If you want to do a running event just for you this Summer, then pin this image or share it on facebook to make your declaration public! You can do it!

My running buddy is looking for the perfect half marathon event to keep us going further and further. She’s come so far since running her very first event with me this spring. I can barely keep up but so what.

Too hot to train outside? Do some indoor exercises to cross-train.

Summer travel plans? Pack light and remember your sneaks.

Ready to run? Post your race to our Eat Blog Run page.

Melody (pictured above) loves her running headband and hates to get on the road without it. But since the morning of the MCFunRun she couldn’t find it, she is also modeling the basic mid-ponytail below.

Here are your choices:

a.  Grand Rapids Kids Melody (also pictured above) has a sleek and high ponytail.

b. Make and Takes Marie is wearing her small clippy to keep her hair back.

c. Boston Mamas Christine keeps her hair back with a stretchy headband.

d.  Musings of a Housewife Jo-Lynne Shane has my go-to look: the ponytail with running cap is easy to do and keeps the hair, sweat, and sunshine out of my face.

e. Something else entirely. Not pictured are your other creative ideas. Do you fashion a bun or braid? Go free and flowing?

So, what’s your favorite running hairstyle? And is it different on race days?

Christine, Marie, and I were lucky enough to run along the oceanfront this month at the Minute Clinic Fun Run. We donned our sparkle skirts and set out with dozens of other lady bloggers for either a one-mile or three-mile course. Both routes were along the water and featured stellar views and opportunities for chatting with the nurses on-hand.

There were two big difference between the two courses. One milers were encouraged to stop, do exercises, and ask and answer health-related questions. And three-milers had a hill to climb (and an expectation of being competitive).

Marie ran and walked (and giggled and photographed!) with my blogging buddy, Whitney.

Christine and I ran for the three but sneakily turned around early for more of a two-miler. The net result of turning around early was that the finish line monitors thought we might be the big winners of the “competitive race” — ha! The only way that Christine or I would win a race is… well… never.

Everyone had a wonderful time with the scenery and camaraderie. We were all treated by CVS to a goody bag shipped to our homes and a technical running shirt (pictured above). Thanks so much for sponsoring such a terrific morning run, MinuteClinic!

Marie really captured the spirit of the run with her sweet little video:

It makes me want to get out there and run it all over again!

[Photo credit: me, Marie, me, Marie; Video: Marie LeBaron]

I will give you a full race report next week plus a feature story on running hair! Yep, I took a bunch of photos along the race course of bloggers’ different ways to keep their sweaty locks off their faces. In the meantime I present you a teaser: the three of us hugging it up in a bobby pin, headband, and rubberband.

See also how to pack for exercise when traveling.

My good friend Karen Merzenich blogs at offthemeathook.com, lifestyles of the carnivorous and fabulous, and while she certainly enjoys eating, she might smack me upside the head if she knew I was sharing her tips on a RUNNING website. It’s just not her thing. Instead, she has devised a clever way to keep fit without having to lace up her running shoes (or even get out of her jammies). All of her cross-training ideas work while her son is napping or nearby. Here’s what she told me:

My solution? The surprise-laden exercise bingo jar! First, I spent a little time googling good exercises to target both post-pregnancy belly and my other bete noire, that flappy underarm flab (or “chicken nuggets” as my Pilates teacher colorfully calls them.) I picked 12 exercises and wrote them down on little slips of paper. I put the target number of sets and reps on each slip as well. Then I put the little papers in a jar in my kitchen. Every day I have to pull out five slips and do whatever they say. This makes it fun because I never know what I’m going to get, and it only takes about 15 minutes to get through all five exercises. Plus, I don’t have to do the most hated exercises every day –side plank, I’m looking at you– or get bored by doing the same routine over and over.

Read the rest over at rookiemoms.com, including sample exercises for your own magic jar!

To celebrate my milestone fortieth birthday, my mom watched my children for three full nights so that Alec and I could get away from it all. We did exactly that and ran on the beach at Cambria, CA near Big Sur.

And, in another fabulous birthday miracle, this is the last time, you will see me wearing my husband’s men’s running vest. I got a new ladies’ running vest from my very thoughtful in-laws.

Between now and the too-hot days of Summer, find a running event and share it with us so we can all cheer you on! More instructions over here at our Spring Fling page. I have a cool Sasquatch Scramble run in my future and am flirting with the Bay to Breakers in May.

What’s on your spring event list?

In the clever about page, the race organizers describe their mission as such:

Our mission is to create fun, quirky, offbeat, and mysterious running events that attract an eclectic mix of runners, revelers, urban legends, and everyone/everything in between.

Co-founders ‘Marathon’ Matt Forsman and Charles ‘Chuckwagon’ Lantz have a combined 30+ years of running, racing, and event production experience.

Additionally, they have a lifetime of experience turning people onto the sport of running in unique, offbeat, and sometimes goofy ways.

We like to think of ourselves as a party production company with a running problem.

Since my own short runs along the same routes are getting a bit predictable, I will welcome the silliness that comes from an organized running party as well as the challenge that gets me off and into the trails. Yeehaw! Sassy, I’m coming for you.

Per his suggestion, I tried running on empty and was surprised that it worked great. I was faster and less hobbled by the tummy troubles that had been plaguing me. I love that guy, but I hate it when he’s right.

Sometimes the hungry belly keeps me going with visions of pancakes and bacon dancing in my head. On race days (or RELAY days!), I need to sensibly factor food into the equation, but on regular morning runs, I keep the fast going until immediately after.

What about you? Do you eat light or not at all?

Since we rebooted this website with the Fall Fun Run, I’m proud to say that I run about 2 or 3 times per week. I have noticed that other activities are easier for me than they used to be.

Last month, I got on a snowboard for the first time in 12 years. I didn’t win any awards, but I glided down that green run, lifted myself when I fell, and wasn’t terribly sore the next day. Go, me!

Last weekend, I participated in Cycle for Survival — indoor spinning and fundraising event for rare cancers — by spinning in an hour-long class. I expected to feel completely knackered just like in previous years. But, again, I’m so proud to report that I had the endurance to meet the challenge.

What sort of bonus effects of running have you noticed? Easier to chase your kids? Less exhausted climbing the stairs? C’mon, brag a little.