27 minutes post run.......................not able to take the smile off of my face :) What a run!!!!!! Eight intervals of five minutes each complete. Started off number one concerned about the good ole bladder. Finished up not caring if I saw a bathroom again. Somewhere in the middle of six I did a happy dance (A terrified that I was going to injure myself celebrating lol), threw my hands in the air and declared my love for this sport.
Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!!!!!!!!
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Does Anyone in this State Know Trail Rules?
Ok-so I'm from Colorado. A is from California. One of the things about NC that has us wondering is the absolute lack of trail etiquette here. I'm not talking I sneeze you hand me a tissue etiquette. Just a good ole fashion ON YOUR LEFT! This has been a topic of conversation on several runs. I guess this was all brought up yesterday after the woman on her bicycle said "excuse me" in a truly disgusted tone after we failed to notice her come up behind us. Somehow it was very baffling as I heard a mother on the same trail pushing a double stroller very clearly explaining this very concept to her daughter on a bike WITH TRAINING WHEELS. I guess the age difference of 50+years is what excused the former's behavior. All of this being said, one day A and I were on our run and a woman came up behind and said "on your left". A and I were so startled that it threw off both of our breathing patterns and made the rest of the interval agony. I guess you should be careful what you ask for :)
I'm really not sure what caused me to lead off with that when I should be celebrating our newest victory. Yesterday, we crossed the five minute interval threshhold!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Again, another rough run to start with but by the end I was as happy as I've been in a while. All in all, A had a rough day. She started off strong but her head starting getting the best of her by #2. I will throw in that we also ran at a new place with a relatively flat grade that just under a half mile circle. You can see the entire distance around the trail. We discovered quickly that you could mark our start/finish points at almost exactly one lap. I found this both good and bad for my head. It's good at some levels to know how far you have to go but can be kind of daunting at the beginning of the interval.
The first two were rough as they have been lately. I have been fighting some serious temperature issues with my body. We have really started to work our way into summer the last couple of weeks and the change in temp and humidity have started to rear their ugly heads. We have had to be conscious of timing runs for this but it still hasn't been enough. A read somewhere that it takes about two weeks for your body to acclimate to a temp change. With any luck that will mean we should be fine by next Monday----just in time for the temps to climb another 10 degrees. Gotta love the South!
By three and four my body was getting used to the exertion but I still felt like I was sweating out every drop of fluid in my body. At the end of four, A announced that was it for her. At the beginning of the run, we had decided that 6 intervals was enough for the day because we had some time issues we were working against. Frankly, I didn't really want to do anymore but I've been terrified of some serious issues going on in my head. I feel like I'm racing the devil and I don't want to lose. A handed me the watch and I took off for five. I did my lap and as I pulled up to her I could feel the energy slipping out of my body. I tried encouraging her to run one more with me so she'd finish five for the day which was still a great accomplishment. She says "no, I can't but I'll walk." The watch goes off and I hear her footfalls behind me. Go A!
I have never really ran by myself. We have definitely had training days that we weren't able to run together and did solo. This journey, though, has been both of ours. As she says, we rarely have days that we both finish on top of the world. I don't know if this is yin and yang, give and take or just plain masochism. It is good to know that she is always there on the crappy days telling me that I can make it, telling me to run downhill, park E by the side of the trail, drink some water, sing a song, make it to the next tree-then the next one-then the next one. But, after a series of days where she is the reason that I made it to the end, to have her have such a rough day as I am having a great one really sucks. I guess looking at it another way that it is good that we are like this. It means we never have to suffer alone or worry we are dragging the other down. At least we always have after the run and talking about the next run A--we are always both happy then :)
I'm really not sure what caused me to lead off with that when I should be celebrating our newest victory. Yesterday, we crossed the five minute interval threshhold!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Again, another rough run to start with but by the end I was as happy as I've been in a while. All in all, A had a rough day. She started off strong but her head starting getting the best of her by #2. I will throw in that we also ran at a new place with a relatively flat grade that just under a half mile circle. You can see the entire distance around the trail. We discovered quickly that you could mark our start/finish points at almost exactly one lap. I found this both good and bad for my head. It's good at some levels to know how far you have to go but can be kind of daunting at the beginning of the interval.
The first two were rough as they have been lately. I have been fighting some serious temperature issues with my body. We have really started to work our way into summer the last couple of weeks and the change in temp and humidity have started to rear their ugly heads. We have had to be conscious of timing runs for this but it still hasn't been enough. A read somewhere that it takes about two weeks for your body to acclimate to a temp change. With any luck that will mean we should be fine by next Monday----just in time for the temps to climb another 10 degrees. Gotta love the South!
