Dingoes LOVE to RUN through February! - Page 9

[tjsmama]

Originally Posted by Plady 

MelW - logout??!!   

Seriously, who DOES that?

Originally Posted by Geofizz 

OK, I've got an appt for 8 am Friday morning.

"No appts for 3 weeks."
"You've got to be kidding me.  Can I get a referral for PT over the phone instead?"
"How long has it been hurting?"
"3 months"
"Why did you wait so long to call?"
"You would have told me: Ice, ibuprofen, rest.  I could do that without making a drs appt."

{laughs} "OK, good point.  How's Friday?"

Awesome, geo!


I feel like I haven't been here in forever. Why does life have to be so stinking busy all the time? Sigh. I skied Friday, worked all weekend, skied today, tried to squeeze in some housecleaning in between my shifts, got cable installed yesterday in a marathon appointment, etc., etc., etc... Tomorrow's day off will be spent getting a workout in (finally) and running errands. Of course, I have to go back to the hospital to HR because the genius HR guy who filled out my paperwork for me yesterday printed out the letter I needed certifying my employment with someone else's name on it. Would have been nice if I had noticed it before I got home, but it didn't even cross my mind to check it after working all night. I'm also really bummed because I had come across an awesome deal on some powder skis (like new, only a few days on them, SO pretty) and the girl sold them out from under me today before I could go pick them up tomorrow. I understand why (she wanted to sell them as a set with climbing skins and I didn't want the skins), but it's still a bummer. It's not like I really need them, and I wasn't particularly looking, but I was so excited that I came across this deal.

On the upside: parent-teacher conferences yesterday. My kid is awesome. He's way ahead in both reading and math, and has improved a lot in writing. He's polite, respectful, gets along with everyone, and his biggest problem is that he can't keep himself from talking to his friends in class, so the teacher had to separate them.

rr~Ha. But I did ski two days, so that counts for something, right?

[Realrellim]

Originally Posted by Nickarolaberry 

Why is it whenever I commit to a marathon, I get massive anxiety over running? But then I need and like the goal also. I am weird.

I don't know, but I'm with you there.

Geo--glad you finally scored an appointment.

tjsmama--yay for a good conference and skiing.

Hi to everyone else. I'm very behind on personals and life in general.

RR: 16 x 400m on the indoor track. Managed every one in 2 minutes or under, so that's something. I was hoping it was the last set of intervals I had to do, but it appears the same workout is on the calendar next week. C&P Nic's comment about marathon training here.

NRR: have planet tickets and a rental car for the Arizona meeting. Travel will include a 2.5 hour drive from Phoenix to Flagstaff. I've heard it's pretty. I hope I enjoy all the alone time I'm going to have in the car.

Also, I was a very bad, crabby mama today. I so do not feel cut out for this whole parenting thing. Or career thing. Or anything. Bleh.

[Geofizz]

Oh, and you know my question about the switch that flipped in DS? His teacher just caught me in the hall. She wanted to know what we were hanging over his head. ?? She saw the same sudden switch, and the only thing that has ever had that dramatic a change in a kid is threats or bribes. We're all amazed.

[emma1325]

Hi...new runner here who needs some advice please!

I'm running on the treadmill about 3-4 times/week.  I mainly alternate sprinting and jogging...started about 8 weeks ago to help myself lose weight.  I'm able to do about 4 miles now pretty easily.  I'm getting a little better each time (I could barely do a mile when I started!).

But as my time and distance gets better, I've been developing some physical problems that I'm trying to work though.  I have shin splints which are threatening to get bad.  I read up on how to prevent them and realized I was doing a lot of heal-pounding.  So I changed my form a bit so that I'm landing more on the middle/front of my foot, and that was better as far as my shin splints go...but now I've got horrible blisters on the sides of my feet!  They are mostly near my big toes (bunion joints).

I've been babying the blisters (making sure they stay clean and bandaged), but every time I go to run again, I'm either dealing with the intense burning pain of the blisters when I lean forward in my stride, or the shin splints if I lean back a little to take the pressure off of the blisters.  There doesn't seem to be a middle ground in my stride.

