Running the Streets

Plane fulla runners

2010-04-17T07:18:00.003-07:00

This plane is packed with Dallas runners headed to the Boston Marathon. A lot of running shoes with fun-colored laces and marathon name-dropping t-shirts. And skinniness. Let the complex begin!

Nike fall shoe and apparel lines in Boston

2010-04-12T14:28:00.000-07:00

This girl loves shoes [the kind that RUNNN!], so I'm excited about heading to Boston this Saturday through Monday to check out a bunch. Nike's fall shoe and apparel preview for media types is happening Boston Marathon weekend, so I'm also hoping to soak up some sweet, prime runner rays to fuel up my easily-depleted training tank. I'll take motivation in any form I can get it, and where better than at one of the most high-tone marathons of ever?

I'll be blogging (or blerging, as my husband calls it), picture-taking and generally acting as if I've just been let out of the basement and deposited directly into a world of hydration belts, Vaseline'd feet, high-end sports bras and GPS-enabled heart rate monitor watches. Should be fun.

*Disclaimer: Nike is paying for this trip, not me. It is not affiliated with The Dallas Morning News. Readers of this blog shouldn't be surprised if I end up liking some of Nike's new products, and Nike shouldn't be surprised if I end up panning some of their products. This blog is a "call-it-as-I-see-it" zone.

Drinking and running

2010-04-08T16:21:00.000-07:00

So, drinking a boatload of water all day long really does help my runs. Huh. (Literal runs, people. Not the, um, other kind).

Freelance life is tough on the body

2010-03-23T08:20:00.000-07:00

Surprise! Like errant shampoo in your suitcase, I'm slowly emerging from my bottle of winter hibernation. My last proper run was the YMCA Dallas Turkey Trot 8 mile, but I finally "ran" a bit on the Katy a few days ago. Go me!

My return to running isn't really what's exciting me. I got a 24 Hour Fitness membership at the downtown Dallas location a couple of weeks ago, and it's been a blast. Lots of spinning classes that have delivered an expected and much needed butt-kicking. Weights, abs class, indoor track, yoga and a boot camp class that took me four days to recover from. It's been great to simply move again.

But there's a question I can't ignore any longer, for my own good. Why am I prone to mega-breaks from working out and running? I think periodic breaks — two weeks, a month — are fine and even beneficial. But this was an especially long one, and not my first. I've tried to analyze it, with hopes of finding solutions and staying on track.

If I don't have an indoor facility, winter always deals me a blow. I'm a cold-weather wiener and absolutely HATE running in anything but 65-degree air or hotter. Winter races are different, because race day is always different from shivering in the cold by my lonesome without the excitement, t-shirt and free banana to motivate me.

I also suspect the freelance life of having an influence. I've been working freelance since July. The one aspect of my chosen career course that makes me want to jump out of a window is the lack of steady, pre-packaged structure a full-time job often provides. Irony is, I don't even like steady, pre-packaged structure; it's one of the reasons I left it for freelance. But its one virtue is that it allows workers to dig a personal groove, which then keeps them on track without much trying. In freelance, you can knock yourself out crafting a groove out of a present set of clients and projects all you want. But when the set changes (and it does, often), you also have to change your groove. Or lose it. The groove-turnover can be like the black-smoke monster in Lost, grabbing me by the ankle and flinging me around until I lose my orientation and think it's 1996. I sometimes feel the juggling act holding me hostage. I allow it to turn me into a groove-less mess, holding me down in my jammy-jams on the couch underneath my husband's Longhorns blanket with my laptop at 2 p.m., trying to be a professional. It doesn't take much to knock my running life off track anyway, but what I didn't see coming was the flexible, home-based work life I chose becoming the biggest saboteur of all. And if I'm to find a solution, I have to face that the saboteur is actually me.

One last bit that's bothered me. For years now I've taken a particular medication, which happens to have a pleasant, unrelated side effect of boosting my metabolism. Until a few months ago I'd taken it for, mmm, maybe six, seven years at a dosage that's afforded me easy skinniness, to the point I'd forgotten the perk doesn't actually belong to me. (I reiterate: The medication was not prescribed FOR me to obtain easy skinniness. That's a common, unrelated side effect). My chosen freelance work life means an insurance situation that limiyd my access to this medication, along with most other things medical. So since July, I've wavered between no medication at all and, now, a small fraction of the dosage I used to take. One of the results of this has been a return to my natural, 34-year-old woman's metabolism, and a slight weight gain. Not enough to send me to bariatric surgery, but enough to make my clothing feel like hungry boa constrictors. I'm still praying that the slow-down will even out eventually. We'll see if that's the case.

Meanwhile. I'm working out as much as possible and trying to alter my diet a bit (which, for me, is the much more difficult of the two). Simply trying to stay on track.

Group counseling + boot camp = better body & mind

2010-03-09T14:17:00.000-08:00

My latest for The Dallas Morning News, this time about a group in Plano, Texas, that combines group counseling with fitness and nutrition. The results? A better emotional state than solely counseling, and better fitness than just hitting the gym. Click here for a link to the story instead.

I've been terribly absent here for a while. I plan to hop back on soon with an update on my own personal fitness/running state.

The Dallas Morning News: Team Move

How to pick the right gym

2010-01-12T13:06:00.001-08:00

Here's my latest Dallas Morning News story, this time about how to choose the right gym, understand the contract and stay motivated. Click on the link to see the whole thing. Thanks to an old school chum's wife, Natalie Dickey (pictured with barbell, below), for participating in the story. She's lost more than 85 pounds in a year and a half — pretty awesome, huh?

The Dallas Morning News: How to pick a gym

Runner's envy

2009-12-29T10:41:00.000-08:00

Big 'ol overachieving running nerd! Most of us have to work our glutes off to keep up our running routines, and this dude's complaining about his 7-day "vacation" from it. Which I suppose is why he's an editor of a little magazine called Runner's World and I'm not. But hmm ... I guess if I had scenery like << that << to run around in, I might complain just a bit about the absence, too.

Pout time. Here's the sad happenings since my last post: My body has been amazingly immobile this holiday season. Well, except for my hardworking mouth, which has done nothing but masticate gluten-free-crust pumpkin pie smothered in Cool Whip, chocolate-covered peanut butter balls and other epicurean badness for the past 30 days. I'm also still nursing bitterness at myself for missing the registration deadline for my first trail race (trained for it and everything!); then missing the registration deadline for my second choice, the White Rock half marathon. I did the Turkey Trot 8 mile, woo, but my time was so bluhhhh that I don't want to talk about it. At the beginning of December I got the sick that's going around, and I took a full two weeks to recover. Still sucking on cough drops as I type. It doesn't take much to knock me off a routine of any sort, and running took the back seat for a long winter's nap. So my lil "vacation" from running has been a good four times longer than Mr. Running Man from the RW post above. Am I going to change this? Sure. But it's not quite New Year's yet. And there's still pie left in the fridge.

On the productive front: The story referenced in the Q&A post below comes out Jan. 12. It's a mini beginner's guide to picking a gym, making goals and sticking with them. Three related pieces. The second and third of which I should be working on now instead of blog-pouting. Oh well.

Q&A: Tell me about your first gym experience

2009-11-20T11:41:00.000-08:00

I need your help! I'm doing a story about how to choose a fitness center and what to do once you've joined. You can answer in the comments here or on Facebook. The story is aimed at people who are out of shape and/or are new to fitness. Now, fitness/the gym scene/running/etc. have always been a part of life for some of you — I have a question for you in a minute. But here are a few questions for those of you who discovered things later as an adult:

• What did you wish you knew when you joined a gym for the first time?
• Were there any instructions or answers that were difficult to get from staff?
• What classes, equipment, services, or other aspect was the most intimidating?
• After you joined, did you discover or experience something that made you wish you'd joined another gym instead?

Now for you fitness lifers (or anyone who's joined a gym):

• What are your top five factors in choosing a fitness center? For instance, four my must-haves are proximity, fairly low-cost dues, an indoor track and yoga on its group exercise schedule. If the place has a wet sauna, too, I'm there. What about for you?
• What gadgets or programs do you use to keep you on top of progress?
• What do you do to motivate yourself to get in the car and go to the gym?

I look forward to your insight! The story is due to run the second week of January as part of a health package in The Dallas Morning News.

'Born to Run' book signing and lecture in Dallas

2009-10-29T15:56:00.000-07:00

Christopher McDougall, the man who put a spotlight on barefoot running and the Tarahumara tribe of Mexico earlier this year, will give a free lecture, answer questions and sign copies of his book, Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen, at the Cooper Aerobics Center. Details:

When: Noon-2 p.m. Tuesday Nov. 10
Where: Cooper Clinic Auditorium, 12200 Preston Road, Dallas (Click here for a map)
More: This is free, but it's limited to the first 100 guests. Call 972-233-4832 ext. 4329 by Nov. 9 to reserve a spot.

Thanks to DMN editor Mike Merschel for the tip.

Barefoot running: Dallas Morning News story and interview outtakes

2009-10-20T12:15:00.000-07:00

This blog sure has been all about the bare foot lately. Thanks to the commenters in my previous post who've read the story already. For those of you who haven't, here you go:

• Barefoot running offers new challenge

(My foot after my first barefoot run; later, with a blood blister. Ew!)

Next, some interview highlights from my awesome sources that didn't make it into the story:

Josh Stevenson, adventure racer from Christchurch, New Zealand

Q. What’s the worst barefooting injury or situation you've been in?
A. Stepping on dog poo would have to be the worst problem.

Q. What do your feet look like?
A. My feet are in the best shape they have ever been as you wear the dead skin off, and one of the important parts of bare foot running is looking after your feet ... using products like glycerol bp to stop the feet from cracking and using medicated methylated spirits for drying certain parts out as to harden them up as required.

Q. Why should non-barefoot runners give barefooting a try?
A. Once you have run without shoes you will find freedom and enjoy running. ... I now think that running is shoes is crazy and that it causes more damage than good. I am a strong believer that placing developing children’s feet in shoes is mad; I let my son wear bare feet all the time. ... By running barefoot or in a shoe like Vibram FiveFingers, you fix the problems that some runners have by strengthening your feet and ankles. You also learn how to run properly, more efficiently and with less impact on your body, where if you use orthotics and a different shoe to correct the problem, you are treating the symptom and not the problem.

On why he started barefoot running to begin with:

"Well, the short story is: It was coming up to the time when you need to start thinking about weather or not to enter the Coast to Coast ... I had done the race loads of time before and in every possible way, and felt [like,] why just do it for the sake of doing it.

"I had slipped back into living life too much in my comfort zone and was just cruising, entering races just for the sake of it and doing less training to make them harder and more challenging. So I spent a few weeks soul searching the whole thing and the answer hit me as I was going out for a run ... I thought to my self we are not designed to run with shoes, the people in some African countries don’t wear shoes and they run every were. So I thought to myself if they can do it so can I that was when I decided to challenge myself to do Coast to Coast barefoot."

On training for the 243-kilometer Speight's Coast to Coast:

"I did use Nike Frees as part of my transition from shoes to barefoot running, but they were not ideal. After I completed Coast to Coast, I was given a pair of Vibram FiveFingers to try and I swear by them now. I wish I had found them before the race."

On doing the race with completely bare feet:

"As I walked down to the start line I was thinking, I am mad? What the hell am I doing! ... As I climbed down to the beach to the start line I stubbed my toe for the first time. At this point I really started to question what the hell am I trying to do.

"The race was enjoyable — the run of the beach, the first bike ride, even the majority of the run, and it was pretty straightforward until I hit the downhill sections. The hardest part was the last 8K of the run leg and the start of Day 2, [the] run down to the river. These sections were very challenging, to say the least. After eight-odd hours covering rough terrain, the feet were starting to feel very tender and each step was a challenge.

"The one thing that kept going through my mind was my belief that if you start a race you should finish the race and I have never not finished a race. ... My coping mechanisms were simple: I have never not finished a race and I am not going to start now. And the other big one was I knew that my 3-year-old son was waiting for me at the end. This was a good motivator and a bad one because when things got hard and painful, I would picture myself running down the finish chute with my son. This would give me the focus to continue. However if I thought about it too much my eyes would well up and I could not see wear I was going. I only let myself stop once which was at the Goat pass check point which is situated at the highest point of the race, a little over halfway. I just made myself keep going. I thought, If I stop, it would be too hard to get going again."

How did his feet fare?

"My feet were not too bad; a small cut. Other than that, they were just a bit swollen and one broken toe, which I stubbed about three times during the race ... the day after, the feet and ankles were very swollen — now I know how pregnant woman feels with swollen feet. I was back out running five days later. They recovered well."

