LIMA 5k race report and the hotly contested Instead Giveaway winner

The Long Island MacArthur Airport 5K Run for Veterans Race Report

Last Saturday was the LIMA 5k and I ran it in at a blazing 37:53!

And by blazing I mean of course the temperature of 79 degrees at 9:30m in the morning on an unshaded airport runway, not my running. This was not the most awesome experience ever; but I have learned some things and knowing is, as they say, half the battle.

No lasers at the race, but plenty of real Vets and to them I owe thanks.

Primarily: it's little secret that I am NOT a morning person, but I can usually muddle through to do early morning things if properly motivated. However I think I finally have to accept the reality that morning races are not for me.

The less sleep I get the less settled my stomach gets, and that is not a recipe for a happy race experience. Add on top of that really bad traffic driving in (I was 100% sure we were going to miss the race until we were literally in our corral), zero caffeine, too jittery for food, not enough time to properly hydrate, and not bringing my own water I'm kind of amazed I ran as much as I did (which was probably about three quarters of the race). In the end I was fine and pretty glad I did it, but I suspect that if I had pushed myself any harder I probably would not be.

I have a couple of AM races on the docket over the next several months (i.e. The Color Run and The Diva Half Marathon) and I'll figure out how to handle those, but in the interest of my general well being I am going to limit morning races severely in the future.

As a side note: It was hot, the sun was relentless, and I was not wearing sunscreen. The slight burn I got across my neck and nose seems to have turned into tan, but honestly that was just stupid. Despite my sun loving complexion (I can get tan looking at pictures of sunny days) I do need to start wearing sunscreen and protecting myself better.

If nothing else I am going to have a heck of a time balancing out the resultant farmer and sock tans!

I'm the one that looks just about short enough to pull off a Jawa costume. I also rock neon something fierce.

I did get to meet up with Gigi of Running On Candy and some mutual co-workers and friends, and there is a certain satisfaction to having run an entire race (*cough* and returned home, showered, and eaten) before I'm normally even up on a Saturday, so I definitely can't say it was all bad.

It was also pretty darn humbling to think of the people I was there to benefit and the experiences that they had signed up for. It's hard to get too worked up about how hard you're having it at a 5k when there are uniformed Veterans cheering you on from the sidelines.

Softcup Challenge Winner!

After extensive work to ensure that the results would be random and fair given the overwhelming response - the winner of the Softcup Challenge giveaway is...

 

Linda of Frickin' Fabulous at 40!!!

I wish I had put a bit more thought into things as I actually got to meet Linda briefly after the above mentioned 5k, but sadly my very pale, heat intolerant fiancee (hint, he's also in the picture above) had just run his first 5k race and despite appropriate sunscreen was about two steps from immolation by that point, and this was BEFORE the mile or so walk back to the car - so we had to scoot.

Linda: Please email me via gothamcostume at yahoo dot com with your snail mail address and I will send those out. Alternately let me know if you are running the Color Run or any of the New York State Parks Summer Run Series races and I will meet up with you there.

Which is of course a roundabout way of saying FLRRT finally cashed my check and I will be running the Summer Series! After the LIMA run I think that might be a sure mark of masochism but I'm hoping the fact that they are all evening runs will help.

Instead Softcup Challenge - The Jogging Jawa Review (and a giveaway!)

For those of you with more delicate sensibilities - menstruation talk ahoy!

I signed up for the Instead Softcup Challenge through For the Love of the Run in October and I have certainly had more than enough time to test it out - so here's my loooooong overdue review.

I think I managed to keep it on the low-squick factor side of things so don't be too scared about encountering horrifying levels of personal detail.

Bloom County by Berkley Breathed
Img via http://www.thecomicstrips.com/subject/The-Female-Comic-Strips-by-Bloom+County.php

As much as procrastination figured in, I'm actually pretty glad of the extra time I have taken to write this because I think after one or two months I would not have given it the same review I'm giving it now. I've been using Insteads on and off for the last six months and I think I've got a pretty good handle on their place in my monthly repertoire.


This was actually not my first time trying Instead Softcups. Way back lo these many years ago in the olden days I like to call "college" I learned that there were environmentally and body friendly alternatives to the usual cloth/paper based disposable feminine products and started researching which would be the best for me. I considered the mass market menstruation products available extremely uncomfortable and wasteful (not to mention of dubious health benefit), so finding that there were alternatives out there opened up a whole new world for me.

I was pretty sure I wanted to get a product called the Diva Cup because it has low environmental impact and unlike some other reusable cups it is silicone (and hence sterilize-able) but at that time a $30+ investment was a rather a big hit to my miniscule college student-type bank account for a completely outre left-field totally weird hippie granola thing.

img via http://www.yumyucky.com/2009/10/healthy-hippie-natural-food-store.html

If I remember correctly Instead Softcups were a fairly new item at the time, and were being talked up on various message boards as a good test run product if you were looking to get a reusable cup but were not sure. It doesn't require a big initial investment to try it out so I figured I'd give it a shot. I got a sample package and tried it out for a couple of months. While I found it a bit too uncomfortable (and disposable) to be my first choice product at the time, it did give me the practice and confidence necessary to believe that a reusable cup could be the right choice for me.

