Recovery Week

Courtesy of Layton Photography 

Per usual, I feel like I have been run over by a bus post marathon. I really wish I could recover so quickly like so many of my running friends, but it is what it is and I have to listen to my body.  I was pretty wiped out post marathon and the next day,  and while I wanted to just lay around and do nothing, the Tulip festival was in town and my hubby had to work, so I was in charge of the kiddo for the day.  That meant mostly sitting at the bounce houses watching my kiddo bounce, but also a fair amount of walking around looking at crafts, art, and mostly junk that i don't need, but I buy anyway.  In some ways it is good to stay moving, but in other ways, OUCH.

Courtesy of Layton Photograpy

I also have been thinking a lot about the good and the bad of my performance.  There was so much good and very little bad, which is nice.  The good?  Well, I got in 5 waffles this time with minimal nausea, which is one an hour.  The last one was a bit of a struggle, but I got er down.  I am trying to keep this in mind so that if I do a 50 miler and it takes me 10-11 hours, I can still keep up with what I know works.  I feel like I will need to alternate with something not so sweet with my waffles so that the sweetness doesn't get old.

Another good is that I also only looked at my watch for fueling times.  I need to figure out how to program my watch to beep at me every hour so I don't need to even do that.  Garmin experts, help?  I also never once mentally beat myself up about anything, mainly because Stella was there just smiling away and dang it, it was contagious.  Looking at her face brought a smile to my face any time I felt otherwise, but honestly I never felt a bonk or any big negative feelings.

The rain wasn't fun for the entirety of the race, but my gear was spot on.  I was never cold other than my hands. I think I needed a lighter weight glove that maybe couldn't hold so much water, as the air temperature wasn't that bad.

Courtesy of Layton Photograpy

The bad?  I wished that I wasn't always so sore when I get done running marathons. I think this is mostly due to me not doing enough strength training and enough hill training.  I knew going in that this race was super hilly and I never did get to any hillier routes, so that is all on me.  I would like it if just ONE training cycle would allow me to stay motivated and serious about strength training to see if that helped.  I am 3 days out now and feeling much, much better, especially after my rather painful massage today.  My hip feels one thousand times better and my foot also is feeling much better.   I need to make a decision and make it quickly.  Two things could be causing my PF.  Both of my peroneals  were super duper tight and required much work.  My bringer of pain Doug, who also is the man massage man for the KSU track team, thinks that could be the cause of the PF, since it does basically provide a stirrup and go on both sides of my feet.  BUT, it still could also be the newest version of my shoes, since this all started when I started wearing them in earnest.  I can get last years model still on amazon and for half the price, so I could start there and see how it goes, plus add in some more regular massage to get things looser and happier. The scientist in me wants to change one variable at a time so I can have an AHA moment, but the runner in me wants to be back to 100% for the next training cycle quickly.  I will say that the new shoe model is doing weird things to my feet, because i now have calluses on the outsides of my feet even though this shoe is a neutral shoe AND it appears I may loose one of my big toe nails, which has NEVER happened to me in any of the saucony shoes I have had.

Courtesy of William Layton photography

Towards the end of the week, I did get on my bike for a nice slow long ride.  They had re graveled some of my biking route, which was kind of a bummer because it was super loose and made biking a bit tough, but luckily it was only a small fraction of the total road.  I can't wait to get back to biking out on my running route!  I miss my running route when I am not running on it and spring is exciting trying to figure out what they are planting where.

I ended the week with a super slow, super easy 3 miler.  Coach wanted me to get out and just see where my body was at before we decided what this coming week would look like. I took it easy and walked every mile for a tenth, and overall felt great.  I did run in my old sauconys just in case my above theories are correct.  I also very quickly upon getting done, put on compression sleeves and my PF sleeve as well as iced my heel.  My hip was a little tight, but I plan on getting one more massage before I crank training back up.  I am going to take it super easy for a few weeks and get through my pacing duties before we turn up the heat for the fall races!  I am hoping this will be the break that my body and mind need to get through these injuries and my mental blocks on tough speed work.  I will admit, I really enjoyed a week of staying up late and sleeping in, eating some bad things and having beer whenever I wanted to. 

Have a great week! 

April Runfessions

Wait what?  It's already the end of the month????  NO WAY!  I usually keep a rough draft through the month as things happen of what to runfess and I runfess I totally forgot this month!!!! Okay here goes, grab a nice light summer beer and let's get down to it because this is going to go down like a Bud Light lime on a hot day:)

PF SUCKS!  Just when I think I have a hold of it, it comes rearing back.  Granted I just started this journey, but I am already not happy and bordering a little panicky.  While it doesn't hurt thus far when I run (knock on wood), it kills me the rest of the day.  I just had my first really good massage and am planning another, and I am doing all of other things I need to do to get this gone including lots of resting, stretching, icing, and massaging.  I am also ordering the older version of my beloved Saucony Isos, since I am pretty sure the new version is what caused this mess.  I did a little experiment yesterday where I wore the new version all day, and when I took them off to go to bed, my arch and heel were on fire.  So odd that I don't feel it when I am wearing them at all rather I am running or just working.  I need to do some sort of running until I am done pacing in June, so will have to just do anything and everything I can to keep this under control and not cause more damage.  Let's hope i can avoid the needle because i am the biggest wuss ever about shots, especially needles in my foot, and I have heard this shot in particular is pretty painful in itself and not always effective. 

