Kathy Runs

Tips4Running is a running blog for beginning runners. Recently I had a chance to talk to David Tiefenthaler, the brains behind tips4running.com. The full interview is below, but you can check it out on David’ site.

tips4running.com welcomes Kathy Simpson. Kathy Runs is Kathy’s blog about running. She also works with two other runners on the website Run Talk Radio. Both sites are entertaining and very informative. Kathy started running three years ago and has already completed five marathons. Right now she is training for a marathon in the fall of 2010.

David Tiefenthaler – Hello Kathy, Thanks for the interview. When did you first start your site Kathy Runs?

Kathy Simpson – I started it about 3 years ago. It’s actually the first blog that I’ve done, and now I manage three of them. Guess it got me hooked!

DT – When did you first start running seriously? Were you a runner in high school or college?

KS – My first race was a 5k in Alaska when I was in college. I was a skier/swimmer growing up, and I always avoided running. I think I finished the 5k in over 30 minutes? After that I didn’t run a race until after school. I was living in Sewanee, TN, and my friend, Sarah asked if I wanted to run a 1/2 marathon with her that weekend. I had always been active, and thought I was in good shape, so I said, “yes!” I didn’t know anything about running, not even that you’re supposed to eat carbs the night before a big race, but I ran the 1/2 in 2:08 and change. Half way through the race I saw an orange stain on my shoes and thought that someone had gotten highlighter on them… nope, that was blood from a blister that had popped!

DT – You grew up in Alaska, but exactly where in Alaska? Did you ever cross country ski there, and do you miss it there?

KS – I grew up in Palmer, Alaska–it’s about 50 miles north of Anchorage. I did do lots of XC skiing there. My mom and dad loved skiing, and I remember going to Barney’s Ski Shack when I was very young to get my first pair of classic skis. My parents would take us out on the frozen lake (I grew up on a lake), and we would ski in the shadows of the snow mobile tracks. I did a bit of XC skiing on the team in high school, and entered some local races around town and in Anchorage.

DT – Now you are living in San Francisco. Are most of the running routes really hilly in San Francisco?

KS – Surprisingly, as hilly as SF is, I can avoid the hills if need be. I’d say that living here has taught me how to appreciate the hills, though, more than avoid them. I live near Bernail Heights, so I frequent that hill–it’s about a mile an a 1/2 to the top from the base, and decently steep. The hills in the city provide an amazing challenge for my training.



DT – About how much do you run a week right now?

KS – It totally depends, but I’m doing between 40-60 miles per week. My coach updates my training plan weekly, so I never get too much of a glimpse into the future, but I don’t think he’ll go over a 70 mile week for me. He’s very good at keeping things mentally paletteable!

DT – How many marathons have you ran, and are you training for any specific races in the future?

KS – So far I’ve done five marathons. My first was the Nike Women’s, which I’ve run twice. I’ve done the California International Marathon twice, and the New York City marathon. Right now I’m training for the Portland Marathon in October. It’s the only marathon I’m running this year, although I may run the Nike Women’s in November, depending on whether or not I get in.

DT – In addition to KathyRuns, you also are a part of another website called RunTalkRadio. Yourself and two other runners formed this website. What information do you share with your visitors on RunTalkRadio?

KS – RunTalkRadio is so much fun! My co-hosts, Caleb and Daniel, and I have so much fun together sharing information about running, and just trying to keep things silly and interesting. We try to span a variety of topics, from very tactical advice, to things that are more abstract like motivation, running for charity, or being married to a non-runner. I met Caleb and Daniel through Dailymile.com and we got to know each other on Twitter. We started the show before any of us had met in person! I feel so lucky to be able to work with such quality runners, and friends.

DT – One of the contributors to RunTalkRadio is Caleb. Is this the same Caleb Masland that you have for your running coach right now?

KS – Yes, Caleb is my coach. His dream is to become a running coach, and he’s testing out his theories this year on a few different people. So far so good! Caleb got me to an 8 min PR at the Kaiser 1/2 marathon last year in just a month and a half. We’re working through the rest of the year until Portland, and then hopefully after that. He’s extremely knowledgeable, and fun to work with. He coaches me remotely, and I never feel like he’s absent. He IM’s me daily to talk about how I’m feeling about the workout I just did, and what I think about the upcoming workout I’m about to do. So far, I’m completely impressed with Caleb’s coaching abilities.

