January Miles

How is it possible that January is already over?  If someone can also explain why I was able to go for a run in 60 degree weather in shorts and a t-shirt on the last day of January in south central PA, that would also be helpful.

January Numbers:
Total Miles Ran:  171
Number of those miles that involved me holding a dog and a leash:  38
Number of those miles on trails:  37

On today's run I came to the conclusion that one of the latest pairs of shoes I bought (August or September??) officially need retired.  They must go where my running shoes go to die - dog walking or lawn mowing shoes.  The part that is really hard about this - they aren't old...at all.  They probably only have 75 miles on them, if that, I have no idea, that's not something I keep track of.  They just aren't working for me and I think they may aggravate my left foot which sometimes gives me issues.

When I bought them, while I liked them at the store, they never felt right from the first run.  I was hoping they would be my next 'long run' shoes.  With trail races and Ragnar approaching last fall, I put them aside, and ordered a super cheap pair of the original Brooks Launch online for my fall road shoes.

My first pair of the Launch treated me pretty well so I knew they were a safe choice.  Except, the super cheap pair were actually a half size smaller than what I normally wear...it's all that was in stock.  But, the original pair I had were small too.  The sales person thought the smaller size was better when I bought the first pair.  I went with it and after some breaking in, they seemed to feel OK, but I kind of always thought I still needed my normal size.
 

Then, November came and I had foot issues.  The new Brooks Defyance seemed to aggravate it so I put those aside again.  The 2nd pair of the Brooks Launch was OK but I was convinced this pair seemed smaller and still wasn't in love.  The dog also ate part of the heel on one of the shoes, although that doesn't really impact their use! So, I broke out an old pair of Newtons and along with my trail shoes, this has been my rotation.  Of course, after I took this picture, I realized I actually have another pair in the rotation.  This pair of Kinvara's are over a year old and they have been my treadmill shoes (don't run on it that much!) and they stay inside and nice and clean.

In January, miles were either on the Kinvara on the treadmill in the super early mornings, the very old pair of Newtons or the fairly old pair of Inov-8 trail shoes and sometimes the half-eaten, too small Brooks Launch.  I wore the Newtons on all the longer runs and by far, they have been feeling the best.

I tried again today on the Brooks because I thought with my foot feeling perfectly fine, maybe they would work and I'd like to get some use out of them but it was definitely a no-go, after 4 miles, I wanted them off.  Now that they are out, I'm considering buying a new pair to add into the mix soon...I was really hoping it wasn't going to be the Newtons - too expensive!  Of course, if I'm running on a pair that I bought in 2010, I guess the longevity should counter-balance it!

Four pairs of shoes in rotation - how about you?

PureFit Bars (Product Review)/Friday Food

I think I am going to attempt to get back into a Friday Food mode.  It may not last since I'm not exactly consistent with anything on this blog, but I'm going to make the effort to do at least one food post a week which includes a meal from the week.  Why?  Well, there's a few reasons but there is one specific reason which I'll be sharing soon relating to a new side gig!  Of course, I don't have anything for this week related to food, but I can share my thoughts on some nutrition bars.  

Like many other running bloggers, a couple of weeks ago, I received samples of PureFit bars to try.  I was up for doing this product review since I'm always on the look out for good, nutritious products that work with my stomach!  They were advertised as gluten free, vegan, high protein bars that were nutritious and great testing.

I received the samples which included each flavor of PureFit bars:  Almond Crunch, Berry Almond Crunch, Chocolate Brownie, Granola Crunch and Peanut Butter Crunch.

Right off the bat the company earned a plus one in my book.  A message about adopting from a shelter?  Works for me.  Marketing companies love me!

The first bar I tried was Almond Crunch.  Honestly, I didn't care for the flavor, it wasn't terrible but cannot see myself eating one again.  It did keep me full with no issues when I ate it in the morning when I needed to eat something but could not handle anything heavy since I was planning a run in about an hour.  The next one I tried was Granola Crunch.  This flavor worked for me.  I enjoyed it and had part of it before a long trail run and the other half after.  All of the bars take some chewing a good amount of water to get down so I wouldn't be incorporating these while I run (hence the reason I ate part before and then the rest after).  The chocolate brownie flavor worked for me as well but I wasn't crazy about the other flavors.  Overall, a good bar but I can only see myself purchasing two of the flavors.

*PureFit sent me the bars free of charge in exchange for reviewing them.

I Don't Play By the Rules

Saturday morning brought the first real winter precipitation of the year.  I looked at it out the window while I ran on the treadmill and listened to my husband shoveling.  Often, I get the snow shoveling duties but was happy to skip out on this and and also wuss out on an outdoor run.

On Sunday morning, though, I couldn't look at the treadmill after the 8 miles on Saturday (I think the most I've ever been able to stand is 10 on the treadmill).  I wanted to run longer so I headed out without a real plan on where I was going to go.  The only thing in my mind was to run 14 miles.  After having my closest encounter of getting hit by a car (and I admit it was totally my fault) as I was trying to avoid some ice, I decided to just run loops in my neighborhood.  The loop is only a little over 2 miles.  I'm pretty sure I've solidified my spot in my neighbors' minds of being on the verge of crazy after running repeatedly by all of their houses for 2 hours.  I thought the loops would actually drive me insane but it was actually kind of nice to just completely zone out.

Sometimes it's nice to break the rules a bit.

I was recently tagged by Marlene for the latest tag going around the blog-world:

1. Post these rules
2. You must post 11 random things about yourself
3. Answer the questions set for you in their post
4. Create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer   I actually really enjoy reading these things on other people's blogs but I'm not going to tag anyone so I'm not going to post questions either!
5. Go to their blog and tell them you’ve tagged them  I never tag people, it just feels weird for me to do so!
6. No stuff in the tagging section about you are tagged if you are reading this. You legitimately have to tag 11 people!   Sorry, sometimes I break the rules.



The Random Facts (the 'I Don't Play by the Rules' version).
1.  I usually have one diet soda a day.  I've thought I should probably cut that in the past but really have no real desire to change it.
2.  I rarely floss.
3.  I didn't attend my high school graduation.  It was partly to prove a point.
4.  My musical tastes are quite varied.  The most explicit rap song may be played followed by a country ballad and then some obscure indie folk group.
5.  If there is some sort of required form/license/etc., that I think is stupid or pointless, I won't do it.  When/if they catch up with me (rare), I'll handle it!
6.  When the dogs poop in someone's yard, I'll clean it up...unless it's one of the few neighbors that I don't really care for.
7.   I'm a terrible picture taker (see below and why in the world do I have a blog then?).  Pretty much every major life event could pass and I won't have any photos of it.  I'll have plenty of random food and dogs though.  Luckily, my husband likes to take photos.
8.  Standard meals mean nothing to me.  Breakfast foods for dinner are fine and dinner foods for breakfast are fine.  Is it weird to think there is nothing wrong with eating a huge portion of eggplant parmesan at 8 AM?
9.  Dessert after breakfast is also perfectly fine.
10.  If there is something I don't feel like dealing with at work on a particular day, I'll leave it for the end of the day to send an e-mail.  Then, if I get a follow up call about it, I can avoid dealing with it until the next day.  Pretty sure we all do this!
11.  My husband thinks I hide food from him in the house.  I don't hide anything.  I just strategically place certain items in the pantry and refrigerator.  

Marlene's Questions
1. What is your favourite pair of non-running shoes?  Birkenstocks.
2. What are you wearing right now?  Jeans and a sweatshirt...that's dressed up!
3. What is the first thing you would do if you won the lottery?  Quit my job and devote more time to animal rescue.
4. Are you named after anyone/anything?  Nope, my Mom just liked the name.
5. What is worse – being too cold, or being too hot?  Too cold, definitely.
6. What is hanging on your walls at home?  Lots of black and white photos.
7. What is the last thing that you took a picture of?  Probably the Pure Fit bars that I need to do a quick review for!  
8. Who is the last person you spoke to on the phone?  Some client or someone from work.  I avoid the phone outside of work.
9. Where did you go on vacation as a child?  Outer Banks
10. What is your favourite TV show?  Don't really have one right now.
11. How many pieces of jewelry do you wear regularly?  2, wedding ring and engagement ring...but have the time I don't even have those on.  Definitely not a jewelry person.  

Recipe: Korean Food, Tony Horton, Cold, Wind

I have a pretty set routine and like it that way.  Run Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.  Some sort of cross-training Monday and Friday and usually and extra one thrown in on Wednesday if I have time.  Sometimes Friday is a complete rest day.  This structure started when I first started 'training' for that first marathon and I've stuck with it since then.

