Random Stuff

This post is a conglomeration of everything that's been going on with running over the past few weeks. It's not that I haven't had anything to say, it's that my computer crashed and I don't like typing on the iPad!

It's funny; I still don't think of myself as a real runner. And now I'm at a point where other people will say that they're runners, and I ask them a follow-up question and realize that they only run like, 2-3 miles at a time. My shortest runs are now longer than 2 miles. However, I don't question their legitimacy as a runner, only my own. I think the problem is that I hang out with too many marathoners and I need to not compare myself to them.

My friend Anne and I are both training for this half marathon in March. She texted me one day about how cold it was during her run, and I was like, "That's what makes you hardcore!" Her response was that being hardcore was not fun. And it's true- in the moment, it totally sucks! But it reminded me of the quote below. (Blogging from the iPad is also a pain because it won't let me put pictures wherever I want.)

I hung out with some friends from high school (actually, more like elementary school) the other day. The first thing everyone said to me was, "OMG, tell me about the running!" They all have stories about me trying to coerce them into walking the mile with me in PE class, or even smoking a cigarette one time when I was supposed to be walking the mile. They all agree that hell must have frozen over.

Tomorrow I leave for FreezeFest! So excited. But yesterday I realized something. The reason I originally started running was to build endurance for canyoneering. That was all I thought about when I first started running. But I haven't thought about that in a while! It just occurred to me that soon I'll get to see if the running has paid off. I totally lost sight of my original goal and just became consumed with running for the joy of running! In fact, when I got those airline vouchers last week, my first thought was Disney Princess Half Marathon, not canyoneering trip! Oh dear heaven, where are my priorities? The funny thing is that I don't think the running is going to help me with those difficult approaches... I got all out of breath last week from climbing the stairs to the L.

Margaret got me a pretty amazing Christmas gift. I always thought those fanny packs were so dorky, but after my 7 mile long run, I was getting a little thirsty! This Saturday I'll be running 9 miles in the desert, so hydration is a must! Not to mention that I feel like having this fanny pack makes me at least look like a legit runner! And Margaret said these are special socks that keep you from getting blisters- I didn't know you needed special socks. I was also just reading about compression socks, and now I'm wondering about those.... I seriously need a coach to guide me through all this stuff! I started running because I thought it was so simple.... Boy, was I wrong about that one!

Running Fashion

The top picture is how I want to look while running in the cold. The bottom picture is much closer to how I actually look/feel.

I have a headband to keep my ears warm, but it's too wide and I think it makes me look like a weirdo.

I wear a tee shirt or tank top underneath a technical running shirt. But the end of the run, the sleeves are covered in snot, despite the tissues I keep in my bra. My arms are also getting cold. Not sure what to do about this... Do I need two long sleeved shirts?? If so, what kind of fabric should the base layer be?

My bottom half is where things really get ridiculous. I got a pair of North Face long underwear (or are they tights? Is there a difference?). They definitely kept my legs nice and warm today! But I don't know how to wear them. I mean, you're not supposed to wear them by themselves, right? And even if you were, I just couldn't do that. Nobody needs to see me running around in just tights. So I wore my black capris over them today, and it looked SO stupid. I felt just like Joey in that picture. I need advice!

My shoes make the ensemble even more hideous. They are just ugly. That's all there is to it. All black with white laces. It was the cheapest pair I could find. Although, while I was running today, I had the idea that I could possibly make them better looking with some fun shoelaces. So I might try that. But shoelaces aren't going to fully solve my dilemma.

As my parents would say, I look like a Bolingbrook housewife.

I had no idea dressing for running would be so complicated! I need like, a $1000 gift card to Lululemon, and a personal shopper to tell me how to wear all this stuff.

Running Playlist Update

Music is vital to my running. If I'm bored with my music, I'm unmotivated to run. Some people say they can lose themselves in their thoughts while running. That happens to me when I'm hiking or canyoneering, but I have yet to experience that during a run. I've heard about people thinking about work during runs to de-stress... This actually creates MORE stress for me because I don't have any post-its with me to jot down my ideas/ to-do list. (If you see my desk at work, the post-its are outta control.) Anyway, I digress.

I found a link to this website on Pinterest, and it's given me so many great song ideas:

http://theruniverse.com/2012/05/the-runiverse-summer-playlist/

For example, I had never even considered CCR's version of "Good Golly Miss Molly" as a running song, but it totally rocks! And this inspired me to add some JD McPherson, which is also great to run to.


(When I first heard "Firebug" over the summer, I thought he was singing "She's my little fire butt..." I sang it this way for a while and was confused as to what the song was saying.")

Other favorite running songs include:

"Troublemaker" by Weezer

"Bootylicious" by Destiny's Child

"99 Problems" by Jay-Z

"Shake it Off" by Florence and the Machine

And this is why I need Weight Watchers in my life.

I scheduled my long run for tonight (Saturday). I am learning that running is a lot like dieting- you have to plan for it. So all day, I knew I had to run tonight.

Normally, when I know I have a long run coming, I am intentional about my diet and drinking water. But today was super busy. As I slipped on my running shoes and headed out the door, I reviewed what I'd eaten today.

Breakfast: Belvita crackers and a Diet Coke

Lunch: Portillo's cheese fries and a Diet Coke

Dinner: Chips and guac from Chipotle and a Diet Coke.

I. Am. F-Ed, I thought to myself.

(My diet is usually not this bad. Honest. I was just really busy and not paying attention today.)

I told myself that even if I made it just 3 miles, that would still be better than nothing. It was worth a try.

