Three Things Thursday

1. The fog is still out of control. And since it was dark and I was alone, I headed over to the YMCA for my 6-mile run on the treadmill tonight. That's the furthest I've ever run on a treadmill. And that last mile? It was tough. Good thing I had some college basketball to keep me entertained.

2. Is anybody else excited for Daylight Savings Time this weekend? A whole extra hour of lightness! That means I can start running outside after work and won't run the risk of becoming roadkill on the side of the road because some driver can't see me in the dark!

3. I've got a date with my tax returns tomorrow night. I've been putting off doing my taxes for way too long. And I know once I sit down to do them, it won't take me that long. I'm just procrastinating. But tomorrow night? Me, my W-2 and other tax stuff have a date. It'll be an exciting Friday night.

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Head over to Anne Marie's blog, Goals for the Week, and check out a cool running apparel giveaway!

A creepy, but cool run

Tonight's run was a bit creepy. But at the same time, very cool.

I met up with my friend Jess and our original plan was to head over to a monthly fun run put on by the local running club. I went over to her house after work, changed into my running gear and we were set to make the half hour drive to the run.

But five minutes into the run, we made a U-turn and headed back to her house.

See we've been having a problem with fog here the past few days. Something to do with melting snow, warm temperatures and the rain we got all morning. And the fog today? Pretty bad. As in you really couldn't see the car in front of you very well. And considering there was just a 38-car pile up last week that involved foggy conditions on the highway we needed to drive on, we didn't really want to be involved in Massive Car Crash Part II.

So we headed back to her house and decided to do our own version of the fun run.

And fun it was, especially since we didn't have a clue where we were going since we really couldn't see more than two houses away due to the fog. We just followed the street lights and hoped cars slowed down when they got to the intersections.

We headed out, stepped in a few massive ice-cold puddles, got soaked feet and managed to get a bit lost on the way back (blame it on a super twisty, turny street). But 4-miles after we started, we ended up back at her house.

Running through the thick fog was really cool. Kind of creepy, horror movie like, but very cool. Although it's definitely something I don't think I would do on my own. Call me crazy, but I kind of like the idea of safety in numbers when it comes to braving the super thick fog. And having a running pal was nice as well. I run alone so often, and even though we were both plugged into our iPods, we still were able to carry on bits and pieces of conversation, so the time passed by pretty quick.

Tonight's foggy run was fun, but tomorrow I'll be returning to the treadmill to log my 6-mile run, unless of course the fog lifts and the rain manages to stay away for an hour or so. I'll cross my fingers.

Bring on the randomness!

Ms. Ironman-in-training Leana over at Runner Leana tagged me with the Gorgeous Blogger Award. Thanks Leana!
I'm supposed to tell you six random things about myself. As this award is spreading through Blogland, some folks have been putting together their six random things based on a theme. So here it goes, six random things from my weekend.

1. I had to make one of those expensive Target runs this weekend. Seems like it always happens: I run out of a bunch of stuff (body wash, shampoo, toothpaste, face wash, moisturizer, etc.) all at the same time, leading to an expensive Target run. This was one of those runs. On the plus side, I may have splurged and come home with some Reese's Peanut Butter eggs.

2. I love coupons and grocery store sales. I had to get some cereal for breakfast. I had a coupon for $1 off two boxes of Frosted Mini-Wheats plus some Personal Perks grocery store reward. What that means? I got a free box of cereal!

3. If you think about seasons in terms of cooking, spring has officially sprung. I went to my parents' house for dinner Sunday (well, and to hijack their TV to watch the Badger game) and we had brats on the grill. First time since last fall!

4. I really wanted to finish reading "Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen" by Christopher McDougall this weekend. So close. But not done yet. Really interesting book by the way. While it's a great book, I don't think I'll be tossing my shoes in favor of barefoot running anytime soon.

5. I'm going through Olympic withdrawal. Good thing March Madness starts this week with conference tournaments leading up to Selection Sunday!

6. I feel a little guilty about skipping my long run this weekend. I've even tried rationalizing that the three short runs I did do Saturday and Sunday add up to the mileage I was supposed to do, but that isn't even helping.

There you go. Six random things I did or thoughts that ran through my head this weekend. Now it's time for me to pass it along...

Teacherwoman at Dare to Tri, Libby at From 0 to Runner, Suzy at Running on my Time, MCM Mama, Mel at Tall Mom on the Run and and Anne Marie, you guys are it!

Free swag and some new shoes

Honestly, I'm surprised my feet haven't rebelled and just refused to run.

My shoes? They're bad. As in they probably should have been replaced about 300 miles ago. But I've been putting it off. Once I hit the 100 mile mark for the year at the end of February I told myself, "You must get new shoes. Now."

And at first I was going to wait until I got my tax return back. But the feet were hating me last week. So I changed my mind and decided to get some new ones this weekend.
And it just so happens it was the grand opening celebration for Fleet Feet Fox Valley.

I hear grand opening and I think, ooh, maybe a sale.

But then I heard they had a fun run organized for Saturday morning. Just a 2-mile loop on a trail near their store. And the first 50 participants would get a free long-sleeved technical T-shirt.

