Tag Archives: running

Beat the Blerch

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Signed bibs!

This weekend was the inaugural Beat the Blerch marathon (and 10k and half) outside of Seattle. Also known as: the non-runners marathon. The “sit on the couch and eat cake and watch RoboCop” marathon.  Sure there were some fast runners there, but there were less than 300 full marathoners and most were there to have a good time. If you take racing really seriously, this isn’t for you. Move along, un-fun people and make room for us, those who like talking to people, wearing costumes, and eating cake.

MMM…CAKE.

Costumes!

It was unexpectedly popular (by the Oatmeal and the race director) and the site crashed almost immediately upon registration opening. I had a great team of family and friends registering and I got in! The website crash and very long wait-list showed the demand, and Oats and the RD got approval for a second race, on Saturday.

The Oatmeal ran in costume too.

Fast forward to this weekend…it was a quick trip just for the race. I did squeeze as much as I could, but I had friends doing the race both days, so I got to spectate Saturday and participate on Sunday.

Packet pickup: easy. It was at a big RoadRunner Sports store and we were in/out in less than 5 (ok, 10, got distracted by the goodies!) minutes. The shirt is AWESOME. Thick long sleeve 1/4 zip with tumbholes? Plus, a “0.0” Blerch sticker and magnet? Yes, please! (already getting our $100 worth!)

Schwag!

Parking was a breeze! We got nervous the week of the race since an email was sent out saying they oversold parking passes. However, there were schools and businesses across the street from the park with tons of overflow parking. But, the field had plenty of spaces. It was never an issue.

Even the parking lots are pretty in Washington! Ever done a race where they spray painted spots? Details make a difference!

I was so excited to see a huge bank of porta-potties! I was so impressed with how many they had. I’ve done marathons 5+times this size that only had half this number. NEVER any line to them. Not once. Anyone who walked up to them, found one that was open. And clean. Very, very clean.

tons of places to pre-race poop!

The race started at Tolt-McDonald park. Tons of room and a very charming barn that housed bag-check, post race food, and other logistics.

Gorgeous barn.

Ever seen one of these solar, cell-phone charging trailers? Yeah. He paid to have one out at the race. So cool!

Need juice?

From there, we ran about a mile and hit the river, then over some bridges to the Snoqualmie Valley Trail. This was gorgeous. The crushed gravel had some rocks that were a little bigger than I’d like for crushed gravel, but it was fine. Nothing to complain about, especially since the scenery was gorgeous. It was 86 degrees by the time we finished, making for a really hot day, but I was so thankful for the trees.

Trail

Blerchy tu-tu and pretty trails.

Overall: WORTH IT. For the cost of an average marathon ($100), the race company and the Oatmeal went above and beyond. I do so many of these I never have any expectations. This ranks in my top 5 marathons. The shirt, FREE RACE PICS, the HOURS of book & bib signing by Oats, the abundance of food, the aid stations, the fun volunteers, the tons of porta potties, the ease of parking/logistics. All top notch. My mom even saw my race shirt and said, “Did you buy that too?!” (she meant in addition to my race packet). For her to comment on it…huge compliment that she didn’t think that it was the race shirt.

Cake.

 

Lots of Nutella pushing Blerches.

More cake.

Other stuff: BLERCH. The volunteers were so fun! They all embraced the “Blerchyness” of the event and pushed cake, Nutella, magical grape drink (explained in his book, and yes, it is magical), and then other regular race foods such as Gu shots, energy bars, chips and pretzels, bananas, etc. Due to it being on the trail, the aid stations were 3-4 miles apart because of the limited road access. This was fine for me, but the heat at the end had us wishing there were 1-2 more on the course. However, that was impossible. For people who haven’t done trails or ultras, I can see how it would be a shock to go from a road marathon with water every mile, to this. However, the aid stations were well stocked, and FUN.

Oats signing my book, fun spectators, me being chased by a Blerch, and a cute shirt.

Blerch. Blerchii.

