barefoot running… strike 1

So I recently read the book, Born to Run by Christopher McDougall, suggested by a good friend who hadn’t previously enjoyed running but after reading the book found a new zest for it, and now runs barefoot on her treadmill regularly.

Now, I’ve enjoyed running for about 5 years now.  I think it’s the awesome trail system in the Denver area and friends who influenced me into the sport that I now love.  One problem though, running hurts my knees and more recently my ankles and hip.  Cardiovascularly and mentally it’s just elating and I love it dearly, but my body is getting older and can’t do it so well.  Anyway, I’ve seen others switch to barefoot running who claim their injuries have gone away and they can even run faster than they could with their feet shod.

So since reading the book I’ve thought about trying not to strike my heel and lean forward a bit to hit on my mid or forefoot as you do when running barefoot but have been too chicken to take my shoes off and step on the rocks… until this morning.

I only had about 20 min to squeeze in a run before Dan had to leave for work so I starting running around the neighborhood, after 1 lap around I noticed that the sidewalk looked pretty rock-free and I kicked off my shoes onto the driveway before my 2nd lap.  It felt pretty good!  Didn’t hurt my feet much.  I tried to notice my form, take smaller strides and hit at my mid to fore-foot and all that jazz.  When I was nearly back to the house I was thinking I would brave one more lap barefoot when I saw someone in their front yard looking at me, probably wondering if I was in trouble or what happened to my shoes.  In the moments I looked up at her while trying to look confident so she didn’t ask my about my (lack of) shoes, I tripped… how embarrassing, now I’m crazy, weird AND clumsy!  I caught my balance before I fell but man did it hurt.  I assumed I had scrapped my toes or something, but I kept going, trying to keep my cool (HA!).  It quickly became apparent that something was wrong.  I couldn’t run anymore, I was walking, then limping, I was really hurting by the time I made it to the front door and couldn’t put any weight on my left foot at all.

I think it’s sprained in my metatarsals just below my little toes.  So now I’m sitting here, icing my foot, and reading articles about barefoot running and injuries like this one, this one and this one, wondering… should I try it again?  I think I will, the prospect of being able to run without hurting is just too alluring to give up after one try (and ironic considering what happened this morning, I know, but that could have happened with my shoes on too).  But not until this foot’s better, man!  Barefoot running – strike 1; 3 strikes and you’re out my trendy friend.

full term! any day (or week) now!! & an embarrassing story

I took some more ridiculous pictures of my belly in the mirror for y’all, here I am at 37 weeks:

Yeah, I’m huge… what can I say?  I kind of hope he’s big so I have some justification for my size, but I really hope he’s not, so he’s easier to deliver.  Funny story, I actually had a guy ask me for my number this week at Big Lots!  He said that he always wished he had a pregnant girlfriend.  He was over weight, like 45 and from some Slavic country (didn’t ask where, just guessing by his accent) flattering huh? (NOT, creepy is what it was!)  You want to hear the embarrassing part?  Instead of refusing him, I just gave the wrong number.  I’m such weak sauce!  Why didn’t I just tell him I was happily married (I did have my ring on).  In my defense, he was tricky… he started out by saying that he saw me and just knew that I could be a good friend and that he was lonely and really wanted a good friend.  So I was all sympathetic.  I thought he just meant he wanted to have a conversation in the aisle so I said sure!  But then he got all weird… oh well, I just hope I never run into him again!  Have you ever done that?  I’ve never been good at telling people no.  But I will if it ever happens again, I totally regret it. 

In other news, I didn’t progress a whole lot last week, the midwife said I was between 2 and 3 cm and 50% effaced (was at 2cm last week), the effacement is new but I dilated less than 1 cm.  I feel contractions like crazy and if I’m being honest, I am feeling much more uncomfortable than I ever felt with my girls.  I get cramps in my lower abdomen that will last for up to 3 hours and my back kills.  But I am good, I know that he is certainly easier to take care of while he’s still inside.  I haven’t ran for a week now, I got nervous when I had all that cervical change last week and didn’t want to put myself into pre-term labor.  But I may try and go some this week, depends on how I’m feeling.  We’re almost ready for him to come, just need to pack our bag for the hospital and hang some pictures in the nursery.  We’re so excited!

28 weeks and BIG AS A HOUSE!

First of all; I REALLY need to get some cord hiders for those ghastly black cords coming down from the TV!  How embarrassing.  Secondly; before everyone comments and tells me I’m NOT as big as a house, I admit it could be worse, and yes I know it’s worth the sacrifice to expand our family.  I actually feel a little better about my size after I seeing these pictures, I feel bigger than I look I guess.  But I am definitely bigger than I was with the girls at this point.  I’ve already gained 20 pounds!  Pretty sure I only gained 25 total with the girls and I wasn’t exercising near as much or as hard as I have been this time.  I don’t know about this boy… he’s trouble already! :)  Oh well, as I said before, it’s totally worth it, children are such a blessing!

I was feeling kind of goofy Sunday afternoon by myself taking these photos in the mirror, so lucky you there’s more…

Besides feeling big as a house waddling around town I don’t have many complaints, well not for you guys anyway! Dan hears plenty. :)  Isn’t it funny how we can be the worst behaved for those we love most?  I complain more for Dan, I nag him, it’s not fair at all!  Hopefully I tell him I love him enough to make up for it.

For the record  (I know I will want to remember this later) I am still running but I have scaled back, instead of running two 5’s and one 10 mile run a week, I’ve switched to kilometers, doing two 5K’s and one 10K run a week (5K=3.1M, 10K=6.2M).  It takes a lot more effort to run fast so I’m doing good if I keep it under a 10 min/mile pace. I feel so good when I  get out and run, I’ve scaled back the distance because the longer I run the more sore my pelvis is the next day.  The doctor said it’s not hurting anything though, just the weight of my belly putting pressure on my pelvis.  But to me it’s worth it, running makes me so happy.  Since I’m not running as much; I’ve started doing work out videos on my days off of running.  I like Jillian Michaels’ 30 Day Shred a lot, mostly because it’s only 20 min and I still feel like I’ve worked out.  Funny thing is that Sophie and Tessa love to watch me do it!  They won’t let me get away without doing my “exercise movie” in the morning, they will keep asking me until I do it, so that’s nice.  Sometimes they even join in!  Usually they just tell me to lift my arms higher or use the heavier weights, the funny little girls are my personal trainers.

Hard to believe that we’ve only got about 2 1/2 months left until this baby will be born!  I’ve enjoyed buying some boy things for a change, although I’m not sure what my boy style is yet… I’ve never bought boy clothes before!  I know what I like when I see other boys wearing it but putting it together from scratch in the store is totally different.  I am nervous for this delivery because I want to go without the epidural if I can this time.  I practically did it without with Tessa (I got to 9 cm w/o drugs, but not because I wanted to!) and my labors are so fast I really have no excuse (4hrs w/Soph and 2.5hrs w/Tess).  Plus now that we have to pay a lot of the cost… (no more Medicaid) I am more motivated.  Sad but true.  So if any of you have advice or can recommend a good book on the subject of natural child birth I would love to hear!  Because I am a wuss and will surely cave if I’m not prepared.

Belly Shot – 19 weeks

I tried to do the timer for the picture but was too lazy to get out the tripod so none of the pictures were framed well and NONE were in focus.  But I did manage to get this picture of my belly in the mirror without the camera covering my face and I think that’s pretty good!  I am DEFINITELY filling out this shirt much more than I was with Tessa at 17 weeks here.  I think my abs loose some of their ability to “hold it in” with each pregnancy.  Oh well, babies are definitely worth it. 

For you smart ones, who may have noticed… I am now 23 weeks but am just behind on blog posts. Sorry.  I have been feeling fine, I had to take a couple weeks off of running due to a bunch of stitches up my thigh (mole removal).  Since then, I haven’t got back up to my 20 miles a week yet, I have found that I loose fitness very quickly while pregnant!  Plus between bad weather days and sick kids (I have to take them with me) it’s hard to find the time.  But I did a 7 mile run last week that I was quite proud of, my goal is to get to 30 weeks and still be running.  Just because it makes me feel so good!  Plus I am less self-conscious about rising number on the bathroom scales when I know I am exercising well.  Do you have a favorite exercise you would recommend for pregnancy?

Oh and I have had my first pregnancy cravings!  Never really got them with the girls, but this little guy wants protein!  I eat at least 1 bowl of cottage cheese a day, something I haven’t enjoyed on its own since I was a kid.  Plus I crave red meat from time to time which is not something I usually prefer.  Funny.

being followed… {shudder}

This morning I was behind schedule (which is, sort of like my schedule… since that’s how I usually am).  I intended to go running as soon as the girls were up and then get back, shower, and take Sophie to preschool.  But Tessa slept in late and I wasn’t ready to go when she woke up anyway, like I should have been.  So I rushed around and got us all ready to go realizing that I would have to just run Sophie straight to school, no time to come home and shower.  Oh well.  At least I’d get my run in.

So we set out on our run about 9:15, everything was as usual except the route since we were headed to school (which is just at the neighbor’s house).  I wanted to get 5 miles in before I got there so I was kind of looping around taking the long way when I saw a coyote in the field about 100 ft ahead of me to the right.  He didn’t see me coming so I tried to sniff my nose real loud to alert him to our presence and hopefully… scare him away.  He looked up and saw us and sort of ran into the field a bit but we were coming around a corner so he wasn’t any further away from us, plus it was just a field with no trees, he wasn’t hidden at all.  He was a good sized coyote.  So he crossed the trail in in front of us, I was surprised how un-concerned he seemed to be we were so close by, me with my HUGE double stroller with the bright yellow weather shield on I thought would be more intimidating!

 

We passed him and kept going, but I had an eerie feeling… you know that being watched/followed feeling?  So I turn and looked back and saw him running behind me!!!  He wasn’t very close (I don’t know, like 2 or 3 car lengths)  but he was on the trail running towards us.  So I, of course, ran faster scared out of my wits!  I looked back again and he wasn’t on the trail anymore but walking on the side.  I was so uncomfortable, just hoping someone with a big dog would happen along and scare him off.  Where were the people?!  I see a person on the trail every couple minutes usually.  I was looking on the ground for a big stick as I ran, for a weapon… just in case?  I feel silly now saying that, but I was serious at the time.  I thought coyote's were supposed to be cowards!  But I had read that they hunt in 2’s and I was pretty sure there was only one so I kept reminding myself of that fact.  I decided to call Dan, for comfort.  I kept running (DUH, like I would stop here!) and called Dan 3 times (pretty sure he was in court, oops) until he answered.  I told him (panting hard) I was being followed, and he told me it probably was chasing something else and would leave me alone. I knew he was right but I still wanted him to talk me through it until I was out of the field area and in a neighborhood.  I kept checking over my shoulder and never saw the coyote again (not that I didn’t keep looking).  But MAN did that shake me up!!  I really need to get some pepper spray or mace (anyone know the difference?) so I feel more comfortable.  I was totally freaking out!  Have you ever been chased by a wild animal?  How do you keep your cool?  Am I irresponsible to go out running when I know they are there?  I’ve never heard any reports of them attacking people, just small dogs.  Am I over-reacting, would you have been scared?

Just found an image of this sign, they are posted all over the trails I run… looks like I should have read one before now.  Check out the 1st bullet point.

yes, yes, it’s true…

We’re expecting baby number 3!

I can’t really hide much this time around.  I don’t know how other people do it!  My good friend Susan kept it a secret until she was almost 20 weeks, her 3rd too! My stomach has just given up trying to hold these babies in I guess, because my tummy started to pooch really early, I noticed a difference by only 6 weeks.  I am just over 12 weeks and yesterday at church I know a lot of my friends were really starting to wonder if Jessica had eaten too many doughnuts over the weekend or what!  That’s right, I saw those looks on your faces!

So I just finished my 1st trimester and am feeling fine.  I’m proud to say that I’ve kept up my 20 miles a week of running so far.  I try to be careful not too push myself so I have slowed my pace by 30 s to 1m per mile (depending on how I feel that day).  I don’t always feel like hitting the trail, but never regret it!  I have to give energy to get it.  I hope to keep it up as long as possible.  Anyone who has run through pregnancy I’m very interested to hear your advice!  I’ve read about maternity belts for support but I’ve never tried anything like that.

We are all so excited!  I went to the doctor this morning and got the ultrasound photo shown above.  We stopped at the store on our way home and Sophie carried the photo in her hand the whole time!  She stared at it a long time as I pointed out the body parts as if trying to prove to her that it really was a picture of the baby in mom’s tummy.  She thought about it awhile and asked, “Mom is our baby black?”  I laughed pretty hard and told her the photo didn’t show colors but that our baby probably isn’t black. :)  The girls were so cute watching the ultrasound seeing the baby wiggle around, they kept saying, “OH, look at the tiny baby, oh!”  And asking me if it was crying.   My due date is July 30th.

my addiction, the first step is recognizing you have a problem…

I took about 3 weeks off from running after my knee injury and have been able to VERY GRADUALLY build back up again.  I’m not where I was when I got hurt but doing pretty well putting in 15-20 miles a week.  I realized something during my time off from running.  I am so addicted!  Is that possible?  During that time off I would go on walks with the girls on the trail and runners would pass us.  When that happened, here was my thought pattern:

FIRST-  “Puh, he/she’s not very fast, I could totally beat him/her!” (COMPETITIVE)

SECOND - “Who am I kidding, I can’t even run more than a mile right now without pain?!” (HONEST)

THIRD - “I am so jealous they get to run, I just want to be running!!” (ADDICTED)

I actually read about running addictions in a running injury prevention book and from what I remember I am not dangerously addicted if I stop when I am hurt.  Addicted runners will go out for a run come hell or high water and will sacrifice their safety and health to do it.  I don’t do that, but I think about it some times.  Truthfully though, I only run after sunrise and on well used (usually populated) trails, plus I take a break if I am think I need to for health reasons.  What do you think?  Am I addicted?  I think I have this under control, I think I’m simply enthralled with running.  The “runner’s high” is so real and totally addicting in that you want it again and again!  I love the feeling I get as I power up a hill and then get to fly back down it, I love seeing nature’s beauty all around me in dawn’s early light.  It’s empowering to know that I can travel long distances on foot, call it self-reliance? :)  And you can’t deny how great you feel mentally and physically from a good workout. 

Well anyway… you know what does scare me a lot when I am out running early in the morning?  ANIMALS!!  Yikes.  I’ve seen OODLES of coyotes, 2 deer, and a handful of sleeping bums.  I even had a crazy bird fly around my head squawking for a 100 yards.

Problem with this urban wildlife is that they aren’t scared of me!  I choose this coyote picture because that’s what they do, sit in the middle of my trail and stare at me as I am running towards them!  Freaks me out.  People tell me all the time that coyotes are cowards, doesn’t stop me from slowing, pulling out my mace, and waiting for them to move.  The deer were actually the scariest encounter I had this summer because I was coming out of an under pass and BAM they were right in front of me, about 20-30 feet I’d guess.  I stopped, immediately backed up a bit and waved my arms in the air… in an effort to intimidate them??  They were both much bigger than me and wanted to go past me the way I came.  They seemed to consider trampling me because they sat there staring FOR-EVER!!  But they ended up turning around and bounding up the hill to the right.  A couple early mornings I left my keys out instead of tucking them in my bag so they’d jingle in hopes the wildlife would hear me coming and stay away.  Oh and the bums don’t scare me, they are too tired (asleep, literally), slow and lazy to be able to do anything to me.  What do you think?  Know any anti-animal encounter tricks? 

I guess the safest thing for me to do would be to get a running partner… but those don’t grow on trees!  I tried running with one of my young women last weekend.  Bless her heart, she told me she could run the 1st half of my run with me, but she only made it a mile before she had to walk.  So disappointing.  What’s your addiction? Coke, video games, ice cream?  C’mon spill!  Is there such a thing as a healthy addiction?

On the bright side, I did get to see a pelican (I think that’s what is was) gracefully land in the creek next to me this summer.  That was awesome.

 

wow I want a lot of stuff!

#1 – a purse that is made to carry my SLR and an extra lens!  I’m so excited about these bags

#2 – my wall stenciled like this… (a tutorial can be found here)

#3 – a wide angle lens

#4 – a new movie/book case

#5 – cute new dress from the Shabby Apple (They have so many, and all with sleeves and skirts to the knee!)