Sign me up. I like things that involve the word "free."

So Saturday morning I headed over to the trail. There were about 35 people gathered (score, shirt was mine!) and a good range of runners. From super hard core folks to people like me to some who were just starting out with running and would probably be walking the trail.

The run was good. A little icy in places, but a good run. I even met Chelsey from DailyMile.com - my first Internet/blogging meet up - and chatted with her a bit.

After the run (20:49 for 2-miles), I headed over to the store to claim my shirt and pick up a new pair of shoes. But first they had a spread of food for us to dine on - bagels, muffins, yogurt, juice - and then we lined up for the shirts. But we were pleasantly surprised. Not only did we get a long-sleeved technical Saucony shirt, but we also got a drawstring bag and a steel water bottle. Score!
I wandered around the store while waiting for my turn with the shoe fitters and entered my name in the raffles (crossing my fingers and toes that I win the sunglasses!). Then it was my turn for the shoe fitter. She took one look at my shoes and declared they were trashed - remember I told you I probably should have replaced them about 300 miles ago.

I sat down, told it would be really easy. I've been wearing Asics Gel-Nimbus. I love them. No problems. They work great. All I wanted to do was get a new pair. She looks happy. Goes to the store room. Comes back.

"I've got good news and I've got bad news."

Uh-oh.

The bad news: Apparently Asics didn't make enough shoes last year. They thought with the crappy economy people wouldn't spend money on things like running shoes. But people did. In fact, running stuff, wine and chocolate are the three things that actually saw an INCREASE in sales, she said. Who would have thunk.

What this means for an Asics wearing runner like myself. There's a shortage of shoes meaning stores are having a hard time getting shoes in stock. And my luck? Fleet Feet Fox Valley didn't have an Asics Gel-Nimbus shoes in a size 8 in stock and doesn't have a clue when they're going to get some in.

The good news: The store did have a pair of Asics Gel-Cumulus in my size. Which are like the Nimbus, but one step below. They don't have quite as much cushioning as the Nimbus, which are apparently the Taj Mahal of that style of running shoe that Asics makes, she said. And the better news is that they were about $30 cheaper.

I hesitated for a moment. I love my Gel-Nimbus. They've gotten me through a lot. But the pair I have right now? My feet are starting to hate me for. They're dead. Trashed. Making my feet hurt. Do I try to go elsewhere to find a pair or do I take a chance on the Gel-Cumulus, named after a type of cloud (the big white fluffy ones I believe) and would hopefully feel like running on clouds for my feet. And let's be honest, the Green Bay Half Marathon is in 2 months - the mileage isn't going to be going down anytime soon.

So I took a chance. Bought the Asics Gel-Cumulus, some Gu and a package of Gu Chomps.
I didn't bust the new shoes out for yesterday's indoor tri, I gave my old pair a victory lap. But I did take the new shoes on their first run today. Since I skipped my long run Saturday, I was originally hoping to do my 7 miles today, but my legs were feeling a bit sore after the tri today so I opted for a 3.15 mile run instead.

And the shoes? They felt fabulous. Like I was running on a cloud. This might be the beginning of a beautiful running shoe relationship.

YMCA Indoor Triathlon - March Race Report

While I did not bring home any hardware with me from the YMCA Indoor Triathlon, I still was very happy with my performance.

A quick refresher: They started holding these indoor triathlons at my local YMCAs last year and in that time frame, I've earned a full set of medals - bronze, silver and gold. It's set up with an 8-minute swim followed by a 10-minute transition before a 22-minute bike. After a 5-minute transition the event ends with a 15-minute run.

So the swim. Yes, I admit. I've been slacking in the pool. Slacking as in today was the first time I dipped a toe in the water since the last indoor triathlon in mid-January. Oops. So I was winging it. And apparently winging it means dealing with goggle malfunctions during the first few laps and realizing how much swim endurance I've lost. Oh well. I took it slow, fixed the goggles and managed to finish 325 yards in 8 minutes. Not my best, but remember, winging it.

The bike went well. Nothing too surprising here. Legs were feeling pretty good and I was sweating buckets. Kept my cadence in the 120-125 rpm range the entire time and snuck in a bit of time in the 130 range. Finished 10.1 miles in the 22 minutes.

The run. Oh my gosh. Looking back I'm not entirely sure this was actually me running. Yet, this is why I'm happy with my performance today. Here's why. The seven of us in my wave lined up at the starting line and the timer yelled "GO." They all took off, leaving me in the dust. Yes, I was in a speedy group of folks. And remember, me? Not so speedy. So I ran. But I pushed myself. I wanted to run at my pace, but I also wanted to push myself and not get too far behind. I was running hard. But at the same time, I wasn't struggling. The faster pace? It felt good. A mile was 12 laps on the track we were running on, so when I finished that 12th lap, I glanced down at my watch.

9:29

Huh?

I just ran a 9:29 mile? During the first mile of a run during a triathlon? And I had already gone for a run this morning (more on this later)? Is my watch malfunctioning? Because I don't know if I've ever run that kind of mile?

