how to PR in fun

If you have a race coming up, I encourage you to seek a PR in fun. Off the top of my head, here is a list of actions that work for me:

1. Take your pace and throw it out the window!
2. Don't compare yourself to others. Let them run their race and you run yours.
3. Sing out loud, create a banging playlist, and blast it.
4. High-five spectators. Stop for a moment and BE a spectator. Cheer for other runners. Thank the volunteers and police officers.
5. Celebrate non-scale victories! 
6. Wear an outrageous costume that puts a smile on other runners' faces—or, more importantly, your face. This will give strangers a way to initiate a conversation with you.
7. Bring stuff to give away: stickers, friendship bracelets, extra Gu. Make friends in the corrals and on the course.
8. Run with a friend or family member. This makes excellent race photos that are also family photos.
9. Take all the pictures. I ran with two extra fuel rods, and it was 100% worth it.
10. Use fun treats instead of gels. Think gummy bears, nerds, pop tarts, ice cream, and donuts.

Full disclosure, this next part in italics was written by CSUN's OpenAI ChatGPT Edu:

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Title: Getting a PR in FUN — The Magic of Party Pace

There’s a kind of PR you won’t find on a results page.

It’s not tracked by your watch. It doesn’t require negative splits. And it’s not defined by anyone but you.

It’s the PR in fun. And it starts at party pace.

Party pace isn’t about slowness—it’s about fullness. Full of laughter. Full of stories. Full of moments when you remember why you fell in love with running in the first place.

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After I read that, I almost cried. Because it's exactly how I felt about the LA Marathon. I wanted to write about how to get back to the fun of running. I also used ChatGPT to explore the concept of non-scale victories and how they can apply to running.

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A non-scale victory (NSV) is a win that has nothing to do with the number on the scale—and everything to do with how you're feeling, growing, or living your life with more confidence and strength.

In running (and beyond), NSVs are the real-life rewards that remind you your efforts are paying off, even when the scale doesn’t move—or isn’t the goal at all.

Here are a few examples of NSVs for runners:

• Running a little farther or faster than you did last week

• Waking up with more energy

• Your clothes fitting differently (hello, stronger legs!)

• Making it up a hill without walking

• Saying yes to a race you once felt intimidated by

• Feeling proud in your own skin

• Not needing to stop during a run for the first time

• Recovering faster than you used to

• Choosing rest without guilt

• Smiling during your runs more often

They’re mental, emotional, social, and physical wins that deserve to be celebrated just as much—if not more—than any number.

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I've had more than a year of non-scale victories to celebrate. I remember when I first started running I would say to myself, "one day I will run up to and around this corner without stopping." And it feels so good to get to that point. Starting over is so hard.

I looked at my training plan for today, I thought it said strength but it didn't. I get to take a break from my program and it feels good. Like I can breathe and have some mental freedom to write about how to let go and have more fun.

But wait, why would you sign up for a race you have no hope of winning? Because race day is the vibe. There's nothing like the collective energy of tens of thousands of people traveling in the same direction for the same reason, crossing that finish line, and getting a medal. It's about fitness and community. 

The race weekend is everything. The expo. You get goodies and learn about other resources that support your running habit. The kids' race. How adorable are the tiny runners? The warm-up. Some races have a fitness instructor who leads the group through fun exercises. The post-race experience. Some races have a breakfast afterwards. Most have music at the finish line. To each their own, I'm not trying to tell you how to enjoy running. Rather, I'm sharing what works for me. In the hopes that it might inspire you to manage your expectations in a way that allows you to taste the magic of party pace.

Finish line face

As many have said, the training is the hardest part of doing a marathon. If you follow a training plan, there will be days when you don't feel like doing your workout. The race is a celebration! It's your victory lap. You've already done the hardest part, which is the daily grind. And most likely, you've already achieved many of your non-scale victories. So enjoy your race day. You earned it.

