Gobal Running Day 2016

It's Global Running Day - a day to celebrate lacing up, getting outside (if that's an option), and logging some miles. Maybe just by yourself if it's your daily dose of freedom, maybe with your four-legged running buddy, maybe with your kids! Regardless of how you celebrate, enjoy our sport and the reason we're all better for it.

I've compiled some discounts, events, and other things for you to check out. More added as I find out about 'em throughout the day too! 

Join a National Running Day event. Check out all the locations (nationwide!) and fun here. I'm heading out to hang out at my local Fleet Feet store for a group run + yoga tonight. Stoked! 

Sign up for the Long Beach Marathon (or other weekend events). Long Beach will be my big post-summer race (October 7-9 is race weekend). Code RUNJLBMMJ saves you 10% off any of the weekend's events, including the 5K, half marathon, marathon, bike races and even off the bike + run combo races! Register here. Prices go up after 300 registrants today!

ZOOMA Women's Run Series. 15% off with code RUNDAY today! Annapolis is this weekend June 4, Cape Code in September and Amelia Island (Florida) in October. After today, use code MEGAN16 for 10% off otherwise! 

Score a Rock ‘n’ Roll Discount. The Rock ‘n’ Roll series will has discounts of up to $20 on select races. Note this discount does not “stack” with other promo codes, but you can also use code RUNMEGANRUN for $15 off races, too (except Las Vegas, sorry!). 

Score a Lexus Lace Up Series (Southern California) Discount from Yours Truly. Use code laceupmegan for 30% any of the series locations, any distance (Irvine, Ventura, Palos Verdes, and Riverside). When you sign up for a second race, you'll get an additional 20% off that race too! Super score! 

Run with Road Runner Sports, Fleet Feet, or your local running store. Check with your local store to find out what's happening and when!

Run for Funds! Use the CharityMiles app to donate your miles to your favorite charity.

Inspire Someone to Sign Up for a Race. I think one of the great things about celebrating any day (like, you know, National Donut Day which is also conveniently this week) is getting to share it with other people. Maybe someone has been watching you for years and just needs a little push, or a friendy word of motivation and encouragement. Do that today! What better than to share the running love?

Be a Safe Runner! Sparkly Soul is offering all their reflective headbands for just $10 today! Get yourself one in black, teal, or neon pink here. 

Make sure you pledge and log your miles today at Global Running! There, you can download a bib for today - wherever you may be running - and sport it with pride! I can't wait to get my run on this evening! 

How are you celebrating Global Running Day this year? 

National Running Day 2015

It's National Running Day - a day to celebrate lacing up, getting outside (if that's an option), and logging some miles. Maybe just by yourself if it's your daily dose of freedom, maybe with your four-legged running buddy, maybe with your kids! Regardless of how you celebrate, enjoy our sport and the reason we're all better for it.

I've compiled some discounts, events, and other things for you to check out. More added as I find out about 'em! 

Join a National Running Day event. Check out all the locations (nationwide!) and fun here. 

Score a Rock ‘n’ Roll Discount. The Rock ‘n’ Roll series will has discounts of up to $20 on select races. Note this discount does not “stack” with other promo codes, but you can also use code RUNMEGANRUN for $15 off races, too (except Las Vegas, sorry!). 

Score a Lexus Lace Up Series (Southern California) Discount from Yours Truly. Use code laceupmegan for 15% any of the series locations, any distance (Irvine, Ventura, Palos Verdes, and Riverside). 

Grab Yourself a Sparkly Headband. All 13.1 and 26.2 ROCKSTAR Sparkly Soul headbands are just $5 today (regular $17). Snag one before the day is over!

Run with Road Runner Sports, Fleet Feet, or your local running store. Check with your local store to find out what's happening and when!

Sign up for Womens Running magazine. Just $5 for 6 months! Insane? I think so.

Run for Funds! Use the CharityMiles app to donate your miles to your favorite charity.

