Sometimes Stars Do Not Align

In my last post, I sounded a little frustrated over JFK training.  My week had gone like this:

Monday:  P90x Plyometrics
Tuesday:  Run 3.5 miles on the treadmill, run 5.5 miles with the dogs in the morning.  In the evening, run another 3-4 with Lucky and Rafiki (mostly Lucky seen here):

Wednesday:  Run 4 miles, very tough and it took a lot just to get through that amount.  The very strong 'test' dogs and plyo workout was catching up with me.
Thursday:  Rest.  My legs still felt dead and had some pain that seemed to indicate they needed rest, not trying to push them.
Friday:  Attempt to run 2 miles with the dog, didn't go so well.

This left me a little frustrated and I was dreading the thought of a long run on the weekend.  I tried to snap myself out of it.  First, I printed off a calendar from now until November because nothing gets me excited like a nice calendar to fill out and a nice to-do list to create.

Next, I decided my hair needed cut.  Jenny inspired me when I commented and realized I'd been shedding like crazy.  My hair salon standards are very high.  It needed to be walk-in and near a grocery store since I needed to go grocery shopping afterwards.  The first one I drove by looked like it had people who were waiting.  I wasn't interested in waiting so I drove to the next one and walked right in.  The girl who cut my hair made me feel extremely old as we had a conversation about her boyfriend...who was a senior in high school.

By the evening, I decided my plan for Saturday's long run was to complete it on the treadmill.  I would get up super early and knock it out that way.  I'm not a fan of running for a long time in the pitch black.  So, I came up with the theory that the treadmill would also be good since I should get used to long, boring runs with no elevation changes for that super boring stretch on the canal for JFK.  I could run and watch something on TV, not have to run in the dark and get through a long, boring run.

Well, that didn't happen.  First, I slept in.  Then, I made breakfast.  I needed time for breakfast to digest so I walked the dogs.  Then, I decided the house really needed vacuumed so I did that, scrubbed the floors, cleaned the bathrooms and decided to wash all the dog bedding.  I helped with some more dog van modifications and by 1 PM decided I would finally attempt to run.  It was hot so I was still planning to use my brilliant treadmill plan.  I knew I wouldn't run 16 but was just going to try to get in as much as I felt like.  That ended up being 6 miles.  I pouted about for most of the afternoon.

Sunday, I decided to let it go and just move on.  So, I ran 4 on the treadmill, 4 with the dogs and then headed to pick up dogs for the Miles and Mutts run.  I decided the stars just weren't aligning this weekend for anyone.  We were going to pick up 8 dogs (our entire rotation).  3 people had to cancel at the last minute due to illness or odd injuries.  We still took 6 dogs but the funniest thing happened when we started unloading dogs and two people asked if I'd brought Trinket.  Trinket is the sweetest dog, but she is pretty slow.  Seems a few other runners were looking for a slacker workout buddy for the day.  Trinket wasn't there but we all made the most of it on a cloudy day and tuckered out six dogs.  It's a new week, time to move forward.

A little bit of this and a little bit of that

I'm having one of those weeks (or maybe months?) where I feel like I'm doing a whole lot of 'stuff' but not really doing any of it very well.  Packing in a lot of random work, activities and running but it's kind of all half-assed.  I'm also seriously questioning my commitment to training for the JFK 50.  Hopefully this will pass...quickly.

Today I took an unexpected rest day.  On Tuesday, I ran 9 miles in the morning and then went another 3-4 in the evening.  The 3-4 in the evening was with a couple of different shelter dogs to test out...very strong shelter dogs!  The one I took for the majority of the run settled down after a mile but the effort to stay upright until he figured out what in the hell we were doing seemed to make my legs very cranky for the next day.  Of course, I also did P90X Plyometrics on Monday so that may not have helped either.  I ran yesterday but it took quite a lot of willpower to get through four miles on angry legs.  The pain is still there today so time to take a rest to make sure I can get in my long run this weekend.

In the meantime, it's been awhile since I've promoted my recipes that are at OAMM so here are the latest...click on them!  :)

Banana Pumpkin Dog Treats

Halibut Fish Tacos with Mango Salsa

Strawberry Peach All Fruit Smoothie

Petite Sante Fe Casseroles

Lemon Chicken with Broccoli

Garden Zucchini Cakes

Creamy Tomato Soup

Turkey Meatballs  

Plus...
Full August menu
Full July menu

No plans

This weekend, I was really looking forward to having no plans.  Saturday I wanted to get in a long run and Sunday had a plan to run with the dogs but otherwise, I was completely free to relax.

