39
here are two sides
to Liz Anjos when it
comes to her passions
and pursuits in life. The
recording artist and
songwriter from Portland,
Ore., performs under the
pop moniker Pink Feathers
and moonlights as a key-
boardist and vocalist with
RAC, a popular electronic
band fronted by her hus-
band, André Anjos. She’s also
a sub-3-hour marathoner
who blogs about her run-
ning, dabbles in personal
run coaching and is starting
her own track club.
Although music and run-
ning appear to be separate
interests, the two actually
intersect for Anjos in many
ways. She isn’t a musician
who just happens to run
occasionally, nor is she a
runner who can simply play
an instrument. She is 100
percent invested in both.Finding her beat
“When I entered college, that’s when
running and music almost collided for
me,” recalls the 31-year-old, who had
been on her high school track-and-
fi eld team. “I was a piano major and I
was a little worried on how time-
consuming that would be and about
keeping up in school. So I ended up
just not running at all.”
It wasn’t until her senior year of col-
lege that she missed running so much
she asked the school’s coach if she
could join the team. That was 200#.
She hasn’t stopped running since and
has gotten quite successful and serious
about it—and her music.
Anjos ran her fastest marathon
(2:"&:22) at the 2014 Philadelphia
Marathon only a week after being
on tour with ?AC. It’s hard to imag-
ine when she fi nds the time to train
between shows while being on the
road every day, especially for a dis-
tance as demanding as the marathon.
/ut Anjos doesn’t see it that way.Fine-tuning on tour
“I have found that it is possible to train
well on tour, and I have done it before,”
she says. “2ven though we’re traveling
all over the country and we’re in a new
city every day, our day-to-day is still
pretty routine. :ost venues operate
very similarly—opening at noon to
load in equipment with sound check
usually around 3 to " p.m.—in thatsense it’s predictable.”
While on tour, Anjos says she usually
wakes up around & a.m. in whatever
new city she’s in and goes for a run.
When training for the Philadelphia
:arathon, shed squeeze in #0-mile
training weeks and a couple of 20-plus
milers. With her late-night shows that
means going to bed past midnight,
waking up, running, performing and
then repeating it all over again each
day.
“It’s almost like I’m on this constant
adrenaline HrushJ, not even from just
running, but playing shows every
night,” Anjos explains. “It’s like I’m
getting in a little extra cardio workout
every night.
“I know as runners, we try to fi nd
that edge in our training, but I feel like
in the same way when I’m on tour, I’m
fi nding that edge too.”Stronger sound
Anjos isn’t too worried about her
training for the ;ov. " ;ew York City
Marathon while also on tour in the
weeks leading up to another major
race. The ;orth American tour with
RAC is scheduled for shows through-
out September and October along
both coasts—and a few in Canada—to
promote the July release of their new
album, “2go.”
However, she is taking more pre-
cautions and changing the way she
trains ahead of ;ew York City, dueCM0817_FEAT_PROFILE_LIZ.indd 39 7/12/17 2:43 PM