100 Miles in 10 days

  Since Madison marathon I wanted some new challenges. We were all thinking about doing the Tecumseh Trails marathon again - but decided not to - long drive etc. I decided to plan a last long run of the year instead - free and fun and just because. It was scheduled for the 7th of December - same day as the trail marathon was supposed to be. The weather ended up being cold - VERY cold - 12 decrees cold, and at the time I though that was very cold. We had quite a few people say they would come on the FB event I made - but ended up with 5 of our regular runners - and 3 runners from the Midwest Misfits who were going to run the trail marathon - however it was canceled because of a big storm. So not a bad group for the weather. It ended up being a very nice 22 mile run starting at starved rock Visitor center, going down to the I&M canal trail, through Ottawa where we picked up another runner, and back through the trails to the start. After that we changed in the nice visitor center bathrooms - I forgot an extra coat :( and then we went out to eat at a place in Utica. Overall a really fun way to spend a Saturday - Yeah, I know, i'm a strange one....

Frosty....

After that - the next thing planned was 100 miles in 10 days - it started on the 10th of course. That was a Tuesday, I figured that would give us enough time to heal from the 22m fun run. We had a few people that originally said they would do it with us - but the weather did not make it easy for anyone. We ended up with 4 in our group, my sister and 2 neighbors Mike & Angela. And my sisters cousin did it remotely - he lives an hour and a half away - so he ran them all alone. Well, like I said, the weather did not work with us - the rules were - 10 miles ever day for 10 days - the miles could be split up through out the day, but no roll overs were allowed. On Tuesday it was -8 degrees - we though that was really cold and almost decided to do it inside. But we did not - we got our butts out on that road at 4:30am starting at my house - for a 10.3 mile loop - Surprisingly it was not that bad however my legs were super numb and cold after and a little wind burned - I added a layer of shorts over my 2 tights after that day.  The next day was 18 degrees, but was basically a blizzard
(seemed like it anyway) Huge beautiful snow flakes that all seemed to be aiming for my eyes. The snow blows were not out yet at 4:30 and it had been snowing for about an hour - so the roads were covered. I think that was the hardest run - deep snow, some wind, and I HATE snow in my eyes. But we made it...It was funny that we though our 12 degree run was cold, because on day 3 we ran in -20 degree including the  wind chill - now that was really cold. We made it though.... Day 4 was three degrees - not bad actually...
Day five we got snowed on AGAIN -  yuck. It was Saturday morning and we met at 5:30am so my sister could make it to work in time... This time I tried running with my motocross goggles - they were great for a while till I was blinded by frost.... after that I just had to deal with the snow in my eyes again - they did get me through the head wind part of the rout. We did see daylight that day, so that was nice. running on snowy roads is so much harder than clear roads. We were all getting a little sore because of this. Day six was ten degrees and windy. It was Sunday and we met at 7am at silver springs for a hilly rout... That was a cold run - the wind just bit into us, not too fun... Most of us were under dressed for some reason - maybe because Saturday was actually pretty warm - Angela did not have her face covered and I can not imagian how much that must have hurt because mine was mostly covered and hurt...She's a tough one.  Day seven was 10 degrees - it was nice out - one of our better runs - Day 8 was alright - Angela's knee was really bothering her - She though she would have to drop out, but she didn't...  day 9 was ok for my sister and I - the mood looked amazing - really bright with cool ripply clouds around it...  Mike got sick though - he and Angela were going to try to go later in the day - Mike could not and Angela went alone - sore knee and all... Today - the last day the 3 of us (mike still sick) headed out on our last and warmest run. it was 21 degrees and not windy. We finished pretty strong and got back with time for me to actually make lunch. Clear snow free roads are awesome. I'm happy with all of us for getting through it. Mike with 80 miles... he looked pretty miserable in this mornings pic. Bad timing to be sick - that's for sure. I think the hardest part was getting up so early. My legs stopped being sore for the most part by the end - kinda strange. I'm really looking forward to sleeping in for a few days. Another strange thing is that I did not lose a pound. I was so hungry i'm sure I ate more than usual, but not a ton though I don't think... I'm wondering what the deal is with that - hoping a few pounds will come off now that I get to rest and maybe my body will stop retaining water if that's what it is doing.... It was a fun experience though believe it or not. I would do it again next year. Something abut making a commitment and sticking with it no matter what (just about) - Something about that makes me happy.We also got called "crazy" and "Idiots" by a friendly motorist on Saturday, some drivers did not get over very well for us, but for the most part, the weather was our greatest trial.  SO that's it for now.... Next up is probably the Polar dash... Then Debi and I signed up to run Catilina Island Marathon on March 15th... That will be amazing - really looking forward to that - I don't even mind that that means I don't really get a break before training starts the first week of Jan... 10 miles is not that long - put 2 together and that's our longest training run... piece of cake...