• Keep up with Josh on his blog, joshuastevenson.blogspot.com.

Read the story on Scribd

Josué Stephens of Austin, ultra runner and director of the Fuego y Agua Ultra in Nicaragua

On how he became a barefoot/minimalist runner:

"[In early 2007,] my dad sent me a link from the Copper Canyon Ultramarathon and I decided to train for the 2008 event.

"I started running in a pair of Nike 360 super padded shoes and then realized they were hurting my feet and hips. ... I had grown up in sandals and playing soccer barefoot, it only made sense that I also go running barefoot. That was the reawakening of my feet. A week later I was taking my shoes off and running around completely barefoot, my hips and feet felt great, and I was running faster and farther by the day.

"I began researching barefoot and minimalist running more and more and bought myself a pair of FiveFingers Classics. By early October 2007, I was running over 75 miles a week on trails, 90% of my running was barefoot or in minimal footwear. For much longer and rougher trails, I even started cutting down shoes to make them what I called "minimalist trail flats." I signed up for the 2007 Arkansas Traveller 100 miler. This was to be my first race ever, of any kind. I had not even done a 5K at this point and my furthest run was 30 miles. ... I was hooked on ultras after that."

Q. Do you ever get stares when you're running barefoot or minimalist?
A. Yes, yes and yes. But honestly, most of the time I get curious and eager questions. The only place I ever felt I got crazy stares was in Louisiana; they thought the barefoot runner tearing through their bike/walk paths in nothing but a pair of shorts was completely insane. I do not mind the staring.

On his time with the Tarahumari Indians as a child, then running alongside them as an adult:

"I was about 6 when we first traveled down into the Copper Canyons. I remember seeing the Raramuri [which is what the Indians call themselves] caves in the sides of the cliffs and wishing I could go visit them. ... My dad worked with the Mennonites on a ministry that reached out to Tarahumaras.

"I ran Copper Canyon 2008 in a pair of cut-down LaSportiva Crosslite shoes. Most of the Raramuri wore the traditional clothing and huaraches - the women wear long dresses, even when they are running long distances! I ran that entire race feeling like I was in a completely different world. It was a surreal experience to run this race with such an amazing group of people. The Raramuri possess such grace and are such a calm people.

"The Copper Canyon Ultramarathon has the potential to become one of the main forces in bringing awareness to the Raramuri and their plight. It will be extremely important, especially after Born to Run, to find a middle ground between commercializing and squelching the potential. I love what Caballo Blanco has done, and I will continue to be a solid supporter of his work. Caballo and some of us Club mas Loco runners have formed www.norawas.org, a nonprofit focused on assisting the Raramuri in maintaining their way of life."

• Keep up with Josué on this blog, www.josuecorre.com.

Hamlin Jones of Frisco, marathon coach at Luke's Locker in Plano

Q. What are the benefits of running barefoot/minimalist?
A. The benefits are feet, ankle, and lower leg ... calf and anterior tibialis [shin] strength. This type of running also keeps your feet under your body or core for quicker foot turnover.

Q. What do people say about you running this way?
A. People that do not run do not understand and never will. People that are casual runners think I'm crazy. Understandable. People I run with either a) are still learning about running and themselves, or b) are running next to me or cheering me on — and think I'm crazy too.

Q. What do you think of the book Born to Run?
A. I have not read Born to Run yet but many of my running friends have and will not stop talking about it on our runs. If anything it has made people more aware of barefoot running and I have seen more Vibrams out on the road lately.

Ted McDonald, aka "Barefoot Ted," ultra runner, barefoot enthusiast, public speaker, coach

Outtakes:

"Barefoot running is about reconnecting with the experience and listening to your own body."

"I was always under the assumption that whoever did these longer distance things were able to endure more pain, in the end, that's not the way it works at all."

"Heel-striking is only as old as the first padded shoe."

"It's way better to begin on hard surfaces. Just like a dancer on a stage doesn't rely on footwear."

Q. What did running barefoot do for you than running in shoes did not?
A. Confidence-building, a realization that you can do something barefoot and do it well. It's an elegant solution that works. All kinds of connections begin, which is what Born to Run spells out so eloquently. We have, in fact, inherited a capacity to do it. It's hubris [to think] that we can over-engineer something that we can already do so well.

• Keep up with Barefoot Ted on his blog at barefootted.com.

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Almost shoeless! My first Vibram FiveFingers

2009-10-14T20:16:00.000-07:00

The nice folks at Vibram sent me a pair of FiveFinger Sprints the other day after hearing that I'm doing a story on barefoot running. I haven't tried them out yet (rain! work! laziness!), but when I do I promise to give it to you straight. How weird do they feel? How is running different in FiveFingers vs. my cushy Asics? Will I get used to the toes? Will passers-by point and laugh? Will my husband cross the street? We shall see.

My story on barefoot running will be in The Dallas Morning News on Tuesday, Oct. 20, in the GuideLive section. Stories on this latest wave of the barefoot fascination have been written this year, and this one isn't any more focused than that. It's a general overview for folks who are like, "Barefoot what? Why?" I'll post it here when it's ready.

Barefoot running

2009-09-02T16:06:00.000-07:00

I've been following the barefoot running trend for a while, and I'm intrigued. Maybe it's because I've always been a shoes-off kind of girl to begin with, and because my toes can function like most people's fingers. I've always taken pleasure in tugging at the grass with them while sitting outside, or in raking the dirt with them, trying to decide if I think the granules feel rough or smooth. My bare feet have aided in my laziness, too. Dropped a pair of underwear while carrying an armload of clean laundry from the dryer to the bedroom? No problem, that's what toes are for.

But running — I'm not so sure. I've technically run barefoot before, by default because I needed to run and happen to not have shoes on at the moment. I admit, it feels pretty fantastic. A completely different sensation than never realizing there's this stuff called "ground" beneath the sole of those perfectly-engineered running shoes. My feet sort of register it like that delicious excitement a kid gets when she's left alone with a box of donuts, television or the cute next-door neighbor boy after being over-protected all the time. Freedom.

So I saw this Active.com story on Twitter today about running barefoot and became re-intrigued. My whole life, running shoes have been the norm if you want to, well, run. Which is why it's never dawned on me that running-shoes-for-running is a pretty recent phenomenon. I'd also never thought about the fact that the human foot has quite a few more years of structural engineering to help its owners run than do Nike or even (blasphemy!) Asics. Thing is, I'm not so sure that just because the human foot has been around a while, that means it's made for the kind of running we do today, which is pretty recent, too.

Like the kind where you run nonstop for no good reason. Enter Barefoot Ted, who does just what his name implies. Not just 5Ks, either — try marathons and ultras, be-footed in nothing but his bare tootsies and sometimes in the bizarro-looking Vibram FiveFinger footware for a bit of protection (which I see on the Katy Trail from time to time). Ted had major back pain until he switched to running barefoot, and now he's an evangelist about it.

Besides running nude-footed or with fancy FiveFingers, apparently you can also wear minimalist hurache sandals if you're worried about glass or hot pavement (shown in the vid above — what's up with the rooster and the "Smells Like Teen Spirit" in the background?). Which, I have to say, I would totally wear whenever.

Will I give barefoot-running a try? Hmmm. I'm doing good to train the "regular" way for the Rockledge Rumble. But who knows? I might just get a wild hair soon and accidentally-on-purpose forget my over-protecting shoes.

First run of 15K training = too hot for this mess

2009-08-25T19:31:00.000-07:00

It was just two miles, but MAN was it hot! And it was only 9:30 a.m.! Texas, our Texas.
I ran a route close to home that includes the perimeter of the apartment complex. My gear: hand-held water bottle (thank the lord), Sansa Disk and pepper spray in case of crack heads or feral dogs. Time: 19:38.

As far as running logs go, I'm trying both RunnersWorld.com and MapMyRun.com. I think the latter will win out. I like the interface better. I'm totally giddy about being able to, well, map my runs with Google maps and find routes in the area that others have mapped, too. Fun!

Wanted: Free (good) running log

2009-08-24T19:48:00.000-07:00

I've got a status update on Facebook asking for suggestions because I start my first official run of my 15K training tomorrow! I registered for Runner's World's training log, but I'm not entirely sure what I think of it.

My old soccer captain Kelly Spurlock has suggested MapMyRun.com. Any others?

Actually, today started the training-proper. It was a strengthen and stretch day, DIY-style: 3x20 crunches, 3x10 push-ups, 3x12 squats and some yoga-ish sprawling, reaching and splaying. Felt nice.

A fizzled 5K turns into a 15K trail decision

2009-08-21T12:08:00.000-07:00

The hubbers and I decided to extend our 8-week 5K training program into 10 weeks, just to get us some extra practice at running the entire thing together and completing with a time we'd be happy with.

That 10 weeks turned into 12 weeks, which then turned into an argument about whether or not we had the $50 at the moment to sign up for a local 5K and call this program a day.

The frustration helped push me toward a goal I made last year, however: Before my next birthday (in November, this year), I will run my first trail race. So, I begin training, solo, for the 15K part of the 14th annual Rockledge Rumble here in Grapevine, Texas, put on by the North Texas Trail Runners.

After false starts with this very same race the past couple of years, I'm excited that I'm actually going to do it this time.

Two days until our one-year wedding anniversary, by the way ; )

A woodsy Caddo Lake run

2009-08-05T11:42:00.001-07:00

Brian and I went camping at Caddo Lake State Park this weekend. We went on a 3/4-mile hike through East Texas piney woods (where face-met-leftover-spider-web a few too many times, eek) and managed a 15-minute run on the park's main road back to camp. It was beautiful. Sure, we're just in East Texas, but the varied terrain of Texas makes every road trip seem like traveling to another state.

The run included a couple of inclines, but not anything you'd consider butt-blasting. Except that it was, to our flat, North Texas heinies, which remain slightly sore to this day.

We ran our first non-stop three-miler together Sunday evening at Katy Trail. And we repeated, even better, last night. Just over an 11-minute mile, 34 minutes. We're technically finished with our Hal Higdon 5K training, but we're repeating the last week for another two weeks.

We're going to run that 5K like it ain't no thang. Now we just need to pick one.

Recent sights, sounds and happenings on the Katy Trail

2009-07-26T22:16:00.000-07:00

Brian and I are on our second-to-last week of official 5K training. But we're tagging on a couple of more weeks to get down running the whole thing without stopping.

I think we're there, but Brian's adorable at scamming me into having us stop when he's perfectly spry enough to keep going. Like today, he started futzing with his new mp3 player I got him for his birthday (Metallica makes him run faster). At the perfect 1.5 mile mark, he stops and literally fumbles and bumbles and boobs with his player like he can't find the volume, and oh no, now it's locked — Christy, how do I get this unlocked? I thought I saw you adjusting it the other day — you don't remember how? Show me how.

I gave up trying to get us to keep going and realized what it was: a breather. He can fake-futz now ... but those tagged-on extra two weeks of training? A no-futz zone.

Recent sights: A fat, very domesticated cat sauntering onto the trail, plopping in the middle of it, and lying belly-up for rubz. From anybody. As if there weren't racing bicycles and roller blades whizzing by. I was like, Dumb cat. You obviously have no sense of self-preservation; go home. ... After I spent five minutes on the ground giving him rubz.

Recent/all-the-time-smells: I know nature means small animals die. And that nature lines the trail. I'm just saying ... the smell of dead birds or squirrels or whatever seem so much more horrid on the Katy than on any actual trail-trail (non-concrete) I've exhaled on. Grosssss.

Recent feels: Despite today's futzing episode, Brian and I did well on our 3-miler. Maybe what helped was that The Nothing was rolling in from the West, which dropped temperatures and gave us a little rain during the run. The fact it looked like it was about to open up a torrent on us put a spring in our step, too. I love running in the rain, even if we only got sprinkles at the time of the run.

Cool report: Brian saw an old TCA-mate of ours on Facebook say that she signed up her and her husband for a half-marathon. I teased him about the grin on his face and said that he's smiling because he knows that it doesn't sound as crazy as it did just a few weeks ago. Maybe it doesn't sound completely un-crazy, but less crazy. He did the "pshhh whatever" thing.

Later, he mentioned that maybe just maybe we could try to run from one end of the Katy to the other at some point. That's around 7 miles. Haaaaay! Bodes well for our runny future ; )

The time of day

2009-07-04T10:50:00.001-07:00

Brian wanted to see a movie last night. So that meant our 2.25-mile run had to happen earlier in the day. It's Texas, and it's July. That meant daring the 100+ degree heat to mess with us during our 5K training run.

