What Happens at Running Camp

Since I returned from Bird Camp, a lot of people have asked me “what did you do at running camp?” It’s a valid question; I wasn’t sure what we were going to do at until I got there! I’ve also been trying to figure out how to recap the experience, and while I’m not convinced that what I’m doing is the best way to do that, here it goes.

Things started off well when I realized I was carpooling with some really great ladies – Beth, Alicia, Julia, & Jenna. No duds here! (fun fact: Beth & Alicia are also Spartans!)

A detour to Eugene to visit Hayward Field

We heard from several running experts over four days including a Q&A session with Lauren Fleshman and Linsey Corbin, a professional triathlete and Ironman Champion who lives in Bend, OR.

Physical Therapist Jay Dicharry, who works with pro athletes – including Little Wing – is a certified coach, has competed in several sports on a national level and so much more. He took us through exercises to focus on our posture and form and talked about the importance of mobility, stability, strength and power for runners and how we should all work at least one strength and stability session into our week. You can read his blog HERE.

Photo Credit: Thomas and Velo Photography

Steph Howe, winner of Western States who’s working towards a Masters in Nutrition & Exercise Physiology and focuses on bridging nutrition & performance, presented a session on nutrition for female runners. She has a very sensible and realistic view of nutrition, which I found very refreshing, emphasizing the need for female athletes to focus on getting enough calories in order to stay healthy. Check out her blog HERE.

Photo Credit: Thomas and Velo Photography

Lauren, who lives in Bend and graciously welcomed us to her town, spoke about goal setting. This was a very frank discussion as she talked about having to adjust her goals after injury – the need to be realistic and recalibrate. One of my favorite things she said was: “The best gift you can give yourself is to disregard what other people see ass success and name it for yourself.”

Photo Credit: Thomas and Velo Photography

A Pro Panel with Kate Grace, Steph Howe, Lauren, and (not pictured) Kara Goucher via Skype. They covered everything from what they eat each day, to how they overcome disappointments and their best race experiences.

Sally took us through the process of developing a line, from inspiration board to developing a color pallet, choosing fabric, finding manufacturers. It was really interesting and enlightening to learn about the various steps that go into creating the clothes we wear on the run!

Photo Credit: Thomas and Velo Photography

About 40 minutes away is Smith Rock, a really incredible state park with tough trails and beautiful views. We spent a morning here with a choice of hiking or trail running. I opted for the hike which took us to the top of the rock. Lauren gave us the low down on our options.

There was also, a lot of great food. I suppose it wouldn’t be very much fun if we were all hungry the whole time, so Oiselle set us up with tons of food for our Condos, snacks in the conference center, great meals and non-stop delicious Nuun. I really wanted to take home the Wild Friends Almond Butter – it was amazing – but was too nervous it would leak all over my bag on the flight. If you see this stuff, try it!

And of course, we did a lot of running – basically as much running as we wanted to do, we could do. One of the great things about the resort where we stayed – beyond the full kitchen in each condo – is that you literally could walk out your door and be on the Deschutes River Trail within a minute. To say this trail was beautiful is an understatement. I was worried about how I’d do with so much running, but my muscles were rarely sore and I was always excited to get out for more miles!

Running with Ironman athlete, Leana

Coinciding with our camp was the Twilight 5K put on by Deschutes Brewery right down the road from the resort. While it was pretty awesome to see so many women in Oiselle singlet's, my favorite part of the race was passing Kate Grace just after the 2 mile mark! Okay, so she was jogging, but still, I’ll take it.

Photo Credit: Thomas and Velo Photography

Reunited with two of my favorite NYC birds – Amanda & Jenna

Beyond trail running, we also did activation exercises (below), form drills and #TheDozen (as demonstrated by Lesko two down). All new to me, I’m planning to incorporate these into my training moving forward.

Photo Credit: Thomas and Velo Photography

Photo Credit: Thomas and Velo Photography

The meditation sessions and yoga with Jasyoga were amazing – legs up the wall and “I am here now” is my new favorite way to relax and let go.

Photo Credit: Thomas and Velo Photography

I had an absolutely fantastic time meeting incredible and strong women, getting to know myself a bit better and learning new techniques that will make me a stronger person and runner.

With my fantastic roommates, Katie and Michelle (We look tired because we were! this was before morning meditation!)

Fearless women of Oiselle – Sally, Kristin, and Lauren

What would Oregon be without dancing to an awesome band outside on a beautiful night?

Photo Credit: Thomas and Velo Photography

If you take anything from this really long post (so sorry!), I hope it’s that by taking chances, trying new things, building bonds and exploring new places, there’s no end to what you can learn about yourself and no limits to what you can do!

Also, it turns out, you’re never too old for camp!

Thank you to women at Oiselle HQ and Little Wing for bringing us all together for a great weekend, and to Heidi & Andrea at Thomas and Velo Photography for all the beautiful photos they took and are letting us use!

Running Hills X 2; A Day Trip from NYC

This weekend was pretty fantastic. I did a good bit of running, got out of the city for a day trip with Woody and the weather was absolutely amazing!

We don’t have a car so we rarely leave the city unless we’re leaving the state, but Woody was invited to go golfing in Connecticut with a colleague on Saturday morning, so he rented a car and ended up getting a great deal that allowed him to have it the whole weekend. What that meant was 1) we drove to Trader Joe’s rather than having to lug our groceries for the week home on the subway (which was running local) and 2) DAY TRIP!!!