DT – Can you describe a typical week of training when you are getting ready for a marathon?

KS – Right now I have a long time before my target marathon in October. So I’m segmenting my year with a target 1/2 in June. I’m going for a fast marathon in 2010, so the strategy is to run a couple of 1/2 marathons at a very specific pace throughout the year, and focus on achieving small goals. I just did my first one, the Kaiser, in Feb. The next 1/2 marathon is the See Jane Run in June. After that I’ll probably run some smaller races, but the main objective is to use the training from the first 6 months of the year as a base to go into pace and endurance training for October. So right now, I’m doing one or two key speed-focused workouts a week, and a long run. I usually get a good rest in between speed work and after long runs. The goal with the rest/recovery runs is to avoid injury–I also try to get some protein at least 15 minutes after I’ve finished a hard effort, it’s seemed to really help!

DT – Do you follow a specific marathon training plan, like Marius Bakken’s 100 Day Marathon Plan, or Jeff Galloways Marathon Plan?

KS – Caleb calls his training approach, “Bonkproof.” It’s based on the advice from a couple of elite coaches. The main idea is to test yourself physically and mentally, go to the limit, and then push harder. This means that when you’re racing, you can trust that you’ll be able to kick over the last few miles. It helped at the Kaiser 1/2! It’s mixed with a lot of smart response to the hard effort it takes to complete a bonkproof workout, however. Caleb is big on making sure I have the correct amount of recovery without sacrificing fitness. I do a lot of cross training–everything from yoga, to swimming, to hours on the elliptical, to hiking, biking, etc.

DT – You are a design engineer. Does this professional background help you with building your websites?

KS – It does. These days I’m known as a Technical Strategist. I’d say that it’s nice to know how to build the websites that I maintain, but there’s more to it than that. Understanding the social media space is key. Just being able to build a blog is nice, but if you’re going to be successful at it, you’ve really got to understand how to engage the community, and know the web that’s cast from one person to the next. In the training world of social media, there are certainly heroes, but what I’m noticing these days is that as more and more people become comfortable with twitter, Facebook, and online social training logs, those heros are becoming the every day voice, making people like Lance, and Ryan much more human and accessible. Pretty cool, if you ask me.

DT – On your site, part of the reason you stay motivated to run is because of DailyMile. I have used RunningAHEAD and the log on Runners World. How is Daily Mile different than a typical online running log?

KS – I’ve used a lot of different logs online and off to try and keep up with my training. I was knee deep in the log on runners world, and posting to the forums almost hourly (don’t tell my boss!) when I found dailymile.com. I think the reason why I switched from the RunnersWorld training log to dailymile.com was ultimately the UI (user interface) of dailymile’s training log. It’s simple, and only asks for the bells and whistles if I really want them. I’m concerned with keeping track of my week to week miles and pace, which was a hard thing to do on RunnersWorld because of all the extra inputs. When I made the switch, though, I noticed so much more about dailymile.com that RunnersWorld, or even Nike Training (I use a Nike+ from time to time), was lacking–the social aspect of training. There’s something incredibly motivating about having other people around you (even though they exist digitally) that understand what it’s like to go through training for races, eat for performance, and obsess over certain pieces of running gear. Running is one of those nerdy sports, but on dailymile.com, you can be a cool kid! There’s not much more motivation that I need than that!

DT – Let’s say I am just getting into the sport of running. How would keeping a running log on DailyMile help me out?

KS – Well, there’s the tactical part of dailymile–the personal motivation that you get from logging your runs. It’s easy to do, so you don’t have to stress over keeping a training journalk. And then dailymile.com comes with a network of real runners who have been in your same shoes. There’s even a dailymile team now, made up of a group of knowledgeable dailymile members) that’s dedicated to helping out new runners/cyclists/triathletes. These people win marathons, have competed in multiple iron man triathlons, and are excited about the sport, dailymile, and newbies. If you want access to knowledgeable people, this is a pretty good place to get started. I remember when I first got into running I was posting questions on the RunnersWorld forums, and there’s a general sense of aggression towards newcomers on that site. I was impressed with the friendliness of dailymile (I even started a group for women on dailymile that I “stole” from runnersworld! I think we have over 400 members now).