I shrugged it off. Kept running. Kept running at that faster pace. And I still felt good. I was getting close to the number of laps I needed to log 1.5 miles and I glanced down at my watch again. I still had 2 minutes left. What was happening? Who is this runner and what did she do with Badgergirl?

I ended up running 18.75 laps in the 15 minutes. And assuming my math is right (math was never my strong point), that's just shy of 1.6 miles. As in, I was running at less than a 10 minute/mile pace during the run portion of a triathlon. And I wasn't dying. I felt good.

I like it.

So maybe I didn't walk away with any hardware this time (the organizer said my 30-39 age group was stacked and we were all right in that 11.5-12 total miles range), but I'm pretty happy with what I did during that run today.

Made me a happy Badgergirl and got me thinking, who knows what could happen this year.

Three Things Thursday

1. I need to vent for a moment. I had plans today people. The weather man told me it was going to be sunny and 40. So I planned ahead, not only packed my gym clothes, but also a set of outdoor running gear. Because my plan was to take a short lunch and sneak out of the office a tiny bit early so I could change into running clothes and head off for my 5-mile run right from work in order to take full advantage of the spring-like weather.

That plan ended up being a total failure when I was stuck at work an hour longer than I was planning on. Meaning it was just starting to get dusky when I finished up. And even though there were sidewalks, I really didn't want to run outside by the lake in the dark. Especially since I was going to have to rely on Gus to tell me when my 5 miles were up.

So I headed over to the YMCA and even though I didn't want to, I did my 5 mile run on the treadmill. Kind of grumbling in my head the entire time. Took it nice and easy (hey, the plan says an "easy" run). Finished up 5.4 miles in 56 minutes. This weekend I will return outdoors for my 7-mile run.

2. I haven't watched The Office since Halloween. Too many things going on, not enough time to sit in front of the TV. But I had to watch it tonight. Because Baby Halpert was born. And I couldn't miss that. The result of watching the episode? I was instantly reminded that I need to find myself a Jim (both character- and looks-wise) and I need to catch up on the episodes I missed and start watching regularly again.

3. I just realized that I have an indoor tri on Saturday. Oops. I feel like I'm ready as far as the bike and run go. But the swim? Yeah, the last time I dipped a toe in the pool was back in January. During the last indoor tri. So I guess I'm going to wing it in the pool and hope for the best. And of course, just have fun.

February reading recap

Between running and watching the Olympics, I found some time to read in February.

I finished two books in February at a total of 1,068 pages. That brings the yearly total to five books and 2,294 pages, which is ahead of the two books and 1,033 pages I'd read by the end of February 2009. I'll take it.

So what I'd read between my Olympic watching marathons? Take a look:

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
Love Walked In by Marisa de los Santos

I've read the final installment of the Harry Potter series before. I devoured it in something like 3 days when it first was released. But I've read all of the other books in the series a couple of times and wanted to go back and read the last chapter again. And I took my time this time. As in it almost took me all month. But I enjoyed getting to read it again. Love Walked In was some fluff recommended by a friend. But good fluff. The kind of fluff I needed post-Olympics.

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Today was a cross training day so I just hopped on the bike for 15 miles. I think my legs were thanking me for that decision. They were grumbling really loudly this morning when I got out of bed. Oops!

Grumbling legs and a look back at February

The legs were totally rebelling tonight when I stepped on the treadmill.

Are you crazy? You just made us run 6.2 miles yesterday and now you want us to run again? Haven't you ever heard of a rest day?

Yeah, that's what they were screaming at me when I stepped on the treadmill tonight. But I didn't listen to them. The training plan said a 3-mile run was on tap today. And darn it, screaming legs or not, I was going to do the 3 miles.

And the legs apparently figured out it was a lost cause to keep screaming, because after an easy 1.5 miles, they felt pretty decent. So I played around with the speed a bit and when the numbers on the treadmill flipped to 3 miles, I was still feeling pretty decent, so I opted to throw in an extra mile.

Overall 4.1 miles in 42 minutes tonight. And aside from the initial unhappy legs, the run felt pretty good.

*****

So February's done. Ummm, I'm still trying to figure out where January went. So let's take a quick look at the month.

Run: 55 miles
Bike: 29.5 miles
Swim: 0 yards

Oops. Totally slacked on the swimming. I'm going to change that in March. Really I am. And the biking went down a bit, but the run totals? Considering February only has 28 days and I pounded out 55 miles compared to 50.8 miles during the 31 days in January. I'll take that.

Let's take a look at the year:

Run: 105.8 miles
Bike: 96.5 miles
Swim: 338 yards

I'm a tenth of way towards the 1,000 mile running goal for the year. Yes, I'm still behind. But I'm hoping to catch up a bit this month. The half marathon plan has me running 70 miles this month if I follow it exactly. And well, I've never been too good at following it exactly. Take for instance tonight. I was supposed to run 3 miles. I ran 4.1 miles. Goals for March include getting back into the pool, upping the bike mileage again and sticking with the half marathon training!