The Long Run

Living Abroad: Cologne, Germany

2011-08-03T10:33:54-07:00

Throughout the span of my pro-running career, I have experienced living in many different locales. I am a creature of habit, so my goal has always been to find a spot and stick with it, but until now I haven't quite found the perfect fit.

In 2008, my first European summer, I stayed in Cologne, Germany, but wasn't a big fan. I came over by myself, didn't bring my computer (seemed like a good idea at the time...until I got to Europe), stayed in the Sports University dorms, and overall just felt homesick.

The next year (2009), Leo Manzano and I stayed in Teddington, England, just outside of London, and while I absolutely LOVED it there, my blood-pressure rose every time I went through customs (and our coach one time got detained), so we decided that we better find someplace else.

Last year (2010) was a case of musical rooms. We went first to Egmund Aan Zee, about 45 minutes outside of Amsterdam, and though the training was great, we had to take a bus to a train to get to every plane, and the commute became too much. I did some mid-summer altitude training in Font Romeu, France and then settled into Leuven, Belgium. Things were pretty good there, but I still hadn't found my perfect fit.

So now, summer of 2011, I have to laugh at the fact that I have come full circle back to Cologne, Germany (called Koln in Germany), and I couldn't be happier!

This year, I am in a serviced apartment located equidistant from the track and downtown, and otherwise in the center of my little universe of needs. Within 400m in any direction I have access to the tram, the park, grocery stores, cafes, a Deutche Bank (no BofA fees!), and many cafes. When it's time for practice, a 5 min train ride takes me to the track, unless I decide to run there through the park, which takes about 15 min. When it's time for dinner, if I don't feel like cooking then a 5 min tram ride takes me to a huge array of restaurants.

I owe this ideal situation to Steffen Keil, one of my agents at Peter Stubbs Management. He lives in Cologne and is the one who setup everything for me and my teammates.

Below is a map I created, showing some of my favorite spots. Click on it for further details about running, food & shopping in Cologne.

View Cologne Points of Interest in a larger map

Last week, we had the pleasure of hosting Alex from FloTrack for a couple nights. He made a Euro Shack Video of my teammate (not boyfriend :P) Leo Manzano's room. Since we're nextdoor neighbors, I am there hanging out as well. Check the video below to see our accomodations.

Watch more video of FloEuro Adventures 2011 on flotrack.org

Alex also captured the workout of two of my other teammates, Treniere Moser and David Torrence. To see the track we use, check out this video.

Watch more video of FloEuro Adventures 2011 on flotrack.org

As of today I am actually off to London for one more 1500m race. After that I am heading to St. Moritz for some altitude training before heading off to Daegu, South Korea for the World Championships near the end of the month. I have never been to St. Moritz before, but I am hoping that training and living will be great there as well! As for Daegu...fingers and toes crossed. :)

Now Playing: Dick's Sporting Goods Commercial

2011-07-19T01:53:47-07:00

Keep your eyes peeled for me on your TV. The Dick's Sporting Goods commercial that I filmed back in April is now playing. I apprear in 4 spots. See if you can find me. :)

Here's a link to the clip, which is also on YouTube under the title: "Running We Know."

Thanks again to Dick's Sporting Goods and the Producers Group for doing such an excellent job and for making my first commercial expereice so much fun!

Daegu, here I come!

2011-07-05T08:00:00-07:00

Last weekend at the USATF National Championships in Eugene, OR., I earned a spot on the 2011 World Championships team in Daegu, South Korea. It was a very talented field of women in the 1500m and I knew that it would be tough to make the team, especially considering that I've struggled with an Achilles injury for most of this year. But, the top 3 finishers make the team, and fortunately I was able to squeak by and place third by 0.01 seconds.

Here is a link to the race: USATF National Championships 2011: Women's 1500m Final

I want to thank all the people who supported me over the past couple months and made it possible for me to qualify for the World Championships. I had many doctors, coaches, friends, family and mentors that helped me to heal (mentally and physically) and who helped me believe it was possible. I especically want to thank my grandma, Nonie, who passed away in January. Thinking of her is what got me to the finish line!

After the race I gave a couple interviews. The links are below:

Universal Sports: Shannon Rowbury digs deep to get to Daegu

Also, Flotrack Post Race Interview with Kevin Selby

Watch more video of Shannon Rowbury on flotrack.org

Running Times Cover: Summer Heat Issue Cover

2011-06-29T08:00:00-07:00

Running Times July/Aug 2011 Cover. Photo by Peter Baker.

Check out the July/August 2011 "Summer Heat Issue" of Running Times. I'm on the cover, with a profile inside as one of the "Summer Track Stars."

