If you drive a white SUV, stay away from me please

There must be target on me that people who drive white SUVs aim for.

Let me back up. I glanced out my office window at 5:15 p.m. this afternoon. It was 15 minutes before quitting time and the sun was still out. Whoa. I guess I haven't realized that the days were getting longer. And it was sunny and mercury in the thermometer was hovering around 30 degrees. With just a short 2-mile run on the schedule tonight, it's like the outdoors was calling me.

Run outside. You know you want to.

And I did. So even though I had the gym bag packed in my car and was planning on snagging a treadmill at the YMCA, I changed plans. Instead I went home, threw on the running clothes and was out the door by 6 p.m.

It was starting to get dusky when I set out for my run, but it was still fairly bright. And my bright pink jacket? It's got some reflective stuff on it so I wasn't too worried about becoming roadkill.

I should have been though.

Not even a half mile into the run I'm coming up to a little subdivision that I run though. But first I have to turn off the main road. And since there aren't sidewalks in this area, I was on the road. But I was as far over on the shoulder as possible and running facing traffic.

Apparently Mr. White SUV Driver No. 1 was a bit too impatient to slow down while the car in front of him made a right hand turn. Because all of a sudden this SUV is coming towards me. And not just creeping along. More like going 45mph on the shoulder of the road to drive around the other car. Right in my path. I kind of stopped. Got over even farther. If I moved to the left anymore I'd be knee deep in a snow bank.

I glared at the SUV driver. May have given him a one-fingered salute. And kept running.

Through the subdivision, back on to the main road, took a right turn and I was back in a subdivision. It was getting darker. Since there's sidewalks in this subdivision I ran on them. Most homeowners have done a phenomenal job with snow removal on their sidewalks. But of course there's always "those homeowners," the ones who seem to forget what a shovel is and what it's used for. But I made it.

Soon it was back to the main road. It was getting dark by now, and honestly a bit darker than I felt comfortable with, but I only had another half mile to go so I thought I'd be OK. I was wrong. Again. I no more than get to the main road I almost get smucked by ANOTHER white SUV. This time he's almost driving through a snow bank to get around a car that wanted to make a left hand turn. And almost plowed into me in the process.

I got a good look at him as he drove through the snow bank. I glared. Waited until he was gone and started running again. I might have upped the pace a bit since at this point I just wanted to make it home before I became a piece of road kill.

While running for my life I made the decision that I better not venture out for a post-work run in my neighborhood until after Daylight Savings Time kicks in. If I want to run outdoors after work, I think it's going to have to be a run that takes off from my work parking lot. Because tonight? It was just a bit too scary for my tastes.

Needless to say I'm kind of looking forward to heading back to the YMCA treadmill tomorrow. Even if it means I've got to tackle a workout of hill repeats.

*****

In other running-related news. The month of February's done. Which means the first full month of training with the Fleet Feet half marathon group is done. And looking at the numbers I can totally tell. I ran 17 times in February and logged 73.4 miles. I missed three runs this month - one due to a late night at work covering protests and two last week under doctor's orders. That's a lot of running. But I love it.

A not so fun long run

Remember how last weekend's long run was amazing? I felt strong. Surged up those hills? Picked up the pace at the end?

Today? Not so much. More like a struggle. I felt weak. Barely made it up the hills. Wanted to quit 2 miles early, but plodded through the final miles.

In short? It stunk. And that's not even taking into account the nasty blister I managed to give myself on my toe. Ouch.

What made it bearable? Having my friend Krittabug run it with me. She's in town visiting this weekend and needed to log some miles herself. So she ran with the group and kept pushing me to the end. And having the coach run a good chunk of the last 4 miles with us was nice too. I guess that's one of the perks of running with a group. Had I been solo I bet I would have thrown in the towel and found the shortest distance back to the starting point. But I didn't.

What made it so hard today? Not completely sure. I think it's a combination of things. That whole car accident/getting stuck in a ditch fiasco from Sunday, a stiff, sore, achy back. Not running since Tuesday. Who knows.

I know not every run can be amazing. That sometimes a bad run can end up being just what you need in order to give you the confidence that you'll be able to fight through it when the run gets tough on race day. But today? It was just ouch. I was never so glad to see my car parked in the parking lot. But 9 miles is in the books.

Three Things Thursday

1. I'm not allowed to run. And it's killing me. After my accident on Sunday, my back started getting achy and stiff on Monday. I decided to make an appointment with my chiropractor after talking with some family. I went for my appointment on Wednesday and he said I had strained my upper back muscles pretty badly during the accident. He told me to come back for a few more appointments and make sure I ice my back. Because I like asking questions, I asked him about running. And that's when he put a halt to my running. He said even though I didn't hit my head, there was still a possiblity I had gotten a mild concussion from the sudden jolt and that I shouldn't run.

