Numbered!

Here's one of the last three pairs of
lettered socks I own.  WrightSock doesn't
make these socks anymore - RATS.

Well, actually, I numbered the first few batches I ordered, but the later ones I lettered. 

What am I talking about?  Socks!

Specifically, running socks.

When I was running, I didn't do a lot of the stranger things other runners do, like refuse to throw out any of my old running shoes, but I did number my socks.  That Man probably thought I'd completely lost it, but it was a harmless enough foible, and he wisely left me to my special brand of eccentricity.

The idea is to label your socks to keep them matched up as a permanent pair.  So, when you put on a pair of socks, you know that both socks have exactly the same amount of wear on them.  Then, when they wear out, the pair can be thrown out instead of only pitching a single sock.

Yes, just a tiny bit obsessive, but when you've registered for a half marathon, you do what you can to avoid blisters and keep your feet happy. 

I'm not supposed to run anymore because of my knee replacement - at least, that's what the surgeon and the hospital's post-operative instructions said, and that sort of stinks because I liked how running made me feel. 

So now I need to find something to replace that craziness.  I really enjoy long-distance, endurance sports, so I'll probably return to walking, hiking, and biking.  I had started training last year for walking events, but then got sidetracked by That Uncooperative Knee and the home health care I ended up providing for the past fifteen months. 

However, That Uncooperative Knee has apparently decided to become That Cooperative Knee, and I'm looking forward to getting out on the roads and trails. 

Maybe I'll order myself some socks....

Running in the Dark

When I first started running, I was so embarrassed I'd walk when cars passed me. I'd pretend I was looking at the flowers! - Joan Benoit Samuelson

This past February had a crazy gorgeous Saturday - sunny, 72 degrees (yes, really - here in central Indiana!), and people came out in droves!  People walking, running, pushing strollers, pulling wagons, bicycling, and walking dogs.

The paved trail across the street was jammed with cyclists and pedestrians of  all sorts.  All.  Day.  Long.  UGH.

I'm one of those crazy antisocial runners.  I don't want all those other people to look at me.  I've been running for years, and I STILL have this thing about not wanting to be noticed running.

This makes it difficult to enter races, even for fun.  All those other people there - staring at me!  Of course they're not.  I know that.  But knowing it in my head and knowing it in my gut are two different things.  All those eyes.  Watching.  Me.  UGH.  It's nearly intolerable.

Anyway.  That Saturday.  Not only was it a beautiful day, but it was also a gorgeous night with clear skies and a full moon.  How did I know?

I like to run at night when nobody else is out.  I run where there are street lights, so light isn't an issue, but moonlight makes it intensely different.  The light is bright and silvery, not just a sickly yellow mercury vapor circle surrounding each light post.  The shadows are sharply defined.  The world is quiet and still - perfect for introspection, meditation, list-making, or zoning out.

I've joined a running group, but I've only run with them once.  It's a small group, and I like them fine, but it's a running GROUP, and I just don't know that I can do that. 

And on top of all that, I've had a flare up of plantar fasciitis, so my mileage is down (oh, all right - non-existent), and I'm not really feeling like much of a runner.

So now I'm kind of running in the dark, trying to figure out how to get back to it - "it" being strength and stamina and confidence. I signed up for my usual spring half marathon, and serious training begins in less than a week. 

I'd better get with it!

This may be a case of fake it until you make it.
I'll just have to act like a runner until I believe again.

All Geeked Out with the BLAZE!

Last week my FitBit Blaze was delivered to my mailbox - oh, goody, a new toy!!!

I get text, calendar, and phone call notifications, and I can control the music on my phone with it.  Pretty cool, daddio!

It's a smart watch, but it's NOT an Apple watch competitor - I can't answer texts or phone calls like The Girl can on hers, but it's what one reviewer called a smart-enough watch!  I've seen The Girl answer her phone and carry on a conversation on her watch, and it reminds me of Dick Tracy and his 2-way wrist radio (oh, no, I don't remember Dick Tracy comics in the newspaper myself- not me, never ever, that's for OLD people - HA).   Even she said it's awkward to talk to your wrist.

I can choose different watch faces.  I'm using the "Flare" face.  It shows you how active you were during the current hour by how much "flare" shows up on the display for each minute.
I originally had reservations about wearing what's essentially a pedometer on my wrist, but it's proven to be fairly accurate for most activities.

