Sunday, July 25, 2010

San Fran, Done!


I'll write more later but wanted to give a quick update about San Francisco: I did it, I ran the full and I finished!! Marathon #17 - check!!
The heel quasi-cooperated and though I could feel it, it wasn't painful so when I hit the half-way point, I was feeling ok due to drastically keeping my pace SLOOOOW, so I just decided to keep going and see if I could finish this full. Around mile 17 is when I first noticed the heel yelling but it was manageable, nothing at all like it had yelled the week before, just slightly more painful than earlier in the race. I turned the pace down even more here ... and my lack of proper marathon training became evident! I never had to walk, but man o man was I drastically slow. But the whole purpose of this race wasn't about a great finish line time, it was purely about finishing. I'm thrilled with my 4:18 time, which is about a good half hour slower than I'm capable. It gave me hope that I can get this heel fixed and train well again. And THAT was the purpose of this little experiment. I'm very happy!
A huge thank you for all your words of support for this race, it meant a LOT to me - you have to know that I thought so much about the blog world while I was out there and those that sent me wishes. This has been a very trying few months and your words definitely helped!
I'll share more when I return home to Denver next week, with more picture and stories (and how Katie A. and I have totally have had a blast here in S.F.!!).
And now it's time for the heal to heel......I mean heel to heal :).

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Crying Uncle

A new look of the blog. I don't really care for the color blue much but I love the Columbine, Colorado's state flower, and I wanted it on my blog for awhile - and the blue, cheery background matched and made me smile. I have spent WAY too much time dinking around with this blog - but I think it was a way to help me think. Do y'all do that, waste a bunch of precious time while you're thinking and then suddenly, you have totally changed it's original origin? I doodle on paper sometimes when I'm deep in thought...and I notice my daughter makes her best art work when her head is flooded in thought; she is a great artist. My boys, I don't think they think. In fact, I'm sure they don't ;).

Sunday, I went for a little run with my neighbor, Jim. Jim ran his first marathon last fall in Denver....some of you were with me back then and may recall I paced him a few miles here and there throughout the course. He's gotten wickedly faster since his running debut a couple years ago - which reminds me that speed comes slowly, it is not an instantaneous thing you get just because you start doing a few Yasso's. Patience. It's not one of my strongest virtues. Nor many souls I know. But if you have it, the rewards can be plentiful.

Anyway...I wanted to run about 11-12 Sunday, my last long run before SF. Jim wanted to run 14 (he's running Denver Marathon again this fall) so when I got to mile 6 in the park near my house, one of my favorite places to run for the sheer beauty, I told him to go on ahead and I'd meet him back at the bike path, a couple miles away, and I'd just run slow and enjoy the scenery in his couple mile absence. So he went straight and I turned back ....and suddenly, my heel was on fire. When he met up with me, I ran another 3 miles with him, pretending everything was ok, when it wasn't. Finally, when I got to mile 10, I told him I was stopping, I wasn't feeling well, and for him to go on and I'd be ok. So he did and I forced myself up a giant hill home, limping. And thinking. Patience.
I had a little soul searching in this painful 2 mile home and decided it was time to stop being whiny and fearful like I have been, it was time for Jill to be proactive.

Some days the heel cooperates, other days it does not - especially on a long run. I can walk around the house all day barefoot or in flip flops and nothing, but put on a pair of running shoes and go 10 miles and wham, there it is. I have not gone to the doctor due to a barrage of insurance issues so I've just tried to train around it, letting IT control me and thus, I haven't been able to train like I want to/need to/love to/crave to, to run a successful marathon. I've been very inpatient, trying to will the pain away and get on with the running life I so love. But my running's been anything but a wild love affair these past few months, so it's time to shift this patience thing to a different direction and now focus it on that thing called healing.

I'm still going to San Francisco, and I'm still going to run. I'm not sure if I'm going to run the full or if I'll stop half way and call it quits .... but I do know that it's going to be my last run for awhile until I can get this heel problem fixed and healed once and for all.

