Snowballing

I saw this on the Distant Runners Facebook page yesterday and cracked up:

First of all, that used to be true for me during my first year of running. Suffice it to say, I totally ate back whatever I ran off and did a bang-up job justifying doing so. I have no problem admitting that because I'm one in a billion people who do it. (It shouldn't be such a secret club given how many members there are. But, I digress.)
This grabbed me, though, because it actually applied to how I feel about my little world right now. I'm in one of those stretches where everything is going on at the same time. So, the more I do, the more I feel is in front of me to still do. You know those times; we all have them, and we all go through them. It has made me tired, but I'm not cranky or down or anything. I'm pretty sure I have running -- not to mention this amount of time I spend praying while running! -- to thank for the can-do attitude!

Ooo, and what has also contributed to my feelings of bleh  right now is that I'm pretty sure Thanksgiving and its fantastic leftovers finally caught up with me! I'm not feeling bad about myself, but I am feeling the effects of the divergences from my normal cuisine which is a nice way of saying some of the crap I have eaten has not contributed to using food as good energy! So, it's time to completely get back on track there just in time to totally mess it up between my birthday and Christmas and New Year's.

It's just where I am right now, and it's not a big deal. The big deal is acknowledging what I feel and why I feel it instead of just assuming I suck (given I just talked yesterday about needing a break) and giving up. No need for that. I just need to weather the current upheave.

Speaking of weather -- there's complete craziness going on across the country with the weather especially in the form of ice!! Runners + ice = potential disaster!! During my first year, I gave running when there were patches of ice under the snow a whirl. I fell down twice. I don't run on ice anymore, and I don't suggest it!! Be safe wherever you are, and I'll see you after tomorrow's very, very cold run!

New Year, New Goal?

Today’s Numbers: Nancy's Days Run: 182 Nancy's 2013 Mileage: 864.3 Elly's 2013 Mileage: 425.5 Money Found For Food Bank: $1.05

Oh, indeed ... It's coming:

It was supposed to be mighty cold this morning, but the forecast changed sort-of-last-minute allowing for one more warmer morning run before heading into many days of really cold. Normally a fan of the cold, I was unexpectedly very happy that I didn't have to bundle up today. I just wasn't in the mood to do so. I think I'm tired ...

Speaking of that, I spent my first half mile this morning finally realizing that it would be a good idea to take a full week off at some point this year ... and, we're running out of year! I'm pretty proud of myself that it took until December for me to start whining about wanting time off, so I call that a victory if I ever heard one! To be honest, I haven't felt the need for more than a few days off after a long race. But, now, I do. And, it sounds awesome!

Ironically, I spent the next couple of miles pondering a new goal. Right now, there's a challenge on the "I Love To Run" Facebook page to run every day in December no matter how far. I've seen these kinds of challenges throughout the year, whether they are running or progressing in some kind of strength training, and I usually blow them off. I guess I'm finally to a point where I'd like to put an "every day" challenge into my routine. (Um, not today, though. Still tired.) I used the last quarter of this year pushing my running goals, and I liked it. I think that's why I'm worn out, but I still liked it. So, once the New Year hits, and I have two Half Marathons to specifically work toward, I'm thinking that's a good time to also start a new "every day" challenge because fitting it in amidst my running schedule will allow me the excuse to start small and build. I have no doubt about keeping whatever is new small because I am very good about holding the running training schedule sacred.

My thoughts? I need to decide among the following options for my use of Rest Days: (a) finally add free weights as a regular, consistent part of my efforts; (b) run at least one mile, or (c) both.

I need to consistently  add free weights to my world. Period. The question is, will I. And, the running at least one mile on Rest Days? First of all, that actually sounds fun. (whuuuuut ?) Second, even one more mile adds at least 100 to my year-end inspire-myself total. That's cool. And, as far as doing both goes, the way I see it is I can run and do weights, do one or do the other just as long as I do something on that day.

Clearly, my thoughts aren't yet together, but I have a few weeks to ponder. I'm a little stunned I'm even considering such nonsense adding to the mix on a day like today when I could easily put my face on the keyboard and fall asleep.

So, there you have that. Oh, and the rest of today's run? It was fab. I nearly doubled my intended distance because I could and because it gives me some wiggle room on Friday's run when I not only have a lot to do that day, but it's also supposed to be pretty wicked cold. Elly was down with it, too, and she minded her manners a little better today (no on-the-run munchies for the hound this morning!)!