And I made it the whole 7 miles. It wasn't even that big of a deal! But I was definitely getting tired near the end. I could tell I was nearing my limit. I ran 7 miles one other time, so I was pretty confident going into tonight's run. But everything after this will be new territory. I'm both excited/nervous about pushing myself to go further!


Oh, and I ran the 7 miles 9 minutes faster than the last time I ran that far (which was about 6 weeks ago). Hell yeah!

Cute boots

This may sound stupid, but there are a lot of days when I have to look at my inspirational  Pinterest board to motivate myself to get out the door.

Tonight this picture really jumped out at me.

I definitely do not love my body.  Probably never will.  No matter how much weight I lose, the stretch marks will never go away.  

But there are parts of my body I do love, and I appreciate them more while I'm running.  

For example, my legs.  

Even when I was thin, my stupid high school ex told me my legs "really weren't my best feature."

In my early 20's, I wanted to buy cute dressy boots, but none would fit over my chunky calves.  (I know there are special ones you can buy, but I didn't want to do that.)

After 40 pounds of weight loss, this winter I thought I'd try it again.

And those stupid boots still wouldn't zip up.

Every single pair I tried on- too small.

I was about to be upset, but then I stopped and thought about it.  

My calves are not fat.  They are ALL muscle.  Muscle gained from climbing mountains, climbing 2,000 feet to Angel's Landing, climbing up nearly vertical slickrock out of canyons.  Muscle from running a 5k, a 10k, and soon, a half marathon.  

Are my legs attractive?  Not really.  But does it bother me?  No way.  

I'd rather be able to climb a mountain than wear cute boots any day.  

Half Marathon Training

I began my half marathon training this week.  Here are my thoughts:

1.  I think it sounds totally bad-ass to say I'm training for a half marathon.

2.  I immediately feel guilty when people look impressed, because Week 1 is so easy- 3 mi, 2 mi, 3 mi, 4 mi.  It's really not a big deal.  I am so tempted to jump ahead, but I'm going to go slow and do this right.  

3.  I still haven't found a half marathon to run yet.  I was going to do the one in Nashville, but Anne said that Mile 2 is all uphill.  No thank you.  I can't afford to travel too far, and I'll be gone all summer.  (OMG, I just thought of something.  This summer, I can go trail running FOR REAL.  That's what started this all.  One of my happiest moments on my trip was an unplanned 5 mile hike I took before dinner one night at King's Canyon NP.  I was way up high on this ridge in the Sierra Nevadas, and the trail was relatively flat.  It wound in and out of pine trees, give me views of the valleys on each side of me.  I was completely alone.  And I just took off running.  My feet felt light, my hair was flying behind me, and I was overwhelmed with joy.  THIS summer, I'll be able to run for more than 30 seconds at a time.  I can't wait.  Now that's all I can think about...)   

(My view while running that day...)

Oh yeah, back to half marathons... There's one in Chicago on March 18 that I might do.  The timing should be perfect; I should be ready by then.  

4.  I feel like I have a lot of nerve to say I'm going to do a half marathon.  Like, who do I think I am?  I am not an athlete.  I will never be good at running.   I need to keep reminding myself- "Eshet Chayil!"

5.  I've had trouble motivating myself to run this week.  That saying about getting yourself out the door being the hardest part is so true!  I'm always glad I did it; I don't know why it's so hard!  I've found that I have to plan for it to be part of my day; it has to be on my schedule.  

6.  I read somewhere that cold weather makes you run faster and scoffed at that.  It didn't make sense to me.  And then, when I did my 3 mile run on Sunday, RunKeeper said my pace was like, 12:30.  Nancy immediately commented on the RunKeeper website, and I told her it was an error.  There was no way I was running that fast.  Maybe a little over 13 min miles, but RunKeeper must have malfunctioned.  Last night, the wind chill was 26 degrees and I had to do 2 miles.  I'm never in a hurry; I always go slow because I'm afraid that, if I go too fast, I won't be able to finish.  So I was taking my time, just enjoying my run (because 2 miles feels so easy now!), and all of a sudden it was done and my pace was 12:17!  What the what?  Apparently RunKeeper has been telling the truth!  I told Jason to watch out because I'm going to kick his ass at our FreezeFest 5k. (Which isn't actually going to happen, I just like to talk about it.  Because a) Why waste energy on running when there are canyons nearby?  b) I don't want a super athlete like Jason seeing me run.  It was embarrassing enough running with Joe!  c) I think there will be hills in Utah!)  Anyway, the point is that I actually don't mind the cold.  Seriously, what has come over me?  I feel like Derek Zoolander:

Running Shoes

I FINALLY got my new running shoes today.

By the time I got home after stopping at UPS, I hardly had any time to run.  (Unless I wanted to be super late to small group a second week in a row.)  But I was dying to try them out, and I did have 15 minutes- just enough time for me to run a mile.

Actually, it was more than enough time, because today my mile only took 12:30!

Okay, I know this is still super slow by most standards.  I probably could have pushed myself harder.  BUT, I actually felt like I could keep up that pace a little longer than the mile, so that was a good sign.  

AND... ZOMG (as Kristin would say), running shoes are amazing.  

My feet felt so light.  And my arch did not hurt at all.  My knees are not achy.  Yes, it was only a mile, but both of those things were bothering me after a mile of running the other day.

And this is with cheap running shoes!  I can't imagine what really nice ones would feel like.  Running is just like hiking... have the right apparel makes a world of difference.

I owe Nina a thank you for being a huge pain in my ass about this.  This was a much better choice than putting the money towards an unpaid parking ticket from June.   

So, within the next few days, I will be starting the half marathon training.  I'm back to feeling like I can do this!