Gear Review: Skirt Sports

Posted on February 24, 2013 by Colleen Lerro

I took advantage of a clearance sale at the end of last year on Skirt Sports and scored big. I’d never worn any of their clothes so I wasn’t sure about sizing and a bit skeptical about ordering online without trying them on, but they were too cute and stylish not to try out. Why not look great even in running gear?

I ordered the Tough Girl Skirt normally priced at $90 for $36 and the Lotta Breeze Capri normally $75 for $30. See what I mean by deals too good to pass up! I got both in an extra small and they are the perfect fit. They do a nice job on their website describing how the items will fit and include notes if many wearers have said a certain item fits differently than initially described.

The Lotta Breeze Capri are like the name says, capri-length with a cute reddish-pink skirt. They have a tight fit that feels a bit like compression gear. I haven’t had many days warm enough to wear the capris outside yet, but they’ve felt great on the treadmill or the elliptical at the gym.

The Tough Girl Skirt is an incredibly soft and warm pair of tights with a running skirt over it. They are tight through my upper legs and have a slight boot cut at the bottom. I can’t get over how comfortable and warm these are and have put them through long runs and track workouts on some pretty cold days.

Both of these have two hidden pockets under the skirt that is perfect for storing my keys and gummy candies for long runs. They also look great and super stylish, so I’m comfortable wearing them around to run errands. What a bargain! I’m so glad I happened to click on their site the day of that sale and will certainly buy from them again in the future!

Strength Training

Posted on February 21, 2013 by Colleen Lerro

Like stretching and cross training, I’ve always known how important strength training is to a successful run training program, but I haven’t always been great about fitting it in. Running was always my top priority and in the past I haven’t been great about keeping up with strength training when I’m getting ready for a race.

Things are different this time around though as I’m determined to stay healthy and train right. Also all the benefits of strength training and ways it can make me a better runner are just too hard to ignore anymore. Core strength and how it could help my running form was a big thing I focused on during physical therapy, and I made it a resolution for this year to focus on building up my core strength. This has really stuck so far and I’ve completed my version of the P90X Ab Ripper workout everyday in 2013.

In addition to working on core strength I’ve dedicated two days a week in my Nike DC Half Marathon training plan to strength training. Here are some of the exercises I’ve been working on…

Upper Body: push-ups, bicep curls, tricep extensions, lat raises and front raises

Lower Body: single leg squats, pistol squats (sitting all the way down into a chair on leg and raising back up), side plank with leg lifts and runner wall squats

What are your favorite strength workouts to do?

Best Running Shorts Ever

Posted on February 20, 2013 by Colleen Lerro

The Christmas before last I got a pair of Athleta’s Hana Run Shorts, and they quickly became my favorite pair of running shorts. Lightweight and breathable, these were perfect for those hot and sticky summer runs in D.C. Made of a micropolyester material they call Swiftek, these shorts wick moisture away from your body and dry quickly.

I have them in black with a white band just below the waist and a flowery detail in white on the left leg, so on top of feeling great, they look great too. These shorts sit low on the waist with a wide elastic waist band that has a drawstring so you can wear them as tight as you want, and have a built-in brief so you can run sans anything underneath if you want to. These shorts don’t bunch anywhere or rub uncomfortably even on my longest runs, and I put them to the ultimate test wearing them for my last marathon in 70+ degree weather.

I used to wear spandex capri-length shorts even on a lot of the hottest days because I just didn’t love how any of my running shorts felt, but these have completely changed that for me and are easily the best running shorts I’ve ever had.

The black ones retail for $39, but you can currently snag select sizes in other colors for just 19.99 on their website. I treated myself to a couple new pairs at the sale price adding a coastal green and an asphalt pair of the Hana Run Shorts to my always expanding running gear collection.

Athleta Hana Run Shorts

(Note: Athleta in no way compensated me for this post or asked me to write it, I just really love their clothes and especially these shorts.)

Crazy Running

Posted on February 19, 2013 by Colleen Lerro

I know some people think all running is crazy, but I love it anyways. Still, I’ve had some pretty crazy running experiences at races over the years and thought I’d share a couple with you.