Madison Marathon 2013

Judah Running the race

The 2013 Madison Marathon was yesterday. My time was 3:43 and I can finally say that I am happy with my performance at a marathon. Its a good feeling - a really good feeling after being so dissipated with so many of my races. Broken down I'm in the top 22% over all - the top 8% in my gender, and the top 11% in my age group with-in my gender. Here is the story:

The week of the marathon I took it easy. Monday I ran 4 miles on my own in the morning - around a 9:15 pace - Tuesday I ran 4.4 miles with Mike & Angela, Wednesday was a cold gross day and I ran 4 miles after work on the dread-mill, Thursday I ran 2.2 miles of trails on my lunch break. Friday I did not run, I walked my dog, Saturday I did not run, I want on a 2ish mile hike with my Mom & my dog... So by Saturday I felt pretty rested. I tried to have more carbs, but I was a little lazy on it... I just tried to eat somewhat normal and add rice and noodles to everything, I also had sandwiches at work no wraps... and tried to have some sort of bread for breakfast. I headed up to the race Saturday around 11am with Mike & Angela, Judah had drill, so he was already in Wisconsin planning on driving over to the hotel as soon as he was released. We headed over to the New Glarus Brewery to tour & sample beers - then to a local bar to get our free beer with the coupon that we had gotten at the brewery. It was fun, nice town, good beer - REALLY good beer actually.... After that we headed to the expo. It was not all that impressive - but we got what we needed to get, and I was able to pick up Judah's Bib and shirt with out the form that I was supposed to fill out and had not because I had not known about it. We walked around the capital building looking for some other runners from out group - finally found one of them and planned to meet later for dinner.

We stayed 2.2 miles out of town at the Clarian, Somehow Judah and I ended up with the smallest room I have ever had and Mike and Angela had a huge room with a couch, and whole sink/stove in it.... We ended up having dinner at my sisters hotel, a best western - it was good, I got something with shrimp (risky I know) chicken and Alfredo sauce. After that we headed back to the hotel and went to the hot tub, got our race clothes all set up and that was about it. I was woken up at 5:30 by our very noisy coffee machine that my husband had started - it was impossible to sleep after that, so I got up to deal with the late check out issue. I would not recommend the hotel. Mike had called them about late check out and the person on the phone said that it would most
likely be totally fine, but to check to be sure when we arrived. When we arrived they said that they could not approve it till the morning, and to just ask in the morning any time and it would be fine. In the morning we called the front desk only to have the tell us that we had to wait till 7am to ask a certain manager/house keeping - however the night before I has scheduled a 7am shuttle to down town - SO they knew that we would not be there the night before at 7am, and still said we could ask in the morning. it was really stupid. They eventually said we could share one room for late check out, so we hauled all our stuff over to Mike and Angelas huge room and we all had to shower there after the race - however AFTER the race the guy said that late check out was no problem at all, but since we had already turned out key in (so I though) and moved everything, it was too late for us, so we had to all use the same room anyway... Also the lady that morning had said that the whole hotel was booked, when we left at 2:30 or so, the parking lot was pretty much empty. Very lame. Also lame that later I found the room key in my wallet.

