Where does the time go? It seems like only a few days ago I was looking forward to Christmas vacation and now we are ready to turn the calendar to 2020 at midnight. For those of you ready to "party like it's 1999", enjoy and be safe! On New Year's Eve 1999, I was eight months pregnant with baby #3 and had a 4-year-old and a 2 1/2-year-old. You can imagine what a wild evening that was not. LOL! At my house, we aren't doing anything wild and crazy to ring in the new year, but we are looking forward to an exciting 2020 with two weddings. Here is our family Christmas card complete with the in-laws to be. According to my Garmin, I ran 1456 miles in 2019, which I believe does not count any of my treadmill running. That's a lot of steps to average 28 miles per week. No wonder I need new running shoes so often. I do try to replace them often as the "worn out" pair become my dog walking shoes and still require some cushioning. The extra walks are good for both Charlie and me. So what is the plan for 2020? I've got two half marathons on my calendar. In fact, I've paid the entry fees for those already. Earth Day Half Marathon will be first on April 25 and then the Garry Bjorklund (Grandma's Marathon event) on June 20. I registered for the Train Like A Mother, 13.1 Crush the Distance training plan/group. Training starts January 13 for the April 25 race. There is a combo of distance, speed and strength in this program. If not a fabulous finish time, I'm hoping to be free of the little aches and pains that signal muscle weakness and getting older. Deb is also running Earth Day, so we will be ready to go on race day! Speaking of Deb, we have made two more trips to the holiday lights since my last post. The lure of the light show has made it easier to get those long runs in while the conditions are not the best. We really can't complain too much about cold and wind the past few weeks, but there has been a fair amount of snow and ice which deters us at times. Well, this year, they added a snowman train at the light show. We thought it was so darn cute that I brought my camera along to snap some pics in it. Here is Deb... Then I took a turn, too. Clearly this train is child sized, and fun for a couple of grown-ups to climb on for a pic at 6:00am before anyone else could see or judge. From what is visible of the lights behind the train, doesn't it feel magical for a child to ride a snowman train through this winter wonderland? It's my job to check on the light show schedule to see if we can get there one more time before it is done for the season. Fingers crossed!
I've commented many times that I am thankful that Elf on the Shelf wasn't yet a thing when my kids were little. Still, I do enjoy seeing some of the creative things other people's elves are doing on Facebook. While talking about said elves, my husband said that Dog in My Blog sounded more fun. This year I'll try to stick Charlie or something about a dog in somewhere just so you can find the dog in the blog besides the other exciting things I write about :-) . Did you find him today? I think one of my favorite dog stories of 2019 is about Louie, a friendly golden lab who decided to run with me back last summer. What are your goals or resolutions for 2020? Do any of them involve your running plan? Share in the comments section! Happy running--Missee
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In a previous post, I remarked that I'd ordered some new running clothes on and All Sales Final sale. My clothes are here and I've been trying them out. So glad that I took the chance and ordered from Skirt Sports! When I ordered, most items on the special sale were under $40, but to get free shipping, a $100 order was required. Here are my items. Toasty Queen Skirt...reg price $129, I paid $30. This skirt/tights combo has wind resistant fabric on the thighs and skirt to keep my legs warmer. This one is nice and warm. I am trying to add a less stretchy drawstring to keep it from riding down just a bit, but otherwise seems like a great product. It seemed like maybe the rise on the tights part is a little long, but adding another drawstring should be good. This is the Wonder Wool Skirt, Regular price $129, I paid $25. This one kept my bum nice and warm on my run today. I was concerned about the skirt part riding up on both these items, but they did not and felt super cute and feminine to have a little dress on. My skirt is pink. The tights on this one are of a lighter weight than the Toasty Queen version. Triple Pocket Tight . Regular price $92, I paid $25. This particular photo is of the plus size version of the tights, but this is the fun print I ordered, so I wanted to show you this one. I wore this tight at the Snowflake Shuffle where the spunky red and green added to my festive outfit. This tight was very comfortable and has pockets big enough to carry my keys and cell phone during the race. The fabric is high quality. I can wear these tights to yoga as well as running. Wonder Wool Long Sleeve Top. Regular price $80, I paid $20. I got this shirt in grey instead of pink, but this may be my favorite item...once I'd washed it once. I first wore this top on a morning run. When I returned, I smelled an awful smell and suspected Charlie had done his business in the house (which he does not do unless ill). I realized it was sheep smell from the wool shirt. After I washed this one once, the smell did not return after runs. My only disappointment on this item was that I'd tried to order it in two different colors, but they ran out of the blue and canceled my second top. I'd have liked two of these.
