Our runners of the week are Rebecca and Katherine! Check them out.

REBECCA

Totally feel you on the treadmill, Rebecca. Not even Neon Trees can make that fun. Thanks for being on our team – everybody go here to support Rebecca’s race!

KATHERINE

Kat, we want to hear more about how you’re running three miles through old houses. Also, 5th Ward Weebie needs to play at our post-race party – agree? Let’s get Shelley on that. Katherine is awesome and you should definitely support her race here.

Runners of the Week – March 2

Just one month until our Make It Right team runs the Crescent City Classic! If you haven’t joined our team yet, we still have spots available. Sign up today and run or walk with us! 

Our runners of the week are Lydia and Anna! Check them out below, support their race or sign up to run or walk with our awesome team. Also this week on the blog: running playlists!

LYDIA

Nice to meet you, Lydia (and Cooper!). Support Lydia’s race here. Happy squeezeboxing!

ANNA

Awesome hat, Anna! And we love 1000 Figs too. Support Anna’s race here.

But we need more teammates! To get the last handful of you off the fence (or off the couch, perhaps?), we’re throwing in a few incentives The next ten runners to sign up will be entered in a drawing to win TWO JAZZ FEST passes for the festival day of their choice.

That’s a one in ten chance, folks. Pretty good odds – better than Vegas (and healthier, too). If you’ve been thinking about signing up, now is the time to click here and lace up. We can’t wait to have you on the team!

Today our staff running team is giving you our playlists – the songs (and books in one case) that get us off the couch and into our sneakers. Whether you roll with Kanye, Taylor Swift or Tina Fey, we’ve got you covered.

Cesar Rodriguez
If you’ve read my previous blogs, it should come as no surprise that my playlist is random and bilingual. Yes, there are some questionable choices here but this is a judgment free zone. So keep an open mind  – and I hope this helps your run!

James Mazzuto
From the guy who brought you books as a path to running, comes a podcast playlist. With podcasts, I get to exercise and learn something at the same time. Each podcast is about an hour long – perfect for a five mile run at my pace. Hit play, start running – when the podcast is over, stop.

Here’s my playlist:

1. Serial – I’m obsessed.  Did he do it?  Didn’t he?  Listen and decide for yourself.
2. Invisibilia – A look at the inner workings of human minds and behavior.
3. Wait Wait, Don’t Tell Me – Funny and they always have great guests.
4. The Economist: Money Talks – I get my weekly briefing on what is going on in the world markets.
5. And sometimes I listen to books.  The last one I listened to was Tina Fey’s Bossy Pants. Hilarious!

Taylor Royle
I cannot run without a good playlist. I don’t do the whole pacing thing (matching the tempo of the song to your running pace) – I just pick songs that make me want to move. And I’ve been known to dance-run…a lot. Whatever gets you through the miles, right?

At the end of this playlist, I added some cool-down songs. I always stop running about a mile from home and walk back – a good way to unwind and stretch your muscles.

NOTE: We made our playlists on Spotify, but some of my top running tracks aren’t on Spotify (hang tough, T-Swift). You can find those here:

Shake It Off – Taylor Swift
All Day – Girl Talk (this entire album makes an excellent running playlist! Bonus: also great for parties.)

Today on the blog: our team captain James Mazzuto and his running buddies Cesar and Taylor are sharing tips for training and gear.

Taylor Royle

I’m a terrible athlete. In elementary school, I was hit in the face with every kind of sports-related item: softball, soccer ball, frisbee, inflatable tube, tennis racquet, ping pong paddle. A horse stepped on my left foot and I dropped a bowling ball on the right. Totally hopeless.

In my early 30s, I really wanted to exercise more – but I knew competitive sports weren’t going to work. I tried spinning, but wasn’t terribly keen on the dark rooms and music selection. I tried yoga, but I wanted to move more and sweat more. (On the sweating: I tried hot yoga too. No dice.)

Then I heard about Couch to 5k, a program that can turn anyone into a runner. AND IT WORKED! This is the easiest program to follow. You start off really slow – just running 30 seconds at a time, then walking, then running again. The short bursts become longer stretches and in a few weeks, you’re running 20 minutes straight like its walking across the street.

I highly recommend downloading a Couch to 5k app to your phone. You set the app when you start your run and it alerts you when to start and stop running. And you can play your own music in the background. Easy!

A race is a great way to get motivated and stick to a training schedule.

Since I started, I’ve run several half-marathons and a bunch of shorter races. When you start running, a race is a great way to get motivated and stick to a training schedule. Have you signed up for the Crescent City Classic yet? Join Make It Right’s team!

Taylor’s Gear

Running shirts are overrated.

Another great thing about running: it’s cheap! You can do it anywhere and you need very little gear to get started. Here’s my list of must-haves in order of importance:

• Shoes – If you’re going to invest in anything, buy decent running shoes. Go a step further and visit Louisiana Running Company in New Orleans. They use a treadmill and an ipad to figure out what sort of shoe you need. It’s high-tech and totally works. My running shoes are from Brooks.

• Bra – If you’re a woman, the next thing you really, really need is a well-engineered sports bra. I get mine from Athleta. If you don’t have a supportive sports bra yet and want to start running now, here’s something I used to do: double-up. Two crappy sports bras are better than one.