It's killing me. I've missed two days. Friday's supposed to be a rest day, but I'm itching to lace up my sneakers and run on Saturday morning. He told me we'd discuss it again when I go for my appointment tomorrow morning. But even if he says no to running, I think I'm going to be that bad patient and do it anyway. My head feels fine. I'm not dizzy. No blurry vision. Besides I ran Monday and Tuesday and I'm still alive. I'll just take the run super easy. Because I want to run. I NEED to run. And there's a 9-miler calling my name.

2. It's taken me almost a month but I'm almost done with The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest. Good book. Well worth the read. In fact I recommend the entire triology.

3. Another reason I need to run on Saturday? My good friend Krittabug is coming up for the weekend and she's going to come to the Fleet Feet group with me. Kritta's actually the one that got me into the running thing and convinced me to do my first half marathon back in 2007. I want to run with her. And then there might be some stalking of Clay Matthews when he comes to Lake Winnebago later in the afternoon.

It's not even March, but I know I'll be working hard come April

It's been four weeks since I started running with the Fleet Feet half marathon training group.

And I'll be the first to admit, deciding to pay the $50 and join the group? Best decision I've made so far this year. I was worried before it all started. I typically don't run with others. Running is kind of my quiet time. My time to think. But you know what? I look forward to early Saturday mornings and running with the others in the group. We're a pretty diverse bunch and haven't run out of things to talk about yet! And the miles seem to go so much quicker when I'm running them with others. Let's not forget the built in motivation.

Saturday we tackled 8 miles and remember how I mentioned I killed the run? I guess I wasn't kidding myself about feeling strong. I got an e-mail from the coach last night:

"You did phenomenal yesterday.  Surging up the hills , driving to the finish, you're really doing well, keep it up!"

Yeah, I'd say that's a little bit of a confidence booster.

Or maybe that was his way of softening the blow of what I was going to see next. See the training group is aiming for the Oshkosh Half Marathon in mid-April, but the coach was willing to tweak our training plans if we had different goal races. While I'm running the Oshkosh half, my goal race this spring is the Green Bay Half Marathon. I want to kill my old PR and finally hit that 2:30 I've been chasing the last year.

So my coach was going to tweak my plan and chart out what the four weeks between Oshkosh and Green Bay would look like training-wise. Now I had heard the coach mention once or twice before that ideally he'd like to have his runners run longer than the race distance prior to race day.

I guess I shouldn't have been surprised when I opened the training plan and saw the two weeks after Oshkosh? I'm supposed to do 15-mile runs.

Gulp.

I admit I'm a bit freaked out and it isn't even March yet. But still, 15 miles? That will be the longest I've ever run. And two weeks in a row? Oh boy.

But then I stop, think and remember J.J Watt's philosophy that I've adopted: Dream Big. Work Hard. And that's exactly what I'll be doing when the end of April arrives, because I've got some big dreams, but I know I'll have to do a lot of hard work to achieve them.

#DBWH

When they say travel is hazardous...believe them!

Mother Nature and I are not on speaking terms. And I've decided I'm not going to drive again until spring arrives.

There's a winter storm rolling through Wisconsin at the moment. By the time all is said and done, it's supposed to dump a foot of snow, there's a chance for some icy mix and since the winds are supposed to pick up tonight, visibility will be close to non-existent.

Knowing the storm was supposed to roll in early this afternoon, I made sure to leave my parents' house fairly early today. In fact, I think I left their house 10 minutes after I saw the first snowflake.

Apparently I didn't leave early enough.

I swear, I was on the road for 5 minutes. I had just gotten on the highway and things were getting a little icy already. I kept my speed down though. I was in the right lane, but I had to change lanes to allow for traffic on the highway on ramp to merge. I checked my blind spot, turned on my blinker and started to change lanes.

Next thing I knew I was sliding. Spinning. There's more sliding and I'm freaking out because I have this feeling I'm going to end up in the ditch on my roof. I let go of the steering wheel and say a little prayer. I close my eyes for a moment and when I  open them, I'm looking into the windshield of the car behind me.

Then we hit.

Front bumper to front bumper. I see a piece of my car fly off. No airbags were deployed and suddenly I'm facing west again. I pull off to the shoulder of the road, take a breath and see if I'm OK. I pull out the phone and call 911.

"I've just been in an accident."

Forty-five minutes later a sheriff's deputy shows up. We pull off the highway into a parking lot and he takes information about what happened as I sit in the back of his squad car. I end up getting a citation for failing to keep my vehicle under control - even though I was going below the speed limit. No one was hurt, thankfully, and the deputy eventually let's us go.

My battered car and I leave the parking lot. I head back over to my parents' house. I debate just staying at their house overnight, but it's supposed to get worse overnight and there's a chance I won't be able to get my car out in the morning. Mom and Dad tell me to go home, take the long way through town and go slowly.

I leave. It's still snowing. And still icy. I'm nervous. But I drive cautiously.