Shortly thereafter I got my Diva Cup and mostly forgot about Instead Softcups for my purposes, though I did recommend them to other people looking to test out a menstrual cup without the initial investment. They're are definite differences, but it'll give you a good feel for using cups. I've been using my Diva Cup fairly happily since. Menstruation is now MASSIVELY cleaner, cheaper, more comfortable, and far less of a hassle then I could have ever imagined using tampons and disposable pads.

Fast forward to 2012 and my discovery of fitness bloggers (notably including For the Love of the Run).

I saw a few posts about the Softcup Challenge and thought to myself that there probably weren't too many other people doing this from the point of view of a long time dedicated menstrual cup user; so why not sign up?

I received my sample package and while I can't say they will replace my Diva entirely, they have definitely been worth having around. I fully expect I'll keep them available for regular use in the future.

They are apparently more compact this time around and DEFINITELY seem more comfortable then the last time I used them, though admittedly a good part of that may simply be due to increased familiarity with the product type. Either way Insteads have gone from something I can see someone that wasn't me using, to something I found really helpful and plan to use with some regularity.

A big limitation of the reusable Diva cup is that you have to have it on hand. Unless you buy a backup there's only the one available and it has to be properly cleaned, so it's not really the sort of thing you can toss in your pocketbook at the beginning of the week like a tampon and grab it to run to the bathroom just when it's necessary. You also can't take an early lunch break to run out to the nearest drugstore to pick up a nice sanitary individually wrapped Diva Cup if you happen forget it on the day you need it.

There's only so much predicting one can do when it comes to menstruation so having the option of tossing a sealed disposable product in my bag for when I need it has been a GREAT help. This freedom alone has made this whole challenge worth it for me.

If you've ever had the thought that you were literally throwing your money in the garbage for products that leak and chafe and can potentially cause serious illness you may want to think about trying out a menstrual cup.

Instead Softcups are not for those who are ultra squeamish about the functions of the human body, but this is not exactly that crowd. If you can deal with all the sweat, blood, chafing, blisters, trail squatting, and *ahm* potential for stomach upset that goes hand in hand with regular running it follows that most of you are a fairly hearty lot with few illusions about the day to day details of human bodies.

There is a bit of a mess factor but... how to put it nicely... it's a bathroom mess (hence easily cleanable) as opposed to a laundry mess (hence get out the bleach and cross your fingers that your favorite pants/sheets/whatever are salvageable - because you know it's ALWAYS your favorite).

I'm the Jogging Jawa, and I approve of this message. Even though I received this product free of charge, the opinions expressed in this blog are 100% mine. Feel free to ask topical but terribly personal questions in comments. I will try to answer as frankly as I can.

So here's the part where those of you who bothered to read all the way through get to come in.

I coincidentally happened to win a giveaway via From the Love of the Run at the same time that I signed up for the Instead Softcup Challenge so I actually received TWO packages of Instead Softcups.

As much as I'm a little tempted to keep them all for myself it would be pretty unfair of me to hog all the freebees, so anyone who posts to say that they are interested before midnight of June 1 will be entered in a giveaway for a free sample box of Softcups to be chosen in some highly unscientific randomized way. This will most likely involve one of my cats or possibly a dart (but not both - my cats are stabby enough all on their own thank you).

Gentlemen this includes you too, but I'll leave it to you to figure out what to do with them or how to explain them to whoever you pass them along to.

img via: http://www.spabeautyschools.com/blog/mens-holiday-gift-guide/

Evidence of Liking my Facebook and/or pimping the blog may get you extra chances/brownie points/ and maybe a sparkly sticker or two if you're the winner.

It's not the length of the run...

Its the motion of the... oh wait, no, that's something else entirely.

It is absolutely the length of the run.

As it turns out I'm a bit of a workout size queen! Today I finished week two of 5k to 10k and the mileage drop is becoming a real point of annoyance.

First there's the actual mileage drop.  I'm sticking to the training program which means three structured runs per week, which is about what I was doing before, but given the structure of the runs I'm only doing about one and a half to two miles per workout compared to a minimum of 5K per run previously. It doesn't help that mile two is typically my least favorite part. Today's run was actually long enough to get a full 5k in but looking at the next few workouts I probably won't get to do that again until next weekend.

While I'm sure the speed-work will help me make better use of my time so that I will be pushing my mileage back up again quite quickly I won't get to exceed my current longest run (time wise) until week 6 day 3! It's kind of frustrating at the moment to be cutting my mileage in order to... run more miles? I'm sure it wouldn't be as much of an issue if I hadn't run so little in the storm aftermath, but regardless scrolling back through my last month and a half worth of workouts is making me feel like a massive slacker and I'm itching to rack the miles back up.

