The Merrell Challenge Wrap-Up

The End.

It's been a good run (pun intended.) This Challenge ended last week, and I wanted to share my final thoughts and stats.

My Running Stats:

(via Mapmyrun)

Final Standing: 1333rd

Percentage: Top 3%

Average Mile/Minute: 9:15 min/mile (I shrunk my time in the past week!)

# of Runs Completed: 30

# of Days Left: 0

Obstacles.

There are always reasons not to run. Amazing, perfectly reasonable reasons. Am I right? I thought it would be NO BIG DEAL to run 30 times within 45 days. I really did. Ha. I didn't really factor in life. Over the course of 45 days, we had 4 different sets of visitors in town (which made me want to go to brunch, not run!) and I got sick (which took me out of commission for almost a week!) Those two things alone kind of threw off the discipline I thought I had been cultivating. Ultimately, I learned that my runs had to be faster in order to get everything done in a day. Thus, I increased my speed. Believe me, this whole running thing was NOT always convenient, and it certainly didn't just make time for itself.

Reflection.

I honestly can't believe I did it. I've never run so consecutively in my life. It's been really rewarding because I never really believed I was a runner. I think the incredible fall foliage and the high of running in Central Park everyday really helped the "wow" factor for me. There was always something new to look at, or someone new to look at. Occasionally I would run in the afternoon and catch some of the local schools around the time of their track practice (tons of schools use Central Park, and especially the Reservoir as an extension of their facilities. It's everyone's playground!)

One Memorable Moment.

One time I was running and I stopped for a second to change a song on my iPod, and this kid (he couldn't have been older than 8th grade), ran right by me with a few of his friends and yelled, "Stop for nothing! KEEP RUNNING!!!!" I was like, "Alright, alright!" That little Upper East Side kid kicked my butt. I tell you what, I never stop to change songs anymore. I feel like he will appear out of the bushes and scold me. Another time the track team was doing sprints and I might have tried to race them. But alas. I never won. Those teenagers are scrappy.

What's even stranger is that I still feel like a teenager, yet when I think about what I've done since high school, it's been quite a lot. It's weird how you can feel young and at the same time be aging. Living. And then aging some more. All the reason to keep running!

Now that I've done this, I think I want to continue running but diversify a bit. I want to increase my mileage and try to work on my endurance. I also want to start hitting the gym a bit more regularly to incorporate more weights and strength training. You can't keep running without hitting the weights (so says my Health Magazine.) It's a journey! Thanks for joining me.

If you want to learn more about the Merrel Mapmyrun Challenge, you can follow my journey here and here and get a peek at my gear here.

The Merrell Challenge Update

“I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.” - L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables

Crunch, says my Sneakers.

There are ghost hunters. There are bargain hunters. There are actual hunters. I do not fit into any of these categories, but I do have my own area of curious interest: I am a seeker of fall foliage (and somewhat of a fiend about it.) I seek it out. I can wake up and smell the crispness of the leaves, thus determining how vibrant the colors might be today. And then I must go and discover whether or not my hypothesis is correct. Wow. I haven't used the word "hypothesis" since I was a sophomore in college. Whoa, haven't used the word "sophomore" since I was that level in high school. It must be a brainy day for me... Anyway! This thirst for foliage; it's both a grand gift and a heavy responsibility. I accept its challenge. Along with...

The Merrell Challenge.

I've had the pleasure of taking on The Merrell "Feel Your Run" Challenge for the past 6 weeks or so. The premise of this challenge is to log 30 runs in 45 days, which is a really good start for me (a non-runner) to actually track my progress and be accountable to something that could potentially reward me with presents (the ultimate motivator!) This challenge has gotten me outside, thus coupling my (semi) love for running and my (absolute) joy for fall foliage. It's the perfect time of year to be out and prancing around in the leaves!

// Who says New England gets to have all the fun? New York is rocking the vibrant autumn colors these days. //

// This guy is about a week away from donning auburn, gold and cinnamon shades of bliss. //

The Trail.

I've been running a 2.3 mile loop around the Reservoir at Central Park. It's the perfect distance for me and I have seen a lot of improvement in my endurance and actual time. I've never been into timing myself as a runner (I always rewarded myself just for getting out there!), but since I've been running a lot it's definitely been fun to see my own progress. This past week I started mixing up my trail by running across the Upper West Side to Riverside Park and running along the Hudson. I also took a new route north in Central Park and looped around the North Meadow, which proved to be ridiculously scenic. Anything to keep it interesting and fresh (and leafy!)

My Running Stats:

(via Mapmyrun)

Current Standing: 1595th (whoa. um what.)

Percentage: Top 4%, woohoo! (I have a feeling a LOT of people signed up for this and just haven't done it. How could I possibly be so high up? Not being self-deprecating; just knowing thyself.)

Average Mile/Minute: 9:30 min/mile

# of Runs Completed: 26

# of Days Left: 4

I'm almost to the (not-so-literal) finish line, folks. Wish me luck!

