Back on track

Thank you to: Kristi Parry, Linda Armstrong, Leslie Rollins, Kim Grant, fellow runner Erin McGrath, fellow runner Kelly Strauch, The Elzinga Family, and Grandpa & Myk Barkel! Your support is greatly appreciated! Thanks to these fabulous people I have now reached my half way point! Wooo hoo! Let's keep it going here! Less than 8 weeks to go.

Last weekend included the following:

1) Working a great Rascall Flatts concert where I earned nearly $140 for BPE!

2) A really great 17 mile run, with my running mate Lauren. We set off at about 10:30 to make water drops. We are now at the point where we need to have water three times throughout the run, meaning that we need to hide some water or gatorade behind trees for us when we reach our quarter and three-quarter locations. We were very excited about the extra beverage, and were also going to do an extra packet of running pseudo-food at our three-quarter point. We made the drops and drove back to the middle, our start point. The run went rather great except when we realized our first water drop took us out 0.6 miles further than we needed to be. This resulted in being 1.2 miles farther than was planned upon the return to mid-way. We made the decision to for-go the three-quarter water drop, as that would have either a) resulted in running at least 18 miles or b) resulted in over a mile cool down. So unfortunately after all that hard work, we still had to go pick up our water drops and pseudo-foods, some unused. :(

3) A post run stop at McDonald's for M&M McFlurries. :) We decided this was just like the chocolate milk coach Rick suggests, containing both frozen milk and chocolate.

4) A great dinner out at Jalapeno's Mexican Restaurant with Travis. Going out to eat just the two of us is something we haven't done in a very long time. It was great.

5) A full on winter snow storm, complete with sleet, snow, and freezing rain. Oh, it's almost March.

Since the weekend I have been entirely exhausted. Apparently that is one of the side effects of running a bazillion miles, and working 3 jobs. :) I went to spinning Monday, and yesterday I set out on weekday mileage, something that made me nervous, given my recent knee troubles (and ridiculous sleepiness). I was prepped and ready to go with new running shoes (same kind I already have) - the fabulous Adidas Supernova Sequence. Little did I know when I originally purchased these - they are the official running shoe of the Boston Marathon!

It went great! I felt awesome, my knee never hurt, and despite the biting winds, I feel re-inspired to keep running! I am so glad I went. However, I am still planning to run every other day to give my knee a little well deserved rest. I think I may be officially back on track!

And I need to share this non-running related news: My hometown of Holland, MI has been ranked one of the happiest places to live, earning the name Happy Town. The awesome candy store I worked for, The Holland Peanut Store, is featured in the beginning of this video, with "Uncle Bill" carrying some candy! I love this! :)

A new hip at 35? Most likely.

So as I was going about my week, Travis reminded me of a great point, "you know the guy who ran the first marathon died right after?" Wow, I think perhaps I did know that, but now it's so much clearer.Yesterday during a thought provoking run (which started out as 7 miles and ended at 4), I offically decided that running marathons is not good for you.

Last week I took some days off from running and I was also very religious about icing my knee and popping the ibuprofen every 6 hours or so. I was feeling pretty good going into my long run Saturday and I had this striking man as my partner:

So we set off, him on bike, me on foot. The first 15 miles were great with long winded stories and encouragement from my handsome mate. The Clif Shot Blocks worked wonders again, and having gatorade at my ready from my beverage carrying companion was also very helpful. Just before mile 15 my knee started hurting again a bit, but I powered through for one mile to complete my goal. Here I am after 16 miles:

This is generally how I look 4 days/week.

So after 16 miles, we came home, ate lunch, napped for about 45 minutes and then I went to work at the Sprint Center (to raise $$ for my fund), oh the things I do for BPE! Sunday I was very sore, but by Monday I was adament that I was going to accomplish my weekday mileage. I set off for 7 miles, but ended with pretty significant knee pain at four. After consultation with Coach Rick, I am off from running for another couple days, with the instruction to "shuffle" upon returning. Perhaps I will shoot some video of this "shuffle" for your enjoyment next week.

