Positive Energy Activates Constant Elevation



~RZA~

Monday, January 31, 2011

Is It Spring Yet?

So I ran Saturday, Sunday..and because they say we’re going to be snowed under for the next couple of days…tonight…. in a miniblizzard that just about put me on my ass more times then I can count. It’s the first time in a long time..that I’ve considered a treadmill…even though I hate them so very much. Don’t worry…I seriously doubt I would ever buy one…but if someone gave me one..or like..I found one….I might get on it once in a while. This winter has been brutal…I feel like I can’t catch a break with this training session. It hasn’t snowed tons…but it’s snowed often. It hasn’t been super crazy cold…but it’s been extremely cold when I didn’t need it to be. Like this Thursday…while being buried in snow…it’s also supposed to be around 8 degrees….this is my long run day…and I’m supposed to be running 17 miles. Seventeen miles, 18 inches of snow…8 degree…equals bullshit. But…in spite of the weather…I managed to log 130.1 miles in January….yeah…I rock some crazy shit.



Ready for month two?

25 days, 7 hours, 52 minutes and 33 seconds smoke free.

507 cigarettes not smoked.
$137.50 and 3 days, 20 hours of your life saved.
Your quit date: 1/6/2011 12:59:00 PM

Saturday, January 29, 2011

Month One Done..or almost.

So today we did lil T’s 6th birthday party…never again. And since one of the little ones is staying the night with us,  I don’t have much time. So I’ll just touch on a few things.



My long run this week was a mere 8 miles….and would have been awesome except for the fact that a school bus driver SOAKED me to the freakin bone at 2 miles in. Too far to turn around and go home…too grown up to follow the asshole down the dead end street where he went to hide and beat his ass. I did get to finally see who has been plowing the path the last two winters and I thanked him..that dude rocks!


Today I had 3-5 easy and I ran in the Frees because my Muzinos were still wet from Thursday. On a run this short they didn’t bother me..maybe that’s the ticket to running in them? I also brought Brian out with me. I don’t ever take him if it’s below 25 degrees and with it being a balmy like 30 some degrees..I put on his sweater and off we went. True to his usual jackass form…he went after every dog we saw and embarrassed me….but it was nice to have him out again. He was one dirty little dog when we got home.


I also got a chance to do a little barefooting today!!!! After I did my three miles I ditched the Frees and headed home…and let me tell you…if you think people look at you strange when you’re running barefoot in decent weather…see what happens when it’s 32 degrees and wet roads. I didn’t even go half a mile but it felt amazing...I’ll take what I can get.


Finally..I am about to close out my first month of marathon training. I have one more run left tomorrow to the tune of 6 or so miles…hopefully with Lori. That will put me at 124 miles for the month. I’m feeling good. I think these step back weeks are going to do the trick of this plan of mine. Next month will be the real test starting with a 17 mile, 19 miler and 22 or so miler. February generally sucks less then January so I’m hoping for some fairly decent weather to complete these runs in. The little ones I could care less about the weather…you can deal with anything for an hour. But 2, 3 plus hours….well lets just say that a little thing not freezing your ass off helps.


And on a last note…


23 days, 5 hours, 53 minutes and 43 seconds smoke free.
465 cigarettes not smoked.
$126.50 and 3 days, 13 hours of your life saved.
Your quit date: 1/6/2011 12:59:00 PM

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Heading to Dallas

So the end of football season is in sight….and according to..well everybody…we’re going to the super bowl. Do I care? Nope..except that it makes Skip happy..and I don’t even really care about that! What I do care about..is the fact that he took all three kids up to the ex-husbands to watch the game and is planning on doing it again for the super bowl…that my dear friends..I care about very much.



Yesterday I completely bailed on my 3-5 miles easy…and I did it almost without guilt. I just wasn’t feeling it…I also wasn’t feeling much of anything on Friday either..so that’s exactly what I did..nothing. We did have dragon boat practice on Saturday morning which was tiring…so maybe that was my problem. Either way…to punish myself for my sloth…..I decided I had to make it up today…by doing my 3-5 easy plus the 6 I was supposed to do anyways. I didn’t know how I would hold up on a second long run during the same week…but I shouldn’t have worried…it was fine…really good even. I emailed back and forth with Lori who was also battling the dreaded training sloth……fucker must have taken up residence in the neighborhood…and we decided to go to Petrifying Springs to do at least 10 miles. It was clear and bright and completely gorgeous…even ended up being around 20 degrees by the time we were done. We ran trails for the first hour and roads for the second. And I can finally really understand the draw of running with people…it really made the time go by. I never got that with Jeff…probably because he was such a wussy boy that I just wanted to smack him most the time. Lori on the other hand…is a badass. After I took my ass home..she ground out a few more miles at Pets..came home and did a couple more…getting in 16 for the day…go Lori!