But...!

Beware if you wear it while you're grocery shopping and pushing a cart.  NO STEPS RECORDED.  

Beware if you run on the treadmill and hold the rails.  NO STEPS RECORDED.  And I had it in treadmill mode.  It showed 400 steps for my 3 mile run. 
 
Ya gotta swing that arm!  Phooey.

But I like it.  I'm all geeked out now!

Still Guilty, but Not as Much, Perhaps?

Okay, it's been 2 1/2 months since my last post.  How can it be May already?

I've been set free to some extent - church choir practices are done for the summer, and Dad has been WALKING for about 2 months, and DRIVING (God help us!) for a couple of weeks.  So he's not as dependent on Daughter Number Three (yours truly) as he was.  Oh, I'm still writing his checks, but only because I can do it faster.  He still tells me to whom and how much and he signs them.  I'm just the stenographer/bookkeeper!

So how's the running, you may (or may not) ask.

Confession time.

After spending 4 1/2 months training diligently for the 500 Festival Mini Marathon, I just stopped.  No good reason.  In fact, a stupid, very BAD reason.  UGH.

We had some good weather.

"Now wait a minute!  Back up!" you say.  "What does that mean?"

Well, we had all that snow, and I was running on the treadmill instead of going outside.  Then the snow was gone, but it was still cold.  Then, about 6 weeks ago, there was a break.

I ran OUTSIDE.  In SHORTS!  I wasn't cold!  It was g-l-o-r-i-o-u-s!

For about three days.

Back to COLD and RAIN.

And more rain.

And yet MORE rain.

And floods.

And STILL more rain.

The time last I ran was three weeks ago.  On the treadmill.  For two miles.

Long story short - I ran the first two miles of the Mini.  I got a crease in my sock.  I stopped and fixed it.  I got a hot spot.  I got a monster blister.  I stopped and fixed it.  I finished the entire half marathon.  Period.

That, quite frankly, was all I was asking for.

The past few years, I've trained for half marathons, then either had my training or the race itself sidelined by family crises, mostly involving hospitals and/or funerals.  UGH.

So, by gosh, I was NOT going to let this one get by me.

And here's the proof!

Big Shoes to Fill

 Well, actually I don't have the big shoes yet, but I do have big feet to fill them with!

After my last long run, I came to an uncomfortable realization - my shoes weren't comfortable.  They seemed comfortable - plenty cushioned, not too wide, and all that - but the longest toe on my right foot was definitely NOT happy.

I have that wonderful feature (or is it a FEET-ure?) called Morton's toe.  There's nothing wrong with that; all it means is that my big toes aren't my longest toes, but rather their immediate neighbors are.  Actually, everyone in the house has the same feet-ure, except the cats, of course, including That Man, and he's not even a blood relative!

Anyway, the end of my poor longest right toe was sore all day after that fateful long run.  It's slightly numb, even now.  It's entirely possible the nail will eventually turn black and fall off.

Sexy.  I know.

So I've concluded that once again, my feet have grown.

This is not fair.  I'm too OLD to outgrow my shoes!  And I already have big feet.  Not wide, but LONG.  I thought I had big feet when I wore size 8 1/2 in my twenties - larger than all my friends' shoes.  Then in my thirties, after delivering The Boy, I was forced to replace every pair of shoes I owned with size 10s. In my forties, for no apparent reason, after losing 30 pounds, I started needing size 11s.

Today I had the fun of trying to find size 11 1/2 running shoes.  Most stop at 11, after skipping over 10 1/2.  A few come in 12s, but that's just too long.  Too much slop leads to blisters.  Been there, done that, got several t-shirts thankyouverymuch.

However, I'm in luck!  The shoes I've been buying do indeed come in 11 1/2, but not the deeply discounted ones from last year, oh, no!  Only the newest version (which costs $60 more than the relatively cheapoid ones from last year) or last year's Special Order version (which costs "only" $50 more than my cheapies).

Ouch.

I bit the bullet and ordered new shoes.  It made my hair hurt to contemplate it.  Particularly because I had TWO PAIRS OF BRAND NEW RUNNING SHOES IN THE CLOSET, ON THE SHELF, IN THE BOX.

