Olathe Half Marathon - The Story

I am sorry for not updating everyone on my Olathe Half Marathon sooner. We are getting ready to list our house so my evenings have been full of unpackings, de-cluttering and of course normal evening chores.

I ran the half marathon last Saturday. My time was 2 hours and 22 minutes with an overall pace of 10:44. It was great and easy. This was also the biggest race I have ever been apart of. All of the races I have done until this one have been only a couple hundred of people. Sometimes I have even placed in my age group, because I was one of the few in my age group. That is going to happen less often since I turned 30 and there are plenty of women 30-40 year old runners. Back to how many people there were I first started in a group faster than I should have been so everyone quickly passed me but I fell into a comfortable pace that I knew I could handle.

One thing about Kansas is that it is humid. I wore capri running pants. I wanted to wear shorts but since Gunnison is cold I have not done a long run in shorts or my running skirt so I went with what I knew would work. At one point I was sweating a lot. I sweat a little bit in Gunnison, but I was sweating more than I ever do in Gunnison.

Around mile 4ish I had to pee and there was a aid station coming up but the line for the porta potty was 4 people deep and I did not want to wait, so I headed into some trees. It saved me some time.

At mile 7 I was getting hungry. Due to driving late at night and go, go, go the next day with family I was really tired the night before and the race started at 7am. I got up at 5am - good thing for moms because when the alarm clock went off at 5am I turned it off so it would not wake Joe up and fell back asleep. The point of my story is that I did wake up super early and I really did not want to eat my normal ceral and peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I had the cereal but no sandwich. At mile 9 they had run out of gatorade but I also saw a women I worked with at McDonald's back in highschool!

I was able to fuel up at the next aid station. Around mile 10 I was getting sore in my hips and I even walked a little bit and stretched some. Finally at mile 11 I told myself that I only had 2 miles left so let's do it. I picked up the pace as much as possible and crossed the finish line strong.

One thing that I do love about finishing is that Mikayla comes out from the crowd and we run across the finish line hand in hand.

Lily and my nephew, Jake, waiting for me to finish.

My sister, Sara, and her husband, Josh looking for me.

Here is my sister, Sara, and me and the girls. My sister ran her first 5K. She ran it at a pace of 10:55, and finished around 34 minutes. She did great.


Instead of me eating the peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Lily did.

I had a great time, I saw parts of Olathe that I never saw as a kid. I would do this race again.

Olathe Half Marathon

I ran the half marathon in Olathe, KS and it was MUCH easier than running the Salida Half Marathon and just easy in general I finished in 2 hours and 22 minutes, 12 minutes faster than the Salida Half marathon. My average pace was 10:44! 15 seconds than my goal pace of 11 minutes per mile.

We are leaving Kansas to go home tomorrow and I will post more info and pictures later this week.

15 Miles

I did it! I ran 15 miles yesterday. I am slowly getting to my marathon goal and I will get there but it takes time. So far 15 miles is the farthest I have ever run and I ran it strong! I felt great for the first 8 miles. Each mile just sailed by and I was still ready to keep going. The last 3 miles were tough though. I had wind the whole time I was running but I kept changing my route up so that I was never going straight into the wind for more than a mile at a time or I had houses around me to help block it. But the last 3 miles I had to run straight into it to get home. Those last three miles were slow, hard and tough. Without the wind I think I would have finished stronger and much faster. It took me 2 hours and 51 minutes with an average pace 11:24.

I might do a couple of small 2 miles runs this week (super slow and easy) and on Saturday I have my half marathon back in Kansas. I am hoping for an average pace of 11 minutes per mile. So we will see. Wish me luck with the race and the drive. I am not looking forward to driving 13 hours with Lily - but hopefully since part of it will be at night she will sleep!

March Miles

I ran a total of 78.94 miles during the month of March for a grand total of 187.44 miles for 2010. I thought that was pretty good until I did the math and if I want to hit 1000 miles 12/31/2010 I am short 60 miles. I got some work to do in the next few months to catch up.

I want to do a 15 mile run this weekend because next weekend I am doing the Olathe Half Marathon. So after this weekend no more running, except maybe a mile here or there.

Then during May there is a local 25K and 50K trail run. I want to do the 25K (about 15 miles). after that I will focus on a local marathon the happens in September or October - plenty of time to get ready!

Healthy Chili Recipe

I just posted a easy and super healthy chili recipe on my food blog here.

Enjoy and happy eating!

Running Rules of Thumb

I get emails from Runner's World Magazine. I came across this article and laughed because it really is true. I really like number 10 the best. I am a runner.

Running Rules of Thumb

1. If you see a porta potty with no line, use it. Even if you don't need to.

2. If you have to ask yourself, Does this driver see me? The answer is no.

3. If you have to ask yourself, Are these shorts too short? The answer is yes.

4. 1 glazed doughnut = 2 miles

5. You rarely regret the runs you do; you almost always regret the runs you skip.

6. Not everyone who looks fast really is, and not everyone who looks slow really is.

7. Nobody has ever watched Chariots of Fire from beginning to end. Not even the people who made it.

8. You can never have too many safety pins on your gym bag.

9. Running any given route in the rain makes you feel 50 percent more hard-core than covering the same route on a sunny day.

10. If you care even a little about being called a jogger versus a runner, you're a runner.

Slow, Easy, Great Run

Yesterday on my lunch hour I was able to get in a trail run! Yea!! I was so excited and it was so warm (30 degrees and climbing). I only ran into a few spots of mud. Another thing I did was turn off of the Ipod and let myself get carried away in daydreams as I ran. I use to do this a lot more but lately my runs have been all about, miles, pace, speed intervals, hill, etc.... I haven't just run in a long time and it was so perfect and wonderful. My pace was very slow but still it was great.

Baking Cooking Baking

This weekend I spent many hours in my kitchen and loving it. I made heathly foods for my family.

I made:

Turkey Chilli
Applesauce
Yogurt
Banana Pudding (ok this one is not heathly)
Whole Wheat Corn Bread with ground flax seed
Chicken and Veggie Soup
Whole Wheat Banana Bread with ground flax seed
Whole Wheat Bread
Whole Wheat Sour Dough Bread Bowls

If you want the recipes, leave me a comment and I will post them on my food blog.