For my profile ("Every Little Thing," p. 46-49), I had the joy of speaking with another Bay Area resident, Paul Coover. We discussed my Achilles injuries this year, my training set up in with Bay Area Track Club in San Francisco, and my coaching through John Cook/Austin Track Club. I talked with him about my goals for 2011 and 2012, one of which I am happy to say I accomplished this past weekend when I placed 3rd at the USATF National Championships and earned a shot on the Daegu World Championships Team.

There is also a centerfold entitled "Innovative Injury Insurance," which features photos and descriptions of 8 drills that I do to stay healthy and strong.

All the photos were taken by Peter Baker back in April. We had a blast exploring San Francisco and playing dress up with the clothes that Nike sent. To see some of the shots that didn't make it into the article, check out the stock photo section of Peter's website.

My Teammates' Websites

2011-05-27T08:30:00-07:00

Recently, my boyfriend Pablo created a website for himself, and that led me to think that it would be fun to share the internet info for all my teammates. Not everyone has a website, but they all have some source of info sharing. So, make sure you check out their sites, "follow" them whenever possible, and of course, if you have comments, share them. Enjoy!

Pablo Solares - Mexico: http://pablo-solares.com/

Leo Manzano - USA: http://www.leomanzano.com/

Jacob Hernandez - USA: http://www.jhern.com/

David Torrence - USA: http://twitter.com/#!/David_Torrence

Treniere Clement Moser - USA: http://twitter.com/#!/trenieremoser

Kyle Miller - USA: http://twitter.com/#!/search/kylemilleratx

Jackson Kivuva - Kenya: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jackson-Kivuva/140849762607933

Back to the Bay - Weekly Update

2011-05-25T08:30:00-07:00

After a little over 4 weeks of altitude training in Albuquerque, I am back in the Bay Area for a few days. Things are quite different here, compared to Albuquerque...the air is so much thicker, the scenery is so different, but I do have to admit that the people are great in both.

My favorite thing about being home is getting to see my family and friends. I had a nice chance to catch up with my parents on the trip back from Occidental College, where we spent many hours discussing house plans and dream vacations. At the moment, I am in Berkeley, where I am about to spend a friend night with Alysia and Louis Montano. I'm not sure what exactly is on the agenda, but I think it will involve yummy home cooking and possibly a movie. Fun! But before that starts, I'll give a quick review of my last week.

After 31 days of relative inactivy (outside of practice time), this past week brought lots of movement. On Thursday the entire team flew to Los Angeles for the Occidental High Performance meet. We had a lengthy wait for baggage and then a major mix up with rooms, but at the end of the day we all bunked up together and finally got some good, oxygen rich sleep.

We passed the time before our race with some epic Uno games and a visit to the movie theater. Leo, Pablo, and I saw the matinee of Pirates of the Caribbean at one of those fancy theaters where you have to reserve your seats...except that there were only 3 other people in the place, so we purposely disregared our seat assignments and sat wherever we wanted.

On Saturday, I opened my season with a 1500m race, which I dedicated to my teammate Sally Meyerhoff. I wish I could have gotten a better time (or a win) for her, but my performance was decent. I was 9th in 4:11. I was in good position until about 200m to go, but then it was clear that there is still a good deal of rust in the legs because I didn't have any turnover on the finishing stretch. Let's hope that this next month of training/racing will help me clear that out. The race is below.

Watch more video of Occidental Oxy High Performance Meet 2011 on flotrack.org

Well, that brings me up to speed and also to my computer time limit. Time for some fun with friends. :)

SF Park-ing Application

2011-05-17T07:30:00-07:00

As a self-confessed parking hater, the new SF Park application may finally eliminate the one thing I hate about San Francisco...the parking. According to the Chronicle's 90-minute test ride, they found the application to be 90% accurate. Only problem...you technically need a co-pilot to use it.

To read more abou the new applicaiton, check out the story at "SF parking ap gets passing - not perfect - grade"

Altitude Training - Week 4

2011-05-16T07:38:41-07:00

Week 4 of altitude training is officially over, which means I only have a few more days left of thin air before I head down to Occidental College to open up my racing season. The time seems to have flown by and it’s hard for me to believe May is nearing an end. While I am excited to get home to see my family and friends, it will be sad to say goodbye to my coach, my teammates, and to the great set up that we have enjoyed here in Albuquerque. Fortunately, it’s sounding like I will get to enjoy all of the above again very soon.

This week was a good one. Al Berrin, my on site coach in SF, and Nick Alvarado, my training partner, both came to visit, which meant that we had a full house again. It was really nice to see their smiling faces and to get updates from home. They definitely added some great energy to the group. Together we discovered my favorite food place in Albuquerque, La Montanita Co-op, which in addition to having great groceries, also serves delicious sandwiches, smoothies, and extremely yummy gluten free muffins (my favorite is the Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip, although everything I have tried has been good).

