Flying Solo and 50 miles Barefoot

So I shipped Skip off to San Fran this morning and will be joining him in the AM tomorrow. For some reason I’m not really nervous…YET. I plan on hitting my mom up for a few Xanax in case I loose it on the plane. Leave me on solid ground and I can rule the world….put me at the mercy of a pilot and I just go nuts.
Today is Halloween and as of last night Tinky was ready to come out of her skin with excitement. She’s going to be a blue fairy. Hopefully the weather cooperates and it remains decent out. I have 9 bags of candy at the ready and the boys are going to take her around for a couple hours. I need to pack her up because she’s going to be bunking with Xanax Grandma while we’re gone.


On the barefoot front.


I have not worn shoes to run in over a week. I attempted my longest barefoot distance to date on Thursday and ended up with 5.25 miles. I had a tooth out on Monday and by Thursday probably could have done a real long run but decided to keep the impact on the face minimal and go shoeless. It was good…I was sore…but from using and building muscles and not from my feet. I really feel like I’m getting the hang of this and I truly love it. It was about 47 degrees on Thursday and after a few minutes my feet weren’t cold. I’m starting to venture out away from paved paths and hitting the streets instead. This has posed no problems yet. I wonder what the winter will hold for this…I still have not bought a treadmill and Wisconsin winters are hard!! I guess I’ll wait and see how long I can hold out.

So I have either an 18 or 20 miler planned while in Cali….but if I don’t get that in it’s not the end of the world. I don’t start marathon training till January so I still have all of November to get that last big run in before I scale back. Our hotel is 2 blocks from the ocean so I’m sure I can get some decent runs in. I really want to run across the Golden Gate and have built enough barefoot base that I could run an out and back on it *almost* 4 miles without shoes.


On that note…I need to get my arse going as I still have tons to do and my time before the kids wake up is dwindling. Have a great week!

Restless

I miss Skip. I’ll be perfectly honest and say that I usually don’t miss him when he’s gone for work. I’m so busy that I just don’t have time to sit and pine for him….not to mention the fact that I’m used to it as it’s been going on for almost all of the 7 plus years we’ve been married. Good thing we’re not the type of people that are at all jealous…or the type of people that need to constantly be up each others asses. But tonight…I wish he was home…and it feels nice.



We’ve had some crazy weather here in ole Wisconsin the last few days…including a touch down of a funnel cloud about a half mile from our house. Lucky for us we didn’t loose so much as a shingle although I’ll be damned if any of the leaves blew out of our yard. It’s a blustery day Winnie the Pooh…and it’s turned into a blustery night. Something about the wind…leaves me restless..and roamy..I just can’t settle in. Blah

Anyways…I really have nothing important to say and certainly nothing running related…but here’s a sweet story from tonight. Lil T followed me into the bathroom…unlike her parents she is both jealous and the type of person that need to constantly be up your ass…or mine anyways. So I’m sitting there…you know…peeing….and I look at her and say ‘Tinky…do you think we look alike?’ She looks at me and shakes her head no. ‘But our hair matches Mo’…she calls me Mo and our hair does not match. So I shake my head no. ‘Do you know what does match Tinky?’ No she shakes her head. I touch my heart…and then touch her heart….and look into those beautiful green eyes that look nothing like mine. She shakes her head yes….and wanders out.


The wind may make me restless….along with many other things…..but that little girl breaks my heart in the most beautiful way almost every single day.

Reflections at 3 Years Post RNY

So I received an email from ObesityHelp wishing me a happy 3 year surgiversary…I’d kind of forgotten.  Three years ago today I changed my life by having THIS done to my innards.  I am now the proud owner of a pouch that usually behaves itself and somewhere in a medical waste facility is 150 centimeters of my small intestine.  It was the best decision I have ever made and I have never regretted it for a second.  I don’t even think about it now….it’s just my life.  Avoiding the sugars, never drinking with meals, using small plates and eating all day long, protein protein protein…..it’s just me now.  So I’ll leave you with a few pictures….from 260lbs of flab to 160lbs of rad…HA…how lame does THAT sound!

And Now

Have a great week everyone!

Rollin 18 Shod But Lovin My Barefoot Running

So I was a little bit daunted by the thought of the 16 miles I had on tap for this morning. Not sure why but there it is. I ran a 16.2 mile back in June so this distance wasn’t new.



But let me back up and start with my falling apart mouth. I have to have a tooth pulled next Tuesday so I figured that doing a full 18 miles like I’d planned next Thursday was out of the question…I’m only so rad you see. So on my way to the trail I decided that if I was feeling it…I would knock out the 18 miler this week and still try to hit that 20 out in San Fran.