Thank goodness for Road Runner Sports.  They have a 90-day love 'em or return 'em guarantee.  I had bought both pairs less than 90 days ago, so they are packed and ready to ship back home to meet their maker!

I have a message for my feet, though:

Stop. 

Growing. 

NOW!

I'm Not Very Good at...LOTS of Things!!!

If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing badly. - G. K. Chesterton

Oh, bless you, George!

There are so many things I LOVE to do, but I do them so BADLY.

I run.  Slowly.  Painfully slowly.  I mean, people WALK faster than I run.  And my right leg is knock-kneed (one source of the problems I've been experiencing with that leg - geesh!).  But you know, this morning I got out and chugged up the street, and I passed a small river birch with a mockingbird in it, singing his heart out.  Last week I interrupted an opossum going about his opossum business.  And there are bullfrogs in a retention pond nearer to our house, and when I hear them "harrumphing," I always laugh.  And I may not be fast, but I can go forever.  At least that's how it feels, some days.

I paint watercolors.  From a book.  Nothing original (YET).  But playing with the paint and trying out different techniques is FUN.  And one of my favorite pictures came about because of a mistake!  I was trying to get a misty rain effect using a technique described in a book.  It just would NOT work, and I kept taking a paper towel and wiping down the picture and trying again.  But one time after taking a disgusted swipe at the mess, I looked and said, "Hey!"  I had made misty rain!  Not as instructed, but who am I to look a gift misty rain effect in the mouth?  I left it, and I've gotten a lot of compliments on it!  

I sail.  Lazily.  I almost never use the jib.  It's in GREAT shape!  Oh, I hank it on to the forestay every spring and keep it in its sail cover on the deck, but I almost never let it come out and play.  Fall comes and I unhank it and throw it and the cover into the cabin until spring, when I hank it on again.

I ski.  Again, lazily.  I don't want to be bothered with the effort of skiing a black diamond slope.  I'll do greens and blues, and try to find the longest way down the mountain.  I want to get as much time on my skis as possible for my ride up to the top, and I want to be able to look at the scenery, not just at where I'm going to have to plant my pole or make my next christy.  My favorite is a about a four-mile glide at Winter Park in Colorado.  It takes me about 40 minutes to get from the summit to the base.  Now THAT'S skiing!

I play the piano.  Well enough.  No audience, please.  Oh, how I HATED recitals!  I play for myself.  Everyone can thank God for that.  At least I know enough not to inflict my playing on others, if I can avoid it.  I used to be better, but ever since getting bifocals...!  Oh my.  I have a terrible time reading the music with my head thrown back so I can look through the bottom of my glasses.  And I lose my place in the music.  And I can't find the keys.  Without my glasses, it's even worse!  I keep threatening to get a pair of CHEAP single vision glasses just for the piano.  But I enjoy the noises I make.  I can hear the RIGHT notes in my head, no matter what is coming out of the instrument!

The point is, who are you doing these things for?  Do you have to be the best?  Do you have to meet someone else's standard?  Are you in a competition?

Obviously, I'm NOT at a competitive level in any of the things I like to do, so I'd better just do them because I like to do them!  What are some things that you like to do that you avoid doing because you think you're not good enough?  I need to make a list of my own, and start DOING them.

Frank Shorter, You're My Hero!

My goal has always been to slow down as slowly as possible. - Frank Shorter

Isn't that a great way to look at it?  Frank, you're my hero!  They're gonna have to drag me off, kicking and screaming.

But sometimes, I let Them get hold of me after all.  You know, life's vagaries.  Aging body parts.  The wrong food.  Family crises.  Work crises.  Injuries.  Distractions.

My spring half marathon came and went - without me.  I stepped down to the 5K, but, by golly, I ran the whole thing.  So I had a victory.  I'm trying to ramp up my running again, but it seems I'm suffering with ITBS (illiotibial band syndrome) AND a piriformis issue, both on the right side.  That leg has been somewhat tight and apparently weak for months, and now it's showing its true colors.  I tried strengthening exercises, and they helped a little, but just not enough.

