29 December 08: Christmas, minus the Vacation

Posted on 29. Dec, 2008 by hillarybiscay in Blog | 10 Comments

Last week I had a few great days of quality time with the fam for Christmas. We’ve always been big fans of the Vacation movies, and especially during the Christmas season, my father fancies himself to be another Clark Griswold. He once received an unsolicited award for our Christmas light display, and to this day I am obsessed with Christmas lights . . . This year our Griswold-like antics began at the San Francisco airport when my parents and sister picked me up on their drive to the family’s ranch in the Napa Valley area; while at in the loading zone at the curb, we spent a good 30 minutes trying to tie my bike bag on top of the SUV, which was packed full with presents and baked goods (because each family holiday dinner… Read More

22 December 08: Sunday Treadmill Day!

Posted on 23. Dec, 2008 by hillarybiscay in Blog | 5 Comments

Yesterday morning I had a couple of hours of quality bonding time with my BFF: the treadmill. It seemed the safest location for a long run, given that, historically, the injuries I have sustained while running indoors have been less severe than those resulting from my encounters with the pavement and various trails. Of course I have been ejected from the treadmill when I was just that tired, but at least I landed on carpet.

Friday night, however, I was reminded of just how hard the pavement is when a crack (yes–a crack on a flat, straight running path) took me from full speed to a full stop in two seconds flat. My super support staff, Dougie, was playing human GPS for me, since if I had to wear… Read More

15 December 08: December in Germany

Posted on 15. Dec, 2008 by hillarybiscay in Blog | 5 Comments

I just had to post a picture from last weekend in Germany, because this may be the first and last time you ever see me with so many clothes on–if I have anything to do with it, that is! This is me and my German tag-team training partners here in Darmstadt at the Christmas Market on Saturday night. My first German Christmas experience has been worth braving the cold in training–although it has literally required a tag-team effort on the part of these folks, who have helped to ensure that I’ve been able to accomplish every session on my training program.

So have these…The new Newton All-Weather Trainers arrived just in time…They are made for running in cold weather, so I have not had to deal with frozen… Read More

10 December 08: My Superstars!

Posted on 10. Dec, 2008 by hillarybiscay in Blog | 5 Comments

What do my athletes do in their off-season? Why they run marathons, ultras, etc., of course! This past weekend, “my kids,” as I affectionately refer to them–even though most of them have  a few years on me–did me proud on marathon, half-marathon, and ULTRAmarathon courses all over the country.

Helping to guide other athletes towards their goals is one of my very favorite activities, and is something that I always wish I had more time for–but I know I am very fortunate to be able to train and race for a living, and that there will be more time to help other athletes when I am finished racing professionally (which I hope won’t be for at least another decade!). Nevertheless, weekends like this past one remind me why I make… Read More

2 December 08: On the program!

Posted on 03. Dec, 2008 by hillarybiscay in Blog | 8 Comments

Training program, that is . . . December 2nd means that the old “weight belt” and I are exactly two days into a proper training schedule. The demise of the weight belt is imminent, and I am a happy girl not just for that, but because I do much better with this kind of structure in my athletic life. I had been strictly forbidden to start a formal program as of November 1, when I wanted to, because I’d managed to finish this season a bit more smashed than ever before . . .

However, spending this time trying to train without any sort of schedule makes me appreciate my coach’s guidance even more. Without it, I am trying to do everything –training-wise–all the time, every day. No matter what I… Read More