13 Things You Should Know The 13.1

Last weekend I ran my first half marathon the Philly Rock n' Roll Half. I can't believe I waited this long to run a half. It's a great distance, something I encourage all of my dear readers to try or at least support someone who is.
So, I wanted to put together a running list of things that runners, wanna-try runners and interested parties can learn about running races in general and some things specific to this distance. One thing marathon running makes you forget is you could run half as far and feel just as great finishing. But, now that I've run a half, I realized some things about running races that are true across the board (and not just added torture to a marathon course).

Key Running Lessons From a 13.1:

1. You can always run two times as far as your furthest run. Trust your training. I'm a believer when it comes to races less than or equal to 13.1 miles, your training should carry you through the finish line. However if you have doubts because you've never run the full distance, just remember if you can run half of a half, you can push the rest of the way through (thank goodness for adrenaline and fans).
2. You will always end a race on an uphill. They say runners are the only people that think optimistically about hills because we know, what goes up must come down. Well now you can add this joy to your hill-loving, once you run uphill at then end, chances are the finish line is REALLY close. Why? You might ask, courses end on an uphill to force you to slow down slightly so your sprint finish doesn't result in injury.
3. You will always have fans cheering. The thing about a marathon is no one is going to wait around 4+ hours until you finish, finding you every 3 miles. But, in a half marathon there are fans throughout the course! This just means you have a constant pulse of motivation to push you along.
4. Bring your watch. The avid runner wouldn't even second-guess this, but what I didn't know is a corral system will sometimes result in a staggered start. This means each corral gets its own count down before the gun. Now, runners beware of stagger starts without a watch because it will leave you doing math the whole time to know what your time is. While it might keep your mind busy, it'll drive you nuts and you'll forget to focus on your plan for the race.
5. Don't stop to pee unless you really must. No matter what your planned time is, most half courses cut off at four hours, HOLD IT. You can make it. You'll thank me later when your time is 6 minutes faster.
6. Know what your body needs for hydration. I'm a strong believer in no artificial hydration (Gatorade, Gu, food etc) before mile 7. Studies show if you are properly hydrated your body doesn't need electrolyte restoration until after 1 hour of running. Every runner to each its own, but just know if your training didn't include you stopping for Gatorade at mile 3.2, you probably don't need it now (unless you weren't properly pre-hydrated).
7. Have a reward. Yes, you ran a half marathon you deserve something - anything you want. Even if it's disco fries, because you essentially burned 1300 calories, so go ahead, enjoy. But seriously, rewards help you see the end through tough spots in the race and can only make you go faster!
8. Don't look in the porta-potties. Self-explanatory. 
9. Don't do anything new on race day. This even means the amount of stretching you do, what you eat for breakfast, or tying your shoes a different way. DON'T DO IT.
10. Have a plan. For me, race plans are critical, you have to know when it's going to be okay to slow down and speed up, this is something you should practice in your training or be able to gauge from your tempo runs.
11. If you don't have a fan there, make a friend. At the end all you want to do is high-five someone, well if you didn't make a friend in the two or three hours you were running your runner's high will drop before it should. Besides, it's easy, you already have something in common :)
12. Have a go to mantra. Something that's sing-songy that you can repeat in your head to make it through "I hate my life" moments in the race. (This is where you can repeat to yourself "disco fries, disco fries")
13. Run for everyone who cannot.  You will become a part of a select group of individuals that finish a half marathon, but unfortunately there are people with the gumption, but not the ability to do what you are doing. So, run for them AND run for yourself.  If you let their hope guide you along, you'll never run out of inspiration.

AND FINALLY .1 There's just a little more once you hit the 13 mile marker (and yes they show you) before you're done, so don't slow down too soon!

Oh, What's Your Name Again?

No, this post is not about my pet peeve (people who reintroduce themselves 1,000,0000 times, no matter how many times you meet).
This post is about the select group of people in America that have difficult names and must assume an alias at Starbucks. You know, the Tarkinsh'a(s) and Eglantine(s) of the world, the kind of name spell check never recognizes. Well instead of enduring the mass embarrassment of irritable morning coffee drinkers while they spell their name - they simply pick a new one!