The race/run itself was uneventful for me. I ran with my friend Carrie from El Paso. I had talked her into this race while visiting her and her husband for Bataan Death March, so I felt it was the right thing to do to stay with her. We ran her pace, then when she started slowing down and our walk breaks increasing in time and slowing in pace…I made the call to go to my interval timer (about halfway). Things got better after that and had a negative split overall. We were maintaining a consistent pace doing 3:1’s and picked up 2 nice ladies who where half-assed run/walking. They were lovely and fun. Then, over the miles, picked up 2 more and went down to a 2:1 interval based as a request of the ladies we picked up. We had a fun group during the hard miles of 15-20. The rest fell off by mile 23, but we waited for them at the finish.

Running with Carrie

I made some new running friends and had a delicious post-race burger with Ann from Kansas City. As a cancer surgeon, we hit it off and had lots to talk about besides racing. Turned out, she has a friend who was in the Army…who was one of K’s chemo providers when we lived in El Paso.  ❤ SMALL WORLD. I love races where I have no goals other than to finish. It allows for maximum fun, and you never know who you’ll meet!

(My post tomorrow will be non-race food & fun during the quick trip)

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Woe is my toe.

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Dislaimer: this is gross for most of the population. Medical and morbid people will enjoy. You’ve been warned.

Here is the pretty version my friend TJ drew for me! She’s so talented.

Picasso.

 

So. Waaaay back in Dec I did that little long race thingy. It destroyed my big toes. I had other blisters but the blood blisters that resulted under my big toes were pretty horrific.

Not nail polish.

I got a pedicure a couple weeks after (and they just left those alone). I haven’t gotten a pedi since because I was missing 4 out of 10 toes.

Why would you come here?!

Seriously, this poor woman. She was dumbfounded and so confused. And probably disgusted. I tipped extra.

Ok, last one, promise.

Sweet relief.

Which brings me to today… I was thinking I’d get a pedicure this week or next. My big toe nails have mostly grown out! Enough to not be completely horrid and long enough that the old dead part could be cut off without them being too short.

Then I did a race this weekend. Marathon #50!! WHOOP!
(Still working on that race report. Oh, and Zion from April too. Oops)

It was hilly. Apparently not good for my still-growing big toenails. My toe was sore on Monday and Tues and I didn’t know why. I decided to trim my big toenail and made the decision I was going to get a manicure TODAY. That’s it. I’m tired of it. Let someone else deal with it. (Poor thing. I will tip extra)

While I was clipping the dead off, I was greeted with a nice, painful surprise!
See that dark line on the nail? That’s the new nail below it. The top is the old dead part that I was attempting to cut off.

Juicy.

I guess it goes without saying that I am not getting a much-needed pedicure today and I’m limping around. I’m super annoyed. It’s sore and a little red and it keeps filling with fluid, repeating the pain and leaking cycle. I’ve cleaned it and did an epsom salt bath. This needs to clear up ASAP. I’ve got training and things to do!

If the picture wasn’t enough for you, I took video! Hope you aren’t eating!

I hope this gets better in a couple days. I’ve shit to do!

Whole…day 4-7

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Day 4
AM: Tabata Airdyne (warmup)  + 45min olympic lifting.
Unimpressive numbers, but I can’t remember the last time I had a lifting session. Coach (K) really stressed I need to get back to a lifting routine, even if it’s just twice a week. This was pretty difficult. I think partly because of my change in eating this week, maybe not enough calories yesterday, but the bottom line is I just need to do it more often.
Back Squat: 75, 85, 90
Front Squat: 55, 65, 70
Military Press: 55, 65, 70
Push Press: 65, 75, 80

Don’t judge the light weight.

Food:
M1: (right after lifting weights) spring salad w/carrots & broccoli & tuna. 1/2 sweet potato. 2 pieces of bacon. 1/2 Harry & David pear.
This was a lot of food; I struggled to get it down, but I did it. I felt too weak & a little lightheaded this morning.

Delicious.

Crap…I forgot to log the rest of the day…let me think. Sorry, can’t remember. Damn.

