Time Off

Taking some unplanned time off.  Last Monday night (21st), I was trying to go to the garage in the dark, and I slammed into, and fell over, my husband's spare tire that he had put between the garage door and the Airstream.  Brilliant on my part.  He and Kate had stacked various crap that they'd pulled out of the Airstream between the Airstream and the garage, so that it wouldn't be an eyesore. I bent my left foot backward on the tire, and bruised my upper arm on the oven.  My (second smallest) toe was purple, but didn't hurt.  Now, my foot is still swollen, and I'm supposed to hike my first 14er on Saturday. So I'm giving it a break. It doesn't exactly hurt, but I can't tell something's not 100% with it. Next week, I'm going to resume the usual everything.  I'm hoping my body can use the week off for something good.  Getting stronger or something.

MS 150 Bike Ride, June 28-29, 2014

We did (most of) it.  Chris and I made the 81 miles the first day, despite his knee's protest.  He iced it on Saturday night.  We spent the night at the Embassy Suites in Loveland (after some Hooters, and a hot tub) and then got up Sunday morning (sadly, neither Chris, Joey, nor I could sleep in past 6:30), had Waffle House, and Joey dropped us off at the cool little Conoco in Niwot - and we rode Niwot Road to 95th, and caught up with everyone there, to ride 23 miles for Sunday (to attempt to preserve Chris's knee). It was an amazing experience.  We then went road bike shopping. Joey's in for next year.

What Keeps Me Going

Next week, I hopefully try to help two people develop a love for running.  I'm really anxious about this, because every time I think about convincing someone to take up running, I hope for them that they're in it for the long haul. I hope that they develop the love that I do for the activity.

I'm agonizing (well, not really, but it sounds good. Maybe mildly stressing) over which direction to start them in - with a Couch-to-5K plan, or how I do it - run two miles a day, until it's comfortable, and then incrementally increase distance, repeat. (10% (ish) rule), until they reach a goal "normal" distance.

For these two friends, I think I'm going to recommend C25K, only because one is trying to lose weight by September, and the other wants to get in shape, but is so so so busy all of the time.

I hope hope hope that they give it a chance and get to the point that the act of being out and running is what they love. Being outdoors, and the feeling of being ABLE to run. The feeling of moving their body in the environment, and being capable of doing what they're doing.  The feeling of being tired from exertion.  The feeling after an all-day hike. The feeling after a hard bike ride. All of that - that feeling is like a drug. Seeking it out, because it makes happiness.

Father's Day

So, I bought a notebook to use as sort of a fitness journal, but then took pen to paper and remembered how awful my handwriting has gotten (thanks a lot, career with so much typing) and decided to stick with this.

I told Hubs last night that I was going to run, and then go for a bike ride. He said he would ride with me (we are "training" for the MS150 that's coming up on June 28-29).  I finally rolled out of bed at 9:00 (oh, glorious comfortable bed). I went downstairs, got two hard boiled eggs, the salt, and a big glass (16+ oz) of water, and then went upstairs to the eldest son's room, where he and the youngest son were playing some vigilante video game. We talked about the eldest son's day yesterday, and I told the youngest the he was riding his bike with me on my run.  Much bitching and moaning ensued.

We took off, and I started out pretty slow (not a big morning runner).  By mile three, started to warm up and hit the groove, as per usual.  Went four, had fun talks with the youngest, got home and sucked down a Nuun Strawberry Lemonade electrolyte ("sports drink") tablet with another glass of water, and prepared for the bike ride.

Hubs was dressed and ready to go to Boulder (to see folks for Father's Day) and I was surprised - thought he was going to ride with. Talked him into changing, and coming with me - and shockingly, he didn't complain about going the whole way (Big Dry Creek Trail, from where we pick it up, only goes about 10 miles out, then 10 miles back, for an almost 20 mile ride, that takes 1.5 hours, give or take).  The ride was AMAZING.  I was marveling at how great I felt.  Stopped at mile eight for a Clif Shot (cherry chocolate with caffeine) and water, because I was starting to feel less amazing, and more fatigued. The weather was perfect - 70s and breezy.  There were a lot of people out - riding, running, walking.  It was really great.