As much as I question whether running a marathon is really a good idea for me, based on my reaction to this mileage drop I have a feeling that in the long run (hah!) I'm going to end up doing one anyway. "That's good enough, I'm done now" did not come as a standard feature in this model.

Secondly there's the Nike/treadmill issue. As flawed as its measurements have been Nike has been my favorite fitness community hands down. It's shiny and I get all sorts of awards and badges and nifty metrics when I do stuff. Apparently I must have really internalized all of that gold star sticker stuff when I was a kid because every time I get a new badge on Nike+ I totally eat it up.

However I don't have the Nike footpod so none of my treadmill workouts are counting toward my stats and it is kind of driving me a little bit bonkers. My listed November mileage is literally half my October mileage.

I feel rather blessed that I can recognize just how much of a ridiculous First World Problem this is.

Luckily Gigi from Running on Candy showed me this super nifty conversion site that takes Garmin data and uploads it to Nike, but it seems like the code is being a little glitchy at the moment so I'm hoping that's back up and running soon (and thank you to Angus Smithson for setting it up in the first place - please consider checking out his page and donating for his chosen cause "In 2012 I am running 2,012 miles (equivalent to nearly 77 marathons) to raise money for CLIC Sargent, a charity supporting my cousin’s son Hamish who is fighting rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare form of children’s cancer").

While we're on the subject of First World Running Problems - I tried to pull out a pair of dressy pants for a work holiday party this weekend and all of mine are too big, including a brand new pair in size small that are so new I hadn't even had a chance to have them hemmed! Pants shouldn't puddle when you are wearing five inch platforms, right? Hopefully I can just shrink the new ones a bit in the wash and re-claim them but finding out I'm too small for a pair of smalls was a bit ridiculous at that point in time.

It actually isn't so dire as that as I still have a lot of old clothes I have yet to slim down to, but even if it fits my body I don't know if my college wardrobe will fit me so much anymore.

5k to 10k Week 2

Sorry, I know I've been slacking on this, I have no excuse really.
Here, have three days worth of runs!

Just for reference I'm aiming for about 10:00 or under as "fast", somewhere between 11:00 and 12:00 as "steady", and anything over 12:00 as "jog".

Day 1 - Tues Dec 4 - Treadmill - Steady run
1.7miles at an  average pace of 11:46
goal - 20 min at an "easy pace"  plus warmup/cooldown

It's just way too hot in the gym

Day 2  - Thurs Dec 6 - Treadmill - Intervals
2.11 mi 27 minutes at a 12:35 pace

goal - 10 min jog, 2 minute fast runs alternating with 2 min jogs - 2 times , 8 minute steady run plus warmup/cooldown

I could have pushed the fast run way more but I have been feeling like I am maybe coming down with something and I'm still trying to get used to the treadmill. I figure there's plenty of time to work up to it. Still way too hot a the gym

Day 3 - Sun Dec 9 - Road - Steady run

3.23 miles at an average pace of 11:10 min/mile

goal -35 min at an "easy pace"  plus warmup/cooldown 

I think I pushed myself a bit overly hard during the first half of mile three, anything slower than 10:15 at that point felt impossibly slow! As a result I got a sidestitch just before mile three but otherwise I felt good.
It rained in a really annoying spitty manner the majority of the time but I got to see a red fox make a full-on dash across the street about thirty yds in front of me so that was TOTALLY worth it.

We must, we must...

I've been wondering for months, what is with all the padded running bras?

I think I may have finally found my answer.

When I started running all I had in the way of sports bras were a fairly well aged three pack of Hane's cotton sports bras. These were pretty functional for yoga and belly dance practice, but as you can probably imagine not too awesome for running. The elastic had seen better days and the cotton held on to sweat like someone was gonna sell it on the black market afterward.

I replaced those early on with a pair of bras from Old Navy (this style in the colour shown and in a light purple with salmon accents) which I have been using regularly. I also bought a pair of bra core active tanks (this style but in black and grey - respectively) but for a couple of reasons I have not found them terribly useful up until, well actually today.

All of the Old Navy items came standard equipped with removable bust pads - which I promptly removed and shoved in the back of a drawer along with all of the pads I'd removed from my swimwear over the years.

source: http://www.wikihow.com/Wear-a-Bra-as-a-Male-Crossdresser

I've always been on the *ahm* petite side. Think J-Lo-esque... without the firming benefits of all the personal trainers and professional dance background and oodles of money and stylists.  While I admit I haven't always been utterly thrilled by that fact, eventually I stopped being a self conscious teenager and embraced the positive aspects of my figure. Either way I've never seen much point in artificially altering it. The American over the shoulder boulder holder industry apparently thinks we are all yearning to let loose our inner Christina Hendricks, but a) variety is the spice of life and b) I REALLY LIKE that I can wear slinky backless dresses without resorting to uncomfortable and expensive hidden scaffolding.

