Friday, February 23, 2018

A Few Things I Need to Get Off My Chest

If you thought I was going to discuss gun laws or the Trump Presidency or whether or not Nutella is the nectar of the gods, you've come to the wrong place. I avoid these type of controversial items like the plague. It's not that I don't have opinions - oh, sisters and brothers I do. It's just that they are my personal opinions and I doubt you come to this here blog to read about them.

Btw, I don't really like Nutella. Go ahead. Send me hate mail. Oh, and almond butter? Not quite my thing either. Go ahead. Punch me in the nuts.

Here's what I need to get off my chest. Confession time.

I am training to do the Nevis to St. Kitts Cross Channel swim on March 25. It is 2.5 miles, which equals exactly 4,400 yards, which is precisely 176 lengths in a 25 yard pool. For the love of GOD. I would rather eat four jars of Nutella while watching curling in the Olympics than swim back and forth one hundred seventy six times! Don't get me wrong. I love swimming. Just not so much in a pool staring at that black line and counting the band aids on the pool bottom.  Today I swam back and forth 88 times. I am a warrior.




I love my library, even if libraries aren't so cool anymore. I've always loved libraries - the peacefulness, the hundreds of books for me to read (although once in high school I signed out Catcher in the Rye and each page was full of bloody boogers. Definitely a down side to the library. You don't get boogers with Kindle books).

Anyway, I was in the library yesterday using the self check out (I also love self checkouts. Something about being in control). I was trying to scan my library card and it wasn't working. I told the lady waiting in line that I was sorry, I couldn't get the machine to work. That's when I realized I was not scanning my library card, I was scanning my PetCo card. What a dumb ass. I am surprised I'm smart enough to read books at all. The library should ban me.

On a serious note. I hate the person in the pick up truck last Friday night barreling down 9th Avenue. I hate him/her because I had pulled over trying to save a dog that kept crossing the road. And, right as I got out of my car, the asshole pick up truck driver hit that dog so hard and just kept going. Just kept going. Who does that? And, no, there was NO way he/she didn't know they hit the dog. You could hear that a block away. I haven't cried that hard in a long time.

Last thing I need to get off my chest - I turned 51 yesterday. Getting older does not suck. Here's why:

  • No one heckles me on the street (maybe that's not getting older - maybe that's just my overall look)
  • I usually do pretty well in my age group in races (I'm at the young side of the 50 to 59ers!)
  • Going to bed early is awesome
  • I've realized fulfillment (through relationships, travel, etc), not income or material stuff, is the measure of true success
  • I give much less of a shit about how I look or what people think.
  • I've been married almost 23 years. I'm proud of that. Ken rocks!
  • I can wear underwear with my bathing suit and no one cares (joke)
  • Pretty soon I'll be able to crap my pants and no one will bat an eye.

What are you training for?

Ever hit a dog by mistake?? We actually almost hit the dog ourselves, before I pulled over. Ugh.

Libraries - do you go? If not, where do you get your books?

What's the best thing about getting older.?

SUAR



Tuesday, February 13, 2018

Running With Music: Jaybird Run True Wireless Headphones GIVEAWAY!

I ran a race this weekend called the Old Man Winter Rally. I'm not sure why it's called that because I didn't see any old men rallying or anything. It was only 5.4 miles, but it was on slippery, snow packed roads and trails. This made it feel about 4x harder than it normally would have felt.

I really wanted to place in my age group so I pushed to the BF (Barf Phase). You've been there - it's the zone that a runner enters when he/she has exerted her/himself so much that they are on the verge of spewing their breakfast everywhere. I never actually SPEW (because we emetaphobes would never do that), but the feeling is REAL.

This is before the race (aka before BF):

Couples who match their shirts and bibs stay married for 22+ years

All of this to say, one thing that helps me during races is music. I find that not only am I faster with music, but I can stay more motivated.

I know there are people who disagree - who think that if you run with music you are weak or somehow not in tune with your breathing and body. Whatever with those people. I happen to like it. That said, I only do about half of my runs with music because I don't listen to it on trails (because then you can't hear the mountain lions chasing you) or when I run with other people (because that would be rude, but if I hate them I might do it). Music is a treat to me while running.

By the way, there have been several articles written about how music can potentially make one run faster. Clearly the elites don't use music, but they are super heros and freaks of nature.

To heighten my music enjoyment JayBird Sport sent me a pair of their RUN True wireless headphones (blue tooth) to try out. What is so special about these?



The come in this little handy case that automatically charges them

- 4 hour play time + 8 hour charge case
- Fast charge - 5 minute charge = 1 hour play time
- Secure + Comfort-Fit with interchangeable tips and fins
- Sweat-proof and water resistant



Then you just charge the whole case

An advantage and something JayBird promotes for safety, is that it is very easy since they are completely wireless, to only wear one earbud, therefore staying completely in tune with our surroundings. 