Friday, I took advantage of an evening home alone for grocery shopping and cleaning the house.  Furniture was even moved to clean under it and doors were scrubbed cleaned.  Seriously, how can we be so disgusting that I needed to clean dirt off several doors from our grubby hands?  We don't even have kids and the dogs aren't fiddling with door knobs so I can't blame them.

With a clean house, I woke up Saturday morning and headed out for a long run.  The weather was perfect which made it enjoyable but I'll admit this week of running had me wondering why I'm even working towards a 50 miler.  Every run was tough and very, very slow this week.  Things were getting better towards the end of the long run, although it was only a 16 miler, I may not feel that way if it were longer.  I made up my 'plan' a few weeks ago and really have no idea how I decided the long run sequence but I'm sticking with it.

I celebrated the long run by taking a nap, after making a huge breakfast.  Post long-run naps are wonderful.  

This morning, it was time to take the Muttmobile on its maiden voyage.  My husband is seriously the best for building all these crates in and creating a perfect set up to keep this program growing.  The pimped out van for Miles and Mutts:

We took six dogs this week and the van holds 9 built in with some extra room where we can add another freestanding crate or two.  The ride over to the rail trail was rough.  There was a lot of barking, whining and Jack (black dog in the lower right) was going nuts.  We've been taking him because he's been a little kennel crazy and needs to get out.  He was doing a lot of circling and attacking his own back leg during the ride.  He really hasn't been much of a runner but something changed in that dog this week.  I took him thinking he'd probably just walk or do lots of zig-zagging like he's done the past times we've taken.  But, he actually ran with me the whole time (4 miles) and he was right by my side with a slack leash for the entire 2 miles back.  Good boy, Jack!

 

After everyone finished running, we loaded all the dogs up (picture was from the ride back) and headed back to the shelter.  They hardly made a sound and most of them just laid down.  Seriously the best feeling ever to see their transformation in just a short time with some exercise.

To top off a great morning, we went out for lunch to a local restaurant that has the absolute best baklava I've ever had.  Baklava is pretty much my favorite dessert ever and I savored ever bite of that baklava.  Lots of rest, a bit of running and lots of good food this weekend - just what I needed to feel recharged.

Ausherman 5 Mile/Half Wit Half Trail Run

This weekend I ran two races, spent a bunch of time in a car, learned I'm not a very good pacer and discovered that ultras have spoiled me.  That's the condensed version.

Saturday morning, I took one of the dogs out for a 3 mile easy run.  It kind of sucked.  It was really humid and my legs felt dead.  I had terrible thoughts that I wouldn't be able to run an easy 10 minute pace for the 5 mile race just a little later in the morning.

The humidity broke though and soon we were off for the Ausherman 5 Mile race.  It was the 3rd year I've run this one and it attracts insanely fast people.  With a trail half the next day, I didn't think I wanted to 'race' this.  My husband was also running his first 5 mile race.  He didn't want me to pace him but I found another friend who has been running with the dogs that who me up on the offer.  She wanted to improve her time from last year and run a 10 minute pace.  Sounded good to me and I figured a 10 minute pace would also keep me near my husband for a good portion of the race because his goal was to come in under an hour (which I knew he could definitely do!).

Running a consistent 10 minute pace was a little tougher than I anticipated.  I very rarely look at my watch when I'm actually running.  I was watching my watch like a hawk to see if I could zone in on a 10 minute pace, a little easier said than done for me.  Too fast to start, then too slow but the first three miles were all within 5 seconds of a 10 minute pace so I guess I figured it out.  The distance between started to get bigger in the fourth mile though so slowed down.  We stopped chatting early so I just tried to run in front of her and hoped she stick with me since I figured that would be what would work for me.  She was still able to get a good PR but missed her ultimate goal and my husband finished his longest race of 5 miles!

This was the 25th anniversary for this race and they advertised medals for the first 400 people which judging by past years, would be all participants.  My husband joked there probably would be 401 participants and he'd be number 401.  He got a medal but guess what - results show 401 finishers.  Isn't that awful?!

After some house chores, it was time to load up and hit the road for a family dinner about 2 hours away.  After we made it back home from that, I tried to get to sleep quickly.  I had a 5 AM wake up call Sunday to meet up with some other local runners and head to Reading, PA for the Half With Half - which is also about 2 hours away in a different direction.

