Thursday Things {October 8}

What’s going on in my life lately, beyond the Portland Marathon?

1. Ryan and I return to Portland this weekend for my 2-day RRCA coaching seminar. Needless to say, we’re excited about this visit, and not just because it means another weekend break from the nightmare that is Redmond, Bellevue, and Seattle traffic. Ryan and Charlie will get to explore lots of the area while I spend the weekend geeking out over everything and anything about the science of running, history of the sport, and the business of coaching.  I’m so excited to become a running coach and soon launch my coaching business! I’ll be offering discounts to my first clients, so if you’re looking for a coach, please let me know. 

2. My parents welcomed a new dog into our family. They visited the Humane Society, not sure if they were ready to get a new dog (they have two others in addition to Zeke, we really love dogs), but then they found a 2-year-old puggle for adoption. He’s happy, friendly, and looks similar to Charlie, so he instantly melted their hearts. We named him Frankie since they adopted him right before the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals. I am so excited for Charlie to meet him, although I am not certain I’ll be able to handle all of that puggle cuteness all at once. 

Frankie the Puggle

3. Now that marathon training is done for now, we’re focusing in on hiking for the remainder of the season. We are finally prepared to go on overnight hikes! We went to the REI members only garage sale on Saturday before leaving for Portland (and I was totally ridiculous and did my shake-out run in circles around the shopping center while Ryan saved our spot in line). They resell returned items in good condition, which they have a lot of because REI extends a generous return policy to its members. I got a hiking pack (55+10 liters) that was returned brand-new because “it was too big” and we picked up some nice sleeping pads as well. I’m itching and eager to get in some longer hikes before it gets too cold in the mountains. 

4. I started myself on a round of probiotic pills and eating Greek yogurt every single day in addition to magnesium supplements (I started the magnesium about 2-3 weeks ago). Even though I eat sauerkraut and yogurt on a fairly frequent basis, I realize this is probably not enough. Fingers crossed this helps! 

5. I am proud to say I finished my first marathon with no blisters, all of my toenails intact and of normal coloring, and minimal chafing. My Brooks Pure Connect 4 rode like a dream (yes, my feet hurt, but that’s because I was on my feet for such a long time), Smartwool socks are made of magic, and Oiselle makes truly high-quality wicking and chafe-free tanks and shorts. I do need to find a new type of sports bra, though. 

6. I named my Douglas fir tree sapling from the Portland Marathon Groot, after Guardians of the Galaxy. Groot currently lives in a vase on our porch to introduce him to the soil before we plant him. I have already developed an emotional attachment to this tree and pray he doesn’t go the way of the rosemary tree I tried to keep in a pot at my first apartment.

7. Ryan and I have been planning to slowly shift into small business ownership and finally took a big leap with a T-shirt company called Brewpup. We’re joining our love of beer and dogs to sell active and casual wear for men and women with a beer theme; 25% of all proceeds will go to help animal shelter of our customer’s choice. We purchased our logo and are working on the shirts! You can find our Facebook page here to receive updates as we build the brand and prepare to launch. 

8. I told Ryan when I finished the marathon that I was not doing that again. Of course, he knows me better than I know myself and said we could do Vancouver USA or Portland next year if I still wanted to try for that BQ, and now I’m considering it. Vancouver has a brewfest afterwards and runners receive free entry, so either way I’ll probably be signing up at least for the half. All races should end with beer.

Portland Beer

9. Does anyone know of a way to watch the Chicago Marathon after it happens? We usually live-stream it online, but that won’t work this year because of my RRCA seminar. I know I can track athletes, but I’m a big fan of Sara Hall and Deena Kastor and would love to watch them both run. 

(Disclaimer: This post contains some affiliate links. I am not compensated to share these products, but if you click through and purchase them, Amazon will pay me a small percentage of the sale. It costs you nothing extra and helps support This Runner’s Recipes.)

Questions of the Day:
Do you take probiotic supplements? Have they helped?
Any recommendations on good sports bras to try?
If you’ve taken the RRCA seminar before: any tips?
Who’s your favorite elite runner?