DT – You said that 2009 was a “stressful and unfocused training year” for you. What happened that slowed you down, and what changes are you going to try in 2010?

KS – Ahhhh, Asking the personal questions! I had a lot happen in 2009 that just threw off my training. I ended a 7 year relationship, stepped it up at my work and welcomed way too many stressors into my life, moved from one neighborhood to the next in SF trying to find the perfect house (I settled after moving my things 3 times!), and then I was dealing with a couple of leftover injuries from 2008 (ITBS, a torn abdominal muscle that landed me in the ER, and tendinitis in both feet). When 2010 hit, I knew life was going to be different, and it has. Training couldn’t be better, I’ve already begun to see plenty of rewards. Work is still stressful, but I’m in an incredible relationship with a loving man who is also a runner–he’s a tech entrepreneur, so he understands the work stress that comes with being in tech in SF! I’ve been helping Ryan and Sara Hall enhance the Steps Foundation by producing their website and acting as the technical lead while their foundation starts taking its first “steps” (sorry… had to).

DT – Good luck this year. I hope you have a successful running season.

KS – Thanks, David!

I’ve written about it before, my draw to running a faster marathon, as this fleeting thing that I may never accomplish. After a stressful and unfocused 2009 training season, I asked my friend Caleb Masland to help me reach a goal that I’m afraid of.Over the past few months I’ve been training with his help, and I’m starting to see some good results! We started back in December after I had a less than desirable experience at the California International Marathon. Since then I’ve been able to knock a few off my 1/2 marathon time, and I’m learning how to “trust my training” — or at least that’s what my boyfriend tells me when I’m freaking out about an upcoming race.

The last four weeks have been slower because of the Kaiser 1/2 marathon. Caleb wanted me to get some rest both physically and mentally. But now we’re starting to kick it back up again. Here’s a snapshot of what my training looks like currently (I’ll post another image in a few weeks as the intensity builds).

PS: If you don’t already know, I use dailymile.com to track my training.

Lately, explaining dailymile to non-dailymilers has felt a little like selling a religion. I’ve been thinking about why this has happened–what have I changed about the way I think about dailymile.com in the last few weeks/months? The answer is that I’ve become personally interested in the success of the company because of my involvement with the dailymile team.

Being a member of the team has two meanings for me. First, I get to go about doing what I’ve already been doing, posting funny stories about my workouts, found images and videos related to running or training, and organizing meet-ups throughout San Francisco and the Bay Area. These things are fun, but they’re all linked to one medium, people already involved in the dailymile.com community. There’s something missing in the way I want to approach my new role as a dailymile team member.

That gets me to the second meaning, which is actually a challenge: How do I involve people outside of the community in an effort to help dailymile.com lose its “dot com”? What we have on dailymile.com is this amazingly powerful internet community which is spreading the love of running, cycling, and swimming all over the globe. But it’s constrained to actions that users can only take while they’re online. Sure, when I’m out experiencing the tangible world I think about what I’m going to write on dailymile.com later, but where I really find meaning from the site is when I get to make a human to human connection about this abstract thing.

This brings me to my recent delema. Talking about dailymile face to face with people who are already the online community is easy. How do I talk about dailymile.com with people going the other direction and not sound like I’m trying to get all my friends to join a cult? Well, I found an explanation from Fast Company that helps identify what makes an innovation amazing and I think it’s going to help me with my problem:



So here we go: (anchor) Dailymile + (anchor) Facebook ~ (twist) but for runners.

Hey, at least it’s a start!

(http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/dan-heath/switch/anchor-twist-how-sell-new-innovations)

It’s easy to be embarrassed when you’re wearing a full body spandex suit and your feet at strapped to thin pieces of wood. Throw in a high profile race, freezing Alaskan temperatures, and a running nose and you’ve got me.

I haven’t always been a runner, that’s just been the past three years of my life. I entered the athletic world on skis, and not the cool kind. When I was younger, my mom loaded us all up in the blue Volvo Station wagon and trucked us to Barny’s Ski Shack in Anchorage, Alaska. She shepherded us around the waxes, and through the hats and mittens until we found the skis. Along with my brothers and sisters, I was outfitted with the necessities for getting out on the trails and enjoying the pristine winter wilderness.