I got what I got and if you don't like it feel free to look elsewhere. Nyah.

That goes double for workout clothing. I try not to look too much like a schlump in any context, but by the same token amorous interest is just about the last thing I want to deal with while working out in the gym or on the street. I'm there for MY benefit so I don't see the point of advertising, much less false advertising. In truth the Old Navy stuff has about as much "padding" as the average tee shirt bra so given the compression the effect is pretty neutral, but still the idea of it bothered me. Anyway running is sweaty work, why add extra layers between me and the air?

A couple of weeks ago I found out that I had won a giveaway from For The Love Of The Run and part of the giveaway was a bra from a company called Handful. I chose their adjustable style bra in purple size XS (I typically wear a 30 or 32 band size) and received it by mail a few days later. It came with a lovely matching mesh washing bag and... matching removable bust pads! In this case the internal pockets do make a great deal of sense as they are approved as mastectomy bras but I opted to yank out the pads as with my other bras. The pads are slightly thicker than the Old Navy ones but again with the compression effects of the fabric the sum effect on my figure is pretty much nil.

I ran with the new bra last Sunday and didn't notice anything in particular about it, except that it's cut a bit lower than the Old Navy ones so in warmer settings I'll probably layer it with higher cut tank tops in the interest of modesty. I'm so swaddled in layers for outside runs at this point I can't say one way or another how good the sweat wicking and drying properties are until I get a chance to try it out at the gym. The colour is however LOVELY.

I did notice a funny thing earlier this week. I did my first run at the gym Tuesday wearing one of my Old Navy bras and I don't know if the bra has sprung, if I've lost that much weight, or if I was just feeling self-conscious enough to notice for the first time; but either way I'm glad those bras have a lot of coverage because the effects were positively... seismic. I can't say as I've ever cared about what my boobs were doing while I run, but I was AWFULLY aware of it then.

It occurred to me that the only way to salvage the situation without buying more bras may actually be to put all of the padding back in and hope it provides a bit more structure to keep things in place!

Structure overkill? source: http://organicarmor.com/

I've experimented with running padding-in for the last two runs, but to be honest I think running outside is too distracting (and swaddled) to compare properly so I think my next treadmill run will tell me more of what I need to know.

What about you?
Do you care one way or another about padding in your sport specific structure garments?
If you have a favorite sports bra brand; is it padded and do you think the padding adds to the function of the bra? 

Saturday's run - 5k to 10k wk1 d2 -street run
2 miles over 23 minutes at an average pace of 11:33

5 minutes warm up/cool down
10 minutes of running at an "easy conversational pace"
3 minutes "tempo" run (challenging but not exhausting pace)
10 minutes of running at an "easy conversational pace"

I aimed for 12:00 as the easy pace and 10:00 for the challenging pace and pretty much hit it, though I was keeping closer to 11:30 for the second set of 10 minutes. I think I could have even pushed that 10:00 a bit more but I'm not going to sweat it for now.

The run overall felt pretty good, however I did have to do a very sudden stop to avoid a car that apparently wasn't terribly interested in stopping at a stop sign, and that torqued my outer right shin a bit. It was fairly tight throughout the run but calmed down shortly after I finished.

Sunday's run - 5k to 10k wk1 d3 -street run
2.48 miles over 30 minutes at an average pace of 12:75 minutes warm up/cool down
30 minutes of running at an "easy conversational pace"

Again I aimed for 12:00 and did not have ANY trouble keeping my pace that slow since my right calf was still pissed from the hard stop I made Saturday. By the time the endorphins had kicked in enough to ignore the discomfort in the muscle I was already kind of gassed out and it was dark enough for me to full on collide with the end of a large invisible tree branch sticking out of a refuse pile. Based on the initial impact marks I expect a spectacular bruise by morning.

I think this might have actually been my first time running two days back to back. I'll have to check back through my past runs.

Interesting side note: my boyfriend decided to take a walk at the same time as I was running but due to the lateness of the hour (running was a very last minute decision) he ended up pretty much keeping up with me the whole way to make sure I was safe. He doesn't normally run so he was wearing his usual dark wash jeans, dark jacket, black gloves, and black stocking cap.

Apparently no one in my neighborhood thinks anything of a small woman out in fluorescent orange running gear being followed at about 20 to 50 feet by a man in all black, so that's good to know!

Very slow and very steady

That's what she said!

*ahem*

I used a treadmill for the very first time on Wednesday. Hooray for not getting launched off at any point!

I have seen enough of The Biggest Loser to recognize the unending shame of being launched bodily off of a treadmill so I decided to take it as slow as I needed to until I knew I was truly comfortable.