Finished - OUCH & yay

Anyway - on to the race! I ate a PB&J sandwich from the bread that they put out early for us in the lobby, it was stale but I ate it anyway.... Then I had a Bandanna and coffee... I wore shorts a short sleeved shirt and sleeves... and my newton shoes. It was cold - 35 degrees and breezy - was going to warm up to 42. I wanted to wear tights and a long sleeved shirt + a short sleeved shirt over that, but runners world "what to wear running" told me to wear shorts and a T-shirt. I was really mad at runners world for that as I walked through the freezing wind from where the hotel van had drooped us off.  We met up with everyone at the Best western on the corner - Headed out to the coral about 15 minutes before the start, and before I knew it I was off and running with the 3:40 pace group (they did not have a 4:45 one) My sister, who was sick with a bad cold and Leo, who had a hurt toe, and Matt who was also sick started off fast and were all ahead of me. Angela passed me eventually (her foot was hurt) and mike and Judah ran at the same pace as me for a while, Mike has a hurt knee, Judas hip flexors hurt from his PT test the day before - I felt like I was the only one who was not really hurt or sick.  Mike dropped back pretty early, he's been hurt all year - one thing after another. Judah was with me off and on till maybe mile 13ish. I passed Angela on a hill around maybe mile 5 or so, Passed Debi at mile 9ish, she looked miserable - she could not breath, bad cold. Leo was clipping along pretty good at mile 13... The miles flew by actually. My pace group was great, People talked about the city... just joked around a little, one lady would qualify for Boston if she stayed with the group, she ended up making it! A couple were running their first marathons... I really was not bothered by anything till mile 16, then I was starting to not have as much fun, we had a long stretch of highway to cover.... The pace guys were great though and said that it was normal to start feeling uncomfortable and for things to stop being fun at this point. That made me feel better. We saw the Seniors house, it was pretty, headed up another huge hill at mile 17 or 18, the hills were finally starting to bother me, my pain got worse, but the pace guys said that it was normal, marathons were not easy, they hurt, to just embrace the pain, accept it as your new reality and keep going. Once my foot was getting numb, very numb, and it really hurt somehow too - I asked if they had any suggestions... They said "ignore it"  So that's what I tried to do. I finally dropped out of the pace group at about mile 21, but one of the pacers spotted me walking too far at the aid station and said "Get going" so i did... I was able to keep them in eye sight for a few miles, at mile 23 we had a long out and back stretch, I saw Matt going the other way, but no one else, Finally I got to turn around and head back to the capital building - the finish. I saw Judah first a mile or so behind me, then Angela a mile or so after that, then Leo.... My legs were killing me and I did stop to walk twice just a bit to try to move my feet around and feel them a little again... Finally I could see the capital building and I only had .5 miles left. My legs felt like Jelly and one of my quad muscles was trying to cramp up. I kept going.
I wanted to walk up that final hill so bad, but people were watching, and the finish line was so close. I ordered my legs to keep going, and to go faster. They did keep going, but they seemed to rebel on the faster command and I almost fell flat on my face - after that I was happy with just keeping going. And I did - I reached the finish line at a decent pace and got my plastic reflector warming thing and some water. I knew Judah was not far behind me so I waited for him, he came in at 3:49 and we headed to the food together. They had sandwiches and chips and beer. I gave Judah my beer - I could barley hold the Monster Muscle drink I had in my check bag with out dropping it I was so cold and shivering so hard.

Everyone else from our group finished well all things considered. I'm just so happy that finally I was not weak (not too weak anyway) I pushed through the pain and exhaustion more than I ever have - I still cannot

Finishers

believe how hard running a marathon is. I guess that's just how it is. I'm just happy I was able to really enjoy a lot of it, and right now even though I am crazy sore and look like a 90 year old woman when I walk (again), I am really enjoying the fact that I was not weak and I ran a good race. I'm really happy I had the pacer group to talk to and listen to as they basically told me to suck it up and keep running, but in better words that worked better for me. So that's it - marathon and greater then number 11. I think I am good on the city runs for a while though, Madison did not handle their extra traffic well - the town was so backed up we had to go way out of town to get to the hotel and it ended up taking about an hour, could have walked there in 30 minutes even they way we were walking after the race (VERY slowly) I think that will be it for me this year. I want to do the Polar dash in Chicago in January, that's a half... and that's all i'm planning so far... maybe a 5k for thanksgiving, but that's it... and then maybe the shamrock shuffle.... and their is this really awesome looking race in April in Colorado Springs, and I would really like to run Dances with Dirt Hell this year I love those races... But besides that, my schedule is wide open :)