Run When You Can

In order to make ends meat I have three jobs. I work a full time job as a paralegal, I am a bookkeeper for a property management company and I also clean for the same property management company. The nice thing about doing the books and the cleaning is that I can do it on my own time. Sometimes I use my lunch hour to do the books or a part of a cleaning job.

That is what happened on Tuesday this week. I really wanted to get some running in so I did it in three different segements. Durning my lunch hour I managed to run a 1/2 mile on my way from work to a cleaning job, did most of the cleaning job, then managed to run another 1 mile or so and finally made it back to work on time. Then after work I did another 2.5 miles and was able to finish the day with a total of 4.1 miles. I don't breaking my runs up but sometimes as a busy working momyou just have to adjust your schedule to get some running time in. I did remember how much I use to love running after work, but with kid that is next to impossible for me. Luckily on most days I can run a full hour on my lunch break.

Today I do plan on running to a house, spraying the oven down, finishing my run and then after the kids are in bed heading back to that house to finish cleaning it. Now if only all of this cleaning would help me lose a pound or two I would be set!

Trails - Not Quite Yet

I run because I love hiking.

Ever since I was a little kid I have loved going for a hike. I was always up for a nature walk, a walk around a lake or park or whatever. If it is was in the woods, on a trail, I was there. As I started working out more and more I started running because running is a good way to burn a lot of calories quickly. I eventually started trail running and that was when I fell in love with the sport. I only run to trail run. I HATE running on the roads. Give me a trail and I am as happy as as can be.

Where I work it is a short run to a recreational area with trails everywhere. They are slowly melting and slowly drying out - but not quite enough for a great run. I headed there for my lunch run yesterday and it started off great. I had a huge smile on because it was so fun. Initially the mud was fun too. But the mud and then the snow got old so I headed out to a dirt road and eventually back to work. It was slow going and I only ran a little over 4 miles at lunch today but it was FUN!

Why Why Why

Please take a minute to read this article on msnbc.com

Now that you have read it - why, why, why on earth would someone strive to be the fattest women on earth????? What is wrong with her? What is going on inside that sick little mind? Also, great example she is for her daughter.

I also loved the part where, even through she cannot walk around like you and I because of how fat she is, she claims to be healthy. If you cannot walk due to your weight, you are NOT healthy.

I just don't get it.

HGTV 2010 Dream Home

Does anyone recognize this picture? If so, it is probably because you entered the HGTV 2010 Dream Home Giveaway. I was entering every single day and I was determined that I was going to win. I was going to change my blog to New Mexico Mama and unlike every other dream home winner we were going to live there. I love the idea of New Mexico, especially after dealing with the cold, cold winters of Gunnison.

Well, since my blog's name is still Colorado Mama it was not meant to be and someone else one. I was hoping until the last minute that they would show up in our driveway or at work to tell us we won.

Still, how cool would it have been to live in this house. Wide, open beautiful views of the mountain, mild winters, the parents and in-laws have their own space, 6 miles of trails around the neighborhood, and a big city less than an hour away. Perfect! Maybe we will have to move to the area anyway!

Half Marathon - Check

Today I went over to Salida and ran the Run Through Time Half Marathon. At the starting area I was upset because my Ipod was not working. I am thinking someone (Mikayla) hit too many buttons on the computer last night and deleted the songs of it.

I started the race with a friend of mine. She was just going to do the 2 mile fun run, but it was nice to have her the first first mile. Then the real work began. The entire 6.5 miles were uphill. We climb about 2000 feet in elevation. This was no easy run and many of us were walking it. I thought to myself quite a few times, this is suppose to be a running race not a walking race. Around mile 4 I found a new wind and the hills were not as big and I was able to run quite a bit more. My average pace to the turnaround was a whopping 13 minutes per mile!

Once I hit the turnaround the fun started because it was all downhill. What I tell myself many times is that what goes up, must come down. For the first 3 or 4 miles I was averaging 9 to 9:30 minutes per mile. Around mile 10 I was starting to feel the miles and the pounding. My legs were hurting, I was feeling some blisters (I am still breaking in my new shoes) and at this point I really wanted my Ipod. I needed some good heart pounding songs to get me through the pain. But instead I had the beautiful scenery to look at. I was in pine trees, looking over Salida and these huge 14ers' were towering above them with snow on top. (Sorry no picture since everyone forgot the camera).

I finished in 2 hours and 34 minutes. My average pace on the uphill was 13 minutes per mile and on the downhill was 10:30 minutes per mile. Overall was 11:38 pace. I am hoping for my next half marathon in Olathe, KS to have a pace of 11 minutes per mile or faster. It is in Kansas so no hills or very minor hills for this one.

Half Marathon

Tomorrow bright and early I am headed over to Salida, Colorado (about 1.5 hours away) for their Run Through Time. This was a last minute decision and my friend, Sherri, is coming with me to do the 2 mile race. It will be fun, WARM, and on fire roads that I have never run before. I can't wait - wish me luck!

I'm Ready for Some Trail Running

I am getting sick and tired of running the good ol' streets of Gunnison. Gunnison is not a very big town so I have probably run every street in town at least once, if not 10 times this past winter. The trails are calling me but yet they are not ready to be run on. I tried today. I got to the closet trail to work and I had three different ways to go, I choose to go straight up this HUGE hill because the was the only way that was snow free. Big mistake because the hill was so big I ended up walking most of it and then I had more snow on top, so much that I could not run I walked it. I finally wound my way down and then I found a short 0.20 trail with NO snow! It was so much fun and I LOVED it. Well then I was done and had to do some more boring miles on the road and in the wind.

Winter I am OVER you and snow - I want you MELTED NOW!!

Unfortunately I have at least one month, maybe 2 more to go because all of the trails are ready to really be run on.

Asics Gel Trail Sensor 2 - Update

Well, I figured out how to wear the shoes without pain. I re-did the laces and skipped an inner lacing and that seems to have solved the problem. I can wear them with no pain. I have not taken them on a run yet because I just figured this out on Monday. I will give the "new" shoes a trial run tomorrow to see how the new lacing works.