Skiing has always been a family pass-time, and through elementary and middle school I often took trips with my mom and dad around the lakes, and through the parks of the Mat-Su valley. But that’s all xc-skiing was until high school, when I joined the Colony High School XC Ski Team. I had a lot of fun on the team, but I’ll be honest, I wasn’t fast, I wasn’t coordinated, and I flailed. There’s a fundamental difference between downhill skiing and xc-skiing… gravity. Propelling yourself forward when you can rely on the momentum of a downhill slope to pull you to the finish line is much easier than balancing while trying to double poll on a flat or nearly up hill section of a race in order to slide past your competition. On this fine winter day at the Kincaid Invitational, that’s what I was trying to do.

My first race was my Freshman year at Colony High School. It was a 10k Classic through the well known Anchorage Park (Kincaid). I slithered into my spandex onesie, buckled down my boots, and slipped up to the starting line next to my competitor. Like all of the marathons I have run, some xc-ski races have a mass start. For a shy first timer, this is a fantastic way to start a race–you blend in with the other skiers, totally hidden from the judgment of the crowd. For my first race, however, we had heat starts. It was me vs. McKenzie West, a cute red headed speed demon who skied like she was born with sticks on her feet.

At the start of the ski race, we lined up side by side in the chute. The start was flat, so the strategy was to double poll to gain momentum around the corner until the downhills started. Balance was key. BANG! We took off–correction–she took off. I put my weak arms to work doing the best I could to get going as fast as I could. And then the turn came. I channeled my inner confidence and broke into the turn. What I forgot to do was channel my inner ballerina. I looked up, saw a group of the cutest xc-ski boys I had ever seen. The very second I made eye contact I found myself tumbling into the snow with all the grace of a hokey player on figure skates, and I wasn’t even past the 1600 meter mark. Right away I heard the cute boys laughing, and then I looked down and saw a trail of frozen mucus clinging to my bright green spandex suit. I had two choices, ski off and forfeit the race, or pick myself up and take almost up to a minute loss on my first race. This was my first lesson in endurance–you can always do ten times more than what you think you are capable of. With that in mind I slipped on past the giggling boys, and onto the downhill section where I gained momentum and eventually caught that McKenzie West.

(NOTE: McKenzie did beat me in this race, but after some practice, I was able to pass her at Kincaid the next year.)

My RunTalkRadio co-host, Caleb, has recently put out the challenge to runners everywhere to make a list that is tailored to our individual needs. Forget the generalized lists that are published for the masses, instead, he says, make one for yourself and use it to help you train for the 2010 season. Since Caleb is no only my co-host but also my coach, I feel like he put this out there as an easy homework assignment. So here goes:

Original post on RunTalkRadio

List your major body components and how you will keep them tuned.

• Quads (remember the 5 minute wallsit?). I’ll keep them tuned by running hills, and doing strength work. Beyond this, I want to keep them agile, so I plan to vary my speed work in order to keep these muscles guessing.
• Core I want to incorporate some non traditional core workouts this year. More planks, more swimming.
• Feet In 2009 I struggled with my feet. I’m not talking blisters either, although those were a problem, and I’m anticipating them to stick around for 2010. Ending 2008, I had tendinitis which didn’t go away for a few months into 2009. The year kicked off to a slow start, but I’ve learned and am determined to have strong feet throughout 2010.

List your biggest sources of motivation and how you will keep them in mind throughout the year.

• Caleb, my coach! I usually do all of my training plans myself, and lean on an intense internal motivation to keep me on track. This year, I’m adding some spice to my training, and Caleb is helping me reach some pretty challenging goals.
• Dailymile Dailymile kept me going through 2009, and I have high expectations for it in 2010!
• Friends and family I started running because I wanted to remember some very important people in my life, my good friend, Monica, and my amazing Grandma. They both passed away my freshman year of college and I’ll run to remember them for the rest of my life.

List the people you know that should be running or exercising more, then think about how to encourage them.

• I’m not going to name names here, and most of these people know exactly who they are. My job isn’t to push, but to motivate and encourage. Running isn’t about doing something you hate and I would never want any of my friends or family to experience it in a negative light. In 2009, I motivated people to run through my running, I hope I can do the same in 2010

List at least one thing that is outside of your comfort zone of last year to attempt this year.