For the past few weeks I've had a terrible time with stairs, in both directions.  I finally sat down and really LISTENED to the old bod, and it said, STRETCH ME!  So I started doing Those Stretches, and they helped almost immediately.  I'll just have to be persistent.  I didn't run this morning, but I should be able to get out by Thursday.

So maybe They won't get me too soon, after all.  I'm running from Them as fast I can, and trying to slow down as slowly as possible.

Finally Human Again...I Think

After nearly four weeks of suffering from the effects of a sinus infection, I may actually be functional again.  I don't remember a sinus infection that exhaused me for so long after starting antibiotics, and I'm the Queen of Sinusitis!  I don't mind being SICK, but I do mind being nominally well, but exhausted and still blowing STUFF out of my head and coughing like mad.

The previous post gives the early chronology of this particular round of sinusitis  After the initial euphoria at feeling somewhat better, I seemed to slip backward some, and I was just so TIRED all the time.  Over the weekend, I was able to accomplish some things around the house, but I'd have to stop and rest, and by late afternoon, I was DONE.  Nothing else was going to happen except for coughing and nose blowing.  Monday I felt pretty good, and got some things accomplished in the evening, but on Tuesday, I hit the wall around 2:00 in the afternoon and went home.  I struggled to stay awake driving home, and had The Boy drive me to dinner because I was hungry but couldn't do anything about it.  I fell asleep in the car coming and going, and could hardly drag myself to bed.

Once I had my pajamas on and was IN bed, however, I couldn't go to sleep.  My brain was racing in circles and wouldn't let me relax.  Maybe I should have had The Boy drive me around for a while, like we used to do with The Girl to get her to sleep.  Hmmmmm...  I hadn't thought of that before.  I'll have to file that one away to try some other day.

But after all that, today I feel pretty good, and I feel ready to get back into physical activity.

My running has gone all to heck, so I expect I'll have to walk the Mini Marathon.  It is what it is.  I'll just have to adjust my expectations once again.  One of these years I WILL get all my training in.

But not THIS year.  Oh well.  You do the best you can with what you've got, and this year, I ain't got much!

I'm Sick and Tired of...

...being sick and tired!

Last week, all I wanted to do after coming home was curl up in a ball and veg out, so I did.  Friday, I sneezed several times.  Saturday, I woke up with a sore throat and thought, "Oh, boy.  Here we go."  Sunday, more of the same, with coughing fits.  Oh, how I love sinus infections!

NOT. 

Monday, I went to the doctor and she prescribed antibiotics.  YAY!  I filled the script, went home, coughed a lot, and crashed.  Tuesday, I remained crashed and coughing.  Yesterday, I worked, coughed a lot, went home, coughed some more, and crashed.

Today, I worked, came home, and crashed, but not as hard.  And not as much coughing, but its power and persistence still takes me by surprise.  I've been able to put away some of the clean laundry. 

SOME of it. 

Everything else on my list looks like too much effort.  UGH.

The good news is I'm getting better.  I'm also getting antsy.  I want to DO something, but I don't have the oomph to do much, and if I do too much, I know I'll just be sick longer.

And my training program looks less and less possible as time slips away and I lie here and do NOTHING.  But I know training is no good if I'm not well enough.  If I have to, I'll just WALK the half marathon.  I've done it before.  But I don't want to!

Patience, patience, patience. 

But it's so HARD.

Mental Strength?

"I constantly remind myself that resting takes confidence.  Anyone can train like a mad man, but to embrace rest and to allow all the hard training to come out takes mental strength." - Ryan Hall

Well, this week, I must be really mentally strong!  Monday morning I ran 2 miles, and I could have been running in a sea of mud - just slogging along.  I hadn't slept enough, so I was tired and "hungry" all day and ate too much.

Tuesday I cross-trained - Pilates and aerobics.  I did some laundry.  Nothing spectacular.

Wednesday, I should have run again, but I made the executive decision to switch to the other alarm and stayed in bed another hour and a half - HEAVEN!  I didn't go for a walk at lunchtime.  I had a headache.  Meh.  When I got home, I went straight upstairs to bed.  I didn't go to sleep right away, but I sat and read a magazine.  No laundry.  No housework of any kind.  I just vegged out for a couple of hours then went to sleep.  Such decadence!!!