I'm worried that I'm not built right for running.  :(

Any advice?

[Geofizz]

Welcome.

*Make sure your shoes are appropriate to your gait.  Head to a proper running store and have them watch you run/walk and find a shoe consistent with that gait.

*Put the treadmill on a 1% incline instead of flat.

*Make sure you warm up, cool down, and stretch out once warm.  I run 5 minutes, then stretch out slowly, then resume the run. 

*Make sure you take rest days to not run -- either take the day off entirely or mix it up with another activity.

Good luck!  And stick around to tell us how you're coming along. ;)

[Plady]

Hi Emma! 

I think it's easy to forget how new a new activity is to our bodies!  Have you also changed out your socks to see if that makes a difference in the blisters?  Maybe you could do some aqua jogging until the blisters are healed, it sounds like they're not going to be able to if you continue running on them.

Real - Enjoy the drive, I'm sure I would.  It gets increasingly beautiful as you go farther north IIRC.

Gaye - Congrats on the good report from school!  That feels good!

MelW- Do you want to come over for the SJI marathon/1/2 marathon/10K?  I think MegsBK may be be coming too!  We could do some dingo partying. And maybe I can figure out how to get running again enough to do the 10k.  June 16.

RR: No.  I tried sitting in the steam room yesterday to see if it would help but I actually feel worse today than I did Tuesday so still no boxing. 

NRR: Dh is currently on day 3/3 of the bar exam.  He says he was surprised at how difficult it has been.  He says he hears now that it's the 2nd hardest in the country after CA, why this is news now I don't understand.  But whatevs.  I just hope he passes because he has studied so hard and because spring tends to trigger his allergies which triggers his depression and I think failing the test right at the start of that could be incredibly difficult to navigate.  So fingers crossed for him to pass and be able to move forward.

[emma1325]

Originally Posted by Geofizz 

Welcome.

*Make sure your shoes are appropriate to your gait.  Head to a proper running store and have them watch you run/walk and find a shoe consistent with that gait.

*Put the treadmill on a 1% incline instead of flat.

*Make sure you warm up, cool down, and stretch out once warm.  I run 5 minutes, then stretch out slowly, then resume the run. 

*Make sure you take rest days to not run -- either take the day off entirely or mix it up with another activity.

Good luck!  And stick around to tell us how you're coming along. ;)

Thank you so much!

Ok a question:  What is a 1% incline?  Does that mean set the incline to 1? 

I'm warming up and stretching...maybe not enough though.  I'll start spending more time on that. 

I do yoga on 2 of my off days, but I'm also doing step aerobics 2x week (on my run days).  I don't know how the step action is interfering with the whole process...

I'm going to get to the shoe store this weekend!  Thanks. :)

[loftmama]

Plady, oh no! that he passes! the polar bear comparison. Perfect! Bwahahaha!

Emma, So glad to have you join us. I'm in Texas, too. Which part are you in? I think Geo and Plady have some great advice - especially about running shoes and a professional store. I switched to barefoot and Vibrams a few years ago; if you have questions about bf, let me know. Ow on those blisters!!

Geo, love that confirmation from ds's teacher! Great news! Now, I'll be curious if it's a one-time phase or if it's a learning style. Sounds like he has a great teacher, too, which is awesome!

Tjsmama, speaking of awesome... great report on your ds, too. You think he gets all that helpfulness from his mom? You do sound busy, but it sounds fun, too. I couldn't find a skiing icon, so

Real, good luck on the trip. Nice job on the run. And on the less-than-perfect-parenting day.

RM, My boys love rollerskating and rollerblading, too. No night munchies here, but I 2nd nuts.

Mel & Sparkletruck, the book talk. I've added those titles to my Goodreads list.

Sorry if I left out anyone.

Exercise: Got in a bit of exercise yesterday. Soooo much happier to finally move my body! I'm out of town with no running shoes, so it's just lunges, planks and push-ups but at least it's something. But, oh, what a difference. I think I'm almost back to normal!