Be Safe - for $10 Less! Be safe out there, especially if you run events or run alone. Get your free money (and safety!) with Road ID.

Inspire Someone to Sign Up for a Race. I think one of the great things about celebrating any day (like, you know, National Donut Day which is also conveniently this week) is getting to share it with other people. Maybe someone has been watching you for years and just needs a little push, or a friendy word of motivation and encouragement. Do that today! What better than to share the running love?

Shop at Gone for a Run. Whether you're looking for tees or medal hangers, you can get an extra 50% off on sale items with code RUNDAY15.

How are you celebrating National Running Day?

Running Day + Daily Deals

Happy National Running Day!

National Running Day is in its sixth year - created in 2009, some of the country's most forefront running organizations and companies, including the Atlanta Track Club, the Bank of American Chicago Marathon, Boston Athletic Association, and many, many more celebrate our sport with thousands of runners pledging miles. Often, local running or track clubs celebrate with social runs, BBQs, and more to bring their local runners out and together. Last year, I got to run with my favorite Athens Road Runners friends and had a potluck celebration afterwards. 

NRD 2013.

Part of the other awesome part of NRD is surely the unbelievable amount of discounts and promotions that pop up all over race, apparel, and magazine sites. It's like Black Friday for runners! Curious about what kind of deals I've found? Here are some of my favorites:

• Rock 'n Roll Race Series: Save up to 20% on select full and half marathons and 5Ks, and save on their new running festivals (two-day running events) as well. 
• Women's Running Series: Save up to 20% on their Nashville, Scottsdale, and St. Pete races!
• Womens Running Magazine: Sign up for a subscription today for only $1 an issue (new or renewals)
• Alamo 13.1 (Texas, March 22, 2015): Save $20 with code RUNNINGDAY
• Run Like a Diva Race Series: Save $5 by entering their National Running Day photo contest. Submit a photo, and get your own code for $5 any Divas race.
• Publix Ft. Lauderdale A1A Marathon/Half Marathon/5K (Florida, February 15, 2015):  Save $10 with code NATLRUNNINGA1A.
• Surfer's Path Marathon & Capitola Half Marathon and Relay (California, May 17, 2015 ): Use code SURF2015  to save $10 off early registration prices. Good until 6/15/14. 
• Hotlanta Half Marathon (Georgia, August 24, 2014): Save $5 using code HOTRUNDAY + get an inaugural race poster sent to you too! And of course...
• New Years Race (California, January 3, 2015): Save $15 off your New Years Race registration with code NYRMegan15!

You can also participate in RnR's virtual or hosted runs, including some chances to win sweet prizes - I'm headed up to Manhattan Beach tonight to join in the fun and find some local crazies like myself! See if there's any hosted runs around you here, or sign up for the virtual run!

What other deals have you found today? Share them below!

National Running Day

Why do you run? Make your own at: http://www.runningday.org/images/2013_blank.png

National Running Day 2013

I feel like I've really come to identify with the word "runner" over the last year. Not that I wasn't a runner before, because surely I'd put on whatever clearanced, or discounted running shoes I had and go for a jog here and there, but over the last year, I've certainly taken the term runner to full steam.

Since last year's National Running Day, I've:

• Run 771.42 miles
• Completed 23 races, ranging from 5Ks to my first full marathon
• Ran my first full marathon!
• Cut down my half marathon time from 2:18 to 2:01

Ran in races ranging from Disney World to back-woods Maryland at 3 am, pushed myself so much harder than I ever thought I could, and achieved so much. It's been a pretty incredible last 365 days. But enough about that... on to tonight's fun with the Athens Road Runners!

Wednesdays as you know, are track mornings for those that choose to peel themselves out of bed to be at the track at 5:30 am. So it was nice seeing a whole non-regular group of faces and some of the regulars too - 11 of us this morning! New record, and it was nice to have a little new competition!

