Category: Running

Posted in Running

Age Has Its Advantages

Posted on by M Garcia

Sunday I ran my first race of 2011. It was a small local 5k/10k event in its second year and I was entered in the 5k run. There were about 200 people participating in both events plus a 3k kids run. I had no expectations even though 2010 was a very good running year for me. Especially compared to 2009, which was a bad year marked with injury (a back strain from bell ringing in Thailand) and illness (a lung infection that took 3 months to diagnose and 6 more months to fully recover from) with very few races run.

I just wanted to finish well, with a smile on my face. The course was quite hilly so I figured that I wasn’t going to be setting a PR that day. So I was very surprised when I saw the clock as I was approaching the finish line. I glanced down at my watch and saw that it was showing the same time as the timing clock! Given the hills in the course, I was very pleased.

As I walked around cooling off and drinking water, I noticed the medals on the scorer’s table. That’s when I started wondering if my time was good enough for an age group prize. After all, my birthday in December pushed me into a whole new age category. And perhaps my 5k time was good enough to place in my new age group. In the end, I convinced myself that there were plenty of faster runners in my age group, decided not to wait for the awards ceremony, and headed home for a shower and breakfast.

For the rest of the day I had a nagging feeling that I had won an age group prize. I couldn’t stop thinking that being older had to have its rewards.

When the official results were finally posted, I was not disappointed. I took second place in my age group. Getting older does have its advantages. If I had run this race before December, I would have been in another age group altogether and I wouldn’t have even made the top five in that age group for women. But the difference of one birthday was enough to push me all the way up to second place in my new age group.

I can’t wait for my next age group bump!

Happy running!

Posted in Running

Running Fashion – VPL

Posted on by M Garcia

I received the February 2011 issue of Runner’s World on Monday and was intrigued at the thought of an article reviewing underwear. That’s right. An entire article – complete with pictures and tester testimonials – about underwear. I’ve read articles reviewing running shoes, cold weather running gear, sports bras, hydration gear, energy gels, and energy bars. But I’ve never read an article that reviewed running underwear.

Color me naive but I had no idea that there was special underwear for running. Underwear is underwear, isn’t it? Grab the nearest clean pair and you’re good to go, right?

Apparently not! There’s underwear that helps wick sweat away, underwear made with silver fiber to help reduce odor-causing bacteria, underwear made out of wool to keep everything toasty, and more. Who knew that underwear was such an important consideration when getting ready for a run?

The reviews on women’s underwear made me chuckle at first. However, as I thought a bit more about it, I cringed because one thing that all the reviews contained was whether the undies gave the user a visible panty line (or VPL for those that enjoy acronyms). And I thought, “Really?! When a woman goes out for a run, does she really think about whether she has VPL or not?”

I’ve always thought that runners are pretty unassuming and down-to-earth people. The kind of people who throw on their running clothes, grab their electronic gadgets, and go. People who are more concerned with comfort than sartorial splendor. People who are more worried about chafing than chic-ness. No stopping at the full-length mirror on the way out the door. No preening. No wondering if the running outfit makes them look fat. No worrying about whether their panty lines are showing.

But then I remembered the whole shorts versus skort debate that raged a couple of years ago and realized that to some runners, fashion is part of their running identity. For some runners, a good run includes looking good while they’re running. For some runners, wearing a color-matched outfit is as important as fueling properly before, during, and after a run. I know that when I feel comfortable in what I’m wearing, it makes a difference in my performance – whether I’m running or at the office.

At the end of the day, the important thing isn’t what you wore for your run, it’s that you went for your run. So, if you’ve been putting off running because you’re worried about VPL in your running tights, you no longer have an excuse.

Happy running!