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.