In 2010, my friend Lindsay and I flew out to Nashville for the Country Music Marathon. On race morning we took the earliest shuttle our hotel offered to the start line because we were worried about overcrowding on the later ones. Other than the volunteers we might have been the first ones there as they set things up in the darkness. As the race start drew nearer, the sun shined brightly and it looked like a perfect day for a marathon. It was cool, but not too chilly and looked to be a very calm day, although the forecasts were telling an entirely different story.

In light of oncoming severe thunder storms and a possible tornado, race directors decided to start things early. While this was probably a good decision, unfortunately they did a terrible job of communicating this to the runners. While I waited in the bathroom line half an hour before the race was supposed to start I had no idea the starting gun was already going off. When I finally worked my way over to the starting line and hopped into the ninth corral I looked around and realized by the bib numbers that I was standing with the 35th corral.

They were starting each group about a minute apart so that’s when I caught onto the fact that they’d started things early. I was able to push my way forward a few corrals, but I was still so far back that I was in line with many people planning to run/walk the half marathon distance. I spent the first 13 miles bobbing and weaving before I was able to get into any sort of rhythm and find some space on the course. The craziness didn’t stop there though.

Calm Before the Storm – pre-race pic

Turns out the forecasters were right as the sun soon disappeared behind the clouds, the sky turned very gray and eventually it opened up. Thunder and lightning rocked the course as I was pelted by rain and even hail. At mile 20, a cop with a bullhorn was announcing that the course was closing. It felt pretty surreal and I couldn’t believe this was happening. I was on pace for a nearly 30-minute PR and had no intention of stopping. I said some regrettably not so nice words as I dodged the cop and kept going. I wouldn’t get much further though. Volunteers formed a human wall at mile 21 forcing runners still on the course to divert directly to the finish line.

I ran the last mile in a state of disbelief and felt so wrong crossing the finish line and taking a medal after “only” running 22 miles. Lindsay and I somehow found each other after the race and braved the weather to snag a cab back to the hotel once we learned there was a couple hour wait for the shuttles. It was a mess. In retrospect, it does make for a pretty funny story though and I do laugh every time I see my 22.2 mile marathon certificate that they sent finishers who were forced to divert early. Now I guess I can’t get frustrated when people ask me after each marathon how long this one was!

I don’t think I’ll ever have a race top that one on the craziness scale (or at least I hope not), but running a small marathon in Canada last summer definitely had some quirks too. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely loved my first small race experience – there were just more than 100 marathoners – but after all the mega marathons I’d done I was a bit taken aback when the race director called us all in for a pre-race meeting and reminded us to be on our best pedestrian behavior since the roads were still open.

Cruising along all alone during the Niagara Marathon

The fact that the race director could call all participants in and make pre-race announcements without using a megaphone or loudspeaker system was pretty amusing to me. This was nothing like the past races I’d done with 20-30,000 other runners alongside me. There was no dodging or weaving at the start line. In fact I was the first woman through five miles – how’s that for crazy?! What really threw me for a loop though was that I actually did have to stop twice at different road crossings to wait for a break in the traffic. I don’t know if that’s ever even happened to me in a 5k before. I still nailed a PR though and had a blast seeing my parents and boyfriend throughout the whole course, so it was totally worth it.

OK, enough about my crazy race experiences, tell me about the craziest thing that’s ever happened to you while running whether it was on the race course or just during an everyday run.

Footprints: Monday Morning Recap

Posted on February 18, 2013 by Colleen Lerro

I’m only two weeks into training for the Nike Women’s D.C. Half, but I’m getting more excited for this race everyday! I had a great run at the track and a solid tempo run so I’m feeling really good about my speed training. I ran 28.7 miles last week. Here’s the day by day training breakdown…

Monday: Spin Class in the morning followed by a lower body workout as soon as I got home.

Tuesday: I was back at the track this week for my speed session. My total workout was 7.4 miles with roughly a 2.5 mile warm-up, seven 400-meter repeats on the track with 100-meter recovery jogs, and about a 2.5 mile cool down. I compared my times to my last 400-meter repeat track workout just about a month ago and was thrilled with the progress!

Wednesday: Today was another cross training and strength day so I got in another spin class at Revolve in the morning followed by a lower body workout and 45 minutes on the elliptical in the afternoon.

Thursday: I hit the treadmill at my apartment gym for an early morning 7.3 mile tempo run. For the second straight week I felt really strong on this. I started off with a one mile warm-up at an 8-minute pace then started the tempo pace at 7:47 increasing the speed every five minutes. I hit a 7:03 pace for my last five minutes before cooling down for a quarter of a mile back at an 8-minute pace. I stayed on the treadmill at a walking pace for a bit until my heart rate came back down, and stretched before heading off to get ready for the day.