Anyway, back to my point. I have come to the conclusion that running this frequently cannot be good for any part of your body, even if you are being awesomely active. I am fairly confident that if I continue semi-competitive (against myself mostly) running for a period of 10 or more years, I will cause significant bodily damage, most likely resulting in hip replacement surgery by the age of 35.

In other news, the Olympics are now in progress! I love the Olympics. I cry pretty much every time I turn them on. The stories are so inspiring and the medal ceremonies always get me. I am in awe of the athlete's drive and committment to their sport. This story is particularly touching to me. Congratulations to Canada on breaking the streak, and to Alexandre Bilodeau and his family.

And finally, thank you to Dave Ornee for his awesome donation (and enouragement)!

10 weeks and counting...

To my two, perhaps five (at most) blog readers, I apoligize for my much delayed post. I know you were getting delerious in your anticipation. Also, I have decided to stop the letters posts. I was hoping to eventually spell something amazing, although a quick run down of my letters last week made me realize I was significantly lacking in the vowel department, and those are hard to come by without sounding ridiculous (hence the reach in the O... post last week).

Moving on... this week's 15 miler was less than stellar, although I am happy to say it is complete. It all began with a pretty significant amount of snow fall on Friday (sadly, not resulting in a snow day):

But Saturday morning I was ready to go in my new complete ninja outfit (don't worry, I had several more layers on for the actual run):

When we arrived at our running destination, the trails looked like this:

This was the good part of the trails (and actually taken after the run, when the snow had melted significantly). There were portions of the trail covered in 3 inches of snow, and portions where the only tracks we saw were our friends the geese. By about mile 3 the outside of my right knee was really hurting me, but I was trying my best to power through with positive thoughts and long, distracting stories with Lauren. I doubted myself several times, but Lauren kept me going, through excruciating pain. Until mile 5 or so, at which I almost fell to the ground in pain. After a short walk, I decided I had to do this and was determined to catch up with Lauren (who was now far ahead of me). I powered through the first half, and the second half was better, despite a few killer pains. Anyway, I'm really minimizing the pain here because the details are boring, however, I am now confident that if I made it through 15 miles of that pain, and these trails (resulting in cold, wet, icyness from the knees down) I know I can finish the marathon! And I would like to say a huge thank you to Lauren, as I would have quit three miles in if it wasn't for her.

I think I may have iliotibial band syndrome, a minor running injury which can be treated with stretches, icing, ibuprofen, and rest. I am planning to do some cross training instead of running during the week, and hopefully I will be back on course for 16 miles on Saturday (without Lauren I might add!).

I would like to add that I tried a new running pseudo-food this week: Clif Shot Blocks. They are my favorite thus far, and actually tasted delicious and seemed to keep me running in my hour of need. They also come in fabulous flavors, like Cran-Razz (which I have yet to try, I had Strawberry).

Here there are several awesome running foods, drinks, and pseduo-foods included. I also enjoy Jelly Belly sport beans (in Breast Cancer Supporting variety - just for you mom!). My post long run food is always trail mix and gatorade. In the future (mid-run) I will be trying the Clif Shot gel pictured here. I would like to note that the Clif Shot Blocks and the Clif Shot Gel, are both conveniently gluten free! :)

Oh, and here is a picture of my most recent purchase of capri tights (thanks to several Dicks gift cards for my b-day) with a super-secret pocket made for running pseduo-food:

Finally, a wonderful thank you to the following fabulous supporters:

Ms. Ketti

Cindy Spitz

Tom Baker

Only $204 from 50% of funds raised!

O... Out & Backs Rock!