This time I'm less than 2 miles from Mom and Dad's. There's a stoplight up ahead. It's red. There are a bunch of cars stopped for the light. I start to apply my brakes early to allow plenty of time for braking. I start sliding again. I pump the brakes, just like they taught us in driver's ed. I still slide.

This time I end up in the ditch.

I can't help it. I start to cry. I pull out my phone - again - and call my Mom.

"I give up."

My Dad comes - but not before countless strangers stop and ask me if I'm alright - and he tries to pull me out of the ditch with his truck. We're helped by another random stranger. After almost a half hour of trying, we're successful and my little blue Focus is no longer stuck in the ditch.

We thank the stranger. Dad tells me to keep going to Oshkosh, but to take it as slow as I need to. And I do. It takes me an hour from when my car is pulled from the ditch to when I drive into my driveway. It's normally a 30 minute trip. But that pales in comparison to the fact that when you add it all together it took me 4 hours to get home today. Not fun. And even though I've driven in Wisconsin my entire life, I admit, what happened today shook my confidence when it comes to winter driving. But I know I can't let it affect me. It's winter. It gets icy. And like my parents say, accidents happen.

But the take away lesson? The next time the weatherman or the Department of Transportation says travel is hazardous and not advised unless an emergency? You can bet I'll be listening.

The hills became road kill

I killed it.

This morning's run? The same route we took last weekend that featured all of the nasty hills in the last 2.5 miles? It should have been scared. The concrete should have been shaking. Because this morning? I killed my run.

It. Felt. Amazing.

After last week's run I had a little bit of doubt. Could I do the miles? Would the 2:30 ever be mine? Can't my coach just forget hills exist? Because seriously. Oshkosh? It's pancake flat. We don't have no stinkin' hills.

But this morning? Totally different attitude. I ran strong. I kept a super consistent pace for 8 miles - my splits ranged from 11:14 to 11:25 minute miles with the exception of two miles where I forgot to stop my watch for a quick drink break and a super long stop light. And the final mile? After I've already logged 7 miles and dominated the hills, it was my fastest mile of the morning. Never ever has that happened before.

Amazing run.

Three Things Thursday

1. For the first time this half marathon training cycle I skipped a run. Yes, the plan started Jan. 31, so it really hasn't been that long. But there were days the last two and a half weeks when I just wanted to skip a run because it was hard adjusting to a 5-day a week running schedule. It was hard. And I wanted to skip a run. But I didn't.

Until today.

It was a long day. It started early. It was go go go. And it ended late. By the time I left the office at nearly 7 p.m., I was hungry. My head was starting to hurt. I thought about heading over to the YMCA and just getting the 3 miles in. But I decided not to. I just wanted to go home. So I did. Maybe I'll fit it in tomorrow morning before I head to work. Maybe.

2. Have any of you been paying attention to what's going on in Wisconsin? Our governor's proposing some pretty radical stuff. And the citizens of the state don't like it. Not one bit. So there have been rallies. And protests. And schools are being closed because teachers are calling in sick. And 14 of our Democratic State Senators may have left the state today instead of going to a Senate session. Here's a run down from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel about today's events. Pretty entertaining reading. Those events are what kept me at work so long today, but it also reminded me of why I love the work I do.

3. Now I'm going pull myself away from the computer and settle in for the rest of the night with my book, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest. I've still got 200+ pages to finish and the library is going to want it's book back tomorrow. I have a feeling they're not getting it. Hey, I just look at those late fees I rack up adding to the revenue stream for the library. Loving the book so far.

Bonus item: I registered for the Oshkosh Half Marathon today! That means there's a half marathon penciled into my calendar on April 16 (Oshkosh) and May 15 (Green Bay). At this point I'm looking at Oshkosh as a long training run for Green Bay. But I first started running consistently the first year Oshkosh put on a 5K/half marathon event in 2007. I've done the 5K every year since, but this will be the first time I tackle the half marathon distance in the city I live in!

Runing through the puddles

What do you get when you combine working a later shift with sunny skies and temperatures hovering near 40 degrees?

A happy Badgergirl who got to run her 2-mile run outside!

Yes, there was a stiff wind to contend with during the first half the run and my feet got a little wet while trying to avoid the puddles, but it felt so good to be off the treadmill and running outdoors during a work day run. I felt like I was working hard, especially when battling the wind, and was expecting to see a disappointing time show up on Garmin Gus. But I was OK with that. Remember there was the wind to battle, puddles to avoid and I had to take some steps very carefully to avoid slipping on the remaining icy patches.

So after I got home and hit stop on Garmin Gus you could say I was very surprised to see that I had just turned in a sub-20 2-miler. OK. OK. Technically it was barely a sub-20 - more like 19:50 - but I was happy. Maybe those hills I've been conquering on the Saturday morning Fleet Feet runs and those hill repeats I've been doing on the treadmills Tuesday nights are paying off.

Whatever the reason, I don't really care. I'm just happy to have gotten the chance to run outdoors. Even if it meant I finished with wet feet from the puddles.