Emily

Emily

The first race I ever did? The Cudahy run

My favorite piece of running gear? Headphones or sports bra.

My favorite Milwaukee area running event: Bastille’s Days and Al’s run.

If you could run anywhere in the world, where would you run? Ireland.

Name the top three items on your running bucket list. 1. Run a marathon 2. Run my third 1/2 marathon under 2 hours 3. To not fall on my face ever again.

Ben

Ben

The first race I ever did? Big Berry Run (Cedarburg)

My favorite piece of running gear? Orange shorts

What is your favorite Milwaukee area . . . → Read More: Meet the Relay Team: Team B.A.S.E.]]>

Fit Milwaukee would like to introduce TEAM B.A.S.E (Ben, Alex, Sheila, Emily aka Boston, Athlete, Stamina, Endurance)

Emily

Emily

The first race I ever did?
The Cudahy run

My favorite piece of running gear?
Headphones or sports bra.

My favorite Milwaukee area running event:
Bastille’s Days and Al’s run.

If you could run anywhere in the world, where would you run?
Ireland.

Name the top three items on your running bucket list.
1. Run a marathon
2. Run my third 1/2 marathon under 2 hours
3. To not fall on my face ever again.

Ben

Ben

The first race I ever did?
Big Berry Run (Cedarburg)

My favorite piece of running gear?
Orange shorts

What is your favorite Milwaukee area running event?
Fish Day Five

If you could run anywhere in the world, where would you run?
Great Wall of China

Name the top three items on your running bucket list.
1. Complete an Ironman
2. Break 3:15 in a marathon
3. Run the NYC Marathon

Alex

Alex

The first race I ever did?
2007 Chicago Half Marathon. Between mile 11 and 12, I told my self NEVER AGAIN….. thirty-something half marathons and 10 full marathons later, I’m still at it

My favorite piece of running gear?
My blue short-sleeved Nike dri-fit t-shirt. It is my “race shirt” and I have set almost every single PR, from 5K to the marathon, while wearing it. It will most likely be making an appearance at the indoor marathon relay.

What is your favorite Milwaukee area running event?
South Shore Half Marathon. $12 for a bib, a course that measures 13.1 miles, and a great group of runners. The rest of running is just fluff.

If you could run anywhere in the world, where would you run?
Trail running in the Pacific Northwest. The weather is always nice and it’s so beautiful out there.
Name the top three items on your running bucket list. 1. Boston Marathon 2. New York City Marathon 3. Eugene Marathon

Sheila

Sheila

The first race I ever did?
400M, 4 x 400M and 800M in high school. My adult running career began in 2008 at the Chicago Half marathon.

My favorite piece of running gear?
Toss up between my Injiji Toe Socks, a great dri fit hat or my vintage road runner “good luck” broach.

What is your favorite Milwaukee area running event?
The Discovery Run, great mid length, COSTUMES, it’s literally in my running neighborhood, and candy at the end!

If you could run anywhere in the world, where would you run?
Paris, London, China. Viewing History by way of my feet.

Name the top three items on your running bucket list.
1. Qualify for Boston and then run it
2. 1st place overall in a non-community charity race
3. Run a marathon in a different country Addendum: To continue to beat Steve in races

Team Pit Areas: When you arrive at the Pettit Center, once your team captain has picked up your team’s race bag, you will be able to claim a spot for your team along the side of the track.  Before the race starts you can place your belongings, warm ups, and water bottles here, and during the race it will . . . → Read More: Tips for the Icebreaker Indoor Marathon Relay]]>

The big day is coming up: the Milwaukee-area runner’s reunion that we refer to as the Icebreaker Indoor Marathon Relay! Here are a few tips to get you through the day… sort of like an FAQ from what we’ve learned in previous years.

Team Pit Areas: When you arrive at the Pettit Center, once your team captain has picked up your team’s race bag, you will be able to claim a spot for your team along the side of the track.  Before the race starts you can place your belongings, warm ups, and water bottles here, and during the race it will serve as your ‘home base’. This is where you can cheer for your team and swap out runners, or you can find another location along the track tag in and out. Although these areas will not be pre-assigned, Fit Milwaukee will have a tent/area roped off for our teams to gather near. We’ll believe we’ll be set up near the northeast corner of the track.

Chip timing: Your chip will be attached to a velcro strap that you will fasten around your ankle. DO NOT wrap the strap around your wrist! Your time will not be recorded this way. During the relay you should switch chips by stepping off the track into the pit area. Please move fully off the track so you won’t get run over by other racers passing by! We’ve found it’s helpful for the person wearing the ankle strap to come fully off the track and place their foot out, while the person about to run grabs the strap from their leg and places it on their own. And, GO!

