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

Merry Merry Christmas

Ahh….Christmas morning. We’re down to one child in the house this year. Every other year my boys spend Christmas with my ex-husband…which is every bit as bad as it sounds. As a single gal….I used to buy a 6 pack of beer and spend the day at my parents drinking myself into a cherry stupor….missing my boys…but since I met Skip….and especially since lil T came along…it’s not as horrible….more quiet…less mess. ..crazy little girl to make me smile. We don’t buy our children boatloads of things..never have never will. This partly stems from the fact that we’re broke…but also stems from the fact that in our eyes…Christmas is more then the presents…better to give then receive and all that. Skip and I don’t buy gifts for each other….of if we do it’s something very small and thoughtful. Instead we take the money we’d spend on each other and buy for children that get brought up through the church..or Skips work has a program as well….that’s what we did this year. We had a 14 year old boy and a 9 year old boy this year…awesome. Much better then getting something else that we really didn’t need to stuff into this already full house. And if I have one thing that I’ve done with my children that sticks….I hope it’s that.

So yesterday I knocked out 10 pretty decent miles at below marathon goal pace. I know this doesn’t seem to be the normal approach…but I do ALL my longruns with the target at getting them below my goal marathon pace time. Especially the last few miles. I want to know exactly what that pace feels like..and I want to be able to maintain it for the entire time baring any catastrophe. But then I’m a psycho that way. That’s how we’re training with Dragon Boat as well…..why should race day ever be a surprise? I mean any more then it’s going to be anyways. I also intend to do at least one full marathon distance training run during this cycle…hopefully two if I can work it.


On the barefoot front….the gravel marching is going swimmingly. One thing I didn’t anticipate was that this first batch of gravel that I’ve been marching in is turning to dust! If I can get another week out of it I’ll be surprised. So I guess it’s a good thing that it came in a 50lb bag because I’m sure I’ll use all that and probably more. After I finished the 10 miles I had on tap yesterday..I took of my shoes and socks and finished barefoot to my house. I had no foot pain and felt great!! It was only like .35 mile but that’s ok..it was 27 degrees….HA!


So I was wondering what other peoples thoughts were on race pace training? Do you do it? What about full race distance?


Anyways…I hope everyone is having a wonderful, peaceful Christmas. We’re heading over to my moms so she can feed us and the boys will be home tomorrow afternoon….I can’t WAIT!

Gravel Marching for Dummies

Disclaimer: I really have no idea what I am doing. Like many..or most if you will…things in my life…I am winging it…and hoping for the best.



Preface: I started barefoot running for no particular reason except that I was mildly interested in seeing what it was all about…I ended up addicted. I tried it before I researched it…but after a bit..I went back and did plenty of reading. I was up to doing all of my runs except my longrun barefoot and was having a wonderful experience until I developed some top of the foot pain that scared the shit outta me. I still can’t leave it alone….but with marathon training looming…I’ve laced back up at least for the winter. But during my months of barefootness…I have managed to retrain the way I run to a midfoot strike…even in shoes. I live in Wisconsin…winter here is no joke..and I’m just not badass enough to loose the shoes when it’s say 6 degrees. But I don’t want to loose what I’ve gained during my excursion into the nekkid side…so even though there’s not much out there on it….I decided to try gravel marching over the winter as to not loose the thickness I’ve developed in the soles of my feet. It’s not pretty…but here it is.


The tools-

50 pound bag of basic gravel- purchased for 4 bucks at your local Menards/Lowes etc.

Dishwashing tub- purchased for 3 bucks at Walmart

Nekkid feet

Time

What I’ve been doing in the week or so I’ve been at it…is hopping my ass in there and marching.....for 5 minutes in the morning and 5 minutes at night. Like I said…I don’t know what I’m doing and someone PLEASE chime in if you have some ideas or tips. I plan on increasing my time over the winter and eventually getting some more heavy duty gravel…and as soon as I’m done with this marathon…loosing the shoes and attempting all the distances I’ve already done shod…barefoot. This is one of the many things I love about running..it’s ever changing. You can always try something different…make the old new…tweak tweak tweak until it’s your own.


