Miles to go...

If these shoes could talk...

So close...

So I am here riding out Hurricane Sandy with the rest of the northeast and realizing that this weather event is coming between me and a goal. I am a little over two measly miles from having run 1,000 miles in my "running lifetime."

Sure that's not much to people who have trained for marathons and regularly run ultras, but for someone who never intended to be serious about running, it is a huge milestone for me. I also had hoped to complete enough miles to finish 400 by the end of this month and 500 by the end of this year. I'm 14 miles away for October and I'm losing.

Suddenly, I don't feel so good about scoffing at the runners who braved the wind and the rain earlier today to get in their mileage. I'll probably be able to grab the two miles on Wednesday for the 1,000, but looks like I'm going to taste defeat for the 400.

The sleep I've lost..

But sometimes you have to sacrifice the great for the good. I've still got two months left of running in this year and even a couple of races to close out the year. I have a greatest hits list of things to be grateful to running for and here is just a few:

The road rash..

1. Mostly injury free for nearly two years
2. All the wonderful friends its brought to my life
3. The beautiful places my feet have taken me
4. My physical, mental and emotional health
5. A greater connection with the world around me

What has running done for you? Let me know what you're grateful to running for.

Run on,

-- The Brown-Runner Chick

Out Running Anemia: When you just can't...

Me not feeling well. :-(

I'm a fairly healthy person. I rarely get sick or feel ill. But when I do get sick, or feel less than my best, watch out. I go down really hard. I was tired during my Jacksonville trip, but I just chalked it up to my occasional bouts of insomnia.

But by Aug. 28, I felt so drained that not only had I not been able to run, I was often light-headed and having a hard time concentrating at work. I knew something was very wrong. My running-buddy Jenn and I had concluded that it was likely anemia, but you don't want to go taking iron supplements all willy-nilly so I took myself to the good people at Simplicity Urgent Care in Arlington, Va. to see what they could tell me.

Iron pills suck!

Jenn and I might look like ordinary runners, but we play doctors on TV. Our diagnosis was right -- boy were we right. The doctor basically said, "Take two steaks and these iron pills three times a day and call me in the morning." He also said something else I wasn't expecting: lay off the running!

Competitor Mag Article

I've battled anemia before, but never as a runner. I had no idea that distance runners, particularly female runners are at great risk of iron deficiencies. It makes sense, I just never put the two together. I also had been fiddling with vegetarianism and clearly not eating enough iron rich foods to replace the iron that you get from eating a nice piece of red meat.

But as a runner you know what I did: I ate the steak, kind of took the pills and basically laid off the running for two weeks and then got back out there. I feel a lot better now, but here are a few lessons learned:

1. Listen to your body. If you feel bad, or something is unusually painful, go to the doctor.
2. Cold turkey can be dangerous. No, eating cold turkey isn't dangerous, but drastically changing your diet without a plan for how to replace missing nutrients is.
3. Heal now, run later. Whether illness or injury, sometimes you simply have to stop what you're doing to speed your healing.

Until next time...happy running!

-- The Brown-Runner Chick

My consistent inconsistencies

Have you ever been super hype to do something and then halfway through it you realize you're already out of gas? That appears to be what has happened with this blog. :-/ My last post was in August! I had every intention of posting, but my travel schedule truly got the best of me.

As the title of this post points out, I am consistent in my inconsistencies. My bad y'all, but life has really been happening so let's see if we can get caught up, shall we?

A travel-running re-cap:

Main St. Bridge

Jacksonville, Fla.: During my business trip I had every intention of running with the ladies of BGR! here, but nearly every evening of that trip there was either severe lightening storms or I was driving back from Valdosta, Ga., Tallahassee or Cape Canaveral! Needless to say I was exhausted and could barely muster the energy to do the work that I was down there to do let alone run and blog. (I was additionally exhausted for another reason, but that's for another post). SCORE: Travel 1, Run Zip

Negril, Jamaica

Negril, Jamaica: I sooo needed this vacation, to just decompress and to tune back in to me. Though I had high hopes of trying to check in with local runners to get some insight into the Reggae Half Marathon, I just never got around to doing the necessary legwork. I did get in two mornings of beautiful, runs on the beach, one of which was my traditional birthday run. I typically run a minute for every year of life. So this year was 33 minutes. I highly recommend Negril in September. The beaches and resorts were far from crowded as I'm sure they are during peak seasons, and though people are hustling hard to sell you trinkets, jet ski rides, and yes, marijuana, you mostly have the place to yourself. I also highly recommend the Negril Treehouse Resort. It's not a fancy resort, but it was perfect. SCORE: Travel 1, Run 2

Good times, great friends!

Atlanta, Ga.: After taking a shuttle, two planes, a bus, the MARC train and then the WATA metro to Union Station, I got into a van filled with some of the great women of BGR! D.C. on one of the greatest road trips EVER! We laughed, we told the craziest stories and generally had a great time. The inaugural BGR! conference and race weekend appeared to go well. I bumped into friends from Georgia and Alabama, which really made my day. I also picked up some new friends which was great. I ran the 5K. Not my best time, but considering my running at the time was less than stellar, I'll take what I can get. All in all a great end to a busy birthday weekend. SCORE: Travel 1, Run 1.