I know, I know.  Everyone is going to have a May meme!  Loved these guys when they were popular and still love JT!

Wow, all the parents that told me May was crazy with school kids weren't lying!  We have something every night and practically every day at school till end of school.  All the field trips, all the plays/musicals, and all the play days, all in May!  Plus T ball starts and track club is still going strong.  I am SO glad we didn't add soccer on top of all of this!!!  If we can make it through this month without killing each other, it will be a miracle:)  I am still in denial that very soon, I will have a 1st grader.  Time, SLOW DOWN!

When did this child sprout legs!

Okay I think that is it from me for now!  Will do a better job next month of keeping my runfessions down because with my brain, there is always a ton!

Race Week! Week 18 of 18

It's finally here!  Race week!  EEEEEKKKK! I haven't really had taper crazies, but I have had some injuries kind of show up.  Honestly, they were probably there the whole time and I was just ignoring them.  Unfortunately, my insurance barely covers chiropractics anymore, so I am trying to massage, ice, stretch, and do anything I can at home to avoid paying out of pocket, but it may come down to paying out of pocket.  Not only do I have my race this weekend, but I have three more pacing duties I need to get through!!!!!  While I think I can get through my marathon, I need to get these issues addressed.  I have poor gait, we have tried everything to change it and nothing has really changed, so this will be an ongoing issue for the rest of my running life that I will need to overcome with strength and cross training.

Okay just trying this out.  WOW!  This one is so good!  Going to get more if I can remember to grocery shop.

Monday:  Marathon Monday again.  Like Boston marathon Monday!!!!  Way to go Desi!  I couldn't see most of the race, as I didn't want to pay 50 bucks to stream it, but towards the end, I typed in Boston free in FB and low and behold, someone was live streaming the race from their TV.  I got to see the last 10K for both races and I was cheering and shouting in my lab! Post race and work, both of us went to sylvan, ate, and then totally came home and forgot about grocery shopping.  Whoops.  Glad we have a local grocery store for the essentials and we are stocked up on coffee and breakfast items, you know, the two most important things right?  I did finally try a Picky bar (see above picture).  It was amazing and I can't wait to buy more!!!!  Why haven't I tried these up until now?

Getting to pet our vet's clinic cat as a reward for being good at the dentist

Tuesday:  Speed work with friends.  Okay, I liked this speed work, mainly because it was short and sweet.  Warm up for one mile, 90 seconds hard, 2 minutes easy x 6 repeats, cool down till you hit 5 miles.  My foot felt fine during the run and not too bad post run, so I iced while I had my coffee and checked out FB and email.  Any time I am sitting down, I am going to be icing and rolling.

In other news, Andrew started coughing Monday night and just acting like he wasn't feeling great, but I kept thinking it was just allergies.  He wasn't running a fever until I was ready to head out to coach track club, and at that point it was super low grade.  I had already decided with that cough there was no way he could go to practice anyway, but i needed to coach no matter what.  I was really hoping I didn't' get this whatever it was.

my new fashion accessory 

Wednesday:  Woke up early just in case Andrew had miraculously gotten better.  He was still running a super low grade fever that was enough to make him feel like crap.  Rather than send him to school, I held him at home to rest and hopefully recover.  I also started popping Zicam like candy.  I was praying I would not come down with this mess too.  I can run with snot and coughing, but I don't usually want to run when I am running fever.

Zicam and Emergen C to the rescue!

Thursday:  Coach had wanted me to run Wednesday, but I woke up feeling run down and tired and since little man was also sick, I took a rest day.  We stayed in our PJs all day and were super lazy.  Coach had said I could take the rest of the week off if I need it, but mentally I needed to get one more run in before the race.  Mel and I headed out for a super easy 4 miles with the dogs.  Wow, the skunks are out in full force right now.  PHEW!!!!!  My foot felt fine during the whole run and afterwards, which gave me a ton of confidence that I am doing all the right things.

Friday:  Packet pick up! Not only did we get a nice soft race shirt, we got lularoe leggings!  BONUS!  The nerves kind of started really in earnest that night, mainly due to weather, so I took some melatonin and tried to get a good night's sleep. 