• PR at the Portland Marathon A PR would be great, but I’m looking for something more, an experience that challenges me, a training plan that I love to hate, and a PR that I will never forget. I’m superstitious, so I’ll need some serious pushing to admit to what time I would like to finish the Portland Marathon in (Caleb knows). I want to go fast and I want these next 10 months to show me new parts of running and training that I wasn’t able to experience in 2009

List at least one thing that you can make better by running.

• This year I joined up with The Steps Foundation to help improve the world around us by harnessing the passion that lives inside all runners and unleashing it on several initiatives that I believe in: clean water, safe environments for kids, and mentoring the youth around us. Whether it’s just staying healthy in order to be there for The Steps Foundation, or raising funds through running, I’ll be there!

Decided to run on one of my long forgotten trails yesterday, The Dish at Stanford. It was so great to be back in my old stomping grounds. The weather was a perfect 60 degrees, and the hills were just calling my name the entire time!

Testing out the legs today on Christmas Eve. A few weeks ago I was involved in a competition that set the record straight about the 5 minute wall sit. Today, I decided to talk about how I do it. Essentials: People magazine, good tunes (although I didn’t have that today), a stop watch, barefoot or shoes (no socks… they slip and make your legs burn more).

Friday, December 11th, nine runners took off for the first Annual Dailymile Hot Toddy 10k. We met at the Sports Basement, some of us did some last minute shopping (how can you pass up Sports Basement?), and then we took off into the night with an objective of trying to soak in the twinkling lights of the Marina, and Pacific Heights. The course took us through Crissy Field past all of the beautifully decorated Christmas trees. The marina sailboats had their masts lit up as we cruised by. The group hung right and we climbed some of the harder hills in Pacific Heights – can’t ever run in San Francisco without going up a hill!

And this is where things got dicey. Our objective was quickly lost in Pac Heights after summiting a climb when we ended up in the middle of a power outage. San Francisco was black and silent (as silent as a city can be) for a few minutes, allowing us to catch our breath, and take in the city skyline.

After our brief encounter with danger, we found ourselves back in the Marina and on our way to the Palace of Fine Arts. Puddle jumping awaited us at the palace where we were transformed into little kids, running through the grass and hopping over temporary street streams.

The night ended back at The Tipsy Pig for some warming up with hot toddies, Hawaiian BBQ pork sliders, sweet potato french fries, and giant pretzels. In the spirit of the holidays, we each got a prize for “finishing” the 10k. Check out the pictures from the evening!

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been working with two running partners of mine to set up and record a virtual conference which has turned into the fun loving, Run Talk Radio.

Caleb, Daniel and I met through Dailymile.com and became fast friends through the tubes of the internet. Through Run Talk Radio we’ve gotten to know quite a bit about each other, and hoping our friendship will be strengthened through running, and… well – talking!



We have 3.5 episodes available on the website, and will soon be ready to download via the iTunes store. Check out our latest episode: Jokesters.

Here’s some more about the team:
Most running partners are old friends, or they meet at the first day of running club, or they’ve passed each other on the sidewalk so often that they decided to join forces. Our story is a bit different than that, we met in the cozy world of the Internet.

We became quick friends on a popular running (cycling, and swimming) social network. At first we were competitors looking for that spot on the leader board, but as we got to know each other, we realized that we had a lot more in common than a crazy passion for running – we geek out hard when it comes to training, shoes, gear, nutrition, motivation and inspiration.

Instead of simply annoying our loved ones with stories of homemade gel pouches, lost toenails, or boasts about outrageous appetites, we deiced to take things to the next level with Run Talk Radio.

Get to know us as we explore the runner’s world of nutrition, gear, training, and anything that may pop up during friendly conversation about a sport we all love.

Patagonia.com

Leave it to Patagonia to keep us all inspired and excited about ski season. After a pretty rocky running season, I must say that I’m looking forward to this year’s mountain time with primed legs and feet that are itching to snuggle into my telemark boots. I have one more race (the The California International Marathon on Sunday, December 6th) and then it’s a mad sprint to the white room for the next few months.

Luckily my runner friends are also my skier friends, this helps keep my excitement factor at all time highs while going into winter 2010. After posting the above photo on Dailymile I went on to gush about it with my dear friend and heterosexual life partner, Haley.