So this is my first step back week in my training plan. My long run for this week will only be 8 miles. I have been hitting every training run..or making up for it like today. I have not been hitting my paces for the most part..but that will come. So far I have run a 12 miler, 10 miler, 15 miler and 17 miler this month. My first long run of next month will pick up at the high end of the previous month..so it will be a 17 mile run. As soon as I get my body adjusted to doing these big long runs I plan on adding that 6th day of exercise back in in the form of another cross training day on Fridays. So far I haven’t been able to get that one in on account of recovering from the long run the day before. I’m feeling pretty good though. I’m ready for February and looking forward to the last really shitty month of the winter being over with


Oh..and on the smoking front?


17 days, 8 hours, 13 minutes and 13 seconds smoke free.
347 cigarettes not smoked.
$93.50 and 2 days, 15 hours of your life saved.
Your quit date: 1/6/2011 12:59:00 PM

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Rollin 15 and Hating on the Frees

I think I hate the Frees. It seems like I just can’t be a middle of the road kind of gal. Running in minimalist shoes is NOT working for me. Fifty miles on em and I’m ready to toss them…85 bucks down the shitter. After last weeks blister issues on my long run I started really paying attention to how I felt in these shoes. My shins hurt…they don’t hurt in the Mizunos and they sure the heck don’t hurt barefoot. I got blisters. By Saturday I had either 3-5 easy or 6.5 not so easy to do..I picked the 6.5. By the time I was done I could barely walk my shins hurt so bad. I cross trained on Sunday instead of the 3-5 easy because my legs were still cashed. Monday after work I ran from the hospital and barely made it 3 miles…3 VERY painful miles. Tuesday I had 5 on tap and did them in my Mizunos. I had to slow my pace by 2 minutes per mile in order to complete this run…but it was still better then in the Frees.



Now today was my long run. Since I did the 17 that was supposed to happen this week last week…I did last weeks 15 today. Did you follow that? HA! I honestly didn’t even know if I could get around the block but yesterday was a rest day and my shins were on the mend. I figured I’d take whatever mileage I could get to comfortably and whatever pace didn’t kill me. I ended up with the full 15 miles and 10 seconds slower then target marathon pace…which I was pretty happy with considering I could barely do 3 miles on Monday night.


So where does this leave me? I honestly don’t know. I am fairly certain the Frees are a wash….although Skip seems to think that a lot of this has to do with it being winter and the fact that we keep getting snow so I’m concerned about my footing therefore I’m running differently. For a non-runner…he sure knows his runner wife..good man. But I’m not so sure. I guess I will hold on to them for now and give it another go when the weather starts to clear some. January and February are the worst months around here and I’m at the tail end of the first crap month. I just need to hold on another 6 weeks or so before it starts to suck less outside.


I miss my barefoot running…lord do I miss it. Gravel marching is keeping my soles conditioned but not my soul conditioned…blah. I hate winter.


On the non-smoking front…it’s been two weeks. I’m still using the patch and am feeling pretty good. I haven’t so much as had a puff or seen a cigarette up close..but man if I can’t smell a smoker a mile away..could probably even tell you what brand they smoke.


14 days, 32 minutes and 4 seconds smoke free.
280 cigarettes not smoked.
$77.00 and 2 days, 3 hours of your life saved.


No wonder I have so much time on my hands

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Week Two and NOT smoking

This week wasn’t bad. A very sloshy Tuesday…thanks for nothing Rec Plex in Pleasant Prairie, WI. Running in a mini blizzard is not for the faint of heart…but the fact that they didn’t even attempt to plow the street around the lake when I saw not one but two trucks with plows on them go past me…well whatever. If I wanted to get into all the things wrong with Pleasant Prairie I’d have a whole other blog.