When I crossed that finish line, I didn't feel elite. I already earned a PhD, which is something that less than 2% of the world's population holds. But the internet is suggesting that completing a marathon is similarly rare, so I guess I should be even prouder of this. After attending the LARR brunch last weekend, I realized that there are some people who have just completed their first marathon, but a lot more who have done 10 or more marathons in their life.

Sitting with my training group, someone asked, "Who already signed up for next year?" Almost everyone's hands went up. Now I realize that's a self-selecting group. Those who attended the brunch were invested in the community, but it surprised me that many seasoned runners were still planning to continue training and repeat the race in 2026. And I did it. I signed up for 2026. Not because of the brunch, I had already done it before the brunch.

These gals created a WhatsApp for the training group. Many returning runners said it was the most fun group they've ever been in. I had no idea since it was my first time, but I definitely enjoyed the camaraderie of the online support. The silliness. The inside jokes. The gifs. This group trained in fun and finished with a PR in fun for sure.

I didn't finish the LA Marathon with what I consider a glamorous finish time. I was nervous to say it or share it. But I'm not ashamed of my performance on race day. I walked a lot of my training runs, and I walked a lot of the actual race. I'm okay with it. I had a fun time. I experienced the LA Marathon like I would enjoy CicLAvia. It's an open street event with entertainment and snacks. Sometimes you have to embrace the suck (mile 20). And there's no shame in walking; forward is a pace (mile 23).

priorities

Yep it's cycle day 20. Luteal misery. I fell on my run this morning and cut my knee and the palms of my hands. It got me thinking about my priorities. Should I have cut back the volume of today's run considering I'm a bit sick and on a difficult part of my cycle? Should I have done a shorter workout since my husband and I overslept? Was I rushing to get home and therefore not watching my footing? Was I pushing my pace too hard? Is it too soon after the marathon to be doing speed work again?

Mom

Wife

Teacher

Athlete / Coach

Dog Mom

Friend / Sister

Human Being

Woman

Artist / Gardener

The identities listed above define my priorities. Scheduling my time and doing the most important thing first is a struggle. Minute-by-minute, day-by-day, week-by-week, etc. I do count down the weeks of the semester. I count my parenthood duties as foremost in my mind. I cannot skip these. If my child is sick with a fever, I must drop everything else and take care of him until he is well again.

I guess my wife's duties are to my household and my husband. We took vows to care for each other in sickness and in health. As we strive to reach a more optimized state of health, these duties look like creating shopping lists and meal plans, cleaning kitchens and bathrooms, vacuuming and wiping down common areas, cooking and transporting food, restocking important household supplies, organizing items at the house so they can be inventoried and located, purging items that are no longer used. This is a long list. I also spend many hours per week just putting stuff away, sorting trash from treasures, and resetting areas to be useable again.

Next set of duties that I cannot skip, but also are not my top priority, are the things that I get paid for. Teaching duties, lesson planning, grading, sending emails, posting announcements, following up with absent students, etc. Writing quizzes, making copies, drawing on the board, communicating with colleagues in person and online, reading emails, and scheduling things. I put these things lower on the priority list when I need to, and then higher again when things at home are settled. I work ahead when I feel healthy and balanced, but I fall behind when other higher priorities become urgent.

My duties as an athlete/coach are sometimes higher and sometimes lower, but lately, they have been pretty high. I've let my health take a back seat to parenting and work for half a decade, and now I want to put it higher so that I don't skip workouts and backslide into more significant obesity than I currently am. I spend time creating content for YouTube to educate myself and my runClub. I program and track my workouts using spreadsheets and mileage trackers on Canva. I compare the data on my Samsung Health app to Strava Athlete Intelligence to keep myself motivated and moving forward. As Coach Bennett of the Nike Running app says, You're your best coach. Talk to yourself kindly as you would want your coach to talk to you.

