EXCLUSIVE: Pre-New York City Marathon Interview with elite runner Molly Pritz!

Molly Pritz and her crew. Photo courtesy of Brad Hudson

I recently had the opportunity to talk with ASICS America's Molly Pritz about well...not exclusively running, so let's just say I had a chance to interview her. As one of the nation's top runners, she's done quite a few interviews lately, but many of them don't truly capture the essence of Molly (full disclosure: this woman is my best friend, and she's absolutely hilarious, and I wanted to try to show you guys that side of her too. And to be honest, I talk to her multiple times per week, but no one wants to hear those conversations...seriously).

Molly Pritz 1:10:45 at San Fran Half!

Seeing as track hasn't yet started in London (well, except for the athletes, because for them it started a long time ago), allow me to steer your attention towards the San Francisco Half-Marathon, where Molly Pritz, running for ASICS, went 1:10:45 to shatter the old course record and set herself a new PR...in the middle of marathon training. Which makes it all the more impressive because running marathon pace for 13 miles is a pretty tough thing to do during marathon training. You heard it here first...that girl is going to be the next big thing. Better update later when I'm not at XC camp in the woods with spotty Internet.

Another Contest! (not mine this time though)

Just giving you guys a heads up that Molly Pritz is running a contest on her blog for anyone who can guess her finishing time at the San Francisco Half. If you need something to work with, her stats are here, though keep in mind she's not tapered for this one. Good luck!

Click here for details and to enter!

Guest Blog: Gear Review: Merrell Lithe Glove

Today's post is another guest blog from my minimalist friend Julie, who you may remember as the trail runner who wrote the Saucony Grid Type A4 review. This time, she's got a review of the Merrell Lithe Glove, which is the women's companion to the men's Merrell Sonic Glove. Both shoes are part of the Merrell Barefoot Collection. So this one is for you minimalists who might wish my reviews came from the perspective of someone with a barefoot background!

New pro runner blog for you all to read

Oh hey, look who has a blog! Click the picture to check it out!

2012 Olympic Marathon Team Trials...and another exciting announcement!

First of all, everyone get stoked for the 2012 Olympic Marathon Team Trials! It all goes down this Saturday in Houston, with the men's start at 8:00am and the women's start fifteen minutes later at 8:15am (both CST). Unfortunately, the most important US marathon of the year won't be televised live. Instead, it will be shown on NBC from 3-5pm EST (same day coverage). Seriously, this is the Superbowl, because it picks the best in the nation, and then the top three go on to the Super-Superbowl in London where they face the best in the world. Can anyone imagine what the backlash would be like if the only Superbowl coverage was a two-hour highlight reel shown six hours after it actually took place? Such is the plight of being a fan of this great sport that most of America has no interest in watching.

More on Footstrike and Some Other Random Stuff

Actually I lied with that title. I don't really have any comments on footstrike. Just some fun with the video camera after the jump. Video was taken after a run, so I was tired enough that this is my natural stride, not some stupid thing I decided to make up for first five minutes of running. All of this was done at my relaxed easy day pace. There were also a lot more run-throughs than the eight here, but I just grabbed one from each direction/view/shoe when I was editing. Camera is a Canon something or other (that really narrows it down...I feel like the people who go into a running store and say "My current shoes are Brooks."). Shoes are the Brooks Launch and Brooks Pure Connect.

‎Molly Pritz in 2:31:52 for top American at NYCM!!

Molly Pritz just went 2:31:52 at the New York City Marathon, for 1st American and 12th overall! In her marathon debut no less too.

12 122 Pritz, Molly PA/USA 23 2:31:52 +08:37.12 5:48


Flotrack video after the break.

Picture courtesy of Runner's World

New Design and Countdown to NYCM

Yes, you are at the right blog. Well, you're at the right blog if you're looking for that blog with all the shoe reviews that used to have a picture of 2006 Pre-Nats in the background.

5 days until the Freshman Class (Molly Pritz, Lauren Fleshman, Bobby Curtis, and Ed Moran) make their marathon debut at the New York City Marathon. Don't miss it.
Elite men's field: http://www.nycmarathon.org/pro_men.htm
Elite women's field: http://www.nycmarathon.org/pro_women.htm

That is all.

Departure from the Norm...Seven Random Facts

I do a lot of serious posts, and not nearly enough "fun" posts. So I decided it's time for a fun post. Leah at Chasing Atalanta just tagged me to write a Seven Random Facts about myself post. Thanks for the link, Leah! She herself was tagged with a Versatile Blogger Award (well deserved), but my blog is not very versatile, so I'm not sure that part was actually intended for me. Since all my readers actually know about me are my shoe preferences, here's a chance to get to know me a little better. Plus maybe it'll help me make this blog more versatile and/or get me more internet friends and readers.