By three and four my body was getting used to the exertion but I still felt like I was sweating out every drop of fluid in my body. At the end of four, A announced that was it for her. At the beginning of the run, we had decided that 6 intervals was enough for the day because we had some time issues we were working against. Frankly, I didn't really want to do anymore but I've been terrified of some serious issues going on in my head. I feel like I'm racing the devil and I don't want to lose. A handed me the watch and I took off for five. I did my lap and as I pulled up to her I could feel the energy slipping out of my body. I tried encouraging her to run one more with me so she'd finish five for the day which was still a great accomplishment. She says "no, I can't but I'll walk." The watch goes off and I hear her footfalls behind me. Go A!
I have never really ran by myself. We have definitely had training days that we weren't able to run together and did solo. This journey, though, has been both of ours. As she says, we rarely have days that we both finish on top of the world. I don't know if this is yin and yang, give and take or just plain masochism. It is good to know that she is always there on the crappy days telling me that I can make it, telling me to run downhill, park E by the side of the trail, drink some water, sing a song, make it to the next tree-then the next one-then the next one. But, after a series of days where she is the reason that I made it to the end, to have her have such a rough day as I am having a great one really sucks. I guess looking at it another way that it is good that we are like this. It means we never have to suffer alone or worry we are dragging the other down. At least we always have after the run and talking about the next run A--we are always both happy then :)
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Who Begged For the Downpour???????
So after a bad week, I would have given my left arm (Who truly needs an arm to run? Look at the Boston time for the guy with two artificial legs. I'll be lucky if I ever do a marathon in twice his time!)to have a good run. First interval, not so bad. The second wasn't amazing but it wasn't horrible. Just to set the record straight, E was in front of me in the stroller. By number three, Ellis was by the side of the trail while A and I ran in big circles.
Time to digress about jogging strollers. It is truly important to have a good one. I will admit that when we started this whole crazy adventure that I thought I would be quitting within a month or two. I found a stroller on Craigslist for $30. That was a price I could justify to my husband when I quit (welcome to my world of positive thinking).
It is an older In Step model with a fixed wheel. I will never forget the woman that I picked it up from. They still had their Pennsylvania plates on the car and the rust on the rims of the stroller belied it's Northern exposure. She told me that she had just had another baby 4 months ago (her oldest was too big to be in a stroller now) and decided she deserved an upgrade. I couldn't really concentrate on the stroller as all I could do was look at her rail thin body and think to myself, "you just had a baby 4 months ago?" E was 11 months at that point and still looked like my pre-baby self had swallowed one of her whole. I asked a few basic questions about opening and closing it. She volunteered as I left, "It really has been a great stroller. You just need to know that it gets almost impossible to push after about two to two and half hours." BWAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I really would like to think that she peered into the depths of my soul and believed that, one day, I could run over two hours. At that point of our training, I would have taken over two minutes as we were still running one minute and walking five.
Anywho, I have been grateful to have a stoller. That being said, this one was crafted in the bowels of hell. It is possible to make do with a fixed front wheel stroller. If you have the luxury and the extra means, I highly recommend a free-wheel model. I know not everyone will be able to run with a partner. One of the methods that A and I have devised is parking E by the side of the park trail and running in circles around him. For safety's sake it is necessary that you both run opposite directions. Do not run so far that you can not turn your head around and see the stroller or be back to the baby nearly immediately. If another person starts heading towards the stroller, whomever is going that direction will turn back and run in tight circles until that person has passed back out of the circle. Sometimes this will be just enough to keep you going in an interval. There have been days when the stroller has parked for almost all intervals. All the stroller is is extra effort. There's no shame in not doing EXTRA work!
So we are back to little E sitting by the side of the trail just around a curve. A group of mountain bikers came around the curve and one of them growls and points at E, "What is that?!" As he said that, his bike was directly between Ellis and I (a distance of about 3 feet). I immediately said, "MINE!" Wow---both A and I were SO impressed that this guy was so upset that someone would be such an idiot to "abandon" their child by the side of the trail. Way to go guy! We think you're awesome :)
OK, so this energized the end of number three. Four and five were up the hill from hell. Number six was sponsored by "Henry VIII". If you read A's blog, you will know that she occasionally gets through her runs by singing this wonderful song. What I realized halfway through was that I was counting the number of verses I was doing (seventh verse same as the first!) and would never be able to use this song again as I now know how many Henry VII's go into 4 and half minutes! lol
After six, the trouble began. Thank goodness we were in the trees because I was BURNING up and we were down to sportsbras. The rain had been threatening all afternoon and little drops were finally coming from the sky. E was hanging out of his stroller with his little hands turned up to the sky trying to figure it all out. A was a little concerned about my temp and thought maybe I should quit. The compromise was to walk seven. Of course, that lasted about a minute forty and we were off again. We finished it up and I said "o.k., it can start to pour anytime now." I didn't really want the run. I just wanted to be cool!!