I drove my car over to the start of the trail that I’ve been doing a lot of barefoot running on. I’d kind of figured out a 5 mile loop in the area using my car for my aide station. I planned to do three 5 mile loops and then do one mile down the trail. I brought my Nathan hand held with Heed in it, extra water, 1 Hammer Gel and 1 package of margarita flavored shot blocks…OMG were they good! I headed out and was feeling excellent from the very start. The sun was shining and it was in the low 40’s. The rail road tracks were being worked on on both sides of my 5 mile loop so I made friendly with the guys on both sides…they must have thought I was out of my damn fool mine after the first time they saw me…but it was cool….and I probably am. I took my gel the first time I got back to the car. Refilled my water, grabbed my shot blocks and headed out again. Holding my pace was easy for a change and the miles really flew by. I ended up doing the full 18 miles and felt fantastic.


So here’s what I learned..bullet style.


1. I beat my ½ marathon PR by 4 minutes on this run.


2. It took me 3 hours even to run 16 miles back in June, it took me 3 hours 3 minutes to run 18 miles today.


3. My pace was 10:11 minute miles…19 seconds per mile under my target marathon pace.


4. My fastest two miles were mile 17 and 18…I could have gone farther.


5. Margarita shot blocks are my new best friend.


6. I believe barefoot running is doing some amazing things to my shod running…and I mean amazing.


7. I loved looping and having my own aide station…so much easier then trying to carry everything with me.


8. I quite possibly am putting my dentists son through private school with all the money I give him.


So that’s it…my long run in a nutshell or so. Hopefully all two of you that read this are having a wonderful week. I really believe that about the barefoot running. I’m now up to 3.5 miles at a stretch without shoes. I do everything but my longrun at least mostly barefoot and it freakin ROCKS!

Ice Baths and 14 Miles Below Marathon Pace

One thing I hate about doing my long run during the week is that it seems to take the whole day…even if it’s only a couple plus hours. Thursdays used to be my laundry, appointment, cleaning..and all the other bullshit day. Now it’s that plus a long run thrown in. But on the flip…I love not having to worry about it on the weekends.



So in going along with upping my mileage before I back off and start marathon training…I did 14 miles today below marathon goal pace. It was actually closer to 15 but I forgot to turn my Garmin on again after a bathroom stop and didn’t notice till about a mile later…whatever. It was an extremely good run..I didn’t bonk at all. It’s hard to keep that pace down so at mile 12 I did whatever I felt like and those final two miles were both sub-10’s. I don’t know if I’ll be able to hold the 10:30 or less for the whole 26.2..but that’s the plan. The plan also includes a 16 miler next week, an 18 the following, and a 20 miler the week I’m in San Francisco. Skip doesn’t think I can do a 20 mile run out there because of the hills…but I told him to get bent and watch me….HA! That will leave me the rest of November and all of December to do whatever….with actual marathon training starting January 1st of all days. I think having that 20 miler already under my belt will make my training that much less daunting. I was also reading in Runners World last night about doing speed training only in the final 6 to 10 weeks of your marathon plan…I liked that and am thinking that’s what I’ll do. My concentration will be my long runs and hopefully still getting in some barefoot miles.


Oh oh oh!! And I also took my first icebath today. It totally didn’t suck…which surprised me. I dumped 3 trays of icecubes in after I’d already run the coldest water in there…and sat my ass there for about 15 minutes. That was a couple hours ago and I don’t notice any real difference in recovery…but I’ll try it again I’m sure.


Dom’s final cross country meet is tonight and I can’t wait to watch him run. He is determined not to be last but I keep telling him that doesn’t matter…but at 13…it very much matters to him. So here’s hoping he can beat somebody….go Dom! After that we take off to watch V’s second to last football game of the season. Maybe he’ll get some more playing time tonight…he’s so sunk his teeth into this sport…and although I’d rather see him running free then taking a beating from someone twice his size..this is his choice and I have to honor that.


Does anyone else ice bath?  What's your verdict?

1009 miles 21.5 Barefoot and the Pre-Marathon Plan

So during my long run yesterday…12 miles at marathon race pace..I hit my 1000 miles for 2010. This was not a specific goal that I had..but it is cool non the less. It was a fabulous run…all along Kenosha’s Lakefront much of it along the marathon path that I’ll run in May. Seventy degrees and sunny..what a perfect day! V’s team won the football game…they’re now 5 and 1 and Dom pr’d again at his cross country meet..although I wasn’t feeling too hot and didn’t make it to either. It was one of those really good days…the kind we all need more of.



