40
to her not-so-pleasant experience
running the Chicago Marathon last
year. In Chicago, Anjos’ entire right
side started to throb with pain around
mile 20. She had to stop at an aid
station for some time before she could
jog slowly to the fi nish. But the result
left her with a minor knee injury and
prevented her from running The North
Face Endurance Challenge 50K in San
Francisco a month later.
This time Anjos says she wants “to
get really strong for New York” and
that her “big focus this year is becom-
ing a well-rounded athlete outside of
running” to prevent another injury.
So she’s started doing Pilates twice
a week and has been incorporating
more stability and strength work into
her routine, including a core workout
her fellow RAC band member Troupe
Gammage put together and does a
couple hours before every show.
Unlike Chicago, Anjos doesn’t have
a time goal of beating her PR for New
York. “I just want to get to that fi nal 10K
feeling like I have something left in the
tank and feeling strong,” she says.Encore performances
Besides the New York City Marathon,
the traveling musician has a few more
running goals she’d like to accomplish.
“I’m training for New York City right
now, but I think it would be fun to
focus on some shorter and faster races
in the beginning of 2018,” she says.
“One race I’ve always wanted to do is
the Carlsbad 5000. That one has been
on my radar for a while.” She’s also
considering the 5- or 10K next year at
Rock ’n’ Roll New Orleans.
Being a musician, Anjos has always
appreciated the Rock ’n’ Roll Marathon
Series events too. Her initial Rock ’n’
Roll was in 2011 in Las Vegas, where
she ran the fi rst nighttime half mar-
athon at that event. She remembers
standing right next to the stage at the
start line and watching Pearl Jam’s
Mike McCready play the nationalLiz Anjos’ Power
Mantra Playlist
Although Anjos says she doesn’t
listen to music while she’s run-
ning, because it’s her time to feel
unplugged, when she’s getting
ready for a race, she’ll zero in on a
specifi c song or lyric to get in her
head. She uses the song as a motiva-
tor or mantra. Tune into her picks for
the best song mantras on the run!- “Green Light” by Lorde
- “Do It Again”
by Röyksopp & Robyn - “Destroy Everything You Touch”
by Ladytron - “Nobody ft. Chaos Chaos”
by RAC - “Closer” by Tegan & Sara
- “Welcome to New York”
by Taylor Swift - “Radio War (Karl Kling Remix)”
by Pink Feathers - “Now That You Got It”
by Gwen Stefani - “Running Behind” by Holychild
- “Don’t Panic”
by Ellie Goulding - “Heads Will Roll”
by Yeah Yeah Yeahs - “A-Yo” by Lady Gaga
anthem “Jimi Hendrix–style.” She
says, “That just set the tone for the
night and it was a really great and
surreal experience.”
She then ran the inaugural Rock ’n’
Roll Portland Half Marathon in 2012.
“Rock ’n’ Roll Portland went through
a lot of very iconic Portland neigh-
borhoods, and you really got to see
Portland as a whole with that race,”
she recalls of the race’s course.Booking new gigs
These days Anjos is excited about
her recent appointment as the
assistant coach for cross-country
at Mountainside High School in
Beaverton, Ore., and the track club
she started in Portland called Rose
City Track Club.
“There are a lot of competitive
runners in Portland that aren’t neces-
sarily running at the elite level but just
want to get the best out of them-
selves,” says Anjos on why she started
the club. “It’s been a dream project in
the making for a little while now.”
Whether it’s releasing a new album,
training for a major marathon
between shows or starting a new run-
ning project, what’s obvious is how
running and music motivate Anjos to
be her best and most creative self.
She says, “I always feel better on
days that I run than when I don’t.”CM0817_FEAT_PROFILE_LIZ.indd 40 7/12/17 2:49 PM