Weekly Poll

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If you're like most people, you enjoy voicing your opinion on various topics. That's why a Weekly Poll will be featured on this blog. Sometimes serious, usually silly, always relevant to running, or sometimes coffee. I'll (try to remember to) post a new poll topic every Tuesday. Cast your vote on the upper right-hand side. Be heard!

Ouch!

My knees are really hurting today, so I'm taking it easy. I don't think this is an actual injury; they both hurt the same, and they started hurting after my run yesterday, not during. I'm hoping by tomorrow they will feel better. I'm supposed to run three miles tomorrow, then two miles on Thursday, then rest two days before Sunday. I'll see how it goes.

My poor knees. I think they have aged twice as quickly as the rest of me. Actually, almost all my joints pop and crackle without provocation, but especially my knees. It's a little embarrassing when I'm trying to do squats or lunges and whoever is in the room asks, "What's that noise?" It's not a bowl of Rice Crispies cereal or somebody tearing apart celery; it's just Mom's old knees.

Dress Rehearsal

Today was my last long run before next weekend's 10k. Last night I got my gear together: pants, check; bra, check; shoes, check; chapstick, check. I tried to make it feel like I was getting ready for race day. I even felt a little nervous. Until today, my longest run was 5 miles; the idea of going farther than that worried me.

From the minute I got up, I was trying to make excuses as to why I couldn't go on a long run today. I was too tired. (I wasn't.) The baby was going to be grumpy. (She was happily playing with big brother.) I have to work tonight. (So what?) I was getting myself ready to run while simultaneously talking myself out of running at all.

For breakfast I had some leftover juice from last night (cucumber, celery, beet, and grapefruit with some lemon juice), a small banana, espresso with half and half, and a small spoon of chunky JIF. I waited about 45 minutes, did a quick warm-up, and arranged for Thomas to be my "Water Station". I decided to go south on our road as far as the VFW, then north past the house to the stop sign, then home. I figured that would be not quite 5.5 miles, but I fully intended to cheat and call it close enough.

It was a perfect morning to be out, but I just wasn't feeling it at all. The entire first mile I was wondering who I would have to call or e-mail to switch from the 10k to the 5k. I was carrying Chuck's GPS with me, and I kept checking it about every quarter mile without really even seeing what it said. Thomas was waiting at the driveway with some water for me; that cheered me up, and I started actually enjoying being out.

As I neared home I realized I didn't want to cheat on the distance. "F-ck you, I can do this," I said out loud, and turned up Juno Road instead of just going home. I'm not sure who that was directed to. Maybe I was talking to my feet who were begging me to just get OFF of them for a minute. Maybe the road, for its indifferent uphillyness. Most likely, I was talking to myself. Or, rather, that part of myself that would so much prefer to spend a Sunday morning eating pancakes and sausage and syrup by the gallons and then trying to read a good book but falling asleep in an insulin stupor.

I am proud to say that the Active Me won out over the Apathetic Me. I ended up doing 5.73 miles (plus a cool-down walk) in one hour, seven minutes and change. I will not be calling anybody about changing my race registration. I may be the slowest 10k runner, but I will finish that race!

Rest Day

I'm still here. Even when I'm not running, I'm running.

Always running.

Run With Me

Here are the things I was thinking about this morning, running down and back up the road.

Wow, that sun is hot today. It's nice out here, though; that wind is nice and cool. I love it out here. Thank you, God, for this day. Now I'm going to run. I love God with my heart, my lungs, and my legs. [...] It's hot out here. That fly is obnoxious. I guess he's drinking my sweat. I'm thirsty. [...] Wonder if the neighbor has had her baby yet. The car and the van are both there, so I guess probably not. I'll have to ask her if she'd like a meal. Wish I would have eaten breakfast before I left. [...] I'm so thankful I can do this.

Wow, first mile in 9:25. I better try to slow down or I'm not going to make it. That sun is really hot. Thank God for the wind or I'd be burning up. My feet sure are hot. I wonder if I need bigger socks. [...] That darn right hip. Didn't I read that runners who run on the road have more problems with their right hip? Or was it their left hip? Something about the way the road is paved to allow water to run off. I'll have to google that. [...] There's that old guy that wears that "Grumpy Old Fart" hat. Oh, he waved at me. Well, that's nice. [...] I got up that hill pretty easy. I remember when I had to walk that one. Don't trip on the train tracks.