Day 5 (Friday)
AM: 1hr walk, 4mi
20 single arm KB swings- M1: BIG salad: greens, broccoli, carrots, celery, can of tuna, 1.5 pieces bacon crumbled, 1 pickle,1/2 avocado, mustard.
M2 (walk around uptown): lettuce wrap sliders from District (locally sourced meats!). Cold coffee with shot of almond milk: the barista was awesome. She showed me their packages of almond milk (and soy, but, yuck) so I could see what didn’t have added sugar. Great service! I did not even want a donut! Knowing that I “can’t” have something is SOOO much easier than “i really shouldn’t…ok, I’ll have a little bit”…then…”oh, I feel like shit….”

PORK.

Love the vintage benches. And El Paso. ❤

PM: HOT ASS RUN. 2.75mi, 27min/9:50 pace.
Mile 1: 9:54
Mile 2: 9:49
.75: 9:48
“Coach”/K/other half, told me to do an easy run to shake my legs out from lifting yesterday and to keep acclimating myself to the heat. Begrudgingly, I went. And farther than Wednesday. It still felt pretty bad, but I don’t think as bad as Wed, and I went farther. So, there is that.
Post run: 16oz of 10month expired coconut water. I don’t think it was supposed to be yellow, like urine, but it tasted fine. We’ll see how that feels later…

Ooops.

Yes. This is real.

90 degrees, 60% humidity (wow, that’s low), feels like 99.

Day 6 (Sat)
AM: 1hr walk
Big salad for breakfast

In the afternoon we went downtown for K to play volleyball. I browsed around some shops and picked up a couple things from the grocery. After that, the NOLA Jazz Symphony was giving a free concert! We hit that up hoping there would be some food trucks or local food vendors on the same street. No such luck. So, throughout the course of the afternoon I ate a 1/2 bag of grapes from Whole Foods and had some kombucha. Not ideal and not “real” meals, but it wasn’t junk. We got home at 7p (late for me) and I do not eat that late. So, only one real meal for the day, but I never felt overly hungry. Not terrible I guess.

PM: parking garage intervals! 6 story parking garage. We wanted to go 2-3 more times, but the building’s fire alarm went off and we didn’t feel comfortable staying. It was a good hill workout for this below-sea-level city!

I found where the Mercedes dealership stores their extra cars! $$$$$

Day 7 (Sun)
AM: mowing a big lawn. Yes, I’m counting this as a workout. It was hot. I didn’t wear a shirt. It took me 45 solid minutes without any breaks.
Food:
Salad (post mow): greens, broccoli, carrots, tuna, avocado dressing. Whole bell pepper with avocado crack sauce.

More of the same.

Fat. Get in me.

KB swings, SDHP: curry chicken! Slow-cooker meal that is so delicious and easy. I have Danielle to thank for that. I put it on lettuce with cilantro, shredded cabbage and some sriracha sauce.

 

So lost. Thankfully, Danielle called during my crisis.

Best thing I’ve made in a while.

Curry. Who knows the difference? I need to do some research!

Whole day 2 & 3

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I’m really enjoying being home and not driving around. I have to go to Costco and Whole Foods and get some plants from the nursery…but I’ve been avoiding it all week. See, those places are almost an hour away so it takes a whole morning or afternoon. Blah. Thursday: I will go to Costco and Whole Foods! I’ve got plenty of food though, so I’m not in danger of being without HEALTHFUL options.

Day 2
AM: Tabata Airdyne + Tabata Battle Ropes. Ohsweetgeezus the battle rope was SO MUCH harder than the Airdyne. Now, I didn’t sandbag the Airdyne. It is difficult, but the ropes….ooof. My poor arms. Which means…great workout!
Food:
10 burpees: scrambled eggs & veggies, 2 pieces bacon
30 air squats: bowl of tom kha gai w/extra veggies
10 burpees, mountain climbers, plank: tuna salad (extra greens)
PM: 20 tire flips, practice forward rolls to box (tire) jumps, forward roll pistols (hahahaha, no bueno)
tastes of sesame zoodles (zucchini noodles). Zenbelly recipe.

My body is CRAVING greens. I’ve eaten a whole container of spring mix in 2 days. I’m totally ok with that.