Guest Blog: Gear Review: Saucony Grid Type A4

I asked my friend and college teammate Julie to write up a guest review on the Saucony Grid Type A4 racing flat, which has become her trainer of choice. After college, Julie took her running in a completely different direction than I did, returning to the trail running she had done outside of NCAA running, getting involved with ultradistance races, and experimenting with minimalist shoes, including various flats, the Vibram Five Fingers, and running completely barefoot. While I did a review of the Nike Free a little while ago, my review still came from the perspective of a shod road runner. As far as minimalism goes, Julie is the real deal. So, for all you trail runners, ultrarunners, and minimalist fans, this review is for you.

Molly Pritz is the 2011 USATF 25K National Champion!

Molly Pritz, of the Hansons Brooks Distance Project, won the Fifth Third River Bank Run in 1:25:38 to become the 2011 USATF 25K National Champion! And just in case this isn't impressive enough, she just did it at 23 years old. Expect big things from this girl in the future. Check out the interview on Runnerspace.

Sorry for the long deadspace between updates. End of the semester = exam week and other craziness. I have a good one in the works, just have to proofread it.

Marathon Training and the Long Run

If you're reading this blog, you no doubt know that we're approaching marathon season. The Mardi Gras Marathon and Half was last weekend (Molly Pritz, rockstar that she is, rocked the half in 1:11:05 to take second overall female! And to make me look unbiased, Kim Smith ran the fastest half by a woman on US soil, winning in 1:07:36), and the training for most people who are running a spring marathon is now underway.

A Race to Remember

Since I obviously don't have any new race reports for you, I figured I'd post up some more older stories. In chronological order, my top three races:

2001 PIAA District II Cross-Country Championship - Scranton, PA
I started running freshman year of high school, but it wasn't until my junior year that I began to see real results. That year, I was running #2 for Bishop Hafey High School, behind #1 Kira. For me, Districts was the most important race of the season, since it determined who qualified for the PIAA State Championship. Kira had qualified for States as an individual in 2000 and had a good chance of going again in '01. For me, it would be more of a stretch. I had my goals though. For the first time, Districts was to be held on the Scranton Municipal Golf Course, a course that no runners had been allowed on earlier in the season, so no one had any idea what the course was going to look like. To further complicate things, Districts also fell on an unseasonably hot day, quite a change from the cool to cold conditions we had been practicing in and from the League meet a week earlier that had been in the  high 30's and rainy. No one in Northeastern Pennsylvania had run in these kind of conditions since the early season.

Yoga Is Not Relaxing

I spent a couple years living in Boulder, Colorado. In Boulder, apparently it was a normal thing for stores to offer yoga classes every so often. Even Fleet Feet Boulder, the running store that sponsored my team, had yoga classes, and they're a running and tri store, not a yoga store. Well, since they all knew me and I didn't want to make a fool out of myself in front of them (and because I had zero interest in yoga), I never went to their classes. The whole time I was in Boulder, people continued to tell me how relaxing yoga is. My friends Stefani and Elizabeth were convinced that hot yoga was the most relaxing, purifying, and soothing thing ever, and they seemed determined to convince me of the same thing. Well, anyway, hot yoga was out. I hate running in really hot temperatures, so why would I want to practice yoga in hot temperatures when I had the option to practice yoga in normal temperatures (or not practice yoga at all)? However, these were the same girls who got me mountain biking and snowboarding and I liked those things, so I figured I'd give it a try. They convinced me to go to a store class at the shop where Stef worked. I spent most of the class trying not to fall over. Not relaxing. Later, I rented a house with Stef and Susanna, another yoga fan, and I often got to hear about how relaxing and soothing yoga was, and how that one class was a poor example because the instructor was a different instructor than usual and had made us do advanced balance poses. They said this as they stood on one leg with their arms in the air, or as they balanced on their head and hands with their legs folded pretzel-like on one of their elbows. Uh huh, that doesn't look relaxing.

Mollyyyyyy!!! 1:12:14!!!

Molly Pritz of Hansons-Brooks Distance Project ran a 1:12:14 for first female at the San Antonio Rock N Roll Half Marathon! That's also her 2012 Olympic Trials Marathon qualifier (by almost 3 minutes...sick!). Congratulations Molly!

That's also four out of the last five posts that Molly got her name in. You better love me, Molly.

Luke at San Fran

My friend Luke ran the San Francisco Marathon a few weeks ago. His race report is up here.


Congratulations to Luke on his Boston Qualifier!