Fox Valley marathon #9

 The Fox Valley Marathon is over. It was September 22nd. Fairly flat course, pretty views, nice course. I can't complain. My finish time was 3:51 - that's 8 minutes off my last PR, again, I should not complain. I felt good for about 18 miles, I found a girl to run with, she had run a 100 mile race before... But I ended up loosing her, she had qualified for Boston the week before at a different marathon...She didn't want to miss signing up and knew the race would fill up, so she flew out to a race and made it in... She was just running the Fox valley because she had already signed up - it was originally going to be her Boston qualifier.  I broke up the race in 4 parts. 2 - 7 mile runs and 2-6 mile runs. The girl that I ran with for a while told me not to think of the miles you have already ran - to only think positive thoughts, and at mile 20 forget about the 20 miles you ran, and start fresh with the 6. So I tried to pretend that I had just started and for some reason my legs were just really tired. I struggled though. I got sore, tired... exhosted... my heart felt weird around mile 21, my breathing got labored even though my pace had decreased. I did struggle though though... The last 6 miles are what killed me though. I stopped to walk.. too much. I slowed down. too much... my time could have been 10 minutes better if I had kept it together those last 6 miles... but I do feel that I improved. I stayed positive - more then usual, I walked much less, I felt better for longer, I fueled myself pretty well. Im just waiting for the mental break through. I was able to focus more with out music, I have still not ran with music since.... it's just better that way now - I don't like the noise, I like to run and hear my breathing, and my foot steps, and just hear myself think. I would have been happy with my time - only I know I could have done better because my sister, who I train with for pretty much every important run, ran a 3:36... So because of that I feel pretty depressed about the race. How could I be so mentally weak?

 I know I am capable of much more, I should be able to train harder, run harder, race harder. Be more focused... Eat better.. I spend so much time and effort to do this, I need to be better at it. And I have no reason why I should not be, that is why it is so frustrating. If frustrates me that running a marathon is 90% mental, and that is what I lack. I wish I could just train and get through it with just training, I wish the doubt did not come in, the tiredness, the little voice inside my head that says "your really tired, you should not be breathing so hard, these runners are just better than you, you could never run that fast for that far, you need to stop and get your heart rate down, it's ok, this race does not matter, your tired, you should walk a while...." and it goes on and on and on... It's ok though. I will keep trying. I will be better, I will be stronger, I will be faster.

Another Day...Another Marathon..

It's 2 days from the Fox Valley Marathon. Debi and I are going to pick up our packets tonight. I'm not looking forward to driving through rush hour, but it will be nice to have everything early. As I may or may not have mentioned before - I'm sponsored for this race! One of my company's accounts comes in to get banners that I make him every month, his establishment, Thirsty Fox Pub, is 3 blocks from the start and finish.... He had mentioned to me before that he would sponsor me in a race - So once I saw that the Fox valley Marathon was so close to him, I decided to ask... He said yes, and is going to have a post race party - so that is where I will be going after the race for some french fries, a chicken sandwich or/and pizza. The race starts at 7am and pretty much follows the river for 13 miles, crosses the river, and then follows it back on the other side back to the start/finish. It's a very flat course compared to probably all of my other races. Perhaps comparable to the Trail Breaker race.

I think I am looking forward to the race. I have had pretty good runs all week - I ran monday - Thursday, 30 miles total. Taking today and tomorrow off.... Will be nice to sleep in on another Saturday, but will be weird to have Judah off running and me not... I think I will drink lots of coffee, watch a cartoon and make pancakes. Now that sounds like a good Saturday morning.

My plan is to run with the 3:50 pace group for the first half, and try to make my way up to a faster pace half way through.

Things I'm going to do differently:
New Newton shoes - 40 miles on them or so

Not run with my camel back - I"m going to run with a small strap with a pouch for my Blocks.... just drink the water and gatorade on the course

Not have music. I think it will help me focus.

Not drink any wine the night Before the race

Things I'm doing the same
Trying to eat lots of carbs
Get extra Sleep
Get to the race early

That's it I guess... Marathon & < #9 here I come.