It’s different then running barefoot. You’re not trying to be light on your feet. You’re pounding the gravel…actually marching in it..to toughen up your feet. Does it hurt? Some…but nothing I can’t handle…and the alternative of loosing something that I worked hard to get is just not acceptable to me..so there you go. It is also dusty…have a towel handy to wipe your feet off unless you want gravel dust all over your house.


So that’s my gravel marching in a nutshell. Happy marching!

Are We Really Crazy?

Took all my mojo and some I stole to get my ass out there yesterday for my long run. Sometimes it’s hard to get out there when home is so inviting and warm. All I wanted to do was clean and bake but alas…my inner compulsive asshole got the better of me and I headed out…although it took me till 11 AM to do so. 10.3 miles below marathon pace at 25 degrees.



My in laws were with me all week this week…so they got a taste of what my exercise/running routine is all about and if they were unsure before…they now officially know I’m insane. But are we really crazy…those of us that make fitness a part of our daily life? I can count on one hand the people I know in real life that follow any kind of exercise regimen and most of them are recreational at best. My little brother is one of these…but even he allows himself some flexibility. Where are the people that are like us? Do they exist outside of bloggy land? I’m beginning to wonder.


So Skip came home from D.C. last night and I was thrilled to see him. He’s been gone since Sunday but I’m more then ready for him to come home. I’m all ready to settle in and finish getting ready for Christmas. All my shopping is done except for a few stocking stuffers. Lil T and I made ginger bread men the other night but we need to do some more because we ate all of them.


In other news…I made my 3 year post gastric bypass appointment to see my surgeon. Once a year I have to check in with him so he can see that I haven’t ballooned up again and I’m not dead. He also orders a slew of blood work to make sure I’m taking my vitamins and am not deficient in one thing or another. Then he proceeds to bug me for before and after pictures and to come to the meetings so I can talk to people…to which I nod my head and promise to do so. Then I run out the door and disappear for another year. I just can’t bring myself to do it. I’m no miracle..I paid him to fix something that was wrong with me. The fact that I do what EVERY gastric bypass patient should is a side benefit….and honestly..not the norm.


Anywho…that’s all I’ve got. Stay tuned for a soon to be post on my excursions into gravel marching…exciting stuff.

Stomp of Approval and Gravel Marching

So I got an email from the Barefoot Runners Society offering me their ‘stomp’ of approval. What this means exactly I don’t know….but it’s pretty cool to be acknowledged by like minded folks. The sight is awesome and I look forward to exploring it more over the next few days.



My day off is never my own….but I did manage to knock out 10 miles below marathon pace this morning. I froze my ASS off the entire way…..10 miles at 20 degrees is no joke…and I didn’t dress properly on the bottom..so it was literally my ass that froze. I was pain free except for my hamstrings but that’s from my footstrike adjustment over the course of the 10 miles. I felt good..my foot felt fine…and I actually took my shoes off for the last half mile and ran home barefoot in 20 freakin degrees. I don’t learn do I? HA! It felt fantastic to loose the shoes in spite of the cold and lord help me if Skip reads this.


I also went to Menards today and bought a bag of gravel. As soon as it thaws.….I’m going to pour it into a bin of sorts and start my gravel marching….and if my family didn’t think I was nuts before they sure the hell will now. I can’t wait! They had two different kinds…one with pretty large rocks and one multi purpose that looked like what you’d put in a driveway. I bought the multi purpose stuff for now. I’ll start with that and maybe start incorporating the bigger stuff in a month or so. I need to research exactly what I’m supposed to do with this stuff….but my plan is to not loose the conditioning that I’ve achieved on my soles over the winter and as soon as the temps stay above 30 degrees…hit the ground nekkid again and go to town.

In other news….lil T lost her other front tooth tonight…here’s the photographic evidence. I love toothless kids!