Cross training is a part of almost every running training program. This is an area of weakness for me, both literally and figuratively. I don't especially enjoy sit-ups, push-ups, burpees, planks, or squats. However, I do know that a strong core and overall strength is very helpful to runners. Without a plan, I don't do well. I'm one of those people who goes to a hotel gym and does each weight machine for about three reps and then I am done. I really have no clue on what to do. This is why I enjoy taking fitness classes at a cross-fit style gym in my community. My goal is to attend two classes per week to work on muscular fitness and endurance. In those two classes, I work harder than I have ever thought I could. Our instructor has a way of pushing us as far as we can go, and then a little further. Attending classes at this gym has made a big difference in my fitness. (That only means that I am stronger than when I started.) The people who attend the classes are awesome and I enjoy the group atmosphere. This has been a busy week and I am only able to attend one cross fit type class this week. I decided to go online to search for "WOD at home" and found a list of ideas. I decided to go for the top of this list which prescribed this following:
3 Rounds For Time: 800m Run 50 Air Squats *I did this workout using a treadmill for the run, but it would be a good workout for an outdoor track. The workout was MUCH harder than I expected. It was good way to raise my heart rate and get a little mid-week workout before going back to my fitness class tomorrow. I will use this workout again for sure. Care to Comment? What do you like to do for cross training? Cross-fit? Yoga? Anything else?
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We all have fears. Some fears are common and others are unusual, even a bit irrational. One of my biggest fears while running is being hit a snowplow. (I'm also afraid of dogs and the dark.) The snowplows are HUGE, they go FAST, and they don't always stay on their side of the street. This is scary to me, but I know they have a job to do and they need to get it done as quickly as possible. We make sure to give the plow plenty of room and the right of way. After a snow, I always bring a flashlight to signal to the snowplows that we are there. (I'm not sure if that would work, but it makes me feel better.) ps. We have a wonderful city street crew in our town. We appreciate the work they do! One snowy morning after an early Saturday morning run, I went to the grocery store to buy some donuts for the family. The parking lot was filled with snowplows, Bobcats, and pickups with plows. I love living in Minnesota! (I'm only afraid of snowplows when I am running.) Care to Comment?
Do you have any unique fears while running? I know Missee has a unique fear while running. Will she share it in the comments? No pressure, Missee! This fall, we got a new art teacher at the school where I work. During October, she stopped by my office to get some supplies for an art project and noticed my college alma mater info posted on my door. During College Knowledge Month, our counselor posts each staff member's college info on their door so that any students who are interested can ask that person questions about their school or major. The art teacher noted that we had attended the same school and she was dismayed that they had posted the price of our school...which is nowhere near what either of us paid to attend said institution. Well, just as intended, these college posters got some conversation started about our experiences as co-eds and the fact that we had both run on the cross country and track teams. That lead to a wish for people to run with and our staff running club idea was hatched. I agreed to send out an inquiry to staff to see how many folks might be interested. We had eight people interested and chose a day and time for regular meetings. Of the eight, about half have come to running club at least once; it's mainly the art teacher and I, but we are hoping that warmer weather will entice the others back onto the pavement. I love this sentiment. Our running club could be deemed a failure since it regularly draws exactly the two runners who started it, but on the other hand, our club has two faithful members who are ready to welcome more when they are ready which sounds more like success. In the meantime, I have made a new friend that I would not normally cross paths with a lot at school but am enjoying her company and the tales of a mother of toddlers, building a new house, etc. It's a very different life from mine at this point.