We met up with both the Road Runners and the newly formed Couch to 5K crew - about 40 folks and the few mentors they have for the program already. The bunch you see above did our own easy 3 miles, and the 5K group did their own at their pace. Rockin' three miles for me after the morning we had! Happy times. Afterwards we all contributed to an awesome potluck BBQ at Memorial Park here in town. The rain held off - it didn't rain a drop during our run or during dinner. Thank you, weather, for cooperating.

And because it's National Running Day and I like fun facts... I leave you with a slew of them. The awesome folks at Running USA did a pretty large, comprehensive survey of runners (both men and women), though women's answers/averages are below. I didn't even include everything they reported, but you can read more here. 

Typical U.S. Female Runner
Demographics
Average Age: 39.3 I'm 27.
60.7% Married Nope.
77.8% College educated Certainly am!
70.8% Earn a household income of $75,000+ In my dreams, yo.

Running History
Average number of years running: 9.6 You can say through soccer, I've been running since I was 5. But solely as a runner, on and off for 4ish years, seriously for the last almost-3.
Average number of running events participated in during the last 12 months: 7.1 Lots more than that! 23, as noted above.
49.2% have completed 1 marathon or more in their lifetime One and done! Nah, there's more in my future. Let's be honest.

Running Routine
66.8% Run/Jog 4+ hours each week In an average week, probably close to that. During this #RWRunStreak, a bit more than that!
76.1% run 12 months a year Truth.
Average number of days run per week: 3.9 On average, 4-5 days a week. Again, the run streak is a different story!
Average number of miles run per week: 20.2 Probably closer to 25 normally, but close!
64.8% describe themselves as "Frequent/Fitness Runners" I'd say so.

Health
Average Weight: 140.2 lbs Few pounds off.
Average Height: 65.01 inches / 5 feet, 5 inches Add an inch to me.
Average Body Mass Index (BMI): 23.3 Almost spot on.
39.0% are content with their weight Meh. If I ate the way I should for the way I run (frequency), I'd be at least 8-10 pounds lighter. Content is a touchy word.
41.0% are content with their fitness level Yes!

Are you average female runner? What did you do to celebrate National Running Day?

#RWRunStreak Week 2

Week 2 in the books! This was about as up and down as the first week, but has definitely ended on a high note, which I'm pretty excited about!

Week 2 in review:

Week 2, in the books!

Monday, June 4: 1.07 mi/10:58 pace/11:46
The day really went by. As I didn't get up in the morning, and I got a head start on cleaning and getting ready for my parents' arrival, it was 8:30 pm before I knew it, so I hauled out for a quick run just to get it done. Not super quick, but got at least my mile in to make it count!

Tuesday, June 5: 1.38 mi/8:44 pace/12:05
This run was even better than the previous Sunday's run, knocked off 45 seconds from that! And this was my first sub-9 run... ever. Even if it was just for a mile, this tells me I am definitely getting stronger, more in shape, and am able to push past the things I thought I couldn't achieve. Stoked. This run got me pumped for the rest of the week for sure!

Wednesday, June 6: 1.77 mi/20:42 pace/36:51
National Running Day! I didn't run. I was leaving work, walking up stairs when my knee started feeling a little tight. So to listen, but make it count, Molly and I went for a long walk... for fro-yo! Delish. And earned. I've done a lot more than I have lately in the last two weeks, so I thought it was a good break but long enough to definitely make it count. Lesson learned today: listen to your body. It pays off. (See next day!)

Excellent decision on my part.

Thursday, June 7: 3.23 mi/8:26 pace/27:15
 I ran when I got home from work (as I have been lately since I can't get myself out of bed). Early evening, beautiful weather, and that definitely seemed to filter into my ability to make it a kick-ass run today! I wanted to get in a good solid 5K distance to get ready for my 5K on Saturday. I wasn't planning on totally charging ahead, but a mile in, I felt so fantastic, I figured I'd just go for it! And look at that amazing timing! For one, I've never run a sub-9 (prior to Tuesday's run), let alone for 3 miles. I was on such a high coming home this evening!