I used to run in the heat of the summer day. I used to play soccer games in this heat. But it's been a while, and exerting in the 2 p.m. sun is something that takes (re-)acclimation.

We drove to our usual Katy trailhead on Knox Street. Instead of bringing one water bottle to share like usual, we each brought one. We dressed loosely. We ran in the shade when possible.

Still, it was a butt whipping.

We had to take two walk breaks, with one of those breaks being a whole quarter-mile. I squeezed water on my head throughout the run. I even ran in the opposite lane because there was a measly strip of shade there and was nearly run down by a cyclist.

It felt good to see the very last quarter-mile marker, and it felt extra satisfying. Sometimes mere survival can make you feel like a stud.

While I looked like someone had pushed me into a pool, Brian somehow managed to complete the run with half a bottle of water left. Huh? Harrumph.

Couples fitness story

2009-06-26T20:39:00.000-07:00

The trials and tribulations of Christy and Brian in the fitness department at least spun into a story idea. So, I guess they've been worth it. My Dallas Morning News story about couples who want to work out but can't seem to make it, well, work.

Couples fitness: How to do it

The car: Not the best changing room in the world

2009-06-24T21:49:00.001-07:00

I'm curious how many runners change clothes in their car before a run. Surely I'm not the only one.

This practice starts with the fact that I'm too lazy to get up any earlier before work than I positively have to. This trait makes me an evening runner by default, usually after work.

I could bring my running clothes to work and change in the bathroom before I leave. But I'm not really jazzed about co-workers seeing me in thigh-showing shorts and a wrinkled men's v-neck undershirt. We don't have that kind of relationship.

I also could stop off at a gas station to change, but I really just want to get to the trail and down to business.

Quick car changes are tricky, at least if you're female, but I've got it down. So, I bring to you my tips for changing in the car without getting arrested.

1. Park far out and open.
It would seem like it's best to wedge your car between two big F-250s for the coverage. But the coverage goes both ways — you might not be able to see one of the vehicle owners approaching, keys in hand and jaw on the ground after catching you semi-nude. If you have someone with you to act as lookout (who you don't mind seeing you naked-ish), even better.
2. Bottoms down.
Changing bottoms isn't the big deal. Just make sure the coast is relatively clear, and the car itself will cover you while you shimmy out of jeans and into shorts.
3. Use your current top as a really-cramped miniature dressing room.
This is the most potentially-arrestable part, so be careful. If you're wearing a loose top, pull your arms inside. Pull your bra off underneath. Peek your hands out from under your shirt and locate your sports bra. If it's the pullover kind, put it around your neck. Then pull your arms back inside the shirt, grab the sports bra down inside and maneuver your arms and goods into it. Now that the prime property is properly concealed, just take off the shirt and pull on the other one.

If the first top is not loose? Just ... go find a gas station.

A new trail, figuratively

2009-06-17T20:44:00.001-07:00

I'm going to side-step the fact that it's been a whole year since I've posted here. A lot has happened.

But there are some bullet points that are relevant for catchup. The biggest bullet point is that I got married Aug. 23, 2008.

The second is that my husband's name is Brian Peters. His name will now figure more largely into this blog. Um, I hope.

Because, you see - running is sort of my thing. And for him ... well, he's game enough to embrace it. We ran (ok — runnerishly ran/walked) the Katy Trail 5K last month. And we ran a random 5K in Fort Worth last Monday night that Brian signed us up for (!). And now we've started a proper 5K training program.

The last bullet point is that I'm almost starting from scratch. I've fallen way behind my former self since becoming a married woman. My half-marathon training days and, to a lesser extent, my trail running days seem like the passions of someone else I used to know from my past.

I aim to rediscover them. Alongside Brian. How possible, how easy, how much it will make me [ok, us] want to jump out of a window is to be seen.

Should be interesting.

Haha just kidding

2008-06-12T22:11:00.000-07:00

False alarm — I'm not training. I'm planning a wedding, working, commuting, doing extra freelance all while trying to squeeze in some family, friends and breathing. Training for a race ... hahaha, cute. I'll shout when life straightens out a wee.

I'm training! I think

2008-05-19T21:51:00.001-07:00

I have a few races I'm looking at, but nothing decided on and paid for yet. Nevertheless, I've started "training" today. I took a week off and it felt great. And it made me look forward to gearing back up again even more. I'm not sure if I'm doing a half or a full (or that Rockledge Rumble 15K in November), I went ahead and started a Hal Higdon, since both training plans start off pretty much the same. I did 3 miles on the Katy, 31 minutes.

Oh, got me some new Asics Gel Kayano 14s (my ones before were the 13s). Pic later.

No running, no lifting this weekend. It was the first free, sunny two days in a row that I've had this year, and I used them to lie on my yoga mat in the grass and let the silky, golden sun melt this white body of mine. Mmm mmm, I love me some layin' out.

First official trail run of '08

2008-05-13T19:45:00.001-07:00

It was official, but unofficial. I ran, but I didn't. At any rate, the stars lined up perfectly for me to get back out to Cedar Hill State Park for my inaugural in-the-rough run of the year: warmer weather, me getting off at a decent time and the trails not being wet from spring rains. Got my annual pass, yay! I decided to run the short Duck Pond trail instead of the longer dirt bike trail like normal. Can I tell you that the forest was so effing LUSH and GREEN and that the air was COOL. No spider webs, even! Apparently the park is in the middle of widening its roads, so bulldozers have created a dirt "trail" that runs alongside the road. So after the Duck Pond trail, I hoofed it up the bulldozer path, which reminded me that treadmill and flat concrete running is not. the. same.

After I finished business, I drove around the park just to look, since it was so full and green from the recent rains. I stopped off at the lake and took really bad camera phone pictures of everything from ducks to the sunset to myself wallowing on the ground. I'll upload those pics soon.

My beat-up New Balances have served me well, but it's time for new trail running shoes. Yay! Trail running shoe shopping.

UPDATE: Here are those picky-pics!

White folks and their New Balance

2008-05-12T21:06:00.001-07:00

#96 on the "Stuff White People Like" list: New Balance. Except I'm one of those "jerks who won't shut up about Asics." Read on.

Lil bitty post

2008-05-06T23:08:00.001-07:00

Today: 4 miles in exactly 40 minutes. Treadmill. Two Clif gel bloks. Ab blast class. Weights. It was purty good.

I had a conversation with someone at work re: running, running with your spouse, etc., but I'm too tired to write about it right nao. Will later.

Well, that was fast

2008-05-05T20:38:00.001-07:00

Ok, so I've already found the race I want to work toward. The Rockledge Rumble in November, the 15K leg. This would mean I actually need to hit the trails more often than I do. That's nice I have a race, but I need a training plan for it. Hmm. It'll be my first official trail running race, so I guess I better look into that.

Gah, I wish training on trails around here wasn't all inconvenient and stuff. In this area anyway. There's what, Cedar Hill State Park, Cedar Ridge. There's Grapevine Lake, but as far as it is, I might as well drive to Lake Texoma and train on Cross Timbers. What else am I missing? I guess I could just check the North Texas Trail Runners Association website. Whatever, it's bedtime. The Rockledge is in Grapevine, so I might as well make the haul now and again to get more familiar with it. Who says gas prices are high? Nah.

I've been lusting for a run through the still-untamed Trinity River area of Dallas lately, though. It won't be untamed for much longer, and I want to hit those dirt trails I see as I drive over it into downtown Dallas before it they start building cutesie boat launches and designer bridges and Segway-rental booths or whatever and it gets all Central Park-y. BUT ... I'm a chick, and there are drunk homeless folk and highwaymen lurking AND MY BIG STRONG FIANCE WON'T GO WITH ME. I'm about to just take me and my pepper spray on out there and cross my fingers while I run. If you see me running out there, please don't rape me. Plzkthanks.

I just ran into a new blog and added it to the blog roll on the right. I don't know the dude from beans, but I found it through clicking here and there from the NTTRA website. It's like mine, except it's fancier and he actually runs in gigantor-distance races. I also like that he has posts that say "well, didn't do anything this week," like me. Yay! There's hope for me yet!

New mandate

2008-05-05T20:12:00.000-07:00

Yes yes yes I've been runnin. Some. And lifting. I need an actual race to focus my efforts on. If I'm just running to run, then ... well, that's not so bad. But it's easier to structure my running life if I have an actual, tangible reason. So, I'm working on that. I saw photos from a recent local (actually, Lake Texoma, I think) trail race. The race distances were from 5K to 50 miles — HELLO! How awesome is THAT? Some folks looked like machines, sure, but most were either older (an older machine is still a machine, but still) or had physiques that were, how do you say, not quite of the Olympian standard. Which was totally inspiring! That says to me, If regular folks are doing this, then what in the world am I doing? I just have to remember that what gave me the running itch to begin with were the crazy-distance trail runs like that one. However, got to get a few long-distance road races under my belt first.

Ok, I've decided that until I nail down an actual race for myself, 20 miles a week is my minimum. I could very well find a race in a couple of days, which would make my plan have to change altogether, but that's ok. To keep me motivated, I need some structure in the meanwhile.

Tonight's numbers: 6 miles in about 65 minutes. Treadmill. Half a powerbar gel.

First social run

2008-04-16T20:02:00.001-07:00

RunOn in Dallas holds group runs every Wednesday evening, so guess where I went tonight? Best part of all: When I told Brian about it the other day, he said he wanted to do it with me. And he did! Everyone's at different paces, of course, but everyone was cool as cucumbers, laid-back and friendly. A 19-year-old SMU student who works at the store stuck with us the whole four miles. Alex, I think was his name. So adorable! I wanted to put him in my pocket and adopt him as my little brother! He's from Colorado and is studying computer programming. We talked and talked and talked. Bless his heart, he said he had no idea Dallas people, namely of the SMU variety, were so "um, formal" in the way they dressed — a mannerly way of saying "new-money pretentious," heh. Nicest kid I've been around in a while. Brian and I are definitely buying our next pair of shoes from him (sorry, Luke's).

Back in the game, haaaaay!

2008-04-14T20:40:00.001-07:00

Ok, strep is over and gone and I'm back. Went running on the Katy Trail after work today, four miles, about 43 minutes.

It's time for new shoes. My knees were rubbing together, so I looked down and saw that my shoes weren't holding me in correct alignment anymore. This time: NO PASTEL COLORED RUNNING SHOES. They've served me well but wow, they're boring.

I emailed Brian and showed him the link to RunOn's social runs and said I'd like to do the one on Wednesday night. I was soooo flummoxed and happy when he called and said he'd like to come up and do it, too. Drive to Dallas on a Wednesday night! To run!

Brian, if you're reading this: You made me very giddy today.

Strep can really ruin a good run

2008-04-11T18:35:00.000-07:00

Well. Bought a new running outfit, socks, a honey pack and everything and I come down with strep throat. So, no Camper Scamper for me in the morning. The doctor said I could run if I felt like it, but yeah. Don't feel like it. My froat huhhhhhts.

Brian was going to run the 5K and me the 10K. He's already started looking up races we can do to make up for it, which was sweeet. And sweet in my book = hawt. Haaaay.

Yes, running can make you high

2008-04-02T23:48:00.001-07:00

See, I knew we weren't crazy!

P.S. We've soft-launched a fitness blog at the paper. It's not for-real-deal until April 8, so I'll post the link when it's ready.

New Balance's new ad campaign: LOVE/hate

2008-04-02T23:06:00.000-07:00

Here's one of New Balance's LOVE/hate ads I talked about below. The best description of running ever: "A complex, torrid affair."

Been running I swear

2008-04-02T22:23:00.000-07:00

Man, this blogging thing is a pain in the sesamoid.

Ok, since my last post ... Since it was after the half-marathon, I needed something else to work toward. Had my sights on the Big D, but I just simply couldn't train for another one back-to-back. I was mad at myself, but decided to go a bit smaller with a 10K. It's got an embarrasing name (the "Camper Scamper," ugh), but I felt good about doing more than my past-usual 5K yet not quite a half. I guess I DID sort of skip the middle races. I went from doing 5Ks to training for a full marathon before paring down to a half marathon. Graduating might have been a good idea. Oh well, I'm a skipper. What can I say.

Chris mentioned that I NEED to get off the treadmill. But UNGH!! I absolutely, positively, no-way-in-the-universe can run in the mornings (unless I'm forced to because of a race), so I run at night. Even though the mean subdivision streets of Waxahachie are probably safe, I a) hate running in subdivisions, and b) don't feel safe running anywhere else around here at night. I try to get on pavement or at least an indoor track on the weekends. Sometimes.