Saturday:  Race day!  Recap here!  Overall,  great race and great experience minus the constant rain.  We were lucky in that the temps stayed up and there was little to no wind.  The only issue I had was I had to keep my gloves on or else my hands got super cold but my gloves were drenched, which in itself isn't a great feeling.  The scenery was amazing and having stella there with me made it so special.  She smiled pretty much the whole race....till the after race pictures.  Go over to my recap and read more!

smiling in her sleep

Sunday:  Rest day!  Of course the Tulip Festival was in town, so resting was more like active resting. I pretty much laid on the couch after the hottest shower ever post getting back from the marathon, but I really needed just one more day.  Of course a very active 5 year old, a hubby that had to work, and bounce houses just right down the street dictated a big nope. 

Time for some time off.  I am not getting much thanks to my pacing duties, but my body and my mind need any rest I can give it.  Probably taking at least a week off of running period and then slowly going back to maybe 3 days a week for a few weeks to let my body rest and recover.  I have big plans for the summer and fall and those plans do NOT include injuries! 

Have a great week!!!!!

Flint Hill''s 50 and Trail Marathon

 Wow, what a race!!!!  Let's start at the beginning shall we?

Packet pick up was at Manhattan Running Company Friday night, or you could pick up at the race.  Since Andrew is in town Friday night for Sylvan, I headed over to get my packet and my friend Sam's packet.  Not only did we get a super soft shirt this year (i helped last year at an aid station, so I got last year's shirt too), but we got some lularoe leggings since the RD's wife sells Lularoe.  BONUS!

I set out flat michelle and flat stella.

The weather reports had been all over the place with regards to temperature and rain amount.  One thing was for sure, rain at some intensity was a given.  The good news was the temps were suppose to be relatively warm (40-50) and the winds were suppose to be pretty non existence.  I wanted to wear shorts, but planned on layering on the top with arm warmers, a tech T, my brooks jacket, and possibly a poncho on top of all of that.

I woke up to this.  The rain was coming from the south and just sitting on top of us for hours.  While it was constant rain like Boston just had, it wasn't cold and there was little to no wind like they had.  I decided to take the poncho in my pack and keep my jacket on and keep my gloves on.  I had plenty of pockets to store things in if I didn't need them, and I would rather him them just in case than to want them.  I am SO glad that I did!  While the temps weren't horrible, being wet and in a little wind kept my hands frozen even with the gloves on.

I wanted to take lots of pictures on the course because it was SO pretty, but the rain pretty much started as we started and never let up, so I left my phone in my pocket with the ziploc bag on.  Luckily, I could control it through the ziploc bag, but I had to take my glove off any time I needed to and putting a wet glove on is kind of tricky.

Here are a couple of pics that I got.  There was a professional photog on the course and I can't wait to see what he captured of Stella.  I LOVED the course.  It was other than a tiny bit of asphalt at the beginning and end, ALL GRAVEL, just like where I train!!!!  Of course I don't have the rolling hills that this course has where I train,  but I would love to come into town some time and train on this course.  This is my cup of tea for sure!  Add in Stella by my side and it was pretty awesome.  The constant rain made it tough and some parts of the road were a little greasy and slick, BUT I would love to do this race again with better weather hopefully.  

I  know this sounds odd, but even thought it took me 5 hours and 35 minutes, it didn't feel like it took that long at all.  I only looked at my watch to see when I needed to fuel.  I kind of felt like whatever pace I was getting was my best that i could give given the situation, and there was no need to get upset if it was slower than what I normally do.  I power walked most of the big hills and I liked that strategy.  Stella was wonderful!  I was able to let her off leash pretty quickly, as most of the runners left us in their dust.  I was able to listen to podcasts and 80s music the whole time and just concentrate on enjoying the run, even though I couldn't feel my hands most of the time.  I ran with another runner for a brief moment who had gotten lost and was already at a marathon distance and we were only at mile 20 at that point.  She got back on track and ended up finishing strong.  I got a big hug from her at the end, and I am so glad she was able to finish despite being cold and very tired. I guess she got her very first Ultra under her belt instead of her first marathon!

Despite Stella looking a little non plussed here, she was actually smiling for most of the race.  She even got the zoomies at one of the aid stations where she was doing burn outs and kicking up mud.  She had many pics taken of her by several aid stations and got fresh water put in her water bowl each time.  We shared all of my fuel and I got coke (my fav thing about ultra races) at each aid station and a part of a banana that we also shared.  We also saw Coach Patton ( our Wamego legendary track coach) at one of the first aid stations, and he didn't even recognize me with all of my gear on LOL!  

My watch read the race was short BUT I didn't start it right at the beginning due to stella screaming and pulling like crazy.  

I hate that I didn't get to celebrate at the end with the rest of the racers, but Stella was pretty gross and I didn't want her sharing her grossness with everyone in the building.  Plus, there was something going on in the building other than the race and they were not happy when I walked in with her.  No big deal, my tummy really doesn't like food right after a race anyway.  I wanted to take Sam home and then get in a hot shower.  I could tell that I was getting super sore and locked up towards the end thanks to the hills.  I am really glad I got in with the bringer of pain at Body first next week for some good deep tissue and myofascial release.  