[Geofizz]

I figure that setting to "1" would mean 1% incline.  The point is to give it a little incline to help you strike more on the ball of your foot.

Originally Posted by loftmama 


Geo, love that confirmation from ds's teacher! Great news! Now, I'll be curious if it's a one-time phase or if it's a learning style. Sounds like he has a great teacher, too, which is awesome!
 

If we ever get human cloning working, I'd suggest we start with her.  We'd fix the country's education problems.  She truly is a gem.  I have orchestrated a campaign to have all the parents nominate her for the town teacher of the year award.  It took very little effort.  I sent an email to the parents in the class, and by the end of the day we had 15 nominations.  I haven't looked to see if the other 4 families put something in later...

[mommajb]

Emma, plady and geo had great advice. Enjoy the running an let the blisters heal. Stepping and running on the same day is quite a bit.

Plady, :goodvibe for your dh and the bar exam.

lofty, you sound like you feel better. if I never answered, JCC is Jewish Community Center, much like the YMCA but this one was much posher than any Y I've been in.

real, alone time in the car? scenery? I'd enjoy it as long as the roads were clear. I hope you find it blissful.

runningmommy, are you doing the monumental? Haven't you done that half before?

NRR: I just simplified our schedule. Each daughter (and each son for that matter) had a different place to be at the same time on Wednesdays. This would work if I only had 2 daughters but I have 3 dd and 2 ds. I took middle daughter's carpool last night and pulled her out of the activity (and ran after speaking with the teacher). She will join one of her sisters as she is already enrolled in those activities and had been missing practices. As a funny aside, it was the second day on my running clothes so after taking the others home I asked dd if she could smell me. She said yes, and that I smelled like a skunk. There was bad skunk smell in two big spots coming home so I still don't know if I was too stinky.

RR: I had a great run last night - just hard enough to make me feel accomplished for finishing w/o walking and met my goal for the month. Time to step it up a tiny bit. (and do some laundry)

[sparkletruck]

Emma - Yes on the shoes! Get checked. I go to a running store where they have a treadmill (TM) that is filmed, so as you run on it you watch a video of what your feet are doing. It was amazing. I tried on several shoes and watched myself run with each of them and found one that prevented X,Y and Z, and my injuries have subsided a LOT. Good luck!

Geo - dont you love how bureaucracy's target the lowest denominator? I have such a bad blunt attitude when I deal with them, like, ok, let's just cut to the chase shall we? Here's what I know, and here's what I want

Plady - Fingers and toes crossed!!!!

Real - Are you me?! Are we the same person?! Crabby: check. Not cut out: check. You are a powerhouse! You can be an occasional crab without guilt! If I was nursing that much I'd have posted the kid on ebay Flagstaff is beautiful! If you have time for a run, its a beautiful place for it (maybe google search some trails). And the drive should also be beautiful. And if you have time, Sedona is maybe 30 minutes away and much warmer, and, that's right, beautiful

[kerc]

Hola, It's been a busy week of lots of reading on my phone. That means I can't type very much.

Last weekend dh talked me into traveling to the ski marathon (to watch) that's about 2 hours from here. We stayed with friends. A couple who own a condo, a couple who work in town and a couple we didn't know. No one else had kids. I could probably just stop there and not go on with my story.

But I'll tell you anyhow:  ski marathon. Lots of friends doing it, some who are parents, but no other mothers. I, of course, am not skiing the marathon. I'm there to schlep kids around who don't particularly love crowds and who don't love spectating ANY sporting event. We can walk to the start from the condo. We do, much talk about how there isn't a place to pee so we should go before leaving the condo. You can see where this is going, no?   Oldest tells me she HAS to go about 30 seconds after dh starts. HAS to go. We're about 1.5 miles from home. It's soft snowy roads. So we boost little kid onto my back and bam, make it just in time for oldest to get her pants down and pee ALL.OVER the bathroom floor (but fortunately not on her pants or boots, which she'll need for the day). ~crabbing, moaning, etc.~ Leave to watch the finish. Youngest's turn. There's no place to park but she's telling me she's about to pee her pants (did we not learn anything from dd1?). Quick park car, onto the back, into the bathroom (no pee on the floor this time). But we're now 40 minutes from "home" and have zero dry clothes with us. Walk out to where we're spectating and look at watch. Super. It's about the time I'm expecting dh and our (childfree) friend. Friends' wife didn't want to stand and watch with us (which felt pretty dang awful btw), so its me and the kids. And Leah has to pee again. Super. See guys go by, hit bathroom, find dh at finish line. Avoid major freakouts by small children (miracle, since it is PACKED).