I had a massage gift card given to me for my birthday I had not used yet (thanks, Julie :) ) so yesterday I went and got all the kinks smoothed out of my legs and as I was lying there, cringing at my overly tight ITB and hamstrings as he tortured the stiffness out, I started reading an email from my friend, Jim, after I had told him of my plans upon my SF return (is it sacrilegious to read email while getting a massage on your Blackberry??) and he told me: I could hear you favoring the heel that last mile as it was striking differently and figured the whole episode was doing a number on you. He went on to tell me that I needed to focus on getting healthy so I could train properly, reminded me how tired I was of not able to run to my potential due to the pain, how I can use this time to get back the strength and conditioning I've lost (and miss greatly) by weight training, swimming, cycling, etc., or whatever I am allowed to do, and focus on my nutrition again , something I have not done while whining about my heel (misery loves company)... and just get back in tune with the body I no longer recognize.

I won't lie, tears started to flow as I read his words....I'm certain Mr. Massage Man thought it was his magical hands - the guy probably went home and told his wife he was so good he made a woman cry on his table. Ha. Teach me to read my email while getting a massage. But Jim's words were true and as hard as this is going to be for me - I mean running has been a major part of my life for the past 35 years - it is the right thing to do. It's taken me 3 months of trying to do whatever was in my power to make it go away and I just can't. It is beyond my control now and I cry "Uncle". Insurance kicks back into Jill's life in early August - I'll be first in line at the doctor's office that day.

The truly sucky part is not that I may end up having to miss a fall marathon or the best training season for me (fall), ok yeah that is sucky, but I made a commitment to run the Colorado Outward Bound Relay Aug 20 - 21 and I'm pretty sure I am going to have to bail. My friend, Dennis, told me I should still run it and bag SF, as the team needs me. But the problem with that is now my healing is prolonged a month - if this thing takes months to heal, then I want to start the healing process now so I can come back and train when given the ok that much sooner. Ya see, I still have high hopes I can maybe at least train for a winter or spring marathon so I want the healing process to start the second I cross the SF finish line. I got an email from my friend, Matt who is a teammate on the relay, and I felt better about the relay after that. He was understanding but hopeful I'd still be able to run it. We'll see.

Yeah, I'm a little sad, but I will be fine. Part of me is nervous I won't have what it takes upon return. Maybe a part of me feels like the running world is going to leave me behind. But I feel a sense of relief actually. I'm going to get this thing fixed, no matter how long it takes. Things in the personal life are beginning to look up, too; I believe there is some deep link in our lives because when things are going well in one area, it tends to fuel the other.

Yesterday it was a record 100 degrees. Today it was overcast all day and the temps only reached 72, despite the local weather Gods stating last night it would be 95. A pleasant, welcomed surprise. This evening as I write, giant raindrops are falling outside my bedroom window, relatively unheard of in Denver. The rain makes me feel the magic that comes with surprises. It reminds me of being a kid, and the joy and possibility of never knowing what was going to happen next. I'm not sure why adults seem to think we always know; it's so stifling.

But I'm excited for the surprises that come with my healing patience; I'm excited to see how strong I truly can be!

And don't y'all think I'm leaving blog world....nope, you're just now going to get continuous posts about my rehab and all the killer ab work I'm doing - you're gonna be so jealous of my ripped abs by golly. And when I come back running....oh the posts you'll be reading!

BTW, if anyone's seen my iPod, can you tell me where it is? I'm thinking I'm going to need it to drown out the heel screams. It's blue, believe it or not. And it's been missing since Sunday.

Run strong, friends. I'll be thinking of you all and carrying you with me as I dig down deep in San Francisco this weekend! I leave you with this great poem by Robert Frost, which one of my awesome clients sent me today, when he knew of my struggle (thanks, Chris :) And sorry that blogger won't let me place it a line-by-line format. Err!!):

For every parcel I stoop down to seize, I lose some other off my arms and knees, And the whole pile is slipping, bottles, buns,Extremes too hard to comprehend at once. Yet nothing I should care to leave behind. With all I have to hold with hand and mind, And heart, if need be, I will do my best. To keep their building balanced at my breast. I crouch down to prevent them as they fall;Then sit down in the middle of them all.I had to drop the armful in the road, And try to stack them in a better load.

Thursday, July 15, 2010

How to Lose Your Child

This is twin #2 on Lake Dillion, a reservoir up in Frisco, CO. This was the day before I lost him. More on that below.

It's 10:06 in Colorado....that's P.M, not A.M. I have been in my running clothes, and shoes, since I got up at 6:30 this morning. Yet I haven't run. I've wanted to obviously, or I wouldn't have the whole attire on, but I haven't (and therefore, I also have not showered. Not so jealous now that you aren't in Colorado, huh!!!)??. And I can't even tell you exactly why I haven't run other than I just am in a total fuuuuunnnnkkk today.