Day 3:
AM: 1hr power walk
10 burpees: tom kha gai, 2 pieces bacon, 1/2 pear
20 KB swings, 2×20 “high knees”: alligator sausage (Yes, that’s right. Eat local! Eat Wild!) w/mustard & kraut, sesame zoodles, 1/2 sweet potato w/ghee & cinnamon. Yum. None of it looked great together, but individually…delicious.

Pre-kruat. Looks better that way.

10 KB snatch, 20 one-arm swings: alligator sausage w/mustard & kraut, carrots

With the kraut. Looks delicious, yes?

PM: National Run Day! 2 mile run. Splits: 9:19, 9:03. OOOF. This was really difficult. It was HOT (I probably shouldn’t have gone in the heat of the day). I had to do postive self-talk the whole way. Everything about this was hard: it hurt to breathe. It was hard to keep the pace…and last year this pace was really easy for longer distance. My legs hurt. I got random twinges. Blah, blah, blah. But, last year I wasn’t carrying this extra weight and I had been more diligent in the spring about my workouts. So. I can only work with what I have TODAY. And today I ran 2 miles and it was really hot. Good training for Pikes Peak!

The lighting in my kitchen is horrid for pictures, so I often take my food outside for photographs. This is the hazard of doing so.

Damn you!

What’s been going on.

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Humm, well. Turns out when you’ve got a bum foot, life is pretty boring. Socially, things have been busy, but workouts are minimal. I use “workouts” loosely.
Today will be a big step. I’m going to the CF gym with K. I don’t know if I’ll do the WOD, it depends on what it is. No running or jumping for me, no explosive lifts. Basically, I can do stationary shit.

I’m still working on my Zion RR. (read: procrastinating)

In other news, some races are getting planned! Last June I did the Hatfield & McCoy marathon. It was an EXCELLENT time with a bunch of maniacs. Oh yeah, I guess I should write a real race report for that…
Very lush scenery!
(that’s my friend Halbert, he never has a shirt)
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Moonshine aid station? Why not?!

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Many Hatfield and McCoy homes/estates/grounds open to runners and tourists. Everyone was so friendly!
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Anyway, I’d been on the fence about doing it this year. It’s a really far, rural, drive and I’ve done it already. I praised the race so much last year that I talked many friends from a running group into doing it. They were making me feel guilty since I didn’t want to commit again this year. Well, the race director put a call out on FB for people from a small handful of states, so they could have every state represented. Well, my state didn’t have any registrants, and I was the first to reply, so I got a free entry and it’s only costing me $20 to stay! Going back AND it’s basically free! I’m very excited!

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Oh, and a Hatfield descendant is the RD and runs the local running club. Pretty awesome.

It’s Friday, lets talk about some random stuff.
TV:
LOVING Orphan Black. I just started it this week and we’re watching as a family. Excellent so far (4 episodes into season 1). Love me some BBC programming.

Books:
Currently reading Empire of the Summer Moon. I’ll let you know.

I need to get some audiobooks as we’re taking a big, looong, trip next week. Don’t get too excited, it’s not glamorous.

Another post tomorrow or Sunday with the carnage thats about to happen at the gym!

Happy Friday, peeps!

Back for real! No, I mean it this time. 119 & 120

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I’ve even worked on updating the behind-the-scenes here! I’ve missed the WordPress community.

So, what did I do yesterday? Well, not much, but *something*.
119:  5 one-legged burpees (right). OUCH. Yes, only 5. My quad was on fire and I was out of breath. Definitely counts.
BTW: I do “strict” variation of a pushup in the middle.  Most videos of one-leg I found had no pushup, except the one on that page. But I did pushups.
Kettlebell: push press (one arm, both sides), Russian twist
5 more one-legged burpees. (right)
stretching & rolling.

Today (120): 30min “walking” at the dog park. We were there over an hour, but counting 30min of active walking since we were stopping and chatting with friends. Most of this 30min was the to/from on top of the levee.
Some swings of the KB.
One leg squats, pistol progression work. Right leg only. (This probably isn’t such a good idea. It will only lead to more imbalances. And “probably” should be “is a terrible idea”.)

