Running Favorites

Thanks Lizzy for tagging me in your running favorites! It’s been fun reading everyone’s posts.

Favorite:

Running Places

Now that I am in a new place, I get to have new places to run. I’ve made an effort to go to new places each day and check out the areas of town that I like. And I gotta say, I like it all. However, one place really stands out as the best. I’m going to go ahead and say the Konza Prairie is my favorite place. Just check out its beauty.

The Konza is a biological field station owned by Kansas State University. It has a storied history in ecology research and is a generally awesome place. It also is some challenging trails. I love the rolling hills and wide open views… oh and there is a lot of wildlife to come by too… and prairie chickens!!!

Time of Day:

I wish I were a morning runner. One day, I’ll make the switch. But for now, I like to run in the evenings. There are always people around and lots of things going on, and I like to just people watch while I run. However, I do my long runs in the late morning (like 10am), since they are a little more substantial. I also don’t think I have the energy at like 6 to punch out much more than 6-8 miles.

Weather:

NOT WINTER! Oh man. I hate running in the cold. Actually, I generally like it warm, like 70 degrees. I lived in South Bend, where it is like the arctic for most of the year. I would dread going out in that. I’m definitely a native Floridian at heart, and I am cold all the time. Running in the warm never really bothers me, although it does slow me down a bit. I’d rather be slowed down than cold.

Fuel:

I have a pretty bad stomach. I get issues from a lot of different gels, and I have to be mindful on longer runs to eat throughout the run. I generally like Honey Stinger Chews. I down maybe one or two every few miles when I’m going 12 or more. Otherwise my stomach gets really messed up as soon as I stop running. I have not experimented much with gels (I like the salted watermelon, but I generally don’t need it on my runs, since they are not long enough). I’ll probably know more as I take on my marathon training for Chicago.

Rewards:

Hm… This is a hard one. I do love food, but I was a foodie even before I was a runner. I guess I’d have to say the races. I love the adrenaline I get and how happy everyone is at a race, and well, if you don’t train, racing is not so enjoyable. I think a lot about upcoming races while I run, and how I’ll feel at the starting line. I like to feel confident in the amount of training I did before walking up to that line and that is certainly a reward.

What is your favorite animal to see on a run? Do you have a favorite reward?