Got home, made sandwiches (great Cajun turkey deli meat from yesterday's trip to RAM OffRoad Park for the Dirt Riot), jumped in the shower, and went to Dad's house. Helped them do some cleaning minutia, then went to Moe's for dinner, as their house was being shown.  Good BBQ! DQ was right next door (the one I worked at decades ago) and we went there for dessert.

A fabulous day!

Meg's Miles

This morning, I participated in a "virtual run" called Megs Miles in honor of Meg, a wife and mother (of three) who was hit and killed by a drunk driver on her morning run this past Monday.  After I ran and cooled down, I sat down to continue my (home-based) billing business work.  I had Facebook open behind my billing program.  Along with the Megs Miles event, there's a Meg's Miles Supporters Facebook page.  All day, and still, people are posting the stories of their runs, their condolences, and in several cases, inspirational stories of their own. There is one amazing young woman, Amanda, who was run over by a drunk driver five years ago, and has to use crutches to get around.  She "crutched" four hours to complete a 10K for Meg. She has also done other amazing stuff, like the Spartan Race (see article about her here). There's another young girl who has a disability that necessitates the use of a walker.  Andie walked two miles for Meg. There is another woman who is a young widow.  She ran for Meg.  The stories posted on the wall of that Facebook page could keep you crying for hours, because of the outpouring of love, support, and just the plain, raw glimpse into the good of the human spirit.

Last Day of the Year - Mileage Recap

2013 was pretty good for me for running.  The best ever, I'd say.  Here's mileage, by month:

January:  0
February: 2.74
March:  3.85
April:  2.4
(Okay, done laughing now)
May:  33.67
June:  64.35
July:  62.66
August: 70.39
September:  87.75
October:  61.25
November:  79.23
December:  73.73
Total miles ran 2013:  542.02

I want more months like September, and better. It's interesting, seeing it written down and quantified.  I did a little better than I thought I did, but not as well as I wanted to.

For 2014, I'm signed up for the Wings for Life World Run in May, and hoping to sign up for the Detroit Half Marathon (with my dad) that's in October. I'm doing the Hal Higdon Novice 2 training plan (12 week plan) for both. For the Wings for Life, I start training on February 9.  It's interesting, because I was talking with Dad about the training plan. It has mostly 3 mile runs in it. I told him I would be lowering my mileage (I'm mostly 4.5 mile runs, sometimes 6 mile runs...). He pointed out that I'm supposed to aim for a 9mm race pace. Oh. Now THAT is a whole 'nother ballgame, and I'm interested to see what that's like. Currently, I run a 9:30 on a good day - but mostly right around 10:00/10:20.

For Christmas, I received running tights, and two running shirts, and then I found a windbreaker-type thing for $15.  I no longer look homeless when I run. :)

This will be the first year ever that I run through the winter, and I'm really excited about it. I've already run in 3* weather.  I'm looking forward to running while it's snowing.

Last Night's Run

Last night's run was amazing. It had been cool and drizzly all day (a welcome rarity here on the Front Range).  At the outset, I really wasn't feeling it. Almost didn't go out for a run.  I knew I'd likely feel better after, so just laced up and went, at about 7:00 PM.  The husband and oldest son were still not home from helping friends pack out an elk by Breckenridge, and the youngest was working on homework. No reason not to go...boy am I glad I did. It felt WONDERFUL. It started sprinkling right at the end. It was all I could do not to lay down in the street and just fee it.

Decided I'm going to start adding some mileage, too. It dawned on me that I didn't have to run the skankier route to add mileage - I can run along the nicer sidewalks, closer to our neighborhood - and the map angles of the streets actually provide more distance than the alternate, scarier way.  This made me very happy. I'll use those routes to up my mileage this fall/winter.  I'm trying to wait till spring to start speed work. Want to make sure I have a really solid base, first.

I'm really excited for my run tonight.  I'm going to add a little - maybe half a mile? - and see what the new, slightly extended route is like.  With this new area I'm going to incorporate, I have several options - up the street past where I normally turn off, then left, and then cut left onto the trail and I can either go through the elementary school yard (shortest addition) or continue on the trail and come out by where I would normally turn off (medium) or pass the trail and run on the sidewalk, take another left, and head on the downhill, then left and uphill to the middle school. I'm excited to see what the various mileages are for these three alternatives.