Overall, this is a beautiful course with some tough rolling hills.  It's pretty much all gravel with a little bit of  asphalt at the beginning and end.  It is super small and I like it that way.  If you don't like being by yourself the majority of the race, this isn't the race for you, but I liked it because I could listen to my podcasts and music without headphones, plus Stella could be off leash.  The RD is SUPER nice and will answer any questions you have quickly.  Plus, the course is so beautiful in the Flint Hills around Lake Elbow.  The course was a loop, so if you like a course that is one giant loop versus a point to point or an out back, this the course for you.  The course had signs at intersections that let you know where you were going but again, a few people got lost anyway.  The aid stations were plentiful and had everything I needed and the volunteers were super friendly.  Come join us next year in the Flint Hills for this amazing race!  Maybe we can convince the weather to be a little nicer next year!

Week 17 of 18: Flint Hills 50 and Trail Marathon

Spring.....knock knock....Are  you there?  Maybe this week?  Maybe for a few days?  Yes? No? Okay, I will try back next week.

of course if you save up your hard earned tokens from Sylvan, you get a giant hammer!

Monday:  I am renaming Monday to Marathon Monday.  We had school, Sylvan, and grocery shopping all bam, bam, bam.  Then upon getting home, I had to feed dogs, do several loads of laundry, and load and unload the dishwasher.  The fun never ends.  I love being a BAMR but sometimes it does wear me out. A little side note here.  We had our monthly meeting with Sylvan and Andrew has started struggling with a few things writing related.  It's so weird how something in his brain can't make the fingers work to get the letters on the page.  He knows the letters, can identify them, but just has some sort of mental block about getting them down and out of his head.  He is definitely a visual learner, as in if you show him the letter, he can write it no problem, but just asking, nope.  Sylvan also met with his school and his school seems to still be firmly in the ADHD category.  I am still kind of unsure as to what to do if anything.  I still feel in my gut that he is young, that he will catch up, and there is NOTHING wrong with him.  I am going to try and focus on that feeling.

Tuesday:  Okay, I was suppose to do speed work, but I was still kind of sore and tired from the race.  I decided to make an executive decision and not do hard speed work.  Instead I just did 6 easy with the girls on the concrete track.  I wanted to meet at the track so that maybe Stella could run with us and her toe would be safer since there would be no rocks.  She seemed to be fine, a few little steps where I thought maybe she might be ouchy, but the overall she ran fine.  I am hoping this means we will be good to go for the full.  Her vet says that the quick will shrivel up and no longer be painful, and that the nail will re grow around it. I am keeping a close eye on it and making sure it stays clean and she leaves it alone.  Thus far, she hasn't seem too concerned with it, other than the one night where she broke the rest of the nail off and the quick was hanging out.

Wednesday:  Cross training/strength.  My intention was to get home, air up my tires, and head out for a nice long bike ride.  As I was driving home, I noticed my van was getting blown all over the road.  DANG WIND!   If the wind was coming from one direction and one direction only, I might have been fine, but it was coming from the south and west, so I was doomed.  Instead I did some fun stuff at track with the kiddos.  I introduced them to speed work and intervals and fartleks, which of course left them in tears from laughter at the word.  I did one lap of fartleks with them, but as I have said before, the track hates me and my body was screaming to not do that again, so for intervals I just watched and used my big mouth to yell at them when to run.  Even with only doing a warm up lap, one lap of fartleks, and one cool down lap with them, my body was super sore.  Why does that surface hate me so?

taken from a friend's FB page.  WHY Kansas WHY?

Thursday:  4 easy with the girls.  I love these runs.  No thinking, just go.  It was a lovely 60 degrees at 4:40 am and we ran in shorts and t shirts.  While I am not a fan of heat or humidity, I am seriously at the point where I enjoy being able to get dressed so quickly and easily, and not be wearing 5 layers.  Stella seemed fine with her foot, even on gravel, so I am can breath a sigh of relief about her and the race.  I could tell the sudden increase in temperature did slow Deuce down, so I hope we do have some sort of spring, in which we ease into high temperatures instead of a huge LEAP into 100 degree/100 percent humidity days.  I also really hope that the weather is cool/cold for next weekend.  That is one weekend where I won't complain at all about cold!

our outtakes from using the selfie ball clip thingy for my phone.  She has a big mouth :)