I'm tired. My heel hurts. My head hurts. And today, 3 days after I ran a very challenging vertical trail race, my right calf is still screaming. That's because in a bone-head move to stay off my bum heel, I opted to run on my forefoot and toes on my right foot for the race. And just as I suspected, my calf is letting me know it didn't enjoy that very much. AND, to win the "Dumbest Move Ever" award, this is the calf I have problems with frequently after pulling a muscle in it a few years back; it comes back every now and then, especially when training's going really well, to let me know it's still there. Just cuz I can't actually train for a marathon in one solid, healthy piece now, that'd be too easy. I hear you stupid calf muscle!!!! Now leave me alone. And take the freaking heel pain with you!!!

Sorry, that was just a little frustration temper tantrum.

I can't believe I'm going to San Francisco in like 9 days. L.B. at Muddy Running is also the only blog soul I know who's running the full. He's made a list of things to take to SF. A list. What's that? I usually have my race hat on by now and am all nervous and making mega lists and super-anally organized. Not so much this time around. I did order a new top today (with a pocket for all my garb, of course), I hope it arrives before I leave. If you want to know why I didn't do anything today but lounge around in my running stuff, it's because I wasted 4-hours looking for a new top to wear in SF. This all started by trying to find a lime-green Nike running shirt that Katheen from Happy Trails and I saw at this race last weekend. It had two pockets in the back which would be perfect for my little SF race. It became my quest to find it online today (after physically searching Niketown yesterday to no avail)...but couldn't find it *sigh* ... so ended with something else. It takes time, ya know, to find something with a pocket that looks normal and is PINK. Here she is, a beauty, huh???

Actually, now that I look at it more, it looks a little long for my liking. Oh well. Anyone have any clue what the weather's like in San Francisco at 5:32 A.M. the end of July? I have no clue if I'll freeze to death or not in this thing. At least I'll have gel in my pocket for nourishment as I freeze to death.

Ok, enough woe-is-me-I'm-not-ready-for-SF.... time to move on. For today.

As you recall from my last bragging "I'm famous" blog, I was up in the mountains last weekend. My dear friends from Dallas where here visiting and got a place up in Breckenridge for a few days. I have a relative with a place up there and it happened to be available the same week they were there so whaalaa, we headed up to the high country!

It was cold the first day we were there. Some front came through and to all out there in Humidville, get this: it was 34 degrees when I woke up on Friday morning. And we were going rafting. In temperatures cold enough to form icicles. Well, I wasn't actually going rafting, my kids were, so get the in the car kids and suck it up!!! Said from one who had on 3 layers of clothing. Actually, temps warmed up quickly in our hour drive to Buena Vista, sight of the famous Collegiate Peaks (and our rafting trip):


Mt. Yale, Mt. Princeton, and Mt. Columbia. I'm too tired and lazy to look up their elevations but they're all peaks over 14,000' I think. There they are....along with my friends' van in front of us.

Brendan likes to take a billion pictures to help pass the time. Here I am driving my kids all over the entire state for a little adventure, like the good mom I am. I told you I have 3 layers on. And please ignore the double chin. Egads!!!

Another random picture taken from the car from twin 2. I think that's Mt. Sherman, but maybe not. Yes, that is snow on the peaks. In July.

Here's my babies getting ready to go rafting.

WOOHOOO, there they are drinking a little Arkansas River water! Ryan is on the front left hand side and Brendan is in the rear left hand side. The other folks are our Dallas friends (plus the raft guide in the middle back row). They had a blast.

While the kiddos and friends were out surfing the Arkansas River, I ventured out for one of my most sucky runs ever. Don't let the scenery fool you into thinking this was one of those runs where the awesome surroundings engrossed me and I ran effortlessly for 10 awesome miles. First of all, the chick who told me, "Follow that dirt trail, it's 6 miles to town so there and back would give you 12 miles you seek" lied. It was 3 to town. And the largest Horse Fly EVER decided to be my bff and bugged me those entire 3 miles to town, until it finally bit my back shoulder and I smacked and killed the stupid thing. I still have a big welt that itches like crazy.

So when I got to town, with 3 miles instead of 6, I diverted myself the opposite way of town and ran down a dirt road, which was actually really pretty and found a little stream to run by (ok, it was really an irrigation ditch. Us Coloradoans are water deprived,we'll call anything a stream that flows like one. Or lake, when it's really a reservoir). This gave me another 2 miles so in the end, I did end up with 10 miles. But they were miserable. End of story there.