First off, a fabulous thank you goes out to my many recent donors to BPE: Grandma Ehman, Dan & Ann Barkel, Rob & Judith, Gayla Posch, Scottie, Mary Power, Tim & Lori Barkel, John & Karen Wieringa, and Janice & Dean Warner! Whoo! My recent birthday gave my fundraising a great boost. :)

Last week's 13 miler:
Lauren and I drove down to Shawnee Mission Park, where we set off for the run, in unusually warm weather (55 degrees!). The second mile was ridiculously hilly and I thought we were never going to make it up... but we did - which resulted in much more brief downhill portions. From there we ran 6.5 miles out and then back. The best thing we discovered were several port-a-pottys planted along the route - allowing for needs to be met if necessary. If you run great distances, you know this is an exciting discovery. However, we also discovered zero working water fountains (I guess it is January), which resulted in 13 miles with NO water! Along the route we met some runner friends who had much water, but apparently not enough to share. And one of them - get ready for this - is running a marathon in every state (only has Alaska to go) and currently has 91 marathons under his belt. And, he gave me a fist pump when I told him I was running Boston. So I fist pumped a near-hundred marathoner. Needless to say we were extremely thirsty by the end.

This week's 14 miles:
Today, I ran more than I have ever run before. This was the first time I have had this experience since September of 2007. We had a system for today to fix the lack of H2O situation. We parked in the middle and ran 3.5 miles out and then back to the car where we were replenished with water (yay, water!) and various energizing products (sport beans and gels) and used the aforementioned port-a-potties. Then we ran 3.5 miles out the other direction and back. There was a little snow on the trails, but the sun was out and the weather was actually must better than anticipated! The run went very well, the aftermath not so much (not sure if it was the sport beans or the pudding for breakfast). Lauren and I had great conversation (including our chant when times get tough, "Lauren, how do you feel?" "I feel good, oh, I feel so good!"), and the 2 hours and 14 minutes flew by! From here on out, I'm running into uncharted territory.

This happened in the fall on a 12 miler, but I ran 5 miles in this condition. I would highly suggest not tripping while running on concrete. I have several scars to remind me in case I forget.

My adorable pup Avery :)

Avery loves going down slides!

Perhaps I will take more recent, relevent photos to document my training soon.

This week, I got my schedule for the Sprint Center for February. I am very excited because my working dates are all on the weekends, meaning I don't have to kill myself trying to work, work more, and run/cross train on the week days. I am working great events like: Monster Jam (where I hope to meet many large truck lovers, and sell lots of beer), Rascall Flatts (where I hope to meet many country crooners who are large truck lovers, and sell lots of Jack & Coke), and Elton John & Billy Joel (where I hope to sing along with every song). Wait... Elton & Billy?? Yes, face to face tour. I am beyond pumped to just be in the building when this happens! All my $$ from this job, is being donated to BPE!

P... pictures!

I have recently been feeling a little inadequate in the picture department. So today, I will be gracing you with some photos.

First, my 12 miles last Sunday went great! I set my Virtual Partner (here after referred to by her name - Vivian) to 9:45 pace thinking I would be happy with that, but with the little snow remaining, and running on city roads, I needed give myself a little extra room. Well, at the end of 12 miles, I was kicking Vivan's butt by 3 minutes! I ran in 9:30 minute/miles. I was pretty happy with that on a foggy, foggy Sunday morning. From there, I headed to church where I recovered before taking a great nap later in the day.

This week Tuesday I embarked on my 5 mile run. It turned out to be very unfortunate, as I was very dizzy, and lost to Vivan for the first time. :( However, the highlight of my run was these two little deer which were about 15 feet from me (I promise, dispite the lack of clarity in the picture, no zoom). I had to be very careful, as my trip to Yellowstone taught me, you never know when you might get mauled by wildlife, like this man. I have circled them in this picture for your convenience.

A local hill, by the way, pictures do not do hills justice

Tomorrow I will be off for a 13 mile run on some local trails. My running partner Lauren will be back to join me. In fact, I will leave you with a picture of us after finishing the Kansas City Half Marathon in October.

