Runners of HOU

Runners of HOU Bringing you stories and news from the Houston running community.

I think there’s a lie we accidentally tell newer runners:Eventually, running gets easy.Then I talked to someone with a 3...
09/15/2026

I think there’s a lie we accidentally tell newer runners:

Eventually, running gets easy.

Then I talked to someone with a 3:06 marathon PR and 27 BQs who told me that after eight weeks off, 10-minute miles felt like 5K effort.

Maybe getting better at running isn’t about reaching a point where it stops being hard.

Maybe you just get better at trusting that when it gets hard again, it won’t stay that way forever.

New on the Runners of HOU Substack: Getting Faster Doesn’t Make Running Easy.

From a 35-minute 5K to a 3:06 marathon.Melissa Bittick started running with Couch to 5K in 2014. Today, she’s run 29 mar...
09/14/2026

From a 35-minute 5K to a 3:06 marathon.

Melissa Bittick started running with Couch to 5K in 2014. Today, she’s run 29 marathons, 75 half marathons, and BQed 27 times.

We talk about:

• how she got faster
• being told she might never run again
• why she races so often
• what she’s learned about easy running and recovery
• training through Houston summers
• Boston, the majors, and her 50-state goal
• and why treadmill miles absolutely count

Melissa’s episode of Runners of HOU is out now. 🎧

Somewhere along the way, recreational running became incredibly achievement-oriented.Run a 5K → run a half.Run a half → ...
09/08/2026

Somewhere along the way, recreational running became incredibly achievement-oriented.

Run a 5K → run a half.
Run a half → run a marathon.
Run a marathon → get faster.
Get fast → BQ.
BQ → collect the Majors.

And apparently you’ll also need a $500 pair of shoes.

What are we doing? 😂

I had more thoughts after Sara and I recorded our second Running Hot Takes episode — especially about why every running goal doesn’t have to be bigger, longer, or faster.

Maybe “just here for the vibes” is a perfectly good running goal.

New on the Runners of HOU Substack. Link in bio.

We have more opinions. Sorry 😂Sara is back for round two of Running Hot Takes, and we’re getting into BQs, downhill PRs,...
09/07/2026

We have more opinions. Sorry 😂

Sara is back for round two of Running Hot Takes, and we’re getting into BQs, downhill PRs, marathon collecting, running etiquette, who should actually be a running coach…and why you don’t always need to get faster.

Some takes are hotter than others.

🎧 New episode of Runners of HOU is out now.

Which one are you arguing with us about?

08/31/2026

A few years ago, Sharde Davis couldn’t run a mile.

Today, she’s a marathoner, Black Girls Run Houston run coordinator, and Aramco Houston Half Marathon ambassador — but her story isn’t really about getting faster.

It’s about finding a running community where she felt like she belonged, learning to stop treating walking like failure, and becoming the kind of runner who can help someone else believe they belong too.

We talk Black Girls Run, her first Houston Half, training for Chicago, the mental roller coaster of her first marathon, representation in running, and why she never wants to forget the fun.

🎧 Sharde Davis: Your Race, Your Pace — available now wherever you listen to podcasts.

And yes, there is also a pickle and Coca-Cola involved.

From 4+ hour marathons to a 3:11 PR.Naureen Malik has been running for nearly 20 years, but getting faster wasn’t always...
08/24/2026

From 4+ hour marathons to a 3:11 PR.

Naureen Malik has been running for nearly 20 years, but getting faster wasn’t always the goal.

She started out running mostly alone, made up her own marathon training plans (including a casual 30-mile training run 😳), and didn’t know much about fueling, hydration, or workouts.

Then came the Houston running community, a coach, Boston — and a completely different approach to the sport.

On this week’s Runners of HOU, Naureen and I talk about her evolution as a runner, racing the World Marathon Majors, why Boston means the most, discovering 5Ks after years of marathons, and why running is still her “me time” as a mom of four.

And now? She’s training for Chicago with one big goal:
Sub-3:10.

🎧 New episode of Runners of HOU out now.

I spend a lot of time telling other runners’ stories. This one is mine.For the last year, I’ve been trying to figure out...
08/21/2026

I spend a lot of time telling other runners’ stories. This one is mine.

For the last year, I’ve been trying to figure out how to be a runner when running hurts.

Stenosis. Hip pain. Prednisone weight gain. Stem cell therapy. Perimenopause. A LOT of recovery…and a marathon I’m still hoping to run in December.

The good news? I’m running again.

The not-so-good news? I’m still trying to figure out how to do it without hurting.

Right now, success at CIM is simply making it to the start line healthy.

Although there’s still a tiny part of me whispering…3:45. 👀

I wrote about the whole messy — and very much unresolved — journey on the Runners of HOU Substack.

I Just Want Running to Stop Hurting

🔗 Read it at the link in bio.

On this week’s episode of Runners of HOU, Gaby Ramirez | Mom & Runner and I talk about more than 20 years of running, mo...
08/17/2026

On this week’s episode of Runners of HOU, Gaby Ramirez | Mom & Runner and I talk about more than 20 years of running, motherhood, burnout, strength training, sending a son off to the Air Force Academy, learning to take some pressure off the clock, and why she feels stronger — physically and mentally — in her 40s.

Her advice to women who think it might be too late to start? “It’s never too late. Just start.”

🎧 Runners of HOU with Gaby Ramirez is out now wherever you listen to podcasts.

New episode of Runners of HOU! Amanda Schnell, aka Amanda Schnell, calls herself a “professional hobbyist,” but her endu...
08/10/2026

New episode of Runners of HOU! Amanda Schnell, aka Amanda Schnell, calls herself a “professional hobbyist,” but her endurance résumé is pretty incredible: 30 marathons, a BQ, a 140.6-mile WIN, 100 miles in under 24 hours, triathlons, cycling, HYROX…and she’s nowhere near finished.

But my favorite part of our conversation wasn’t the finish lines.

We talked about the people who keep us coming back, balancing big goals with an actual life, being “consistently inconsistent,” and why after decades in endurance sports, Amanda still believes the most important thing is to keep showing up and have fun doing it.

We also discuss her goal of running a marathon in all 50 states before 50, her Kona dreams, how a stress fracture led to meeting her husband — and, naturally, whether Grandma’s Marathon is actually flat. 😂

🎧 Listen to the full episode!

Running Hot Takes is here! Sara Hudgens and I sat down to debate some of the biggest opinions in running — and let’s jus...
08/03/2026

Running Hot Takes is here! Sara Hudgens and I sat down to debate some of the biggest opinions in running — and let’s just say … we didn’t hold back.

We tackled questions like: Is Grandma’s Marathon actually flat? Do treadmill miles count? Are runners racing too many marathons? Is running really an “inexpensive” sport? Should influencers get Boston bibs?

You may agree with us. You may completely disagree.
Either way, we want to hear your hottest running take.

🎙️ Listen wherever you get your podcasts, then come back and tell us: Which opinion are we completely wrong about?

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