I had no idea how to approach this thing.  In my short running life, I've run a few trail ultras and one 10 mile trail race - which was also pretty much the first time I'd run on a trail so I can't really count that fiasco.  Running a half on a trail was a bit of a puzzle.  Should I carry water?  Did I need any sort of food?  I'd heard the course was technical so do I just chug away at slow, even effort the whole time?  No idea.  I decided I didn't need to carry my own water because the jet pack (aka hydration vest) seemed like a bit of overkill for a half.  Without it, I didn't really want to carry much else so I stuck a few salt pills and half a pack of Shot Bloks in my pockets and called it good.  This is also the reason I have no pictures!

When we started, I thought I was going to hate this race.  There were quite a large number of people which is just not enjoyable on a trail.  I'm terrible about trying to get around people and hate the back and forth that sometimes happens.  The first few miles I felt really slow and sluggish (which seems to be a trend with me and trail races, must take me even longer than roads to warm up on them).  Since there were big groups all bunched up, I also just followed the people in front of me which meant I also lost the course.  Luckily it was a fairly short detour, maybe 0.25 -0.50 miles?

Eventually though, I felt warmed up, people started spreading out and I started to fall in love.  The course is described as technical with ascents, descents, rocks, uneven stairs, etc.  While there were definitely sections where I was walking, it really wasn't bad.  There were long stretches where you could run and it wasn't overly rocky, just small patches here and there.  If it would have been my first trail race, I'm sure I would've hated it and thought it was brutal but I've encountered worse.  This just had enough variety to keep it exciting for a good day out in the woods with no time goals, just enjoy the trail.

The only problem was half way through this, I was starving.  I didn't have much for breakfast and have become spoiled by the picnics, I mean aid stations, at ultras.  So, when I rolled up to a water stop and grabbed a cup or water or blue powerade (or whatever it was), I really could have used a handful of M&Ms too.  They had beer at the last two stations but unfortunately that did not appeal to me.  I should have carried my own water with me too.  I don't know what my finish time was since results haven't been posted yet, but think it was about 2:56.  It was slower than I anticipated (I thought I could get in just under 2:45 even if the course was tough) but it was still a fun day.

After crossing the finish line, one girl I was with had already finished and I thought the other 3 were all still behind me.  Turns out only one was still out on the course.  One took a nasty fall about 5 miles in twisting her ankle really bad so she and another friend dropped.  So, it kind of sucked for those two but overall everyone still seemed to have a good day even with the mishaps!

 

Hazards of Subdivision Running

This week had a bit of a break in the humidity.  I think better weather combined with busting out the new shoes made for a better running week.  I actually have energy to get through the day!  I didn't cut any of my loosely planned runs short which is always a good feeling.  

Progress on the Muttmobile is being made as well.  We have insurance on the thing after somewhat of a debacle with the insurance company that led to the owner personally bringing papers over to the house for me to sign.  They did not want to 'inconvenience' us anymore by making me come into their office - embarrassing.  Crates were ordered and arrived yesterday.  We fiddled last night and were able to get all of them in and the layout configured.  The Muttmobile will be able to take 9 medium and large dogs and we can probably squeeze in a couple more with remove-able crates.  There's still some work to create all the supports and attachments necessary which hopefully will be finished this weekend.

The break in the humidity reminded me that I haven't complained about one of the biggest annoyances I face in summer running.  It's not the heat and humidity.  It's yard sales.  Does anyone else encounter this issue?  Yard sale patrons are probably the worst drivers on the planet.  They'll park their car in the middle of a busy street just to see what old mattress someone is trying to sell.  They certainly do not pay attention when they are driving and it's terrible to get around them when they seem to be coming from every direction.

If that's not enough randomness for a post, I'll leave with a link to the latest post on the Miles and Mutts blog.  One of the dogs that's been running was adopted by one of the volunteer runners this week...knowing they get adopted is one thing, knowing what type of home they go to is even more exciting!

This one is still looking for a home but she's become one of my favorites...hoping someone will fall in love with her soon.

 
Besides yard sales, what other annoyances are there with running in sub-divisions?  You often hear people talk about running in the city, what about all of us living in country or suburbs!

Spontaneity

I'm not exactly known for my spontaneity.  Making quick decisions doesn't come easy for me, especially if they are bigger decisions - like jobs, houses, vehicles, travel.  Really, anything that involves money or being away from home for any period of time longer than 8 hours at a time.  Well, actually, really anything.  Sometimes even picking a restaurant for dinner can be a struggle.  Although I made the decision to go to Taco Bell for dinner Friday evening.  See why I would question my decision making ability?

Luckily, my husband and I balance each other out in some ways.

