Tag Archive | nike

My new tights: I got wings!

how cool-looking are these? (plus, they were on sale!)

usa track and field tights nike wings

My Most Embarrassing Running Moment: Kara Goucher

Kara said:

My most embarrassing running moment was probably the time in HS when I went to pull off my warm ups and realized I forgot to put on my racing shorts. Tears and a quick change later I was on my way…

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Kara Goucher is an American middle and long distance runner. She was the 10,000 meters bronze medalist at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics and represented USA at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and 2012 London Olympics. She made her marathon debut in 2008 and finished third at the Boston Marathon.

 

Previously:

My Most Embarrassing Running Moment: Bart Yasso

My Most Embarrassing Running Moment: Lauren Fleshman

My Most Embarrassing Running Moment: Molly Pritz

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My Most Embarrassing Running Moment: Molly Pritz

Molly said:

My most embarrassing running moment was one of the first practices of my college career. Our coach gave us a 3200m time trial to do. This was my chance to strut my stuff and have all that summer training pay off! Literally 100m into the time trial, I tripped and went down HARD. I’m fairly sure I felt every one of my teammates’ spikes either go into my back or kick my limbs. By the time I got up, the wind was completely knocked out of me and the last place runner had at least 50m on me. I got up, with tears in my eyes, and a nasty gasping wheeze while trying to catch my breath and finished my pathetic time trial. As if this wasn’t embarrassing enough in front of my new teammates, I followed it up by slipping and falling off the bus in front of everyone at our very next long run. To this day, I think my college team sees me as one of the clumsiest runners of all time. 

Molly Pritz is a professional runner sponsored by ASICS who won the 2010 Rock ‘n Roll San Antonio Half Marathon in 1:12:14, was second to New Zealand’s Kim Smith at the 2011 Mardi Gras Half Marathon in 1:11:05, and won the 2011 USA 25K National Championship in 1:25:28. She was also the first American and 12th overall at the 2011 New York City Marathon, running a 2:31:52.

Previously:

My Most Embarrassing Running Moment: Bart Yasso

My Most Embarrassing Running Moment: Lauren Fleshman

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My Most Embarrassing Running Moment: Lauren Fleshman

Lauren said:

My most embarrassing running moment was in high school. I was rushing toward the startline of a race because I was almost late, and right on the infield next to the start, I stripped off my sweatpants and accidentally pulled my shorts off with it, and there I was standing bare assed in front of the entire stadium. Not awesome!

Lauren Fleshman was the U.S. 5000 meters champion in 2006 and 2010, and has competed at the IAAF World Championships in Athletics in 2003, 2005, and 2011. She competes in a variety of middle and long distance events, ranging from the 1500 meters and mile to the 5,000 meters. She debuted in the Marathon November 6, 2011 at the ING New York City Marathon, finishing 12th. She currently trains in Eugene, Oregon as part of the Nike funded professional team Oregon Track Club Elite. Fleshman is the Co-Founder and Brand Director of a gluten and dairy free energy bar company, Picky Bars. In 2013, Fleshman joined Oiselle, a rapidly growing women’s running apparel company, as a sponsored athlete and business partner to create new products, opportunities & messages for female athletes.

Previously:

My Most Embarrassing Running Moment: Bart Yasso

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another trip to niketown

 am there all the time, who am I kidding (57th st is on my way home, I swear!!!!). I try not to go too often, but… there’s many things on Madison Ave I like so I end up there often. Oh well, tough life, right?

This time I took a few pics because anything that is running related seems like total amazingness to me. There’s a whole wall with Pre’s face. It’s HUGE. I always just want to lay there as if it was the Planetarium, but people would totally walk on top of me and that’s not even as fun as it seems. It’s also impossible to take pictures. Bowerman is in the picture too. (By the way, we just had to fill up a Questionnaire at work for a Look Book and one of the ?s was “Who, dead or alive, would you like to have dinner with?” I said Pre. Does that make me a running geek?? It was a close match between Zatopek, Pre, and Fred Lebow. I totally could have a thresome there, well, not Fred!!!).

Anyway… I like nike socks, and their singlets, and their shorts. But mostly their bulding. This takes up a whole wall:

and how their ads are very newyorkish:

That one said something like “Built on beating yellow cabs”, or “Trained”, I can’t remember. I like to race the Select Bus. It’s a special express bus that stops only every 10 blocks. It goes faster than me, but I don’t have to stop at every light and the bus does. HA!

And two shirts I liked:

Yeah. New-York-Minute Style.

WNM11 (Nike Women’s Marathon) – Race Day Fun

Sunday we got up really early (WHY, oh WHY, is always everything so early???? I am from south america people!!) and we basically had to meet up with the LA chapter to cheer at mile 9.5 and then, as soon as the last TNT runner went by, we’d drive over to mile 25, to cheer there by the beach, and then off to the Finish line to make sure every single one of our NYC TNT runners were accounted for. 
We set up to cheer at 7 am a@ mile 9.5 with coffee, some snacks, a couple of policemen, and lots of energy. I have to say, I had never worried to train my voice (and I do have lots of practice screaming at nyc drivers!) but after a couple of hours I would have loved some lemon green tea with honey (selfnote!!). 


The fun stuff…





I saw Kara Goucher run by, very very closely followed by Joanie Benoit Samuelson, and I screamed at both (but got no pictures!). And then, guess who spotted me (how on earth did she? I had like 60 pounds of outfit on me), yeah, Jenn, who was doing wonderfully with her friend!