When you are ready to let a little adverse condition hamper your running, think about what you stand to gain by getting out there. This morning, I was scheduled to do some speedwork but the new snow made that seem daunting and I opted to take Charlie with me on an easier run. I did miss out on the quick miles; however, I did not fall on the ice, miss my time goals due to conditions and Charlie got some steps in. Call that one for the win column today and another crack at speed tomorrow. Care to Comment? How have you used a change in plans in a positive way this week? What is your least favorite running weather? Before I owned a Garmin GPS watch, I had to drive my running route to figure out how far I ran that day. There are drawbacks to the "drive the route" method of determining distance. Sometimes I couldn't remember my exact route and other times I had to guess the distance for a section of the run that was on a bike path. After I drove the route, I would come home and start the calculations. How far did I run? How many minutes was that? What was my pace? Thank goodness for the GPS watch! Now, I can complete a run and know instantly how far I ran (exactly) and my pace per mile. I also like to check the time it took me to run each mile to see where I slow down. My running partner, M, and I notice that 9 out of 10 times we start slow and speed up as the run goes on. Similar to Missee's Garmin 305, I also started with the Garmin 205. Great watch! It had minimal features which made it easy for me to get the information I needed. However, it was LARGE. The battery died a little after Missee's Garmin 305 died. She had someone replace the battery, but it just never worked the same for her. I decided to go ahead and buy a different watch. I bought the Garmin from Target. Link here. I really like the Garmin Forerunner 10. It is light, small, and accurate. There are enough features to do everything I need without having too many buttons to push. It is also very reasonable for a Garmin. I think I paid slightly over $100 this watch a few years ago. Missee mentioned the idea of running without electronics or "running naked." I only use my Garmin on long runs or when I am out of town. When I meet up with my running partner for a regular weekday run, I do not track the run with my Garmin. I like the freedom to just run, no worries about how fast we are running compared to yesterday or last week. We just like to run. I hope you are all having a fabulous weekend! Last Sunday, my husband and I were outside running in 60 degree weather. Today, this is what I see outside our home. Our area of Minnesota is expected to get 6-10 inches of snow before the storm wraps up tomorrow. It's March...it won't last too long.
Happy Sunday! -Stephanie Other than shoes, there are few pieces of gear that go on EVERY run. A good watch would be one of them unless you are one of the runners who run "naked" periodically which is a term used to mean totally without any electronics. I do sometimes like to leave the watch at home, but my current program of heart rate training necessitates that my monitor goes with me every single time. My first GPS watch was purchased around 2008 and was a Garmin 305. It was a big splurge, but I absolutely loved that watch. It locked into GPS mode quickly, the buttons were easy to figure out and looking at the data afterward was quick and easy. It had a heart rate monitor that I rarely used, but also had capabilities to put workouts into it so I could run different goal paces in the dark without having to peek all the time. I used that watch for approx 6 years without a hitch until the battery started getting weak. The weaker battery wasn't always a problem until I was marathon training and could only get 8-10 miles on a charge. Even though the battery was not supposed to be replaceable, I did get the guys at Batteries Plus to replace it for me and it worked great until the 2015 Grandma's Marathon. It was a rainy day and the watch worked perfectly until I stopped it at the finish, only to have it never start again. RIP Garmin 305 :-( My next watch was a Soleus Turbo. It was the most deluxe watch Soleus was making at the time. The price was much less than similar Garmins, so I opted to try it. That was a mistake. The only feature I did really like on that watch was that it vibrated at the mile marks making it easier to see splits. Otherwise, I found the features hard to use and hard to remember which button to push when. I monkeyed with that one about a year before giving it up and "gifting" it to my son's girlfriend who had a different Soleus she was also having trouble with at the time. Fortunately, before I bought my current watch I was already toying with the idea of the heart rate training and knew I wanted a watch with that feature. There was a lot of online debate about wrist based monitoring vs. straps, but I ended up choosing the Garmin 235 that monitors my heart rate on my wrist. I can also pair it with a strap if I want and I do have an old strap from my 305 if I want to use it that way. Look at my new watch with the custom watch face! The watch face along with the data screens are easily customized. You can see that I have my battery level, date, time and steps on the face I see all day. Other screens show my current heart rate, steps and I can even have my text messages delivered to my watch...but I want my running time to be my own! This watch functions not only as a running watch, but does everything the fitness trackers do such as monitor sleep. I can log into Garmin Connect to see all sorts of data. So far, I love this watch. It needs to be charged about every 4-7 days depending on how much I'm running which I feel is pretty good battery life. I can also set up customized workouts that are great to have on my current plan as today's run was 2 miles at a heart rate cap, 2 miles at race pace, 2 miles at heart rate cap, 2 miles at race pace and then the duration at the heart rate cap. I could program all this into my watch so that I got alerts along the way if I was out of my ranges. The price of the watch was pretty medium for a GPS, about $300, but since it is performing the functions of a running watch, daytime watch and fitness tracker, I think it was a pretty good value. Yesterday, Stephanie posted about running in costume. I had never attempted running in costume until this winter. It was actually Stephanie's idea that we should have tutus for the Snowflake Shuffle which encourages holiday themed costumes. We then decided we would have brown shirts painted like gingerbread men with "Run, Run, Fast as You Can!" written on the back...we thought that was both running and holiday themed! Here are my Mom, running friend, D, and I on the left and Mom with my daughter H and Charlie the running dog finishing the race on the right. Our costumes were both fun and functional. We were not hindered in our running yet festive along the course. My son D had a matching shirt (no tutu), but had injured his knee and was unable to participate. We will be bringing these out again next year and hope that Stephanie and her family can join us to make a whole gingerbread family!
