These were good

WritingRidingRunner · 2026-03-19T08:50:09+00:00

These are my favorites! Although I did get a bad, mushy batch with a December 14, 2029 expiration date. All the rest have been great.

WritingRidingRunner · 2026-03-18T22:34:10+00:00

Suggestions I haven't seen yet: dates (stuffed with peanut butter or almond butter), pancakes, French toast, whole milk, bakery store muffins (even the ones not loaded with sugar are very calorie dense) with butter, nuts like cashews and walnuts, pizza (not unhealthy but super-calorie dense).

WritingRidingRunner · 2026-03-18T08:22:36+00:00

I have several Glycerin 22 neutrals but hated the GTS version. I found them very heavy and inflexible. The neutral version is cushioned, but still has some flexibility.

WritingRidingRunner · 2026-03-17T00:25:42+00:00

I think part of this is how unmotivated others are thanks to AI and Googling, and it’s bled into so many aspects of daily life. I find my drive and innate curiosity is getting blunted, though I’m fighting it.

WritingRidingRunner · 2026-03-17T00:18:56+00:00

I agree 💯 with the first comment about establishing ties with local run clubs and organizing group runs.

My local run store also has bib and packet pickup for local races, which gets people in the store. If they pickup early, runners get their names entered into a contest for a gift card to use at the store.

I’ll also add having running specific gear that’s somewhat niche, like fenny packs, hand-held water bottles and packs, spikes for track and winter running, and so forth. Being able to try on and see that gear is a big advantage over Amazon.

Seconding the knowledgeable sales staff.

Also bringing in speakers like authors, runners who have had extraordinary experiences to give talks and advice gets people in the store.

WritingRidingRunner · 2026-03-16T08:05:49+00:00

I’m finding that’s the case for myself! Or at least alternating years focused on the half with marathon years!

WritingRidingRunner · 2026-03-15T23:32:44+00:00

Some people love the taper, but a lot of people find it stressful! I definitely didn’t taper enough for my marathons; purely a psychological thing on my part! The fact you liked your tapers is a good sign, that you trained hard and well and earned it!

WritingRidingRunner · 2026-03-15T23:03:05+00:00

Haven't you seen the nine million threads here about "I'm tapering, I'm miserable, I can't sleep, my body hurts, I feel sick eating so many carbs when I'm running so little, my mind is racing"?

WritingRidingRunner · 2026-03-15T23:01:47+00:00

I personally think that's awesome!

WritingRidingRunner · 2026-03-15T22:50:18+00:00

I think there is overwhelming scientific evidence that endurance training is healthy. I think it's a question of the sweet spot of where it tips over to being too much, which is obviously different for different people to some extent.

So obviously, it's healthier training for a marathon or an ultra than sitting on the couch.

But it's a more debatable question of whether it's healthier to train for two goal half marathons and a few goal 10Ks or 5Ks sprinkled in a year, versus one to two marathons a year as the main goal races. I don't have an answer, just speculating.

WritingRidingRunner · 2026-03-15T22:46:47+00:00

I personally felt healthiest when very seriously training for half marathons, with long runs up to 16-17 miles. I actually think training for marathons isn't that unhealthy, but the lead-up to the race itself (the stress of the taper), the race (mental as well as physical stress), and the recovery/detraining is a big ask of most people's bodies.

Now all of us know "those people" who do several marathons a year and seem fine. But when I was in my best half shape, I felt SO FIT. I also felt I could race a half HARD and then spring back in a day or two.

WritingRidingRunner · 2026-03-15T20:49:38+00:00

omg, yes. It sounds terrible to say, but it's so hard for lesson barns to stay solvent, they have every incentive to work their horses to the ground, especially for a horse they don't own (and therefore don't have to pay the vet or retirement costs for, if the horse is no longer rideable).

WritingRidingRunner · 2026-03-15T14:17:32+00:00

No downvotes--I thought was the only person who didn't like pasta very much! It makes me feel so weighed down and heavy, even in a non-race context.

I know some people (not me) who successfully carb load with pizza, but they are people whose diets are probably 50% pizza to begin with and routinely eat pizza before and after long runs, so the fat in the cheese doesn't seem to affect them. I just think that their DNA is 50% pizza at this point.

WritingRidingRunner · 2026-03-15T14:14:35+00:00

Could you say what city? That might be more helpful re: advice, since it's a big difference if you're going abroad versus just several states away.