Ahhhh....but alas, I DID manage to get in my 12 miles. Here comes the fun part of the day, and the title of this blog. Brendan, twin #2, the adventurous child who will put me in an early grave with all his dare-deviling mountain climbing, kayaking, wanting to hike the entire 500-mile Colorado Trail, climb Mt. Everest, and a million other adventures, wanted to take his kayak down part of the Arkansas River. The one and same river as above picture. Um, no way in hell I'm letting this child go down that thing. Alone. So we ventured into town to find out where we could put the boat in where the rapids were more in the lines of Class I or II, not IV like above. Found a kayak store, believe it or not, in this dinky town of maybe a few hundred (but it's a HUGE river sport town) and found out they have a little water park where you can put in the boat and pick up a couple miles down river, and the water is more tame. Sounds good. At the time. Here's a pic of Ryan standing at the point of entry for Brendan's river excursion. Rapids are a lot calmer here, I feel good about this.

Plop Brendan in his kayak and off he goes.....

.....Ryan and I had a little problem finding the point of exit, two miles down the road, so it took us a bit longer than we anticipated to where B was suppose to meet us. Finally get there and there's no Brendan. I'm a wee-bit frantic. There's a dirt trail running along side the river so I start running down about a half mile. Didn't see him so I run back up, thinking that maybe he just never made it yet and was back at the planned meeting place. Get back and he's not there. Run up river a bit. No B. Run back down to the meeting place, still not there. Oh God!! I've lost him. I totally lost my almost 15-year old on the Arkansas River!! You read stories about this in the newspaper but never did I think we'd be one of "those" people stupid enough to let your child go down the river and get LOST! I make Ryan run back up river...Ryan, who's having some motion sickness from the rapids on the rafting trip and is about as green as one can be. Whatever, get out of the car and go find your brother, vomiting or not! I run down river. Again. I get about a half mile down, to the point I was at before, and I SEE HIM!!! OMG, I have never felt so relieved in my life. He apparently didn't see the meet-up place (how could he NOT?? Oh, I guess cuz I had trouble finding it myself...but I was on the road, he was on the river!). So he stopped when he realized he was too far and got out and dragged his kayak behind him along the trail. Ok, y'all can call Child Social Services....I'm sure I deserve it! He's alive - yay! And he actually had the best time of his life, so he says. Me, not so much...but I got an extra couple miles running in :).

I ended the action-pack-almost-lost-my-youngest weekend with a 12K trail race in Colorado Springs - the very reason my calf has been unhappy the past few days. I signed up for this race because of the sole reason it was hilly and would help in hilly SF. Gorgeous course with about 1100' elevation climb in the first 3.7 miles. I was slow...yeah, nothing's really changed there (argh!!) but one thing I noted on this very physically demanding course was that I remained strong. Not fast, but I am getting a little stronger. I never walked except for a few steps when the steepness was just insane (around mile 3) but coming back down I felt really good (for once!) and during the last 2 miles, I was picking off people left and right. Go me! I saw Kathleen from Happy Trails cheering me on as I crossed in some pathetic finish line time. So fun to have a cheerleader! I actually really enjoyed this course and definitely need to put more trail races into my life (hear that Kathleen???!!! :) ).

The cool thing was that AJH, from Age Group Rocks, was in town visiting a friend and ended up doing the race, too, so I got to have yet another bloggie real-life meet-up! So cool! She ran incredible, especially since she had a 13 mile, 8000' vertical climb up Pikes Peak two days before and an adventure through Waldo Canyon the very day before. Kathleen wondered if AJH's friend was on a mission to kill her before the race. You ROCK, AJH!!!

That pic is Katheen, AJH and yours truly. And no, I swear I'm not pregnant...maybe it's the package of Skittles I ate that the kids bought and left out on the counter??? And not just a few...we're talking 3/4 of the bag. More on that later in another blog....

We ended the awesome day with a little brunch. I was a good girl and did not eat Skittles for brunch. Steve and Kathleen from Happy Trails, moi, AJH, and AJH's friend. Notice how nicely we managed to stand in descending heights? Totally unplanned.

So as I wrap this blog post up, I thought I'd write out my goals for tomrorow, Thursday July 15th:

- Actually run in my running clothes and not just wear them all day.