Sign Up for My Newsletter for More Running Tips

* indicates required

Share this post

20 Responses

  1. I take Culturelle, and I would recommend it to anyone. It was recommended to me by my GI, and to take it 2x daily until the symptoms quiet down (took a few weeks, but now I feel so much better!). I hope tha twhat you are taking works for you! I know a lot of people have success with Align, too.
    You will totally run another. That isn’t even a question.
    YAY for coaching certification! Yay for more hiking! Yay for yay!

  2. Do you take probiotic supplements? Have they helped? I’m a yogurt person with occasional probiotics. Not sure if they’ve helped. I’m pretty regular and only suffer from infrequent indigestion, which is typically due to over-consumption.
    Any recommendations on good sports bras to try? No – but if you find one pass on the info. I gained about 5# and all of a sudden the bottom of my boobs are chafing! WTH???
    Who’s your favorite elite runner? Deena Castor, she is freaking amazing and an inspiration to us over 40 folks.

  3. Good luck with the coaching seminar! I’ve debated doing something like that in case I ever get back into youth coaching in the future, but I haven’t found one near me except USATF which is really mostly field events and less running. Glad everything worked out with your marathon outfit- I love my Oiselle clothes as well, they make good clothes with lots of pockets in the shorts, good for half and full marathons and carrying jelly beans, gels, etc.

    I take a gummy probiotic we buy at Costco. I think it helps some, but I feel like my stomach works best when I just watch what I eat in general.

    I think you should consider another marathon- if that’s what you want to do. For the first one you did a great job, we’re all experiments of one and I’m sure you can improve on that time. But if you don’t want to run another, I totally respect that too. I did one and that was it for me, I just didn’t enjoy the really long runs.

    1. Thank you! The RRCA is kind of random in how they do them – I signed up for their email notifications and it was over a year until they had one near me. I think they do a lot of them on the East Coast, at least as it seems. I think I do want to do another, but I’m making sure I wait before signing up so I don’t just do so on a post-race runner’s high!

  4. Frankie is adorable! So glad Charlie has a new friend. I take probiotics, really strong ones. They actually give me a BIT of diarrhea when I take them (everything gives me diarrhea. A strong breeze gives me frigging diarrhea) but they work overall to improve my gut health, for SURE. Paula Radcliffe all the way, as she has a funny running style that I relate to. 🙂

  5. I actually do take a probiotic which is a new thing for me! I started in August when I was getting over being sick with a stomach bug. The dr told me to take the probiotic to get my gut back to normal and to alleviate the terrible stomach pains I was having for a few weeks after being sick. I felt so much better almost immediately that I am still taking one a day! I notice a huge difference in how I digest vegetables now, and everything in general. I need to know more though about which probiotics are best. I like the one I take but wonder if I can find a different/even better one.

    1. I’m glad to hear probiotics work for you, especially after a nasty stomach bug! Sometimes vegetables and beans give me trouble, so hopefully I see similar effects – I really like being able to eat vegetarian meals.

  6. Congrats on the tshirt company! Wishing you much success. And good luck on your coaching seminar! Sounds like you have a LOT keeping you busy these days!

    Take lots of pictures of your hikes. They sound amazing. I really wish I hiked more. We didn’t even get to camp this summer, which really bums me out.

    I think you should do another marathon. You deserve to have a really GOOD marathon with an amazing performance that truly reflects what you are capable of. But definitely give yourself a little time off from that level of training first. My first marathon was the same weekend as Portland last year, and by the time I started training for Grandma’s in February, I was ready. Any sooner and I don’t know that I would have been.

    1. Thank you! It certainly is busy, but it’s always fun to learn new things and see new cities! That’s a bummer you can’t go hiking more – hopefully you can get out some this fall or next summer! The second marathon I’m considering is in late June, which would give me plenty of time to recover, build a base, and train.

  7. I am loving the Oiselle Verrazano sports bra. It works well for me! How great that you and your husband are venturing into the small business realm! I went ahead and liked Brew Pup on FB so I can follow! I like Kifer for probiotics an try to drink it daily. Have a great weekend, Laura!

  8. Congrats on the marathon! I love my Lorna Jane sports bras. Did you have Randy for your RRCA course? Once you pass the test and get invited into the FB group it’s a great resource for getting your coaching business going. Exciting times!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *