Every Mile Earned

Last weekend's one mile race was bitter cold.  Monday and Tuesday of this past week, Hill Dynamo and I were running in shorts and tee's and then the temps took a nose dive again. By the time the race came around yesterday it was back into the single digits again. Friday night I couldn't get off the toilet. My stomach was a mess. I know it wasn't race anxiety because I've had plenty of that before and I wasn't anxious about this race. This was another race I was committed to only because of the ERRS. I woke Saturday hoping my body was emptied out but nope and I was only able to stomach half my morning smoothie.  I spent the rest of the morning trying not to throw up.  We had to drop Tink off at the local University for her All County rehearsal and off to the packet pick up we went. I drove part of the race course and the roads were covered with a slick layer of snow. Now I was a bit nervous, there was no way I was going to risk slipping and hurting mysel...

Fun one mile race This was a one mile race so not a lot of recap to offer for it. The star of the day was the cold.   I had every intention of running this race as hard as I could.  I had been having pain in my left glute and hamstring all week but I knew with a good warm up I'd be ok. Then these temps hit. We had been running in shorts and tee's the week before so I was not mentally prepared for the temps to bottom out.  My friend, Hill Dynamo and Superman were running the race and I decided to just have fun with them. The wind was right in our face no matter what direction we were facing I rode to the race with her and her family. My Musician and Tink stayed home, she had the flu. Hill Dynamo's hubs dropped us off at the finish line. The sun was out and it didn't feel too bad. That was until we got away from the shelter of the building where we parked.  The wind was so cold in our face.  In felt like it was blowing right through al...

It's early winter, I think December, 2015. I'm driving down one of our no-shoulder back roads, the kind that only those desperate to get out and run will run on. It's a road that I've run down many times in the almost 6 years of living here. I live in a small rural community with mostly back roads void of sidewalks. The main road that runs through here carries an array of tractor trailers to and from our "Industrial Park / Corporate Park" areas yet has zero sidewalks even there.   I'm driving down this road and I see a woman up ahead ticking off the steps. I was desperate to stop and say hi. I was just starting to pick my miles up again from marathon training and recovering from an injury.  I couldn't help but day dream about how nice it would be to have a running partner for some of the cold dark runs that our Northeast winters require we endure.  It was so hard not to bring the car to a screeching halt next to her but what if she carries pepper ...

Ok, so not really. I don't know why I thought having a Peep would be a good idea right before a run but it wasn't.  It left me with side cramps and stomach pain! After running 3 miles in October, two in November and 7 in December, it's been nice having the running bug hit me again.  I needed that break, physically and emotionally.  This is my official, Welcome Back To My Training month. I only had 31 miles in January and so far 29  for February but I'm pretty happy with them. 2015 was my best year ever and I started that year out with barely any miles! I'm hoping on to hope, with a death grip, that this is going to be a good year for running. Tonight was tough. I'm tired. Less than 6 hours of sleep. I'm a gal who needs a solid 7.5 hours to feel good. That's not been happening lately.  I also made the mistake of wearing sneakers instead of my Vibrams. They felt very heavy on my legs on the hills.  I had very little food today. I had a million excuses...

What do you do when it's February, almost 60°, with a crystal clear blue sky and you were up, on and off, all night with either a stomach bug or bad food??  Why run, of course!!!   I had a really rough start to the morning but when I stepped out of church and felt that sun, I knew there wasn't any sick feeling or due assignments that were going to keep me away from the road. Just a short run. That's all I wanted. Some movement in the blessed sun!  Even though it was short, I had lots of thoughts today..... Mile 1  * The first hill was torture, I wanted to walk but didn't. I haven't run hills in months. I look up the hill and I don't remember it looking so steep. * One step, then the next, it's how I make it up hills.  Yep, it's sharpie time again. I can't explain writing on myself helps to motivate me, yet it does.  *Step. Visceral pleura. Step. Cubital region. Step. Adipose connective tissue. Step. Atomic mass. ...

A select few know that I spent 2016 struggling with GI issues and severe acid reflux (which I didn't realize was the issue and has since been diagnosed and treated!!) during every single run. I was really depressed by what a stress running had become. I dreaded all my runs because I didn't know if my body would cooperate or if I'd have to dive into some bushes to avoid yet another accident. I knew running and I had to have a parting of ways for awhile but I couldn't bring myself to stop. Then I went back to work for the first time in 10 years and running got pushed aside. Since September I can literally count on one hand the amount of times I've run. It's been good for me mentally, but not physically. I've put back on the 16 lbs I lost in the summer of 2015.  The last couple weeks have really had me aching to get back to running, especially since the acid reflux is under control.  My dear friend and running partner, Hill Diva, (let me tell you, she rules...