My favorite story is one of my friend, we'll call her Dominicah. Each morning she chooses to go by Darla when ordering her venti specialty coffee. Well, one morning she's waiting for her coffee in the busy hustle of morning workers and the barista calls her name "DARLA, VENTI WHITE MOCHA." Like normal she grabs her cup and assumes her regular identity as she walks towards work. Halfway down the block she hears someone screaming "Darla, Darla!" Confused and concerned she just hijacked a drink she turns around to notice a boy running towards her. The boy introduces himself, says he sees her every morning and asks for Darla's number (very rom-com of him) ... when she gives it to him, she returns to her walk and realizes that this boy doesn't know her real name!
So, Dominicah is patiently waiting for this boy to call and is wondering how do you gracefully tell someone you just met that you lied about your name? You could continue using the alias if he was a dud, but what happens if he's your future bf? After a poll of friends and several exchanged flirtatious texts with him it was deemed too late to come clean and she chooses not to reveal her real identity. Besides, for her it was kind of a thrill to be incognito and reinvent herself simply because her name is chronically hard to spell and comprehend (and she just turned 25...I empathize it was a major identity crisis year for yours truly). So, my friend went on two dates with this guy under her alias, but of course it didn't work out after she was forced to jokingly confess, when he casually mentioned she was impossible to find on Facebook.
Oh, the shame of a name and the challenge of personalized drink orders at Starbucks makes for a failed place to pick up anyone. Just goes to show, the only good examples of an alias are writers that create new names because they are trying to write in a different gender and hope to avoid stereotyping -- and superheroes. 

A Phenomenal Woman

By now, I'm sure you all have seen Michelle Obama's speech from the DNC. If you haven't I encourage you to review and report back on how inspired you feel.

For me, it started out as a regular weeknight for me: leftovers and sifting through Netflix; when my boyfriend sends me a note saying, "don't forget to watch the speech -- Michelle O's on." Drop everything ... literally, and I ran over to my of course half charged computer for a chance to see the first lady in action. I'm not a self-proclaimed politico, but I appreciate beauty and intelligence just as much as the next person!
Her speech was incredible, no doubt about it, and she looked stunning. People tweeting "hope Romney wasn't watching this, he might not even vote for himself..." I mean it was good. When it was over the bf and I were rehashing the speech and I was trying to pinpoint what it is about Michelle Obama that makes her so engaging and it's very simple, she's an ideal woman. Before it's assumed, I'd like to clarify that it's indeed the pure character of Michelle that's appealing, absent of her skin color.

I couldn't say this any better, so I'll use the words of Maya Angelou, "it's the style of her grace... she is a phenomenal woman."

I'm sure she has her faults, I'm sure she has something that people don't like about her, but I've never looked to a woman outside of my Grammy as a role model. I mean really, how many people can you really say "I hope people will look at me and compare me to her...?"

I find the value of a woman and what it means to be "a woman" has become lost, somewhere this side of the feminist movement. Reality show stars gallivanting around claiming they embody xyz ... is beyond tired. Most of our "icons" we get to know at a surface level or simply value their financial successes. How many women in media/spotlight that you idolize can you really say "they are great because I'd like to be have the kind of presence she has" regardless of her financial success?

We excuse the absence of a defined "ideal woman" in place of an every woman for herself motto. Mostly because, there's a constant passive-aggressive conversation between women that aims to find fault in ... well anything. Or we consider idolizing someone as a sign of a lack of self-identity.
Well, sometimes there are people -- women that deserve appreciation and there are attributes that demand imitation. Michelle in her speech was supportive, but not submissive, humble and still assertive, confident without a hint of arrogance. What more can a girl ask for in way of a role model?

So, I'll close this post with my note for Michelle, you know since she might read this :)

Dear Michelle, I was already voting, but your speech made me want to vote that second! It also encouraged me just to be the best I can be, because I see you do it regularly and pretty flawlessly. That's all I'm looking for when it comes to leadership, a team in the White House that not only appreciates the same values as me, but lives them to the fullest...So, thank you - for being you!

