Registration

Welcome to the first registration day to Nike Women's Marathon 2008!

I wanted to address a suggestion posed to me yesterday about signing up as a group. There is an option in this event to sign up as a group, and the even encourages people to participate with family and friends. However, in reading through the registration information available, it said two things about registering as a group that dissuade me from registering this way: 1) registering as a group will give you no advantage to being chosen to participate over someone who registers as an individual and 2) the group goes into the pot as one entry and has only one chance to be chosen.

So far it looks like we have about 7 people who are interested in participating in this event which is spectacular! I think it would be best if everyone registers separately because then 7 people have the chance to get chosen to participate as opposed to just one group having the chance. If you are concerned about not being chosen, email me and I have some suggestions about some extra steps you can take :)

Lastly I would recommend getting your name into registration early because that way it is done and you know your name is there and ready to be drawn.

Also, another idea I had for anyone who does not get chosen to participate, there are a few options. 1) You can run/walk the course anyway on that day or on a different day. 2) We can find another marathon/half marathon near the date of the NWM and I will be more than happy to come out and support those people who don't get chosen for NWM.

So, get registered, feel free to email me with any questions or for my ideas about getting a leg up during registration and don't forget, it opens at 10am pst!

IMPORTANT Registration Update

I checked the Nike Women's Marathon homepage to check on registration and found some important information. First, the homepage has moved to:

http://insidenikerunning.nike.com/category/events/nike-womens-marathon/

Second, the registration process for this year will be different from previous years due to the overwhelming popularity of the event. Here is what the site says about it:

RANDOM DRAWING PROCEDURE:All interested participants must register for the random drawing online thru Active.com between March 4th and March 18th. We will randomly select runners to meet our cap of 20,000 participants. Only selected participants will have their credit card charged for the registration fee. Random drawing results will be posted on the Nike Women’s Marathon website on April 1st. An email with results will be sent to each applicant on April 1st.

(from http://insidenikerunning.nike.com/2008/02/29/2008-nike-women%e2%80%99s-marathon-registration/)

There is more information on the registration site which I would encourage you to read, but I thought this was the most important information. I would recommend signing up for the random drawing as soon as possible tomorrow morning because it can't hurt to have your name in there early. And after you have entered your name, do lots of positive things so you have extremely good karma and hopefully get chosen to participate!

A Bit About Hydration

Hello Superwomenrunners!

I hope the new month is treating everyone well and hopefully the weather will slowly improve for us. Has anyone else noticed the days getting longer? I find this exciting because soon runs after work will be warmer with more sun and runs before work will start to get sunny too! And for those of you who like to tan (cough cough Kate cough cough) getting out during prime tanning hours lets you get sun and exercise at the same time.

One thing to remember that I have not talked about yet is the importance of staying hydrated, and not just hydrated, but making sure you have enough electorlytes after a workout where you have sweated heavily. Electorlytes are important because

"...they are what your cells (especially nerve, heart, muscle) use to maintain voltages across their cell membranes and to carry electrical impulses (nerve impulses, muscle contractions) across themselves and to other cells. Your kidneys work to keep the electrolyte concentrations in your blood constant despite changes in your body. For example, when you exercise heavily, you lose electrolytes in your sweat, particularly sodium and potassium. These electrolytes must be replaced to keep the electrolyte concentrations of your body fluids constant. So, many sports drinks have sodium chloride or potassium chloride added to them. They also have sugar and flavorings to provide your body with extra energy and to make the drink taste better."

(http://health.howstuffworks.com/question565.htm)

So, when you do have those heavy duty workouts or longer workouts, make sure you find a sports drink you like. There are many out there, one that many people are probably familiar with is Gatorade. (Be careful too not to overhydrate, drink if you are thirsty, or should be dehydrated, but be reasonable about it. Drinking large quantities of water will not make your legs indestrucable, drinking the correct amount for your body will make you tire less quickly :) ) If anyone has any questions about this feel free to post a comment!

Last Day of January

Hello Everyone!

I hope January has been a good month and I am very excited that we are one month closer to spring/summer and one month closer to October! There has been a lot of rain this past month, but I want to congratulate everyone for sticking with it during the colder weather, especially Kate who has rain and clouds all the time, not just during the winter.

As you can tell by the title of the post, I am aware today is the last day of January. I am so aware of this because it is the last day to add miles to our mileage corner for this month, so don't forget to email me your miles so we can update before the monthly counter goes back to zero tomorrow (the odometer will stay the same, that never gets erased)!

Accumulated Distance

Mary had an idea I ran across the other day in a comment she posted on Kate's blog that I would like to pick up on. She wondered if it would be possible to add an area to this blog where people could post the distances they have run so we can see our cumulative total. I have looked through blogspot, and I don't see a tool like that I can use, what we can do though is people can email me the distance they have run and I can add a cumulative total to the right-hand column of the blog with that total. Email me your total distance at meganreinke@gmail.com it would be helpful if you titled the email superwomenrunners so if I ever need to search for emails I will easily be able to find it. You can email me your daily distance, weekly distance, biweekly distance or monthly distance, or your distance when you think of it and I will add it!

I think this is a great idea and seeing that number grow will be inspiring to us all! Keep up the good work everyone, and Kate, good job getting started in a foreign country, Mary, good job listening to your body and not pushing yourself so hard you get hurt but at the same time keeping up your distance!

Hardcore Runner

This woman has just finished a 15 mile run in the bitter cold, now that is commitment if I have ever seen it :) I know the picture looks a little strange and wish I could post a bigger version of it, but don't have one. The white above her eyes is ice on her eyelashes. I assume the ice formed from steam from her breath and her eyes condensing on her eyelashes. There is ice on the hood of her jacket, I assume that is her frozen sweat. And she is still smiling.

Most of us live in places in the country where we don't have to face the elements quite like this which is very nice. But her commitment is something we will all develop though the training process leading to the Nike Women's Marathon. There will be days when it is hard to get going or it's cold or you don't feel 100%, but it's those days when it is important to get out there and get your workout in. And when you need inspiration, you can look at this woman and think that she has spent 15 miles running through the snow and ice.

Email Updates

There is now a link on the Nike Women's Marathon website to receive email updates about the event! I am not sure if in signing up you will receive emails only about the Nike Women's Marathon, or if you will get emails about all things Nike. However, I think it is probably the place to enter your email address if you want to receive notice of registration opening for this event.

I again want to emphasize the importance of entering the morning registration opens if you are going to be participating in the half marathon. If you want to participate in the full, it does not fill up as quickly, but I would still recommend entering early as this event does fill extremely quickly.

So, go enter your email and start getting updates! :D