I have a “runemy.” She’s shorter, she’s lighter and she has more running talent than me.
She also is a total jerk. Talks crap about me all. the. time. Says I’m too fat, too slow and too old to beat her. And we’re in the same age group!
I don’t like her. And I’m going to kick her ass. Because I will work harder than she will. I will work smarter. And I will beat her.

She’s my race rival. A “runemy,” I call her. But she’s not real. She only exists in my mind.
It seems sort of silly when I write it down here, but without her, I would most likely sleep in a lot. She keeps me going…knowing she’s out there talking shit.
Do you have a “runemy”? f you don’t, I suggest you get one. If only to have when you need a little extra motivation. Make one up. Can you give her a face and a name?
Mine’s name jerk face. And her face looks like a jerk.
She helped me get my run done this morning, though. I had a speed play run and guess what?
NAILED IT…except I was supposed to do it tomorrow, not today. Oh well.
I did 5 min at slow pace, 5 min at easy pace and then 3x(2 min at a 5Kish pace, 2 min at slow pace), then 5 min at slow pace again.
I was really supposed to do a foundation run today. Guess that’ll be tomorrow.
Afterward, I took the dog for a 15 minute walk. I noticed that I get very impatient immediately after a run lately. Not sure what that’s all about. The walk helped mellow me out, and I had a nice morning getting my son ready for school, and getting me ready for work.
After work, I came home and busted out a Metabolic Effect circuit. Made it 5.75 rounds in 20 minutes with 12-pound dumbbells:
12 squats with rows
12 chest presses with a crunch
12 squats with curls
12 squats with side arm raises
Today, I was listening to Jill Coleman on The Fitcast podcast, and someone asked about metabolic circuits and strength training and she said you need both. So I don’t have to stop lifting heavy! My regular lifting workouts will be my strength base and the ME circuits will be like the icing on the cake.
Someone sent in a question for that episode that sounded like it could’ve been me. It went sort of like this: I’ve been wanting to train for another marathon, but I’ve worked hard to get lean. Can I keep a leaner physique while training for a marathon?
I mean…did I write that and forget that I sent it in?
Jill basically said yes, but that it’s harder to keep your nutrition in check when you run more. Hashtag: runger.
After my son got home this afternoon, he went to a friend’s house to play badminton. It was gorgeous outside, so I went for a walk…but forgot my sunglasses.
Do you ever walk?
Are you going to try having a running rival?
4 comments
My friend and I have an arch enemy. Her name is Patrice. I have no idea if that is actually her name. She’s a girl that does the group cycle rides with us and we have made it our mission to be better than her. It’s a fun game that we play, but it works. (Side note, Patrice is actually really nice which makes the whole thing funnier)
I don’t know why, but the name Patrice just makes me giggle. Too funny!
Kerrie, you always crack me up. I’m so glad you’re writing more.
Thanks for putting it out there that walking is totally acceptable. I will be walking a half tomorrow because I kinda forgot to train for it and I will admit some stress and regret on that fact (wwork has been soooooo busy this winter! and let’s not talk about how much a non-driving high schooler will dominate your time…). I hear ya on the impatience thing too, I think that’s why I go grocery shopping before I go home from my weekend runs. Whatever works, right?
Right! How did your half go? I walked a half once with a couple of new friends and had a blast! Hope it was great!