My Merrell Challenge Gear

My Merrell Challenge Gear by knhale // 1. C9 Champion Sports Bra // 2. Eos lip treatment // 3. Women's Nike Tempo Track Short // 4. iPhone // 5. Reebok Zigkicks // 6. iTunes gift card // 7. Sport Arm Band for iPhone // 8. Gaiam Sublime Yoga Mat //

The Challenge Update.

I've been running. Getting my groove on, if you will. For those of you who missed it, I am partaking in the Mapmyrun Merrell Challenge, which means I am challenged to run 30 times in a span of 45 days. So far, I am on Day 9 and I've done 6 runs. On the Mapmyrun app, I am in the top 8%, but (wait for it), I am in 2574th place. Basically there are a LOT of people who are out there, dreaming of free tennis shoes. Which is what you win, IF (in my case), you go up over two thousand places. Awesome, huh? No really, though, it is kind of awesome.

The Gear.

I created a round-up of the gear I've been using during this particular season. Anyone else fancy a run every now and then? You will like all of this stuff. Seriously.

1. C9 Champion Sports Bra: The best sports bra ever. 'Nuff said.

2. Eos lip treatment: I also really really love my Eos lip balm. Have I shared this with you before? OH THE GLORY. I especially love the honeydew honeysuckle and passionfruit flavors. They're a little elusive, but you can usually find them at Walmart or Target (check the ends of the aisles in the beauty section.) Seriously. This is a worthy three bucks spent. It's like your lips go on vacation...

3. Women's Nike Tempo Track Short: These are just the best shorts! They're the perfect length, never feel too tight, and always let enough breeziness in for, um, leg breath-ability? And they have some pretty wild colors... which I really dig.

4. iPhone: Bless you, dear Steve Jobs. I looooOOOooovee my sweet white life accessory. I run with this bad boy and listen to tons of inappropriate rap whilst doing so.

5. Reebok Zigkicks: The Reebok zigs are a wonder (and isn't this color to die for? I feel like I light up the dirt path when I run!) My dear friend Carrie introduced me to the world of Reebok, and I am forever grateful. Their gear is awesome and these shoes especially fit my large feet oh-so well. (For those of you keeping tally, I am only 5'4 and wear a size 8.5 shoe. I think I drank too much coffee as a 13-year old.) 

6. iTunes gift card: Sweet i-tuneage.

7. Sport Arm Band for iPhone: My precious little stylish sis got this for my birthday last year. It holds my phone in so I don't have to actually hand-carry it around (I would surely drop it) and therefore listen to the above-mentioned tunes.

8. Gaiam Sublime Yoga Mat: When I finish my run, I like to cap it off with about 10 minutes of abs or some pushups mixed in with some yoga stretches. Makes me feel all "Ommmm" inside.

The are the glories of my running world. Please enjoy. Do you have any gear that helps in your workouts?

The Merrell Challenge: 30 Runs in 45 Days

// My new running trail: Jackie O Reservoir in Central Park. //

Mapmyrun.

I've been meeting a lot of people lately. New city, new friends. It's been grand. One common denominator amongst a lot of these new friends is their athletic ambition: TONS of people are training for a half marathon this fall. It's intimidating. And impressive. And just plain intimidating.

I am not a true runner. A true runner needs no music, no external motivation. They feel the (intangible to me) heartbeat of nature as they fling their long lean limbs through the air, resisting gravity and all temptation to STOP RUNNING. Maybe they don't even have that temptation. I'd like to wave a Twix in front of their noses and see if any pupils dilate. These people are impressive. These people are disciplined. Beautiful. Lean. And possibly have extra motivation genes. These people all look a lot like my hot athletic sister-in-law Lauren. She's one of this elite breed. Multiple triathlons under her belt. I have accepted that I am not one of her kind. I would need some genetic engineering to yearn for the pavement in this special kind of way.

However, I do sort of like running. Even though it hurts. And I get cramps. And even though my inside thoughts are only whines. But really, I do like running (well, we should call what I do jogging), because it makes my lungs feel fly and my legs wake up. When I run I feel grateful that I can.

Enter the Challenge.

I came across this challenge on my Mapmyrun app: Merrell's Feel Your Run Challenge: 30 Runs in 45 Days. I am not much of a quantifier, so I've never really sat down and counted the number of workouts I do in a month of two. But this kind of made me ponder. How hard would it really be to run 30 out of 45 days? So before I could talk myself out of it, I joined this challenge. Am I crazy? I wonder if there are any bonus points for doing more than 30 runs in 45 days... If you want to join me in this endeavor, sign up here! If you haven't used Mapmyrun before, you should definitely check it out. It's a free app that calculates all your workout metrics: calories burned, distance, speed, elevation, etc. It's pretty spectacular. It's super easy to use and sort of makes you feel accomplished.

So far, I've completed 3/30 runs and I have until Oct. 17. I'll keep you posted on this! You can follow my Instagram trail pics here. Wish me luck!