Friday 5 in Pictures

1. Great run this morning--easy run turned into tempo just for the joy of it.  The best part was seeing this sight--blooming daffodils!  Spring is coming and I am going to survive another winter!  Hallelujah!

2.  Hubby & I headed to OMSI to see the Egypt exhibit this afternoon.  It was a fun.  There was a very nice mummy there as well as several interesting scans for studying.  There were some "pots" that were in pieces and would go together on a medal pot.  Each piece was magnetic and had to be put in the right spot to complete the puzzle.  Harder than it looked, but we should have become archeologists!

3.  Then we got to have our photos take with a camel!  Very cool.  The only thing that would have made it better was if it were a real camel somewhere exotic...

Hubby can never have a "normal" picture taken.

4.  From there we headed to the Design Zone exhibit.  There were a bunch of hands-on experiments.  My favorite was one that you copied a photo using plastic shapes.  After making the shape, you would adjust the side mirrors to creat multiples.  I thought it was pretty!

5.  We spent a little time looking in the gift shop before hubby had to be an astronaut.  He actually would have made a great astronaut.  See how enthralled he is by space.

Retirement

Today I send my beloved Sauconys into forced retirement before we part on less than favorable terms.  Mud caked, thin soled and well loved.  Many miles have been run in these my favorite shoes yet.  I can only hope that the new bring as much joy and beauty to my life.  I hope the fit of the same model with feel the same as the old pair.  Out with the old, in with the new. 

Journaling

I journal off and on about life, but my running journals have always been facts and just the facts.  The when, where, how far and how fast.  Recently while reading Running Within, I am beginning to focus on the mental aspect of running.  In the later miles of my marathons, I begin to lose focus and the race is no longer a physical pursuit, but a mental one.  I realize that to ever really succeed at longer races I need to train my mental endurance.  I am now adding that information to my running log.  The question remains.  How do I continue to retrain my mind to the positive?  How to I hold that positive mental state when I am pushing myself?  How do I convince myself that I am able to do more than I think I can?

Amanda over at Runninghood opened my eyes to an entirely different type of running journal.  This post in particular got me thinking.  I love the creativity of adding that brain training to my journal.  Increasing the positive flow so that every time I open it I remember why I run and what I want from my running.  Finally, today I began my own journal.  I had a Title Nine catalogue and used photos that I believed showed strength.  This is not to focus on how I want to look, but how I want to be--strong and balanced.  Here goes to a new adventure in running!

How do you train your brain?  How do you maintain focus during long races?

Walking, Running and Weight Loss

The other day hubby and I took the dogs out for a walk.  When I saw walk, we don't stroll along as we have to keep up with the dogs.  As we were finishing up, I realized I was working up a sweat.  It was a better workout than my recumbent exercise bike.  I felt different muscles working including more of a stretch in the groin due to longer strides.  I wondered why I don't use walking as my cross training more often.  It is easy on the joints, works muscles differently than running and I still get my heart rate up a bit.  Silly that something we do regularly is overlooked as a way to recover from hard workouts and maintain fitness. 

On the other side is my true love--running.  It has been strange to run just to run.  Heading out the door without a clear plan feels weird, but wonderful.  I always give hubby a general range so he has an idea when I will be back.  In the past, it was always I am running this far at about this pace and will be on this route.  Running for fun becomes I am running about 4-6 miles without knowing which direction or how fast or slow until I get moving.   I get started and run what I feel.  Some days it turns into more of a tempo pace other times a fartlek and others just slow and easy.  Sometimes I start looking toward future races, but I am not ready to change the joy I am having just yet.  There are not many things that I do just for the fun of it and I think I will hang onto that feeling for a while!

And, last, but not least, weight loss.  I am back to the weight I was for the Portland marathon last year, but was already up a bit then.  So, I continue to be very careful about what I eat.  My clothes are fitting better.  I feel better.  Yes, I am tired for no sugar at all.  Yes, I am so hungry sometimes.  Yet I keep reminding myself that hunger is never an emergency.  Each time I refuse to break, I strengthen my resistence muscles! 

No Training?! (and injury update)

I am not training for anything right now.  What can I possible be thinking?  Okay, so maybe that racing costs money (including paying for staff to work in my stead) and I was injured and I am just tired. 

But really, it is my weight.  Back in '08, I lost 60 pounds.  I kept it off until last fall, but since then I have put on 15 pounds.  I stepped on the scale last Saturday morning and it clicked.  I had to do something and I had to do it now!  Not tomorrow, NOW!  I started back on my strict diet.  It is well balanced, moderate carbohydrate and very low calorie.  I love it!  It totally works for me.  However, this diet and "training" do not mix well.  Running fine, just not hard workouts or lots of miles. 

For now that works for me.  I can live with running for the love of running.  Besides, running back at my goal weight is so much easier on my body and my spirit.  Just by starting that journey back, I feel better about myself.  Some say that finishing a marathon is a life changing event.  For me, it was waking up on my 41st birthday and being back at the weight I was when I got married at 19.  It proved to me that I could do what I set out to do.  The marathon just reminded me of that fact.

P.S.  Ankle update.  I did see the sport's chiropractor at Back in Motion.  I love that I go in and he is wearing his shirt from the Olympic trials.  (Many of the professionals in this office worked in Eugene including my massage therapist.)  It gives me confidence that he knows what he is talking about.  It seems I had a residual injury due to a high ankle sprain the previous year.  After massage, ART, Graston and taping, I am back to running without pain.  Today's 4 miles were untaped and pain free!  Thanks for all the advice!  You all ROCK!

P.P.S.  My sister read all your responses and now calls herself a runner!  She ran in the rain yesterday and thought it was awesome.  That certainly makes her a Runner with a capital R!!

When is a runner a runner?