- Go to the gym and do some weights.

- Do not consume 3/4 of a monster bag of Skittles. Do not even eat ONE teeny-tiny cute pink one.

- Buy some paint and paint something in my house - doesn't matter what - just something to keep me busy to stop me from eating half my house.

- Find new songs for iPod for SF playist.

- Follow L.B.'s advice and make a SF list of things to take.

- Do not lose children.

Happy Running!

Thursday, July 8, 2010

I'm Featured in Run Like a Mother!!

Most of you in the running community know about the "Run Like A Mother" book, written by my friends, Sarah Bowen Shea and Dimity McDowell Davis....if you don't know of the book, you've gotta read it. It's a funny, touching, and highly motivational book about moms who are runners. It's such a fun read and I highly recommend it...and as a bonus, you'll find me on page 71 where I wrote a little blurb discussing progressions from one race distance to another. Yes yes yes, twist my arm, I'll be glad to autograph the page for anyone interested. I'm also quoted a few times throughout the book; so check it out, I promise you won't be disappointed. And though the book touches on how us mother's find the time to run with all the crazies in our life, a prerequisite to read the book isn't that you must be a mother; non-mothers alike will also find it very enjoyable.

Once a week Dimity and Sarah feature a "Follow this Mother" on their book blog and low and behold, guess who that is today?? Yep, yours truly!! Click on the below link and check more of me out for all you die-hard Jill junkies and can't wait to learn a little more about me ;).
http://runlikeamotherbook.com/2010/07/08/follow-this-mother-18/

I have to say a couple quick words about Sarah and Dimity and how I became friends with them. I started following them years ago on Runner's World where they wrote a blog called "Marathon Moms". LOVED IT and followed religiously (ya know, like I do with y'all in the blog world now). In '09 when I was training for Boston, I also was also working on my personal training and running coach certifications and would frequently write a blog or post a FB comment about how I was swimming in classwork and training and 3 kids and trying to juggle it all. One day Dimity asked me some advice for an article and Sarah and I started exchanging gripes about our training (she was training for Eugene at the same time) so we kinda made a connection through all of that. After I returned from Boston, I made a FB comment wondering where to run my next marathon and Sarah suggested Portland, where she lives. She volunteered to drag my sorry butt across the finish line and so I took her up on her offer and true to her word she was right there carrying me in the last few miles. I had a lot of problems in Portland, hitting that notorious "wall" because I had not consumed any calories during that race (long story) so without her help, I honestly would probably still be crawling to that finish line. When I crossed, she was right there with me and made sure I got my medal and post-race snacks and walked me back to my hotel. I was very touched and will forever be grateful for her generosity. I met her beautiful children the night before when she took me to dinner and fueled me with post-marathon pasta. She's a beautiful woman with a sole to match. I hold a very special place in my heart for all she's done for me!

Dimity lives about 15 minutes away from me. How cool is that??!! We've tried many times to get together for a run, but have yet to actually do that (but we will). I have met her a few times, though, and went to a book reading of hers for another book she wrote and went to the RLAM kick-off party. She's smart, witty and charming and it's an honor to actually know her.

I am blessed to have both of them in my life. Thanks, guys!

If you click on the above link, you'll see pics of me with both of these awesome ladies.

I'm up in the mountains for a couple days....man is it COLD!! Burrr...about 52 degrees as I type this. My friends are here visiting from Dallas (I bet they're suffering from frost bite coming from their climate!) so this blog is short but I wanted to share the link with you guys.....so please go check it out!! Thanks!! I'm off for a nice trail run tomorrow (thanks, Kathleen for the suggestion. I think) and will be sure to take lots of pic. And btw, the 20 treadmill miler didn't go so well. I got to 10 and had bad stomach problems so quit ... but I did another 12 later that day, so technically I did get in 22 :). I'll check in on everyone upon my return!!

More later. Happy Weekend!!!

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Pre-San Fran Randomness....part 1

I can't really contain a thought for longer than 3 minutes as I try to wrap my brain around the fact I'm entering another marathon in 2.5 weeks, in less than ideal condition. Again. Remember when I returned from Boston and I said I would never enter another marathon ill-prepared? Hahahaha....people should remind me, and make me accountable, to the things I say.

