Five random thoughts Friday

1. I haven't run since the race last Saturday.  I have, however, done some form of exercise each day, including a walk yesterday that had 444 steps.  My quads should be ready to go for the hill tomorrow (not).
2. I have been averaging a book a day on my iphone.  Unfortunately, the amount I read is inversely proportional to the amount I sleep.  I'm tired.  For those who asked, I use the Overdrive epub app since that's what my library uses.  I figure if I run out of books from the library, I'll download the kindle app and peruse the free/cheap books on kindle.  I'm too cheap to buy ebooks.  Also, the small screen doesn't bother me at all.  The words are a decent size, you just have to "turn the page" frequently.  And I can read in pretty much any position without the "book" getting heavy. 
3. I'm finally beginning to want to run again.  I've still got some random soreness in my left calf and my right achilles, but I miss running.  This week was just too crazy busy, so I just rolled with it, but it's time to get back on the wagon.
4. I'm 16ish weeks out from the Philly Half Marathon.  I have to decide SOON if I'm going to try to train for it in Vibrams.  I've worn shoes to run for the few runs I've done the last couple of weeks, but I miss my VFFs.  
5. Barefoot Angie is coming to DC again in September.  I'm doing everything I can to move my calendar around so I can meet up and have a training session with her.  If I'm going to run "barefoot", I really ought to do it right.

I've managed to read most of your blogs and even throw out the occasional comment.  I'm really looking forward to life settling down a little bit in August and then my new reality in September when both kids go to school.  My job is heating up these days and having actual daytime to do it would really rock my world.

Oh, the irony

Sarah at Running (to keep up) with a Toddler asked me "What is your favorite distance to run?"

My favorite distance?  10K

I know I'm unusual in that.  Most people don't like it because it's too long to go flat out like a 5k, but too short to consider a true endurance race and take it at an easier pace.  But, I love that distance most of the time.

Why? 

• It's a distance that I can nearly always manage.  Even two weeks after having to take some time off for an injury, I was able to finish one.
• Most of the time, it's a distance I can run strongly for the first five miles and then crush the last mile.  It takes me a couple of miles to truly warm up these days, so I can go out easy and just keep getting faster.  10K is the distance I most frequently negative split.
• It's only an hour out of my morning.  Heck, if it's an early race, I can sometimes get back before the kids even wake up.
• Even when it sucks (did I mention the race I ran last weekend? Yeah), the suffering is manageable.  I could walk/run the last two miles (oh, wait, I did) and still finished in a reasonable time.

Honestly, under normal, non-injured circumstances, I'd be happy to run a 10K every weekend of the year.

Now if I could just pick a course without a hill that will kill me...

Last week...

This week...

Addiction

One of the reasons I put off getting a smart phone is that I was worried that I'd end up spending ALL my time reading blogs, checking email, and playing on facebook.  When I finally broke down and got one because I needed to be able to do work on the run, I stayed away from adding any game apps.  I spent entirely too many hours in grad school playing tetris and I just knew that if I added something like that to my phone, I'd have a really hard time putting the phone down.

And then I found e-books.  My library has a huge selection of books that can be downloaded for free.  Most have waiting lists, but you can put books on hold and you get notified when they are available.  I've currently got four books on my phone.  I find myself hoping for an extra wait at the dentist and long lines at the grocery store.  Kids want to play at the playground for hours?  I'm up for that since I always have a book with me now.

I haven't decided if this is a good or bad thing.  I've always been a voracious reader, but haven't had much time to read since having kids and never seem to have a book with me.  Now I'm reading every chance I get. 

FWIW, I always said I could never stand to give up real books.  Guess I was wrong LOL. 

On the running front, I'm still sore from the race on Saturday.  While I wasn't thrilled with how the run went and I'm not happy about the current state of my fitness, the fact that I nearly passed out at the finish line and that I'm still sore two days later leaves me with no doubt that I left everything on the course.

Wicked awful 10k

Remember that 10k I've been babbling about?  Yeah, I ran that today.  The best thing I can say about the actual run is that I finished.

I'll post a real race report later, but some highlights:

• A wicked hill at the half mile point that I could barely *walk* up - running it was NOT an option
• Legs that were worn out and underfueled and turned into lead at mile 4.  Too bad it was a 10k.
• My slowest 10k ever - 1:04:17

Oh, well, at least I finished it.  Thanks to the hill, I'm not even sure I'll be able to walk in the morning, but at least it's just muscle soreness, not injury.