Thursday was my long run and you can read my previous post to see how that went. Today was 3-5 easy and I ended up doing tomorrows run of 6.5 instead. I mean hell…it’s my plan..I made it up…I can adjust it as I see fit. Today I had plenty of time for the 6.5 so I did it. It’s Wisconsin people..there could be a heat wave, monsoon, blizzard, ice storm, or tornado tomorrow…you just don’t know. I ran from my moms house. I must have been a real pain this morning because Skip gave me the boot in the early afternoon and off to mamas I went. It’s always nice to run out there…maybe because when I lived there I never could have up and ran to the lake or wherever. Maybe it’s the peace and quiet that I don’t have where I live. Maybe it’s the fact that there isn’t 50 damn things that I have to do the minute I walk in the door after I run at home. Whatever it is it was good. I wore the Frees and had no blister issues today. I got NO barefoot running in at all this week…damn winter anyways.


Total miles for week two- 33.16


So I quit smoking. For those of you that have been around awhile you’ll remember that this was part of the pre-marathon plan. Well..I never really got around to it till a little over a week ago. After my crappy long run two Thursdays ago…I tossed my last smokes and trucked on over to WalMart and got the patch. I haven’t so much as touched one in over a week. Do I feel amazing? No. Is it changing my running? No. I have noticed not one single difference except that my patients that smoke are stinky. That’s it. I was hoping for something amazing to happen with my running. I mean…for shits sake….you wouldn’t think someone that smokes almost a pack a day would be able to keep up the mileage I did but I did! So I had big hopes that by quitting smoking….running would become this easy, beautiful thing. Anyways…hopefully that’s coming. For now I’m just bitchy and bored

9 days, 6 hours, 40 minutes and 47 seconds smoke free.

186 cigarettes not smoked.
$49.50 and 1 day, 10 hours of your life saved.
Your quit date: 1/6/2011 12:59:00 PM




Hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend and happy running.





Thursday, January 13, 2011

Note to Self

Dear Dumbass,



When you are feeling *kinda ok* at the end of your SCHEDULED miles for your long run….stop.
That is all.


Sincerely,
Other Dumbass


So I had 15 miles on tap for this morning according to my plan. I took my car and parked it over by the path and did 5 mile loops….until the end. I packed extra water, another shirt..and for once…being smart…I packed my Mizunos. This was the first long run I was going to attempt with the Frees…it was not wonderful. After the first loop I stopped back by my car and refilled my water..lost the tanktop I was wearing and headed back out again. Some time during that second loop I started feeling one hell of a hotspot on my right foot. I haven’t had issues with blisters in YEARS. One of the many thing I can say about the Mizunos is that they felt fantastic straight out the gate over 300 miles ago and haven’t stopped since. Anyways…I decided that when I got back by my car again I was changing shoes. After that my feet were fine…heel strike be damned. The funny thing is..I don’t really heelstrike anymore…even in the Mizunos.


There I am…coming up on mile 15 and feeling sort of ok. The path is in sight and I know that’s roughly 2 miles around. I look left, I look right…shrug..and head down the path. Now I still felt pretty ok those last two miles..after 15 who’s counting right? But when I got home and got out of my car…holy shit. I thought I was going to die. My poor dogs didn’t know what to make of my bent over hobbling ass. The pain didn’t stop until I was settled in a freezing ice bath and I think that’s only because I went numb.


Anyways…today was only supposed to be 15 miles………I went 17 which I was supposed to do next week. That means I only have to do 15 next week right? Somebody throw me a bone. I miss summer..

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Week One Done

I had this whole long post wrote out on Thursday after my completely horrible long run but I deleted it…because I never finished it and by the time I got back to it most of the mad was gone so it didn’t even matter anymore.
Until yesterday…I hadn’t had a decent run in a week. Each one of them sucked for different reasons. This doesn’t usually happen to me. One..two maybe…but not an entire weeks worth. I don’t know if it’s the weather…this whole damn week has been windy and I just hate that. Feels like the cards are stacked against you from the minute you walk out the door. Anyways..it seems to be over. Yesterday was supposed to be 3-5 easy..and ended up being 6.5 easy. I ran into Lori about a half mile from home and knocked out a couple more with her…good stuff..I really enjoy that girl.


My first week of marathon training is complete. I hit each of my runs and each pace except my long run at marathon pace. I missed that by 4 seconds per mile. First time I’ve missed that pace in MONTHS. But that just goes to show you how bad this run was. I did add in a second rest day on Friday because I just didn’t have any go juice and why am I going to do that to myself?


Now my week two schedule is as follows.