I may try to get back to the CrossFit gym on Friday. My partner was encouraging me to go today, but I overdid it yesterday trying to bear weight without the boot and am paying for it today. So, I don’t think I’m ready. Barbell, I’m coming for you. Friday. Time to get my bench press on.
So, why are my 2 days so light? Almost classified as normal activities of daily living? Pathetic “workouts”? So weak?

Well. This is why.

One should ALWAYS wear sequins to the doctor.

“use the crutches, use the crutches”

I think it’s “tolerate.” But, I’m not a Dr.

Any guesses on how many times I’ve used the crutches?

I had a small trauma on Friday the 25th, while cleaning the stove.
Poor Cinderella.

Except a stove. Not a broom.


On Saturday I couldn’t flex, bend my toes, or bear any weight. It was decided I needed to get some x-rays since I had a day full of JazzFest’ing on Sunday planned.
My prize for being good at the Dr. was a boot! YAY! Not.

So, I’ll be doing what I can. Will NOT get down and depressed about it as I know it’s very temporary, not major, and will heal. (lets repeat that, I will NOT get down…).

With that, I think I’m done for today. I shall continue to update here, on the pages at the top: races, food, etc and backfill some race reports! I’m over a year behind…but, if I start tackling a little bit every day, I can get it done in a couple months. Hahaha. Right.

Any ideas for exercises with one leg, that will not result in gross imbalances?

Day 1. #2.

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Here we go again. It feels a little unoriginal to do this again, but honestly, it wasn’t that bad! The end of the year, Dec. mostly, I really pushed the boundaries of what I considered an acceptable, or ‘valid’ (per my rules) workout. I started sliding to less ‘real’ workouts in Oct & Nov as my marathons & trail runs peaked for 100 training. Dec was spent minimizing damage from the 100miler. So, I’m not too thrilled with my ‘workouts’ for a little under the last quarter of ’13.

Today the weather was gross and the CF gyms were closed. So, just a walk today. I’m fine with it as it hurts to move AT ALL from CF yesterday. I’m so out of shape!
DAY 1: Walking (treadmill) 30 minutes.
20 burpees: I’m doing a 2014 burpee challenge. Averaging about 20 a day, I should be done in April per the ‘challenge’ a friend started on Facebook.

So, I want to do this all over again. I need some specific goals, but I do know this year will include less running (over 800 miles last year, the highest for me ever!) and less races. More weights. More interval (HIIT) workouts. More CrossFit. MORE walking. I want to be more ‘healthy’ and balanced with my physical activity. None of this seems hard to do.

I’m also doing another Whole30 this month. I started today off with 3 fried eggs, some guacamole, 2 pieces bacon, & 1/2 a big Texas grapefruit (the best!). Some days are filled with pretty food. Some are not. Nothing to hide here and definitely not ashamed to show ‘real’ pics. Nothing fake here!
Lunch: hodgepodge of stuff: tuna, celery & Nuttzo, 1/2 grapefruit.
Dinner: zucchini w/ duck sausage, marinara

What’s awesome is having a partner who doesn’t mind doing the errands/shopping. I despise it. So today I get a text, “Do we need anything from the store?” and I reply with, “Spinach would be nice, but it’s not dire.” The good news is he did come back with spinach. The bad news is that he came back with all this too. (I had picked up the bananas and sweet potatoes yesterday, so he doesn’t get any points other than actually getting the spinach) Did I mention Whole30 started today?

Not yum.

Until Day 2, peeps!

Hello, lover.

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I’ve been a little busy this week. Nothing overwhelming, but I spent too many days goofing off last weekend. I got behind on my school stuff, so the blog took a back seat. The good news is…I did “training runs”! WHOA. This is very unlike me. Who is this? What blog is this?!

Fun stuff:
I got these a while back, but since I’m not doing traditional lifting or CrossFit right now, I haven’t been able to wear them. They’re going back to my ‘real’ home this weekend, since I don’t have a use for them here. Speaking of…1 more month in this misery of the midwest! I really don’t belong here. I’ve come to appreciate some things about this place, but overall, it seems very much a wet blanket. Anyway, in a month, I’ll be back down South. Back to my CF gym. Maybe even some Masters swimming. Back to the land of 70 degrees in the winter.

