Just a casual jog with Bart Yasso

You knew this would still have tons of running, right?

Last night I hustled uptown after work to an event co-hosted by Runner's World, Mizuno, City Sports, and Bart Yasso. There were more people than seats, and even 20 minutes early I ended up standing in the back and missing the swag for the first fifty people.

The event was a combination gear test/3-5 mile run/Q&A-turned-motivational talk from Bart. I opted out of testing both the Mizuno Wave Rider (none of the Mizunos I've ever tested have been comfortable to me, and I wasn't about to switch shoes 4 days before Marine Corps) and the Breath Thermo long sleeves, because it was pretty hard to figure out who was organizing that part with everyone dressed for a run.

After a quick intro, the group head out into midtown. Monica and I opted for the five mile loop despite a sinking suspicion there would be no food left by the time we got back-I had 5 scheduled for today with no time to run it, so a quick switch fixed that. The people leaving work were rightfully confused when at least 60-70 people ran by/through/around them and into the park. Props to Riley, who made sure the three of us running 9min pace at the end of the fast group didn't get left behind in the park.

The highlight of the night was definitely the talk afterwards. The product reps did their job to get me interested in trying some of the Mizuno winter gear once it's cold enough, and Bart used the high percentage of people running either Marine Corps or NYC to turn the Q&A into a marathon pep talk. After stories about crowds of naked runners and two runners tossing a third over the gate barring the finish at Comrades, he connected his experience to that of every runner (and a recommendation to try negative splits-running the second half of the race faster than the first). The night ended with on a pretty profound note: "This may be your last race. You never know what might happen tomorrow. So get out there, and enjoy it."

Yes sir.

Bringing my (now-signed) copy of Bart's book with me to DC for some MCM inspiration. Good luck to everyone racing, and catch you on the flip side.