I also have a pretty big love for workout DVDs.  It started long before I got into this running thing.  Back years ago, when I decided I was ready to lose weight for real, I decided to try the Firm DVDs.  I kind of loved them in all their cheesy glory.  And, well, they worked for me.  I lost over 50 pounds with those suckers.

Eventually, I got tired of them and I discovered Exercise TV on Demand.  That's when I found 30 Day Shred...like so many others.  I actually had no idea who Jillian Michaels was when I started that one.  I'd never watched The Biggest Loser and seem to often be out of the loop on popular culture.  I tried several other non-Jillian workouts and in most cases, they sucked.  They weren't really workouts or had some sort of complicated choreography that I couldn't keep up with.  But, not so with the Jillian workouts.

I've pretty much stuck with all DVDs Jillian since then.  But, then, Pam was offering up her P90X DVDs a few weeks ago and I hopped on them.  Friday, I was in the mood for something a little different, so I decided to do the Legs & Back workout.  I don't have a pull up bar so it was really only Legs and then I threw on Ab Ripper at the end.  During it, I wasn't in love.  The moves felt a little tough but I seemed to be able to keep up.  I like the whole combo of adding in cardio so I get a sweat going.  At the end, I wasn't sweating so I didn't really feel like I did anything.  I wasn't sure these were going to be for me either.

Then, Saturday morning came.  The muscles in my ass were super sore for the previous day.  Nothing in my legs but the ass muscles were definitely feeling the pain.  It was another cold, windy day and after walking all of the dogs, I wussed out and hit the treadmill instead of taking my usual Saturday morning run.  So, I ended up with six easy miles on the treadmill due to sore ass muscles and the cold chill outside.

Sunday morning, the ass muscles were still sore but getting better.  I had planned on meeting up with a group to run about 16 miles on trails in the afternoon.  I had also properly fueled for the trail run by eating massive amounts of Korean food Saturday night and following that up with some cinnamon rolls for dessert.

By the time we started running, I wasn't feeling 100% but figured I'd still be pretty good to go.  It was super cold again but by the time we climbed the first hill, I shed my first layer.  Unfortunately, half our group of 4 decided to cut this one super short due to one person having some knee pain.  I continued on with another friend who was looking to get in 9 miles after already doing 7 in the morning.  Honestly, I was quite relieved.  That 9.30 miles felt long and wore me out.  I was relived when we were back at our vehicles.  I'm not sure I was up for 16 miles on the trails this day!    

It wasn't a great run, but I kinda like that part of it.  I've been stepping it up over the last few weeks and have been feeling pretty strong.  Sometimes it's nice to have one of these days to remember what it's like to work on something you should really be able to complete with little problem.  It helps me appreciate all the good days as well.  Plus, gives me something to work against and realize that maybe I should think about what I'm eating and all that good stuff again.  I think I'll stick with the P90X as well, pretty nice to unearth some unused muscles.

Consistently Inconsistent

The other day, my husband poured himself a bowl of cereal.  He went to the fridge to locate whatever milk or milk type product I had in there.  On this day, he found a glass bottle with regular cow's milk.  A few weeks ago, it would have been almond milk.  Before that, it would've been the same local milk he found this day.  A few weeks before that, there was nothing and he would've had dry cereal.  He asked when we went back to regular milk.  To which I replied that I have no idea what I am doing either when it comes to the milk.

Which products I buy and don't buy when it comes to food, at least any food item that either comes from an animal or is an animal is one of the things I'm probably the most inconsistent with.  I just can't seem to figure out where I am.

Ages 0-16 - I ate the very typical middle class American diet.  My mom cooked the meals.  Eating out was considered a treat.  A dinner was the typical protein of some kind, a starch and a vegetable.  I ate eggs and cheese and meat.  Meat was a bit rare because I just never really liked it but I still ate it a little.

Ages 16-21 - Vegetarian years.  I still ate eggs and dairy.  My diet was absolutely terrible and unhealthy.  I ended up at my highest weight ever.

Ages 21-current.  The consistently inconsistent era.  I know what I feel and believe from a moral and ethical standpoint but that doesn't always mean I follow through with it.

What I believe:  I do not have an issue with eating a product from an animal or an actual animal if I know the animal was raised and lived in a humane way and was slaughtered humanely.