13.1 Miles

Yep I did it. I finally ran a half marathon and it was tough. The run started out hard and I really wanted to quit but I kept at it. I had a good mile, a bad mile, a good mile, a forced mile and I am sure you get the point. Once I finally hit 10 miles I knew I could do another 3.1 miles. My total time gone from home was 2 hours and 45 minutes and my total running time as 2 hours and 32 minutes. My average overall pace was 13.38 per mile. Super slow, but in a race I know I will do much better. I also learned that I am not ready for the marathon in April. I will be one day but not right now.

One thing to note is that I never have pain after a long run. I might be a little sore but really nothing to talk about. When I woke up on Monday whenever I would be walking and making a right turn at the same time my knee really hurt. Then at lunch I set out to do an easy slow run on my lunch hour and I could barely make it 10 feet running without feeling this hurting - cannot run through the pain feeling. So I walked back to the office I went do work on some cleaning jobs.

Today I have not felt any pain at all and I am planning on running tomorrow to see how the ol' knee feels. It is also my right knee that I have no issue with so it makes me wonder. It also makes me realize that I am not in my 20's any more. Getting old sucks and I hate it with a passion. If you have found the fountain of youth please let me know because I could sure use some!

I swallowed a rock

Yesterday Mikayla, my 4 1/2 year old, walked up to me with her eyes full of tears and said, "I swallowed a rock and it was purple." I first asked her if she could feel it in her throat and she said no and she could swallow and drink just fine. I said, oh well you will just pooped it out.

Then Dad got involved. Instead of just brushing it off and ignoring the situation (the let's see what happens and what she thinks of on her own approach) he told her that her stomache might hurt and she may feel uncomfortable and then he brought it up through out the day.

Last night we had dinner and Mikayla was very tired and moody. She ate very little at dinner and then she laid down on the couch for a little bit. Shortly there after she started crying and gaging like she was going to throw up so I decided that we should take her to the hospital to get her checked out. I was worried that she would throw up and the rock would come up and choke her.

At the hospital they took an X-ray and there was the rock, sitting in her tummy. They said it was in her small intestines and at this point will just pass right through. So now we are on poop watch and if we don't see it we are going to take her to the hospital late this afternoon for another X-ray to see if it is still there or not.

You know when you need to pay more attention to the kiddos....

Tonight as Joe was getting ready to give the girls a bath he took off Lily's shirt and found this:

Joe said earlier in the day he removed marker from her hands, face, head and hair and I remember washing her hands but we never caught the marker on her tummy!

Asics Gel Trail Sensor 2

With my 2009 tax refund I decided to spend a little bit of that money on new running shoes. These shoes are at least 2 months overdue but due to no money I have not bought a new pair yet. I went to our local store, Treds N Threads. This is an outdoor clothing store. I really wish we had a specialty running shop in town but we don’t and I would have to travel to Denver or Colorado Springs to find one.

I spent about 30 minutes one day and another 20 minutes another day trying to find the perfect shoe. I narrowed it down to two pairs and I decided to buy the Asics Gel Trail Sensor 2. The woman told me there were the Cadillac of Asics and they were on sale for $88.00. I really liked how cushioned they were and I could see a nice easy, soft long run in my future so I bought them.

Now, three runs into it I am not so sure. My first run was about 3 miles and I noticed pain on the top of my foot and I just figured they were tied to tight so I stopped to loosen the laces and then I loosened them too much. Once I took those shoes off I immediately noticed pain on top of my foot. Now after 3 runs I am dealing with pain the day after a run. I have been running every other day to avoid pain during my run.

I did an online search and everyone else loves them, while I am starting to hate them. I can pin point the part of the shoe where the pain is coming from and it is a spot where the laces are different than normal shoes. I wish I had noticed this before I bought them.

I am hoping I just need to break these in some more because I really cannot afford to go and get a new pair. I am starting to hate running shoes!

Kid Air Controller

I am sure many of you read the article or saw this on the Today show this morning:

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/35704222#35704222

It is the story about the air controller who bought his son and daughter to work and allowed them to talk to the planes. I am shocked at the outrage over this. All the dad did was allow his kids to tell the planes exacatly what he would tell them. The dad was in controll the entire time. On the link above one of the speakers stated that it was the equivelent of the dad writing an email and letting his kid hit send.

I think as Americas we need to spend our days worrying about things that matter instead of small things like this.

Warm and Sunny Days

Today is beautiful and the sun is out in full force. I miss the sun. Normally in Colorado it is always sunny that I crave a cloudy day once in a while but lately the sun has been missing.

Today I ran my fastest 5K yet! I did it 20 seconds faster than my last fastest 5k. My time was 27 minutes and 43 seconds and my overall pace was 8:57!! Yea me! I am getting faster and stronger the more I run. I use to run just to run but training for something has given me the encouragement to run faster and longer and get stronger overall.

Two Grain and Bean Salad

Here is another yummy and super healthy recipe I posted on by food blog.

Two Grain and White Bean Salad.

Healthy Version of PB&J

Check out this link to my food blog to read about how to make a healthier version of the typcial peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for your kids lunches.

Hills and What Not

Even though I live in the Colorado mountains I live in a valley and finding good hills to run are hard. I use to live in Crested Butte where every run you had to do some hill work wether you wanted to or not.

Here in the Gunnison valley I have a few short steep hills and two long hills to choose from when I want to do hill training. Also, most of my running is done during my lunch hour so if I want to do some hill work in the winter I have two choices. One is a steep hill but it only takes at the very most 3 minutes to get to the top and the other is a longer hill with a gradual climb. It is about 1 mile to the top.

Today I decided to do the long, easy hill during my 6 mile lunch run . The hill is also about 1.5 miles from the office and total I was able to do of 1.5 miles of uphill. I also told myself to keep my time no slower than 11 minutes per mile on the uphill. Well I had a GREAT run and I was able to keep my uphill time at 10:30 or faster. Also my overall average pace was 9:57! I just did my fasted 6 miles ever. I may not be a fast runner but I am getting faster.

I do need to get running more because I really slacked off during the month of February. My miles to date as of 2/28/10 were 108.50 so if I want to hit 1000 miles before the end of the year I really have to get my butt in gear.

I do not like -20 said Tiffany I am

I do not like -20 said Tiffany I am
I do not like it
I do not like it at all said Tiffany I am
I do not like -20 said Tiffany I am

Here it is the end of February when it should be warming up, but nope it was -20 for my bike ride to work this morning. Now how on earth am I suppose to train for a marathon in 6 weeks when I have not even done a half marathon and all of my running days are just too cold outside. I am seeing myself doing a half marathon in March, a half marathon in April and maybe a full in May.