Happy running! Missee Care to Comment? What watch do you use for running? Do you like it or what features do you wish you had? Have you run in costume? Attach a photo! In yesterday's post, "Long Arm of the Law," Missee posted a meme about plantar fasciitis with Mr. Peanut running a race. This reminded me of the 2013 Twin Cities Marathon. My running partner, M, and I competed in that race and finished with a time of 4:07.27. As we ran along the spectator lined course, we could hear the crowds cheer wildly for the pack of runners ahead of us. When we got closer to that pack, we saw a runner in a Chewbacca costume running right ahead of us. The crowds loved him! Who couldn't? I can't imagine trying to run in a full Chewbacca costume! Marathon running is difficult enough without a costume that would add pounds to your body and make breathing more difficult. Chewie was running strong, but we caught him and passed him around mile 6. (I did not want to be beat by a Wookie!) I give this runner a ton of credit for attempting and completing such a difficult feat. He faded back quite a ways after we passed him. Chewbacca completed the race with a time of 5:24.47. Pretty awesome for a Wookie! There is a fun Q & A article from Runner's World if you would like to know more about the runner under that Chewbacca costume. You can read it here. The photo above was also taken from the Runner's World article.
I have not raced in a costume...yet. My sister, mom, and I had plans to dress up for a 5K in December, but my daughter had a basketball tournament that same day. Maybe next year! Happy Running! -Stephanie Care to Comment? Have you ever worn a costume for a race? How many times have you been stopped while driving? How many tickets or accidents? I'll admit to 3 traffic stops and 0 tickets. How many times have you been stopped by police while running? To that one, at least 3 that I can recall and also 0 tickets! This fall I was probably lucky to escape without some sort of citation, only by being smart enough to keep my mouth shut. A friend and I were running along a quiet street with a bike path I absolutely hate. Both the friend and I have tripped and fallen on said bike path due to it's bumpy, uneven surface. When the road is busy, we use it, especially in daylight. This particular morning, there was almost zero traffic so we opted for the street. About that time, the highway patrol came around the corner and stopped. This is definitely not a highway, so he must live in the neighborhood somewhere. We figured he probably thought he was pulling over some cute young gals to chat about the safety of the path vs. the road. He definitely didn't think he was stopping two ladies nearly old enough to be his mother. However, once he had us to the side of the road, he had to give his little speech about the path being a much safer spot for us to run. Later when I recounted the tale to my kids, and how the bike path is so bumpy, my daughter chimed in..."You didn't tell him all this about the lumpy path, did you?!?" I'm quite sure they would have all been mortified if I had taken the opportunity to show the officer why I was indeed right and he was wrong! Work had been going a bit rough at that time for both of us and once we had been released on the promise not to play in traffic, my friend and I wondered if being tossed in jail for the day would have been so bad. We dreamed a little of a day in the slammer with nothing but a paperback book to occupy us. I'll admit, it sounded more peaceful than what I would encounter at work, but I'd hate to tarnish my perfect record of no tickets! I'm thankful to live in a community so uneventful for law enforcement that they have time to move the middle aged ladies off the street for their own safety, and also for the extensive bike path system we have...(and use except on that lumpy street!) Care to comment: Have you ever been pulled over by the police while running? What are you thankful for in your city that makes it friendly for running? This photo if for Stephanie. Plantar fascitiis is a bummer to have and difficult to get rid of...so smile a little while your feet hurt and hope it clears soon!