So here is my revised pre-marathon plan. I’ve laid off the weights and am replacing it with sweaty weighted Tae Bo sessions. I really want to drop some weight before I start.


I’m going to start upping my long runs so when I start actual training…I’ll be reducing mileage at first. I know this sounds kind of strange..but those that went through my half training with me..know I do things a little differently. I would like to get one 20 miler in…or at least as close to it as I can manage. Before my half I was doing race distance for my long run one week..and 10 miles for my long run the next…and just alternated those for several months. The end result was a race that wasn’t necessarily a breeze….but it didn’t kill me…because I’d prepared to the best of my ability. I’d like my marathon training to be similar..and I think my body can hold up to those big long runs on a regular basis if I prepare it right. I have been basically doing ‘maintenance’ long run of at least 10 miles once a week for damn near a year…so there will be no base building…it’s already there. I’m going to do a 16 week but actually write in a couple of extra weeks in case I get sick or life just gets in the way of my buzinazz. I printed of 5 months worth of empty calendars at work today and am going to fill them in one of these days. I’ve looked over multiple plans and I’m just going to kind of take what I want from each of them and tweek it into my own. I don’t plan on ever running more then 4 days a week and my long run day will be Thursday s when I’m off. I’m going to try and make this as painless on the family as possible..although they are all crazy excited and super supportive…I am definitely blessed in that department. My marathon goal pace is 10:30 miles or less….I don’t know yet if that is realistic….but it is for 12 miles…what’s 14.2 more right?


I also booked my flight to San Francisco last night. I’m more than a little squirlly about this for several reasons. I have never flown without Skip..and I don’t really fly well even with him. I’m going to be doing this one solo both ways. He’s going out the day before and coming home the day after. It will be interesting….probably most interesting for the poor sap that will be stuck with me for 4 hours each way dealing with a crazy broad wacked out on as much Xanax as I can handle.


Have a great weekend!

Bad Brian, Stupid People..and Barefoot Miles

I love running in the fall evenings..and I hate running in the fall evenings…with Brian. There are so many other dogs out this time of day that our runs are usually miserable and by the time we’re done I never want to see him again. He acts like such a shithead and just looses it when we pass another dog. He is 17 pounds of small man complex…and it drives me nuts.



Onwords.


I have consistently been splitting my runs…the first part of the run in my shoes…then I loose them for the last 2 plus miles. On Sunday I went to pick up the boys and ran in the lovely hilly town of Hartland, Wi…at least I think that’s what it’s called. I think I probably looked pretty tardley running down the bike path barefoot carrying my 100 dollar running shoes under my arm…but whatever. I had a first on this run…and very stupid couple with their very stupid little dog were coming towards me….I stayed as far as I could to the side but they still…while I was running mind you…let their dog on it’s little retractable leash…lung over to sniff me. Really people? WTF makes you think I want your dog near me…let alone while I’m running with no shoes and trying to avoid rocks? What made this worse…though I don’t think they knew he was coming….but there was a biker coming up behind them..trying to pass..and their little PookieWoo or whatever the hell his name might have been…lunged right in dudes path to get to me. This could have been a catastrophic for all involved if shit had gone down about 2 seconds differently. If people would just give a tiny bit of consideration for others…this world would be such a different place.  And I have to say...Brian at his WORST...has never gotten near another dog OR person!


I love it though…the barefoot running. I feel like I’m getting stronger and I really believe it’s improving my shod running..the form of it…the way I’m landing is more mid foot and not so much on the outsides of my feet..in shoes. What does that make me then….a hybrid runner? I don’t see ever giving up the shoes completely…although who knows what the future holds…but I can see myself getting to the point of doing everything but my longruns without shoes. This brings me to the thoughts of winter again. I’m a pretty badass chic and there wasn’t much of anything that kept me inside last year….so where does that leave me with my barefoot running? I have no treadmill….and really don’t want one…but am seriously considering it so that I don’t loose what I’m now gaining. Decisions decisions. I’m also thinking of finding a Turkey Trot 5K to do barefoot…if I’m up to it by then.


In ever present other news..I have almost talked myself into joining Skip in San Francisco the first week of November. He has to go out for a conference and I would love to get back out the West Coast for a couple days. What would I do for all those hours while he is at said conference you ask? Absolutely nothing…..I answer…nothing at all if I can help it.


Happy Running!