Friday: Normally this would be a rest or cross train day, but because of the predicted snow and nastiness, and the fact that my hubby would be working Saturday, I figured we would go ahead and knock out the long run before work.  Of course life threw me a curve ball in the form of transmission work needing immediate attention to my old van, so I slept in, took little man to school, dropped my van off at the shop, and ran home to pick up gear and deuce to head out (Stella rode with me).  The wind was horrible, around 25 mph sustained with gusts up to 40 mph.  I tried to keep an east/west route and mostly in sheltered areas, but even with that the cross winds were horrible on the open prairie and the wind occasionally whipped around to the west to give me a nice head wind.  We saw our first snake of the season, and lucky for us he was just booking the other way.   I also got blown off of my feet, which is a weird sensation.  I luckily landed on my feet, but I initially thought Stella had tripped me.  When I looked back to fuss at her, she was no where around.  It was also hot. Started at 70 degrees and ended close to 80.  We needed this though because next weekend looks to be warmer, so we need some warmer runs under out belts.  At this point I am still hoping to get to race with Stella, but probably will watch the weather and decide the night before.  While she is probably fine to run up to 80 degrees or even more, we just haven't had many hot runs yet period to acclimate any of us.

our first official son/mom date

Saturday:  Cross training or rest.  I chose rest.  I am battling a few little niggles...per usual for my weird body, so the more rest I can give my body, the better.  Plus, plummeting temperatures and snow/ice predictions just didn't sound like fun.  I did try a barre class last week and something tweaked in my hip during the very simple work out I did, which scared me.  I am going to wait till after my marathon to start my barre classes in earnest.  I LOVED the class I did and even though it was just 20 minutes, I felt like I got a great work out.  I am just paranoid right now with the race one week away.  I also don't want to write this here but I have to. I am scared that i am getting plantar fasciitis in my left foot:(   Ever since I started running in my new Saucony Triumphs with the Everrun all throughout the sole, I have been having weird foot issues.  Mainly weird shooting pains in my toes, but about a week ago, I started noticing I was having pain in my arch right next to my heel.  Can I scream the F word right now???  Now I have battled PF before, years ago before I was even a runner and won, so I am hoping I can beat it again.  I am massaging, stretching, icing, wearing my compression sock for my calf muscles, and doing everything I can to defeat this.  I really don't want to have to change shoes brands/models yet again.  I hate that my feet have been fine up until this update.  I really don't want to have to throw away or donate a 160 dollar pair of shoes either.  Sigh.

Later on Saturday, Andrew and I had our first official son/mom date.  Our local Chick Fil A had a Lego event where we had our own fancy table, had table side service, and got to do a craft and big Legos.  The only issue?  When we go to Chick Fil A normally, we eat while he plays, so he was looking longingly at the play area the whole time.  I finally let him ditch me when we were done with dessert.  We had fun and would come back if they do another night just for us!

stella had the right idea!

Sunday:  Another rest day.  I went ahead and ordered a compression sleeve Saturday for my foot, as well as started on a round of anti inflammatories.  While I normally try and stay away from drugs, I need to try and knock this out as quickly as possible, as I have my race next weekend and three pacing races to go.  I plan on taking some time off  with NO running post my full, even though I have some half marathons to pace, because my body needs it! Since it was snowing/cold/icy outside, we decided to just hang at the house and be sloths other than some stretching, icing, and active recovery (does doing laundry count as active recovery?). 

I will not obsess about the weather.  I will not obsess about the weather.

Getting super excited for my race next weekend!  We got our big email blast about aid stations, crew stations, and all the details we need to race successfully!  The butterflies have started dancing in earnest.  Have a great week and see you post my next marathon!!!!!

Week 16 of 18: Training for Flint Hills 50 and Trail marathon

Three more glorious weeks till race day!  Coach had mentioned the word taper, but I know better than to get all excited about that word because when I opened final surge this week, the first thing I saw staring back at me was 8 miles of speed work.  Gulp.  Here is how the week went with a little bit of good, a little bit of sad, and SNOW!

Monday:  I would like to call this a rest day, but sometimes the fun of working, going to pick kiddo up, racing back to town to Sylvan and then adding on other errands that didn't get done over the weekend isn't very restful.  I am glad we got everything done, but I was ready for bed when we got home!

Tuesday:  I woke up to rain and wind, which is fine because I was going to do my 8 miler post work anyway.  What I didn't want to have to do was speed work like this on the mill, but with the weather throwing a tantrum, I had no choice. I modified my coach's plan again by making my pace my "hard pace" versus her exact pace.  I did 2 x 2 mile repeats with 800 meter recovery in which I walked a little, and then ran easy with a 1 mile warm up and a 1.5 mile cool down.

I have started watching Forensics Files on Netflix and am thoroughly hooked.  The little 30 minute episodes make perfect little markers for how long my work out is going to take. It's funny how dated it looks and feels and it was filmed in the late 90s when I was in college LOL!!!!!