Halfway there. Time is 15:25. I'm tired now. Better walk for a minute, but just for a minute. There's a lot of cars on the road. Wish I had my sunglasses, feels like a disguise. That's silly, as if everybody doesn't recognize me. I'm the tallest person in town. *giggle* [...] Wow, that wind feels good, but geez, it's going to be hard getting back up the road. I hope Chuck has coffee for me; he said he would. My head hurts. [...] Don't trip on the train tracks. [...] "Against the wind. See an old man run! Against the wind, runnin' against the wind." [...] Oops, glad nobody is behind me. I wonder, what is the etiquette for farting during a race? Chuck would say it's my secret weapon. *giggle* Almost there. [...] Damn wind.

Oh, thank God, I'm home. I can walk the rest of the way, it's not cheating it's cooling off. I'm going to go in, drink a bunch of water, have some cereal with almonds and some coffee, and come up with something brilliant to put on my blog.

Sunday Thanks

Five things I'm thankful for:

1. Chuck's new bike, which allowed us to go for a great ride this afternoon.

2. My job, which really isn't that bad, despite how much I complain about it.

3. Lucy is so cute walking, something she couldn't really do just a week ago.

4. These beautiful days of late summer that make me feel I really do live in the most beautiful place in the world.

5. Lambrusco.

Today's Post

In Which I Lose 45 Pounds and my Lofty Ideals

When I started working out after Mary was born, I had noble goals. I realized I was dangerously out of shape when I couldn't even get upstairs without losing my breath. The thought of developing diabetes, heart disease, or even cancer scared me; I just wanted to "be there" for my kids. It suddenly became important to me to care for my body as a Temple of God (which, indeed, it is... see 1 Corinthians 3:16) so that I would be prepared to do the Lord's work. I told myself it wasn't about a number on the scale; it was how I felt that defined my success. Being slimmer would help me achieve my true objective, improved health, but was not the end in itself.

Now I can admit, I also was tired of looking like this:


Yes, that is me in April, 2007. To be totally fair, I was three months pregnant for the seventh time. But wow... I was "healthy" in the Urban sense of the word. It is no coincidence that my frumpy, dresses-only phase and my fat phase occurred at the same time. Further self-analysis will have to wait for another time, but it does feel good to admit that I can be shallow and vain, too.

So if you compliment me on my weight loss, I will smile and demurely thank you and stretch for just the right reply. But inside I'm thinking , "Yes, yes, yes, YES!" Feeling good makes me look good, and looking good makes me feel good. That's not such a bad goal.

Bonk!

"Macho, macho Mom! I've got to be, a Macho Mom!"

I totally ran out of steam on my run today. In the fitness industry this is known as "bonking". I think they should come up for a different name; bonking sounds almost like fun. "Hey, wanna go bonking after lunch?" "Sure! I'll bring the gin and you bring the horseshoes!" Bonking doesn't feel fun. It feels more like trudging through your own personal nightmare where you're running as fast as you can but getting nowhere. The monster gets you in the end.

I made three mistakes today. First, I tried to do a two-mile tempo (I think that mean "faster than usual") run immediately following a 36-minute circuit session with weights. I should have given myself at least a little time to recover.

During that time to recover, I should have made sure I was sufficiently hydrated, and maybe I should have had a snack- an apple or something light like a Snickers bar.

It worked for Ben Husby!

And my third mistake, potentially the most critical: I forgot to apply fresh Chapstick. Because any misery is made even more miserable by dried, flaky lips.

We have a spelling program (Sequential Spelling- it's great!) that uses the motto "Mistakes are opportunities to learn". Tomorrow I rest, Saturday I cross-train, and Sunday I run five miles. It's going to be an awesome weekend. But today, I'm bonking. Now... where did I leave my gin?

Life is a Bike Ride

I've got an hour before leaving for work, but I told myself I'd write every day and I'm only like four days in on this blogging thing, so this is going to be a fairly half-assed post rife with grammatical errors and puerile simile.

Chuck, Raechel, Joseph, Thomas, and I went for a bike ride today. We went "around the block" which is actually about 7.5 miles practically all uphill. I am the proud owner of an old Bay Point 3-speed bike. It looks exactly like this only it has a little turn signal thingie that doesn't work and a pink plastic basket wired up front, the kind of basket that really belongs on a bike for a toddler girl. A neighbor gave it to us last week, but this was the first time I've really taken it out for a ride. It was so much fun, much easier than running!

I've decided that life is a lot like a bike ride. Sometimes you're going uphill; the effort is daunting, exhausting, and the bigger the hill, the less sure you are that you're even going to make it at all. But then you do make it. Then you get to fly downhill, your feet sticking out to either side and the wind in your hair and just when you think it is the MOST AWESOME MOMENT EVER a bug flies in your mouth and ruins the whole thing and then you're stuck slogging uphill again.

