FRIDAY RANDOMNESS

• By loramarie03
• 24 August, 2012
• 9 Comments

Today is a much needed rest day. My arms were barely recovered from Sunday’s workout and so I decided it would be smart to do push ups yesterday morning… which meant my arms were super uncomfortable sitting at my desk for most of the day. Oops. So I think my body will love the rest!

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Favorite Five

• Fit Foodie Five posted an amazing collection of gluten-free recipes, mostly desserts, which makes me really excited! I think that’s one of the hardest things is that desserts are often the worst gluten offenders.
• Donna from Yoga in Heels is hosting a giveaway for MPG gear on Jim & Tiffany’s He and She Eat Clean. MPG gear looks amazing. It would be so awesome to win some!
• “Why are Americans So…” — this isn’t about running but it’s really interesting and actually a pretty good laugh.
• Runner’s World of course made it better by asking “Why are runners so…” HILARIOUS.
• While this isn’t a blog post, it is one of the best articles I’ve seen this week. The Wall Street Journal put together a piece about how companies are “bowing” to the demands of us Millennials. I love reading pieces like this because it’s interesting to see what other people think about us. The last line is my favorite…

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So unless you live under a rock (or aren’t obsessed with running or don’t live in NYC), you’ve probably heard about NYC Marathons’ new no-baggage policy. I think this is a really interesting concept. It is VERY controversial and if you need some dramz in your life, head on over to the NYRR Facebook page and check out some of the comments. Some very good points.

From my perspective, well… I don’t feel like I can adequately provide an opinion. I have only used bag check for one race, the Empire State Building Run Up, and it was really because I had no other choice. I’ve never used bag check for a marathon. I’ve even stopped asking family and friends to bring stuff to me post-race beyond my cell phone and credit card (for finish line purchases). I am always so tired, I just wait until I can take a shower so I don’t have to dress and redress and undress a million times. Lazy? Maybe.

But, I can see where people are coming from. I think the worst part of the situation is the fact that they bumped the race registration fee so high this year (like come on, $250+?!) and then bag check was listed as a key benefit… and now they are stripping it away. People have consistently criticized NYRR for being money hungry. They have increased the fees for all of their races this year and have adopted some questionable practices that have long-term members puzzled. Their excuse is that it will “reduce congestion” after the race. I don’t remember any congestion when I ran it in 2010, at least anything more notable than how it is at Boston’s finish line.

I don’t think NYRR will budge on this decision, and I’m interested to see how it rolls out the day of the marathon. I know several people said they wanted to cancel their race entry but whether they do or not will be interesting to see. Plus hey, I’d happily take a bib off someone’s hands!

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Since that was heavier than the usual Friday Randomness post, I thought I’d share something amazing. A recipe from the Cookie Monster himself (I want to try to make these gluten free!):