We Interrupt This Running Blog

To bring you...

 

skiing!!

 

Some of my more intuitive readers may have wisely realized that this activity cannot take place in Florida. Indeed, wise friends, we took the boys for a long weekend to North Carolina. The two youngers have never tried any sort of snowy sports, so we figured it cheapest best to start them out on tiny, East Coast mountains.

 

Never ceasing to amaze, though, they took to skiing and snowboarding like ducks to water...or maybe penguins to ice blocks....whatever. They were naturals.

oh. They were really cute, too.

Bonus: The Oldest is big enough to wear The Husband's gear!

 

Middle-of-the-night road trip, followed by an entire day on the slopes should have led to utter exhaustion followed by complete meltdowns. Our children surprised us, once again, by being totally compliant, sweet and in total enjoyment of every second of the day.

 



snow angels

 

I know you were dying to know what my feet looked like when not clad in running shoes

 

On the off chance you stopped by my blog to get your much-needed fix of my awesome running tales, there was a bit of that on this trip, too. After our free!! hotel breakfast, I hopped out for a short, hilly jaunt. It wasn't quite as cold as it had been the previous day, and the overnight rain had washed away any snow. It was still lovely to be in new surroundings, enjoying the beautiful area and the feeling of the cool air on my cheeks.

one of the pic-worthy spots on my route

 

I spotted an enormous hill, just off the main road, and decided to attack it. First, though, I pulled out my phone to take a picture from the bottom. I've always seen photos of hills with a caption that reads something like this : "This picture doesn't do it justice" or "You can't really tell how tall it was from this picture".

 

Mentally scoffing at those who'd gone before me, I positioned myself just right to photographically capture a true depiction of the mountain I was about to conquer.

Listen, you can't really tell from this picture how high that thing really was

 

I made it just over halfway up before gasping and panting my way (carefully) back down. My poor, sick lungs were just not ready for that sort of challenge. That yet-to-be-recapped Marathon did a number on me!

 

We took our sweet, sight-seeing time back to Florida. The trip was long enough to squeeze in just about everything we wanted to do, but short enough to where we weren't aching for home by the end of it.

 

pausing the rock-skipping to pose for mom

 

How was your weekend? 





 



 

 



Adventrageous, Round Seven

Yesterday's post was pretty long-winded, so I'll keep this one brief. The gifts from me, to you, just keep on comin'...

 

 

At least six days per week, my attire looks something like this :

no, your eyes aren't playing tricks on you. It doesn't even match.

 

I usually run right before or right after taking my kids to school, so this is pretty much my Morning Normal. Sweaty or pre-sweaty running clothes and shoes, a kid on each arm and a travel mug of coffee balanced precariously...somewhere.

 

This morning I had a 9:00 am meeting so I had to dig out "regular people" clothes. It wasn't easy.

 

pants that covered my entire leg. non-tech shirt.

 

not sneakers, even!

 

Sadly, not including my boys' comments, I received four remarks from parents and teachers regarding my outfit, within about 5 minutes.

 

"I almost didn't recognize you!"

 

"Did you get a job or something?"

 

"How are you going to run in that?!"

 

Soooo...apparently time to switch up the ol' daily look.

 

Today's share: Somewhat related to today's topic, even! Amira puts me to shame, in this category. She works out, like, every day AND manages to wear normal (even cute!) clothes the rest of the day. She's fairly new to blogging but already has a loyal following due to her openness, sense of humor and knowledge of fashion (among other qualities I'll never posess). 

Bonus: She's hoping to make her first, full marathon the same one I ran as my first!  We're kinda like twins...only she got the desire to shower and wash her hair, regularly and I am sweaty with old-lady hands.

 





 

 



Round Two

While I don't feel I'm a slave to training plans, I do like having somewhat of a guide when venturing into unknown running territory. See, the day after I registered for my first marathon, I went ahead and signed up for my second (third...and fourth. I may have a problem).

more on this, soon!