My shoes! I love them.
(Even better, I got them at cost/wholesale from a dealer friend. Schaawing!)


Heavy weights, I miss you.

Squats, my ass misses you.

My workouts:
304 (Oct 31): Kettlebell & a walk. KB exercises in the living room.
305 (Nov. 1): a REAL run! A “training” run! WHOA.
With Jim and the Pain By Numbers running group! Really good time. I would gladly train if I had people like this to run with regularly. A lot of stopping & some hills as it was through downtown Cincy at 0630. I was told the run was “9:30-10” pace for the first hour, then 10:30-11:30 for second hour. Well, second hour people didn’t show up so we just stayed out with the same group the whole time. The 9:30 pace includes stopping…so our actual running pace was well under 9min/mi and even pushing sub-8 at points. Kicked my ass!
Didn’t help I only had 2 salads and some roast chicken yesterday. Had Chomps at mile 3 and mile 5ish. I really should have eaten more yesterday.
Mile 1: 9:32
Mile 2: 10:13
Mile 3: 9:27
Mile 4: 9:22
Mile 5: 9:43
Mile 6: 10:07 (think this was around Findlay Market)
Mile 7: 9:20
Mile 8: 9: 10
.5: 8:46 (the others left us in their dust at a 6min/mi pace!)
Overall: 9:31min/mi. 8.5mi, 1hr21min.

306 (Nov 2): Walk. 45min30sec. 3.06mi. With Danielle/Deeej/DJ (whatever she likes to be called…Hi D!!!!) Trying to show her the benefit of just WALKING for mental and physical health. A great outlet and gets one out and ACTIVE, while not taxing your body (recovery days!). Also, improves your walking for races! WALKING: does your body good.

307 (Nov 3): 4mi, 36:54, 9:13 pace. I love running for ‘errands’.
Ran to the store and back. I really need to carry at least mace and possibly the gun. Don’t have my CHL for Ohio though…hummm…might be worth the legal risk if I’m getting attacked.
Running to the store, a group of 4 guys (young men, late teens-early 20’s) heckled me from a front yard. I just ignored it. On the way back, they were walking in the road, towards me. I was a mile from home. I crossed to the other side of the road (big rural highway), and they crossed too. *shit* So…I crossed back and they stopped and I just stared back while running. They were smart to not cross again. But, they yelled very disgusting vulgar things as I ran past. It could be so nice and peaceful here without those kinds of assholes.
Mile 1: 9:29
Mile 2: 9:19
Mile 3: 9:08
Mile 4: 8:52

308 (Nov 4): Kettlebell. I didn’t time it, as I did many sets throughout the day. Definitely more than 5, but less than 10min.
swings
snatch
SDHP
v-up’s
russian twists

309 (Nov 5): Kettlebell & Walk.
KB: 5min. one-arm swings, snatch, swings, SDHP
Walk: with Deeeej after lunch.
2.3mi, 31:40, 13:46pace. Walked faster this time. Was really nice to walk briskly after eating.

310 (Nov 6): Stretching/yoga. The day got away from me. I was going to run 5-6mi, but I was doing stuff around the house and my morning turned into afternoon. Then I was going to run in the evening, but it was raining and REALLY dark. So. Living room floor it was!

311 (Nov. 7): Kettlebell. I’ve got class this morning, then drive the rest of the day.
one-arm swings
snatch
v-up
2 turkish get-ups (out of practice!)

So…I’m on the road today. It’s EXACTLY 1 month until CC 100. EEEEK. This is my last big-mileage weekend. If all goes well, I’ll have a tough, mostly self-supported 50k on Sat and a 10miler on Sunday. Possibly 5 more Sunday night, or another 10 Monday morning. We’ll see…best laid plans and all that.
But, my motivation? I get to stuff my face after the 50k. Not just for recovery, but my planned 10-15 the next day. There is an awesome ‘gourmet’ donut shop in Chatt. It actually has a retro feel that is far from fancy. They are successful enough they don’t even have to be open on Sundays! A coffee and donut shop that’s closed on Sunday?! Unheard of! But their old-school cake style donuts with crazy flavors are so good. I’ll be getting a couple flavors there Sat evening to use as my motivation to get those miles in Sunday morning. So there it is: donuts.

