Amy Reinink

It’s tough to start a recap of the Rock ‘n’ Roll Virginia Beach Half-Marathon without a sentence like this: This race is SO much fun! Regular readers know that I adjusted my race goals to match my recent training (read: a summer of dedicated training, followed by a two-week vacation to Europe and a week [...]

So I’ve got this half-marathon this weekend. I trained a whole bunch for the Rock ‘n’ Roll Virginia Beach Half-Marathon before I left for a two-week vacation to Europe, during which my workouts included grueling backpacking through the gorgeous peaks of the Pyrenees and long swims in the Mediterranean, with recovery foods involving tapas and [...]

This blog aims to answer a question any active person who wishes to stay motivated to remain active should know a sincere, thoughtful and immediate answer to: Why run and swim and lift on a regular basis when it would be easier to sleep longer in the morning, head right home for dinner, or spend [...]

Weeks seven and eight of my Virginia Beach Half-Marathon training will take place overseas. I will be backpacking through Europe until August 31. I will not be bringing my laptop (gulp). Look forward to lots of photos—and stories about attempting a camping trip and a long run in a foreign country—when I return!

Sunday: Run 10 miles, at roughly 9:30-minute-mile pace Monday: Swim 3,000 meters, straight through Tuesday: Run Sligo-Ritchie hill loop, 4.7 miles at 8:30-minute-mile pace; .78-mile warmup and a .76-mile cooldown (6.24 miles total) Wednesday: Swim 3,000 meters: 1X1600; 3X400 IM; 4X50 sprint Thursday: Lift, hard, for 45 minutes; run 4 hilly miles at 9-minute-mile pace [...]

You know it’s going to be a tough workout when the e-mail outlining your running route concludes with a cheerful reminder that “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger!” The route in question on Tuesday: the Sligo-Ritchie loop, which my running group tackles on a semi-regular basis. The Sligo part is fine—Sligo Creek Trail is [...]

I was going to make this the “back in the saddle” edition of Motivation Monday, in a reference to me trying out my new bike seat, new helmet and new wrist on my first post-wrist surgery bike ride on Saturday. I’ve always been a skittish cyclist, so even once my doctor cleared me for all [...]

As Fozzie Bear and Kermit once said, I’m moving right along on my Virginia Beach Half-Marathon training. My longer runs are feeling better, I’ve got a good swimming routine established, and a tough lifting workout no longer leaves me sore for days after I’ve put down the dumbbells. I’m following my half-marathon training plan to [...]

I don’t do moderation so well. Actually, more accurately, I don’t do moderation. Period. It’s a personality flaw I’m working on—running three days a week rather than pretending I have the running mechanics/talent/time/resources of Kara Goucher, considering a second half-marathon in the fall rather than trying to force a full 26.2, and generally trying to [...]

Mandatory minimum usually refers to punishment. This week, though, it served as a motivational strategy that led to a few workouts that were longer and more intense than I thought I had in me. It started on Friday, when I woke up early to squeeze in my weekly long run for my Virginia Beach Half-Marathon [...]