No unintended snacks for Elly, but mama
found some money! Another 27 cents!

And, with that, we cruise on into the evening, and we'll see you on tomorrow's Rest Day!

It's a Dog's Run

Today’s Numbers: Nancy's Days Run: 181 Nancy's 2013 Mileage: 858.9 Elly's 2013 Mileage: 420.1 Money Found For Food Bank: $.78

If you ever wanted to see Elly's "I just got busted and am trying to show how sorry I am but am so embarrassed that I can't really look at whom I offended" look, here it is:

It's like this: We were cruising along heading into our third mile when it became immediately necessary for me to make an adjustment to my shoe. This never happens during a run, so, I'll give Elly that it was unchartered territory. I mean, stop and wait? What's a girl to do with herself when she's not the one having the problem?

As I was working with my shoe strings (a feat not as easy as it sounds when I haven't untied nor adjusted them since April), I did feel Elly tug on her leash. But, that's so normal that I didn't even look up.

Then I did. And, she was licking her chops working to get something off of her tongue. Her face was all kinds of happy, so I knew she was trying to eat whatever was in her mouth, not trying to stop from gagging. Having no idea what was in there, not wanting her to accidently gag, and not having any desire to plunge my hand in her mouth to retrieve whatever-it-was, I looked at her and disgustedly said, "Eww! Stop it!" And, the hound immediately spit whatever it was.

It was this:

The girl found part of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. And, she was loving it except for the fact that it seemed to, literally, stick to the roof of her mouth. (That she immediately spit it in reaction to me was pretty funny, though.)

Should I mention I felt another with-a-grand-purpose tug again a half mile later only to turn back and see her, on the run, lick part of a bagel?

Should I further mention that, on the way home, Elly chose to lick almost the entire passenger window? Just thought I'd throw that one out there.

I can't say this was Elly's best outing. Between her attempts to carb load on the fly and the multitude of times she ran either sideways or at a 45-degree angle because whatever noise behind her scared the shivers out of her, well, her morning run wasn't one that afforded her much in terms of internal peace nor cleansing!

But, I found a total of 10 cents and didn't trip over her once, so I call that a success! Let's see if we can turn her running frowns upside down tomorrow! I'll check in and let you know!

Change Is Good. Especially Nickels and Dimes. And, Quarters. And, Pennies ...

For the first hour on this Rest Day, all I could think was how thankful I was that I wasn't running and how awful it sounded to do tomorrow.

Once I was finally completely awake, I had a total turn around and cannot wait to start tomorrow with a good, solid run. Funny how things change.

Speaking of change -- although a completely different kind -- I wanted to report the outcome of the recent Food Bank drive. Last Tuesday, our local chapter collected $62,000!! That's 930,000 pounds of food!!!

Holy cannoli. No pun intended.

'Proud to be a part of that while the quest continues tomorrow ...

I'll check in with the update after the morning run!

Unrecognizable, and I Just Don't Care

Today’s Numbers: Nancy's Days Run: 181 Nancy's 2013 Mileage: 852.9 Elly's 2013 Mileage: 412.1 Money Found For Food Bank: $.68

Okay, today's run was almost unrecognizable as a run. I suppose having a hearty feast two days ago (that I really wanted) and two subsequent days of rest (that I'm pretty certain I needed) didn't not combine to set my running up for substantial success.

To which I say: OH. WELL.

Elly and I still went, we still had fun, and that's all that really matters.

As of yeterday, I planned a 5 1/2 or 6-mile run for today. But, I simply could not peel myself out of bed early enough to do so. On the fly (or, should I say 'from under my cozy covers'), I changed my mind, altered my expectations and decided the 4 miles on my plan was a good start back! My sweet puppy was happy to go no matter the miles, so we took off determined to clock some miles even if we didn't burn up the roads!

We were distracted a handful of times, which only added to our failure to burn anything up, but it was fun. This was distraction number one:

"Can't take a picture right now, mommy.
Talking. Okay ... and, I want extra belly
rubs ... and, more Dentastix ... and, some
kisses ... and, a new bandana ... and ..."

Much later in the route, the theme continued:

Is there a particular reason she looks more
concerned about the fake tree than she does
about the huge, inflatable Santa?

