Last night the Chevy Chase store hosted Ladies Night, a fashion show focused on women's winter running apparel. There were a host of vendors and businesses there to promote fitness and their goods. All in all it was a nice success. Good turnout and pleasant holiday cheer in abundance.
Various celebraties decided to crash the party including Alan Webb. I had an opportunity to speak with him about training. I was pleasantly surprised to hear that he considers the DC area to be one of the best running areas in the country in terms of providing quality training. He loves Difficult Run, in particular. I will see if he will come out on a run with the GRC gang one of these days.
Thanks to Lauren, Allen and Sheena for working as a team to make the show happen.
Happy Holidays
Yeah, thanks to Allen, Sheena, and Lauren! Ladies Night was a really good time. I think I found someone to repair my orthotics and scored some great swag. My favorite part was when Max walked the runway in the red jacket to go with his shorts.
ReplyDeleteMax, I was surprised to hear Allen Webb say that, too. He said he thinks D.C. is superior to Eugene in terms of trails. Hopefully he and Julia will come out to a run sometime.
That actually doesn't surprise me. I think DC is a great city for running. You've got the endless canal, a variety of different types of trails in RCP, you have the CCT, WO&D and the RCPT...all of the aforementioned areas can be interconnected in a variety of different "mega runs". In addtion, just outside the city, you've got places like Difficult Run, Manassas and places up along the canal like Riley's Lock.
ReplyDeleteI spent a week in Eugene this summer and wasn't impressed with their running routes. The "Pre Trail" has it's "cool factor" and is great for workouts, but my guess is the team must need to travel for their long runs. "Pre's Trail" gets pretty boring after a day or so.
In terms of variety, DC's trails trump Eugene's. However, I would choose Eugene's if given the option due to:
ReplyDelete1:Softness
2:Accessibility
3:Runnable year round in all weather conditions
4.Great footing (no rocks or roots)
As I said to Klim, Bain and Jarrin when we were out there, I feel as if I could run 140 mpw on those trails and not get injured.
A pro runner's job is to stay healthy and train as much as possible so I see why so many pros choose Eugene. The scenery of a run is secondary to the training effect.
As an interesting aside, the first day I ran pre's trail, I was locking up my bike near Autzen stadium when I looked up and saw Webb running strides on the woodchips. Later in the week I ran a 16 miler on pre's trail (4 loops) and it got very monotonous.
I feel like if I ran anymore that 12 miles a week on that trail I'd have to commit myself to an asylum. It was great for workouts but I was getting bored.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I am sure there are other trails around Eugene that are nice...only I never ventured out past campus.
Ladies night was fun--I'm glad I stopped in! Great job Sheena and everyone else who helped put it together.
ReplyDeleteAllen, thanks for finding me a pr of shoes that fit well, and more importantly, look darn good. :)
The Amazon trail was similar to pre's trail but there were some more varied trails that ran up to the Butte's. I only made it to the trailhead and didn't get to explore it much.
ReplyDeletePre's Trail = Legs trashed in RED messy soot.
ReplyDeleteAs for the remaining areas outside of Eugene that Bain, Tetrick and I ventured to, Spencer Butte and the Ridgeline Trail were incredible. Unique and better if not as good as most in this area IMHO.
- JARRIN
Allen trains at Manassas/Bull Run quite a bit. I went there with CC and Bain not too long ago and would love to go back. It'd be a great place to run USATFXC style workouts or simply a new place to run long. It's a bit of a hike, but it might be worth it.
ReplyDeleteAnyone interested this winter?
Max actually got it right at the beginning of the post. It's Alan not Allen.
ReplyDeleteWhoops, sorry Alan Webb!
ReplyDeleteI have a giant poster in my room of Allen Carr and was staring lovingly at it while I made my last comment. Was kind of distracted...
Me too.
ReplyDeleteI would be willing to try some new trails like Manassas/Bull Run. I'm really looking forward to XC training the next few weeks!
ReplyDeleteAnd while I'm home for the holidays, I truly miss training in DC. Even though it's an urban setting, the trails are long and accessible from most parts of the city and suburbs. That, and NY has so much snow it's impossible to get a decent run in on trails.