 

#6 – a Garmin forerunner with GPS, so I have an accurate reading of my pace, time and distance while running

#7 – a new left knee… ok, this isn’t a possibility but I wish my knee would stop hurting!  I don’t think I can do the marathon, my knee is hurting too bad and I’m only up to 16 miles, I am sure it will only get worse.  I need to rest it for now and slowly build up my mileage again.  I’m pretty sad about it, but oh well!  A big thank you to all of you who voted and commented to help me decide.  I really appreciate all of your votes of confidence!  But I am sorry to say I’ve failed.  Unless anyone has a miracle cure!  Just let me know. :)

Good news is that my birthday is next month so I may be able to get one of these items from my wish list then! (hint hint hint, wink wink, nudge nudge DAN!) :)

Half or Full Marathon?

I know you are tired of hearing about my running, I just posted about it.  But I can’t stop thinking about this opportunity and really want some help deciding!  Here’s my dilemma:

I found a race In Colorado on Labor Day (which is in 6 1/2 weeks) that has both a half marathon and a full marathon. Which should I do?

Half Marathon Pros:

• I know I can do the distance without injury
• I can try to break 1:50!

Half Marathon Cons:

• the race is up hill the first half and then down the 2nd… might make it hard to get a PR
• They have pacer runners (which is way cool!) but they don’t have a pacer at my goal of 1:50, just at 2 hours or 1:45

Marathon Pros:

• I am already in shape and could get my mileage high enough to do it in 6 weeks
• It would be really cool to complete a marathon!
• The marathon is all at a slight down hill
• They have a pacer at the time my goal would be, 4 hours, so I could just stick with them
• We want to have more children and I will likely be pregnant sometime next year making it at least 2 and probably more like 3 years until I’d be able to run another marathon, now may be the time!

Marathon Cons:

• Risk of INJURY is high, and could be long lasting
• People usually train for 16 weeks for a marathon, and I would only have 6, BUT I am very close to on track since I just trained for a half marathon

What do you think?  Any advice?  Anyone out there done this before?  I’m putting up a poll. Please help me decide!

South Jordan Half Marathon 7/10/10

I ran my first half marathon (13.1 miles) the morning after we arrived in Utah for a family reunion.  I had planned to run one here in Denver but couldn’t find one on a Saturday this summer while we are in town.  So I just found one in Utah, conveniently while we were there, on a Saturday AND in my home town!

I felt less nervous for this race than others because (1) I had trained well, (2) it’s a longer race so I didn’t feel so much pressure to be so darn fast, and mostly because (3) I had ran the course previous to the race.  I woke up at 4:45 and got to the start line WELL before dawn.  I was the 2nd racer to arrive.  I knew it was a small race (their 1st year) but… c’mon!  More people came but I think there were only 115 runners.

Dan and the girls woke up and found me around mile 10 to cheer me on.  It meant a lot to me, sort of teared up when I saw them, good thing I was wearing sun glasses so no one could see. :)  Check out their cute bed heads and jammies in the picture below.

I met my primary goal of under 2 hours but not my secondary goal of under 1:50.  That’s okay, I feel really good about my race.  I ran hard and at a pretty even pace the whole time.  I had energy left to sprint the last 100 meters and no injuries!  It’s a really hilly race and I think I will try a flatter course and maybe break 1:50 next time.  My biggest excuse for my time is that they didn’t have mile markers on the course!  I did have my nike+ chip that talks to my ipod and tells me distance, time and pace but I forgot my ipod and used Dan’s and it gave me inaccurate readings so I thought I was going faster than I was.  According to his itouch I finished in under 1:50 (it said I was done like half a mile early) I may have been closer to my goal had I not relied on that bad information.  But no biggie!  Like I said, I am happy with my performance.  The nice thing about the first time you do a race, anything is a PR!

In a small race like this my places look so much better than the Boulder Bolder!  I got 5th overall and 2nd in my age division, made me feel pretty darn special.  I am tempted to do a full marathon but am scared of injury so I think I’ll stick to half marathons for now.  I’d really like to do another half this summer but I can’t find one!  What is it with Denver and races on Sundays only?  Geez.  Hello Denver?  Sunday CHURCH, you ever heard of it?!?!?

I can go the distance!

