Thank you Facebook peeps!

Workout:

3 mi/treadmill 1% incline

Today was a long day. Things got a little stressful at work and by the time the workday was over I was exhausted. I knew I really needed to get today's run in but I was in a motivational melt down. I knew I would get the support I needed if I reached out to my Facebook family so I posted the following on my FB page:

"I'm fighting the urge to flake out on my training run tonight. I'm going to chill while my diner digests then go to the gym. Why am I sharing? Because I need encouragement, lol"

The support I got was amazing!

"Go to the gym!!!" - my hubby

"Go to the gym. Nobody ever regretted a workout they completed. You got to do the work if you want to reach your goal!!" - my neighbor

"Go Anna and workout for me too! There....,did that help?!?" - my cousin

"Go Anna-you will feel so much better afterwards plus you can't let me down cuz you are my inspiration....how's that?" - my aunt

"Get off your bum! I did my walk this morning and tomorrow I'm adding an evening bike ride to my routine." - close friend since grade school

"Go, you will feel better after. I know I did!" - friend

"Just do it" - close friend since high school

"I hope you went already, Tina did." - friend

I'm feeling great riding the post run high and I have all of you to thank. So, thank you! My legs were a little (lot) sore from yesterday's bodypump class but my legs felt pretty good during the run.

Tomorrows plan? REST DAY! And I need it. :)

back to bodypump

Workout

Bodypump class/60 min

Last night was my first bodypump class since the end of October and I was embarrassingly weak... After the first track my legs where quivering, haha. My workout buddy, Tracy, was giving me "the look" when she saw that most I would lift was 15 lbs. I'll add a little more next Tuesday. My plan is to go to the Friday class too and keep going twice a week  and hopefully build back to where I was before I started slacking off. 

Life here in Sacramento has been miserable! I understand that we are still living in above 0 degree conditions and there are other places that are not as lucky but I'm not a fan of cold weather so waking up in the twenties makes it very difficult for me to get my ass out of bed. For a while I was trying to get up early and do my training in the morning before work like I did in the summer and fall but I refuse to run outside when it's colder than 40 degrees. I just can handle it. The dark doesn't help either. If it was sunny I would probably suck it up and run. Maybe. Bottom line, I'm so tired of being cold!

if only i could take Sadie with me

It's going to be another cold but sunny day today but because of my long work day I wont be able to use that sun for training. So I will be at the gym again tonight running in the treadmill, blah. 

  

New running expense: massage

Workout: Training run

2 mi on the treadmill

I've been dealing with foot pain for a long time now and have read study reports and articles on so many foot problems I can't keep them straight anymore (I guess I wouldn't last long as a researcher). A common treatment seems to be massage. But it wasn't until I listened to recent pop stuff pod cast on massage (one of the podcasts from howstuffworks.com) that I was interested enough to make an appointment.

I've had massages in the past and while I enjoy them it's not something I would splurge on. My husband on the other hand gets massages pretty regularly and sees the benefit of them in his back and arms. Maybe that's partly because the Swedish massage is enough to do him some good while I know it would take a deep tissue session to help me and it just doesn't seem worth the discomfort. But with all that said, thanks to Holly Frey at howstuffworks.com, I made an appointment and explained that I was looking for someone who could do a "sport-ish kind of massage for running injures". (I wasn't going to actually to ask deep tissue even though I knew that's what I probably needed.)

I went the Mellow Me Out Day Spa yesterday for my massage. My therapist, Dale, and I talked about what I wanted and my current foot and leg issues. It turns out about 40% of his clients are runners and when's I asked him questions he seemed to know his stuff. He warned me that it was going to be a little uncomfortable, as I expected, but he wanted me to know that my pain level should not get more than an eight, otherwise it could cause me injury. Basically, if in my head I'm thinking I want to kick him then things are good, if I say it out loud, that's a sign he needs to back off.

Yeah, it was an eight but later that night I noticed that I was walking normally, with full range of motion in my foot. It's been months since my foot has felt so good. Before I left the day spa I scheduled my next appointment for two weeks out. This is going to get a little pricey but if it'll allow me to run with less pain and discomfort than it's worth it.