Friday: Rest Day. It’s funny how used to exercising your body gets. It’s really hard for me to take a whole day off, but I’m really trying to train smart this time around!

Saturday: I was lacking motivation this morning, but finally got myself out on the roads around 10 for an out and back along the Custis and W&OD Trails. I’m glad I got myself out there. I made it 11 miles at an average 8:38 pace with the last 5 miles of the run all progressively faster ending with a 7:40 mile. The downhills on the way back definitely helped me out with that!

Sunday: I hit the treadmill at the apartment gym again for a quick 3 miler after a 15-minute warm-up on the stepper. I’ve always been able to run faster on a treadmill than outdoors, but still found my 6:58 pace at a .5 incline very encouraging and felt great after!

Quiet Sunday in the cardio section at my apartment gym

Giving Up Soda

Posted on February 15, 2013 by Colleen Lerro

I decided to give up soda for Lent this year. I’ve done it a couple times in years past, but it still seems daunting. One of my New Year’s Resolutions was to drink less soda and it hasn’t been going so well, so this seemed like a good way to do better with that. Now I just can’t drink any.

I’m not a coffee or tea drinker, so soda is my only source of caffeine and is usually a perfect lunchtime pick-me-up. It’s also free in my office so I’ve developed a habit of grabbing a can with my lunch everyday. I already drink TONS of water, so that’s not really an issue, but I still don’t think it’s a great idea to be drinking soda daily.

My biggest issue is craving something with taste. By lunch time I’ve usually already gone through a 16-ounce bottle of water during my workout, another 16-ounce one while I get ready and two 20-ounce bottles at my desk (I just refill bottles – I’m not hoarding some giant crate of bottled water anywhere!), so I really just want something that tastes good. I picked up a pack of Propel Zero berry-flavored packets to mix in with my water and it’s working out great so far! Granted I’m only two days in, but I love the taste and it gets me through the lunch hour without wanting to reach for a Coke. It has no calories either, which is an added bonus.

Are you giving anything up for Lent this year? Let me know how you beat the cravings for it!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Posted on February 14, 2013 by Colleen Lerro

Valentine’s Day might be just a Hallmark holiday, but why not get excited about a holiday that lets you shower love on your significant other, family and friends. I have a lot of pretty amazing people in my life, and while this blog is usually about my love of running, this post is about showing those that support me and my running obsession a little love. I couldn’t be more thankful for all the support I get from my friends and family.

My boyfriend, Ian, and I have been dating for close to two and a half years, but we’ve been friends since college when we landed the same summer job up in Syracuse at Green Lakes State Park. There was a really fun group of people that worked in the park office, although I’m not sure how much you can call what we did “work” as many hours were spent watching DVDs or playing cards. We worked together for three summers before going off our separate ways. He was in school in Staten Island before moving to Minneapolis and I came down to D.C. for grad school, but we always kept in touch over the years.

Despite being half a country away we decided to give a relationship a try and I couldn’t have dreamed of falling in love with a better guy. So corny, I know, but also true. He gave up some really good coaching jobs in Minneapolis and moved in with me just after Christmas. Aside from constantly reminding him that he really shouldn’t call me his roommate, it’s been absolutely perfect. He’s tells me he loves me, makes me laugh and finds ways to make my day easier every single day.

He is also incredibly supportive of my crazy running habit. Not a runner, he probably now knows more about running than he could ever have imagined. He lets me babble on about my training plans, tempo runs, track workouts, race strategies and more. He drives me to all of my races, cheers me on and holds my stuff when there isn’t a bag drop – even when it’s a big purple backpack filled to capacity. He tells me every race time I get is amazing, even when it’s not. Every day I get to spend with him is a good day.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention my Mom & Dad in this post – the first loves in my life. Married for more than 30 years, they have been the perfect example of unselfish love. Talk about supporting my crazy running habit, they’ve been there since I first fell in love with sports playing three sports starting in the first grade. For most of high school I continued with the three sports playing on ten different teams a year. They were always there. My Dad even coached a lot of my baseball and softball teams over the years. They sat through some freezing cold soccer games, drove all over town for basketball games and still let me in the car after softball games despite my ability to always finish games and practices as the muddiest player.