• Socks – get good, snug comfy socks that don’t bunch up. Some people like compression socks – I’ve never tried them. Let us know in the comments if you have.

• Shorts – I like loose running shorts, nothing too constricting. My favorites are from Nike.

• T-shirt – Any old t-shirt will do! You don’t need a special running shirt. (In fact, I find those wicking, aerodynamic shirts scratchy and restrictive.) A soft, comfortable, worn-out tee works just fine.

Today on the blog: our team captain James Mazzuto and his running buddies Cesar and Taylor are sharing tips for training and gear.

Cesar Rodriguez

Hola runners! Thank you so much for signing up and being part of our Crescent City Classic team!

Remember every step you take, every mile you run on April 4th will help us continue our work in communities across our great country.

Now I didn’t really start running until my 30’s and I learned the hard way how important proper training and the right gear can be. So to help you avoid some of my mistakes, I’ve have a few tips to share and some gear to recommend.

Just the tips:

1. Avoid running warrior syndrome! Yes, I am sure that in your teens and early 20’s you could run a mile as fast as Flash, heck maybe even do a whole 5K without training. Try that now and one of two things will happen, you’ll injure yourself or lose faith when you don’t reach your goals. So take it slow set short term goals in distance and time, build a great foundation to keep you running long after CCC. Taylor recommended an app that helped me a lot: Couch to 5K, easy to use with a great training schedule.

2. Get into a routine. Especially during the first few weeks, it will help your body and mind adjust. I am an after-work runner – it helps me unwind and reenergize for the next day. If you’re an early bird, take advantage of the cool mornings in this swamp we call home; the energy after the run will get you through the day.

Whatever it takes to drown out the little voices telling me to just go back to my couch.

3. Tune out the voices (with something other than medication). The first mile is always the hardest for me so I usually sing along to whatever song my iPod is playing. I sing out-loud, whatever it takes to drown out the little voices telling me to just go back to my couch. Try it! Yes people will think you’re crazy, but they already do because your outside running.

4. Stretch specially after your runs. Do I really need to explain this? Don’t be lazy – STRETCH! You’ll be surprise where else it comes in handy

5. REST because even God took a day off!

Cesar’s Gear

• To a runner there is nothing more important than shoes so make the investment. Shoes will help with a variety of things most importantly avoiding injury. I run in Brooks Glycerine 11 but your local running store should test you and recommend the right shoe for you.

• You know what they say “a watch makes a man” the same is also true for runners. I LOVE my Garmin Forerunner 31 it tracks my time and pace, the gps records my route and its comes with a heart monitor. And as if that wasn’t enough it wirelessly transfers all the info to the Cloud so I can track my progress while I’m training.

• I can’t run without my Nike Featherlight Dri-Fit hat! It’s light, dries quick and keeps the sun and sweat out of my eyes.

• I don’t like running with things in my hands so my Nathan water-belt is great for holding my keys, I.D., energy credit card and of course my water bottles.Hopefully this info will come in handy as you start to accumulate the miles. As Waylon once told Willie “if you see me getting smaller…..[you’re not running fast enough]”.
  I could be paragraphing

Today on the blog: our team captain James Mazzuto and his running buddies Cesar and Taylor are sharing tips for training and gear.

James Mazzuto

I started running about 2 1/2 years ago. Cesar and I made a pact one day after work that we would run a half-marathon within the next six months. I was not by any means a runner and an absolute beginner. So to get started, I purchased two books on running and highly recommend both.

1977: a good year for running shorts.

The first book I read was James Fixx’s The Complete Book of Running. The book was published in 1977 – I purchased my copy for $0.99 + shipping on Amazon and wouldn’t trade it for the world. Fixx studies running, its physical and mental benefits and how to get started. It’s totally old school but, then again, so is running. Do yourself a favor, get a copy and give it to your kids when they get older because it’s never going out of style.

 

I always thought that I couldn’t run because I wasn’t built for it.

The second book I read was Born To Run by Christopher McDougall. McDougall travels around finding the worlds greatest runners. He has some interesting (read: controversial) things to say about modern running shoes but overall the book is very informative and entertaining. Reading about how the human body was built for running was inspiring, as I always thought that I couldn’t run because I wasn’t built for it.

Last tip: watch what you eat. I love a slice of king cake just as much as the next person but your body needs fruits and vegetables to power itself. I’m not saying to go with any extreme diet but bringing in a piece of fruit for an afternoon snack rather than hitting the vending machine will go further than you think.

James’ Gear

Errr, where are your running shorts, Mazzuto?

• Running shoes – as you can see from the picture, mine are getting close to replacement.  A good set of running shoes is an investment in your happiness.

• Cell phone – I bring the phone in case of emergencies or if I see something cool that I want to post to twitter (@MIRSolar). It’s good for music but I only listen to music about half the time.  There are a bunch of free apps that will track your runs, motivate you and let you play with helicopters (that last one is not so running specific).

• Credit Card – Whether you’re cold, thirsty, hungry or tired, you can get most what you want with a credit card.

• ID – Because the best reward for a long, hot summer run is a cold beer.  Bring your ID.