Bit the bullet.

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I did it. I signed up for my 100miler.

I had an inkling that I’d probably want to do it back in Feb, after my first 50miler went so well. I kept procrastinating with signing up. Honestly, it scared me. I know I can do a marathon on no training. I can do one at a reasonably ‘hard’ pace for me (probably more like ‘slightly uncomfortable after mile 20’ pace) and still not hurt and resume all activities the next day. Or do another one. And apparently 50miles isn’t a big deal for me either. I’m not fast, but solidly in the middle-of-the-pack. I feel if I do more of them, I’d get a lot better. I like that distance. Harder than a marathon, but not much more training. With my base, I know I can continue doing them without too much effort or harm.

But this one, I’m scared. I’ve done more miles and races this year than I ever have, and I don’t feel ready. Being sick this past week hasn’t helped with my confidence, as I need to be doing big miles RIGHT NOW. The race is 38 days away. Build time is NOW. Ugh. I’ll do what I can this week and part of next, but I have my “A” race next weekend. I’ve been training for that, instead of the 100 as I didn’t know if I’d arrive at this point in the year healthy. Which is a legitimate worry, as I’ve been very sick and sprained my ankle in the past 2 weeks. So, there is that to worry about.

My biggest hesitation is that running this many miles, this often, is that it isn’t exactly healthy. Or, it’s not healthy for me. I would venture out to say that running this many miles, doing 50-100miles several times a year…isn’t healthy for anyone. I think most of us ultra runners realize that. We do it because we’re not right in our head. We like the pain. Not to be ‘healthy.’ We like the suffering. And we like to come out on top of it all.

So, doing 100 goes against my New Years Promise to myself, to be HEALTHY. I’ve been conflicted with this for many months because I know it’s not the most healthy thing to do. However, I am in really great shape right now despite having put on 10lbs in the past 2 months. Again: running this many events/miles isn’t healthy! The calories one must consume to do these and not get injured, over-trained, or sick (ahem), and the inflammation and stress it puts the body…is not conducive to losing (or maintaining for me) weight. I’m carrying so much ‘bloat’ (I call it ‘carb bloat’) from the races, it’s not going down or away, despite eating well during the week. I’m taxing my body and it’s hanging on….BUT. I know how to fix it. After the 100, apparently.

Since this blog is supposed to be about my workouts, here they are:

Day 299: Kettlebell! Whew, the 15lb feels heavy. Definitely not 100% yet. I did this while watching the TeamUSA v. World CrossFit competition online. I. MISS. CROSSFIT. I can’t wait until Dec when I can go back to my gym.

Day 300!: I should have done something special. Bummer. I didn’t realize it was 300 until I was writing this.
I did Kettlebell again. Easing back into it, post-sickness.

Day 301: CHORES! I did some KB today, and I was so amp’d up from watching too many episodes of Breaking Bad that I had to get out and do something destructive. I moved a chopped down tree and all it’s branches from the front driveway area to the backyard next to the fire pit. Then I started a big-ass fire. It was awesome.

Day 302: Kettlebells. Did various sets of swings, SDHP and presses with the KB. I’ve been binging on Breaking Bad and when I get worked up and can’t sit down, I pick up the KB.

Day 303: 2 RUNS!
#1:
Interval run. Since I signed up for the 100 today, I need to get back to running again even if I’m not 100%.
Do a lap down the street, then back to the house for chores/homework.
Haven’t run since Louisville 1.5 weeks ago. Ugh. Hate being sick.
lap 1: .36, 7:39 pace (a little rough)
lap 2: .37, 6:55 (whoa)
lap 3: .37, 7:04 (got heckled by some punks, scared me a bit that they were going to follow me, based on what they said. Wish I had my gun on me, it was that bad.)
lap 4: .36, 6:56 (kinda scared after the last round)