We will see!

Week 2 of the 6 Week Challenge

I did better this week than last week but I did not accomplish everything. I did do two days of weights, I did not swim one day and I did three runs. I really wanted to get 4 runs in but on Friday it was dumping snow. There was no way I was going for a run in that so I went home and did my weight workout.

On Sunday I headed out to do a half marathon. I did not do 13.1 but I did do 10.1 miles, and in addition to just going for a run I was running while it was snowing the whole time. I had ice on my eyebrows, ice on my eyelashes, I was running on snowpacked roads which in the end helped me really slow down and I was able to just keep going.

We got our tax refund on Friday and I have already been shoe shopping. I really don't want to purchase a new pairs of shoes on line and I know that I am not going to buy the same pair I have been using. In town there is only really one place to get running shoes (and no they do not specialize in running but there have the best selection in town). I found two pairs that I am going back on Monday with my inserts to see which ones I wanted. I found one pair that I really wanted, mostly for the price tag, $36 - normally they were over $100! But they were too small. We will see what I get tomorrow night.

Awesome Giveaway

Head over to Run Zoe Run for a great giveaway. She is giving away ALL of the following products by Champion:

- Purple Double Dry Seamless Top (size M/L)
- Black Double Dry Fitted (w/ flare) workout pants - either M or L
- Black Double Dry Running Jacket (runs small) - either S, M or L

I am really desperate for new and better quality running gear so no offense but I hope I win this!

Feeling Great

I took the last week off of running because of issues with my left leg. My calf muscle was super, super tight, my heel was hurting from a bone spur (I believe) and I was just not enjoying my runs anymore. Well, rest was just what I needed. I did 6 miles on my lunch break down and I loved every minute of it. No calf pain, very minor pain in my heel that quickly stopped and I had fun. I even managed to hit the trails for a little more than a mile. That really slowed me down since I had to deal with snow, mud and dry trails but it was fun!



I am hoping to get 6 miles in on my lunch the next couple of days, even if it means I get back to work a little late it is worth it!

Week 1 of my 6 Week Challenge

Last week I gave myself a 6 week challenge to do a weight workout twice a week, swim twice a week, and run 4 times per week. So, how did I do week 1 of my challenge? Not so good. I did do 2 weight workouts but I only swam 1 time and I only did 2 runs. In my defense I tried to swim 2 times but the pool I use is also being used by the local middle or high school for PE this month and they were going to be there when I was planning on swimming one day at lunch. Also it has been cold and cloudy lately – not my idea of fun to run in 15 degree weather with cloudy skis. 15 and sunny is so much better.

Hopefully this week will be better and I am finding out it is going to be a struggle to get the swimming in because I hate getting up early.

6 Week Challenge

I have decided to give myself a challenge for six weeks. I really slack off in the strength training department and big time. It has been months since I have lifted a weight or done a lunge. So in addition to my 4 runs per week I am going to do a strength training routine twice a week. The routine that I do combines a lot of upper and lower body moves so in one routine I hit legs, arms, abs and chest.

I am also going to try and swim twice a week because swimming is just good for you. In order to get my swims in that means I have to get up early but I will do my best.

I started this challenge on Monday of this week and it ends on March 21st. This week I have done 2 strength routines and I did swim one time. I only got in two runs so far but I am planning a long run on Sunday. My foot has been bothering me and I am hating running in the cold right now so I decided to take a few extra days off to rest my foot and my mind and I will tackle a half marathon on Sunday.

Running

I have not been blogging much this week because this blog is mostly about my running and lately I have not been enjoying it at all. I struggle to get a run in during lunch and here is why I think I am not enjoying my running.

• It is cold outside. I am tired of running when it is cold and my cold I mean 0, 10 or 15 degrees. To me at this point 30 degrees would be a heat wave. Maybe I will try to switch my lunch hour around to a later lunch so it is warmer for my run.
• Snow. There is snow everywhere and I am tired of it. My favorite thing about running is trail running and I have not been able to run on a trail since at least November, maybe even October.
• Gunnison is a small town. That means there are only so many miles I can do before I have to repeat them. If I tried really hard I could get a 10 mile loop in, if I went on the outskirts of every road. After Gunnison there is highway and running on a highway is no fun. For my lunch hour runs they streets are all the same and I hit them all just about once a week. Maybe I should start reading the street signs to keep me occupied while running? I have lived here 12 years and I still cannot tell you exactly where Georgia Avenue or New York Street is.
• I could really use a lunch time running buddy, but I do not have one. It seems as if my friends think I am crazy for running.
• Ok, enough complaining and eventually I will get out of this rut but for now I am hating running. I think I will take the next few days off and just try to get in a long run this weekend.
  

Bone Spurs – Heel Pain

About 12 years ago I blew out my left ACL while skiing. I had recently moved to Gunnison, Colorado to attend college and there was this great ski area called Crested Butte just 30 minutes away. Shortly before Thanksgiving , during Free Ski, I rented a pair of skis and a friend of mine took me up there to give it a try. It had been 5 years since I had last skied. After spending a bit of time on the bunny slope I decided it was time for a longer run. Instead of going up the easy Keystone lift, my friend took me up the Silver Queen figuring we could find an easy way down. Needless to say (not on purpose as she is the sweetest girl ever) she took me down one of the harder runs. It was an icy run and if there are no bumps on it the ski resort calls it a blue run, if there are bumps on it is a black run. Well I of course was not ready for that run and I fell big time. My friend wanted to get ski patrol but I figured I could make it down. I eventually made it to the bottom and back to the car. My left knee was swelling and it was getting harder to walk but I was still able to walk.

The next morning, though I could not walk. I managed to crawl from my dorm room, across the hall to a friend’s room and get her out of bed. With her help I was able to get to the car, even after falling down on the ice – boy was that painful. At the hospital they guessed I had torn my ACL and gave me a knee brace that allowed me to get around without crunches and they told me to call an Orthopedic Surgeon on Monday.