I've been hitting the weights, which I like lots. I've always liked weights. Makes carrying in the groceries and pushing Brian around easier. Pah! Anyways, I do machines and free weights alike, for all muscle groups. But my trouble spots have always been my calves, which I'm working on. F-L-A-C-I-D. But really, I have no idea if the calf is a pivotal muscle in running. Is it? I've got my quads up to snuff, I do believe, because I haven't experienced knee trouble in a long time. Thank the Lord! That was making me crazy. But anything over 5 miles with sprints mixed in, and the ol' IT band starts screaming. Can I just have that removed? Like an appendix? I could really just do without it, if you ask me.

I love the new New Balance ad campaign that's out. About how running is a "LOVE/hate" thing. HELLO PREACH IT. I'll post the clip in a minute.

My six-word memoir

2008-04-02T21:49:00.000-07:00

This isn't running-related, but give runny a break.

Liz tagged me to play the "six word memoir" game. Here are the rules:

1) Write your own six word memoir
2) Post it on your blog and include a visual illustration if you want
3) Link to the person that tagged you in your post, and to the original post if possible so we can track it as it travels across the blogosphere
4) Tag at least five more blogs with links
5) Leave a comment on the tagged blogs with an invitation to play!

Mine is:
"God keeps showing me new things."

I'm sad to say that I don't have many friends with blogs (or know OF their blogs) and Ty and Liz are already taken up. So I'll tag Brian, but he hasn't posted since Jan. 1, so pffft. We'll see.

Itty bitty run!

2008-03-04T18:18:00.001-08:00

After two weeks, I tried to get back in the swing on Saturday. Except I had a dilemma: My niece Janiece is seeing a personal trainer who's making her do stuff that I want to do. He reminds me of a Marine soccer coach I used to have, who I'd meet at the park for him to, essentially, abuse the heck out of me with drills, sprinting, etc. So on Saturday, I decided to test my one mile on the treadmill. I came in at BARELY under a nine-minute mile (8:59), and I had to hoss just to get that. I can do better than that, ugh. I haven't done a dead-run for that distance in a long time. Problem is, this has zero to do with long-distance training, which I'm allegedly trying to do. I worked out, too, incorporating some things Janiece has been learning. But all that was Saturday, and it's now Tuesday. Wednesday night, I gotta get back on the wagon — or get off of it, as it were. I haven't signed up for Big D yet. I need to check into that (and decide for sure-for sure if I'm doing it or not).

Half-marathon #1 under my hydration belt!

2008-02-18T15:20:00.000-08:00

• Photos: See my picky-pics!

I did my first half yesterday! At the AT&T Austin Marathon in, well, Austin. My time wasn't what I was aiming for (a 10 minute mile — I ended up with 2 hours and 49 min., about a 12-minute mile), but I had such a good time that I almost didn't care.

Brian went down with me on Saturday, and it was an absolute soaking deluge when we got there. We picked up my packet at the Events Center, where there was also an expo going on. Packet pick-ups for shorter races in the past have been uninteresting trips to Run On or Luke's. So I wasn't used to an entire expo hall filled with Lara Bar samples, a Guitar Hero game center and every running comodity imaginable for sale. And of course we couldn't leave without each getting a pair of sunglasses and me getting an extra pair of running socks and some Body Glide.

We toyed with the idea of getting custard shakes at Sandy's on Barton Springs, one of our fattening Austin traditions. But it was still early in the day, so we turned into Chuy's and pigged out there instead. Afterward we trekked around downtown a bit to get our bearings for potential parking places and early coffee the next morning. After my first trip to the the downtown Whole Foods (it was the first Whole Foods, right?) for energy the next morning — mixed roasted nuts from the nut bar, a tub of fresh-cut strawberries and blueberries and a bottle of chocolate-flavored Metro Mint water — we called it an early night.

4:30 a.m. comes eaaarly! But it got us downtown and parked in a free, close spot by 5:30. We hovered with other early birds in the dark cold underneath portable heaters, with a beautifully-lit capitol building up the street. Liz, who was in town for her second Austin run, showed up, and later we three went to the gabillion-person start line, where Brian left us right before gunshot.

I was one of the many rules-breaking rebels with mp3 players, but I rarely used it. There were plenty of sights and sounds to experience along the 13.1 course. I normally don't run that early in the morning (start was at 7 a.m.) but I went ahead and found it exhilarating, since I didn't exactly have a say in the matter.

First we bound down (actually, up and down and up and down) SoCo, the slightly faux-cool yet nonetheless adorable area of South Congress Avenue, then by public housing, then through charming neighborhoods ... then after that, a blur.

Heard along the way, at mile 3, one random 40-something to another: "You know, I think we might be able to do this." Dude, you've got 10 miles left.

This other guy was dressed in some ultra snug tights with an ultra snug spandex tank ... except it looked like he was smuggling a walrus into the race arounf his bellly. WRONG. Later he passed me, which was WAY wronger.

The course entertainment included a band of old dudes playing Texas swing on the porch of some sort of historical home across from an HEB, and lots of female-fronted bands: A dad living vicariously through his teen daughter while he ran the audio for her rock band, a metal band fronted by an older woman in front of a no-name convenience store, a blues singer, and tons more. Lots of others, like a black dude hocking his really-bad-soul DJ business and a band of dudes covering the James Gang (OW! love you guys!). It definitely kept things interesting.

I had to stop TWICE to pee, and I spent a total of 20 minutes standing in lines. We women in the lines kept complaining about how the guys could just whip it out next to a bush and 10 seconds later, be back in the race. For anyone who knows me, you'd believe how much this fact gave me grumpy face syndrome. While the gap between women's and men's race times is narrowing, there's still a gap. Even if women didn't mind completely dropping our drawers and showing our a*ses to the entire world, the whole process of disrobing and peeing just takes longer. That's nobody's fault, but the small number of potties is ridiculous. Women not only have to stand in line with each other just to pee out all the powerade we're guzzling, but we also have to share the line with guys who are either modest or who have to No. 2. Twenty minutes getting added to my time just to wizz was the most frustrating part of the race, even moreso than my IT band issue adding extra time. Bluh. I complained to Chris about the pee issue, and he said that in the races he's done, women just run into a woody area and drop 'em. I think the exact line in his email was, "In Chicago, I probably saw 100 naked women asses ... lol!" Ha! He said he's got some tips for not peeing during races, so I'll be interested in hearing that trick of the trade. Anyway, I wondered what that one woman was doing when she ran to a business' parking lot and disappeared behind that dumpster. I'm sure there were more women busting the same move during the race but I just didn't notice. I guess that was a first-timer's naievete on my part. Still, anyone who's worn running tights knows that pulling those things down and pulling them up is a total beating. I can just see myself face-down in the dirt right after getting pitched forward mid-squat from trying to balance with my tights crammed around my knees.

I called mom while standing in line to pee at mile 9. She was encouraging yet bewildered. She's always been physically active, and the woman is the one who got me into sports starting in fourth grade to begin with. This is all her fault. She even played sports in high school. Still, I suppose things have changed a bit since early 1950s girls' high school half-court basketball, so I can't quibble too much with her confusion. Love you mom, but oy.

As I already stated in the post below, around mile 9, the IT band starting kicking my butt. I walked about half the rest of the distance. I was in such pain, that I leaned forward and put my head on a tree trunk to balance myself while stretching my quads, then ran/walked for about two miles with a mess of bark stuck to my forehead.

I was so frustrated. But I kept reminding myself that I was learning a lot during this race in preparation for my next one — like carrying fewer shot blocks/Sharkies on me, finding a way not to pee so dadgum much and getting running tights with pockets or a lite backpack so I can leave the media belt at home. Or, just not running half marathons. That sort of thing.

I managed to run across the finish line around 2:49, then waited a bit for Liz so we could have photos taken of us with our finisher medals. Liz kept saying how proud of me she was, which made me all glowy inside. She's a Team in Training coach (is that right, Liz? — update, she just mentioned in her blog that she's a mentor, not a coach) and is blessed with the gift of encouragement, for sure.

Brian and I did another of our fattening Austin traditions, eating on the patio at Shady Grove on Barton Springs. We hit SoCo just to browse around. It was bustling with Austin hippiness, and I have to admit it was pretty awesome. Live music from the most random of folks was everywhere. So charming. It was a beautiful, 70ish degree day.

We topped it off with a butterscotch shake and Oreo shake from Sandy's across the street from the Events Center before taking me and my broken body back to Waxahachie.

Last but not least, Brian should have received an honorary finisher's award, because he's the best (and hottest) male cheerleader ever ; )

Thoughts on my running injuries

2008-02-18T14:33:00.000-08:00

When you're training for a race with any sort of distance to it, you'll start to experience at least one running-related injury along the way. Fact o' life, what do you do.

I've already dealt with sesmoiditis, which I acquired from maniacally playing on multiple soccer teams at a time for three years straight. It's still there, but it's faded into the background thanks to simply not being on my feet in the same way I was for so long, from wearing ball-of-foot pads in my left shoes ad from finally getting a pair of perfectly-tailored-for-Christy's-foot-type runners from Luke's (the only pair I don't have to wear a pad in).

Then I began experiencing pain in the inner left knee, which was frustrating. When Chris first mentioned that a lot of knee pain is caused by weak quads, I was all defensive like, MY QUADS ARE PERFECTLY STRONG, THANKYOUVERYMUCH. But I sucked it up and began working out the ol quads more. And by golly if the knee pain din't reduced about 95 percent.

With pain in check, I finally felt completely ok enough to move forward with my half-marathon training at the pace I wanted.

Meanwhile, I'de heard fellow runners like Liz and Chris talk about having issues with their IT band (iliotibial band). I felt for them, but it meant nothing to me b/c I couldn't imagine the kind of pain they were describing.

Well, the running gods paid me back for my lack of imagination yesterday around mile 8 during my first half-marathon (which I talk about in the post above). One of my favorite things about Austin, its hills, were my worst enemy. I'm a trail runner by heart and normally love running hills. But I'd trained to run 13 miles of flat, not 13 miles of up-and-down. The sharpest, most dibilitating of pain shot through the outside of my left knee (all my injuries are on my left side; what's up with that?) to the point of stopping me dead in my tracks. Even walking hurt sooo. baaad. I tried to make myself run a bit, then walk a bit, but the running bits grew shorter and shorter. It wasn't the kind of pain I could just ignore and suck up until I hit the finish line — it completely determined my performance.

It sucks. So, I'll be doing many a Google search on prevention, and I'm taking any advice you have on the matter.

Running in place

2008-02-06T00:38:00.000-08:00

Ran 4 miles on the treadmill, 38:32. Ima try to be a good girl and run the full sked the rest of the week: 5 miles, 4 miles ... then my long run, 10 miles.

I ran into the bathroom door jamb this evening and whacked my head pretty good. For no good reason; just led forehead-first while walking in the dark. Now I've got a knot and it hurts ...

Eight miles, I done it

2008-02-04T16:02:00.000-08:00

I ran the 8 miles Saturday without dislocating a hip or bruising a toenail. Actually, I didn't even once turn on my mp3 player that I brought along and thought I'd desperately need to survive. As much as I was dreading the task, it actually was waaaay less traumatizing as I made it out to be. Nice thing is, after next weekend's 10-mile run, 8 miles will seem like a breeeeeze.

• Time: 1:23:30

Must run 8 miles, must run 8 miles ...

2008-02-02T10:18:00.000-08:00

It's Saturday, time to make up the 8 miles I didn't run last Saturday. Which means I HAVE to run them today. I prepared by eating a bowl of oatmeal and rice crackers and drinking a cup of decaf green tea and a glass of water. Now I'm just waiting for digestion, and I'll be on my way. Yep. onnnnn. myyyy. wayyyyy.

I do want to run the 8 miles, if only to get the freaking monkey off my back and to pat myself of the head (and to not keel over in bodily shock in Austin). But I mean gah, I'm on my period, so I feel like I'm carrying a gallon of water in my abdomen. And the clothes in the basket over there need folding. And there's a chili cook-off going on in town as I write (with a barn dance later; too bad I'll be in booooooring Arlington by then).

So yep. Must run the 8 miles, must run 8 miles.

Oh ... I have a Timex Expedition and have no idea how to set it for splits, by, like, making it beep every 4 and 1 minute. It's like the one in the picture, but not as cool. I downloaded the instrux manual, but I swear they were written by someone with English as a sixth language. Can anyone give me a clue? Thanks.

Blogging is almost as hard as this running thing

2008-01-31T19:28:00.000-08:00

Dear lord, I HATE blogging. But just like running, I'm going to do it anyway.

