Ugly Toes

I don't think I got tagged, but I'm going to jump in on Brent's survey. I love surveys.

1. What is your favorite long run pace?

Around 9:00/mile is okay. I would like to get back to being able to run 8:30s while talking, like I did in high school, though.

2. What is your favorite (or typical) pre-run meal?

This only applies to morning runs:
Short runs, I like Balance Bars. How much I eat of the bar depends on the distance. Races and long runs, I eat oatmeal. I started doing this in high school, and if it ain't broke don't fix it. I also stick with it because it's very portable. Just bring the packets and if necessary, a bowl and spoon, and you can even have your normal breakfast while traveling. I currently like Kashi oatmeal.

3. What was the distance of your first ever, official race?

My first season of track, I was a sprinter and ran in the sprint medley (100m) for my first race. My first race as a distance runner, however, was a mile cross country race.

4. Do you typically run in groups or run alone?

All by myself (sing along!). I tried to run with a group here, but it wasn't a very good experience.

5. Name one or two NEW running experiences (occurring within the past year), that you have grown the most from.

This one's kind of hard. Aside from my run in the mountains, I haven't really had new experiences. That sounds kind of sad, actually. So kind of cheating, running Freescale was important because I didn't quit even when it started being sucky, and managed to avoid falling apart like I did last year at Med-City. I also did some speed workouts this spring, which proved to me that I still have some speed in me, I just need to dig down sometime to find it.

6. What is your least favorite structure to run on/over? I don't like running where I have to stop for traffic lights. While I loved cross country, I'm not a fan of running through thick mud. But I HATE running on cobblestones and on grates. There's an annoying stretch of the Chicago Marathon where you go over a grated bridge; they set down a stretch of carpet/mat but there isn't enough room for everyone so you might end up on the crappy surface. So that and cobblestone are my least favorite thing.