Grabbing Lunch with Nick & Al at La Montanita Co-op.

In driving through Albuquerque, we also came across Manzano High School. It would have been cool just to see a school featuring my teammate’s last name. But then we saw their crown-toting lion mascot. I just had to take a picture in honor of Leo Manzano.

The Manzano Monarchs.

This week also included some fun team activities. For the past month, every time I drove down Tramway Blvd, I would the Hinkle Family Fun Center (which I call Fun Land), and talk about how I wanted to go. Yesterday, I finally did! Fun Land has everything...Laser Tag, Mini Golf, Paintball, Bumper Boats, Go Karts, and Arcade Games. I only did the last two, but I had a blast. It’s fun to feel like a kid again.

Go Karts! Feeling fast. Unfortunately I got the slow car.

We also took the tram up to Sandia Peak again (this time with the whole team), to celebrate our teammate Kyle Miller’s Birthday and to bid farewell to Coach Cook. I had fun the first time when I went with just the coaches, but getting to go up with the whole team was really great. We watched the sunset as we enjoyed a tasty dinner at the High Finance Restaurant, reminisced about the past 4 weeks, and looked forward to the races to come.

Me & Pablo on the tram up to Sandia Peak.

With Coach Cook on Sandia Peak.

As for Athlete’s Honey Milk, we’ve all been drinking it daily. In fact, after our last hard workout on Saturday, I’m pretty sure I saw one of my teammates down three bottles of Vanilla AHM. I continue to experiment with smoothie combinations in the blender. Recently I bought some fresh ginger and today I had a very taste smoothie for lunch. The recipe and some pictures are below.

The Ingredients.

Shannon’s Recovery Smoothie
1 cup frozen strawberries
1 cup frozen blueberries
1 bottle Honey Flavored Athletes Honey Milk
1/2 tsp fresh ginger

-Blend and serve. It it’s too thick, either eat with a spoon or add more AHM.

Yummy!

Interview with The Competitors Radio Show

2011-05-12T08:30:00-07:00

I had the joy of joining Bob Babbitt and Paul Huddle on The Competitors Radio Show. Besides making me laugh a ton, we also discussed how I got into running, my stress-fracture rehab in 2007 on Alter-G, and my current altitude training stint in Albuquerque, NM.

To check out my interview (listed under May 11), go to http://competitorradio.competitor.com/

Altitude Training - Week 3

2011-05-09T14:04:21-07:00

My most recent AHM Post/Altitude Training Update just went up. A copy is pasted below.

Man, it’s hard to believe that I’ve already been in Albuquerque for 3 weeks now. I think they say that time moves faster as you get older, but since I don’t like feeling old, I will instead opt with the saying that time flies when you’re having fun.

The view from our apartment.

This week was a good one. Everyone came back from their respective races and since Oxy (May 21) is still a little ways away, we were able to get in a hard training week.

This weeks training featured a variety of locations. We explored the Sandia Foothills a bit more, got in some good tempo work along the river trail, used the UNM track, and since UNM was closed Fri/Sat for the New Mexico High School State Meet, we also worked out at Albuquerque High School (which is quite nice I might add). I continue to be impressed with the training options here.

We also had some visitors this week. Three, in fact, so we had a pretty full house. My chiropractor, Leonard Stein, had a rare free weekend now that the Warriors are out of season, so he came out to ABQ for a few days to work on the team. Mark Scappaticci (better known as Scap), a chiro from Canada and a good friend of Coach Cook, also came to ABQ to give us treatment and to teach us how to use the new fascial release tools that he created. Last, but most definitely not least, Mr. Paul Moser (husband of Treniere), came out to visit. Of course, Cook put him to work too, and on Saturday morning bright and early he could be found rabbiting the ladies track session. Maybe not the nicest welcome to altitude, but a great help for us.

Lastly, my experiments with AHM have led me to discover my new favorite “dessert.” When I was a little kid, I had a pineapple frozen yogurt thing outside the Disneyland Tiki Room and I fell in love. I had long forgotten about this, until now. By using a some frozen fruit and Vanilla AHM, I was able to make an healthy yet still tasty equivalent that works as a post-workout recovery smoothie or an ice cream-esque after dinner treat.

The ingredients.

Shannon’s Tropical Frozen Yogurt - Serves 2

1 bottle of chilled Vanilla AHM (11.5 fl oz)

1 cup frozen pineapple

1 cup frozen mango

1/2 cup frozen bananas

--Blend ingredients together. If your blender is a little weak, try adding fruits one at a time to the blender. The finished product will be thick and is best served with a spoon.

Enjoy!