Catch up: Not much to report. Been running here and there. The fall attempt at training for the White Rock Half-Marathon went bust b/c, basically, of newbie ignorance. Went too fast at training and goobered up my knee. Then registration hit its max before I signed up, so it's just as well. Then the holidays came upon me, so I took a rain check on the running-all-the-time thing.

I'm now training for the Austin Half-Marathon in February, at a much more realistic pace. A friend told me that I have to strength-train my quads so my knee doesn't have to pick up the slack for my weenie muscles, and lo and behold — it's working. However, with all this running I'm doing, you would think I'd either lose weight or lose fat. Not that I need to do either, but still. I swear my belly is flubbier than when I started. Makes no sense. Anyway, wish me luck.

I haven't been trail running in a while, mainly because of the end-of-summer torrents we experienced here, then cooler weather began to set in. And I'd rather turn into a flacid, sedendary noodle than run in the cold.

However, I did run Dallas' version of the YMCA Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving Day with Liz. Good times! 8 miles. I won't talk about my time, though, because it was BAD.

So that's where I'm at. Runny run-run-run!!

I went into the witness protection program.

2007-12-04T19:47:00.000-08:00

Ok, not really. I took a nice, long break from running. I won't get into why. But my knee feels better now, my resolve is back, I've got a 12K under my belt. I was a putz and didn't register before the White Rock half marathon filled up. Other than that, things are looking up. More TK.

Sidelinin'

2007-10-15T17:05:00.000-07:00

Ugh. I ran Katy Trail on Friday evening. It was prime proof that I should have been training on concrete this whole time to begin with. Oh well. Livin' and learnin'.

Ugh. Decided to take off Saturday and Sunday to see if that would alleviate the pain in my knee.

Ugh. The new shoes aren't curing cancer and bringing peace to the Middle East like the marathon man at Luke's Locker promised. Oh well. Livin' and learnin'.

Going to do strength tonight ... if I can ever get out of here.

Ugh.

Hit it and quit it ... er, I mean, Quick hits

2007-10-11T20:57:00.000-07:00

Quick hits

• The nice AD from Waxahachie High School returned my call today inquiring about use of the football field's track. Essentially, yes, Wax residents can use it. But sometimes it's locked, sometimes it's open, it just depends on this and that ... UmKthanxNevermind.
• The nice head of the Waxahachie parks and rec department returned my call inquiring about any place in the city that can be frequented by runners past sunset. He was hard to follow, a little garbly, but something about "oh yeah, and there's that trail at [a3483yvno] Park." So I had to leave another voicemail asking what the name of [a3483yvno] park was again and how to get there. We'll see.
• I didn't run last night. The condensed version of my Tale of Sorrow is this: Thought I'd drive to the high school just to see for myself if the track was open. It, in fact, was pitch black and locked up like Sing Sing. I went a roundabout way to get back on the main road to head to the Y, but then I saw what appeared to be the lights of an athletic complex. Eureka! I drove aaaaall the way to the other side of the highway to discover the lovely (dark) soccer fields and the softball/baseball fields that do me no good. [Note to self: Aks parks and rec dude if there's an adult soccer league of any kind to go with those fields. Yeah right]. So I drove aaaaall the way to the Y, at this point fighting the urge to just pack it up. But I opened my car door, patted around ... and no gym bag. DRAT!! I need to stop doing that. I told myself I'd just go home and run around the neighborhood, even though I HATE it. I ended up all "screw it" instead.
• Tonight: Weights, ran 5K (writing the "in under 30 minutes" thing after "5K" is getting redundant ... which I guess is a good thing). I'm not able to work my hamstrings at all right now b/c it kills my left knee, weirdly. Need to get that checked out.

Oh yeah! Almost forgot

2007-10-09T20:40:00.000-07:00

Left: New run-runs!

I got new shoes. FINALLY.

Asics (of course) Gel Kayano. They cost over $130, so they'd better sprout wings and fly me to the finish line.

I've been waiting to get new runnies til I could make it to Luke's Locker. They delivered, yet again. The peeps there are total experts, I swear. A British guy, from whom I gathered does nothing but run marathons, work at Luke's and train high school track/CC phenoms, all but cobbled the shoes together for me.

He made me run a bunch on the indoor faux-track there so he could see my gait (ends up I overpronate, which is why I deal with sesmoiditis and the recent knee issue), measured my feet three times, made me stand on some clear/plexiglass box-looking thing that shows the pressure points of the bottom of my feet (he showed me problem spots on my feet and explained what causes them) and gathered a bunch of other info, and arrived at two Christy-specific shoes: the Asics I bought and a pair of Brooks.

The arches were perfect and everything. I'd never owned a pair of AA (narrow) widths before, and both fit perfectly; but the Asics just felt cushier (of course they did — they were $40 more). He explained foot mechanics and structure and running shoe design and materials, all while working his magic. I could barely keep up. He was either a really good snake oil salesman or he knew his stuff.

I stupidly asked him, "Ok great; now can you point out the shoes on the wall that are the equivalents to these?" He looked at me and said "these two are rough equivalents to each other. These are the two pair of shoes we have that match your feet perfectly. There aren't any others." Ooooh.

He totally read my mind, which said, "Ok, these shoes are great, but I want some that are prettier." So he showed me the color options those two pair came in ... which were just as boring. I'm kinda more into bright, scary colors like yellow or orange (like my dishonorably discharged kicks, above). Or even just a bold color, like blacks and such. But noooo. These were women's shoes, so they had to come in pastels. Only. Jerks.

I mean, baby blue and white? Zzzzzz. Don't be surprised if I take a picture of this very shoe again soon after fitting them with some crazy-A colored laces.

In their defense, they do their job well. I didn't have to wear insoles or a pad for my sesmoiditis, and I felt no pain after running 3 miles in them tonight. My knee pain seems to have lessened, too.

I'll get back to you on if that's fact or if that's a big spender being psyched out by a big price tag she just ate.

Been fighting the good fight

2007-10-09T19:38:00.000-07:00

Run date: Tuesday, Oct. 9

Don't worry, I've been doing my thang. Ran 5K on the treadmill tonight (in under 30, yay), stretched and strengthened yesterday, rested Sunday, ran four miles Saturday, did a walk at the park with boifriend Friday at River Legacy for my cross-train and ran three miles and strengthened on Thursday.

I'm eating like I've been racking up the miles, though, even tho I'm just a bit into my training. I.e. WingStop/fries/cole slaw last night, frapuccino this morning, full lunch, Taco Bueno after the run (which I finished in the car before I got home), some gluten free cake w/ white icing (yum) and a bowl of cornflakes w/ Bear Naked on top. Urp, bluh.

Gotta do's:
• Call the AD office at Waxahachie High and ask if the masses are allowed to use the track. If not, find somewhere steady that's outside to run in the evenings. Need to start running outside, not in.
• I now have a rough time frame to work toward. An editor in Metro (Chris) just got back from the Chicago Marathon this weekend. His half numbers are 1:40 (what he's aiming for if he runs the White Rock half in December), was 1:48 last year, and he ran 12 miles in 1:24 three weeks ago. So, as he says, "You'd better step it up."

I take that as a challenge.

Cough cough

2007-10-03T21:56:00.000-07:00

Run date:

.... well, that's complicated.

I've had what I suspected to be strep throat, so that boobed up my regimen a bit. But I've been doing a lil runny-run here and there. Here are some highlights and tiddybits:

• I'm pretty sure I ran Thursday evening, but it was so long ago now that I can't remember.
• On the morning when I first got significantly sick (Friday), I sat at the table with a bowl of cereal, a Hal Higdon half-marathon training guide and my calendar. It worked perfectly: If I started the next day, my training would end just in time for the White Rock (half) marathon.
• Weirdly, I started to feel better by Friday evening. I thought, Maybe it was the day off of work that cured me. So I decided to run, and because of the Y's STOOPID Friday hours of operation, I was gonna have to run outside. I googled around for nearby neighborhoods with a 1.5 mile stretch so I could do a down-and-back for 3 miles. I found one ... yeah. When I drove to the "street," I saw that it was more of a two-lane "farm-to-market" with nothing but brush on the sides. I drove the route just to see the conditions. Sure, I could run on that road ... the next time I want to die from suicide by half-ton-dooley-extended-cab-super-duty-pickup-truck. So I ended up at good 'ol Southwestern A/G University to run three miles on the Prayer Walk, as cute-albeit-barely-legal boys threw a frisbee on the lawn in front of Collins Hall.
• I took off Saturday as my rest day. I didn't stress missing my first official day of training, since it was just a three-mile run, which I'd been doing a bunch of anyway. I planned to get on the stick Sunday after church (and after the Cowboy game).
• Let me set Sunday's scene:
— Cowboy game on
— Brian and Christy completely flop on the couch and later my bed, totally feeling the fact that we got up to go to the earlier church service in order to make the noon Cowboy game (sigh ... this was all Brian)
— Somewhere around third quarter, Christy falls out cold

— Somewhere around fourth quarter, Brian follows suit
— Somehow, while sleeping, I promise myself to get up in time to run at the Y before it closes at 5
— I wake up, it's 6 p.m.
• Sunday evening, I began feeling REALLY sick. I had planned on starting my training-proper on Monday, but nosiree. I called in sick again and laid up on my very strep-throaty backside.
• I barely made it to work yesterday (Tuesday) and made myself only do what HAD to be done for work. After about 5 or 6 hours, I left. I still felt really blech and weak, and my throat felt like I'd gargled a cup of needles, but darnit if I was going to miss yet another day. The Higdon plan was 3 miles. I don't know if it was because the last time I ran it was on different terrain or if it was because I was on the crappy treadmill everyone avoids or what, but my shins were screaming. I kept having to hop off to stretch them; I hadn't had shin splints in a long time, so that was weird. Anyway, I managed to plow through.
• Today, I felt tentatively good. Today's plan was "2 miles or cross-train," so I opted for the two-mile run, plus a few weights (which I probably wasn't supposed to do, but oh well).

Here's hoping for some stability and predictability on my training for the marathonette from here on out.

Fun fact: While at the Y last night, I asked to borrow a pair of headphones from the front desk because I'd forgotten mine. I plugged them into the TV on the treadmill for a little 'Wheel of Fortune,' when I felt a stinging on my ear. I ignored it ... til a few mintues later when my ears went BIIIIIIZZZZZZZZFFSSHHHH#$%$%!! ... the headphones shocked the crap out of me. I guess if I would have died, "by treadmill TV" would have been a cool cause of death.

Rollin'

2007-09-27T07:48:00.000-07:00

Run date: Wednesday, Sept. 26

I went in early to work because I knew if I didn't my chances of running would be slim. I got in around 8:30 and stayed til around 6:30, no lunch and no nothing besides meetings and worky work. Bluh. I started feeling like I was coming down with something (still do), But I stayed in denial all day b/c if I was bonafide sick, that means I shouldn't run, right? I don't know — maybe running would be good for it. I need to check that out.

Anyway, I ran 6 miles on the treadmill, the highest I've gone in one sitting before. It was hard, but mostly just in the head. I had to zone out, watch TV, listen to music ... an hour is a loooong time to run. I need to get to the point where an hour seems like a normal amount of time to run. Is there such a point?

Stats:
6 miles, 58 minutes and some seconds. Started out 5.5 mph, then ranged between 6.2 and 6.7 the rest of the time.

Sweet feet

2007-09-25T20:13:00.000-07:00

These insoles rule. I've been meaning to get new shoes lately because the tread on mine are getting smooth as a baby's bobo.

That plan's been thwarted by a combination of me being lazy, me being cheap and the fact that Luke's Locker, where I want to buy my shoes, closes at 7 through the week, which clashes with my work schedule of late.

But I spied these bad boys at CVS the other day. I cringed at the $12.95 price tag, but not not after I slipped them in. I swear it feels like a new pair of shoes.

Like running on taffy, but probably not as tasty.

Sob story

2007-09-25T19:45:00.000-07:00

Run date: Monday, Sept. 19

Work has been such a beating lately. Yesterday, especially. When I finally got to the Y, all I could manage was 3 miles. Harrumph.

Today, I decided to take off. I just didn't have it in me.

Bluh.

2007-09-23T20:27:00.000-07:00

I MUST get a 24 Hour Fitness membership.

Ys close at 5 on Sundays. Brian and I arrived at the one in N. Arlington at like 4:40 p.m. We freaked out on a few machines before hearing "Attention YMCA members. The Y will close in 5 minutes."

So inconvenient.