To boot, I got my Sparkly Soul headbands in the mail, so I wanted to take them out for a good sweaty run! I can't emphasize how much I love these -- prettier than normal headbands, they stay better than normal headbands, and they sparkle. What's not to love? I got them in pink and black and rocked the black one for the last half of the week. Recommendation? Go get yourself one. Now.

It doesn't count if you don't sweat!

Friday, June 8: 1.37/10:30 pace/14:21
Still feeling pretty ecstatic about Thursday's run but wanted to save it for Friday morning. Casual job out the door, to my favorite intersection and back. This is becoming my normal "I'm just going to get in a mile" route. Lovin' it though.

Saturday, June 9: 2.97 mi/9:27 pace/27:58 and 3.64 mi/10:36 pace/38:37 for 6.64 mi
Saturday morning was the Earth Fare 5K which you can read more about here! Per my run on Thursday, I knew I could kill this one -- until I learned that the first mile and change is nearly straight up hill. Killer. I made it! I did it! My MapMyRun app measured it a little short, but I think it got caught up in the trees and blanked out for a little bit. Regardless, new PR in the books! By a solid 2:49. And now I'm ready to shatter that one too.

First in my AG! First place win ever! Hooray!

Georgia Road Race #11 in the books!

I had intended on running a few miles after the 5K but had so many errands to do before Mom and Dad got in that I wanted to get life under way first. So I spent the day bathing Molly, bathing Jane (the car), groceries, laundry and cleaning! Fun times. I figured I'd test my legs in doing a double run to start gearing up for Ragnar training so went out for a second run -- a lot more casual, but a good test on my legs' current abilities!

Sunday, June 10: 1.41 mi/11:35 pace/16:22
I was planning to meeting Mom and Dad in Atlanta at 9:45, so I need to be out the door by 8. An early run was not my favorite (especially given that my runs this whole week were in the evening), but did a quick loop to make it count and get my miles in for the day!

Awesome Week 2. I learned just how much I can push myself. I learned that I need to keep listening to my knee, and when I do it, it'll definitely pay off in the long run (no pun intended). And that I am capable of awesome things if I stick with this!

Week 3 is a challenge: vacay (I'm heading out the door to Charleston here shortly; cruise, here we come!), so I've got to maintain this streak and run at least a mile on the boat every morning. Good thing they have a track. Let's see what I can make of it!

How are you doing on your #RWRunStreak? How was Week 2? Goals for Week 3?

National Running Day 2012

I know I'm a day late with this, just wasn't up to pulling out my dinosaur of a laptop and making this post happen last night!

I'm a little bummed that I didn't actually get out and run on National Running Day. As I was leaving work, my knee tightened up a bit and that was a clear sign that with all my running lately, that I needed to take it easy. I didn't want to miss Day 10 of the #RWRunStreak though, so instead of the dog park daily trip, Molly and I took a walk to Menchie's to get fro yo -- a 1.77 mile round trip. I'll take it!

Regardless of whether or not I ran today, I am a runner. I've put that more and more into my head. I race, I run... and you know why? Here's why:

After two knee surgeries, yes, I can still do it!

• I run for stress relief. 
• I run to push myself.
• I run because I'm determined to make myself better.
• I run to stay in shape!
• I run to meet folks -- I've met a few folks in an around Athens and love seeing a few familiar faces at local races!
• I run to better friendships -- motivating friends who are recent runners, or aspiring runners, or whatever you want to call it! Love having companions to push and encourage and motivate, because they dish it right back!
• I run to re-connect -- finding commonalities with friends from undergrad (shout out to KB!), or create better relationships with sisters over our love, it's a good time regardless! 
• And lastly.. as my badge says... I run to prove that I can. Because I can. And with work, I can get better. I've got goals... I'm going to make them happen!

Why do you run?

PS. It's pretty much torture seeing all these race codes and wanting to sign up for 8 billion races... and really, I need to watch my wallet! Boo!