Enjoying some post-race nourishment

Finally, a HUGE thank you to my awesome donors: Grandpa & Grandma VanGinhoven, Grandpa & Grandma Elzinga, and Kendra Varns! See you next week... more pictures to follow! :)

G is for... Garmin

I believe the amount of physical activity required in this training is starting to catch up to me! Thursday night I was in bed before 9:00pm and on Friday night, I fell asleep watching Valkyrie (a good movie, according to Travis, who was able to stay conscious) at 9:20pm. Talk about an exciting Friday night! :)

Well, last Sunday's 11 miler was great. I was dreading it due to the ridiculous cold, but it turned out to be nice to run outside again, and felt great to have it done afterward. I woke up at 6:45ish and piled on the clothes: tall socks, running tights, another pair of workout pants, workout tank top, long-sleeved running top, long-sleeved zip up Nike jacket, fleece coat, fleece headband, and stocking cap. I picked up my friend Lauren, and we headed out to a running club that meets at 8am. When we arrived, no others were in attendance, so we decided to have our own running club that day. When we set out it was a cool 4 degrees, upon return, it had warmed to 12, although the feels like temp was 6. There was ice in my hair, frost on my coat, and wind in my face. You can check out the details and the awesome information from Garmin Connect.

Later this week, I set my watch on the Virtual Partner setting (you set your "partner" to a pace, such as 9:15 minute/miles, and it shows you and the partner running and how far you are ahead/behind). Talk about motivating! I pushed myself to beat my "partner" and love this setting!

Tomorrow I am off on 12 miles. Lauren is out of town so I'll be running alone, but with my virtual "partner" of course. Snow is melting away, and tomorrow is supposed to be a beautiful day, so it should be a great run! I'll update with my awesome Garmin stats!

J is for... Jess!

Today's post is the wonderful story of how I decided to run the Boston Marathon this year.

Flash back to late September 2009:
I had been running for about 2.5 years at this point, and had completed two half marathons, with two more on the horizon within the next couple months. I had been trying to talk my common law sister-in-law (aka Jess) into running a half with me for at least a year. She was hesitant and afraid of issues I won't deleve into here. :) At one point (I think perhaps on video, and with the help of her friend Mr. Rubinoff) I got Jess to agree to run the Chicago Marathon with me sometime in the next five years.

So, it was a usual day in September, and I was emailing Jess (who currently works at BPE, doing my old job+), and told her I thought 2010 would be our year to run Chicago! Well, she got back to me and had apparently "just forgot" to tell me that she was considering running the Boston Marathon! "What the what??," I said. Appaled that Jess would A) have forgotten to tell me, B) be crazy enough to run the Boston Marathon. I encouraged her and said that would be a lot of work and the fundraising would be hard, both true statements (secretly being entirely jealous and bitter that I wasn't the one running). Weeks went by and I continued to think she was crazy, but was excited for her, and continued to be secretly sad and jealous, until one day, I thought, "what if I ran? Could I really raise all that money? What about training in the winter?" And amazingly, I called Jess that day and she said, "I think you should run too." And the next sentence out of her mouth was the best idea I had ever heard, "It would make a kickin' Amazing Race appliaction video!"

From that moment on, I was sold. It was the last year I could run for BPE, the only year I could run with my common law sister-in-law, would make the best Amazing Race app video ever, and a year I was ready to run a marathon. I convinced myself I would raise the money, and I would run through the winter (little did I know we'd have this kind of winter!), and I would run the Boston Marathon! I turned in my application (to run for BPE that is), and anxiously awaited the offical news.

I am so glad to be sharing this experience with someone so supportive, encouraging, crazy, helpful, understanding, not mad that I was secretly (or not so secretly) jealous, committed, determined, family, and above all, awesome! And that we are again connected through BPE and fundraising for a great cause is icing on the cake! (I love cake, but I can't eat it anymore, I'll eat the icing though, that's why it's so great!)

After hiking to the top of Mt. Washburn in Yellowstone

I will leave you today by noting that the current feels like temperature at 4:54 on Friday, January 8, 2010 in KC, MO is -5, which I should note is a significant improvement from earlier this morning's feels like of -12. Tonight's actual temperature low is -12 with wind chills reaching -24. It's been really pleasant here lately. :) Oh, and I'm running 11 miles on Sunday. On a great note, today is my second (in a row) snow day - leaving time for some relaxing and running (on the treadmill, so I don't die). On a really great note, I got a Garmin GPS watch for Christmas! It's amazing, and I am currently in the process of figuring out how to save a screen shot as an image so I can show you all the amazing things it tells me!