I started out at pretty much dead minimum pace and clicked up the speed one notch at a time until I was thoroughly bored of walking and knew I could safely run.

I felt a little silly moving along at a snails pace for as long as I did (I literally "warmed up" for about 25 minutes and only covered a mile) but the way I see it one day of feeling a touch silly in front of strangers totally beats wasting a year's worth of gym membership because I'm too mortified to ever go back.

Once I decided it was run time I started day one of the 5k to 10k training program app I got for my iPhone.

5k to 10k wk 1 d 1
5 minutes warm up/cool down and  20 minutes of running at an "easy conversational pace".
1.5 miles over 20 minutes at an average pace of 13:28

I started out the run section holding on to the handles but quickly realized that it was really uncomfortable and messing with my posture something fierce, so I let go of them as soon as I (again) was reasonably sure I wasn't going to launch myself.

I ended up starting out much slower than I expected (between 13:00 and 14:00) and struggled a surprising amount for about the first mile. I think in retrospect the newness of the situation and a bit of social anxiety (am I breathing to loud? is everyone watching? NO DON'T LOOK AT THEM, THEY WILL KNOW YOUR SHAME) may have had me breathing more shallow than I normally would. By the end I was able to up the speed considerably and I think I got up to running at a bit slower than 11:00 at one point, but the treadmill readout was not very conductive to tracking that sort of thing so I don't have exact numbers. I had the treadmill at the recommended 1% rise to make the run feel more properly outside-ish.

The treadmill was (as advertised) insanely boring and the lack of wind in your face seriously sucks. Next time I'm putting on the TV - even if I don't listen to it - and positioning myself as close as possible to the giant fan. I am VERY glad I remembered my towel this time. That was gross.

image from http://mastercowfish.blogspot.com but props to Douglas Adams

I do not see myself doing my weekend runs indoors unless I absolutely have to.

I received my Garmin footpod yesterday and after some fiddling I got my watch to notice it. If you get one make sure you're moving while pairing, it took a number of tries and more than a few Google queries to work this one out. I'm really excited to try it out because it annoys me a great deal when I can't functionally upload my runs to the various run sites and trying to read the pace for that split second it shows up on the treadmill readout when you change the speed was awful. I don't understand why you can't toggle between the two if it's obviously programmed in anyway.

Sassy!

I was going to hit the gym tonight in the hopes that working out would fix the unrelenting skull-in-a-vice headache, but I fear running with the unrelenting tummy blahs will have a different ending.

The usual sick rule (above the neck - suck it up, below the neck - go take a nap already!) makes a lot of sense to me with colds... would you say the same line applies to other body systems?

Hey Good Lookin' what you got cookin?

Oh wait, never mind. I can smell it from here.

I have always had a ridiculous sense of smell but I feel like it goes through the roof when I run. After the last couple of months of running in the same neighborhood I now know who barbecues a lot, whose dog likes to pee on the fence near the road, who is messy when they top off their gas tank, and which cars belong to Jersey Shore wannabees.

Here's a hint, if I can taste you after you drive by for even longer than I can hear your "sweet kicking bass" it's time to back away from the axe body spray. You are going to suffocate an entire poor unsuspecting night club full of people.

Today I ran a new route and encountered the most ambrosial Indian food smell imaginable, it permeated something like a half a block radius so it had clearly been simmering for some time and my already normally ravenous post run appetite became like a small gnawing thing in my innards. Luckily my boyfriend likes to cook and can always be convinced to eat, so I "talked him into" throwing together a bit of prepackaged Trader Joe's Indian food with some chick peas for a late dinner. It wasn't the insane deliciousness that I craved, but it still quieted the belly monster.

Running past food smells usually gets me salivating (especially barbecue steak), but this was inspirationally delicious. I actually found myself fantasizing that I would get fast enough to run into the house and get away with some of that delicious food.

I'd feel terrible about abusing the talent of a cook such as that, but I'm sure it would be righteously delicious until my conscience kicked in.

******
As you may have noticed I have not started any manner of "October Blogging Challenge". I enjoyed some aspects of doing the September one, but at this point in the game I already have enough to talk about without forcing topics and I go to bed late enough as it is: I really didn't need the extra time sink or word count. 

I would love to figure out some sort of consistent weekly topic post though. I'm picturing something like the ubiquitous Wordless Wednesday posts so if anyone has seen anything neat in that vein or has any ideas I'm all for it. 

I will say that given the relative popularity of the Jason Statham post and my appreciation of the majesty of the male form I would not be averse to something like Running Off The Reese's  beefcaketastic Magnificent Men of Monday posts.

******
My run today: a 5K run plus 5 minute warmup and cooldown walks
3.10 miles at an average of 11:59 per mile -  total time of 37:07

I'm still having a lot of problems with mile two. I think it may be a mental limitation due to no longer feeling "fresh" but not yet being "almost there". I tend to find myself pushing to a faster pace than I'd like and then having to slow down. I'm not really sure how to get out of that head space though.