As requested, right as number eight started up, the deluge began. We found a relatively dry space for Ellis under the trees and kept going. A lightening bolt lit up the sky and I grabbed the stroller and we started heading for the car. Yeah, I like running but I don't want a bbq baby. Somehow we managed finish the interval, walk (RAPIDLY) another two minutes, then run the minute forty we had missed on number seven back to the car. I had been sweating so much during the run that all of the rain coming from the sky was pushing it into my eyes. By the time we got to the cars, I was officially blind. Poor E was sopping wet. We stripped him down to his diaper, mopped him off and put him in his car seat. Another lightening bolt and loud clap of thunder sent us racing to our driver's seats.
This obviously wasn't a love story. It wasn't a run that made me feel like I could conquer the world. It was, however, a finished run. I just know that I couldn't possibly be this entertained staying on my butt at home :)
Time to digress about jogging strollers. It is truly important to have a good one. I will admit that when we started this whole crazy adventure that I thought I would be quitting within a month or two. I found a stroller on Craigslist for $30. That was a price I could justify to my husband when I quit (welcome to my world of positive thinking).
It is an older In Step model with a fixed wheel. I will never forget the woman that I picked it up from. They still had their Pennsylvania plates on the car and the rust on the rims of the stroller belied it's Northern exposure. She told me that she had just had another baby 4 months ago (her oldest was too big to be in a stroller now) and decided she deserved an upgrade. I couldn't really concentrate on the stroller as all I could do was look at her rail thin body and think to myself, "you just had a baby 4 months ago?" E was 11 months at that point and still looked like my pre-baby self had swallowed one of her whole. I asked a few basic questions about opening and closing it. She volunteered as I left, "It really has been a great stroller. You just need to know that it gets almost impossible to push after about two to two and half hours." BWAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I really would like to think that she peered into the depths of my soul and believed that, one day, I could run over two hours. At that point of our training, I would have taken over two minutes as we were still running one minute and walking five.
Anywho, I have been grateful to have a stoller. That being said, this one was crafted in the bowels of hell. It is possible to make do with a fixed front wheel stroller. If you have the luxury and the extra means, I highly recommend a free-wheel model. I know not everyone will be able to run with a partner. One of the methods that A and I have devised is parking E by the side of the park trail and running in circles around him. For safety's sake it is necessary that you both run opposite directions. Do not run so far that you can not turn your head around and see the stroller or be back to the baby nearly immediately. If another person starts heading towards the stroller, whomever is going that direction will turn back and run in tight circles until that person has passed back out of the circle. Sometimes this will be just enough to keep you going in an interval. There have been days when the stroller has parked for almost all intervals. All the stroller is is extra effort. There's no shame in not doing EXTRA work!
So we are back to little E sitting by the side of the trail just around a curve. A group of mountain bikers came around the curve and one of them growls and points at E, "What is that?!" As he said that, his bike was directly between Ellis and I (a distance of about 3 feet). I immediately said, "MINE!" Wow---both A and I were SO impressed that this guy was so upset that someone would be such an idiot to "abandon" their child by the side of the trail. Way to go guy! We think you're awesome :)
OK, so this energized the end of number three. Four and five were up the hill from hell. Number six was sponsored by "Henry VIII". If you read A's blog, you will know that she occasionally gets through her runs by singing this wonderful song. What I realized halfway through was that I was counting the number of verses I was doing (seventh verse same as the first!) and would never be able to use this song again as I now know how many Henry VII's go into 4 and half minutes! lol
After six, the trouble began. Thank goodness we were in the trees because I was BURNING up and we were down to sportsbras. The rain had been threatening all afternoon and little drops were finally coming from the sky. E was hanging out of his stroller with his little hands turned up to the sky trying to figure it all out. A was a little concerned about my temp and thought maybe I should quit. The compromise was to walk seven. Of course, that lasted about a minute forty and we were off again. We finished it up and I said "o.k., it can start to pour anytime now." I didn't really want the run. I just wanted to be cool!!