In between random Christmas stops, we checked out the one drive-thru on route and were disappointed. But, about a half mile later, the bounty began. It started with a single penny (hooray!), and I realized finding 36 cents in two days was a great way to reboot the Food Bank fund. Then, we came to a point in our route where I could turn one way heading home, or, I could turn the other and investigate what is often the most random stretch to find money, but it's also been mighty consistent. I don't get to this stretch very often, so I couldn't resist adding a mile to, hopefully, add to the stash.

Spoiler alert: Ba-da-biiiiing !

That's actually the total stash ... I found the other two pennies where I would have run anyway. It's that I found three dimes strewn along the unplanned route that is notable. And, suhhhhh-weeeeet ! Oh, the pine cone? it was little and cute, and I figured Pit Crew #2 would like it. (And, she did.)
I was happy to head back home, though. I'm not kidding when I say this run could barely be classified as one. But, that's how they sometimes go. With nothing huge on the race calendar right now, I chose to enjoy the freedom of requirement, and just be with my dog.

Just a question ... how, exactly, is ending up with a 5-mile run much different from the planned 5 1/2 or 6? It looks like everything worked out how I wanted in spite of my planning!

By the way, for as much as Elly loves me (and, I know she does), she sure perks up at the very possibility that her gal-pal Juli is approaching. We were on our final stretch when someone was jogging toward us on the other side of the road. Elly's ears went PINNNNNGGG!! (that's all I can think of to describe a sudden perk)...

Her head is cocked toward the runner, but her ears had already
fallen a bit before I got a pic. You get the point, though.

... as she clearly thought it was Juli. And, Elly had a point; the person coming toward us did resemble her. However, that that other runner didn't start waving her hands over her head in a very distract-every-driver-around-awesome-friend kind of way when she saw us, so, I knew Elly was about to suffer a case of mistaken identity. She got over it.

No matter how much our run lacked glory or grace, it was still a great way to start the day. That one after Thanksgiving never feels good, anyway. (Getting things ready for Christmas, however, feels awesome ... check out the lights on our tree:)

Are those diffusers awesome or what ?!

So, happy first day of December!! Even if your month didn't start off perfect, I hope it started off in the right direction! I'll see you tomorrow from Rest Day!

Sticking With the Plan

I woke up this morning at 6:30 a.m. and thought I wasn't going to be able to fall back asleep. I even almost got up and conacted Juli to see if her earlier-in-the-week invite to run together this morning was still an option as I'd declined with it being a scheduled Rest Day. I'm glad I resisted the urge as not only did I fall back asleep, but I did so with gusto! Evidently, one more day of chillin' in the morning was just what I needed! While yesterday wasn't chock full of strenuous activity, it was very full of extra activity -- enough to even wear out the busy kitty:

"What."

I do not get a pass tomorrow morning, however, no matter how much I feel like sleeping in again (because I will feel like sleeping in again!). I might want to keep this from last week's Baby Blues comic in mind in the morning:

(side note: This totally caught my eye not just because the dad was talking about sweat, and that made me think of what a sweaty mess running often makes me, but it grabbed me because of the raking theme. I hate raking. I've always hated raking. And, I often had to rake when I was a kid. It sucked. And, there is nothing that could have convinced me it was a worthwhile activity. Come to think of it, there was a time no one could have convinced me running was particularly worthwhile, either. Funny how things change. But, I'm still not raking.)

There's more decorating to do tonight, and there's some running to do in the morning. I'll check in tomorrow to report on both! 'See you then!

Turkey Trax Four Pack!

Today’s Numbers: Nancy's Days Run: 180 Nancy's 2013 Mileage: 847.9 Elly's 2013 Mileage: 407.1 Money Found For Food Bank: $.35 

 

Happy day after Thanksgiving!! Have you recovered form your feast?? Everyone over here is doing just fine after a really nice, cozy, family celebration of all for which we have to be thankful (including our annual Thanksgiving viewing of Home Alone while we eat dessert ... fabulous!!). But, all of that was kick-started with what has become another Thanksgiving tradition for us ... Turkey Trax!! Here's how that went!

 

You don't know this, but at packet pickup, Aaron was talking to another man in line about how wonderful the weather was for the 2012 event. They were right as there was no bundling up required, and no one froze any toes waiting for the event to begin. While listening to them, all I could think was, "That's sooo  not going to be the case this year!!"