I've never liked running in heat

 This week was hot. Way hotter than it has been. We have had a very mild summer so far. Great running weather, but this week, August caught up to us. It was in the 70's even at 4:40am. Pretty lame when we were used to 60's even upper 50's. In fact I even got hives after a run one morning in August. I only get hives when it's cold out, I go running, and then I take a warm shower. Cold induced hives. Strange I know. Any way...

I was really discouraged from my race pretty much all week feeling bad about it and being hard on myself. Calling myself names like week and pathetic, a horrible runner... Sometimes I take it upon myself to be my own drill Sargent. hoping that if I insult myself enough i'll somehow shape up and be awesome, but it never works. It usually just makes me depressed and angry.Maybe I should try being nicer to myself...But then maybe myself should stop being a pathetic quitter at mile 10 of a half marathon... I suppose that race is in the bast now - just like the rest of them. I need to forgive myself and move on. Someday I WILL be good at racing. with 3 half marathons, 5 marathons, and 3 50k's I really think I should already be somewhat good at racing. But the fact is, i'm not, and that's just how it is. So onward I go into training. Like I was saying it was hot all week, this week our group split up, half of them went to run in Minooka on the I&M trail, and the rest of us went to starved rock. I was happy we choose Starved rock, we were all on the fence for a while... but it ended up being a hard hot run - we all ran out of water and struggled because of how hot and humid it was. We made it though, and it ended up being around 21 miles when we only needed 18... I figured it made up for all the walking we did. Mike ended up getting a really sore knee, and the rest of us used that as an excuse to walk more with him and not leave him behind... Turns out the other group had a really hard run as well, as did several others we heard from. It just was not a good running weekend I think...
This week i'm hoping to run better now that it is cooler. I ran 3 miles in chicago yesterday, it was really fun... I use to live in chicago and really enjoyed getting on the lake trail again. This morning Deb, Judah, myself and mike and Angela ran our 7.5 mile "kit rout" I named it that because we start from Mike and Angela's house, go straight down and then kind of doing a triangle, then come back the same way... Its a fun rout, and was a good run. I have a track work out or a hill work out this week, I forgot what... Almost looking forward to it.

Training good - Racing BAD

Running through Big Rock forest preserve

On Rock creek road out for 17

 Training is going good. I have been feeling continuously better on my long runs. Was able to do some 7:45 miles in the middle of a 18 mile run and finish the last 10k around 8:00 miles or less. Not completely sure because my watch died - but I was running with Matt - and keeping up... and he's fast. My speed workouts/hill work outs have been good. I feel stronger and faster... Have not felt too burned out too often. I feel like it's coming together well.

Our group after the race

HOWEVER - just because training is going good does not mean that I have learned to race. I'm still quite horrible at it. I ran the peapod half marathon in batavia yesterday and am not happy with my performance. I know I could have done better because my sister did better & I was at least as trained as her. Infact I have had better training runs for a while now - so I should have been capable of her time or BETTER. However, I finished in 1:47 and she finished in 1:44. I was doing OK till about mile 8. it was not easy, but I was hanging in at my goal pace (7:55) then I just started slipping, and before I knew it I was walking up a hill and walking for a while after a water stop. One of my runner friends passed me, I should have been able to kick it up and keep up. I could have.
 But I didn't and couldn't. It's so frustrating. It's like i'm just mentally weak when it comes to races. I'm thinking if I do not have any races that are concidered good to me, meaning meeting my goals etc. that I will quit racing next year and just train with everyone. I love running and being with the group... getting better. But it's just so heart breaking when all my hard work does not show at all on race day. Why spend all that money if I'm just going to under preform and end up being upset? I'm considering a running psychologist, and a running coach.. But I really can't afford all that.

Debi and I after the half

Next up is some cool training runs I hope. Next week is starved rock - not sure what the following week will be, then we have an easy week and then the Fox valley marathon. I'm not all that exited about that right now. i'm exited about Starved rock training run... I kept thinking, that if I just keep racing someday I will just be good at it, I will figure it out, get past what ever my deal is with it... but it has not happened yet... I suppose I still came in 10th out of 65 in my division.... and placed pretty well over all... but I know I could have done better. Debi did better.