As requested, right as number eight started up, the deluge began. We found a relatively dry space for Ellis under the trees and kept going. A lightening bolt lit up the sky and I grabbed the stroller and we started heading for the car. Yeah, I like running but I don't want a bbq baby. Somehow we managed finish the interval, walk (RAPIDLY) another two minutes, then run the minute forty we had missed on number seven back to the car. I had been sweating so much during the run that all of the rain coming from the sky was pushing it into my eyes. By the time we got to the cars, I was officially blind. Poor E was sopping wet. We stripped him down to his diaper, mopped him off and put him in his car seat. Another lightening bolt and loud clap of thunder sent us racing to our driver's seats.
This obviously wasn't a love story. It wasn't a run that made me feel like I could conquer the world. It was, however, a finished run. I just know that I couldn't possibly be this entertained staying on my butt at home :)
Friday, May 1, 2009
Goose Babies Are Truly Adorable But You Should Still Watch for Potholes!
All right-here I am again. It's been 4 months since the start of this journey. If you would have asked me after my last post, I probably wouldn't have come back. I guess that injury truly taught me something about what I wanted. When running was taken away from me, I wanted it more desperately than I could have thought possible.
I've read so many runner's stories about what running gives back to them. People talk about how it literally saved their lives, their marriages, their hope. If you would have told this to the person I was, I would have told you how wonderful that something like that could never happen to me. They must have been previously athletic or naturally gifted. How could someone like me, someone who has been sedentary for longer stretches of time that she'd care to admit heal and grow through running?
The truth about this whole thing is that I don't particularly enjoy running as it is happening. There are days that are nothing short of torturous. However, I do enjoy what I am learning about myself. I keep putting on my shoes. I keep showing up. Most importantly, I keep going. I would like to say that I know that I am going to finish each run when I start it. The reality is that I start many thinking that there is no way I'm going to make it to the end. But I almost always do. That's who I really am at the end of the day.
All of that being said.............................................I finally got a fuel belt because I felt like I should finally grow up and carry my own stuff (Thanks A :). Nothing quite like full water bottle giggling right on your bladder. I would have to say that Thursdays run started off with that uncomfortable tone. Adjusting to running in the morning is just a bit rough. I still haven't quite managed to figure out how to eat to make it possible. I just can't wake up 2 hours before to eat a full meal. After interval 4 I announced to A that I would be going to the bathroom and probably would be heading home after that. After a quick pit stop, there she was with the watch saying "well we could just walk one and then maybe run one or two more". HAHAHHAHAHA there's the bait. She knows I would take it like a fish. We were running within 30 seconds and didn't look back.
The most important key to running---self deception. Thanks for believing in me A until I remember that I believe in myself :)
I've read so many runner's stories about what running gives back to them. People talk about how it literally saved their lives, their marriages, their hope. If you would have told this to the person I was, I would have told you how wonderful that something like that could never happen to me. They must have been previously athletic or naturally gifted. How could someone like me, someone who has been sedentary for longer stretches of time that she'd care to admit heal and grow through running?
The truth about this whole thing is that I don't particularly enjoy running as it is happening. There are days that are nothing short of torturous. However, I do enjoy what I am learning about myself. I keep putting on my shoes. I keep showing up. Most importantly, I keep going. I would like to say that I know that I am going to finish each run when I start it. The reality is that I start many thinking that there is no way I'm going to make it to the end. But I almost always do. That's who I really am at the end of the day.
All of that being said.............................................I finally got a fuel belt because I felt like I should finally grow up and carry my own stuff (Thanks A :). Nothing quite like full water bottle giggling right on your bladder. I would have to say that Thursdays run started off with that uncomfortable tone. Adjusting to running in the morning is just a bit rough. I still haven't quite managed to figure out how to eat to make it possible. I just can't wake up 2 hours before to eat a full meal. After interval 4 I announced to A that I would be going to the bathroom and probably would be heading home after that. After a quick pit stop, there she was with the watch saying "well we could just walk one and then maybe run one or two more". HAHAHHAHAHA there's the bait. She knows I would take it like a fish. We were running within 30 seconds and didn't look back.
The most important key to running---self deception. Thanks for believing in me A until I remember that I believe in myself :)
Thursday, January 1, 2009
A New Beginning
Wow-what a couple of weeks. Between E's first birthday, making Christmas candy for all of our friends and family, cleaning the house and having holiday visitors, A and I managed to maintain our training schedule until Christmas Eve. We were both extremely proud of ourselves and discussed that on that last run. Of course the end of the week got a little nutty with family coming and going so our Friday run got pushed to Saturday-got pushed to Sunday. I was starting to get cabin fever when the run got pushed back til Sunday and decided to start my cross training 3 days earlier than planned.