My ankle is stiff when I walk but was surprisingly fine when I ran. I did manage to get a good stretch before the run today and I do feel like I loosened it up quite a bit. I was aware of it but at no point was I in pain. 

I have a physical with a new doctor in a week and a half and I will mention it then if it is still bothering me. The missing referral issue I mentioned in my last post cascaded into a phone argument with my (former) Doctor's office manager so ridiculous I was literally shaking with anger when I finally hung up. 

So yeah, new doctor time. It will be nice to be able to tell them I am active though!

The perils of popularity

Sorry I skipped a day there, yesterday was my mother's birthday and today was a wine tour bachelorette party for my Boyfriend's Sister so I've been out and about of the majority of the weekend. My running schedule for the coming week looks similarly chaotic between a doctor's appointment, providing immoral support at the salon for a friend, my regular game night, and the wedding.

I'm really hoping to be able to run tomorrow afternoon, but if I do it will be in some random spot (probably my old neighborhood simply because I know the streets) and then almost directly to the ophthalmologist.

I'm banking on the power of my deodorant and a fresh change of clothing since I don't have time to go home between. I won't be able to run Tuesday, Thursday or Friday so I have to take what I can get. Luckily I don't tend to get stinky after that kind of run and I'm hoping a headband will hide any hair issues but I'm sure I'll be mortified the whole time anyway. Worst comes to worst I will think of it as their punishment for making me take the air puff glaucoma test.

My ankle pain has resolved as far as my ankle itself, but the soreness has now moved up into the back of my calf and left it feeling the same kind of sore as when you get for the day after you get one of those charlie horses that hurt so bad they wake you up out of a dead sleep. I'm hoping a night of sleep and some gentle but focused stretching over the course of the day tomorrow will work that out in time.

Have you ever had to own your grossness in public for a while in order to fit a workout into your schedule?

Day 29 Recipe time! Share your favourite fall recipe!

 

Easy choice: Garlic Parmesan roasted pumpkin seeds.

I base my methods on the ones posted at Extreme Pumpkins, but I do the seasoning mix to taste. Usually this involves dumping as much garlic powder, salt, and fresh grated Parmesan cheese in to the mix as I think I can reasonably get away with. I used to do other flavors until I found myself wishing I was eating this one instead.

1. Do a mediocre job of separating the goo and guts from the actual seeds. Don’t rinse them or they won’t taste as good.
2. Add salt to the seeds. I suggest 1 teaspoon for every 2 cups of seeds.
3. Add the melted butter. I use 1 tablespoon.
4. Mix the salt (and/or seasonings), melted butter and seeds and then spread them on the baking sheet.
5. Roast them at 300 degrees for about 30 minutes. Stir them halfway through.
6. Take them out and eat them.

Day 30 Your goals for October

My goals for October are

• run my first 5k race (already scheduled!)  
• get back into practicing yoga and belly dance
• speed up my 5k a bit (no definite goals for that yet)
• figure out and maybe start doing some heart rate training
• more bloggy goodness

This is what I get for mentioning my strong ankles

My right ankle is not exactly painful, but still very stiff in the aftermath of yesterdays run. It's like if I could just find *turn* the *twist* right *flex* way *pout* to stretch the muscles just on the inside of my Achilles Tendon I'd be set. I still can't find my arnica so I suppose I should  probably slap an ice pack on it for a bit.

I must have stepped or turned on it wrong while I was freaked out about the creeper SUV yesterday since I was fine when I headed out and yet twingey when I finally got my focus back on my run. So perhaps it's good that I don't really have time to get out and run more this weekend.

Tomorrow I'll be walking around a local fair all day with my Mom for her birthday and Sunday I'll be hitting some Long Island wineries as a bachelorette party for my boyfriend's sister, so the entirety of my daylight hours (I assure you, early mornings don't count) are spoken for.

As if I didn't have enough problems being graceful.
Seriously, how come I never trip over things while holding WHITE wine?

September Blog Challenge Day 28 - Have you ever done a home workout video? If so, which ones are your favourite?

Home workout videos were my main form of exercise for a while so I have several go-to videos.

The most enduring one for me has been Yoga Shakti by Shiva Rea. The pacing is great, the setting is breathtaking and inspirational, and it is probably the most functionally flexible workout setup I've ever seen. The DVD is actually made up of an array of mini sections which can be mixed and matched at your whim, or played through on a number of preset paths. Many of the poses are also broken down into levels of intensity, so a single workout can still grow with you over time.

I do wish it was easier to figure out how long a constructed workout will take. There is a second DVD packaged with it which I also remember having some nifty stuff on it, especially in the Techniques section, which gave me information on attention and placement that I feel has subtly but permanently altered the way I approach yoga.