This weekend started out like a lot of others.  First, I slept in a little bit on Saturday.  Over the past week or so, I've been exhausted and craving sleep.  I rolled myself out of bed at 6:30 AM, wasted a little time and then headed out with the goal to get in a 16 mile long run.  I didn't have a plan for the long run which is about as spontaneous as I get.  Minutes into the run, I was questioning the heat since it felt very humid and was starting to regret that extra sleep.  At 2.3 miles, I was at my first decision of the day and the song 'Heavenly Day' by Patty Griffin was playing.  It just seemed appropriate to go right instead of left like I usually do.  The rest of the run was quite uneventful.  Just hot and not near enough shade but I struggled through it and got in 16 miles, which is my longest continuous run in quite some time.  They really only go up from here!

In the afternoon, things got spontaneous.  We got in the car and drove 2.5 hours.  We now own this:

...to haul dogs.

Last weekend for the Miles and Mutts run, 6 dogs hit the path with runners.  We took the shelter's official van which has built in cages.  Surprisingly, only 4 large dogs fit in it since there are 4 med/large cages and then 4 smaller ones.  My husband found what sounded like a good deal on a used cargo van.  We went to check it out.  I was incredibly uncomfortable at the dealership because it's kind of a crazy thing to do but now that the decision has been made, I'm excited about it.

The van has some issues but nothing major and he drove the thing home for 2.5 hours without any trouble.  There was one very questionable tire so he wanted to stop at a Wal-Mart to get a new one.  The closest one to the dealership closed on Aug. 4th only at 3 PM.  So, I used the GPS to find the next closest Wal-Mart in a South-west direction which should have been heading back towards home.  Wal-Mart number 2 was under construction.  By this point, we were both very tired and the cards didn't seem to falling in the right place.  I hadn't eaten anything all day except for a yogurt and handful of pretzels after my run and my husband hadn't eaten anything all day.  We opted to grab a quick dinner (this time Arby's - it was such a healthy weekend!) and just head back hoping for the best since our 2.5 hour driving kept multiplying by 30 minute increments.

Over the next couple weeks, we'll hopefully get the van set up with crates, either custom, metal or plastic.  That part hasn't been decided yet but we have some rough plans and I'll be doing some research to hopefully come up with the best plan to make it cost effective and maximize the space we have.  We originally thought we could get 13 but after seeing the van and measuring, we came up with 11.

We didn't take it for today's dog run so our own cars were in use for 5 dogs.  This is what our driveway looked like during the post dog-run car cleaning.  It's starting to look a little ridiculous and the number of red vehicles looks a bit comical!  This weekend has flown by but I guess that's a good thing!

What's the most spontaneous thing you've done?

July Recap

Total Miles Ran:  181
Number of those miles that involved me holding a dog and a leash:  63
Trail Miles:  22
Songs with the most airtime on my mp3 player:  Katy Perry - Wide Awake
Number of P90x or Jillian Michaels Workouts:  9  


Although I still ran a lot of miles in July, I can't say many them were stellar.  I ran a 5K that was fast for me but otherwise, it was pretty much just slogging through miles.  There was one longer run that felt good but otherwise, mostly just a routine.  


Also, a few things started to hurt.  Nothing bad, nothing serious but enough to make me take notice, especially since the next few months are going to start longer runs in preparation for JFK 50.  Any injuries or issues I've ever had are always on my left leg.  I know there's a lesson in there with some sort of imbalance and probably something I could get figured out to work on but I tend to just deal with it.  My left hamstring for a few days, then my left hip.  Eventually, a very dull, very faint pain started in the ball of my left foot.  The ball of the foot pain I'm very leery around since it is what I dealt with all last fall.  I've been avoiding breaking out new shoes because I wanted my current pair to last longer.   I received a pair of Mizuno's from the Mezamashii project and have run some shorter, weekday runs in them.  They feel pretty good but I am not in love to spend an extended period of time with them for any longer runs.    


I've had another pair of Newtons stashed that I ordered earlier in the year on clearance since they were the old model.  I decided this morning to break out the new pair for a few miles before doing a longer run in them.  Today's run felt much better, imagine that.  When I compared the shoes, I noticed my little lugs were pretty much entirely gone on the old pair.  So, having those under the ball of my foot today felt wonderful!  So much for my theory that the Newtons would last a lot longer than other brands, at least for me.  I think my current pair has probably 550 miles or so on them because I rotate them with one even older pair, trail shoes and occasionally some of the other random pairs of older shoes I have around.