Police officers were letting cars go when it thinned out, but this guy had to sit there for over an hour, hilarious (to me at least!).
Poor woman had her bra snap off and we were trying to assist, which was not easy given the sweat, layers and stuff, but we were on a mission and got it done!
Crazy maniac… yeah me!

We then drove over to mile 25.3, right on the beach by the Dutch Windmill, though we got a bit lost on our way there??? (ooops). All that matters is that we made it, right?




After we checked in at the finish line, got everyone accounted for (every single one of them finished!!!), we headed back to the city. Traffic was insane though and we hadn’t eaten much yet. It was 3 pm and all I had was coffee, a banana, and some crackers, eeeek! After a fast lunch and a shower we scooted over to the victory party, just a few blocks down the street (Thank God it was close!!).
We cleaned up super fast-


I was beat after so I never made it to the post-party party (yes, lots of celebration has to be done) and I passed out as soon as I saw my bed, as we had to be up early Monday to catch the flight back.
The Good:

  • San Francisco, as a city, rocks. A close second to NYC.
  • On the other hand, SF hills trump hills in any other big city. I shall NOT forget this ever again.
  • All of our participants finished. Some had a bit of pain, some were really tired, but they all finished.
  • Coffee Bean cawfee tops Starbucks any day. Cako cupcakes rock.
  • I learned a lot. I have a few mental notes. But mostly, the weekend went perfectly.
  • I enjoyed some serious girl power this weekend, even from all the men everywhere, who were equally involved and/or supportive.
  • Running to cure cancer is really moving. I cried a lot of the weekend, got chills, and was really inspired to make a difference.­­­
  • Running and travelling with a team to a race seems like a lot of fun. There’s a lot to be said about the power in numbers!

I might want to have a fireman give me one of these Tiffany necklaces next year. I might even run for it. The course looks pretty amazing (pfff the hills!!).

WNM11 (Nike Women’s Marathon) – Race Day Fun

WNM11 (Nike Women’s Marathon) – As seen on the Run

We (two more Team in Training staffers, a bunch of coaches, and around 150 runners) left towards SanFran Friday early for the Nike Women’s Marathon. I had planned to do my long run on Friday afternoon, as soon as we landed, as there was going to be no time over the weekend for it. I was not the coordinator for this event so I was coming as support staff, but we still had assignments for the whole weekend. So, as we flew there early and spent most of the day on a plane, we had to eat first: it was 5 pm on my internal clock when I got some food!!  So, right after lunch, we went to the expo for a little walk; there was no way I could have run right after the insane (and heavy) catch up food I had…  The expo was a big tent in Union Square, right in the middle of town, and luckily very close to our hotel.      Soon it was time to run before it got very dark and very late!! My legs were still stiff from the plane sitting, I was completely dehydrated, and still had an enormous pork slab sandwich, onion rings and french fries in my tummy: it was going to be a tough run.  Oh, add San Francisco’s hills to the equation… If I had known what I was getting into, I probably would not have gone… but, as you know, there’s no better (and more efficient) way to enjoy a city than on a run, so I am glad I powered through my laziness. And though it was not my first time there, I saw many amazing things that renewed my love for this city. Nothing like a run to experience a place and also to reset your body! My plan was to run from our hotel in Union Square, by the bay, all the way to the Golden Bridge and back. The other option was to run through Golden Gate Park, which I love too… Ah, I wish I had had time for two runs! Here’s us running UP on Powell. Just TWO letters for “up” is a major understatement!                   By the time we got to the bridge, we had run 6 (very slow) miles and I was starting to feel it. Actually, I was feeling it since I left the hotel on those super steep streets! I wasn’t even sweating I was so dehydrated. Still, we couldn’t find anywhere to buy a drink until we got to around 9 miles, and I was running on fumes. Climbing back up the streets to Union Square was impossible, I had to walk them up. Even had to walk some of the downhills as they were so steep. I was so tired when I got to the hotel that I was dreaming of a fireman waiting in the lobby with a Tiffany necklace (or any kind of medal, or a botte of water, anything, please!). Tough, still amazing, run!! Early saturday we had a staff meeting, to go over logistics and stuff. I had a bit of time after that, so we walked by the expo again!  And then Niketown, which was complete mayhem!!  (I want all of these shirts —> christmas list!)  True-dat! Do english-speakers even know what “barefoot” means???????????  Then I worked at the expo a bit. And guess who I ran into as I was leaving…! JensterNC!  A couple of hours later, we had our TNT inspiration dinner… and though we had around 160 runners from NYC, if you counted all the other US chapters, there was 3700 TNT participants! We set up an enourmous pasta party and when our participants come in, all the staff, coaches, and mentors cheer them on. It is very lound. And really chill-inducing. You can’t not be moved, or cry. I dare you!       
Loved this team’s shirt!
Then, we got super inspired. I am not sure a lot of people can say that they cry at their job every day and that that is good thing. I do. I might have to switch from contacts to glasses soon.John Bingham (the Penguin) was the MC and he was quite funny, and also super inspiring.



Then Kara talked. Yeah, Kara Goucher was there!!! She was amazing, and talked about the TNT runners were so inspiring to her. Soon we had to rest and get ready for some serious race day work: cheering! 😉

WNM11 (Nike Women’s Marathon) – As seen on the Run