Wednesday:  Track club and Cross/Strength.  I haven't said much about this topic lately, but if you have read my blogs for long, you know I struggle with staying on top of strength. I have never been a gym rat, and even though my coach gives me some great little workouts, I just have trouble fitting them in my busy life.  I know, I know, I fit running in and that takes way more time, so why can't i fit a 30 minute gym session in my life?  I just never have had that strength training bug, even though I know it helps with my running.  I seem to have a knack for doing moves wrong and tweaking things, or getting totally bored doing the same moves over and over.  I have a thought and I am going to try it out a new strategy for me.  Money is a huge motivator for me and i don't like spending it if I don't have to.  This is why weight watchers was such a big success for me because once you loose your goal weight and maintain, you stop paying.   I am going to try and find a group class or some sort of online classes so that I will have another source of motivation to get this done.  Stay tuned.....

Thursday:  Easy 4 and Track club.  I just love doing form drills in track club!  The thing I don't love...how sore I am after coaching track club and running on said track.  OUCH!  I thought running on the track was suppose to be better than asphalt?  Someone please tell my body that???

In non running news, we had a death in the family.  Our eldest aussie Harley (15) passed away while I was gone for my morning run.  We are all really torn up about it.   It was just really a shock because while we knew the end was near, he was alive and awake when I left for my run, and gone by the time I came home.  We are grieving, as he was a member of our family and like one of our kids.  He was the first of many puppies that Tony and i ever owned and trained together.  While I am super glad he is at the bridge with my other two red aussies and no longer in his elderly body, we will miss him so much and his quirky little attitude.  I wrote a little tribute to him here if you want to read all about his amazing and long life.

Friday:  I have no excuses, my plan was to start the free trial with the work out service I found online starting Friday.  I just didn't get it up and get it done, but I am going to get back on the wagon if it kills me.  I did have a nice lunch with my running partner and we exercised restraint by not getting dessert.  Exercising will power is a form of strength training right?????

Saturday:  The plan was to do our long run out on the course where I would be doing the marathon.  I was going to meet up with another local runner and we were going to do my 14 and her 15 together.  As the week came to a close the S word kept getting thrown around for Friday night and I was super worried that the roads would be bad to head to town early Saturday.  Well, we did get snow, but more like a dusting than the inches they predicted.   What we did get was bitterly cold temperatures.  My friend texted me Friday night and said she was hitting up the mill and I didn't mind the thought of a later start or possibly a split long run between outside and in.  We had a very busy schedule for the day including Sylvan and birthday parties, plus KSU was having open house.

While we were two for three hitting up Sylvan and the b day party, we didn't have time for the Open House.  Maybe some day:(  The good news:  We got a much later warmer start and Mel got to run with me.  The bad news: during the run, we found a ball, which I threw for Stella a few times, and she split a nail causing there to be blood everywhere.  I had to call Tony to come and get her, even though she seemed to be okay with it after we got the bleeding to stop.

It's hard to tell in the picture, but it is broken/split and still attached pretty firmly to the quick and the rest of the toe nail.  I clipped as much as I could off without hurting her, but it needs to be cut further up under anesthetic with the quick being cauterized.  I am really beating myself up because I knew better with her wild style of ball chasing that to throw the ball on our gravel route.  This of course comes less than 2 weeks before her marathon debut, and 1 day before one of our favorite 10Ks we were going to do together.  

Sunday:  Dog and Jog 10K.   Okay going to be real about this race, but in another blog post, so check it out here.   This was Deuce's first race, and the first time i had done the race with the new race course.  Long story short,  the race itself was SUPER short.  Not hey you didn't run the tangents short, like .6 miles short.  SO, while the time looks like I had a PR, I did not, but we still had fun.  

I am ready for a full taper week.  I am ready to relax, to do some barre work outs, and run some easy runs.  And yes, I still see the word SNOW in the forecast.  Sigh.  Maybe spring will get here some day?????

Have a great week!!!!

2018 Dog and Jog 10K---Deuce's very first race!

Okay going to be real about this race.  I did it for years when it was on Saturday and well organized.  It typically conflicts with other events, so it was hit or miss when I could do it.  I entered it on a whim this year since it was on a Sunday.  My coach was honestly not very happy for me to 1)enter a race during taper and 2)be doing a race post a long run.  Sometimes I am kind of naughty when it comes to running with my dogs at races, as in I will do them even though they aren't a good fit for my training. 

There was NO communication about anything, and I honestly thought maybe it was canceled this year.  I even answered some of the questions on the FB event page that people were asking just to help others, because NO ONE else was answering any questions (and still haven't).  To be fair, the event is run by students and different students each year at that, and the event page on the KSU page had everything you needed to know, thus the way I knew things. I just think people, including me, are super use to emails from the RD on things like packet pick up and start times and in just general reminders overall.  Yeah, yeah, call me spoiled :)

The weather was not predicted to be good at all, which always worries me when you are running on sidewalks and they are talking about ice and snow.  Luckily, they had packet pick up on Friday night from 5-6 pm, or else I would have to do packet pick up at 11:30 am and the race started at 1:30 pm (ICK).  I would have had to camp out in my car for 2 hours waiting.  There were a few booths this year with freebies and a radio station broadcasting, but the weather was cold, windy, and very overcast, so I pretty much stayed in the car.  Now I know the RD can't make the weather behave, but I was super puzzled by the late start.  It was cold this year, so it worked out, but I can't imagine doing this race when it is hot out and with dogs.  I don't even know how to fuel for this kind of mid day race, so any suggestions would be appreciated!  I ate something I normally eat, and even though I had it 2 hours pre race, I still burped the entire race.  