Short n sweet

2007-09-23T20:25:00.001-07:00

Run date: Saturday, Sept. 22

Ran 5 miles on the treadmill.

Finally.

Stats: About 49 and a half minutes.

"A Drama of Sorrow, in Three Parts"

2007-09-21T20:00:00.000-07:00

Run date: _____

Huh? Oh wait, that's right! I have to actually run to have a run date. Funny how that works.

Three days in a row and no runny-run. This training's going great.

Part I: The Knee

The first of these days (Wednesday) my knee hurt kinda bad, so I decided to take that as a rest day. I got some advice from Chris about knee stuff and decided to forge ahead on Thursday.

Part II: The Man and my Bad Sense of Direction combine forces

But, dilemma. I had a "Yay New Job" get-together for Ty with Marissa 'n nem Thursday night at Slip Inn. Hmmm. We weren't gathering til 10 p.m., so I'd just run at a nearby Y after work. Yeah, that's what I'd do.

But ohhhhh nooooo. The Man, as he's sometimes called by disgruntled workers, kept me at the frikkkkkin office til like 8. But I figured, the Waxahachie Y closes at 9:30, so surely the mothership downtown Y stays open at least as late. Not only did I used to live in the area, but I used to work out at that very Y — oh but how time changes things (like, my sense of direction).

I literally couldn't find the f&%#$$^%%$#^#ing corner of North Akard and San Jacinto to save. my. life. My poor car interior heard more cussing last night than it has in its whole nine-year-old life. I knew the stupid Y was within spitting distance, but it was like the rapture happened and only the Y made it or something.

I pulled over six times and put on my flashers to pull up Google maps on my phone. Google kept spitting out crap that I wasn't asking for, then when it did give me a map of what I needed, it took like four hours each time I needed to zoom out b/c phone internet very much acts like dial-up (wha! pun intended!).

I also had punched around on my phone so much that the screen turned a lovely shade of white and stayed there. My level of rage by then was somewhere between wanting to park myself on the tracks in front of an oncoming Dart train or hit the gas as I hop a crowded curb in West Village.

After restarting my phone, I finally got the turn-by-turn directions I needed. It was already 9, so I got to the Y and raaaan upstairs to squeeze out as long of a run as I could get, disregarding the fact there were a bunch of sweaty, exercized people leaving. When I got the fourth floor where the Y was at, I asked what time they closed. "9," she said.

9.

I raaaan downstairs to call 24-hour Fitness across the street to see if they'd let me work out for a fee. The ditz on the phone said something about they can't do that after 9, plus they're the special downtown 24-Hour Fitness and can't let just anyone in anyway.

As I was about to resign to my fate, I called the other Y I used to belong to, the one at White Rock. They close at 10! A sensible Y in this town! But before I stepped on the gas ... it was already about 9:15. By the time I drove all the way there and dressed, I'd be able to run, like, 15 minutes. Pffft.

So I went to Ty's and hung out while he got dressed to par-tay. I drowned my sorrow in a bag of baked cheddar cheese and sour cream Lay's from his cupboard.

Part III: The Y and its sucky hours of operation

Long day, tech drama, The Man, new duties, blah blah blah .... you get the picture. Got off late again, but this time it was around 7. I raaaaaced to Waxahachie, FINALLY ready to unleash two days' worth of pent-up fury onto that poor treadmill. And as I pulled up I wondered, "Why is the Y dark? Why aren't there any cars here?"

I remembered that they close early on Fridays. Why do Ys suck so bad. Why.

I was so desperate. Now I was willing to just run the redneck streets of Waxahachie themselves; I didn't care. But first, I drove by the new 24-Hour "Anytime Fitness" or whatever knock-off name it was, but there were two car salesman-looking dudes totally hovering around the doors. I could smell the high pressure lifetime contract spiel all the way from my car, so I bolted.

I found myself driving down the middle of town on Highway 77, just cruisin like I got nothing better to do on a Friday night (oh wait — I don't). The Waxahachie High School football lights were blaring, so I new there was a game going on there. Then I thought of Southwestern Assembly of God University. They'd added several sports since my "stint" way back in 1993, but I wasn't sure about football. So I turned on Sycamore and drove to the back of the school, where I thought there might be a track, if they had one.

I found a really nice security guard and info "center" (a high class guard shack, really). Like I said, I was desperate, so I busted in on their donut-eating and baton-twirling and pulled the best Daisy Duke I could muster.

"Hi boyyys! I just love a man in uniform!" Ok, not really. I was more like, "Hey there, I'm a, uh, alumnus and was wondering if the school had a track these days that I could use," simultaneously thinking to myself, "Alumna, you idiot." The young black one politely said, "No, I'm sorry." It was unclear if he meant no, they still didn't have a track or no, I couldn't use it. The old white one said, "No, but we got the prayer walk you can use. Some folks use it for running and walking instead of praying. I figger since you're an alumnus, we let you use it, too." The young black one seemed to read my mind because he said, "three times around is a mile." That's all I needed to know; I was out the door, "GreatKThanksBye!"

I'd forgotten about the good old prayer walk! I drove round to the front of the school where the prayer walk started and I switched off all the lights so I could change into my gym clothes all stealth like (hardly anyone was out there). I felt around in the dark ... and felt around some more ... pat pat pat, where's my bag ...
...

My gym bag was. not. in. the. effing. floor. board. where. it. ALWAYS. is. I flipped on the interior light. I literally froze with my jaw dangling from my face at the non-sight of my gym bag.

But I still wasn't willing to give up. I started racking my brain for ideas on cobbling together an outfit, any outfit, that would work. I had my trail running shoes and an old soccer uniform in the trunk, but I would have run in a prom dress at that point.

I grabbed and felt all over my left boob in an effort to remember what bra I was wearing, to see if it was one that I thought would cooperate. And, of course, three people actually using the prayer walk for prayer and walking looked straight into my lit-up car as I fondled myself. That's when I knew that maybe it was not God's divine will for me to run this night.

I headed back toward home, still determined to get something in. I thought, I hate running in the neighborhood, but at least it's something. But then ... by this point, Brian was due to come over to me/my sister's house. Vainly I thought, Well, I look kinda cute in this outfit, and I haven't seen him in 100 years and I'd hate to ruin this rare moment of cuteness by something as smell as running. So, I completely put running out of my head and that was that.

Later, I learn that one of Brian's football players was going to the hospital with concussion-like symptoms.

Should I go with him Christy.

Yes Brian you're the athletic director you should go.

I knew this meant that Brian was not, in fact, coming over to see the cuteness I had preserved for him after all.

So, poking around my room, I started wondering where I left that pesky gym bag, anyway.

Then I remembered ... I put it in my trunk the night before because I didn't want my car getting broken into at Slip Inn. I had it the whole time.

It hasn't been my week.

~ The End ~

Owie!

2007-09-19T21:03:00.000-07:00

So I'm at my desk today, sitting with my left foot folded underneath me like I tend to do, when the inside of my left knee starts to hurt. A lot. Like someone took a hammer to it. Three years of three different soccer teams at a time, and no knee problems. I go from 30 minutes on the treadmill to 45, and it feels like I tore my ACL (dear Lord, help it to not be that). What's up with that? Knee pain is new for me (foot pain — another story), so I got scared and decided not to run. I kept mulling if I should just push through the pain or if I should play it safe. I chose the latter, b/c I'd rather one day off than many days if I fully injure myself. It didn't dawn on me til later that I could have just taken 3 ibuprofen and probably have been fine enough to run.

Gar! This isn't supposed to happen!

Hot momma

2007-09-19T20:55:00.000-07:00

If I'm as awesome as this at 46, let alone 66, life will rule.

[Anne Park, from the Tennessee Valley area; holds 59 state running records. From The Decatur Daily in Alabama].

Will she or won't she, part II

2007-09-18T20:12:00.000-07:00

Run date: Tuesday, Sept. 19

Quick hits:

• Ran the treadmill, no weights this time. I might need to try saving myself for the running, and maybe just do weights on my cross-training days. We'll see.
• Ran 45 minutes for about 4.2 miles, calories burned somewhere in the 400s.
• Tried to increase/manage enough carbs today, but I think I just ended up using that as an excuse to pig out.

Observations, things I learned:

• Caffeine is not my friend. At least not during this period of life. I was a bit sluggish, and I could tell that's why. Today I've had coffee, green tea, Diet Cherry Coke Zero. The milk I drank and the sip of water I used to take my Wellbutrin this morning didin't offset any of that. Ima try to go just one cup of coffee or green tea per day. Or at least drink bunches more water to make up for it.
• Having a TV in front of me on the treadmill into which I can plug in earbuds and watch 'Biggest Loser' totally rocks. Yay treadmills.
• The physical part of the training so far is, actually, much easier than I thought. Honestly, I'm not even opening my mouth to breathe the whole time. It's b/c I have to keep the speed down enough so my body can catch up with my cardio capacity. Like, my lungs will be yawning but my legs will be on the brink of mutiny. Maybe that's because I'm still working out the food-as-fuel thing. Or because I'm working out my legs in the middle of this training.
• I can tell that physically, this is doable. It's the mental part I'll have to fight. If it wasn't for 'Biggest Loser' tonight to distract me (and make me feel skinny), it would have been a major beating running like a hamster for 45 minutes. I have to get over that.

Will she or won't she?

2007-09-17T21:49:00.000-07:00

Run date: Monday, Sept. 18

This is gon' be a quick one because it's late and I'm TY-erd.

I *think* I'm training for the White Rock Marathon, or at least the half. But I'm too big a weiner right now to shout it from the hilltops. I'd rather get a few weeks of training under my belt before declare my candidacy.

I went ahead and jumped to week 3 of the 20 week training guide (week 3 isn't much more than what I was already doing). I might need to advance myself more quickly on a couple of more weeks, because the marathon is Dec. 9, and that's much less than 20 weeks away. It's actually less than 13 weeks away. Which is making me think I might be doing the half marathon instead. We'll see.

Stats
• Weights: lat pull-down, ab machine, that machine for your glutes and the back muscle right above your crack, butterfly, row machine, leg press for calves, the outer thigh machine
• Run: 45 minutes, 4.6 miles, can't remember how many calories burned
Started off at 5.3 mph, increased to 5.5, ending (ok, just last two minutes) at 6.0

Issues to resolve
The tips of my left toes are getting blistered. Found a nutrition calculator for active types: For my weight I need to consume 409 g carbs and 76.8 g protein. And watch the fat. Must find podcasts or different music for the mp3 player; running for 45 minutes is borrrring. Need to find more outdoor spots to train that are't too terribly out of the way, to put it in the mix. I don't want to burn out on the Y.

Longer

2007-09-15T19:35:00.000-07:00

Run date: Saturday, Sept.15

Got up late this morning after a late night, ate some cereal, read in the garage with the door up til my food settled, then went to the Y. Nobody was there, which is nice but ... boring.

I decided to try something a lil different on the treadmill. I've been running 5K mileage, trying to beat 30 minutes, or just running 30 minutes if it's on a trail. All the marathon training guides I've perused have the runner starting off with anywhere between 35 and 45 minute runs. So that's what I did, 45 minutes. Seems like just a slight adjustment, but for me, who's used to quick and dirty runs, 45 minutes seemed sooooo long distance. I lowered my speed just a bit, and I was suprised at how ... I don't want to say "easy" ... how doable it was. But I quickly told myself not to get a big head, allowing words like "easy" cross my mind. Because I have a sneaking feeling that if I decide to continue and increase this sort of training, I'd be eating my words.

Long distance (ok, in this case, longer distance) feels different than shorter, faster runs. It's mainly in the head. But it's also in the kneecaps. In the marathon book I'm reading, the author keeps joking about, like, "who needs kneecaps anyway." I was like, "huh?? What's wrong with her kneecaps?" Just a lowly 15 minutes of extra running, and afterward my kneecaps felt like they were about to twist off, like they were having an out of body experience. I was like, "Oh."

Stats:
45 minutes
Started at 5.0 mph
Ended up at 5.5
Burned 460 calories (almost double what I burn running faster at 30 minutes)
Ran 4.6 miles

P.S. Props to former bosses Liz and Chris for lighting a fire under me, probably without really meaning to.

Runny meets her match on the ol' Katy Trail

2007-09-12T21:43:00.000-07:00

The association that maintains the Katy Trail holds a (très swanky) 5K each April or so called the Michelob Ultra 5K. Tonight I decided to run that route and see how my new under-30 minutes time held up to the great outdoors.

Well, I was reminded that, even in a flat urban setting, running out-of-doors is harder than a treadmill. I knew it would be, but I wasn't thinking I'd want to throw myself in front of a car that soon. The air is different, you're not able to regulate your speed as easily, and the slightest increase in grade here and there make a difference.