Wow it's August - Time to train again



Well It's August already, and much has happened. I went to a Cardio Specialist and he said I may have Atrial fibrillation or some other things that are similar. One is common in athletes. Once I get into this next training session I am going to wear a heart rate monitor for a whole month to see if anything is going on. Some of the symptoms are really similar to mine - shortness of breath, exhausting, just being tired all the time, heart beating irregularly... This may explain my "runners burn out". Hoping after my nice month off (somewhat off) I'll be good to go for a while. SO far so good. Worse case scenario the bottom lobe of my heart will just beat really hard and the whole thing will stop and I will die... but the Dr. is not favoring that digenesis thankfully.

The Team at the start

Running in from a leg

 The Ragnar Relay race was fun. We started out in Madison - My leg was the first one - about 4.5 miles. It was pretty along the race, and I ended up with only one person in front of me with an average of 7:40 or so. Then everyone else ran their legs - pretty much all of us did the first legs fast - some of us (not me) did ALL the legs really fast... I just had 4 good ones... We kept at it all day and all night. my next leg was around 5pm - Then around 11. The night runs were interesting - we ran with head lights on a trail (paved) it was tunnel vision, and chasing the red lights on people's backs was fun... My next leg was  3am, then 6am... 

At the Finish!

Road Kills Marked on the van

One of the team members got hurt, something popped in his hip, Myself and the injured runners wife ran part of the last of his leg, it about killed him to let us, but it was the right choice... We finished up all running together in Chicago around 4pm - I was so tired, When I got home though, my mom had a birthday party at my house for my little nephew.... that was exhausting. but I made it, and my bed never felt so good that night. I ended up with 34 miles, and a pretty cool medal. It was fun to have the experience with everyone else - it's funny... When I was a Kid I never would have though Old Boring Audlts (as they all were) would ever want to do something like the Ragnar race.... Just goes to show me that getting old is not as bad as I though, and not what I expected it to be.

After that was my wedding - now not only am I old - but i'm MARRIED and old! Oh boy. Its good though. I'm happy to have it all over with. It went awesome. I did not find a cake topper with runners on it though - that was a little disappointing.

We stayed pretty active on our honey moon too We went to Costa Rica - Walking along the Beach, I got out for 2 runs, we went for a 5 hour hike, I think we may have almost killed our tour guide. I asked him "So your going to go to the Gym after this right?" and he said "NO, i'm going home, taking a shower and going to bed" hahah It was funny. We also went white river rafting, Kyaking in the Ocean (we got in trouble for going out too far.... Kinda regretted it trying to get back, the tide was trying to take us....) It was good though, I enjoyed the time off.

When we got back I go right into running again thoroughly persuaded I had gained 10 pounds. Turns out I did not, not even close, actually stayed exactually the same, pretty sure that had to do with being food poisoned for a day, my stomach did not digest anything right for a week after that.

So far I am signed up for the Pea Pod Half marathon,  the Fox Valley Marathon (sponsored by Thirsty Fox Pub!) We are going to design a post race menu too - i'm exited. and the Madison Marathon. Official training started this week. Saturdays long run is going to be 14.... SO far so good, I'm tired today, but had a good bike ride on lunch break yesterday (10 miles at around 17.5mph) then weights and abs and a 4m hill work out after work, then a 7.5 easy run this morning. So I suppose I can be tired....

 







Ragnar Relay Race

The Ragnar Relay race is tomorrow. My team of 6 starts at 12:30pm in Madison WI - we have a projected finish time of 4:30pm on Saturday in Chicago. I have not been feeling awesome. I'm actually going to the cardiologist today to see what my deal is - if it has anything to do with my heart, if not on to the asthma doctor (I know they have another name, but I don't know what it is) I did have a few good runs recently though - ran 11 miles saturday at a really good pace - under 8:30 - best mile 7:50... So I have hope. I would like to keep my pace right at 8:20 for every mile of ever leg I have... I have 34 miles... I am runner number one... SO I get to start. Kind of exited about that... I will write about how it goes! Looking forward to a new challenge (running on no sleep... and what ever else comes our way...)