I had to sub in Deuce in for Stella.  If you read my weekly post, you saw that Stella broke a toe nail during our long run yesterday.  While she acted like it didn't bother her at all,  I just didn't want to chance her ripping it and it bleeding more.  She was NOT happy to be left behind, but Deuce has never raced with me ever, so I figured now would be a good time to try him out.  I was hoping with the weather that the crowd would be super small.  Deuce is a HUGE lover of people and other dogs, so I knew large crowds and lots of dogs would be challenging for his very gregarious nature.  When we got there, we walked around a bit, double checked the start time, and then went back to the car.  It was still super windy and cold, and I didn't want to stand out in it.  About 15 minutes prior to the race (we were parked fairly close to the start/finish) we headed out and got lined up.  There were lots of dogs, but not as many as say Tails on the Trail, so his brain stayed in his head.  

Shortly after starting, the sleet started coming down in earnest.  It HURT!  I had my glasses on, but they quickly became covered and icy, and I couldn't see out of them.  The course was all new to me, weaving all through campus versus going out and around Manhattan and back through campus.  I did like the course, it's just as I said in my weekly blog, it was SUPER short.  I know all about running tangents and it wasn't that.  I knew when I hit 5 miles and was pretty close to the finish that it was going to be short.  The start kind of freaked deuce out with the air horn and the mass exodus, plus we immediately had to go onto a narrow side walk that had trees and trash cans on either side.  Many of the dogs just stopped or freaked out in that funnel.  There were only 12 of us signed up for the 10K, and I wanted the majority of the 5 K faster people to get out and get ahead of me.  My plan was just to run hard and whatever pace hard was, embrace it.  I didn't think this would be a PR race because of the conditions, but I still wanted a nice even effort.  My overall pace for the distance my watch recorded was 9:38 miles, which is typically what I get for 10K races.  The first mile is always my fastest thanks to deuce or stella pulling (9:01), and then I settled in and ran a 9:40, 9:53m 9:40, and 10:08.  The back side of the course was pretty much all up hill, so the slower miles on that part don't surprise me.  Plus, I could tell my legs were tired from the long run the day before, but I didn't care, I just wanted to push through.  

I was SO proud of Deuce.  He settled in and did really, really well.  I could tell he got a little tired at the end, just like me, but he always stayed either right in front of me or right beside me.  There was a young lady directly in front of me, and he liked trying to keep up with her. In fact we could have passed her at one point, but I hung back and let her finish ahead of us, just in case they had finish line photographers, which they did not.  Crossed in 53:35, which would have been a lovely PR had it been an actual 10K.  I was 9th out of 12 and 7th out of 10 females.  There were no age group awards as they use to have, but instead 1-3rd overall.  I was disappointed because I was the oldest female in the 10K,  BUT I understand, the goal of this race is to make money for their cause, not give out medals.  Anyway, we quickly loaded up after our bananas and one picture, and turned on the heat full blast and tried to warm up as we were both drenched.   

He is such a hugger!  He won't just take a selfie, he has to be hugging your face LOL!  I was VERY pleased at how he handled the race.  I was very pleased in how I performed and will be back again, even with the lack of communication because again, it's put on by a different class every year.  

2018 Dog and Jog and Deuce's very first race is in the books and I am SO proud of him!!!!

Kyroka's Beating Your Ace MXJ, AX, OF, OAC, OJC, WV-E, TN-O, TNG-N, NCC, RS-O, JS-N, GS-O AKA Harley Coleman 3/3/2003-4/5/18

 This is not the blog post I wanted to write this morning, but here goes.  We lost Harley this morning to old age.  He had been progressively getting worse with his balance and his coordination, and even though we were feeding him three to four times a day, he was loosing weight, and just not doing well mentally.  We knew the time was coming and we knew we were probably going to have to make the decision, which is always super tough.  In true Harley fashion, he decided it was time, and while I was out running this morning and the family was sleeping, he quietly passed.

In some ways it breaks my heart into a million pieces that the original red aussie 3 is no longer.  He was the last of my original aussies and the first puppy that Tony and I got together.  We were honestly just learning how to be good dog trainers and how to be good agility dog trainers, and we screwed him up a bit with our inconsistencies, but he always gave it his all in his quirky style.