My sister started running recently and has worked up to 3 x 9 minutes of running and 2 minutes walking.  I am so proud of her!  And tagged her in a Facebook post this morning saying just that. 

She responded with the following:

Thank you so much! So when can I call myself a runner? I was thinking when I can run 30 minutes straight. Do you remember that when you started I told you I didn't ever think I would be a runner?? Who knew it could be so much fun.

My response:

It is fun!  I believe you can call yourself a runner now!  3 x 9/2 is a great accomplishment!  I think it finally hit home that I was running down at your place (Summer '08).  The day I went out and ran 20 minutes without stopping was a huge accomplishment.  When I saw that on the schedule, I really wondered if I could do it.  I felt like a super hero when I finished!

What do you think? 
When can my sister call herself a runner?

Friday 5

Five amazing things about today!

1.  I get to run.  I have the strength and health to be able to get out there.  P.S.  The strength training is really making running hills easier. 

2.  I don't have a headache.  I have had one for several days and last night it turned into a nasty migraine.  Ice packs and 2 vicodin led to a great night's sleep and not even a smidge of a rebound from the narcotic!!

3.  My husband loves me.  He doesn't wait around for some so-called holiday to show me.  He shows me every day of the year.  Hallmark can just take that!

4.  My extended family.  My hubby's family is great.  I have never felt like I am an outsider looking in.  In a few minutes, I am picking the boys up from school and they are hanging out here for a while.  This is going to be exciting...

5.  My new resident is doing great!  He seems comfortable and transitioning quickly!  Ahhh!!

Uh-oh! HELP!

Help!  Advice and reassurance needed.

My left ankle has been stiff for a couple of weeks.  I sprained it last winter and then rolled it in November.  I took really good care of it.  RICE was key.  KT tape was on it for several days.  Everything was back to normal until the last couple of weeks when it started feeling stiff and sore.  I finally decided it was referred from my heal.  I decided it was probably plantar faciitis.  I started icing and rolling with a golf ball.  It was feeling better.  Then the weird thing happened this morning.  My weight was on it and I turned a quarter turn.  OUCH!  Quick, sharp pain.  But it was gone as quickly as it arrived.  After some stretching and icing, it was fine.  Then this evening, I put weight on it and the sudden pain was back.  And it still aches.  I have it braced at the moment.

So, what do you think?  Do I just need to take a couple of days off?  Or should I head to the doctor?

First Race of 2011 (aka Mini Loopster Fest)

My friend, Coelle, is a member of a running club up in Vancouver.  Every Saturday, they have low key races.  Free to members and $2 for non-members.  And they don't start until 10 AM!!  This week's was at Lacamas Lake with a choice of 3 or 7 miles.  My plan was to head out plenty early and get 6 ish miles in then run the 3 as a fast finish for my long run of the week.  What could go wrong with a plan like that?

Yeah, right...  To begin, I pushed that old snooze button on the alarm waaaay too many times so I left later than planned.  And it took me longer to get to the park than I expected.  I parked and thought, "No problem.  I can still get 4 miles before it starts."  I set reached over and unlocked the car doors, set the keys on the seat and headed around to get everything ready to head out.  Uhhh, oops!  I didn't unlock the doors...  I had just locked my keys in the car.  Sigh.  Pull out the phone to call Coelle.  No service.  Well, at least, I was wearing my running shoes.  I pulled off my warm up pants and started down the trail. 

My legs were heavy and sluggish.  My lungs were not happy--but my inhaler was in the car.  Sigh.  I ran out about a mile then headed back.  About a mile because my Garmin was in the car.  Sigh.  I stretched and waited for Coelle to arrive.  She had told me that at least one other Looper was planning to be there so I kept my eyes pealed for anyone familiar.  A few minutes later, I saw a woman that had to be MildSauce.  I introduced myself.  She is as sweet and funny as she appears in writing.  Shortly, Coelle, MildSauce and I were talking and Raforken joined us.  Photo op!!  Raforken headed out for her 9 miles before the race began.  MildSauce was doing the 7 and Coelle and I were running the 3. 

The race was low key, but very well organized!  The start line was behind the clock.  The route headed accross a few feet of grass to an asphalt path before a hard packed trail of pea gravel.  The trail was full of rollers.  Coelle and I headed out quickly, but not too hard.  It will be interesting to see our final time and see if the pace matches my perception.  My guess is that it will not.  The whole thing felt hard.  I told Coelle that I was doing better than I sounded.  She laughed as she was wondering.  Hey, no inhaler = lots of wheezing.  Normally, we talk nonstop when we run together.  Not today.  We were working too hard.  A few words here and there were enough.  I was so happy to see the turn around!  Most of the return we were following a 10 yo boy.  I wish I had that much energy.  He would sprint up the hills then coast down.  For the most part, he stayed right in front of us.  He could have finished much faster if her weren't running from side to side and jumping off rocks along the way.  Every time I thought we might catch him, he would sprint ahead.  The distraction was nice and helped me get into a zone.  I was ready to be finished.  I tend to speed up on the return on out-and-back courses.  We rounded the corner together and the finish line was in sight.  One last push and we crossed the line together. 

We headed back out to jog an easy cool down and cheered for MildSauce coming toward the finish line.  We jogged our cool down--and walked some since my left ITB tightened up.  Mild Sauce met up with us and we visited.  There is always something to discuss with other runner!  On our return to the parking lot, Corina's AAA membership was a there to unlock my car.  More talking and laughing before we headed our seperate ways.  It was a morning that could have ended poorly yet had a happy ending because of friends!

juanitagf, Coelle, MildSauce, Raforken

Absent from the Body...

Present with the Lord.

As sad as I am to see C leave us, I am so grateful that I know the moment of her last breath she opened her eyes and saw Jesus.