Two days after my marathon, I felt completely fine. Yes, this could be a sign of good training. It could've also had something to do with the fact that I didn't actually run it at my "race pace". I am so happy with everything about that race, so I'm not regretting my pace. My current mentality, however, is along the lines of : Now we know we can successfully run for 26.2 miles. Let's do it faster!

Mr Higdon actually has training plans for idiots runners participating in multiple marathons. I jumped right into his 8 week plan, after the NFIM. A few days into it, though, I was feeling completely bored and unfulfilled. My body felt great and I was totally fired up. "2 easy-paced miles" for my daily workout was just not cutting it.

real snail. Not actually a picture of me...just what I felt like

 

I launched into some obsessive research and came up with a newer and decidedly tougher plan. Again, I'm not exactly Type A about running...or anything for that matter. However, I am definitely not experienced enough to try to improve my Marathon time "on the fly".

 

Plans are good.

 

Plans are our friends!

 

I'll end up with a lot of miles by the end of this first, full week. They'll include 7xHill Repeats, a 10 mile, goal marathon-paced run AND a long run. For some reason the daunting aspect of these workouts is making me ridiculously happy! I'm being rigid about my stretching, foam rolling, yoga, Epsom baths, compression and rest, too. Extra and/or difficult miles are only a teensy part of training.

really it's all an excuse to get to dress like this 

 

My new schedule is making me optimistic and deliciously spent at the end of each day. Had the ol' injury not joined the previous Prepping For a Marathon Party, I undoubtedly would have been able to train harder, then, too. All of my workouts, post-stress fracture, though, were forced to be altered. The fact that I was still able to succesfully complete a marathon, after all that, reinforces my belief that I went about things the right and patient way.

 

Granted, during my disgusting run, Sunday, I had to repeatedly remind myself : "This is what YOU wanted!". While the affirmation did nothing to stop my audible? mental whining, it did keep me going. (that, and the thought of the pizza I was going to devour upon finishing)

 

While I'd love to ramble more, here, I just realized the awful scent I keep catching a whiff of is actually me. Turns out I wasn't actually able to fit in a shower after running ten miles, this morning...

 

If you think that's nasty, you should check out my Marathon Souvenir:

Runners can be pretty gross, eh?

 

Want to share something icky? Now's your chance! 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 



 

Burning Questions

I've been in need of some decent sunglasses, to wear while running, for a few months. Every once in a while I'll wear a hat or visor to keep the squinting at bay. However, I've noticed when I wear those, it intensifies the sound of my breathing, to my ears. It feels like my head's in a box and the sound of my hideous, labored breath is all I can hear.

Unpleasant.

Runglasses are the obvious fix but my "thriftiness" has prevented me from buying any. The cheapest ones I've found are about 3x more than I generally spend on a pair of sunglasses. I tried running in my regular, $10 shades, but they envelope way too much of my crooked face. Within about 5 seconds, pools of sweat built up behind the lenses and I was temporarily cursing...screaming...blinded.

Right before a 5k, in April, I counted out my change to splurge for another ($10) pair that were much lighter and allowed a bit of a breeze. Also, they had pretty purple frames.

hoping my face conveys how happy I am with those glasses

 

I tried them out while running my warm-up for the race. They bounced up and down so hard I thought I'd have a bloody forehead AND chin by the time I'd ripped them off my face. It was also too late to run them back to the car so I was stuck carrying the stupid things for the entire race. (1st in my division, though. Maybe they really are good for something!)

 

Since then I've stuck to squinting and cursing the sun for burning my poor eyes.

 

Today, though, I broke down and spent a whopping $30.00 on a pair that may actually be designed for some sort of physical activity.

man, my pictures are phenomenal, today!

 

I haven't tested them, yet, but will be happy to report back when I do. Try to refrain from holding your breath in suspense.

 

Until then, How do you keep the sun out of your eyes, while you run? Any good sunglass recommendations?

 

Finally, Have you ever seen anything more frightening than my neck, while I was trying on sunglasses?

 



 what the heck is that? Am I really that old?!