 He was always very naughty and very smart and gave us a run for our money.  He wasn't a huge lover of people, but he loved HIS people.  He endured us trying to teach him agility, with his style of running contacts, which was more like super man over the yellow every.single.time.  He went through a period of time where he refused to do anything on the table and wouldn't even look at tony or I while on that damn obstacle.  The few times he and Tony qualified, it was always a blue because he was smoking fast.

I tried to do  competition obedience with him and he had quite a bit of training under his belt, but he hated the stand for exam no matter how much value I gave the "judge".   We never competed because growling in the ring is just not allowed.  We also did Rally and got his RN title, but he just didn't think it was all that fun and at the time, you had to travel to find rally shows and I only traveled for agility.  He was incredibly smart and even though I was learning how to train a dog in competition obedience, he had so much grace and patience and seemed to read the manuals and some how get it even before I did. 

 He LOVED tracking to the point where he would shake with delight when I got his tracking harness out.  I took multiple classes with him and practiced a ton. My biggest regret is that we never actually tried to get his TD or TDX.  He was trained up through VST, but we just never had the time or money to compete, and I wished we would have because he would have been a star!

 We attempted herding a few times and again, he loved it.  I remember working the pens at an ASCA show in Colorado and he got to help.  We had a very nasty ewe that kept giving us troubles when it was her turn to be in the take pen.  At one point, she got so pissy she came at me and him in an attempt to get back to the rest of the sheep that were resting.  She ran both of us over in the process, and i just knew he would never do herding again.  Instead, he jumped up, went and herded her back to the take pen group, and then checked on me still on the ground.  He even cut his leg in the process, but just didn't care,  he loved herding sheepies that much.

 I was so worried that my crew of Miller and Berry would not want him, but from the minute I brought him home, they loved him and accepted him.  They let him keep his puppy card way longer than I would have thought that they should.  I think berry thought of him as her baby.

One of my other favorite harley memories is going to the kid's camp and doing disc dog demos for them.  They would line up and throw the frisbee over and over and over to him.  He didn't care who threw the frisbee, as long as it was for him.  Even in his older age he would try and catch the disc.  He did many demos both agility and disc for many kiddos and adults alike through the kennel club.

He helped us foster many foster dogs through ARPH.  While he always had to make sure they knew who was the top (and he was certainly not the top, but tried to play it that way), he generally got along with most if not all of our foster dogs.

 He was the first dog I clicker trained and the first dog I ever had that loved to be brushed and have his nails trimmed.

Another fun memory of Harley is the time he got sprayed point blank by a skunk in the chest.  We tried everything to get that stench and stain out and nothing worked.  He smelled like skunk for at least a year.  He didn't seem to care at all and seem to enjoy his skunk perfume!

He was known for sneaking out of the yard to go on little walk abouts.  We have a gate that if not closed exactly right, can be pushed open and he knew it.  I always said he was like a velociraptor in Jurassic Park, always testing the gates and fence to see what he could do.  Even as a young dog, we had a nice shaded concrete kennel run for them to be in during the day while we were at work, that had a 10 foot panel fence and a roof.  He would find a way to climb up and out no matter how we fastened the roof to the panels.  He was a naughty x 100.

 I moved to Colorado for a year to work in industry post grad school, and my then boyfriend, now hubby had to stay back in KS until he was done with school.  Bless his heart, Tony would make the 8 hour drive on the weekends to see me, basically driving all day Friday, spending the day Saturday, and then leaving again on Sunday.  He would load up the crew and bring them with.  Of course I was living in a one bed room hole in the wall apartment, because that was all I could afford at the time.  One weekend Tony came up and brought the crew and we went out to eat.  We left all the dogs loose (big mistake), and Harley decided that the door frame needed to be remodeled.  Needless to say I spent whatever hard earned money I had left over from my paycheck that week on sanding paper, paint, and wood putty.  They never noticed or said anything when I moved out, so I guess we were golden!

Harley helped me raise two puppies, Deuce and Stella.  He and Deuce were best friends until Stella came along.  He was always so patient with them and let Stella assume the role of alpha after Miller left us.  He and Miller had remained best buds until the day Miller passed.  He preferred to be crated with Miller, probably because when he was a puppy and we traveled to shows, we just put them in a crate together.  

This was a picture from his 14th birthday.  He made it to 15 and was still running around in the back yard in his old man manner and eating with gusto a week before his death. 

This is my all time favorite photo of Harley man and where i will end this post.  To my dearest Harley, please go find Strawberry and Miller and watch over us as the Red Aussie Crew at the rainbow bridge.  We miss you so much, but are so happy you are whole again and back to your young quirky self, catching discs and escaping fences.  We miss you, we love you, and we will forever be grateful that you blessed us with your presence as you taught us SO much.  Thank you for putting up with us and giving us 15 years of your crazy little red headed self.  Love, your momma and daddy Tony and Michelle.  Till we meet again.......................................................................................