Nevertheless, I'm actually not biting off everyone's head, as is usually par for the course, pre-marathon weeks. I know I have nothing to fear... aside from my heel screaming in pain for 26 arduous miles. And my body revolting the distance I haven't trained well for. Minor details to be worked out when they occur. Oh no, not "when", I mean to say IF they occur. Yeah, that sounds better....I'll just deal with these things IF they occur.

So here's a list of things swimming around my head to share. May or may not be running related, and may or may not be related to anything at all.

- I couldn't find my camera cable to download pics tonight and searched the entire house 15 times over. I blamed all people younger than me who reside in the same house I do. Its ok, they're used to it. I even told the nice woman at the grocery store I couldn't blog tonight because I couldn't find my camera cable. She was very unsympathetic. She wasn't sure what a blog was(yay, I got some milk....I have missed my Kashi Go Lean morning cereal). I finally found the cord directly under the chair in my bedroom. I didn't put it there, I'm kinda anal about keeping all my cords in one handy place.

- While combing the internet for running-related whatever, I came across an article which basically states you should never run longer than 2.5 hours (or about 16 miles) for marathon training. http://www.wellsphere.com/endurance-training-article/a-look-at-the-long-run-and-marathon-training/161956. This article follows the Jack Daniels plan of the long run never being more than 25% of your total mileage...and unless you want to run an 80 mile week, you can't run more than 16 miles. I understand the concept, but I don't necessarily agree with it even though I love Jack's VDOT training ideas. I also sat at a seminar in Boston last year where some big-wig coach (totally escaped my brain right now) told us if you want to not hit "the wall" at mile 20, you need to train past the 20-mile mark so you are mentally prepared for what your body is about to physically face and can plan accordingly. I like this idea and it's what I usually instill in my marathon training plans. I am not able to for San Francisco though. I haven't incorporated hardly anything I believe in for SF, but that's another story which we're blaming on the heel. Anyway, all this conflicting advice just brings me back to the theory that we're all an experiment of one and what I love about being "older" and having run so many marathons is that I know what works for me....and I love helping others reach their marathon goals by all my experience and knowing there is not ONE PLAN that works for all.

- My mountain long run on Friday turned into a little bit of a flashy swim. Start of my run in Idaho Springs, lovely blue skies

Clear Creek (above), the river running along the road I was running and the road (below)(Marcia and Katie and SHANA!!!....this is the exact road you'll be on for the race...and the river you'll run along :))

View from my car at mile 17.5

I was all over the map with this run. I wanted hills and concrete to emulate SF a little bit so I started in Idaho Springs, an old gold mining town, which is the finish line of the half I'm doing next month (along with a few bloggie friends :)) and run to Georgetown, which is another gold mining town, about 11 miles UP the road. 11 up + 11 down = 22. Perfect. Started out feeling great but it quickly got warm and the hills got steep and I got whiny and tired and my heel was screaming and I forgot my Cytomax and yada yada....when I got to a tad under mile 9, there was road construction; the road was down to one lane and I didn't relish playing chicken with traffic going both ways on a one-way street, so I decided I'd just go back down to my car and run a few miles around town to give me the 21 I was seeking. This would also allow me to stop at the gas station along the way and get some electrolytes. Shhhh, don't tell, but I stole about 4 oz of diet coke from the soda fountain. But it did the magic trick and I suddenly felt great and continued on my way down the hill (but oh man, I was soooo slow. ugh). With about 2 miles to go before I got to Idaho Springs, I notice the sky is suddenly getting dark behind me. Before I could get to my car, the black cloud opened up and just down-poured. And it brought thunder and lightening with it - nothing like a little lightening to get the legs moving faster and I ran as fast as I could to my car. Thank God for the road construction at mile 9 is all I can say about that....I'd still have 4 to go if Ididn't turn around eary. Anyway, I thought I'd wait the storm out cuz CO is notorious for fast moving storms, but as I sat in my car for about 10 minutes, the storm wasn't letting up and my legs were starting to cramp, so I bagged the rest of the miles and went home. I was kinda bummed because I was actually finally feeling well and anxious to see if the legs had 21 miles in them but running in lightening in the Colorado mountains isn't the smartest thing. Not that I'm known for doing all things smart...but lightening just scares me. Thoughts of doing another 4 miles later that day on my treadmill crossed my mind but it never happened. No reason other than my legs actually felt good and I didn't want to trash them so I could get in another 20+ miler this week.