It took me a long time to figure this out and even now I feel a little funny putting it out there.  That line alone can open a huge can of worms.  I'm sure many people believe there is no actual humane way to slaughter an animal and that any cow we use for milk cannot live in a humane way.  I grew up in the country and know plenty of people who farm.  It's not the product I have a problem with, it's the methods.   

For years, I thought I needed to have the vegetarian label.  Eventually, I figured out I wasn't doing it in a healthy way.  I dropped the label.  It worked, I got healthy.

I'll never be the type of person that goes to a restaurant and orders a huge steak.  I just don't like meat enough to have a huge hunk of it.  A large chunk of my meals end up being vegetarian because that's what I prefer, but not all.  I do enjoy a sandwich that may have chicken on it and eating a bowl of soup made with chicken stock isn't so bad either.

But, I end up feeling guilty again.  I follow a trailer with a cow and stare into the cow's eyes driving down the highway.  And, I start to avoid beef.  I take a back road and pass the turkey farm.  I see turkeys packed in a building looking out the one small window they have.  And, I stop eating turkey.  Pretty soon, I'm resorting back to my old eating ways where I just eat crackers all day and realize that isn't healthy.  Any time I eliminate animal products completely, I eat really, really unhealthy.

So, I try to change the cycle again.  I go back to what I believe.  I buy milk and butter locally knowing what farm it came from and feel OK about it.  I buy organically pastured chicken, organically pastured beef and eggs from a local farm and I feel OK about it.  They don't stare at me like a crazy person when I show up to the farm and ask where the animals are slaughtered.  Guess they are used to that sort of thing.

But, then, there's other items.  Maybe yogurt.  I like yogurt.  I found some locally but it just wasn't for me so am I a hypocrite for buying the regular yogurt at the regular grocery store?  I prefer it over of the others.  Maybe I need to stop eating that.  Cheese - tried that locally as well but honestly preferred the stuff at the regular store.

Then, some days I may want to make something for dinner and I don't want to have to deal with the whole frozen chicken that I bought at the local farm.  It would be easier to go pick up some chicken breasts at the store.  Or, I get lazy and want to go to one store, not five different places for the weekly food.  So, I cave.  Or, I go back to the almond milk...and the crackers...

And, I get confused again.

Anyone with me?

Old Dog, New Tricks

As mentioned in one of my 2012 goals, I want to be more consistent with running with the dogs this year.  There are several reasons for this but one of the biggest is time.  I am a firm believer in the whole 'if you want to do something, you can find the time to make it happen' concept.  One of the things I make time to do every single day is make sure the dogs get a walk...a decent walk.  When I just had one dog, it was easy.  When I had two dogs, it was also fairly easy.  When I got up to three dogs, it started getting a little more complicated.

One has dog aggression issues and a hatred for all types of delivery trucks, one is hyper and crazy-active, one starts barking like crazy if the other two get worked up.  Mix all this with some idiot neighbors who sometimes let their dogs run loose.  Walking all three together ended in pure chaos at least 50% of the time.  Next, mix in one dog with an ACL injury who needs severely restricted and controlled exercise and I ended up finding myself taking three dogs on three separate walks each day plus trying to squeeze in a run on many of those days as well.  It only made sense to try to consolidate some things together a few days during the week.

First up, my in-house inventory of potential running partners:

Who wants to run?

Potential Running Partner #1 - Lab Mix, estimated age 8-9 yrs. but no one really knows.  Known as Jackson, J, JJ, Big Boy, Old Boy and Gramps.  Adopted six years ago.  The biggest fan of the daily walk.  Prefers routines and schedules.  Will try to kill other dogs, particularly golden retrievers, if not introduced in a very structured way.  Will attack whatever is closest to him if the UPS truck drives by.  Has many other quirks and seems to be growing more and more into the old man who is just a bit lost in his own little world.  

Potential Running Partner #2 - Beagle, estimated age 7-8 yrs but no one really knows.  Known as Kasey, Kase, White Boots, Booty and Maria.  The second adopted, about five years ago.  Not a fan of exercise, prefers sleeping and eating.  

Potential Running Partner #3 - Lab/Pit/Dobie Mix?  Who knows.  Estimated Age - 3 years, most of which was spent in an animal shelter.  Known as Hannah, Nanner, Banana and Morgan.  Adopted seven months ago.  Can be a terror.

