a's to the q's (part 3)

(you know, that meme from july i was answering back in august. here's part 1 & part 2.)

and now for the third installment. also the final one, unless someone asks more questions and then i may get to them by march.

Zoë said...
Pardon me,do you have any Grey Poupon?
fresh out, sorry.

Zoë said... Ok ok ok, in all seriousness:
Do you prefer a certain color M&M over another?
i group(ed) them by color and then start with whichever has the fewest. i always save brown for last, and i give josh the blue ones. if i'm feeling generous i might give him a few red or orange ones too.

Why do your bangs always look so freaking cute in pics on Facebook and such? Mine suck balls.
yours don't suck balls, i promise. i actually have an auto-immune condition called alopecia that keeps me from growing hair. it wasn't always this way, i started losing clumps of hair my junior year of college (good timing right?) and at first some would fall out, but it would regrow. a few years later, it progressed to alopecia universalis and all fell out. it sucks and i still haven't come to terms with it/myself, but i'm doing better. i wish i was super comfortable with it so that i could inspire others with the condition to do great things, but i'm not there yet. on the plus side, it's not life-threatening and i haven't had to shave my legs in 6+ years. so, not to guilt trip you, but appreciate your bad hair days!




 
time to fess up - who wanted to ask?

Would you consider coming to Seattle for a race to meet some of us Washingtonians in the near future?
of course! well, maybe not "near" future since i'm not exactly in any sort of shape other than round. i'm always down to travel though.

Miss Erosion said...
Do you stretch regularly?
definite n-o. sometimes i stretch before/after a race... i'm a bad role model.

What is your favorite recovery food?
hmm. it's been so long since i've been "in training" that i'm not sure anymore! after a run/workout, i like making a smoothie or a carblicious cinnamon sugar bagel. i don't know if either of those really count as "recovery food" though. i also like a healthy meal of rice and veggies.

Do you take any supplements - if yes, which ones?
yes, but not for running/exercise purposes. back in the summer i took magnesium for my heart/electrolyte imbalances, cod liver oil (because efa's and omega-3's are good for so many things) and b6 and inositol for their role in hair/skin health.

now i'm on a number of whole-food supplements from my nutritional response doc - they are the "standard process" brand so most of them are not supplements you'd see on the shelf at cvs (such as biodent or congaplex, but some are more normal like sesame seed oil or echinacea).

Johann said...
What would you rather do: Ultra or Tri?
ultra. i'm just not comfortable with open water swimming!

Do you only chase Kenyans or will you chase after South Africans too?
until i start winning big races ('cause that will happen and all) i guess i'm chasing all kinds of people :)

Christina said...
I like Johann's question about chasing Kenyans. I'll piggy back on that. Why did you chose chasing the kenyans for your blog name?
i wanted something unique/fun/catchy - i don't know if i accomplished that with the general public but i like it (and i assumed other runners would find it humorous or catchy). most non-runners think of the kenyans when they think about distance runners. now, i know there are many other nationalities with successful runners, but i think the kenyans hold the stereotype. since i don't quite run a 2:04 marathon yet, i'm still chasing after the kenyans, and all the other speedsters.

i did consider versions like "chasing paula radcliffe / kara goucher / deena kastor" but they weren't as 'catchy' to me, and i'm not a big enough fan or follower of any of their careers to warrant naming my blog after them.

Jen said...
1. What are your 1-3 favorite workouts (specifics, with approximate paces)?
i don't really like "fancy" workouts (with various interval lengths/paces). i prefer straight to the point workouts like yasso 800's (your goal marathon time hh:mm = your yasso time mm:ss) or mile repeats (goal 10k pace).

however, i did have a lot of fun with "the marlene" workout.

• 800@5k, 1600@10k, 3200@gmp (no rest in between them)
• 1000 recovery
• 3200@gmp, 1600@10k, 800@5k

you go straight from one interval into the next (or into/out of the recovery 1000). absolutely no rest whatsoever! it's a tough workout, but an amazing one.

2. What's the coolest place you've ever run in?
moorea, french poly. then again i've only ever run in the us or on islands. one day i'll hit up africa or something; get an action shot running from a leopard.

3. What were your favorite parts of doing Boston?
finishing :) i was nauseous/dizzy, especially near the end of the race. i did enjoy all the different towns the course runs through as well as the multitude of spectators - many of them were entertaining. there are some bare spots, but the course is well-lined with support from start to finish. it's fun to be in town a few days leading up to the race and enjoy all the excitement building up for the big day!

4. What races are on your bucket list?
i actually don't really have a running bucket list, other than to run a marathon in every state + dc. i also think it'd be cool to run all the world marathon majors (boston, london, berlin, chicago, new york) - especially to do so all in the same year (hah, yeah right).

5. What would be your ideal way to refuel and relax after a good workout/race?
eating brunch with friends and/or family. putting on recovery socks/sweats and relaxing on the couch. (i'm imagining post half- or full- marathon here, i don't think i'd need to veg out after a 5k!)

6. To be as wicked fast as you are, and to be able to push yourself during training and racing as you do, you must have some strong motivators... what are they?
honestly, i don't feel like i've been a great runner in 2011 (prior to august and the skin troubles) so it's hard for me to remember what used to motivate me. i think i was motivated a lot by the successes of my everyday training runs - i'd run my easy runs (instead of skipping them), work hard on speed days and log the long runs. getting to cross each completed workout off the training schedule was a lot better than having to admit i'd slacked off.

reading books or watching movies about pre also gives me an "adrenaline shot" of motivation. i wish i could just show up to a race one day, a nobody, and blow everyone out of the water.

Kathrin said...
Diving right in:
1) What is on your travel bucket list given the premises that money and time didn't matter?
i'm going to add in safety-concerns too, because i'd really like to explore all those troubled countries of the middle east/africa/eastern european region. i also want to do a tour of asia - china, thailand, philippines, japan, vietnam... and i hate being cold but i want to go to antarctica too.

heck, everywhere. i want to see the world!

2) Any news from the cardiologist?
like i said... i'm way behind on answering this. here's what was going on with my heart and here's the 'answer'. in recent months, i've had a lot less episodes, and i'll take it.

3) Since you are such a M&M connoisseur... What type of M&M is missing in their product line-up??
i'm not sure if i still qualify as a connoisseur of m&m's now that i'm sugar-free, but i was perfectly content with the plain and pretzel ones. i've seen the candy corn ones they had out this fall but didn't try them (did you?). i'm not entirely sure how this would work, but i think cream cheese/cheesecake m&m's could be pretty amazing.