- I'm attempting that 20+ tomorrow on my basement treadmill - I'm done experimenting with the long run on concrete to see how the heel feels. I already have 2 chick-flick movies picked out to watch on my treadmill journey: Elizabethtown and Sweet Home Alabama. Yep, I'm one of THOSE girls.

- I'm going to spend a couple nights in SF with a girlfriend I went to high school with. I haven't seen her since I graduated (a VERY long time ago). We reconnected on FB. She lives 4 blocks from the start line - SCORE! I'm then going to invade Katie A's house for a couple nights....she owes me BIG after that little Boston incident at mile 23 ;). How cool is that, though?? Friends(and mooching free places to stay) all via this crazy computer world.

-Speaking of blog stalking, a lot of bloggers are doing the SF full or half.....we need a bloggie hookup. If you're running SF or visiting or live there, email me and let me know dates you'll be there and if you'd like to get together for a blog coffee or something (runlikeagirljp@gmail.com).

- I think the monsoons have moved into Colorado this past week. I have never seen so much rain as we got on the 4th of July (my kiddos were in the street with fireworks nevertheless, in full rain gear). My last week's french-toast yard now looks so nice and lush. And I can temporarily turn off the dang sprinklers. Water bills in this town are ridiculous! Water here = liquid gold.

Ahhhhh, green (the backyard, de-french toasted!)

I've been seeing these rainbows daily with all this rain. I'm thinking it's a lucky sign for SF (from my backyard)!!

- I gave the legs a rest today and went to the pool to swim laps. I hate to swim. I used to swim in high school and college. I hate looking at the tiles at the bottom of the pool. If they'd just have a DVD player to watch sappy movies, I'd be set. I swam 1100M before thoughts of slitting my wrists set it, so I left. At least I swam the entire time, whereas when I go with Tara, we just talk and I get in like 400M.

- I desperately need something new to listen to for San Francisco. Ideas? Anybody? Please???

- I'm really not much of a dog person but the daughter's boyfriend has a dog I really love. Meet Remy, he's so cool.

Ok, I have a million other random thoughts about SF, and not, but it's past my pre-20 miler bedtime so off I go.

Happy Training!!

Thursday, July 1, 2010

What's Cookin'

That'd be a couple pics of my kitchen. I just did the dishes so they're piled up in the sink, I hate a cluttered counter...which it always is (I have three slobby kids!)

Ok, so I've been tagged a couple times (or more) to revel things about me recently. Which I'm not really very good at, but I understand how we all like to get to know more about those we frequently support, encourage and stalk. I know a couple months ago I was tagged to reveal 7 things about me, which I totally avoided and made my friends write 7 one-word adjectives to describe me. I still do not consider "emotionally needy" ONE-word so we can just eliminate that one from the list. Yay.
Anyway, MsZippy tagged me to show what was in my fridge. Really. I thought this was excellent - I've been meaning to clean and purge all thing with fungus growing on top in my fridge for months. Man, the jars of pasta sauce and black beans I threw out with mold! Ewwww! So no more mold, not more spots of ketchup (how does ketchup get on the inside of a fridge is beyond me), no more sun tea drips everywhere.

There she is, the outside. What a beauty, huh? Black. A few pictures of some special races, one with my kids and a 5000 gallon container of Cheetos (don't ask), a pink 26.2 magnet (of course!), 3 yellow duckie magnets (for the 3 kiddos), and 3 Christmas card examples my daughter painted....which we never sent out cuz I couldn't get my act together after the Tucson Marathon. But I like the paintings so there they stay. And a calendar of Rockies games (duh!).

And here we are inside. This is after a major clean-up - you'd never know, huh?? Still a mess, but oh so much better than it was. Here's a few highlights of what's lurking inside, top to bottom: sun tea (make it practically every other day), Almond Butter (yum!), peaches, Parmesan cheese sprinkles (a staple for any pasta I eat, since I really don't like pasta - this helps), BBQ Sauce (a must-have for my almost daily grilled chicken breast), eggs, yogurt (Dannon Lite and Fit, or CarbMaster from King Soopers), light cream cheese (not mine, I don't care for cream cheese, unless it's loaded with sugar and made into cheesecake :) ), cat food (I also don't eat this, but I bet it's high in protein!), salsa, tortilla shells, turkey lunch meat, and various cheeses and bread in the crisper (does one need to keep bread in the crisper? I always have...just cuz I hate it on my counter cluttering it up), and tons of fruits and broccoli and spinach (I'm not a huge veggie eater, but I love fruit. Fruit in Colorado isn't the best either :( ).
And now the inside door. I cleaned every single one of those shelves just for this picture; you're welcome! Highlights: Chocolate syrup....duh!! How else would I have chocolate milk after my long runs? Ketchup, of course. Salad dressing. Orange juice. Mustard (yuck!!!). Turkey hot dogs (my kids. I swear!!). Notice anything missing? Yea, I'm out of milk. Anyone on their way to the store and could pick me some up?