Kasey automatically gets knocked out of the picture.  She won't run.  I tried a long time ago.  It just doesn't work with a beagle...or at least this beagle.  Plus, she has a bum leg.  So, she's the cool-down girl.  She gets her short, modified walk after the other two get their exercise.  Luckily, her cuteness can make up for her lack of interest in exercise.  She used to be a nightmare to control as well, the cuteness got her over those hurdles too.

Sleeping is how she spends most of the day

Trying to obtain food fills the other half.

I hate you people, stop laughing at me.

Next up, Hannah.  The natural.  I've run with her since we brought her home from the shelter.  She needs it, desperately.  She either needs a run with me or a long session of fetch each day to make her manageable.  Somedays though, it is frustrating to run with her and I'd rather just have a calm, relaxing run by myself.  She's tripped me, on more than one occasion.  The first minute or so is usually bad until she gets into a rhythm.  If I take her, I have limited routes because I don't want to take her where there is any traffic.  But, it's good for her and um...those problems aren't really problems.  I'll stop whining.

Bowling over little dogs is a popular game

Fetch...it releases the demons

Sleepy dogs = Happy People

Jackson, the old boy.  My surprise case.  I tried running with him the past but I was always trying to tow Kasey too and it never worked.  I never tried running with just him, he seemed fine with a nice walk.  Over the past month or two, I decided to try to see if he'd run since I was already walking each one separately.  He's getting up there in years but the girls in the house must keep him somewhat young.  I certainly don't push him (unlike Hannah, who I push to wear her out) but he seems to be enjoying it!  He seems to start getting a little tired at 2 miles so that's his distance.

At our wedding

Even older picture, even less gray on the face!

My system is warm-up with Jackson for up to 1-2 miles, swap out, anything up to 6 miles with Hannah (she could definitely do more, I just can't stand making my immediate neighborhood loops any longer than that), swap out, and a quick cool-down with Kasey.

Workout complete - dog walks complete.  It's a win win!

2012 plan (First Half) and Goals

Running Related Goals for 2012:

-Run at least 1500 miles.  This should be easy to achieve as long as I don't have any injuries throughout the year.  I ended 2011 at 1460 miles.
 -PR in all distances.  Might sound aggressive, but I should be able to do it.
-Become more comfortable and experienced running on trails.  See plan, I've pretty much gotta do it!  
-Run an ultra longer than a 50K.  Got one scheduled, see the plan.
-Run with the dog(s) a minimum of 2x/week.  This should be very easy.  Sometimes I slack in it and just walk the dogs.  They get a walk every single day.  Sometimes running with them can be a bit of hassle and I just venture out on my own but I'm going to work on this -- for 2 of the 3!
-Strength/Cross-train at least 2x/week.  Self-explanatory so hopefully I don't destroy myself in attempting the above.

I'm going to spend the first half of 2012 trying to figure out if ultras are for me and then figure out what to do with the rest of the year.  But, the first half of 2012 is already jam packed and I'm committed to the following.

The plan:

3/10/2012 - Chambersbug Half - This is a given, have to do it.  It's five minutes from my house and the scene of my first half in 2010 and in 2011, I ran it and was the first time running a half under 2 hours.

3/24/2012 - HAT Run 50K.  Signed up for way back in September, before I'd tried any of these crazy trail ultras.  It sells out very quickly.  Luckily, I decided I still wanted more after those...even if it's partly for revenge and to prove I can do it better than what happened this past year!

4/29/2012 - Gettysburg Marathon.  It would be nice to say I signed up for this because I liked the whole concept or was looking forward to running in a location with historical significance...but, that would all be lies.  This fits in well with the schedule, gives me a chance to get in another long run and is an quick, easy 30 minute drive to the start line from my house.  The one reason I considered NOT signing up was it's a 'No Headphone' race.  I like music on long runs on roads but can certainly live without it.  A race is more fun than just another long run around my normal routes.

5/19/2012 - Capon Valley 50K.  Another chance to get in some quality trail time and I've heard this is a good one.  

6/16/2012 - Highlands Sky 40 Miler.  This is pretty much what all the above is leading up to if it isn't obvious.  I've had my eye on this one for quite some time (if I'm being truly honest, I have many that I have my eye on and may or may not have some possible tentative schedules for the next few years).  I wanted to do it in 2011 but knew I needed more time to truly prepare for it so I've pretty much been planning on signing up for this for a long time.  It's not going to be easy but as the site says, the course will try you and equally reward you when finished.