Women's Running

one mile at a time

I WAS THINKING ABOUT THE CHICAGO MARATHON recently, which I ran back in 2017. Going into that race, I was far from 100 percent. I had been battling some injuries, and I knew my day would be a toss-up. The pain started at mile nine. But I didn’t stop. The sun hit hard around mile 16. But I didn’t stop. My music died at mile 20. But I didn’t stop. The last six miles had me wincing with every step. But I didn’t stop. When I hit the hill with 300 meters left, I pumped my arms and charged up it as hard as I could. When I hit the straightaway with 200 meters left, I pushed with every last ounce of energy I had through the finish line. A lot of…

sacramento

DID YOU KNOW? Sacramento has more than 1,000 murals—favorites for runners visiting the city. Kistler-McCoy’s running tours (on hiatus during the pandemic) also venture on a history-inspired route or visit places where the movie Lady Bird was filmed. As her company’s website states, “It’s her mission to show people that Sacramento is, in fact, very cool.” WHY SACRAMENTO? First, the weather. Kistler-McCoy calls it “gorgeous. Even when it’s raining and cold, it’s not too nasty, which is nice,” she says. Second, the terrain. It’s flat and fast in the city. “If somebody is coming from out of the area it’s pretty easy, you don’t have to go up any crazy hills or anything,” she says. It’s home to the California International Marathon, where 29 women qualified for the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials all within…

5 things we learned from out and back by hillary allen

In 2017, at Norway’s Tromsø Skyrace, ultrarunner Hillary Allen DNF’d in an unimaginable way: She fell offan exposed ridge, 150 feet down the mountain. That’s where her new book, Out and Back, starts. The story, riveting in its twists and turns, setbacks and milestones, is her recovery. Her vulnerability and honesty carry the prose as she deals with pain and fear with remarkable poise and self-awareness. These are five things we learned from reading Out and Back (and five reasons why you should read it, too). Keep looking forward. Allen always hated the word “comeback.” “To me, it represented a finality to my story. That once I had ‘come back’ and started to run again or do a race, my journey was over, and it was time to stop growing or striving to…

when time stood still, we moved

The number of Fastest Known Times (FKTs) achieved increased by nearly 400% Solo marathons increased 300% We walked a lot. Strava users walked 3 times more in 2020. A study from the University of Vermont found that walking increased 70% among respondents. Women ages 18-29 increased their activity by 45%. 71.5% say running outdoors will be their primary source of exercise. In 2020, runners said goodbye to the gym (and plan to keep it that way this year): Instead, more plan to hire trainers or nutritionists Up 64.58% from 2020 Down 69.5% from 2020 Only 5.62% of runners say they will keep a gym membership in 2021 [source: Fastest Known Time, Strava (3), RunRepeat]…

waste not

If you’re not paying attention to your habits, healthy eating can sometimes also be bad for the environment. “We want people to be making healthy choices at the same time that they’re making environmentally friendly and affordable choices,” says Zach Conrad, assistant professor at William & Mary in Virginia and a nutritionist who studies food waste. Food waste is problematic on a few levels. “It’s a problem because it wastes all of the resources that were used to make that food: the water, energy, labor,” says Jerusha Klemperer, director of FoodPrint, a public awareness campaign that provides resources for eating sustainably. “But it’s also a problem because as it sits in the landfill, it releases methane, a powerful greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change.” Though the studies show that healthier eating…

kellyn taylor

A DAY IN THE LIFE: Taylor, 34, keeps her day pretty precise to make sure everyone in her busy house can be where they need to be on time. She wakes up around 5:30 or 6:00 a.m. before her 10-year-old daughter and younger foster kids wake up. “That’s usually my main goal, just so I can sneak downstairs and make my coffee and not have anybody lurking about for at least 15 to 25 minutes.” (She thrives on coffee.) After the kids are up, fed, and ready to go, she’s out the door by 7:45 a.m. That gives her just enough time to drop the kids offand get to her NAZ Elite practice by 8:30 a.m. “I’ve got pretty hard-set times just so I can try to not be late,” she…