I have another 10k next Saturday and one more the week after.  My only goals are to finish a little bit faster each time. 

How's your weekend going so far?  Hopefully better than mine.  ;o)

TTT: Hot

1. Virginia is going through a major heatwave right now with some ridiculous humidity. I know some people will run in that kind of weather, but I'm a weather wimp. Give me 20 degrees and snowy and I'll be out there, but 90+ degrees with matching humidity is so not happening. So, I hit the treadmill. In our non-air-conditioned basement. Let's just say you could wring the water out of my hair afterwards.

2. Shoo doesn't seem to mind the heat that's killing the rest of us. He's been biking every day, despite the heat. Thankfully our street is shady and le traffic and I can sit I'm a shady spot and watch him. Based on his current riding, two weeks after learning to ride, I see extreme biking in his future.

3. I currently have a couple of clients training for fall marathons. I've been in close contact this week to work their schedules around the nasty weather. As you might guess I'm more than a little thankful that I'm not training for a marathon myself. Although maybe the running would help with my reverse SAD.

I totally underestimated how difficult it was going to be to get anything done this week with the boys not in camp, so if I seem to not be blogging or commenting, umm, I'm not. I expect things to stay the same until August...

A winner and other random stuff

Thank you all for the awesome questions!  I have tons to write about this summer, assuming I ever have more than five minutes to myself.

The winner of my mini-giveaway is Lauren at The Running Cook, who is the perfect recipient since she's training for her first marathon! Lauren, if you email me quickly at mom2shoo at gmail.com, I can get the package out in the next couple of days.  (Strike while the iron is hot - long time readers will confirm that I'm SLOW when it comes to mailing things...)

In other random news, I ran 5 miles on Sunday.  I ran the first 1.25 miles too fast as I was running and the boys were biking.  Then the next three miles felt good and were all in my pre-injury comfort zone.  The last mile was a different story.  Something tweaked on my left inner knee and kept coming back, even after stopping and stretching.  I'm so over this whole one injury after another thing.

Also randomly, our basement renovation is mostly done and we got the carpets cleaned on Friday (all that's left is a small amount of painting and eventually replacing the huge desk we have down there).  I've spent the better part of yesterday and today going up and down the stairs, putting stuff away.  In the process, I've liberated a whole bunch of cords that weren't actually attached to anything, crashed our entire home network when I liberated a cord that was actually important (oops), and thrown away a mountain of outdated papers, including poorly written college papers and instructions on how to care for a newborn (umm, my youngest is almost 6).    I'm not sure going up and down stairs approximately 1000 times in one day truly constitutes a rest day.

Tomorrow I'll attempt to run again, but since VA is heading into an awful heatwave and the earliest I could run is 9:30am, I may be hitting the treadmill.  Not sure if that's a good or bad thing...

Square One

I realized yesterday when I was out on my 4 mile run that I've ended up pretty much back at square one.  I made myself run at a comfortable pace yesterday so that I could finish the run feeling strong.  My comfortable pace is now a full minute per mile slower than it used to be.  In fact, I ran the half marathon in March at a pace much faster than I completed my four miler yesterday.

And I was tired at the end.  Having a rough 6 weeks has pretty much destroyed my speed AND my endurance.  This does not exactly bode well for my upcoming 10K races, both of which are very hilly. 

I *will* come back from this.  I've started at zero twice before (after each kiddo), so I've BTDT.  I know I can do it.   I know running will get easier.  I know I'll get faster.  I know I'll enjoy it again.  But for now, I'm going to just keep plugging away and doing my best to keep my Achilles happy.

Don't forget - about one more day to enter my giveaway of nuun and Gu.  Just ask me a question!

TTT: Single parenting

Beer Geek travels fairly regularly for work.  It's not as frequently as it used to be, but it's often enough to be a significant part of our lives.  Before kids, I totally embraced the "when the cat's away, the mouse will play" mentality.  I made plans every night with girlfriends to go shopping or the movies or dinner.  It worked well because it fed my very extroverted self while my introvert of a husband was away.  It's totally different now that we have kids.