Monday came and I did as I was told. The doctor confirmed the torn ACL, possible torn meniscus, and possible torn MCL. Let’s just say I did a number on my knee. I started physical therapy and eventually surgery was scheduled for March. My mom wanted to came out and help me with everything. She is the best.

Eventually I had the knee surgery and now everything is just fine – or so I think. Ever since I started running long distances, 8 plus miles I have been having issues that relate to my left leg. The Neurma that I blogged about here is on my left foot, the back pain I blogged about here is related to the left side of my body and now I am having heel pain on my left foot. The pain in my heal is worse in the morning and today for the first time I felt it during the beginning of my run but it quickly went away. The heel pain is probably related to Plantar Fasciitis which I have had some minor issues (pain in the morning) in the past. I had X-rays on my feet when the Neuorma started acting up (the doctors where thinking it as a stress fracture a first), the X-rays did show a bone spur on my heel.

It seems as if I can’t get past a certain number of miles without having some pain or some issue. Do anyone of you who do double digits have issues with pain? At this point I am just going to keep going and see what happens. I could probably use a new pair of shoes but at this point that is hard because the money is not in the bank for new shoes.

Cloudy, Cold Gloomy Days

One thing that makes winter running difficult is the cold, cloudy days with snow that is too old laying around. If it was snowing outside I would love it because the beautiful white stuff would be coming down, covering up all of the ugly gray snow and, believe it or not, it would be much warmer outside.

We don’t often have days like this but it still brings me down. I managed a run yesterday in this awful weather and today I decided to head home instead of running. I could not bring myself to go outside in the cold cloudy day for a run. It is a good thing I don’t live in the Midwest anymore where you could go for weeks without seeing the sun. I bet depression is more common in the Midwest than here in the sunny Rocky Mountains. I am feeling depressed and it has only been 2 or 3 days of clouds. Another thing is that when I don’t go for a run I eat a whole lot worse than if I had gone for a run. I am hoping the sun comes out tomorrow but I just checked the weather and it looks like snow/cloudy and gray for the next 10 days – Yuck!

Recovery Sock Giveaway

Tall Mom on the Run is hosting a giveaway for Recovery Socks. I have been dealing with sore legs, sore shins and leg cramps so I could really use a pair of these socks.

Pants

Today I set out for a 4 mile run on my lunch hour. I did not have my Garmin so I was going on time alone and estimating how far I ran. It was cold, 10 degrees and no fun. I hated the first few miles. I have noticed that when it is cold outside I have to pee a lot. Will I finished my 4 miles and headed back to the office to change my clothes. As I was in the bathroom I noticed my pants were on backwards! Good thing they were all black but I am surprised that I had no idea – maybe it was because my legs were freezing anyway and not feeling much!

10 Miles

On Sunday I did my 10 mile long run. It was only about 10 degrees outside when I started and it was cloudy so it made it feel much colder. I also kept having to go to the bathroom. I think it was my subconscious telling me to go inside and warm up. For the run instead of doing an out and back I ran into town and did a 3 mile loop. Then I stopped at the local Laundromat to use their bathroom and warm up. Then I did another 3.5 miles and headed home to use the bathroom again and warm up again. I grabbed my running buddy, Sky and we headed out for the last 3.5 miles together. I don’t think I have ever peed so much while running. Finally, for the last two miles the sun came out and it was beautiful.

My average pace was 10:30 until the last 2 miles because I decided to do a big tough hill which really slowed me down so my average pace for the run at the end was 10:50. Even though I was super cold, running in the snow and my mid-run snack froze in my pocket it was a great run. Next week I am going for 12 miles.

January miles – 61.45.

Lunch Run On Snow Packed Roads

It has been a week since my last run. I have been fighting a horrible cold and still am but I thought I could manage a run at lunch today. My goal was to go as long as it still felt good. I was pretty proud of myself and I was able to do 4.5 miles in a little under 50 minutes which was a slow pace but that is what I needed. Also I was running mostly on snowpacked roads. Even though the roads were snowy it was beautiful. 30 degrees, sun shinning and beautiful blue sky. It was great.

Mel over at Tall Mom on the Run started a year long challenge in January that I was too afraid to go for. The goal is to run 1000 miles during 2010. To break that down that means I have to run 2.74 miles per day. Right now for January I am about 1.1 miles per day off of this average but if I hit an average of 2.74 miles by the end of January I am going to go for it.

Lily is 2 Years Old Today

Lily is 2 years old today. It has been a wild ride the last two years because she was not the easiest baby. She was very difficult, moody, crying, at times it seemed and if anything I did would make her mad. But then she would give me the prettiest smile and I would quickly forget why I was so upset with her. Now at 2 years old she is full of laughter, smiles, hugs, kisses and cuddles. She is quick to get angry or mad but at the same time quick to smile and laugh. She loves to cuddle and is great at comforting her big sister. She loves to play mommy and is always putting diapers on her babies, cuddling her babies and putting them to bed. She also loves to read books and will sit in her room and just look at all the pages of the books. I cannot image life without my little Lily. I love you Lily.

Lily has a cold today and therefore she was moody and did not want her picture taken.

Happy Birthday Little One!


Yum Yum!

Lily is turning 2 tomorrow.

Two years ago I was in labor with Lily. I am not one to have short quick labors, mine labors are in the 20 plus hour category. Little did I know how much this little one would change our lives forever. You can read her birth story here.

5 Minutes For Mom

You may have noticed the button on my sidebar called 5 Minutes for Mom. This button takes you to their giveaway site. While I have not won anything yet they have some great giveaways and some things I might even purchase for my family. I recently entered their Ouch Pouch Giveaway and the Build a Bear Giveaway. So take five minutes for yourself and enter some fun giveaways. Some of their sister sites are 5 Minutes for Special Needs, 5 Minutes for Books, 5 Minutes for Going Green, and 5 Minutes for Parenting.

Giving Blood

I have been donating blood since I was 17 years old. It first started out so I could get out of class in high school. I have never had an issue with giving blood and I feel as if it is my way to help others. We don’t have a lot of money so donating money to charities or organizations is very difficult for us but I am more than happy to give blood.

I went to give blood the other day and everything went fine but then a few days later I came down with a bad cold on Friday and ended up going home a half a day. I have been thinking back and I realized that I tend to get sick shortly after giving blood. I guess giving the pint is enough to lower my immunity and so I get sick. I think from now on I am going to avoid giving blood in the winter when more colds and bugs are flying around and stick to summer giving only. We will see if this helps me stay healthier in the winter.