I ran 16 miles yesterday morning so now I know I can go the distance for my half marathon (13.1 miles) coming up.  I am pretty proud, never ran that far before!  I feel such a sense of accomplishment.  I have a big blister on my foot and a few aches this morning but it felt good.  The first 13 miles took me 1 hour 54 min.  My primary goal at the race next month is under 2 hours my secondary goal is 1 hour 50 min or less.  Seems reasonable I think, since I did it yesterday in nearly that with 3 miles tacked on the end, but I’ll try not to get my hopes up.  I’ve come to realize that I am a terrible racer.  I often have training runs faster than my races.  I was always a bad tester in school, I guess this is similar. 

I think it’s amazing what our bodies can do!  And to think, all you marathoners have gone a full 10 miles further than I did!! I took a couple pictures in the bathroom mirror after I got back because I found it humorous how very sweaty my shirt was, on second thought, that’s gross, I’ll just keep them to myself.  What’s the furthest you’ve run (or walked, biked etc.)?  Don’t be shy, be proud, I’m curious.

Chi Running

So I’m not much of a meditater, I have always thought that connecting with your chi and yoga poses was all pretty hokey.  I’m still not sure about all of it but I can’t deny the results I’ve had from my first 2 runs that I tried to apply some things I learned from this Chi Running book.  My first run was my base 5 mile run I do 2 times a week with the girls in our double stroller.  I tried to think about the “cotton and steel” the author teaches in his book (if you’re anything like my you’re rolling your eyes at this, but keep reading and just TRUST ME).  Anyway I tried to relax my limbs (cotton) and keep my core in-line (steel) for my 5 mile run and it felt really good.  It seemed I was working less throughout the run, I was shocked when I finished that I had ran it 4 minutes faster than my average time!  That’s HUGE (48 sec/mi faster pace).  The kicker was, and I kid you not, that I didn’t feel as fatigued as I usually do, crazy I know.  My 2nd run was my LSD (long slow distance) run I do on Saturdays without the stroller.  I tried to focus on a few other things I learned from the book like holding in my lower abs and leaning forward this time.  I ran further than I ever had, 8 miles, and without trying ran an even faster pace than I did on my 5 mile run 2 days before!  I’m shocked.  One of the best things about this is that my knees don’t hurt like they usually do.  I’m so excited about this.  If you’re a runner, I really suggest checking this book out.

I haven’t finished reading it yet, and with my introduction, you may be wondering why I ever picked it up in the first place.  I’ll explain, my BIL Brian recommended it after he’s had less pain and great results from it.  I shrugged off his recommendation (sorry Brian) but when I was on the library website putting this book on hold;

the Chi Running book also came up in my search so I just put a hold on it too.  When my holds arrived I read the Runner’s World book first (and learned a few things) and when I finished, decided I’d skim Chi Running while I had in my possession.  I’m really surprised I like it so much.  I still haven’t finished the book and it’s past due (since I didn’t pick it up for so long after I checked it out) but I am tempted to go buy it.

For those who are curious, here’s some of the Chi Running basics I’ve learned so far (certainly not all-inclusive):

• maintain good posture, you should be able to see your shoe laces if you look down (I couldn’t) if you can’t, pull in your lower abs rotating your hips w/o tightening your glutes
• keep your core in a straight line (shoulders, hips, and ankles)
• lean forward from your ankles, keeping your body in a straight line (this makes it so you are sort of falling instead of using your leg muscles to push you forward)
• your upper body is extended forward while your legs swing out the back (your knees shouldn’t pump in front of you)
• keep your lower legs limp (chi cannot flow through tight muscles or joints)
• don’t pronate. run along a tightrope, leading with your knees (this is what has helped my knees)
• swing your elbows behind you
• don’t cross your centerline with your hands

This visualization is what has helped me “get it” most of all:  think of the fastest animal on the planet, the cheetah.  The cheetah doesn’t have big strong rigid legs, he has a strong core (spine) and let’s his legs flop.

Have any of you heard of Chi Running before?  What do you think, is it coincidence that my 2 runs were vastly improved or could it be attributed Chi Running?  Do you believe in using your chi (defined as the energy force that animates all things) or yoga?

On a completely different note, Tessa was looking fabulous after her strawberry dessert last night.  And Sophie’s frizzy hair needs its first hair cut soon.