When Beer Geek is away, I:

1. Eat horribly.  I think I've had one real meal in the last three days and Shoo ate most of that.  The kids get fed their normal stuff, but one of the treats they get when daddy is away is to eat while watching tv (something that NEVER happens when he's home.)  Somehow I never make myself dinner when they do that.  Last night, they had dinner that covered all the food groups.  I had popcorn, a chocolate chip cookie, and a beer.  Yeah.
2. Can't keep to a schedule.  I'm a night owl.  Without my morning person husband here to anchor me to normal hours, I start staying up later and later.  Unfortunately, the boys had camp this week, so I couldn't sleep in.  Needless to say, I'm a bit sleep deprived (as are the boys, since I missed their usual bedtimes every night.)
3. Exercise a lot less.  I have no real excuse for this in general, but this week between the ridiculously hot weather and no one to watch the kids in the evening, I only ran once while he was gone.  I had a nice little weight lifting pattern going on, but totally did nothing this week.  

As you can see, while I WANT my husband to come home because I miss him, I NEED him to come home because I need the structure LOL.  Thankfully, he's flying home this afternoon.

Don't forget to go over to my mini-giveaway and ask me a question for a chance to win some nuun, Gu, and whatever else strikes my fancy.

Also, go sign up for the Bloggy Post Exchange over at Adventures of an Average Athlete!  I'd love to have one of my awesome readers write a guest post over here.

Gotein Winner and "Ask me a ?" giveaway

First off, sorry for the delay on this.  The winner of the Gotein giveaway is...

Brandi at Chronicles of a Mama on the Move.  Brandi, shoot me an email at mom2shoo at gmail.com and I'll get the samples right out.

And now on to the mini-giveaway...

 

I recently discovered that I have a huge collection of Gu, some of which need to be used sooner rather than later.  Since I'm not actually training those kind of miles right now, I have no need for them.  I also got a great deal on some of the new nuun flavors and would like to share one of the flavors with you.   And who knows what all else I'll find in the drawer in the next week...

So, want in on the random giveaway of stuff from my running supplies drawer?  Here's how to enter.

Ask me a question.

That's it.  It can be about running and coaching, it can be about DC, it can be about me, whatever.  

The next few weeks are going to be crazy as I juggle my kids not being in camp, trying to get my running up to speed (or at least distance LOL), and working as many hours as I can manage for my friend.  So, I expect my blog creativity will be at an all time low.  Send me something to talk about LOL.

Giveaway ends Sunday July 17th at midnight.

In random news, I've now run two three mile runs without pain and without soreness afterwards.  In fact, my legs feel the best they have in ages.  The only change I've made (and admittedly it's a big one) is that I'm running in my Saucony Triumphs again.  I'd still like to work on the barefoot running thing, but I REALLY need to be back up and running for my upcoming 10k's and this is what's working right now.  {{{Shrug}}}

Disclaimer:  I paid for all the random stuff that will be given away

Definitely Monday

This morning I woke up to a large popping sound.  As I tried to figure out what had woken me, I looked up and noticed the ceiling fan slowing down.  Yep, we'd lost power.  I immediately got up and grabbed a cup of coffee from the still warm pot.  (Priorities, people!)

Needless to say, this threw my morning for a loop.  I managed to make the boys some breakfast and pack their lunches with minimal opening of the refrigerator, but I forgot to feed myself.  Then I ran them to camp.  By the time I got home, it was a feels like of 90 degrees.  I was going to jump on the treadmill until I realized that needed power.  Duh.

So, I checked my list of ingredients for a successful run:

• hot? yep
• humid? oh yeah
• sunny? yep
• well hydrated? not at all
• fueled? not unless you consider eating the crusts from Shoo's PB&J a good fueling strategy.

Having made sure I'd done everything I could to prepare to run, I headed out into my hilly neighborhood.

Is anyone surprised that it absolutely sucked? LOL.  There was a whole lot of "suck it up, buttercup" and "that which does not kill you makes you stronger".  I reminded myself of what I tell my clients - just getting out there and doing *something* is a step in the right direction. 

It wasn't pretty, but it was a run and it didn't hurt.  And when I got home, there was power.  My day is looking up.  ;o)

How the "mighty" have fallen

I'm not a fast runner.  In the grand scheme of things, there are runners who are faster than me and runners who are slower than me, but no one would ever look at my race times and go "wow, you are speedy."  In general, I'm fine with that.