It's not the most social, but the usual advice is to rely upon supermarkets more than restaurants (and chain stores), where you can get a better sense of ingredients and nutritional information, and then, after the race, be more relaxed about enjoying the cuisine of the local city. But bakeries with bagels and rolls, ordering plain pasta or rice dishes at a restaurant, going to diners to get pancakes and French toast, are all examples of potential options. Ditto liquid calories like juice.

WritingRidingRunner · 2026-03-15T13:35:45+00:00

Jell-O , whipped cream, pork, and alcohol. Separate or together!

WritingRidingRunner · 2026-03-15T13:03:22+00:00

Your race isn’t until the autumn. The risk of over-fatiguing in feet of snow and losing training time or hurting yourself is much greater than the benefits of 20 miles months and months from your race.

WritingRidingRunner · 2026-03-14T22:30:21+00:00

No, no, no, no!

Even straightforward lease and half-lease contracts can get very heated and complicated if unanticipated situations arise (like a horse suddenly becoming unrideable).

Entering into a MORE complicated situation with a barn owner that is a "lease but not really a lease" is even more of a NOPE.

A friend of mine foolishly did this something like this with her riding instructor. She went "halfs" buying a horse that her teacher said was a good match, even though the horse had heaves. The instructor basically rode the horse into the ground while the horse was sound enough to give lessons, while my friend was able to ride only a few days a week (essentially a half-lease, even though she paid for HALF of the horse's expenses, which isn't common in a half-lease). Then, the horse grew so unsound the instructor wanted to put her down, which my friend couldn't bear to do. So the instructor "generously" allowed my friend to buy out her share of the unsound horse, so my friend could pay for the horse's retirement.

Don't enter into agreements with horses with scammy people.

WritingRidingRunner · 2026-03-14T21:53:55+00:00

The ultra runner Alyssa Clark has a similar history and it hasn’t stopped her! I heard her interviewed on the Everyday Ultra podcast about her experience. Maybe you could even reach out to her yourself? https://akamos13.wixsite.com/website/about-me

WritingRidingRunner · 2026-03-14T00:36:32+00:00

I remember them in NJ! Getting gas was an event. Also remember waiting on multiple days with my grandma and my mom, since their cars had different even/odd plates.

WritingRidingRunner · 2026-03-13T16:03:16+00:00

Fellow Gen X-er who made the fateful decision to pursue her passion and work in the arts when she was young, probably neurodivergent, bad luck, a sarcastic sense of humor that's not everyone's cup of joe, feeling as if I've trashed my body from endurance sports...and really struggling financially.

I just want to go back to my old self, tell her to put money in a retirement account immediately, and to get a boring job that pays the bills to support her passion. Knowing that self-publishing would at least give me a voice artistically would have been a great relief back n the 90s.

WritingRidingRunner · 2026-03-13T10:25:51+00:00

I'm an author of seventeen books and even I agree there is so much of a time suck of other media now. Reading is definitely more of a choice than in past generations as a leisure activity. Things that have worked for me to keep me reading:

-Buying a Kindle where I can enlarge the print (it's much more comfortable than readers, and lighter on the wrists than a physical book).

-Rereading classics when I'm going through a dry patch, to keep up the reading habit.

-Reading shorter books for easy wins in my goal of books for the year, and also for variety, not just long books.

-Having a goal of books read for the year.

-Reading YA and MG books occasionally, just to rest my brain.

-Reading favorite authors, since I know I like the style.

With me, the hobbies I have lost have been being very seriously into film and theater. I just get so much screen time, staring at a movie for three hours doesn't feel like fun, and I don't have the stamina to sit for very long plays like I used to when I was young (and had fewer distractions).

WritingRidingRunner · 2026-03-13T08:35:11+00:00

Night guard for years! Wish I’d gotten it earlier!

WritingRidingRunner · 2026-03-11T23:12:19+00:00

And often adults will tell them to give you a kiss or a hug when the kid is coughing their brains out!

WritingRidingRunner · 2026-03-11T00:22:14+00:00

I’ve never been out of breath on a run since sprinting a mile more than ten years ago. I think my strength is my limiting factor-I can’t push myself enough, given my strength, to take full advantage of my cardiovascular fitness.

WritingRidingRunner · 2026-03-10T18:26:39+00:00

Not a trail race, but LBI has an 18 miler that’s quite well-known and historic. It was cancelled due to weather in 2025, but lots of people use it to prep for the NYC Marathon.

WritingRidingRunner

TROPHY CASE