Engineered to Run

I didn't originally intend to write a blog post this week, but after a week spent discussing the 2018 Tely 10 over and over again with runners of all ages and abilities I have some thoughts that I feel are worth sharing. Hopefully they can prove useful to some. For the vast majority of runners who toed the starting line last Sunday morning, a personal best (PB) was likely their ultimate goal. There is obviously a large group of runners who are doing the race for the first time, and their primary goal is to finish. And there is a much smaller group who are racing competitively, either for overall or age-group placings. However, I think it's safe to say that the group in the middle, who have run the race before but have no dreams of a second medal to go with the one they get for finishing, makes up the bulk of the race. When you are in that group, a PB is generally your focus, and that can make a day like last Sunday very difficult. While the competitive runners also obvio...

I'm a day late with the blog this week, because Tely 10 Sunday is for racing, relaxing, and partying, not for blog writing. :)  Before I get into my race recap, I want to make a couple of quick points about this week's post: (1) I've made an effort in most of my posts this year to have the main section focus on a topic that will appeal to all runners, and even many who aren't. This one is just going to be entirely about yesterday's race, and as such will have more discussion on race strategy/paces, etc. So if that's not for you, it might be best to save your time and skip this one. (2) While I never put pen to paper, so to speak, in advance, I usually have these posts "written" in my head for days or weeks before I type them up. As I try to stay positive and confident heading into a race, the Tely recap I had written in my head was based around me hitting my goals, and it would have been a much different story. So this one will be much more flying ...

Well, it's almost that time of year again; just two short weeks until the Tely 10! While the Tely isn't my personal favourite race (that would be the Cape to Cabot), it is an event that is unrivaled in size and public interest here locally, which makes it a special day on the running calendar every year. And I think no matter how many times I run it, I'll always feel a little like a kid on Christmas when I walk down McNamara Drive and hear the music blaring and thousands of people anxiously awaiting the starting gun. This year will be my 6th Tely, and while I'm far from an expert, I guess at this point I am a veteran of the race. When I started out, I was very fortunate to have friends and family members who had run the race before and who gave me great advice that helped me manage my early experiences. As the years have passed and I joined a running club, I've managed to put together a list of tips that may be useful to those who are a little less experienced whe...