I'm happy to report that I did make the [area where the] finish line [would be during the race] in just under the half-hour mark. I admit, though, that I stopped and walked for a good, oh, three-ish minutes toward the end. I thought I was farther away from the end than I was, so I didn't think I was going to make 30 anyway. When I realized I was closer than I remembered, I looked at my watch and thought, If I kick it into greased-lightening gear, I might could do this. I ran as fast as I was able and made it to the finish line in about 29 and a half minutes. If I hadn't stopped to walk, I would have had it in the bag.

That brings me to the walking thing. I SO didn't want to walk; I was determined to finish this thing with NO walking. An unexpected inspiration to not walk came from work. I picked up a column recently, and I mentioned in an email newsletter that I have this blog and, "Why don't you check it out and track my progress" — like an idiot. Few if any newsletter recipients could have actually clicked, but it didn't matter. The damage was done. While I'm running, I'm constantly thinking, You can't stop because you'll have to blog about it, then aaaaaall these people will read about you being a big fat weenie. Way illogical, but it kept me going. Even still, I had to walk that three minutes anyway because, OMG, I really thought I was going to die.

Lessons learned:
• Sometimes a short walk, especially toward the end when I need it most, will give me the boost of energy I need to make it. I'd still like to do that trail at a 100% run sometime soon, though. We'll see.
• Reverchon Park, which is between the finish line and the parking lot, really does crawl with gay guys looking to hook up. Whenever I walked through one of the small wooded areas in the past, I'd all but trip on all the used condoms that litter the ground. I guess I should have taken that as evidence to prove what I'd always heard, but it didn't really sink in til this evening. There were three separate lonely, sad-looking men in the wooded area with "PLEASE HAVE ANNONYMOUS QUICKIE SEX WITH ME" written across their foreheads. They were in full checking-over-the-shoulder mode, waiting for someone to show up, cell phones in hand, waiting for dark. I said hello to one of them, and he looked at me like I caught him shoplifting or something. Heh, anyways, lesson learned: That myth is actually, um, true.

Nike ad: European soccer all-stars vs. Team Satan

2007-09-11T22:19:00.000-07:00

Holy plantar fasciitis, I broke my record again

2007-09-11T21:39:00.001-07:00

Run date: Tuesday, Sept. 11

Great evening at the Y! I ran a 3.1 miles on the treadmill in 28 min and like 37 seconds! I swear I never thought I'd break 30 minutes, and now this. Honestly, the run didn't rag me out as much as last time, either. I'm trying to figure out what exactly has been boosting me over my long-standing 5K hump so I can bottle it up and drink it. Some possible ingredients:

• I've just now started lifting weights before doing cardio — I've been doing it the other way around all my life, until I recently read in some magazine somewhere that you'll have more energy and will burn fat instead of glycogen if you do cardio last. It actually feels better. When I told my Manfriend Brian about the switch, he was like, "Yeah; you didn't know you were supposed to do it in that order?" Big jerk. He's lucky he's hot.
• Those recent runs in the woods at Cedar Hill State Park have kicked. my. butt. Against that, a smooth treadmill indoors set at a grade of zero is a breeze.
• Maturity

That last one, I think, is what will help me attain my running goals the most. I'm just now getting, in my 30s, that any goal worth reaching takes patience and work. Pure, old fashioned work.

Tuesday's 5K run stats:
— Started off at 6 mph/10 min mile
— Went up to 6.2 mph in around five minutes
— Went up to 6.5 at around 10 minutes and stayed there a good while
— From 2.5 to 3.1 miles, I steadily increased it to 7.5 mph, for my max

Required reading

2007-09-10T18:45:00.000-07:00

The author, Dawn Dais, is totally hilarious. She was the consumate couch potato until receiving a Train to End Stroke flyer in the mail (kind of like Team in Training). Her grandfather, who really impacted her life, suffered from complications from stroke until he died, and this was the opportunity for her to raise money for research AND stop being a lazy-A.

There's no BS, rah-rah-you-can-do-it here. Not only does she admit that you have to be mentally challenged to run marathons, but she gets major mileage (ha!) from using that fact as a running joke (I kill me!) throughout the guide. It's really practical, with a list of gear you'll need, a (hilarious) pro/con list to help you decide if a marathon is for you, a training plan, tips and ways to stay motivated.

It's appropriate for first-time runners as well as runnerishness types like me who've been running for a while, but want to take it up a whole. notha. level. There's also a half-marathon training plan, if you decide to take the saner route.

I've been laughing my butt off ever since I picked it up at work. But I loved the one serious part of the book, where the author talks about the impact her grandfather had on her life. She also wrote about attending training info meeting she learned about from the flyer, and about seeing stroke survivors there stand up and commit to training to walk a marathon. She described the feeling at that moment as, Here were people who exert more effort getting ready in the morning than she does in an entire week. If they could find the determination to do it, so could she.

I went from laughing to crying like a bi-polar mess. I wasn't even PMS-ing, so that's saying something. I'm always thanking God for my health, my physical wholeness and my ability to simply move. It's not lost on me for a minute that I'm healthy and robust, and that not everyone is.

When I read about those stroke victims commiting to a marathon, that was the closest I've come to taking seriously the desire to check off "marathon" from my "Before I die" list.

So if you're toying with the idea of exploring-maybe-in-the-future-getting-around-to-starting-up-training-for-that-one-day-marathon (and what runner/runnerish isn't), give this book a looky-look.

Also online:
• The (Non) Runner's Marathon Guide for Women website
• Buy it on Amazon.com

I've been running, I promise

2007-09-10T18:09:00.000-07:00

Man, I'm lazy. Luckily that laziness has only applied to blogging lately, not my running.

A couple of days after my last post (below), I treked back to Cedar Hill, thinking suuuurely the trail was dry by then. The stupid gate was still closed. Sorry, but I don't drive a million miles out of my way to give up that easy. I squeezed around the gate to give the dirt a look-see, and things were fine. By my standards, anyway — Mr. Park Ranger Man might haved argued a bit differently. But it wasn't (too) muddy, so the run went on as scheduled. Whatever guilt I felt from digging my trail running shoes into the ground dissolved after seeing the grooves of more than one set of bike tires criss-crossed into the damp trail.

Since then, the unpredictable and often unrelenting rain's been toying with my ability to run out-of-doors. So I finally decided to bite the bullet and get a Y membership again. I took the Y up on its "Dollar Days" offer, where your sign-up fee is whatever day you sign up on. I.e. Signing up on the 5th of the month = $5 sign up fee. Beats the usual $60 fee, for sure.

So, since my last post, some random runnerywalk notes:

• Ran as fast as I could around the block after work one night, just to see how long it would take. Probably the most painful one-block run I've ever done.

• Went on a walk with my sister, her ex, and Walter, their joint-custody dog, around the block one fine evening.

• Have worked out twice at the Y since getting the membership, including cardio and the lat pull-down, the butterfly, the ab machine (one set for the center and a set working each side), the lower-back (whatever that muscle's called) thing, the bench press-y machine, the hip abduction thing, quad machine, hamstring machine, shoulder press, the dip machine, the bicep thingie, and mat work for the abs: medicine ball stuff, the plank, etc. I'm starting to plan muscle groups on different days now instead of willy-nilly "which machines am I in the mood to use today?"

• DRUM ROLL PLEASE ... And the highlight of the past four weeks is ... I BROKE MY PRIOR 30-MIN. 5K BEST at about 29 minutes! I've been trying to break that stupid 30 minute 5K time ever since I started running the darn things. Granted, it wasn't super-crazy easy and it was on the treadmill, but I hadn't been able to break it there, either, until now. And I completely credit the trail running that I've been doing, too. Those runs have been kicking my butt beyond belief, and my body probably welcomed a "simple" 5K.

Major lesson learned: If I keep going, what seems hard now will be total cake in the future.

Hahaha just kidding

2007-08-18T21:40:00.000-07:00

Intended run date: Saturday, Aug. 19

I talked boifrend into running the Cedar Hill trail with me. We drove alllll the way from Waxahachie to the park, and the stupid trail was closed off because it was wet. I jumped over the fence to see for myself, and I jumped back over with muddy feet. Mmmmfpht. I even bought a big pickle for afterward (salt) and two big bottles of water. I ate the pickle anyway.

So Brian took me to his school to spray paint some bleachers with Coach Weaver, striking a deal that I could work out in the weight room. I did three sets of 10 on the bench press (two 10-pound plates for 60 pounds total), and I did three sets of eight squats with the bar. It's been a long time since I've been on some weights. I miss it.

Don't want some sugar in my bowl

2007-08-18T21:09:00.000-07:00

Run date: Thursday, Aug. 16

I've done really well with the no-sugar thang and on Thursday, it made the difference. It was the same place and same time as Tuesday. But just cause I didn't poop out from sugar doesn't mean I didn't poop from the run itself kicking my butt. Oh, it kicked my butt. It was a beautiful thing.

Bit-o-Honeys = not breakfast of champions

2007-08-15T19:28:00.000-07:00

Runnishness date: Tuesday, Aug. 14

This one only qualifies as runnerishness, at best.

I went back to Cedar Hill State Park to run. But a lot of good it does me when I nosh on four mini Rice Krispy bars, candy from the office manager's desk, three caramel rice cakes, a bowl of chocolate Chex and coffee before the run. Runnerish's energy = forGETit.

I ran a bit on the hike-only trail (dodging two bikers on the path, mind you) and a bit on the dual trail, but after 20 minutes I had to call it quits. It didn't keep me from sweating any less, that's for sure. It's so insulated in the woods; it's like a sauna. Maybe I purged the sugar out of my system. Never mind ... wishful thinking.

This episode really made me assess my sugar consumption. I've known that I have a problem; I get canker sores sometimes from eating so much.

Because it's such a rigmarole to haul from work to the park and get completely changed in the park's bathrooms or in my car, all before the sun sets, I want to take full advantage of being out there. Today I bypassed the candy bowl at work and stayed away from the vending machine. We don't have any ice cream here at the house (thank goodness — weakness alert!), so I don't have to worry about that. I don't drink sugary drinks, so that's not a problem. The only sugar I'm going to try to consume for a while are the naturally occurring kind (fruit, milk, etc.). And maybe still some peanut butter. I need to drink more water on run days, too.

If I'm going to get my butt kicked, it's going to be by a good, hard run. Not by Rice Krispy bars and Air Heads.

Grapevine Lake: Runny and stinky

2007-08-13T21:08:00.000-07:00

Run date: Sunday, Aug. 12

Ok, so I've got the Cedar Hill State Park thing going, but I wanted to give another trail on the NTTR list a whack. The trail that's the most discussed and hailed on the message board is Northshore Trail on Grapevine Lake. It was a Sunday afternoon, so Baybay was going to be with me. Doggone if he didn't agree to go.

(Side note ... I'm listening to Sly and the Family Stone's "Hot Fun in the Summertime" — totally not planned!)

I have a one-word review of this area of the lake and this trail: Dump. I was really surprised. I don't think it was just because a lot of the trail was ravaged by the summer rains, either. The glamorous, sprawling Gaylord Texan was within view, with an equally tony golf course, paint ball facility and Glass Cactus music venue and nightclub right on the lake. Then the lake itself ... total dump.

The shoreline everywhere — where families picnicked, where people swam, where no people were — was chock full of garbage. The air smelled wretched. And the bathrooms, oh the bathrooms. I'm not sure I can do it justice, but let me try. The small, cinder-block structure was divided in two for men and women. You could smell death 10 yards before you approached the entrance, which was in the back. Wasps swarmed all around the opening. But inside ... oh dear. Two stainless steel prison toilets stuck out of the ground. You could see straight down to the waste from the the bowels of the previous 400 people before you. No sinks, trash can, nada. Flies. Old paint peeling from the cinder block walls. Horrid-smelling heat. The smell ... oh the smell. I've been to a couple of developing countries in my life, and no lie — this was quite likely the worst bathroom I've ever been in.

Brian and I finally found the trailhead. It was difficult because so much of the shoreline-hugging trail was under water. We had to find alternate ways through vegetation at times to go around the submerged parts. This often meant a face full of cobweb, which inspired more than a couple of "ARE THEY ON ME? GET THEM OFF ME!" dances. The parts of the trail that were beautiful and worthy were almost disqualified by the bother of just trying to stay on some semblance of a path. Wait-a-minute vines scratched our thighs up pretty good, too. The non-sweat-proof bug spray held up quite nicely, though. I still have a big scary (spider?) bite from Enchanted Rock on my hip, but nada from this run; amazing, since we spent half the time thrashing through fauna.