RUN #2, on the track at school. I didn’t want to run in my rural neighborhood, don’t want to see those gross men again.
Mile 1: 8:37
Mile 2: 8:00
.4: 7:45
I kept telling myself to slow down. I said, “Yo! Slow down, yo! Easy pace, b*tch!” (breaking bad, I can’t shake it). I didn’t listen. Still wasn’t a hard effort! I had planned on running about a 9-9:30 pace, but I just went…

Yeah, starting ‘official’ training 38 days out is a great idea, right?
(I kid, I kid, I did 4 marathons in Oct, 1 in Sept & 2 50k’s in Sept. 5 more during the summer. Decent base miles!)

So, time to train up to out-run some gators!

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Where I’m at

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Gosh, I’m really kicking myself for abandoning WP for so long! I’ve missed it here. I’ve enjoyed catching up with my Reader this week.
Day 289-290 (Oct. 16 & 17): easy walking. Not feeling great (sore throat & a slight cold) and making sure my ankle is healing.
Day 291 (today): some KB, couple pullups, light weights & walking (at packet pickup in Indy)

So, where am I at? I’ve been exploring what I really love, realizing things I miss and what I may want to focus on for next year:

  • I’m considering doing 365 again for next year! There’s always room to grow and change. I was trying to decide what direction to take this blog and/or my life after this year of great changes, and well, I don’t want to stop. If I stop 365, where does that take my blog title? Easy solution: do it again since it hasn’t been a burden.
  • Physically: I’m in Ohio, away from my partner. (And yes, I usually use ‘partner’ instead of ‘husband’.  We each hold each other with a high level of respect, and room to each be our own person. While I do believe he possesses many great qualities I do not, I don’t like the term ‘better half’. I don’t sell myself short! I bring many things to our partnership. We each have our own athletic and life pursuits, different hobbies. The most important thing: by being secure in MYSELF, I respect his choices and don’t ‘need’ him to be happy with myself. He enhances my life, the one I make for myself. But gosh, I do miss him.)...Many twisted things fell into place (or fell out of place) and I ended up here, practically in the frozen tundra of Canada (I like to live south of the Mason-Dixon unless I’m in the mountains or the NE), and he is living next door to my family eating things like deer stew and crab stuffed flounder. Twisted and cruel I tell you! I get to go back in Dec, and we don’t plan on doing a geo-bachelor situation again. Life is too short, and while 3-4mo isn’t that long and we have seen each other, it’s not cool.


That’s my driveway. Good luck finding it.

  • Running: I’ve logged more miles, and more races, this year than ever before. Still not a ton of training miles, but I’ve registered and done almost every marathon or ultra I could this year. I surpassed last years running mileage in Aug or Sept. Pretty awesome.
  • CrossFit: I don’t have access to a CF gym here in Ohio. The closest ones are an hour away. SUCKS. Since I’m traveling or doing races almost every weekend, I do not want to drive to the Box a couple times during the week. The week is downtime and catching up on school time. Definitely something I miss and will fiercely start up when I get back to LA! I have a real pullup bar, a small amount of weights, a KB and plenty of room to run. Fitness can happen anywhere!
  • Friends: doing so many races has made me closer to a lot of my running friends, and I’ve met some great new ones. Being here away from him has given me time and a vigor to see people I haven’t seen in years! I’ve seen my best friend more in these 2 months than the last 4 years. Race pain and suffering can help you find your new best Race Friend. Or, even better, when you can click off 26miles with someone you met the day before and talk the whole way! St. Louis marathon 2 weeks ago was just that, and even better, a solid 4:53 marathon the week after a TOUGH 50k. That was done at a very comfortable effort and 20min faster than what we were expecting. So awesome that our brains turned off what we thought we were going to do, and look what happened. It was only 9min slower than my fastest race of the year, with just a month & 2 50k’s in between.
    Denis and I ran the whole way together, and it was great! Oh, stories that come out after 4hrs of sharing pain.

Have a great weekend! I hope my first “Double” goes well. That’s 2 marathons. In 2 different states. Forecast is 38-55 degrees tomorrow morning…with rain. Yuck! Ciao!