San Diego Rock N Roll Finish LIne Party

They might have thought they were done after I gave up school sports midway through college, but then I went and signed myself up to run a marathon in San Diego. I could not have picked a U.S. city much further from Syracuse. I didn’t ask them to come, but of course they did – and even gave me hugs at the finish line after nearly five hours of running. (Eww.) They also put up with a lot of talk about my training. Even after years of running and tons of races, they still travel to many of them and cheer me on along the way. At my most recent marathon up in Canada that was much smaller than most races I’ve done, they teamed up with Ian to act as my support crew. Read more about their efforts there in my recap post on the race. You don’t get to pick your parents, but I sure got lucky.

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone! Be sure to tell those that support your love for running how much it means to you and that you love them!

Guest Blog: The Musings of An Athletic Supporter

Posted on February 13, 2013 by Colleen Lerro

Today’s post is brought to you by the one and only Croutons Stuck in Futons blogger , also known as my boyfriend, Ian. He cheers me on at all my races, hears more than he probably wants to about my training schedules and writes about his experience as a race spectator below. Enjoy!

Guest Blogger: Ian Gallagher

Ian in serious coaching mode.

Hello Heart and Sole readers!

Before we jump right into the ins and outs of being a seasoned observer of running, I thought that I would tell you a little about myself. I am different from my significant other in many ways. I do not run recreationally or competitively, but I would run hypothetically depending on the scenario*. I played Lacrosse in college and still coach the sport. In the past year I have been accused of time travel, coached in and won a National Championship, moved halfway across the country, and had my car pummeled with pig feces.

Let’s talk running.

*For example, I am afraid of snakes.

Living with the Author of this blog (I have been solemnly informed we are not roommates) means that I have gotten to know quite a bit a bit about fitness with the benefit of not having to participate myself. I do a lot of shuttle driving to and from various events, stand at a lot of finish lines, and take pictures of my girlfriend’s shoes so she can display them online. (And I get accused of being the weird one!) Rest assured that there is little glamour in the fitness blog creative consultant market.

Colleen wrote yesterday about competing in her first race back from physical therapy. Obviously a big achievement for her and I was not surprised at how well she did considering how much effort she put into getting back to form.

I was ecstatic. Once again I was able to lace up a comfortable pair of shoes and participate in a 5K in my accustomed manner, being a fan.

Post Race at Pentagon Row Ice Rink

3 Tips on being the best athletic supporter possible:

1. Bring a camera. This is essential! I take pictures for this blog but whenever you hold a camera up everyone gets out of your way. Instant front row seats. The bigger the camera the better. For Colleen’s next marathon I am bringing a tripod.

2. Understand the event. Runners know roughly how fast they are going to run a race. Ask and do some quick math. Colleen ran a looped four mile race on New Years. Took pictures and cheered at the start and away they went! I was able to efficiently eat a plate of cheese fries at a local sports bar and be back yelling for the finish. Standing in the cold doesn’t have to part of your race experience.

3. Cheer on random people. Being a race fan can be a lot like the golf fans in Happy Gilmore . You can tailgate, yell for strangers, and goof around while anywhere from a handful to thousands of strangers wear their hearts on their sleeves in competition. The runners even seem to get a kick out of positive reinforcement! I know, it is a little surprising considering their brutal idea of ‘recreation’.

Race Recap: Love the Run You’re With 5k

Posted on February 12, 2013 by Colleen Lerro

Sunday marked my first race of 2013 and my first real race back from the injured list. I ran in Pacers Love the Run You’re With (LTRYW) 5k for the first time and loved it. I didn’t PR, but that wasn’t the goal for this race, and I was very pleased with my finish time of 22:56. I’m making great progress and am on my way to getting back to where I was at, and hopefully even better!

After hearing about the bone chilling temps from last year’s race I was sure glad how nice of a day it turned out to be. Temps were in the 30s and the sun was shining. I wore my Reebok long sleeve as a base layer topped by my Reebok 1/2 zip jacket and my Nike Pacers Ambassador t-shirt. I also had on an Under Armour hat, a neck gaiter, gloves, Nike pants and Zensah compression sleeves. I was WAY overdressed and started overheating about a half mile in. This does not happen to me often. I’m getting way too used to running in cold weather.