So there ya go. Hungry yet? Well, nothing exciting like red velvet cupcakes or anything...but I manage to keep my weight escalating regardless.

Now PLEASE don't anyone ask me to take a picture of my basement!!

And remember the disastrous cake I attempted a couple weeks ago? I'm proud to say I made my first-ever strawberry-rhubarb pie!! Yessiree! And it was sooooo good. And 911 wasn't not even called to put out the flames! I even managed to put my pickle slicer, which I've never used but have owned for a good 5 years, to good use by giving it a cute little lattice look. Yeah, I have skills! The daughter's boyfriend's mom gave me some rhubarb from her garden. What the heck do I do with it??? PIE, of course. It was devoured in about 10 minutes. And I wonder why my weight won't go down??!!

Running:

Running's been going okay this week. Weight training's been nil. I don't know why, I just am in a little bit of a motivation slump this week.

I've been running with an autistic boy from school for a cross country running camp, though. How cool to get paid to run, huh?? It's just a couple days a week. A first I was really stressed because the cc coach told me he was running faster then my legs currently want to run these days. But turns out, he's really not so speedy yet, so it's just a nice, easy run for me. I should be doing double workouts since these ones haven't exactly doing much for me, but I haven't. Oh well. It's just one of those "ugh" weeks and hopefully I can pick back up next week.

Having run for like 10 days straight (maybe why I'm in a bit of a motivation slump this week???), Monday my legs didn't want to move so I just did 6 easy. Tuesday, my legs were really stiff again so I have no idea what I'd do. I plopped on my treadmill, ran a couple easy miles to shake out the stiffness, felt pretty good so I set the treadmill to a 2% incline and a 7:24 pace and decided to just run and stop when I got tired. Beings my last 5K in May was way slower than that, I had no expectations but hoped to last a mile. Ran 3.5 miles and picked up the last .5 to a 7:00 pace. Are you kidding me??? Wowzie...that's faster than the pace I ran last fall with the autistic boy in the track meets. Later that day, while on cloud 9, I went to the gym and did my only weight training for the week, and it was about half of what I normally do. I have GOT to get back on the weight training track, I know it makes a HUGE difference in my performance.

I can't believe 2010 is half over. What happened to June, btw??? Here's my mileage for the first half of the year: 983.21 miles. Thanks to Mr. Lung Fungus and Ms. Heel Pain, this is not half of my 2010 miles, which was a goal for the year 2010. Oh well, that's how it goes. We'll see if the heel lets me pick up the mileage when I return from SF and can get that number up. The past two weeks, I've hit 50+ mpw...which I hope I can keep up with. We'll see.

Tomorrow I'm going to get up early and head to the high country to do a little mountain long-run. No real reason to go up there other than I want a change of pace, and I want the coolness of the mountains. I am zapped by the heat here, I do not tolerate running in it well, and cc camp is in prime heat hours. I'm hoping for 21 miles tomorrow, we'll see. I'll be sure to take some pictures, though, and let ya all know.

Oh, and I was tagged by Anne at Asthma and the Gift of running, to write where I hoped to be in 10 years. Here goes: I will have run my 40th marathon and at least one ultra, and I'll be done with those. I'll have run marathons which are my bucket list such as The Great Wall of China, Greece, Dublin, and London, to name a few. I'll also have run Big Sur over and nailed it this time!! I'll be 15 lbs lighter and stop being an emotional eater. My allergies will have mysteriously vanished. My kiddos will all have graduated from college and have landed big-time money-making jobs so they can support me and I no longer have to work. But mostly, we'll all be happy! Oh, and I'll have bought a little beach cottage overlooking the vast blue ocean where it doesn't snow. AHHH!! Bought, of course, by those highly-successfuly, happy, children of mine!

Tag, you're it. If you haven't been tagged to show off your fridge, time to do so. And I'd love to hear where y'all will be in 10 years. You all are welcome to my cottage by the sea for a little run anytime, of course!