This cold is also throwing a damper in my marathon training. I hope to be back on target but the later part of the this week but right now I have no energy to go for a run so I am going to lay low, get better and try a run in a few days.

I-Pod Nano Anyone

Juliana at A Blond Walks Into a Blog (don't you love that title!) is hosting a giveaway for an I-Pod Nano. Head over there, enter the giveaway and take a few minutes to check out her blog.

Flood

We live on an island in Colorado. It was created by the Gunnison River and by old ranchers digging irrigation ditches to irrigate the fields. We have high water in the spring but never in January. Well, our property is slowing flooding with water and ice because a little bit further down the river there is an ice dam. Since we have owned this property the water has never flowed this much in January. It might flow a day once in awhile but never for over a week.

Right now the creeks on both sides of the house are flowing and both are above their normal banks. The smaller one and the one closest to our house is about five feet out of its normal banks, more in other places.

In this picture where Mikayla is now is completely under water. Actually of the grass you see is underwater.

Our biggest concern is the bridge. Yesterday the water and ice were touching the bridge and our neighboors put a piece of plywood over the diversion so stop the water which helped for a day. Now everything in front of the tree is underwater. The water has not reached the tree yet but it is only a foot or so away.

This was taken on Friday, the day before the water hit the bridge.

With the plywood over the diversion it has slowed down the small stream but it has also make the bigger steam on the other side of the house rise higher. The only issue with the water on the other side of the house is the garage flooding, which in the history of this house has happened before. Our neighbors also told us that one time in the past 40 or so years the smaller steam shown above jumped its banks, flowed across the yard and went back into the larger stream. I will keep you posted as to what happens. We either need it to get super, super cold and stay cold or we need it to warm up and break up the ice dam on the river.

Long Run

Whenever I go a long run it is on a Sunday. I work Monday through Friday and on Saturdays I clean the house, grocery shop, take the girls to the library, etc... I do not work out at all on Saturdays. On Sunday I wake up 7ish or before, have breakfast, coffee, and eventually a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and then I head out for my long run with my dog Skylar while Joe watches the girls.

This weekend I changed everything around. Mikayla was having a friend over on Sunday from 10am to 2pm so if I wanted to get in a long run (8 miles this weekend) I would have to be home by 10am (which meant being out the door by 8:30am). Also, it has been cold, so I did not really want to leave the house at 8:30 for a long run. I decided to do a run on Saturday instead. First on Friday I did a very fast 5K and then finished my run up at 4.5 miles total. I did not rest on Saturday morning, I did all of my normal running around. I was thinking about going running around 9am but it was still around 5 degrees outside so I did not want to go. Finally in the afternoon after two slices of pizza and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich I headed out. Also, I left Skylar at home because since she got hurt right after Thanksgiving she has not been outside much. At this point I think she has had her stitches out less than a month. That run was one of the very few runs that I hated ever single cotton pickin second of it. I hated the 1/2 mile mark, I hated the 1 mile mark and so on. I forced myself to get to 5.75 miles before I called quits and went inside.

On Sunday I rested and then since today was Martin Luther King day I went for my run instead. I followed my normal routine and I was out the door at 8:50am and yes it was cold. It was about 5 degrees and by the end of my 8 miles it warmed up at 15 but still cold. It was a great run and I loved it. This time Sky joined me as well and she loved every minute of it. I love running with her because she is such a good dog. I don't put a leash on her and by the time we hit the main road she stays right by my side.

I ran the 8 miles at a 10:50 pace. A little bit slower that I have been doing 8 miles but since it has been away I am happy. Next week I will try to tackle 10 miles.

Fastest 5K yet

Today I decided to see how fast I could do a 5K. My time was 28 minutes and 3 seconds, which meant my average pace was 9 minutes and 3 seconds per mile. I know for some this is slow but for me it is fast. A year ago my fastest time for a 5K was a 10 minute mile so I am slowly getting faster.

McDonald's - YUCK

Yesterday I decided not to workout and the really bad part was to have McDonald’s for lunch. Ugg what on earth was I thinking? Yes it tasted good but not oh my goodness good and then afterwards I felt like I had a rock sitting in my stomach and I just did not feel good. How can people eat this stuff on a daily basis in beyond me? Actually, I use to eat McDonald’s everyday when I worked there in high school. We hardly ever have fast food now.

So today I am back on the diet and watching every calories that goes into my mouth and heading out for a run at lunch time. Gotta work all of those calories and fat out of my system because my body does not like that crap.

Marathon Training - 13 weeks to go

As I mentioned here I have a marathon to get ready for. What was I thinking agreeing to do a marathon in April?! Normally not a big deal but now I HAVE to train in 10 to 20 degree weather instead of 30 plus. Also, because of how quickly it is coming up there is no time to slack off!

So yesterday in 10 degree weather I headed out with 2 layers of pants on and three shirts (one of which quickly came off) for a 6 mile run on my lunch hour. I finished in 61 minutes with a pace of 10:15 and for me that is great. I was a little cold on my run but not too bad the worst was coming back to work and not being able to warm up.

The Trailhead Children's Discovery Museum - Crested Butte, Colorado *Giveaway*

I recently blogged about the Trailhead Children's Discovery Museum here. My family and I were there again yesterday. The girls had so much fun while Joe was out skiing. The girls played on the indoor playset, had a puppet show, build things with blocks, played in the dig pit, Mikayla painted a picture while Lily painted her shirt, Lily drew a picture, played in the dark room and so much more. They had a blast.

The Trailhead is a great place for kids and families with so many things to do. The girls kept finding new things to do all the time and they did not even play with everything there.

Now to the giveaway. The Trailhead Museum gave me two free passes to giveaway to my readers. They are good until the end of this ski season. If you are a local who has not been to the Trailhead, or a local who is going to have out of town visitors or a someone who will be in Crested Butte this ski season please leave me a comment and I will draw names on January 3st.

