This morning when I woke up and rolled out of bed, my legs felt achy. Ah, phantom pains, I thought to myself. That’s not some Halloween reference. My brother, a veteran marathoner, said that a lot of people experience strange pains in the days leading up to a big race. It's your mind playing tricks on you, he said. After four and a half months of training, I’ll be racing my first marathon on Sunday – the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, D.C. With 29 College Park-ians who finished the 26.2-mile race last year, I’m probably not the only one waking up with phantom pains this morning. Through…

Hundreds of people came together this weekend for the College Park Cares 5K, all with slightly different reasons for being there. “I think we do have a really diverse group that turns out for it,” Race Manager Mike Bearman said after the event Saturday morning, which attracted a record 250 registrants. Take Katie Becker, a teacher and assistant coach for the cross country teams at Rockbridge Academy in Millersville, Md. Coming from a running family, she’s always dabbled in the sport, but Saturday she was there to be a leader for the high school club team that was competing. And then there’s …

When I moved from central Pennsylvania to College Park, I was thrilled at the new convenience of shopping. There was a grocery store, IHOP, Home Depot and Starbucks all within walking distance of my new place. I COULD WALK TO GET MY COFFEE. This was a far cry from what I was used to. But when it comes to running shoe shopping, I've had to put a little more effort into it than if I wanted to, say, go buy a bike. (College Park has two great bike shops.) I've done some poking around to find what the most convenient options are for us runners. All the options below are either less than a 10-mile …

It's 8:30 a.m., already 77 degrees, and the humidity is choking. You know this, because you're sitting on your front stoop, running shoes laced up, while a debate wages silently in your head: "This will stink, just wait a few more minutes." "Go! Each minute you wait, the temperature climbs higher." "Eh, I don't know. It's pretty hot out. Why not give yourself a break and do something else?" Oh summer running, how daunting you can be. Fortunately, I've developed a few tricks to convince myself to get up off that stoop and take that first - and most difficult - step of a summer run: 1. I have a…