We're all rounded up and head back to the condo. Friends call after we've been there for at least an hour. They stopped for beer, won't be back for dinner.

So...not an athlete, no other mamas to hang out with and leftout of the social scene. It was a kinda crappy weekend.  Here's the killer: you know how kids draw broad sweeping conclusions? 7 yo: "Mama, Moms can't do ski marathons." No amount of convincing would allow her to understand that the woman who came in 10th is currently pregnant, the woman who took 1st in the age group I fit in has three kids, etc. Until she sees it happen, it isn't real.

Going north to Canada this weekend. My options are: 8km, 20 km, 35 km, 50 km.  My initial intent was to do the 35km race. But I never got in a real long training ski (I'm a mom with a full time job, married to a guy who works 4 jobs to make about 1.8 full time jobs - this just happens). I could certainly finish 35km or 50 km. I'm slower than the rest of the (childfree) friends who are going. What race do I do?  I did a "I have an hour, how far can I ski before picking up kids" trial run Monday and skied about 7 min/km.  My athletic ego says either do a long ski and just go for a "tour"  or do the 20km and feel ok about how you finish.  My mama ego says, "dammit I can do the 50km, my kids apparently are getting the message I can't."

and now I have to run to a meeting. so hello all of you sorry this was all about me.

[tjsmama]

emma~Welcome! It sounds to me like you probably jumped in a little too quickly. Definitely make sure that you're wearing appropriate shoes, and that you're putting the incline at a 1. I feel like the treadmill surface can contribute to shin splints, too. Is it possible to run outside? I hate to say it, but you may need to back off a bit until you heal up.

kerc~Sorry that your weekend was a bust.

plady~Good luck to your DH!

real~Enjoy the drive. It sounds lovely. As long as they don't get a freak snowstorm like they did last week.


I had great plans to go to the Y this morning for a run and spin. Instead, I'm coming down with the plague. Again. I've had some sinus drainage for the past couple of days, but when my alarm went off this morning, it barely even registered. So I apparently turned it off and then I woke up at 12:30. Hopefully that helps a little, but I am SO snotty right now, it's disgusting. And tired. Ugh. Must get better before working 4 out of 5 nights starting Saturday...

[Shantimama]

Where are the weeks going? I wish I had time to keep up with reading here but this has been a crazy busy stretch. I think I am juggling too many balls in the air but I can't see how I can drop any of them. Yikes.

[MelW]

Shanti I hope that you get a break soon. You deserve a nice warm vacation with room service and no balls to juggle.

kerc, gah! You deserve a medal for surviving kids in snowsuits, never mind needing to do it in front of childless folks. You are strong and amazing whether you ski a 5k or a 50k. Don't hurt yourself trying to prove something to your kids (or to yourself).

Welcome, emma! I agree with the rest of the advice- excellent shoes, some rest and a bit of a treadmill incline. As a devoted trail runner, I need to put in a plug for running on a softer surface than a road or treadmill- I find it harder to get a good rhythm/form on a treadmill.

Geo, I love the exchange with the doctor's office. Hooray for a quick appointment!

Plady, I would love to run with you on the 16th, except I'm at a wedding that weekend :(

I had a very short call into work this morning, and took an 8 hour shift (they offered 12, but I counter-offered 8). It busted my plans for a fourth run in a week, though. Fingers crossed for tomorrow. This evening I had to settle for push-ups and circuit stuff at home instead.