I am very glad that I tried out Skirt Sports, even taking the risk of ending up with $100 worth of items that either wouldn't fit or I wouldn't like. I ordered size Medium, my typical size, in all of the items and they all fit well. I will keep shopping their website when I need to replace other running clothes. They have capris, shorts and summer running skirts besides the warm winter gear I ordered this time. If you are looking for some spunky feminine running wear, take a look at www.skirtsports.com. Watch for sales as the regular prices are a little more than I'd normally pay for my clothing, but I would have been willing to pay a little more than the rock bottom sale prices I got this time for this quality of running wear and will happily order again with seasonal sales and promotions. Happy running, even if it includes a flirty new skirt! Missee Last week, we had some of the pesky weather Minnesota is known for. We started out with about 6 inches of new snow Sunday night into Monday which resulted in a 2-hour late start for school. I'd taken Charlie out for a walk and got the call about the school delay along the road and notified the rest of the staff. That snow made for an icky commute. By Monday night, we'd begun a plunge into negative temperatures and high winds. That meant two days on the treadmill. I'm grateful for an alternative to the bitter cold, but like outdoors much better. Thursday I ventured out for a short run in windchills in the teens below zero. It was good to get some fresh air. By the time I headed to school, we had snow falling quite heavily again. It didn't add up to much, but did cause some visibility problems on the roads. Snow and cold the same week seems a little unfair. Deb and I had delayed our normal Wednesday run to Friday due to the frigid temperatures. When I got up, I checked my weather app and was delighted to find the temperature to be 6 degrees. Perhaps the snow and cold had frozen my brain and frostbit my common sense, but I looked at that temp and thought that perhaps I wouldn't need my warmest winter running jacket today. Hmmm...single digits is still cold! There was no wind, so once we got running, I quickly warmed up and enjoyed the run, but never wished that I hadn't worn such warm clothing. I'm grateful for the development of clothing that lets me enjoy outdoor running on pretty cold days without too much discomfort. Fleecy tights, windproof jackets and even hats with ponytail holes make life easier. If you choose the treadmill, enjoy; if you decide to venture out, the rule of thumb is to dress for weather 20 degrees warmer than what you are having. You can always remove clothing if you overdress a little...single digits is still ok for your heaviest running gear! Happy running--Missee
Last Saturday was the 20th running of the Snowflake Shuffle in St. Jospeph, MN. It is the annual fundraiser for the College of Saint Benedict's cross country and track teams. Since my daughter is now an alumni of that program along with me, I am happy to don some holiday gear and contribute to the cause. Here are Deb and I before the race. The weather was great for running. It wasn't too cold and most of the roads were well cleaned of snow and ice. The running itself was kind of hard; I hadn't participated in a 5K since the Snowflake Shuffle last year, so running at 5K pace instead of half marathon pace was taxing. I think I need to try to run 5K's more often to keep working on moving my feet more quickly. I was pretty excited to finish in just over 8 minutes per mile pace. Deb finished 2nd in her age group and I finished 3rd. It was fun to win a prize for our running ability/efforts. She got a $5 gift certificate to the local running store and I got a St. Ben's T-shirt. Here is my race shirt and my prize shirt. In the past, the shirts were tech fabric. These were cotton, but very nice. I like the little bit of glitter. As always, the race offered free hot cocoa afterwards. Deb and I may have had more than one cup each. Yum!
To follow up from last week, on Sunday, we did do a long run out to the holiday lights and they were on! The long run was a pleasant follow-up to the race on Saturday and the lights were worth the wait. Deb and I agreed that there are definitely more lights out there this year. Happy running! Missee One of my first running coaches passed away recently. Jack coached both cross country and track at Wadena High School for many years. His teams had many successful seasons in both sports and he was named Coach of the Year many times. To be perfectly honest, I'm not sure Jack knew much about distance running, yet had some very good runners pass through the program. The school dug up these oldies but goodies from the yearbook, then named Indian Trails. These gems were from my sophomore, junior and senior years in case the 80's hair didn't give it away!
So how does a coach with limited knowledge of running have so much success? Attitude! Our coach was one of the most encouraging, enthusiastic leaders around. In track for sure, and usually cross country, too, we could hear Jack's booming voice at every turn urging runners to give it a little more and usually we could find just a little more effort around the curve, up a hill, etc. We were given quite a bit of freedom as far as supervision goes and usually we didn't abuse it...however there was one time we lost a girl in the cornfield and that other time the same girl opted to swim a creek during a race rather than run over the bridge. On that occasion, other coaches thought she'd been pushed. They never noticed that her brand new running shoes were on the bank of the creek nice and dry while she ran the rest of the race in her knee high tube socks! There were a couple of times that our antics went a little too far and then we'd get the disappointed look/speech. Honestly, I can't even remember what we had done, but am quite confident it never happened again. In all fairness, Jack may have had extensive knowledge of sprinting, hurdles and jumping in track. I didn't do those events, but since we had some very good competitors in those areas, they must have been getting their technique somewhere. Perhaps some limited skills along with making athletes feel valued and special was enough in these areas as well as for the distance runners. They say that people won't always remember what you did for them, but they will remember how you made them feel. I was just commenting to my family that I think every one of the kids on Jack's teams felt like maybe they were the favorite sometimes. They may not have been the fastest or brightest member of the team, but every teammate was important. Look at some of those photos...there were years where we were barely fielding a team counting on very young runners to fill a roster, yet always competitive. I am Facebook friends with several of my old cross country teammates from high school. Some of us still run recreationally and some are coaching. Without learning to love running and being with a team in a positive way in our teens, we wouldn't still love to run 30 years later. Rest in Peace, Jack. Long may you run, because you always encouraged us to run a little more. Missee |
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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