I have a new identity as a dog mom again, which means that I have to fit dog walks into my life. I need to do some dog training and grooming, and remember to add her food to the shopping list, refill her water dish, talk nicely to her, and watch for her under my feet when I'm carrying something large so I don't step on her. 

As a friend, this may look like hour-long phone calls to check in on the women in my life. Or it may look like sharing something funny or motivational on Instagram messages. It doesn't have to take up a lot of time when I'm busy, but it is a steady stream of back-and-forth to let those women know they are important, significant, loved, and cared for. It's similar to sisterhood. It's curating the village. This may be a separate post, but I'm leaning into paying for my village. I paid to join the run club. I paid to join the Sparkle Squad. But I get a lot out of it too.

How the "human being" tasks ended up so far down, I don't know. This is stuff like eating, sleeping and pooping. Stuff all humans do. Getting sick, getting well, breathing, digesting, the things we take for granted when it is going well. Maybe we should also put hydration in this category. Also shopping for stuff like supplements, vitamins, and tracking macros. I mean, this could also be a separate post. I've reconsidered the supplements I'm taking. After some bloodwork before my marathon, which I begrudgingly agreed to do, I briefly stopped taking all my supplements. But since then, I've started retaking most of the supplements I had paused. 

I guess I would put "woman" in here in a general way to say self-care. Beyond friendships. Stuff like pampering. Spa time. Being alone. Thinking your own thoughts. Blogging like I'm doing now. Doing something I enjoy. The other day I heard a podcast about Disney stuff and they mentioned that Bath and Body Works was doing a line of Disney Princess fragrances. I had to go to the mall and smell it for myself. I'm not sure why this resonates with me in the category of women, but I guess princesses are women and women are taught to be conscious of smelling good, not sweaty, and having soft skin, not rough. So this type of self-care is associated with femininity. It also falls under the Wife category since it involves keeping the lotions and soaps stocked. It is Woman, though, because this dry skin due to perimenopause is something else. And I'm hoping the lotions help with that.

Artist is the last, lowest, and least of my identities. But it's still there! This may be visual with crafting, or it may be kinesthetic with roller disco and dance. I had vowed that when I finished the marathon season, I would do something else in the off-season and get back into dance or rollerskating. And then I went ahead and signed up for another marathon! Yes, I'm doing the LA Marathon 2026. But I still have a lot of semester left to finish, and most of the summer will pass by before training starts again in earnest. Naughty Girl Fitness is $14.44 a month, and it's app-based. 

I'm still paying for my Fit4Mom instructor membership, which is $9.99 per month, not even covered by the amount I get paid for coaching the RunClub. After talking with my husband over the long weekend, we may have concluded that I might not continue coaching the RunClub. I might get more out of the season if I commit fully to LARR. The good discount with Fit4Mom is that you do not have to pay for the monthly membership as an instructor and you can still attend classes. I think I was paying $69 per month for Fit4Mom, and at one time, I was paying hundreds of dollars for a monthly membership and Body Well. 

People say good things about Orange Theory Fitness, and 24 Hour Fitness, but for now I've got my Planet Fitness Membership. It's $25 per month for the Black Card membership, which includes massage chairs, hydromassage, tanning and Total Body Enhancement, which I have yet to try but I might do it soon. It's vibration combined with red light therapy. Again, this could be a topic of a future blog post. What I'm looking forward to most is the end of the semester and our trip to Nebraska. What I'm not looking forward to is the Rose Bowl Half because it seems so out of place in the season, finishing up all the work of grading and submitting grades, and the weather going hotter and hotter as we approach summer. 

Maybe I could add to Artist also Gardener. And this is the lowest priority. At the moment completely dead. But it is generally in spring where I revive our garden. Albert has shown some interest in planting stuff for spring. It will be difficult to justify since we're traveling to Nebraska early in June, but maybe if I'm clear with my husband about care instructions, the garden won't be completely dead when we get back. And I really need to work on getting stuff OUT of our house. It's so overstuffed right now it's stressing me out.