Marathon #1 & shoes #2 of the year

I had more to write about last year with all my troubles and trials. Not that it has been a breeze or anything - I think i'm just use to all the garbage that comes along with distance running. It has gotten better though - let me compair:
Last year = TONS of rubs & blisters. My dog came into the bathroom last year as I stepped into the shower very concerned with all the howling that that I may be dying. Luckily for me she hates bathes enough to ensure she would not jump to my rescue... Yeah, that hurt, those little raw spots, as the water splashed on them then liquified salt from the rest of me just to aggravate them even more. I don't know why I dont' get them anymore - but i'm not complaining!

I have gotten a few blisters this year... the huge ones like last year. I have however discovered that it is NOT my shoes but my SOCKS to blame. I have asked my Saucany trail shoes for forgiveness for the false accusations. Turns out my feet need REAL running socks, and the more expensive the sock the more my feet like them. These happen to by my absolute favorite at $14.99 a pair and worth every penny. thorlos experia. I love these socks. I tried the ones with the individual toes IJENTA or something like that... I liked those alright, but it took forever to get my toes in the toe holes and I really just didn't feel any particular benefit. Once I get a blister it's hard to get ride of it because, of course I do not stop running to let it heal. I now have a method of blister treatment. First off is to just finish your the run and ignore the pain... after then run and after a shower and some food if it's a long run (and it usually happens on a long run) once your foot is dry - take a needle or something - even finger nail clippers work (make sure what ever it is, it is clean) pop a little hole in the top or bottom of it and let it drain. Then just leave it endless it hurts to walk around - if it does then cover it up with a band aide. When you run again however I have discovered that a regular band ade does not do the job - first of all my blisters are usually to big for both band ads AND blister pads (I like those a lot when they fit). What I did, knowing how often I get blisters, was to order a whole roll of mole skin. It's stick on one side and fuzzy on the other. You just cut it to fit & make sure your foot is dry when you put it on, press it firmly on your foot and put your sock on right away. This has always allowed my blisters to not be damaged farther by running and has allowed me to continue training.

Back to last year's troubles. Another thing I had last year was my burn out. BAD burn out. I have not experienced anything too bad yet. I have had a few bad runs though in a row where a normal rout just felt all up hill... that worries me - but it did not last. Thats how I now i'm having a bad run... it all feels up hill.

Last year I had hamstring problems & knee issues, but the knee was because I fell down roller skating.. I have not roller skated this year so i'm all good there... I also have not had to deal with the heat. As much as I hate the cold I do not run well in the heat - so I guess it being april 2nd and my run being 18 degrees is not all bad - but I sure didn't feel that way when I dragged myself out of bed knowing this it was 18 degrees outside this morning.

I tried my new trail shoes out. I like them. BUT they are not good for the road for me anyhow. way to thin. I like feeling the trail, they are great in dirt & grass, but those rock still hurt a bit. I've only run around 15 miles in them so far, so they are still on trial. No blisters or anything from them though. They have been really confortable & I love how light and flexible they are.

My Newton guidance shoes have over 400 miles on them - so I decide to get another pair of newtons. The ones that I ended up winning on ebay for $74 including shipping are the newton distance running shoes. I have not run in these before - but they felt very similar to my other newtons, the guidance &  original ones I had. It's nice to have some fresh shoes! Problem is it's just going to take me that much longer to get out the door because now I have oh... you know. just a COUPLE of shoes to choose from.

This Saturday is the Trail breaker Marathon. My Fiance and I are driving up the morning of the race and then staying over in Milwalkee for a little get away. The weather is not looking too good. 44 as a HIGH and 12mph winds with 30% chance of rain. Hoping it shapes up a little. Not sure my plan will be for sure, but i'm thinking i'm going to attempt a 8:30 pace the whole way. My fiance is running the half so I want to stay with him for the 7miles or so before he turns around - then I will continue to the ice age trail, run to the watch tower, then up it, then back. My sister and I did this race last year - She will also be running it this year but her IT band is bothering her so she is not sure how things will go. I'm looking forward to this race I think. It will be a good test to see if I can push myself. I have failed so many races and just given up - now that I have some solid problem free (for the most part) training behind me, maybe I will be able to pull this off with a decent time. No pressure - but who knows... I'm looking forward to hanging out after in Milwalkee - we are going to hotwire a hotel after or before the race... I got a good deal on a grupon for 12 at a bar/grill place we will get 2 burgers and 2 beers. It will be fun to get away...