I agree with Missee that when it comes to running, a positive attitude is everything. A "can-do" spirit will only benefit you as a runner. Having that positive, can-do spirit comes easily on some days and be very difficult on others. As runners, we battle weather conditions, injury, and low motivation. We have days in which getting our running shoes on and stepping out the door or on the treadmill is difficult. After we complete that much needed run, the world can seem brighter, happier, and calmer. Missee posted how her son, D, has helped her as a runner. D also jumped on a course (at the most difficult part) and ran about a half of a mile with my running partner and me. He distracted us temporarily from the difficulty of the moment and encouraged us to continue. Maybe he has a future as a running coach?
Wishing you happy running! -Stephanie I was doing some thinking on my VERY long, solo run this weekend. What makes some people decide that they can and should train for a marathon and others are quite certain that running without being chased by a wild animal is a waste of motion? The difference is the attitude. Hang around a group of runners and you'll quickly see that they not only are supportive of one another, they have their own "can-do" spirit. My youngest son, D, has an awesome attitude. (My other kids do, too, but D wears his heart on his sleeve and is easy to read on such things.) He hasn't met an obstacle he doesn't think he could at least take a solid bite of, if not conquer. He brings this attitude to his running, skiing, school work and his hobbies. Fortunately for me, he is quite mechanical by nature and the opportunity to install a new dishwasher in our house was not a chore, but an adventure! The dishwasher arrived on Friday. I brought my own positive attitude and confidence in D's skills and together we tackled the project. By "we" I mean that I read instructions and handed him things he needed. His part was the actual installing and problem-solving when the directions didn't match our plumbing layout. In less than an hour, my dishpan hands were beginning to heal. D likes to "help Mama" run races, too. He has joined me in parts of marathons and halves over the past few years to help quicken my step when the race gets long and my spirit gets weak. He encourages me along while also refreshing the psyche of other runners nearby with "Hey, you got this!" and "Are you okay?" I look forward to him joining me and am grateful he is willing to run a while at my pace. Here are my boys after a race several years ago. B won his age group and D was first for 12 and under. The announcer made a point of noting that he was more serious and determined than many of the finishers that day. That's how he rolls! Imagine trying to finish 3.1 or 26.2 miles with a gloomy attitude and lack of confidence. Confident does not equal a belief that I can win this, but security in that if I have trained properly, I can complete this event to the best of my ability. Hopefully, whatever the outcome, every runner can be satisfied at the finish that she or he has done their best and their best is more than good enough.
Care to Comment? What do you do to keep your attitude fresh and positive? Who in your life has an awesome attitude you aspire to emulate? Happy Monday! Did you enjoy a nice weekend? It was a good running weekend for me. I was blessed with good weather and great company! On Saturday, I met up with my running friend, M, for long run. Our goal was a one hour run. We ended up running 6.59 miles with a pace of 9:07 per mile. We battled a southeastern wind, but had a great time talking and laughing. Non-runners seem surprised that we are able to talk while running. The talking is the best part! It is what makes the miles fly by! Sunday is usually my day off from running. Because the weather was so amazing, my husband and I decided to go for a run after church. Sixty-one degrees on March 5? Wow! We ran three miles and had a nice cool-down walk. Beautiful day! Wishing you a happy week ahead! -Stephanie
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AuthorMissee and Stephanie are two Minnesota sisters and moms who love to run. We are not experts in running, parenting or anything else, but we do have years of experiences that may be helpful or entertaining to others. Archives
May 2020
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