You can almost feel the heat of the sun while watching this video

Tribal Fusion Belly Dance Yoga Isolations and Drills: A Practice Companion with Rachel Brice

A pleasantly stripped down bellydance DVD aimed at drilling some of the core dance movements with a yoga-centric warm up and cool down routine. This DVD offers three workout options differentiated by length (15, 30, or 45 minutes) and a performance at the end.

I really like that it's made up of pure movement drills instead of the usual "learn this combo" setup and the dialogue and sound-scaping is somehow especially pleasant. I have her sequel videos but have not poked at them enough to really comment.

Bellydance for Beginners with Suhaila: Fitness Fusion (Buns, Jazz, Pilates, Yoga) - Honorable Mention

A four volume set that is I think is mislabeled as "beginners" but which still offers plenty to the newcomer. A little more "classic workout DVD" than the other two, but still offering up that bellydance flavor with one or more performances featured on each DVD.

Suhaila's workouts are VERY glute driven and her glutes are pretty famous all on their own. She feels that glutes are the core of belly dance and has developed her own style around that idea.

Seriously, it's like they're sentient

 

Clearly there is something to this glute idea as she is AMAZING.

Stranger Danger!

Well today was officially scary. 

I was a little under a mile into my run on a nice long wide  neighborhood artery type road when I noticed a newish dark blue Suburban style SUV slowing as it passed me. People seem to have a vested interest in not hitting me (which I appreciate) so that didn't bother me overmuch at first.... except that the SUV never sped back up. 

I noticed that the driver pulled to about 50 yards past me and started pacing me, and after about a block or two of pacing me they pulled sloppily off to the right side of the road, stopping (but not parking) less than two blocks south of a forced left turn with a lot of foliage and no houses right at the corner (the outside corner seems to be some sort of municipal property).

I maintained speed but made a sudden left turn at the next block I passed after I saw that they had pulled over, and watched from around the corner as they immediately pulled back into the lane and drove away.

Clearly, the picture of subtlety.

I keep my phone on my left arm in an armband so I immediately switched my phone to video camera mode and started recording. I described why I had the phone on record, what I had seen, and how I was changing my route to account for the scare and stuck to main roads for the rest of the run (which was pretty hard, and kind of owie). 

Of course I didn't realize until hours later that since the camera was on the *back* of the phone and the microphone was tucked in my bra along with the right earpiece, so I now have an excellent video of the inside of my armband with accompanying audio of my right boob.

At least the idea was there, and I will set up my phone better to account for that in the future. I've always been a bit iffy about that corner but now it's right out. I may also alter my route to avoid a couple of other less populated sections for a bit. Actually I can think of one route tweak which may also avoid a completely insane intersection I currently go through, so at least that's helpful.

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Day 27 Do you use any meal replacements or shakes?

Does cheese count? I replace dinner with cheese on the regular, but other than that no meal replacements. I use Clif bars as midday snacks quite a bit though. I've calorie counted in the past to reasonable effect, but right now I'm finding I'm doing really well with just eating better food.

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My run today: 5K run with warmup and cooldown walks
3.17 miles at an average of 11:53 per mile -  total time of 37:42 

My right ankle and knee were kind of... tweaked? for much of the run. Not enough to effect me much at the time but now I'm noticing it in my ankle and I'm deeply annoyed to be missing a nearly full tube of Arnica gel. The weird thing is my right wrist is also hurting, so maybe I slept stupid or something. 

I spent so much time distracted by the creeper car and trying to work my phone without killing myself that I'd call this one of my worst days out. I also didn't cool down and stretch after as well as I should have today or Tuesday.

I wasn't sure when I went out I was even going to do a full 5k today but by one mile I knew I was committed, so there's that. I don't think I'm going to be able to run again until Monday due to my weekend plans which has me kind of annoyed, but we'll see if I can fit something in.

Reason vs Decision

I'm always on the lookout for new blogs and while I'm still on the fence about VanessaRuns overall, I did find this really striking:

I actually believe that there is NO good reason for running 100 miles. But I also believe that I don’t need one.

I love the distance. I love training for and running 100s. And that is enough. I don’t need to lose weight from it and I don’t need to earn money from it. I just need to run.

We live in a world now where everything requires a purpose and an explanation, otherwise it’s useless. Exercise must have a direct benefit in order to be worth our time. Not surprisingly, we are more sickly and sedentary than ever

Instead of going outside, we sit around and reason that there is not enough of a physical or financial benefit in ultra running. But I believe ultra running is more of an art, not a job.
Nobody asks:

• Why we go to a ballet
• Why we listen to an orchestra
• Why we visit art galleries
• Why we appreciate music

Or for that matter:

• Why go to a movie on opening night?
• Why watch a sunrise?
• Why pet a puppy?

There is no logic or reason behind these things, but they feed our souls. They make us human.

And ultra running makes me human. It’s the one thing I don’t need to explain. And I don’t think I should be asked.