Saturday- 3-5 easy
Sunday- 6.5
Monday- cross train
Tuesday -5 miles
Wednesday- Rest
Thursday -15 miles @ marathon pace *hopefully*
Friday- cross train


So here’s what made me awesome this week.


Pushing through each run even though they were crap.
Running at all outside in Wisconsin in the middle of winter...extra awesome.
Not maiming myself or the kids while Skip was gone all week AGAIN!
Making spice cupcakes for Skips work party even though he left me with the kids all week again.


What made you awesome this week? *concentrating on the positive instead of the negative here*

Looking out the window at the neighbors flag I see that the wind is down for a change.  I need to get out there before mother nature decides to slap me again.  Have a great week everyone!





Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Trying to Find that Sweet Spot

To tie my shoes that is..geesh. I have officially had my hours cut at work and it couldn’t have come at a better time. I’m now out at noon on Tuesdays so I’m able to get my 5 or so miles in well before the children get home from school. No getting up at the crack of dawn..no taking time from the family at night..perfect. So while the other girls were getting ready to shovel their lunches in between patients…I was in a DOT compliant bathroom changing into my running gear so I could head out into the sunshine. All that being said…this run was not epic. I tied the Frees too tight and just couldn’t find the way I wanted them laced…leading to not one…not two…but probably closer to six stops to retie because they were making my toes go numb. They have a funky lacing pattern…kinda diagonal instead of straight down the center of my foot. This led to me having issues for all 5 miles. I ran my old stomping grounds…back to my Pleasant Prairie softball days…I wonder if they still do that. So 16 miles in…they’re still ok. And if I can finally get them tied how I want them without having to stop over and over..I’ll be a happy girl. I didn’t get in any of this run barefoot…the roads were wet from our snow last night and wet roads and my nekkid feet spell disaster…although I did get my gravel marching in last night after my Tae-bo session.



On another sort of running related note…I woke to the loveliest surprise this morning. As usual…I woke Dom up and stumbled to the coffee maker..and then stumbled over to the computer. I opened up blogger and saw a post from my partner in half Katie. A heartfelt, heartwarming, humbling post dedicated to me…how cool is that? This sweet girl has listened to my rantings and ramblings for about a year now and she never ceases to amuse and warm me...if you haven't checked out her blog..do so.   Thank you my friend…you absolutely made my day.


Have a happy Tuesday all!

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Welcome 2011 and Nike Free

Do you remember when New Years was just another reason to get crazy drunk and act stupid, slutty, ugly..whatever your poison? Sometimes…for a second or two..I miss my 20’s. We stayed in last night…brought in the new year with our children…I could barely keep my eyes open and it was lovely.
So today I started marathon training. I had 3-5 easy on tap and woke to 25 degrees with 25 mile per hour winds…..have I mentioned that I hate the wind? I don’t mind it at my back…but we can’t always have it that way can we? Shit..that reminds me I need to call Jules. Anyways…I was all dressed and ready to head out and Skip says..Lori just went by. Lori is my rocking next door neighbor. We’ve ended up in a number of the same races and her and her husband Mike are some of the only real life runners that I know. So I haul ass out the door and tell her to hold on. We ended up knocking out 5 miles at a bit faster then my ‘easy’ pace. It was an awesome way to start the new year and I hope we do it again. Whether she believes it or not…I think we’re pretty evenly paced..and Lori…if you don’t want me blogging about you, you need to tell me now….because I tend to go on…and on.


On another front…after not much thought and only a little research…I bought my next running shoes. I ended up with the Nike Free and took them on this run. And if you have to wear shoes even if you’d rather be barefoot..this is a decent alternative. It was nice not to have to consciously adjust my footstrike because I’m running in a normal trainer. These take that out of the equation..and I love that. Midfoot strike came naturally..as I want it to. They are ugly..and there really isn’t a tongue to them. They slip on like a bootie and are wide at the front. But they let me run how I want to without so much work and I dig that. Here’s some pics.

28.4mm heel height...hardly barefoot..but there it is.
You really can curl them into a ball.
No tongue..slips on like socks kinda.
I see tons of stuck rocks in my future.

Are they awesome?  Kinda.  Do I love them?  Don't know yet.  But like I said...if you have to be in shoes..this is a nice alternative.  But I'm hoping that between these and my gravel marching...this spring is going to be amazing for barefooting!!!!  Can't wait!

So what did you guys do for new years..eve or day?




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