Olathe Marathon

My mom’s New Year’s Resolution is to lose 20 pounds. In order to do this I challenge her to participate in a 5k. The kicker is that I would do it with her. Then my sister chimed in and said if all she has to do is a 5K to get me to come home then she is in for it to! (FYI – I don’t even know when the last time my sister has run a mile – she may be skinny but she is not in shape.) I told Sara, my sister, to make it worth my while, she has to run it, not walk it. The she said well who is going to walk with mom and I said I would. Finally my mom chimed in and said that she will walk it, Sara will run it, Josh, Sara’s husband, will run the half marathon and I will do the full marathon, or at least the half marathon.

So I am back to training no matter how cold it is outside. If I move my lunch hour around a bit I can normally head outside when it is above zero. I don’t know if I really have the time to train for the full marathon. (The race we are doing is the Olathe Marathon on April 10^th.) But I am going to give it a try.

I did a 3 mile run earlier this week and today I headed out for a 5 mile run. When I started running is was 3 outside but by the end it had warmed up 10! I did the run in 51 minutes and it did feel good and I kept a good pace the whole time (around 10:15 per mile). I hope to do a 7 mile run this weekend.

Starting tomorrow I have 13 weeks to get ready!

Running in Warm Weather

I know that everyone's idea of warm weather is different, especially when some people live in the South and others live in the North. I have not been running much lately because it has been below zero. My lunch hour is at 11:30 am and normally it is still below zero at that point so no running for me. But yesterday it warmed up to almost 40 by the end of the day. I took a later lunch at 12:30 and it was 32 outside. Here that is a heat wave! I had a great 3 mile run and I can also tell that I have not run in awhile. As long as it stays this warm I will get in some great runs.

Stuck in a Rut

I have been continuing to exercise but with no motivation. I have been doing smaller workouts – 20 to 30 minutes and I have not been running. It is too cold outside. When I go to lunch it is normally still below zero and I like it to be at least zero before I head outside and yes you read that correctly!

I need to find something to train for, something specific or at least put together a training plan to get me motivated. What do you do when you are in a rut?

I would love to be doing long runs on the weekend but it has to warm up quite a bit before I will go for a full 60 minute run outside. I cannot wait for the really cold part of winter to end. Once we get out of the negative degree days and it warms up to 30 or so I will be able to do a lot more outdoor activities.

New Year's Resolutions - 2010

Happy New Year. It is that time when we all have a fresh start. Here are my New Year's Resolutions:

1 - Lose 5 pounds (I would love to lose more but I would be super happy with 5 pounds. Also if I just firmed everything up, no more arm, belly, butt or thigh jiggle, I would be happy.)

2 - Particiatpe in 1 marathon (I WILL run a marathon this year.)

3 - Participate in 1 triathlon (It I ever want to participate in the Ironman I have to start somewhere!)

4 - Be more financially secure by the end of 2010 (Money has and is always tight in our house - we are paying a mortgage that we cannot afford. I am currently working 3 jobs to help make ends meat and I am determined to be financially more secure by the end of 2010. My measure for this is that we are able to pay all of the bills and have a little bit left over at the end of the month.)

5 - Check point, I plan on checkin in with myself in June to see if I am on track or not.

What are your resolutions for 2010?

Shred - Jillian Michaels

I had Joe buy this for me for Christmas. It was only $9.00 at Wal-mart so I figured why not! I was thinking 30 days of workouts, great. I went home to do it on my lunch hour today and saw that it is 3 levels of workouts, no 30 days of workouts and each workout is only 20 minutes. I thought to myself I will have to do the workouts twice to get in a really good workout. Boy was I wrong. Jillian kicked my butt in only 20 minutes. It was a tough workout but quick enough that as soon as I though ahhhh I can't do this any longer we moved onto the next move. This DVD is awesome.

Since I have not been running as much lately (it is too cold outside - see my post from yesterday!) I have been trying to do other indoor things. I think this DVD will get quite a bit of use over the next few weeks.

Warmth

I am dreaming about moving away from Gunnison to someplace warm - Florida, Hawaii, Costa Rica anyone??? It is only the end of December and it has only been super cold for less than a month now, but I am sick and tired of it. Maybe it is because I have been experiencing these winters for the last 12 years, or maybe it is because I ride my bike to and from work every day so I am in it that much more. Whatever it is I want to move! Joe and Mikayla are both with me. I would love to send Mikayla outside to play but it is too cold. I dream of snow because in order for it to snow it has to warm up. I dream of running outside in one layer of clothes instead of 3! I just dream of it being warm enough to run outside. I have at least one more month of the cold but boy I am ready to move. Anyone in a warmer client need a legal assistant and a real estate agent/property manager?

New Year's Resolution

This is the time of year to re-visit our New Year's Resolutions. Actually it is probably better to do this half way through the year than at the end of the year but let's take a look.

I blogged about my New Year's Resolutions for 2009 here.

I had planned on running a total of 3 marathons in 2009. What was I thinking??? I should have just tried to run one marathon. These did not happen due to injuries in the Spring and Summer. I did through participate in the Mountain Air Marathon events and I ran a 10 mile race. I loved it and had a blast.

The Olympic Triathon did not happen as well but I still want to do that.

I did not participate in the 4th of July Race due to the injuries I was fighting as mentioned above.

This final one was not really listed as a goal but I mentioned it. I did get down to my pre-baby weight of 133.

Stay tuned when I decided what I am going to focus on for 2010!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to you. I hope you are enjoying your day with your family. Now get off of the computer and go have some family time!!!

Run Every Day

I have heard of the people who run every day. They belong to the United States Running Streak Association, Inc. Here is there website: http://runeveryday.com/. In order to join you have to run at least one mile everyday for one year. It just sounds cool to me - I would love to be on that list, they even have people on the list that have been doing this for over 40 years!

I thought I would just try to run everyday for one week. Well day three came and I decided that money is tight (like always) and I should go and spend my lunch hour cleaning and making some extra money instead of running. I am trying to get back into running but it has been slow. Maybe that will be my New Year's Resolution, run every day for one year.

Back to Running - Finally

I have taken about the last two weeks off from running. I had a cold one week and then I got busy with using my lunch hour to make extra money cleaning rentals. The weather has not made me want to go for a run either.

Today I finally got in a run. I felt like cancelling it because it was only 7 degrees outside but I said to just go do it since I had layers and I really needed to get some exercise. The run was great. I think I really enjoyed it because I was just going for a run, I had no have to run at least X number of miles, no I have to do sprint intervals, I have to run at X pace. I just ran to ran and I enjoyed it. I even shed my hat and one of my three shirts!