That's all till after the race I guess - I plan on taking it easy thursday - running 7.5 to 8 at an easy pace and taking Friday off all together - just walking & doing some lawn work...

Half Through and not limping!

Well i think we are about half way through training. I had a really good week last week - and a little bit of a scare the week before that. I was running 2 weeks ago on Saturday - going out for what I hoped would be a 20 mile run with a group of runners... when at mile 8 my achilles Tendon started really hurting. I ended up ending with 13 - it hurt pretty bad. I went home and took ibuprofen and iced it - then later that day I went hiking - that really hurt... not fun. The next day I changed to a different pair of shoes & went out for 10. It was alright, hurt, but not that bad. Then after that later in the day, I went hiking & again, it really hurt. It was hillie and snowy... The next day, monday was an off day - so i rested it and although it did hurt during the day, and into Tuesday morning, I was able to run 6 miles on the tread mill - wednesday it felt pretty good and thursday I was able to run pretty much pain free - 7.5 in the morning and 4 at night... by Saturdays long run I was just fine. We (my sister & another runner who is training for the same race) headed out at 8am from my parents house - my Fiance judah did part of the rout with us, but we ended up missing a turn (I EVEN PRINTED MAPS) I don't know what happened... Judah only got to do about 5 with us because of that though. We added a little bit to the rout & it ended up being
21.5. I felt really good for most of it, we had some windy spots, some sunny spots... 2 HUGE dogs chase us & some really pretty snowy country roads... I wore my brooks per grit trail shoes.... they were fine most of the time, but I think I had them too tight - my right top of my foot started to really hurt... I made it, but it hurt for a few days after that - so did lifting my big toe up... it was strange. It's fine now though.... Today was one mile and stregnth - tomorrow I am running 7.5 in the morning with Debi (sister) and Angela (friend), then maybe 2 miles of hills in yorkville, and 4 with the midwest misfits meeting at coblestone bakery.... Friday will be a cross train day, and I guess im doing around 24 on saturday. it's supposed to be an easy week, but I think it's getting switched because my sister & angela are doing a half marathon on what is supposed to be a hard week..... ... Anyway - I've had a few minor hurts come up - but nothing bad yet!

Here are the new shoes I ordered - really exited to try them!  They are the Inov-8 Trailroc 150

I will write a review once I get them. I think they will be similar to the newton shoe - the 3mm drop and the weight. they are only 7oz.... Can't wait to get them in the mail!

Gnaw Bone Schedule

Training has started! I did not realize that it needed to start so soon. I was making the schedule - and realized that it should have started that week - 16 weeks to Gnaw Bone... At first I was a little upset & filled with dread. I was not ready... I had not had good runs for 3 weeks because I had a chest cold and kept coughing constantly. It was horrible. Thankfully the 14 went ok - actually fairly well - and this week the 16m run went awesome, so now i'm feeling confident and ready and even looking forward to the long runs. This schedule is different than any schedule I have done in the past - it starts going easy, hard, easy hard in the high mileage weeks. I noticed that a lot of ultra schedules do this, so I figured I'd give it a try. I think it will be nice because i will be able to fully recover, and hopefully not get burned out. It will also be nice to stay up later every other Friday night & maybe plan stuff to do more often - the other schedules had 3 long weeks then one easy one - so I only got to really do anything fun friday night one week of the month... This will be nicer I think - more flexible. My water tube from my camel back froze Saturday on the run... I will have to tuck it into my clothing next cold run I do - ended up just taking it off and having a waterbottle in my pocket.
Next Sunday is the Super Bowl Fun Run that the starved rock running club puts on every year. This will be my 3rd year doing it & i'm looking forward to it. Planning on doing 18 saturday - then the fun run is 11 - so it will be nice to have a easy week after that. I'm also trying to get those hill & speed work outs in on Wednesdays. Hoping to be more prepared for those Indiana hills.