I don't know if any of you are familiar with Cindy Crawford's line of strength training videos. I have a long and storied history with the first tape in the series. (Long and storied enough that my version is still on VHS :) For some reason, I always come back to it because it really does get results. It does kind of amuse me that my approach to this tape even as I was doing it was different. All I could think about was how the exercises I was doing would affect my running. Usually all I think about when doing it is "how soon will my ass look presentable in a pair of shorts?"
Anywho, Cindy and I had our first date in a long time Saturday the 27th. I kept the remote close by so I could hit pause to huff and puff my way to courage for the next set of reps. It was not exactly the image I wanted of my current health but I was really proud of myself for doing something that day instead of just sitting on the couch. I did the leg work. I did the arms. I even made it through the butt stuff. I finished one set of ab reps. Then as I adjusted myself on the floor to do another set I heard the fateful pop underneath my left shoulder blade. I tried to roll over, get up, sit up-anything. Everytime I moved I had a stabbing pain in that area. Finally, terrified that E would have free reign over the house until someone came and saved us both I made myself stand up.
To make a really long and boring sob story short-It really hurt. The chiropractor told me it was a pinched nerve and adjusted me the first three days of the week. I didn't get to run for a week.
But---A and I finally hit the road yesterday :) Maybe I haven't really been doing this long enough to know but it was amazing to me how much it killed my soul to be sidelined-even for as short of time as it really was. In my past, this would have been the event that crumbled my resolve. All of the feeling sorry for myself and change in momentum would have led me to my couch where I would sit until the next wave of enthusiasm came along. As little as I actually feel like a runner, as awkward as it feels when I'm in the middle of an interval, maybe-just maybe-underneath it all I might be cut out for this gig. For a minute yesterday, A and I were gliding along. Both of us are used to our plodding, we'll get there when we get there pace but I don't think either of us have really paid much attention to how fast we really are getting. I could see the forest for the trees and thought---wow, I could get used to this feeling!!! By the time we were at our 7th interval I was begging for some of that enthusiasm back lol
So the last run of the old me is out of the way. It is a brand new year. Today, I will go purchase my first pair of devoted running shoes. Tomorrow A and I will embark on a year full of promise and change.
GO US!
I don't know if any of you are familiar with Cindy Crawford's line of strength training videos. I have a long and storied history with the first tape in the series. (Long and storied enough that my version is still on VHS :) For some reason, I always come back to it because it really does get results. It does kind of amuse me that my approach to this tape even as I was doing it was different. All I could think about was how the exercises I was doing would affect my running. Usually all I think about when doing it is "how soon will my ass look presentable in a pair of shorts?"
Anywho, Cindy and I had our first date in a long time Saturday the 27th. I kept the remote close by so I could hit pause to huff and puff my way to courage for the next set of reps. It was not exactly the image I wanted of my current health but I was really proud of myself for doing something that day instead of just sitting on the couch. I did the leg work. I did the arms. I even made it through the butt stuff. I finished one set of ab reps. Then as I adjusted myself on the floor to do another set I heard the fateful pop underneath my left shoulder blade. I tried to roll over, get up, sit up-anything. Everytime I moved I had a stabbing pain in that area. Finally, terrified that E would have free reign over the house until someone came and saved us both I made myself stand up.
To make a really long and boring sob story short-It really hurt. The chiropractor told me it was a pinched nerve and adjusted me the first three days of the week. I didn't get to run for a week.
But---A and I finally hit the road yesterday :) Maybe I haven't really been doing this long enough to know but it was amazing to me how much it killed my soul to be sidelined-even for as short of time as it really was. In my past, this would have been the event that crumbled my resolve. All of the feeling sorry for myself and change in momentum would have led me to my couch where I would sit until the next wave of enthusiasm came along. As little as I actually feel like a runner, as awkward as it feels when I'm in the middle of an interval, maybe-just maybe-underneath it all I might be cut out for this gig. For a minute yesterday, A and I were gliding along. Both of us are used to our plodding, we'll get there when we get there pace but I don't think either of us have really paid much attention to how fast we really are getting. I could see the forest for the trees and thought---wow, I could get used to this feeling!!! By the time we were at our 7th interval I was begging for some of that enthusiasm back lol
So the last run of the old me is out of the way. It is a brand new year. Today, I will go purchase my first pair of devoted running shoes. Tomorrow A and I will embark on a year full of promise and change.
GO US!
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