Ian got up early with me to drive me to the race, take pictures and cheer me on – more impressive than usual since we’d gone to a great Mardi Gras party the night before and had a few hurricanes! It’s always nice to have someone waiting for you at the finish line. Champps (that’s how they spell it) opened up for runners before the race so I was able to hang out in there and stay warm until about 15 minutes before start time.

The course was an out and back that started near the Pacers in Pentagon Row right next to the ice skating rink. We ran by the Pentagon Row shops before turning onto Army Navy Drive and going straight up a steep hill. It wasn’t as bad as I remembered from the days I used to run those roads when I worked in Crystal City, but I was certainly breathing heavy. At the top of the hill we were treated to a long, gradual descent (all I could think was oh man, I have to come back up this!), and then some flat and some rolling roads to the turnaround.

My first mile was a bit faster than the rest, but my splits were relatively close to even. I ran mile 1 in 7:13 followed by miles 2 and 3 in 7:22 and 7:26. I finished with a kick to the finish at a 6:23 pace. I was really thankful that I’ve been working on my form both going up and going down hills. I felt like I was flying coming back down the steep hill before turning onto Joyce St. for the final kick to the finish. I leaned forward and let gravity take over, but remembered to land as softly as possible so I wasn’t pounding my legs into the ground.

I crossed the line in 22:56 for an average pace of 7:23 per mile. (My watch was pretty close to that showing a 22:55 finish for 3.14 miles at a 7:18 pace.)That put me in 160th place out of 1,721 overall and 48th out of 1,083 females. I had a blast running this race and will definitely sign up for LTRYW again next year. There were some great costumes and themed running outfits, and free bloody mary’s at Champps after the race topped off a great morning!

Did you race last weekend? Let me know how it went!

: Start Line

: Start Line

: Lead Scooter

: Start

: Winner – way ahead of me

: Running to the Finish

: Running to the Finish

: Running to the Finish

: Post Race at Pentagon Row Ice Rink

: Bloody Mary’s – Why is mine so much smaller??

Footprints: Monday Morning Recap

Posted on February 11, 2013 by Colleen Lerro

I have the first week of training for the Nike Women’s D.C. Half down and things are off to a great start! Both of my speed workouts went well and it felt good to get out there on Saturday for my first long run in quite awhile. I flip flopped my weekend runs to accommodate the Love the Run You’re With 5k on Sunday, which was a blast. I ran 25.2 miles last week. Here’s the day by day training breakdown…

Monday: Spin Class in the morning. Late afternoon I put in 35 minutes on the elliptical followed by 5 minutes of jump roping and a lower body workout.

Tuesday: Instead of hitting the track, today’s speed workout took place on the hills. I totaled 5.2 miles with six hill repeats in the middle charging up the same hill that will be the finish line for the Marine Corps Marathon in October.

Wednesday: Today was another cross training and strength day so I got in another spin class at Revolve in the morning followed by a leg workout in the afternoon.

Thursday: I hit the treadmill for an early morning 6.55 mile tempo run. I felt great from start to finish on this one, which was very encouraging. I started off with a one mile warm-up at an 8-minute pace then increased the speed every five minutes peaking at a 7:13 pace before cooling down for a quarter of a mile back at an 8-minute pace. I stayed on the treadmill at a walking pace for a bit until my heart rate came back down, and also stared horrified at the person on the treadmill next to me who had dropped their iPad mid run and completely cracked the screen. Ouch! I continued to make fun of this all week and karma struck when I dropped my phone on Saturday and cracked my screen for the second time. Luckily it’s not as bad as the first time I did it!

Friday: Rest day. Looking back at my workout spreadsheet (yea, I know, total nerd) I realized it’s been much too long since I’ve taken one of these. I’ve done a lot of recovery days, but haven’t taken a full rest day in awhile, and I know that can be just as important to reaching my goals as the working days.

Saturday: I set out on a chilly but sunny morning and battled 20-30 mph winds, but overall felt it was a successful first long run. I ran 10.35 miles at an easy pace. The toughest parts were getting over the Key and 14th Street Bridges – felt like the wind was going to blow me over!

Sunday: I put in 3.1 at the Pacers Love the Run You’re With 5k in Pentagon City. The weather was great this morning and I really enjoyed the race. I’m not all the way back to where I was, but I felt really good about my time and the progress I’m making. Check back tomorrow for a full race recap!