Yesterday, I got up early and ran three miles.  Oh.  My.  Gosh.  It was easy.  It flowed.  I kept thinking, "I'm going too fast.  I have to slow down."  When I got home and checked my splits, I was right.  The second mile was a minute and five seconds faster than the first mile.  The third mile was thirty-two seconds faster than the second mile.

And yes, I was faster than my target training pace for the week.

Oops.

But for the first time in a month, running was effortless.  I'd been feeling as if I were running uphill in all directions, but yesterday, going uphill was easy, and there was the sweet tug of gravity on the downhill side.

This morning I cross-trained, didn't walk at noon, and vegged out again after getting home.  Oh, the mental strength I exhibited!

The plan for the morning is six to eight miles.

We'll see how that works out tomorrow.

The Hardest Part...

"The best part of a run? The birds chirping, the awesome air, and the fact that a lot of people are still sleeping. The worst? The first couple of steps. Just getting the creaks out." - Summer Sanders, Olympic gold medalist in swimming

Girl, you said a mouthful.

Friday, I lay in bed and thought about it. "Look, you. You need to get outside and Just Do It. Oh, you sound like a Nike ad. Ugh. The bed is so nice and the cats don't want to be disturbed. So you're going to let three eight- to twelve-pound cats be your boss? Just get up and get dressed and go outside."

So, I forced myself to get up and step out the door.

"AAAAAAAUUUUUUGH!!!! It's COLD! But, hey, look at the moon! Just past full. Is that cool or what?"

Thus starts another run.

And the funny part about it is that it was a FANTASTIC run. It felt easy and just flowed - like I could keep going all day. No aches, no pains, no jarring. Just smooth, easy motion. Good grief! Why can't every run feel like that?

Well, maybe the good run was my reward for winning the battle with the snooze button. Hmmm...

Now I wish I'd won this morning.

Back to the Treadmill

I am officially a wimp.  The weather has gotten to me.  We're in the middle of a nasty, misty, drizzly spell, and I REALLY don't like to go out in it.

Oh, how bad can it be you ask.  Well, the morning temperatures this week have hovered at around 50 degrees.  Not a bad temperature for running - in fact, just about perfect.  As long as it's DRY. And no wind.  Hmmmmmm...

I did run Tuesday.  Fifty degrees.  Dry.  But a headwind.  Both directions!  How can that possible BE???  But it was.

My hands were cold.  My ears were cold.  I never felt quite loose and warmed up.

And now I have a cold.  UGH.

But at least I had enough sense yesterday to NOT run outside.  It was 50 degrees and windy again, and drizzly  Perfect weather for hypothermia!.  So I went back inside and rode the stationary bicycle.

This morning was a weather rerun of yesterday, plus a little sore throat thrown in for good measure.  So I made ugly faces out the window and got on the treadmill.  Oh, how I hate the thought of the treadmill!  But you know, once I'm on it (with the TV turned on, of course!) it's not so bad.

Isn't that the way it is with most things you're dreading?  The thought of doing them is much worse than doing them.  Some day I might actually believe that!

I Might Be a Real Runner!

I had an odd experience Friday night.  I was driving home after seeing "The Help" with a friend (BIG recommendation!) and suddenly thought how I'd like to go for a run when I got home.

It was 10:30 at night.  I'd already run four miles early that morning.  It hadn't gone very well, either.

Yet, there I was, thinking what a great time for a run.

WEIRD.

I really enjoy Jeff Foxworthy and his "you might be a redneck" humor, so here's my take on it:

If you write the date in your new shoes so you know when to replace them, you might be a runner.
If you number your socks so you know that both in the pair will wear the same, you might be a runner.
If you plan your schedule around races and training runs, you might be a runner.
If you have Body Glide stashed in three or more places in your house, you might be a runner.
If you like the smell of Body Glide, you might be a runner.
If you watch the New York Marathon on television, you might be a runner.
If you know the IT band isn't a music group, you might be a runner.
If you stretch your Achilles tendons while you're on an escalator, you might be a runner.
If you know what Badwater is, you might be a runner.
If you know what Leadville is, you might be a runner.
If you think about running late at night after already running earlier in the day...

Well, you get the idea.

Here's a place you can go to see some more of "You Might Be a Runner If..."
http://www.runningintheusa.com/More/YouMightBeARunner.aspx