Two years ago, I had a wonderful spring training season and PRed with two sub-2 hour half marathons.  I was PRing at every distance and seeing high 8s as my average pace at a lot of races.  Then I trained for a a marathon and while my overall pace slowed a bit, my endurance was wonderful.  I ran a strong marathon, only missing my 4:30 goal by a few minutes.  I managed to keep my endurance at the half marathon level and also PRed at the 5k distance, finally breaking 25 minutes and getting second in my age group.

And then it all fell apart.  I think that 5k was where I initially tweaked my achilles.  I ignored it for about 6 more weeks until it was absolutely injured.  Since then I can't seem to go more than a week or two without some part of my legs hurting.  Sometimes it's minor, sometimes (like my calf pain) it takes more to come back.

Today, I ran a really slow, hard, but pain free 3 miles.  It wasn't pretty (I know the 84% humidity played a role in that), but I got it done.

I have two weeks until my 10K race.  I obviously won't be aiming for a PR, but I'm really hoping not to be doing a 6 mile march...

TTT: the non-running edition

Not being able to run for a couple of weeks has had some interesting results, both good and bad.  I'm looking forward to getting back to running, but I definitely have some things to figure out.

1.  Before I hurt my calf, I was waking up every morning extremely stiff.  Seriously stiff.  I felt like I was 80 years old.  My entire lower body ALWAYS hurt a bit and I walked down the stairs each morning like I'd run a hard race the day before.  I wasn't sore like after a marathon, just tight.  I realized this morning that I don't feel that way anymore.  I can walk normally right out of bed.  I've still got a few aches and pains (ah, the joy of aging), but nothing like what was going on.  While I love the concept of barefoot running, I'm beginning to wonder if the fact that I run ALL of my miles on pavement is too much for a completely uncushioned shoe.  I may look for a shoe that has a very small heel to toe drop, but does offer some cushion.  I do know that I ran my one mile the other day in my Mizuno Wave Riders, mostly because I had them on to bike.  Not sure where to go with this, but I must admit it's nice to wake up and feel good in the morning.

2.  As part of my cross training/attempt to stay fit, I've added some weightlifting and toning exercises to my day.  I'm feeling a lot stronger, even with the very limited amount I'm doing.  Right now I'm not worrying about doing a lot or a specific program.  I'm just trying to get back in the habit.  I'm hoping that once the kids start school in the fall, I can add a real strength plan to my fitness repertoire.

3.  The one negative of not running that I'm seeing is that I'm having wicked insomnia.  My life isn't any more stressful or busy than it's been, but it seems to be affecting me more.  I lie awake every night worrying about my kids, money, my job, etc...  This has resulted in me being tired and crabby most days.  I'm exhausted by mid-day, yet as soon as my head hits the pillow, I'm wide awake.  I'm hoping that adding running back in will help with this.

All in all, I'm surviving the lack of running, but I will be happy to add it back in soon.  Now if I can just keep up the other activities once I start back up...

Mostly Wordless Wednesday: my ride

It's ok. You can make fun of me. At least the rust is holding it all together...

On the bright side, I rode 1.25 miles yesterday AND ran 1 mile.  The mini-est brick ever, but there was NO pain!  Woot!

Lemonade

I've decided to make lemonade out of lemons.  I'm still not running, but I've decided that this is a good week to take a break.

I've been riding my bike with the boys.  As all of our confidence has increased, we've ventured out of our little quiet neighborhood.  My mileage is nothing to be impressed by, but I'm getting in about an hour a day with them and that's about all my, ahem, girly bits can handle right now.  How do you people do this for long periods of time?  The bike I'm riding is old and rickety, so I've promised myself a new one if we keep up the regular riding.  Let me just say that the bike stores scare me.  ;o)

Last night, we did sparklers and fireworks in our yard because the boys were pretty wiped from a three day weekend and there was no way I was letting Shoo stay up late again.

Since this is one of our few weeks with no organized activities, the boys and I are heading to Wolf Trap for the kids' performance.  I've always wanted to go, but this is the first year tickets didn't sell out way in advance for the day I wanted.  I'll be sure to take pics and write a review for tomorrow.

Speaking of reviews, don't forget my Gotein review and giveaway.  It ends Friday and it's really low entry right now!

And I'm nearing 400 followers!  Welcome to all my new followers!  I'm trying to get around to saying hi to everyone.  Reading, but not a follower?  Follow 'cause when I hit 400, I'll do a giveaway!

Happy Fourth of July!

And happy birthday, Mom!  Hope you are enjoying your trip to the Ukraine!