The blessing of having the forest shade us from the sun was pretty much canceled out by the forest blocking the circulation of wind. I gave up and took off my goofy, neon-orange "TDMN Fit Club" t-shirt and tucked it into the back of my sports bra. Brian, ever body shy, decided to tough it out fully-clothed.

There seemed to be a couple/a few layers of trails, from right on the shoreline to farther away and up on the hill. They all offered steep climbs, rocky descents and an air of sweet-smelling fir (farther away from the stagnant-smelling lake, anyway).

The run itself wasn't too tremendously terrible. But I'll only return to that part of the lake when I hear that the lake level is back to normal and the trail is, well, all there.

Well well, look who ran twice in one week

2007-08-09T23:46:00.001-07:00

Run date: Thursday, Aug. 9

I went back out to Cedar Hill State Park again. This time I got a state park pass (good for getting a whole carload in free — who wants to go camping?), and it made me kinda smile. I changed clothes in the front office bathrooms, so no stealth bra-switch this time ; )

I decided on the same trail area again, the DOBRA-kept trails in the faaaar left corner of the park. This time, though, I decided to run on the combo bike/foot path, and wow — it was amazing. The three distances to choose from were 2.5 miles to, I think 10.5 miles. I was so paranoid that I was going to screw up and accidentally take a wrong turn at Albuquerque somewhere. I was racing against the sun again, and the last thing I wanted was to end up Blair Witching in the woods past dark.

On this particular path, bikers and hikers/runners have to share and play nice. I swear, the only other humans using that area this week at that time of evening have been complete bike-riding spares. They're all guys in their mid-20s to mid-30s, slightly bloated from too many trips to Sherlock's and maxin' like they're the Lance of the mountain bike path. You know how I'm merely runnerish at this point? Yeah, these guys were the bike equivalent at that. At first I thought it was precious, then by tonight it was just old.

I would keep an ear out for bike noises behind me so I could make sure I had time to stand off to the side and let them pass, trying to be a responsible trail-sharer. I heard two guys coming, but they were still a ways away, and one guy says to the other "Dude, why you slowing down?" And the other was like "*SIGH* Because I have a RUNNER up ahead of me. *SIGH*" I was like, Whatever, you entitled tool.

Anyway, they passed, we all said hello, and the run went on. And on and on and on.

I was enjoying myself, but it started kicking my butt after a while. That trail is full of up-and-down drama, with sneaky roots galore. I had to stop several times on this one. When I think I'm about to die and I'm begging God to please please please help me find the trailhead, that's good runnery times.

I'm baaaaack.

2007-08-06T19:57:00.000-07:00

Run date: Monday, Aug. 6

Two stars finally aligned, and I finally got my butt back on the trail. First, it's stopped raining and started actually behaving like a Texas summer for once. Second, boyfriance and I just got back from a Hill Country excursion and the hiking at Enchanted Rock reignited my resolve to go from runnerishness to runner again.

I got off work an hour later than I'd planned today, but it was finally a dry day and I wasn't going to put off a trip to Cedar Hill State Park yet again because of The Man.

I went to the farthest corner of the park, where the DORBA trails are. I still had to change from my work clothes to runny clothes, so I hunkered down as best I could and changed as modestly as possible. Tops and bottoms aren't even the big deal. It's the stupid bra-to-sports bra switchout that's always the hardest. I've pulled a tricep and gotten a crick in my neck before while trying to change them out underneath my shirt. Stupid boobs.

aNyWaYs ...There's a trail for biking and hiking and one for just hiking. I was in a race against the sun at that point, so I chose the (presumably) shorter hiking trail. I was so excited — I was finally running again gotdangit! — when one of my biggest trail running fears presented itself in less than five minutes.

I'd temporarily forgotten that trail running is about the beautiful native grasses, the jutting roots, the twists and turns, the gorgeous sunset, the lake ... and the spider webs. Yes, spiders like to connect their webs from one side of the trail to the other, and you'll catch a face full of one if you don't stay hyper-aware as you run. Luckily, this spider web didn't span the width of the exceptionally narrow trail. If it did, I would have totally soiled myself. It was situated on some branches just to the right of me and I would have never noticed it except for its gigantic owner. No lie, this spider. was. massive.

As I blew by it, I immediately came to a screeching halt. I promptly performed a high-stepping teetee dance, chanting "Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus" (he knows how scurred of spiders I am). I was too scared to keep running — what if there are more? — but too scared to turn around and run the opposite direction, because that meant having to pass Momma again. So instead I stared at her for a minute to get a gague of her size. I tell with nary a shred of exaggeration that the tri-colored girl was the size of my fist.

It was hard to thoroughly enjoy the rest of my run because I was in Spider Alert mode. I just kept looking as far ahead of me as I could and reminding myself whose house I was in.

If you ever begin to forget who was here first, nature will help you remember.

Running to beat sunset is always a good workout. The fear of finding yourself in the woods at nightfall (in Spider Land, no less) creates an awesome amount of adrenaline. Plus, the grasses and branches that leaned into the trail ... I was clearing them like hurdles. Seeing Ms. Spider reminded me that I was sharing quite a bit of space with ticks and other critters I'd like my skin to stay strangers with.

I was totally relieved see the parking lot when I emerged from the woods. I apparently still had a bit of light left, though, because bikers were still arriving for a ride.

On the drive back to the park entrance, I spotted a blocked-off road that lead to park rangers' quarters (or something like that). It had this slight rise to it, and I simply liked how it looked. I pulled over, put on my hazards and ran down and back.

For some reason, doing this made me feel like I made up for being such a weiner about the spider. It doesn't make sense how doing an extra 10 minute run would make up for acting a fool in the woods like the Blair Witch Project, but it felt like it did.

When I got home, I also did the supaman ab thing for 60 seconds and the plank ab thing for another 60 seconds. Just so I could say I did.

Ain't nothing to see here, folks

2007-07-17T21:08:00.000-07:00

More of doing-everything-except-running. And not much of that, even. Boyboy learned a few exercises in his kinesiology class, and I asked him to teach me. Some new, some not. The plank, the Superman and old fashioned crunches for the tumtum; lunges for the boo-tay and quads; old fashioned push-ups for the top half. So at least I've been doing those, plus lots of stretching. This getting home at 7 and 8 (usually the latter) during the week is totally crimping my walkyrun style. I'll just keep trying to move until I figure something out.

Getting pushy

2007-07-11T21:12:00.000-07:00

I worked til 9 — count it people, NINE — so that's my big fat no-runny-run excuse today. I did do some yoga and push-ups after work, however. Man, just two, three years ago I could crank out three sets of 20 push-ups (even military, when I needed a challenge) like no biggie. But now ... wow. What a testament to use-it-or-lose-it. I did good just to give two sets of 10, ending with a fast set of 20 on the knees. I thought I was going to keel. But that feeling of working out to physical failure feels good. Even if your current threshhold is practically nada, it's exhilarating to push a physical limit the same as if you were an elite athlete. I may not have run or runny-walked tonight, but on evenings when it's just not going to happen, I'm going to keep moving. At least.

Fraud alert

2007-07-10T22:57:00.000-07:00

I contributed a sample of my workout playlist for this thing in the paper on, well ... workout playlists. "Lifting weights, running hills, hiking, walking" ... oh yes. 'Cause, you know, these are things I do every day. Read down toward the bottom here.

Such a fight.

2007-07-10T22:13:00.000-07:00

No rain excuse. No excuse at all, really. Just ... haven't been running. I went on a blink of a walk with boyfrend yesterday, then for 30 minutes today. Just so I could say I moved. Said-boyfrend helped me with some ab exercises, push-ups and lunges yesterday, too. Gave me that soreness I love. But running? Yeah ...

Rain: Ultimate scapegoat

2007-06-28T19:11:00.000-07:00

Except that it's really, really rainy here right now. Like, not the inconvenient sprinkle or periodic shower we typically get. People dying, scrambling to their roofs-kind of raining. For days in a row, it's been downright unrunnable. I love the rain, but this weather is a deal breaker for someone who's trying to be a trail runner (and is starting from valley-bottom runnerishness). The North Texas Trail Runners Association, which I recently joined but have yet to run with, suggests some trails at Lewisville Lake as some of the best in the area. But guess what lake and surrounding parks are closed for at least two weeks? Yep. Completely flooded. I suppose if I was as hard-core serious about doing this running thing as I want to be, I'd find a way. But for someone fledgling like me, and someone who struggles with motivation in general, torrential rains seem like a good enough reason to take a break.

More walky than runny

2007-06-25T22:30:00.000-07:00

Walk date: Monday, June 25

Back in Waxahachie, land of the flats. I can't really say I had solid intentions of run-running when I got home from work this evening. But I had a couple of calls to make, so I threw on my Asics road runners, grabbed my phone and walked around the block twice just so I could say I did.

Talked with mom about her twin sister. Talked with boyfriance about his day and mine. He offered to help finance getting mom up to New York to see her ill sister — a reluctant runnery partner, but wonderful guy.

And that, my friends, is all she walked.

Hills are our friends

2007-06-25T20:58:00.000-07:00

Runnery date: Sunday, June 24

I like staying at my boyfriend's because he's got great hills around his apartment. I mean, that's not the only reason I like staying with my boyfriend. But you know what I mean.

Yesterday's runishness produced that blissful day-after muscle soreness that I love. That soreness lets me know I actually stretched my limits a bit.

Boyfriance and I started off walking briskly down the street by his apartment, took a right at Green Oaks, and met up with quite possibly the steepest grade in Arlington. That's not saying much. But around here, it counts as steep. We got our elbows moving and hoofed it up the hill, which I love, love, loved.

I think there are three big climbs on that route. The first time we just walked it, and it took us an hour. This time, we ran two of the three hills. But just a bit — I already have to finagle to get boy-f to go with me as it is. He freely offered to accompany me this time, which I liked but didn't let on too much that I did. He may have offered to go, but that didn't cut down on the frowns. He's quite the surly runnishness partner.

When we wrapped back around to his apartment about 45 minutes later, I told him I'd meet him back. I wanted to do a little more walkunning, but on a shorter route. It was getting dark.

I jogged down the hill of the street by his apartment — I hate going downhill — and took the same right at Green Oaks. Instead of heading toward that first steep hill, I took a right into a beautiful neighborhood, hoping there would be an outlet somewhere along the way. I loved how the ascent of tree-lined street seemed to wind into mystery, the sight of which just made me need to turn into that neighborhood, darkness coming or not. I walked until the the street started giving grade, then I began running.

Running uphill feels gorgeous as it is, but even better is being surrounded by beautiful home after home situated on hills steeper than those on my and boyfriance's route. Mature trees everywhere, quiet calm, inconspicuous wealth displayed not by size but by quality. Nice ambiance. I mostly walked when the street was level or downhill, but the sun was really starting to beat me home. And I still had no idea whether this street led anywhere useful.

I picked up the pace and mostly ran the whole last half. The coming darkness is good in that it's like I'm having to outrun some sort of danger. It feels a little like being stalked, a slight fear of finding myself, a female runner who stupidly didn't bring a cell phone or anything helpful in a bind, in a vulnerable situation. Talk about incentive to run run run. It's enough to make me think about making late dusk my runnishness time all the time.

At that point, I not only was running the climbs, but the descents and the flats, too. The sun sunk past the horizon already, and the only light left were the dregs. A tad of fight-or-flight came over me, and I ran like I was being chased. I was thanking God when the neighborhood street wound around and revealed the road I needed to get home. That road is the last big hill before the run-walk is over, and I gave it everything I had.

As I entered my BF's apartment complex, I slowed to a walk. I decided cutting through the pool area would be quicker and a little bit more interesting. Plenty of people were left over in the huge pool area from the day. A group of TexMex folks laughing it up about whatever, a couple still reclining by the pool ... and three people playing volleyball in the sand court. Three! That means they need one more!

Normally when people are playing v-ball out there, I'm with my dude. The surliness would increase a ton-fold if I were to suggest stopping by to see if they need a couple more players, so I typically just don't. But I was alone and I grabbed the moment.

They not-so-enthusiastically aggreed to let me on the court, but I didn't care. I got a few volleys in — including a block and two dirty, sandy dives — before their fourth player came back from an apparent beer run. That was ok, because the boy-f was probably about to call a search party as it was. I thanked them and ran off, my New Balance trail runners in hand. Boy-man was standing outside waiting on me and said he was worried.

He may not be much of a walkyrun partner, but protective, he is.