If you follow Rich Roll on Instagram, you see in his stories that he is always wearing these. Rich and I are so alike. 

I tested these on my ten mile run last week. These days I'm using Spotify and am carrying my phone in a nifty Fuel Belt waist pack and I don't even know it's there. I sync up the headphones to my phone and am good to go. 

These buds take a bit of getting used to because you have to find the right fit. They come with a few different sizes. I must have a strange ear hole (<funny word) because it is hard for me to find the right fit. The buds have fins coming off of them that attach to below the concha (no, I did not know what the anatomy of the ear was, but I love Google):

Related image


Lovely fit.
I love the sleekness and lightweight nature of these headphones. No wires, no fuss. The sound is very good with these, although the volume doesn't see to get as high as with some of my other earbuds.

Not gonna lie, these are pricey, due to the quality and technology. About $179/pair.

So, my question to you is...Want to win a pair??? Just enter by (one entry/comment for each bullet):


  • Leave a comment telling me why or why you don't listen to music (+1)
  • Leave a comment telling me why you want to win these! (+1)
  • Follow me on Instagram here (and tell me you did so in a comment). (+1)


Good luck!

SUAR

Monday, February 5, 2018

I Did a 32 Day Run Streak and Here's What Happened

At the end of December I decided I wanted to do a run streak for the month of January. No real reason why except that life was kind of stale and boring and I wanted to do something different.

I had never done a streak before because - 1) I was afraid of getting injured, and 2) I had no desire to run every single day. But for 31 days I figured I could do anything (it actually ended up being 32 days because on day 32 I had a speed workout to do from my training plan).



I'm not acting all cool like I'm the only one to ever have done a running streak. I realize many of you have done streaks and for much longer than 32 days. High five to you, you person who is better than me. I just wanted to tell my story. My blog. My story.

Stats:

Days run: 32
Miles run: 134
Average miles per day: 4.2
Longest run: 7.9
Shortest run: 2.0
Days ran outside: 30/32
Coldest run: 8 degrees
Weight lost: No idea, I don't weigh myself. Probably one ounce.
Times squatted in bushes: 3


The Good:

When you know you are going to do something every day, you don't play any mind games with yourself. Despite colder than a witch's tit weather, the chili fries you had last night or the fact that you stayed up late watching the entire 9th season of Shameless, you will run. You will run because you said you would. Gotta say, there were several days that I would not have run if I wasn't on this "streak." So, yep, it was a good January motivator.

My calves got bigger. I know this because when I wear my skinny jeans my calves look like sausages busting out of their casing (I actually had to look up the plural of calf. I know baby cows are calves, but I didn't know if the plural for the muscly part of the back of your shin was calves or calfs. BTW, it's CALVES).  I also got a vein on the front of my tibia. Not sure why, but I like that. Reminds me of this guy.

Image result for dean karnazes legs
Dean "vein" Karnazes

I really feel like running for 32 days straight gave me greater endurance and increased my speed. I feel like I have a really good base going into this training cycle. My body feels great with no niggles pointing to injury.

The Bad:

Laundry. I tried to wear things more than once but found that I smell too bad to carry that off. I don't do the laundry in our house so here is my public apology: "Ken, I am sorry for the 32 items of running clothing you had to wash each week. I am sorry they smelled like ass and other things. I love you."

Like you, I've got certain running routes from my home. Sometimes I drive to run trails, but not usually during the week. I am so f'ing tired of every single one of my routes. I ran them backwards, I ran them faster/slower, I ran them with/without music, I ran them naked, I ran them jumping rope and doing cartwheels. I still got sick of them.

It got lonely. Ken and I run together 2-3 times per week and I love that. But I don't have any other running partners. I love to do some runs solo, but it gets lonely when you run almost every day alone. The truth is, I work from home so I don't have colleagues to interact with. I have friends, but not all of them run and most of them don't have the same schedule I have. Sometimes I get to feeling isolated. I'm an extrovert, so being around people gives me energy.

So, now what? Well, I'm deep into my new training plan for my 50k in June. I love this plan in that while you work out almost every day (there are some rest days and recovery weeks too), the plan incorporates cardio (like swimming/biking), strength training and speed work. And, guess what? I ran my longest distance in a few month yesterday. 10 miles.


My eyeballs are literally frozen. I was out there 1.5 hours

Truth: I didn't want to do it and it was 15 degrees. I had very low expectations for this run and it turned out fabulous because I found a friend.

This is my new friend. His name is Al Pacah. Get it?




Do you have a running buddy/group?

What are you training for?

SUAR

PS: I have a great giveaway/review coming up soon, so check back. Just the thing to spice up your January/February blahs.