Lanes: The track at the Pettit has two lanes. If you are a slower runner make sure you keep to the outer lane and always pass on the inside. Doing so will prevent collisions and keep the flow of runners moving without bunching up. Many runners use the term ‘Left’ or ‘Passing’ to indicate to a runner that they’re about to pass. You should always attempt to ‘check your blind spot’ when you are going to pass a slower runner ahead of you.

Dividing laps: This is purely up to the teams to decide how to divvy up the laps. Some four-member teams may simply decide to do four legs of 6 1/2 miles each, while others may break it down further in hopes of being able to run faster for a shorter amount of time. A good option might be to have each person run twice for about 3 1/4 miles each. This way each runner will be able to rest for a fair amount of time before having to run again. Some teams don’t like this choice because it offers too much time between legs to cool down in the 55 degree arena, and choose to run something like 4-10 laps at a time. Of course you can break it down even further but remember if you are a competitive team, you may lose seconds each time you move off to switch the timing chip.

What to Wear? It is approximately 55 degrees inside the Pettit Center, but it’s dry and often feels cooler than that. For the average runner, a long-sleeve shirt, shorts, and a light hat and gloves should be fine. Spectators might want to wear heavy coats, hats and gloves because it can get cold sitting in the stands. Remember, there are no headphones or earbuds allowed on the track.

What to Bring: Please remember that there will be no cups on or near the track or serve water/Powerade in cups during the race.  You should bring your own bottle for your hydration needs. Consider keeping water, gels or snacks in your team pit areas so you can refuel in-between turns on the track. Remember, you’ll also want to bring warmer clothes to wear when you are not running. When you’re switching from running to standing around, you’ll wish you were wearing winter coats and mittens like the spectators are!

Lap Counting: Help your teammates out! It can get easy to lose track of how many laps you’ve run amidst all the excitement of race day. A good idea is to have designate a lap counter to back up each of your runners while they are out on the track in case they end up feeling a bit lost. As you near the end of the race, the number of laps you have remaining will be announced so there’s no need to keep an overall count for the team. Some people use their Garmins with their GPS turned off. Some choose to count using rubber bands that they move from one arm to the other. I’ve used the ‘ABC’ method in the past, thinking of a word that starts with each letter as opposed to remember the number you’re on. In any case, it will help everyone on the team if two people are communicating the number of laps until the runner tags out, shouting or holding up how many laps you have remaining when you’re getting ready to make that switch.

For more information, check the race director’s blog: indoormarathon.blogspot.com

Hopefully you found this helpful, and if there are any more questions please ask in the comments and we’ll address them there!

About a year and a half, though I’ve been active in sports my whole life.

The following may be a bit of a controversial statement:

I am super excited for this year’s Rock ‘N Sole Run at Summerfest!

No really. Before you guys start, I know what happened at last year’s race. I didn’t run it, but I saw all the tweets coming from the course about the lack of water. I read the race recaps about dehydrated runners and lack of general organization. Oh, and I watched the local news reports. I’m painfully aware of how everything went down last year.

So when I got the opportunity to meet with the race’s new management team, I went in . . . → Read More: Rock ‘N Sole: Under New Management]]>

What better way to start off another year on the FitMKE blog than with a giveaway? This week I have a 10-pack of admissions to the Pettit Center track ($36 value) to gift upon one of our lovely readers. Comment below and tell me what you love/hate most about winter training and you’ll be entered to win. You have until Friday at midnight and I’ll reveal the winner over the . . . → Read More: New Year, New Giveaway!]]>

Happy New Year!

What better way to start off another year on the FitMKE blog than with a giveaway? This week I have a 10-pack of admissions to the Pettit Center track ($36 value) to gift upon one of our lovely readers. Comment below and tell me what you love/hate most about winter training and you’ll be entered to win. You have until Friday at midnight and I’ll reveal the winner over the weekend.

Good luck!

Recently . . . → Read More: Meet the Milwaukee Running Group]]>

One thing I tend to hear a lot from runners of every level is “I wish I had a running buddy or a group to run with!” I’ve been lucky enough to find a core group of friends that I really enjoy training with but I also remember how long I ran by myself before finding them.  Running with a group is great because the time seems to fly by when you have people to chat with and push you along. Plus, you’ll be less likely to bail on a run if you know you have friends waiting for you. Accountability!

Recently I came across The Milwaukee Running Group. They just got started a couple of months ago but already have regular runs throughout the week at various places around the city. I met up with a few runners from the group yesterday at Alterra for a 5-mile lakefront run and I’m hoping to come back for more. There are runners of all levels and paces in this group so a lot of times they’ll break off into smaller groups or pairs according to pace. Still, everyone meets up at the end for high fives and a stretch.

