasantly surprised! Great support – and in the heel area where I especially need it right now!
I highly recommend the Asics GT-2000 running shoes. In my opinion, Asics has done it again! You can find these shoes at: http://judyruns.com/gt2000. It’s a great shoe that will give neutral runners or mile to moderate overpronators the cushioning that they need! Not, to mention that they look really cool!
Hi! My name is Judy Mick, also known as The Streaking Runner. More about my name later! I am passionate about running and helping runners to stay runners for life. So many runners start a running program and quit for some reason or another – I want to help them get started correctly and keep running for life!