Hopefully I will get my rear end in gear tomorrow and go again.

Skylar's Stitches

About three weeks ago I blogged here about Skylar getting hurt and needing to get a lot of stitches. Finally, here are the pictures. She was not too happy about her picture being taken or for that matter she hates it when we put the tee-shirts on here. But at least with the tee-shirts we did not have to put the dreaded cone on her head.

She is slowly getting better. She had some of the stitches removed last Tuesday. We were hoping that they would remove all of them but where her drain (after surgery they placed a drain so all of the gunk to drip out all over the house - hence the tee-shirt) was it was not healing so they left the stitches in around the hole. We have been flushing her drain hole twice a day and she had been on a different round of antibiotics. Hopefully she will get the stitches out this week.

$50 American Express Gift Card

Check out Five Minutes For Moms blog and enter to win a $50 Gift Card from American Express. They are giving away 5 of them. The contest ends December 18th.

Trailhead Discovery Museum

Since we had kids Joe is the one who goes skiing while I stay with the girls. Skiing is much more important to Joe than it is to me. I would rather go cross country skiing, running, hiking or whatever. Also since we both work full time the only time Joe has to go skiing is on the weekends. Some of those weekends I head up with Joe and the girls and while he goes skiing I do my best to keep the girls busy. It is hard because it is so cold outside and I wish Crested Butte Mountain Resort had an indoor play area (like the kind you see in malls now) for the girls to play in. Well my prayers have been answered.

The Trailhead Discovery Museum opened its doors this winter. There is a coloring table, art projects, painting section, puppets, the dark room, indoor play ground and a dig pit. It is perfect for the girls because they can both keep themselves busy for hours while Joe goes skiing. The Trailhead is hoping to open a bigger museum in downtown Crested Butte next year. The only downside is the price. They charge $6.00 per person, adults included. I know that they are trying to raise money and it is a tourist town but it would be nice if local parents would not get charged. Even with the price I plan on spending at least one day a month here with the girls.

Cold Bike Ride

This morning it was and still is -20 outside. Yep and I rode my bike to work in that cold weather. What do I wear? First layer is my normal work clothes, then I add ski pants, heavy winter jacket, stocking hat, my hood from my jacket, two pairs of gloves and finally Sorrell snow boots. I have to say that about 1.5 miles into my ride I start to get hot so the hood comes off and the jacket gets unzipped just a little bit to give me more air. Try me though I can't wait for it to snow so it warms up to say oh 20 degrees instead of -20.

Airlines and Children

I spent the last month blogging about diet and exercise and is primarily the point of this blog but I am also a mom to 2 little girls so I also like to talk about them and parenting in general. This blog post came about after reading Metropolitan Mama's blog post here.

Airlines are not kid friendly what so ever. As a parent you have to pack extra carry ones to hold all of your child's toys, snacks, diapers and extra clothes. Then when you carry all of this stuff on the plane the other people glare at you for taking too much room. Then you do your best to keep the kids quiet and happy for the flight. I think every airline should offer the following:

1 – Kid’s Activity Packet – Paper, crayons, paper dolls, cars, trucks, etc..

2 – Kid Friendly movies and a video player at each seat with kid movies or shows – different age appropriate shows as well (0-5), 5-7, etc…

3 – Larger bathrooms with clean changing table

4 – A place to stretch your legs, move around, with windows to look out of.

5 - Wider aisles.

6 - More leg room in coach - because you know first class (even if you could afford it) is not going to want you and your kid either.

7 - Complementary healthy snacks and drinks - offered more often to the kids. Healthy means yogurt, cheesesticks, 100% juice, whole wheat crackers, fresh fruits and vegetables.

What do you think airlines should offer families? They should realize that happy families make for a smoother, quieter and more relaxed flight for everyone.

Magazine Giveaway - Winner

The winner of my magazine giveaway is Becca from Our Crazy Boys. I used random.org to pick the winner.

Thank you to everyone who entered. I am glad to see so many people who entered because I now have some new blogs to read!

Skylar **Edited**

After having two kids the dogs tend to take a backseat but they are still very important members of our household. We have two dogs, Skylar and Teo.

Skylar is 11 years old and Teo will be 11 at the end of this month - so they have been around a long time. Technically Skylar is mine since I got her right before I met Joe (maybe a few months before I met Joe) and Joe got Teo shortly after we first started dating. Skylar and Teo are brother and sister to us and they were even in our wedding. Skylar is a German Shepard, Australian Shepard and Chow mix and she looks like a Dingo. Teo is a big Chocolate Lab mix. Skylar is the one who will still go on a 8 mile run with me and loves every minute of it and Teo is so lazy he gets tired after a one mile walk with me.

Last night I let the dogs outside, as I always do, when I got home from work. We do not have a fenced in yard so the roam the neighborhood just like every other dog in our neighborhood does. They do their business in our direct neighbors yard and there dogs do theirs in our yard. Teo came back inside when Joe got home with the girls. At 6pm we realized that we had not let Skylar in yet. Joe opened the door and she was right there but she was hurt. Skylar had a 4 inch gaping wound. The skin was pulled completely back. We were finally able to get a hold of a vet and Joe took her in last night. She spent the night at the vet on morphine and antibiotics. They are sewing her up this morning. She is my baby and has been around forever. I love her to death and I know everything will be just fine. The vet has not called us yet to let us know when we can pick her up - hopefully I can pick her up on my lunch hour.

We are all out of sorts without her in the house. I did not sleep much last night worrying about her and the cost of all of this. We are super tight financially so I do not need another bill right now. This morning I was up about 5:30 and I came out into the living room and I saw Teo on a blanket and at first I thought it was Sky. Also Teo was out of sorts and he was spending more time being close to us. Normally he does his own thing.

I will let you know how she is once I know.

I went to see Skylar on my lunch hour and she is doing good. She does have a lot more stitches than I thought she would and they sewed up some muscle but no ligaments or tendons were torn. They had her resting on a bed of towels and she was not in a kennel at that time which made me feel good. She was excited to see me and I felt bad leaving her. We will get to take her home tomorrow.