Happy 2013

Yesterday was my fist workout of the new year. Every year on New Year's Day I go for an easy run. Usually about 3 miles and I don't worry about time or pace. I just enjoy starting another year.This year I ran in a nearby neighborhood that my kids refer to as "where the rich people live". Most of the houses are small mansions with large lots with lovely yards. I enjoy running in this area. It's pretty quiet with lots to look at and lots of trees. I love trees. My three mile run turned into three and half. I came across two little dogs running and playing all alone. They were very friendly and let me check their tag. They lived a few houses away so together we ran over to their house. I rang the bell a few times and knocked but no one was home. Then I called the phone number on their tags but there wasn't an answer there either. It was pretty obvious where they got out through the fence so I tried to coax them back into their yard but once they where at their front door they weren't going anywhere. I ended up leaving them scratching at the door. I felt a little guilty about that but I didn't know what else too do and they didn't look like they where going anywhere.

Later in the day Jeremy, the kids, our niece and I went out to the lake for some very cold SUPing. We went out there last New Year's Day so the kids wanted to do it again. I tried to explain that last year was a much warmer day than this year but they didn't think it would be that much colder. Lets just say that we all had fun but no one spent more than fifteen minutes on the boards. :)

I have five weeks and three days till my first of 13 half marathons this year! My breathing is a million times better than it has been over the last few weeks so I'm feeling nervous but optimistic. I bought two air purifiers and I think they have made a huge difference in my breathing, running and quality of life. I feel a little bit bad for Jeremy though. Now he has to put up with a humidifier and an airy purifier in the bedroom. I'm so high maintenance!


Pix:
1) my new dream house that is for sale along my course (I have a dream house on all of my neighborhood routs)

2 & 3) the shirt I designed to wear any half marathons

4) after my run I took the kids to Noah's Beagles for some yumminess.

Last post for 2012

Happy New Years to who ever is reading this. 2012 has been a busy year. I started my running year with the Lou Gehrig 5K in January. It was during that first race that I hurt my left foot and have been dealing with arch and heel pain ever since. (It's been better since I stated wearing inserts about a month ago). In February I ran the Super Bowl 10k and in March I ran my first half marathon of the year at the Shamrock'n half. In April I ran the American River Parkway half and than, two weeks later, the River City Half. In May I went back to Fremont to run the Mermaid half again. This time Sami, my niece, Maddie, and her mom, Michelle, ran the 5K at the Mermaid Run. The Mermaid events are so much fun! In June I took a break from the halves and ran the women's fitness festival 5K. I really love this event. In 2010 I trained for the WFF 5K after taking seven years off from running (I had an injury then was too deposed to try again) and I finished feeling great without a hint of my old injury. In July I ran the Fab 40's 5K, the color run in August and the Giants Race in September. I also ran the McKinley Park 5K with my new running buddy, Tracy, in August and and a Pumpkin patch 5K in September. October brought me my fifth and final half marathon of the year, the Urban Cow. I didn't come close too my PR but I hadn't trained well for it and still beat my time for the year before. (In 2011 I got injured at mile 1 and had too hobble most of the curse-but I crossed the finish line) This year at the Urban Cow I won an iPad so I didn't really care what my time was. On Thanksgiving day in November Tracy and I participated in the run to feed the hungry. I'm proud to say that with the help and support of my friends and family I raised just over $300 for the Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services! Also in November, Sami and I went I to San Francisco for the Mermaid Run 5K and then spent the day exploring Alcatraz and pier 49. That was a great day! A few weeks ago in December I ran in the CIM as part of a relay team. It was a very wet day but it was a great experience. I'm looking forward to running it again next year.

That,s my very quick recap of my 2012 running year. There are some races I left out but I wrote about most of them earlier in the year.

I wish you and your loved ones a fantastic 2013!

Anna

Post CIM... post

It's been a long time since my last blog. I haven't been able to grab on to one thought long enough to write it out and, apparently, that means I've been on a blog hiatus. But I'm back (for now) and I have lots to share.