But that's just life. Enjoy the ride.

Fast Eddie

Fast Eddie Rousseau visited with me at the store last night. He was a Mass City boy who now lives in Minneapolis. I didn't think to ask his permission to mention him on my blog, and I don't want to sound too gushing, but he is my running hero. You can read about him here or here. (At the very least, click the first link to see an awesome picture of him passing a younger runner; Ed is gritting his teeth, giving it all he's got, while the kid is clearly wondering where the hell the old man came from.)

My run today was three miles. I had Chuck drive me 2.8 miles out, then I ran a quarter mile past our house and walked back. I am fortunate to live where I do; plenty of country roads, no traffic, beautiful views. At just over a ten minute pace, I was going nice and slow. I always go slow. I read training schedules that talk about running in different paces; 5k pace, 10k pace, marathon pace, tempo pace, etc. I have three paces: jogging, running as fast as I can (which I can't keep up for long), and walking. At this point I've been running for less than six months, so I guess I should expect to still be slow. Trying to be encouraging, Raechel pointed out that the slow and steady tortoise won the race, to which I replied, "Yeah, but the snail wasn't even invited!"

I may be slow, but damn it, at least I'm out there trying. And maybe in a few years when I'm able to run faster and longer, just maybe I can inspire somebody who wants to run but has too many excuses. Reading about Fast Eddie two years ago, I thought, "If he could do it, so can I." Well, if I can do it, so can almost anybody.

Rodney Yee and Me

I've been using this 10K training schedule to get ready for the Ed Hanson Memorial Run in Ontonagon on Sept. 4th. Today, Monday, is stretch and strengthen, so I combine the two with a little yoga.

I really enjoy yoga. It reminds me of my years of ballet; get into a really uncomfortable position and then "hold, hold, hold, forever, forever, forever"... and then do a push up. I always work up a gooey sweat doing yoga, even though I'm basically standing, sitting, or even lying down on a mat only a little bigger than a bathtub. If you like twisting, reaching, perspiring heavily, and breathing only through your nose, yoga is the workout for you.

The Yoga X workout from the P90X system is a great routine, if you have an hour and a half to spend on your practice. I like Tony Horton's style as an instructor, and the routine is by far more complete than any other I've ever done. But it is 90 minutes long!

So, today I did Rodney Yee's Total Body Power Hour Starring Rodney Yee's Really Tight Blue Shorts.


That's not what the DVD is actually called, but it's something like that. This is a "Three Bears" workout: not too easy, but not too difficult. Just right for Mondays when I have an hour and a half to write a blog post, hang more laundry, cook lunch, nurse the baby, and get ready for work.

While I was twisting, reaching, and perspiring, Chuck and some of the kids went for a bike ride. When they got back, Daniel flopped himself on the couch with a sigh and said, "I need a recovery cookie." Joseph accidentally made way too much oatmeal for breakfast, so we are going to try this recipe for Leftover Oatmeal Cookies. Healthy and frugal. And since they are oatmeal cookies, I won't be tempted to eat the batter.

Out for a Sunday Run

Today was my 4.5 mile "long" run. For breakfast I had my usual glass of juiced grapefruit and lemon, plus a piece of leftover homemade pizza from last night. Robert started off with me; we walked up the hill for the first quarter mile as a warm-up. He didn't want to jog, but I went ahead. The first half mile was not too fun, but after that I got in the groove. Raechel caught up to me with Mary on her bike. Then Thomas and eventually Joseph came along on their bikes.

Usually my run is "my" time, and I guard it jealously. I'm not the type to run with a pack- I prefer to set my own pace and let my mind wander. But today I enjoyed their company and constant chatter. Being able to talk with them helped me realize that I was, indeed, staying at an easy pace.

I had to take two walk breaks up two hills in the last mile. I could probably have pushed through them, but I decided to be conservative on account of the twinge I was feeling in my right hip. I did manage a nice little kick at the end. Wow, does that feel good! My time was 50:04- pace was 11:07.

Now I think I'll go take a nap.

First Post

I always feel a little weird starting a new journal or diary. Should I introduce myself? Do I need to provide background information or context? Or do I just dive right in?

Since this blog will mostly be for me (although I hope others enjoy reading it, too) I've decided to just jump right in. Anybody who follows me will already know me or, if they hang out long enough, will come to know me. "What you see is what you get."

I promise two things: I will write regularly (not necessarily daily), and I will always be honest. This blog will be my food diary and exercise journal as well as my place to write about my fitness journey, races, and whatever else is on my mind. It might not always be pretty, but it will be real. Wherever the road leads, I hope the journey is a beautiful and sweaty one!