Good Fortune

The lottery - when exactly can I win that? Someone shared with me this article the other day about people under 30 who are multimillionaires and what they think about their new disposable income.  Oh and the article rightfully titled "What it's like to be loaded by 25" I begrudgingly opened the link ready to become extremely bitter and launch into the "why didn't I think of a software solution technology at 18" speech, which I've almost perfected. But, after reading this- the guy is actually not a tool. He wisely invests his money and pays himself a monthly salary to contribute to what he successfully qualifies as fun and worry-free activities, without dwindling away his intellectual property gains. Jealous, interested and consciously in a daily movement away from being able to relate to this article as I inch towards 26; I decided that the same logic for good fortune in money can be applied to relationships. Dumb luck? Or strategic planning? Action-oriented? Or passive believer?
My sister inspired this post when she challenged me to think that numbers and sequential paths have a role in relationships and fateful tryst. My sister asked me the other night if I believed there was magical number of people you have to date before you fatefully meet the one that's yours? Essentially, making a match ideally made in heaven in fact a resolute sequence of interactions that can be obtained with confidence, persistence and unwavering belief in the science of numbers...so basically a lottery?
A system of rotating matches, just waiting for someone else out there to carry the exact same sequence. If this is the case, than the allegiance to believing in love and the feeling that "this could be it" every time you enter into a new relationship has to trump every sense of doubt or disappointment.
Now, in the traditional sense from someone who doesn't play the NY Lottery, except in the occasional low point in life, I couldn't advise my sister that yes, there is a sequence of matches that you must meet, get to know and potentially end before you find what's destined to be yours.
Because just like gaining a substantial financial fortune, you could wish, hope and play numbers - or you can know what it's like to be loaded at 25. Meaning, create a strategic investment that will result in a worry-free and a simply fun love.

 The way one achieves good love fortune is to his/her discretion, if we use the lottery and the young millionaire as our analogous examples they are both rare and exceptional stories, right? So, where does the standard middle-class worker fit in the fortune pool...? I imagine in their case, the success of fortuitous love comes from daily work for trust and happiness. Just like with financial goals, that the 'happily ever after' always feels slightly out of reach, but enough motivation to know you can get there with a little hard work.
In any situation retirement is the ultimate goal - and for love that becomes marriage- the ability to lavish in one's earnings.

A Game Changer

I typically stay away from politics and writing about them mostly because I don't want to polarize any of my readers - and partly because I'm no expert the political arena. I do have some knowledge of what constitutes acceptable and professional competitive behavior. I grew up playing a few sports, which all emphasize the importance of sportsmanship and a respect to the game. Even when I ran track and field there's a certain etiquette that inspires a level of courtesy to other players and certain acts might be legal, but just completely unsportsmanlike. Even now, outside of the competitive arena and mostly running for pleasure (and, ok -- a medal) there are things that are acceptable in the sport, like letting someone know you're passing them on the left, or not wearing head phones while running - things like that, which keep the sport fun and healthy competition.

Now professional competition has shown to be completely different. The stakes are raised and things like mind games are more than helpful and plentiful, but in the political game - when does the behavior of its participants or supporters become unhealthy and a detrimental to the game?

I'll tell you when -- how about when Mr. Clint Eastwood stood up and talked to a chair? Again, political views aside; the events of Mr. Clint Eastwood are undeniably, cross partisan -- crazy. The man single-handed probably contributed to creating laws that puts an age cap on public speaking. His outlandishness aside, it was by far the most disrespectful live presentation to a sitting president, ever. This is the kind of slippery slope that things like " the rules of a game" are meant to mitigate.

But, I guess I'm not surprised - the Obama campaign and his very existence was meant to be a game changer, but I'll tell you when I chose to believe in change in 2008 -- I didn't think the definition of respect would change too.

Courtesy of President Obama's  Twitter