The Milwaukee Running Group has a page on Meetup.com where they arrange all of their group runs. Right now they are asking a small fee of $5 a year to join up. You can check out their group on Facebook as well. If you’re looking for some friendly company and encouragement while you run, this is a great place to start.

-Pee Wee Herman

I used to pride myself on the fact that I “taught myself to run”.  It really wasn’t a choice I made to train alone. I just didn’t have any friends and family who were interested in it. Sure, I got a lot of support and bit of admiration throughout my early training, but there was always an underlying feeling of, “She’s a little bit crazy, right?” I remember my very first 5K back in September 2008. My family dropped me off at the start and I had no idea what to do with myself for the half hour . . . → Read More: From Lone Runner to A Circle of Friends]]>

“I’m a loner, Dottie. A rebel.”

-Pee Wee Herman

I used to pride myself on the fact that I “taught myself to run”.  It really wasn’t a choice I made to train alone. I just didn’t have any friends and family who were interested in it. Sure, I got a lot of support and bit of admiration throughout my early training, but there was always an underlying feeling of, “She’s a little bit crazy, right?” I remember my very first 5K back in September 2008. My family dropped me off at the start and I had no idea what to do with myself for the half hour before the race began. I fiddled with my race bib, stretched out my calves a half dozen times and pretended to be really interested in my ipod. The race itself was a great experience but looking around me I saw all these people who knew each other and I wasn’t one of them.

The next spring I ran a few more 5Ks and my first 10K. My family had other plans during the 10K so I drove myself to the race, ran it, and drove home again with little fanfare. I was The Lone Runner but I was also getting good at it. Every weekend I was adding another mile onto my Saturday runs until I got up to the magical number 13. A half marathon! On my own! I was so proud but I still felt like I was floating along the edges of a running community and had no idea how to connect with it.

Then came the summer where everything changed.

I often pinpoint it down to when I met Annie on Twitter, but there were many other factors at play as well. There were the Badgerland Striders and their wonderful marathon buildup runs. This was also the summer that Dailymile kind of exploded. Everywhere I looked there were people wanting to meet, connect, and share their running and fitness experiences. I found myself going from,“What do I talk about on a long run with strangers?” to “Who can I talk to about running next?” This was something very out of character for me.

This past weekend I ran my first 50 mile ultramarathon. When I first signed up, I knew I had my spectacularly awesome buddy, Krista, to run the race with but I never expected to have a “crew” along the course. Honestly, when a race is going to be 10 to 12 hours long, how could I expect anyone to give up their Saturday to cheer for that amount of time?  When I committed to the race I planned to take advantage of the drop bags system and have everything I needed left at various aid stations for me- gels, salt, snacks, extra shoes, socks and such. But then I found out that Amy and Annie were wanting to not only crew for us  but get up at 2:30AM to drive me out to the start. At each aid station more and more friends joined the group until we had a whole cheering section at the finish.

The Lone Runner is no more!

I still love solo running. I ran one of my marathons this year alone and had a fantastic time and a PR to boot. But I also ran a trail race with four fantastic friends and crossed the finish line with arms linked Red Rover style. It used to kind of bug me when I would hear someone say “I couldn’t have done this race without you!” because I would feel like that person was diminishing their own capability. I see now that while I may have the ability to complete distances alone, the presence of a running buddy (or four!), a race crew, or a whole finish line party can make the whole experience, well, an experience. It’s not that I couldn’t do the race without them, but they definitely made the whole thing easier and overall, more special. I’m not saying I’ll never find myself alone at a starting line ever again. Sometimes it feels good to strike out on your own and quietly accomplish new things. But I’m more appreciative than I’ve ever been to have the support of good friends.

Who are your running buddies? Call ‘em out in the comments. Show some love!

I auditioned to be on the pom squad in 7th grade and didn’t make it. I was crushed. However, I was so determined to make it . . . → Read More: Getting There]]>

As a competitive runner for almost 25 years, including more than 20 marathons and the Hawaii Ironman Championship, I wish I had discovered Pilates long ago. After constantly suffering from foot injuries, tight hamstrings . . . → Read More: Pilates for Runners: Guest Author Patty McNichols]]>

Patty McNichols, owner of The Lift Pilates Studio, has worked in the fitness industry for more than 25 years. Since 1984, Patty has worked as an aerobics instructor, a personal trainer, and in management of public and private health clubs, spas, and hospital-based fitness centers. After years of training and racing in marathons and triathlons, she has found Pilates to be the best and most complete system of exercise.

Have you tried Pilates before?