There's more to her post and I do believe it's worth reading. I've done some pretty whacked out things in my life for no reason beyond "because I want to" or "because it's the right thing for me right now" so I'm feeling a lot of resonance with her words.

Why am I running?

Well I enjoy that I'm getting fit, but given my initial knee woes there are other ways to get fit that would probably have made more sense. I enjoy that I'm getting out of my cave but I could just as easily go fly kites or go fishing for several hours a week. I like the community but there's a whole lot of bars or knitting blogs and gathers to be found (not that I bar hop, kite, fish, or knit, but whatever).

As I mentioned in yesterday's post I haven't always picked the things that  make "the most sense" for me to focus on. Relying on the power of logical motivations has not always been the strongest source of personal drive for me (says the ex-smoker). Then again if we always had that kind of discipline we'd be living highly structured lives in a Brave New World style dystopia and research psychologists would be really bored.

I am running because I want to run.

Ultimately that is the solitary thing that has made the difference between doing it and not doing it. How many times do we say that we want to do something that we think will be positive (losing weight, quitting smoking, joining that book club) but all the logic and reasoning in the world means bupkis until you actually make that decision. Was there any reason not to make the decision earlier? Probably not really, except that you just didn't.

Though I will say that anyone who doesn't understand the logic or reason behind petting a puppy apparently has a different understanding of what the word "puppy" means than I do.

"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind."

-Bernard Baruch (frequently miss-attributed to Dr Seuss)

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Randomly: I got my first friction burn yesterday! The belt I use to hold my house key (and mace) rode up to my waist and as I ran it rubbed a nickel sized spot on my mid back raw. I felt it stinging in the shower but couldn't see it until today because a) I'm rather blind (especially behind me) and b) it is on a tattoo.

I'm strangely jazzed by this.

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Day 26 What is one area of your fitness that you’d like to improve upon?

While flexibility has probably always been my main focus, I think the thing I'd most like to improve on at the moment is my endurance.

I do find this to be a pretty funny juxtaposition with the rest of my post above but I guess if I like doing something raising my endurance means I can do it more!

Focus!

A bit of administrative monkeying today, I have a cleaner shinier new look and a nifty Daily Mile widget there on the right side. 

I don't know why my mileage is wrong, apparently I am not allowed to have a fitness-based social network work for me the right way. This is the fourth one where I have had to open some sort of help ticket. I have an email in to support so hopefully they'll find my other 25 or so miles somewhere along the line.

I am listed under Jogging Jawa on DailyMile so feel free to find me there!

September Blog Challenge Day 25 What is something that you do well?

This one actually got me thinking for a bit. I am a collector of hobbies and tend to get to a pretty decent point at most things I do so there's a number of things I could mention. I think I will take a wider view however and say that something that I do well is focus.

When I set my sights on something it pretty much happens.  
I research it, I practice it, I do it, it gets done. 
End of story.

The problem is that I don't seem to get to choose what it is that catches my attention. As much as I would like to turn my Eye Of Sauron-like focus to things like making more money, going back to school, or having amazing yogini shoulders; more often than not I get caught up in the minutia of 16th century embroidery or finding the best tools for foam decorator pumpkin carving.

I am REALLY happy that my current focus is running and that I am doing so well with it, but I must admit I am somewhat fearful of what happens when the bubble bursts. I hope that it is established as enough of a habit that is is simply a regular part of my life when the next shiny thing comes along.

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On a bizarrely related note: I knew that a healthier fitter lifestyle would change my life for the better and give me the ability to do things stronger, faster, and better overall, but I did not expect that to extend to my liquid chugging abilities.

I'm not the biggest fan of water or drinking liquids in general.  It will take me HOURS to down one cup of coffee, and I LIKE coffee. In order to actually get water into me in something resembling a reasonable time frame I have started downing it in one shot like cough medication. 

Usually my limit is 8 oz at a time but I appear to have leveled up recently. I got up super late Sunday and had a lazy breakfast (to put it lightly) so to make sure I was set up to run later in the day I ended up chugging all of the water I would normally have had over the course of the morning. Below is my 24 oz water bottle with 8 oz and time markings.

Where the "magic" happens

I drank all of the missing water in one shot! I'm not sure what my new-found abilities will bring, but I like to think it's a result of my body getting better at using oxygen so I can hold my breath for longer. 

Seems legit, right?

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My run today: entirely self directed!
3.13 miles at an average of 11:43 per mile
Today was my fastest 5k at 35:27

I did not count warm up and cool down in my stats at all (about a mile between the two) and hit my goal of running straight through for a full 5k for the first time! A slight side stitch throughout made breathing a bit hard and my second mile was mentally the hardest but I'm not sure why. This was about five minutes more running than I have done in one stretch before so I expect to feel this tomorrow.

Once again I thank whatever is responsible for my continuing ankle strength as by all rights I should have twisted my left ankle rather badly on a large flat rock about 1.5 miles in.