The CIM (California International Marathon) was held this past Sunday. I participated as part of a four person relay team this time. The weather was a mess but the race was a lot of fun. If you haven't been out running in the rain I recommend you try it. Some of my favorite training runs in the past have been done in the rain and the race was even more fun. I ran a seven mile stretch of the 26.2 mile course and my team finished in 5 hours, 34 minutes. We Rocked It!

Zachary, Nancy, me, Rebecca, Janice (David had to leave) 

Organizing the relay team was more of a roller coaster ride than I was expecting. It all started after last year's CIM. I was sitting around my table chatting with my sister and my friend, David. (David ran the CIM about  four years ago and he ran part of it with me last year as a supporting cheerleader.) We decided we would run the relay. As 2012 moved along I started talking to other runners about the relay hoping to find a fourth person. My sister-in-law, Rebecca said she wanted be our fourth runner. Yay! But then more people said they wanted to run the relay too so I organized a second team. This team took a little bit longer to fill up but eventually we got four runners.

Not long after everyone was registered (and paid for) someone on team 2 needed to drop out. Then another person. Then we replaced one, but she dropped out too. Then someone got sick. Someone couldn't make it into town. Another replacement got injured. In total, there were eight people who had to drop and one of those people dropped twice. In fact, there wasn't a single original person on team 2 who ran on race day. Fortunately we were able to pull things together.

Team 2 didn't have a person for the first leg so Rebecca ran with the timing chips for both teams. My team, team 1, didn't have a person for the last leg of the relay. I was ready to run both my leg and the final leg but once my socks were fully saturated and bunching under my toes I realized that running another five miles would be harder than I anticipated Thankfully I came up with a plan. I sent a text to Zachary, the leg 4 runner for team 2, and asked (begged) if he would take both timing chips if I got to the relay exchange before his team member. He was more than willing to help out and it gave me the motivation I needed to keep my pace up. I had to beat Janice to the exchange!

Everything worked out. I got to the exchange before the team 2 runner so after my seven miles I was done. We all got our medals and had a great time! Both teams were a runner short but we made it work :o) A big THANK YOU to my teammates, Rebecca, David, Nancy, Janice and Zachary! Who's excited for next year?!?!

my running bag

Like most people I have a few addictions and one of those are bags. I love bags and the more pockets a bag has the better the chance is that I will buy it. I have four bags I use on a regular basis and I will list them here for you (any excuse to make a list, right!) 

[1] my backpack 

I use this for the lake, river, beach and overnight trips

[2] my swim bag 

this is a small tote that has a waxy lining on the outside. This works well for my wet swimsuit and towel because the water doesn't leak through

[3] my gym bag 

I take this bag to the gym when I'm planning on doing more than one class or cardio and swimming. I also use this bag for trips

[4] my running bag 

I take this bag to all of my races and to my long runs and trail runs.

I'm writing about my running bag because I keep it stocked with anythings I might need before, after or during a run. Most of the things in this bag I found out I needed after I needed it and didn't have it. I'm hoping this little blog will will help someone stock their own bag before an item is needed and not after. Like me.

Here is my bag

It's just a small duffle with three pockets.

[1] a big main compartment pocket

[2] a smaller pocket between he big pocket and the front

[3] a small mesh pocket on the front of the bag

What I keep in the biggest, main pocket:

- an assortment of hydration packs and fanny packs
- a towel
- hand wipes, mine are "natural" and eco friendly
- an arm band for my phone
- a hat
- a first aid bag

In the first aid bag:

- muscle relief gel

- pain revilers (I pack Tylenol & Advil)

- tissue

- band aids

-vitamin E gel capsules (for blisters)

- ace bandages and/or knee brace

- athletic tape

- feminine products

- chap stick

- cream/lotion

Middle pocket:

- road I.D. anklet

- reflective vest

- snacks

- hair ties

- race belts

- more tissue

- a handkerchief (a good friend gave this to me for 

Christmas one year and I carry it with me during cold weather runs and races)

- headband/ear warmer

- gloves

Front pocket:

- inhaler

- baggy of safety pins

- ipod

- more hair ties

- parking passes for the bike trail and state parks

- clip on light (I run before dawn a lot)

- pens

- gu gel pack

- life savers (my quick sugar of choice)

- a luggage tag w/ my business card 

There you go, that's what I keep in my running bag. 

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