Atlantic City Half Marathon: After all of that travel, I had nothing left to give, so I waved my white flag and bailed on this race. I don't recommend spending money on races you're not going to run, but sometimes you have to grab yourself by the collar and say, "Enough already. Give it a rest." SCORE: Travel Zip, Run Zip

So all-in=all, it looks like I broke even.

Stay tuned...

-- The Brown-Runner Chick

Watch Me Work: Running Adventures on the Horizon

With 2012 more than half over (OMG!) running/travel/adventure time for this year is getting short. But I've got a few tricks up my compression arm sleeves and in my carry-on. Watch me work...lets go!

August 2012

• I'll be in Jacksonville, Fla. on business and plan to hangout with the ladies of Black Girls Run! Jacksonville. Humidity here I come.

September 2012

The ladies of BGR! D.C.

• Black Girls Run! Conference and the BGR!/AARP Drive to End Hunger 5K/10K. It's going down in the ATL. Are you in? I'm an ambassador for BGR! D.C. and looking forward to an EPIC road trip and uniting with my BGR! sisters from all across the country for this exciting event. We're challenging stereotypes y'all. Learn more at www.blackgirlsrun.com.
• Jamaica: Ya mon! I'm headed to the land of Marley and the world's fastest man Usain Bolt for some much need, much earned and much deserved R & R & R (rest, relaxation and running...you already know). Wouldn't it be great if I could hook up with a local running club? I think so. Stay tuned to see if I make any new friends.

October 2012

• Atlantic City Half Marathon: Though we vowed not to run another half marathon this year after our tragic results at the Marine Corps Historic Half in Fredericksburg, Va., my fellow crazy runner-blogger friend J. Ro. (check her out here) and I snagged a fantastic deal (49 buckaroos) to run this race in the Garden State. First trip to Atlantic City. This should be interesting. We like side trips, so let us know if there is something we must see.

Got run destination recommendations? Let me hear 'em. Post me a note below.

Until next time. Happy running!

-- The Brown-Runner Chick

The Vault: Running Races in Foreign Places

Since my next international destination run isn't until September, I borrowed this old post from my tumblr, which you can find here. I'm going to get back to tumblr once all my social media is sync'd appropriately to my smartphone. But until then...let's go.

This was written in November 2011, two months after the Diva Half Marathon in San Juan, PR.

Me at La Mina Falls, El Yunque Rainforest

I’m fresh off my first official destination run and I can’t help but share. Where’d it take me? I’m so glad you asked. San Juan, Puerto Rico, where even when it’s raining it is a pleasure to be there.

I couldn’t think of a better thing to do for myself this year than to throw my running gear in a tiny carry-on bag, take a taxi, two trains and two planes to get to the Isla de Encanta just as winter is starting to pop off here in the DMV. Brr!

I was there for the Diva Half Marathon, a phenomenal event for divas like me and the divos that love them. While I didn’t have a divo in tow, I got to meet some of the wonderful women of Black Girls RUN! 

                                  *************** WARNING: Commercial Ahead **************

BGR! is a national organization that aims to fight obesity and diabetes among African-American women by encouraging them to run. We have chapters all over the country. Whether you’re a beginning runner or you’ve been racing for years, check these ladies out in your city at www.blackgirlsrun.com.

                    *******BACK TO YOUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED PROGRAMMING!*********

THE RACE: What can I say about running in Puerto Rico? It was fun. There was sun (rain too) and I got my PR (2:19:53!) in PR! I have no complaints.

We ran a scenic and hilly course around San Juan and Old San Juan. The humidity was crazy, and I fully expected that to be a hindrance for me, but I did my best and it was good enough.

Bling!

To top it off, there were tiaras, feather boas, roses and hunky men to adorn us with our blinged out finisher medals. What more could a diva ask for? Champagne. Check. Massage. Double Check. I think that about covers it.

THE TRIP: Flights to Puerto Rico  are muy affordable in the fall of the year. When I first started looking, rates were as low as $225 out of BWI. I got my ticket for $301 because I waited.

I’m sure if there wasn’t such a large event, like the Diva Half, hotel rates might have been a little less steep. At any rate (pun intended) rates ran between $109 at the Sheraton Hotel and Casino in Old San Juan and $169 at the Caribe Hilton and the Conrad.

You don’t need a passport in Puerto Rico and you can dust off your high school Spanish-language skills in this bilingual island nation. If you are weary of taxis and feel like driving, gather your peeps and rent a Jeep.  A few of my new running amigas and I took a self-guided tour of El Yunque National Rainforest and hiked down to the pool at the bottom of La Mina Falls, a must. (Note to self: Don’t hike in flip-flops. Swimming in jeans is optional.)

If you’re interested in the island’s Afro-Puerto Rican roots, check out my boy David “Bully” Rivera here. He’s a gentleman and he’ll show you the real Puerto Rico and all her glory. 

Until next time. Adios and Happy Running!

-- The Brown-Runner Chick

Let's Go!

Hello world! Welcome to Brown-Runner Chick Adventures, a place for all my traveling and running while brown exploits. The brown-runner chick? That's me. I'm a writer, a runner and a some time world traveler. Brown-Runner Chick Adventures is where you'll find a little of all three but best of all it's where all three will collide. Grab your bags, lace up your running shoes and let's go!

- -The Brown-Runner Chick