As soon as Woody mentioned we’d have the car till Sunday evening and suggested we use it to do something interesting we don’t usually get to do, I knew exactly what that was. The day after our rowing experience, April, her husband and a few others went up to Rockefeller State Park Preserve in Sleepy Hollow, NY to go running. I’ve been hearing about this place for years as it’s apparently a great place to run, but it’s really only accessible via car. Metro North goes to Sleepy Hollow but then a cab ride would be necessary, so it’s not too convenient for those without cars. Woody was game as soon as I suggested it.

But first, on Saturday when Woody was off golfing, I headed up to Central Park for a run. I have a race next Sunday and needed some practice on the hills. I’ve not been running up there like I should be. It was an absolutely beautiful morning and I’m beyond happy that I got myself uptown to run.

With guidance from April, we headed out around 7:30am and arrived at Rockefeller State Park Preserve within an hour. Surrounded by trees, it felt like we were thousands of miles from New York City. I tucked my phone in my jacket pocket – it was chilly and April advised that GPS might come in handy – grabbed my handheld and we were off.

The sun was out and so were a number of other people. The park wasn’t super crowded as there are a lot of trails to explore, but there were a lot of people walking and running. Dogs and horses are allowed on the trails, but bikes aren’t. I swear this is true when I say it: 98% of the people we passed along the way either said “good morning” or “hi” or waved as we went by. When I used to run in Central Park in the morning, often there would be an acknowledgement between runners but it pretty much never happens elsewhere or at other times in this city. Please tell me if your experience is different, I hope it is! It was really nice to see so many people – of all ages – out enjoying the trails on a Sunday morning.

We wound up doing 6.65 miles according to my Garmin, but didn’t even touch half the park. This is not a flat park; these are hilly trails with slight variations in the surfaces and beautiful scenery. At times, we kept going up and up and I didn’t think there was any further up to go, but it kept going! I admit, I did slow to a walk a few times, but I’m pretty proud of myself considering I haven’t run that many miles for a long time, I don’t run hills often and I never run on trails. This run definitely boosted my confidence going into next Sunday’s race! We had a great time exploring the park and enjoying a beautiful spring morning!

After we finished our run, we found a diner in Tarrytown for breakfast then walked around the quaint little town a bit. It was really cute with a very busy coffee shop, a juice/smoothie bar and a bunch of other little shops and restaurants. Rather than taking the highway back to the city, we chose the scenic route and stopped in a few other little towns along the Hudson River. We stumbled upon the Red Barn Bakery, which is down the street from a riverside park with views of NYC and right by the Metro North station in Irvington. While everything looked amazing, we chose a peach muffin to split later.

It was a great day trip and a fantastic weekend. With so much running, blue sky and fresh air, I am ready for the week ahead!

What were the highlights of your weekend? Do you run on trails or stick to the road? What is your ideal day trip?

Working Up a Sweat at Revolve Fitness

Last night I broke out of my normal routine and met my fitness-loving friends Grace (of Lean Girls Club) and April for some sweat-inducing, heart-pumping indoor cycling at Revolve near Union Square.

The class was hosted by Urban Girl Squad, a company that organizes classes, volunteer opportunities and other events for women in the city to socialize and enjoy a lot of the amazing things this city has to offer. I’ve been to two other UGS events – volunteering at Gods Love We Deliver and drinks at the 21 Club with a tour of their legendary wine cellar.

One of my goals this year is to try new workouts to mix things up from my usual trips to the gym and runs. First was SurfSET, now indoor cycling. As popular as it is, I’ve only taken one class previously and that was a few years ago. Going into this, we were a bit nervous about how intense it might get and how well we might do, even though we’re all runners and in good shape, because, well, it works different muscles than we’re used to working and in different ways!

I got to the studio and it was buzzing with women at the front desk signing in. After changing from my work clothes in a very cramped restroom and stuffing my bags, winter coat and Uggs in a locker in the cramped locker hall, I made my way upstairs. We grabbed three bikes next to each other and our instructor, Christianne, came over to help me get my bike set and clip me in. It’s a strange feeling to be clipped into a bike and feel like your trapped! We were definitely in for a ride!

First impression of Christianne? She’s going to kick our butts! She was serious about getting the most out of us and pushing us through the workout. She was spunky and energetic, which really set the mood and got me pumped up. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the class and the instructor had a lot to do with that. And the music. Being used to teaching a class full of regulars who cycle often, I wonder what she really thought about our class filled with a lot of first-timers!

We went through some ‘warm-ups’ to get used to the bike then did a series of hills and intervals. It took a few times for me to get used to getting in and out of the saddle, but once I did it was a lot smoother and I could go between the intervals faster. About 30 minutes into the class there we switched to an upper body workout using weights that were attached to the bike. It was a nice breather from the cycling but it wasn’t easy! I definitely need to work on my upper body strength! The class was about 55 minutes long and pretty intense the whole way through. The thing I like about indoor cycling is that you choose how hard it’s going to be. While it’s a group class and the instructor pushes hard, the student gets to choose what they want to make of the class. Our instructor was great about saying things like “it’s just 30 seconds of pain, you can do it.” For me, that works.

I thought it was a great class and was glad I got to take it with Grace and April – suffer together! Definitely a nice change up from my usual Wednesday night. I have to admit though, while I enjoyed the class and might drop in a few times in the future, I don’t think I could make spinning my regular workout like so many people do. However, if I was going to, I’d want to take classes like this one that includes an upper body workout.

Grace, me and April after the tough workout!

We’re already planning our next fitness adventure; can’t wait for more!

What is your favorite non-running workout?

If you Spin/Indoor Cycle, what’s your favorite thing about it?

What fitness classes/activities are on your list to try?

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Today’s workout -

None. After two yesterday I slept in!