 

AND, it wasn't! It was 27-degrees-Brrr !! But, that didn't stop us or the other 700+ people ready to trot!

The boys with their cooked turkey hats ... complete with race
bibs (identifying the safe cooked temperatures ... fun and
educational!)!

Indeed, these were the crafts we did last
night! Our turkeys had bibs announcing
their safe-this-year status with Friday and
Saturday's dates ...

We looked around and were surprised at the lack of festive headwear given what we've seen in the past. Perhaps everyone was too cold to try and look snazzy! There was a father-son duo in the spirit with these, though:

Not only were these hats awesome, but one of the men had on
a shirt that said, "World's Greatest Grandpa." I'd have to agree
he's on the list if he's going to wear that hat in a run!!

And, two women dressed up their dogs:

Look close ... the doggie's tutu are the tail feathers!! AND they
matched their owners! It was very, very clever!

There were two of them, and they were
so excited that they didn't want to sit
very still. You get the idea, though!

Before lining up, we also ran into our unadorned neighbors:

I didn't ask them if I could show their faces. So, I took a second
picture of them from behind. I try to be respectful after all.
I mean, what if he's such a good runner because he's running
from the law? JUST KIDDING.

The man is a frequent participant of the long-distance runs (you might recognize his shirt!?!), and he's one of those runners who can fly  over such a route. For the Turkey Trax, though, he told us he was walking with a group because one of the friends in their pack not only does not run and will not run, but she also told him he should walk with her and just be thankful on this day to have friends. HA!

By the time we lined up to start, both of my big toes were frozen. I distracted myself by taking a few more about-to-start pics. Because it was awesome to do so.

Because ... why not?!

I see no reason not to!

The photo excitement didn't stop just because we started:

Oh ... my ... goodness ... (love her!!)

I have zero recollection of taking this. I really do not pay very
good attention at these things except to not step on nor trip others!

Now, you know how much I love running with my pup, but she is unequivocally uninvited to these events. I not only don't want to deal with her in a crowd, but she doesn't need to be freaked out by it, either. Many dogs at events are generally pretty chill, but this black one was spaz-tastic. And, not in a good way.

For real. Doggie on the right. Get. A. Grip!

We cruised around the pooch pack, and, before I knew it, I was on my way to rebuild the Food Bank donation collection!


It's a QUARTER, baby!!

I caught the quarter out of the corner of my eye and knew I had just enough to time to cruise over and pull out my once-upon-a-time soccer prowess to kick it out of the way of the oncoming pack of runners. I did so with some precision that amazed even myself (seriously ... kicking a coin can result in success or just tripping yourself), and I went to the side to retrieve it. AWESOME way to start the rebuild especially when I later found a dime! Whee!!!

Soon after, we passed the first mile mark:

Look at all of those people trottin' up that
hill ... I hated that hill three years ago.
This year, it's where I found that dime!

Soon after, the temperature seemed to go from woo-whee-brrr to holy-crap-who-turned-up-the-heat ?! Of course, that all turned around again when we turned a whole different direction and caught the frigid wind. (Pneumonia, anyone?) It was all good, though, and how could I ask for a better way to weather the route -- literally -- than with our family four pack? Simply put, I couldn't.

We all skidooed up the last hill, which is the true final push of the route, and cruised around to the end where we all held hands to cross the finish line! Whee!!!


And, look who I found at both the start and the finish?!

Therrrre's Melanie!! She cruised her run!
Here's to another great finish for her
especially because she -- unlike her friend
here -- hates the cold!

Because of the chilly wind, we didn't stick around very long after the run. We got our water bottles, said hello to some pals, and we were on our way to continue our Thanksgiving traditions.

I most definitely do not kid myself into thinking that starting a day of feasting of with a 3-mile run does much-to-anything to counter the day's deliciousness, but I absolutely hold that it's a great tradition we've folded into our Thanksgiving. We all get to do it together.

By the way ... check out the dude on the left ... I'd say that's a picking-up-a-penny pose if I ever saw one!!

For as much fun as that run was, I'm rather confident I'm going to be on my own Sunday morning when my running schedule resumes! We'll see how that pans out, but, in the meantime, I'll check in tomorrow from a bonus holiday Rest Day! Happy continued digesting!