[Realrellim]

kerc--I'd do the 50 'cause we're all (reasonably successful) overachievers, don't ya know? Or at least I would if you want to be out in the cold that long and if I was sure it would make a difference. Otherwise, shorter distance, better time. It really is a toss-up that way!

[kerc]

Originally Posted by MelW 

kerc, gah! You deserve a medal for surviving kids in snowsuits, never mind needing to do it in front of childless folks. You are strong and amazing whether you ski a 5k or a 50k. Don't hurt yourself trying to prove something to your kids (or to yourself).

Thanks. It was just exasperating. And I need to remind myself that these friends might never have kids. And they are fun. But there's a reason they might never have kids :P

I'm on my third night of middle of the night insomnia. So hey, I'm doing the 20km. And my children will have to figure out some other way that I am a rockstar. And I need to let.it.go.

Gaye: you just switched to working FT, no? And you're working a crazy schedule. Both I think lead to feeling crazy and sick (those are different things).

I ordered two pair of sanita clogs. both non returnable. one is size 35 (I thought that was my dd's size) the other is a 42. Well although my two other pair of 42 fit, this one feets too small. (black closed toe, "safe" coating -- perfect for lab or nursing job). And apparently my dd1 is no longer a size 4. Who knew? Clogs anyone? Cheap. $40 for the ladies and $30 for the smaller pair.

Emma:  I second Gaye's idea that it might be the treadmill. Can you make it work outside every now and again? The treadmill makes my feet hurt after a while. Ok it's probably how I run on the treadmill...

[Plady]

Kerc - Ugh on the whole weekend!  It drives me nuts when my instructions to pee before going are ignored to the detriment of all.  In SD I started insisting that Ali G sit on the pot for at least a minute just-in-case.  9x out of 10 she'd end up peeing, and then laughing because even she could see how dumb her previous protestations are.  But it took a few incidents like yours to get it through my thick skull that I couldn't take her word for whether she was empty or not.  And I'm sorry aout being dissed by the friend's wife.  That's lame.  As for your upcoming 20k, do that and tell your kids you won the gold medal.  And buy yourself nice finish line photo, frame it and put it up in their bedroom. 

Gaye - Your plague sounds like my plague.  At least I can control it with DayQuil but I'd really rather just stay in bed.  Oh well.

MelW - We'll figure something out!

[loftmama]

Kerc, we KNOW you're a rock star. The revelation will definitely hit them - just maybe not today.

kerc, shanti,

Nickarollaberry, I still blame you for our family's conversion to country! Well, it's not a complete conversion; we like all kinds of music, but we never listened to country before you talked about running to it. So last night we took the kids to see Zac Brown Band. They were over the moon. DS1, who plays violin and likes to play it like a fiddle and ukelele-style, almost cried watching the fiddler's fingers. Both boys wore their beards. People kept asking them for autographs and taking their pix. I tried not to smile too big, but they were pretty cute I'll have to figure out how to post the pic. (eta: figured it out) I know you're busy. Hope you're well. Just wanted you to know we're thinking about you!


The rodeo was fun, too.

So my mama-friend whose kids I watch broke up with me. Ah well, it was for the best. Now I'm back to being completely broke. (And friendless, as in zero locally. Prayers needed, maybe? ) No more coffee shop school days. It's okay. The weather's almost good enough for picnics at the park instead. The good news, is I feel like a ton of bricks has been lifted off my shoulders. It's been really hard lately to not be able to take advantage of homeschool activities that are mainly during the day when brick & mortar school is happening. Now, we are free to go - only with packed lunches. I don't even care. I'm so happy to have my freedom back. Anyway, all is well.

RR: Tomorrow!

[kerc]

Originally Posted by loftmama 

So my mama-friend whose kids I watch broke up with me.

Who would break up with you? What?!! Insane. Or maybe someone who isn't good enough to be your friend.

Also Zak Brown Band ok my secret crush. My husband hates ALL form of country, except maybe Johnny Cash. But I grew up listening to country music with my dad on the way home from swim practice. As in daily. And I miss my dad. So I listen to lots of country. Except the radio station's djs are so dumb.