We've had a busy few days here.  We've had "fireworks" in the form of lots of lightning and thunder (accompanied by tons of rain that our plants desperately needed).  We've also had a few driveway fireworks with neighbors and plan to have some more of those tonight since we can't quite see the National fireworks from here, nor can we see the local country clubs fireworks.

Shoo has also learned to ride a bike and Jones, Shoo and I spent a half hour or so riding around the streets by our house practicing yesterday.  And, yes, I needed to practice too, since it was only the second time I'd been on a bike in at least 10 years (and I think the third time in 20 years, oy).  So excited that we'll be able to bike to the boys' school in the fall!

Have a happy and safe 4th of July celebration!

Gotein Review and Giveaway

When Gotein first approached me to try out there product, my initial reaction was "no thanks!" I don't like to drink my calories. I also have "issues" with liquid that has any thickness to it. (Seriously - my milkshakes need to be completely melted if I'm going to drink them. Otherwise, I have to use a spoon. Like I said, I have issues.) But, I started hearing good things about them around the web and hey, they were free, so I figured if I hated them I could just throw them away...

Here's what Gotein has to say:

The most common question is when and why do I take protein???

1.) Take Gotein as a snack between meals to hold you over.

2.) Gotein taken with a piece of fruit or a yogurt can be used as a meal replacement.

3.) Drink Gotein 60-90 minutes before a meal to suppress your appetite.

4.) Mix a Gotein as you're walking away from your workout to repair micro tares in your muscle tissue due to your workout.

 5.) Gotein is low in carbohydrates and high in protein. Generally we consume carbohydrates with every meal, however most of our meals lack in protein. Ideally in this case take Gotein to meet your daily recommended protein consumption. RDA says consume 30% of your body weight a day in protein.

 6.) Late night cravings….take a Gotein. The best excuse for not taking care of your health is “I don’t have time”…Gotein has solved your problem. Gotein is an on the go option for those of us that don’t have time!.

 Whether you are an athlete with a hectic training regimen or someone with a busy day to day schedule, Gotein is a perfect protein supplement for you.  Designed to mix in a standard 16.9 oz water bottle, Gotein is a portable source of protein for any individual.  Simply add a stick of Gotein to a standard 16.9 oz bottle of water, shake and then enjoy.  Containing only 100 lean calories, Gotein provides 17 grams of protein and is the only protein drink mix that offers 24 of the essential vitamins and minerals needed to fuel the body.  Gotein is truly the perfect low carbohydrate, low calorie protein supplement for those individuals looking to maintain a healthy diet balance throughout the day.



So, the other day,  I was in a hurry to go pick up kids and hadn't eaten and was starving.  I normally would have grabbed a handful of almonds, but I knew I was going to be eating lunch in a few minutes, so I didn't want that many calories (I can never eat just a few).  I decided to give the chocolate a try.  I tossed it in my handheld with some undetermined amount of water, shook it up, and headed out the door.  And it was pretty good.  The flavor was decent, the consistency didn't bother me, and I found it refreshing.  The best part was that 110 calories allowed me to pick up the kids and get home and make a healthy lunch without my usual "shovel food in as fast as I can" that happens when I get too hungry.

Would I buy it?  I know it's expensive, but I may actually buy some to have for those kind of occasions.  I've used the other two flavors recently as a mid afternoon snack and found that they really help me not nibble mindlessly while hanging out in the dining room helping Jones with homework.  It's certainly not going to be an every day thing and I still prefer to eat my calories, but I know there will be times when it will come in handy.  (One recommendation?  Use the right amount of water.  I tend to use way more water than things call for because I use any excuse I can to get more water in.  When I did that with the chocolate, it was kind of gross...)

Want to try it out?  I have one of each flavor to send to a lucky winner.  Here's how to enter:

1.  Become a follower of MCM Mama and leave a comment.
2.  Become a facebook follower of MCM Mama and leave a comment.
3.  Become a facebook follower of Gotein and leave a comment.
4.  Mention it on your blog, facebook, twitter.  Wear it on a t-sthirt in a race.  Skywrite it. Leave a comment.  ;o)  (If you wear a t-shirt or skywrite, I SO want a picture LOL).

Giveaway ends July 8th at midnight.

Disclaimer:  Gotein sent me samples to try and also to giveaway free of charge.  Opinions are my own.  Trust me, if it had made me gag, I would have totally shared that with you.  Probably with pictures...