Would You Rather Running Survey

There’s something about the week following a long weekend that encourages slacking. So in that spirit, I put together a little ‘would you rather’ running survey. Leave your answers in the comments if you’d like to play along!

Would you rather….

Run in subzero temperatures, or hot and humid?

This is too easy. Subzero in a heartbeat. After the misery of the Vermont City Marathon, I will never again complain about layers and ice and snow and below freezing temperatures.*

* I most likely will complain about these things  when winter arrives. Feel free to call me on it!

Run on a trail, a beach, or road?

Okay, trail is my number one. I haven’t even run on really technical trails but I’m dying to try a trail race! Beach is second if it’s low tide and there’s plenty of the hard, packed sand to run on.

Do speed training on a treadmill, track, or road?

The order for me is road, treadmill, then track. 

Run hills or speed intervals?

Oh, this is a tough one. I actually kind of enjoy both of these workouts. I think I would pick the hills, only because it’s visually a challenge as well. I can see what I need to tackle so what I need to do is more cemented in my mind. With speed intervals, I need a flat stretch of road and it’s harder to keep myself pushing to the end of each repeat.

Miss a PR by less than a minute, or miss it by more than 30 minutes?

Oof. I’ve actually missed a PR by one minute before. I was not a happy bunny. But I would still take the missing by a minute, because I think it drives you to do better the next time. It gives you a mental boost to know that you came sooo close and that your training is spot on. If you miss a PR by 30 minutes or more, there’s most likely another factor at play, whether it’s injury, lack of training, or something else.

Run a marathon on an unfamiliar course, or on a short loop you know well?

Another difficult choice! I think I would actually go for the short loop over and over again. Not knowing the course can be devastating when you think you’re farther along the route than you actually are. And knowing when to push it, or when to hang back and conserve energy would be a tough call.

With the short loop, you know you’re a short distance from home regardless of your place on the route, so you can use that to your mental advantage.

Pre-fuel or refuel?

I don’t like running after eating much, so my pre-fuel is normally yogurt, or a smoothie. So I would pick the refuel every time. If I was running in the morning I would plan on coming back to coffee, eggs, toast and fruit.

Receive a medal or a t-shirt?

T-shirt! I’m just not that interested in the medals. This could be because I’ve never gotten around to hanging or displaying them anywhere. But I still wear some of my favorite race t-shirts out running.

Do a short, intense training session, or a long run?

This is totally dependent on my mood. Usually I prefer the long run, because running is my alone time and my therapy, so the longer the better. But very little beats the feeling of knowing you really pushed yourself through a session – finishing a hard training workout makes me feel strong.

Okay, your turn – what would you rather do?