I officially have gross running feet....& a techno question

So it's taken me a few days to come to terms with this, AND I STILL DON'T LIKE IT!  Sitting on the couch the other day I notice this peaking out from my nailpolish:

yes, I know I need a pedicure!

I seriously had a WTF?!? moment and ran upstairs, got out the nailpolish remover and found this:

Black toenail! Ugh...disgusting!

It's even Worse today....I can't even bear to take another photo of it. I have told my husband how gross his feet are for over 20 years, and now mine are gross too. I'm making a pedicure appointment on my next day off....shudder...why does this happen?


On a totally unrelated topic....how do you make a screenshot from the Garmin Connect data site?  I can only cut and paste the numbers, not the pretty charts....and I'd really like to be able to do that.  Please be really simple and explicit with and directions you may have. I am a bit of a technology spaz at times.

Oops I did it again!

Thing 1 asked me last night at 11pm...after we had spent the day at Darien Lake Amusement Park if I could drive him to practise in the morning. And, btw, practise is a 10K race with an entry fee and we have to be there at 8am to register & warm up with the team.  Oh yeah sure, no problem, I'd love to do that.  But since he is pretty darn cute and willing to put up with the stipulation: "Well, if it's a race & I have to drive you there & pay your entry fee, I guess you'll have to suck up the public spectacle of having your Mum run too".  He was cool with it (but I would have done it even if he wasn't ;))

So here is my pleasant surprise:  I PR'd & rocked out mile 5 at an 8:41 pace!!!!  I found my groove heading into the 4th mile and it seemed like my feet were working on there own & I was out there PASSING people!

Finishing time: 58:02.....woo hoo!!!!!!


Time to Sperr 10K August 27, 2011

Laps 7

View Splits

Split Split Hour:Minute:Second Time Miles Distance Minutes per Mile Avg Pace Summary 00:58:02 6.13 09:28 1 00:10:03 1.00 10:03 2 00:09:35 1.00 09:35 3 00:09:58 1.00 09:58 4 00:09:44 1.00 09:44 5 00:08:41 1.00 08:41 6 00:09:06 1.00 09:06 7 00:00:53 0.13 06:47

Riders on the Storm...

3am....CRASH! BOOM!....the skies opened like Mother Nature had been saving the whole of the summers' rain for this moment in time, thus foiling my early morning running plan. DARN!  I was really looking forward to having some company even though it was a small part of my run.  The storm was still going strong at 5:15am and I had to forfeit. I don't mind a little rain (after all those years in the Pacific Northwest I'm fairly immune) but I had to draw the line at thunder & lightening. Getting electrocuted is not my thing, so text message sent to cancel & back for a couple more hours sleep.  Then around 8 it stopped, & though it was dull & humid, I decided to consult Weatherbug. I took a chance and head out.

I'm stubborn, but not willing to risk my ipod's health based soley on Weatherbug!

What did we do before the invention of the ziplock bag???

All was going well.  I even figured out a way to get almost 5 miles out of my subdivision before having to strap on my waterbelt.  My pace was good and I'd mentally broken down my run into 5 mile increments.  Then I got a call from Thing 1 around mile 13 asking for a ride home from XC practise....really? I'm running, I know your legs aren't broken since you just did 2 hours of XC practise and we only live a mile from the school? You can walk.  He found a ride. So back to it, ziplocked blackberry stowed again.....except my water $ must have fallen out of the pouch when I answered the phone....dumb, dumb, dumb. I should have checked!!!! That was a pleasant surprise at the corner store at mile 15.5. This was not good.  It was getting hot & I knew I was a couple miles from where I last dropped a bottle of water.  Detour & walk/run started.  Hit a wall around 16...more walking than running.  Got to my water and decided that packing it in was the smart thing to do. 
So total of 18.3 miles.  Disappointed I didn't get to 20, but happy that the first 16 were good.  I will take it. In the long run it is better to stay healthy at this point so I can finish the race....plus I got a run in that I thought I wouldn't be able to do earlier in the day.

Laps 19

View Splits

Split Split Hour:Minute:Second Time Miles Distance Minutes per Mile Avg Pace Summary 03:57:35       18.28       12:59 1 00:10:34 1.00 10:34 2 00:11:28 1.00 11:28 3 00:12:07 1.00 12:07 4 00:11:36 1.00 11:36 5 00:11:29 1.00 11:29 6 00:11:49 1.00 11:49 7 00:11:42 1.00 11:42 8 00:11:47 1.00 11:47 9 00:11:55 1.00 11:55 10 00:12:20 1.00 12:20 11 00:11:37 1.00 11:37 12 00:12:34 1.00 12:34 13 00:12:50 1.00 12:50 14 00:11:58 1.00 11:58 15 00:12:57 1.00 12:57 16 00:12:32 1.00 12:32 17 00:17:41 1.00 17:41 18 00:22:16 1.00 22:16 19 00:06:15 0.28 22:00

5 1/2 Weeks to the Wineglass Marathon

Counting down the days...and long runs to M-day.  Tomorrow is my 2nd 20 miler....another 16, a 3rd 20 and then we're tapering!!!  Changing it up a bit and in order to motivate my ass out of bed early have arranged to meet a neightbour in the wee hours of the morning.  She's only doing 3, but committing to meeting her will (hopefully) get me up and moving. I'm going to get a 3 mile headstart on her, loop around, pick her up and hoping the first 6 miles will fly by unnoticed ;)

Where did the year go??????? Starting to freak out!

Mixed Feelings...

Do you ever have a run that was both good & bad?  I did today.  It was really strange.  It was great because the weather was perfect....felt like fall here with the sun shining & a cool breeze that didn't sap the will to live from me for a change!  It was great because my overall pace was 10:20 & I KILLED 2 of those miles with 9:38 & 9:52 splits.  Seriously, my feet were turning over like I was Fred Flinstone heading home for dinner ;-D!  I felt fast & light!

Here are my splits:
10:42
10:26
10:42
10:25
9:38
9:52

But bad because I had to stop not once but TWICE (TMI moment coming on...feel free to stop reading here) for potty breaks! Really. On a lousy 6 mile run I had to make pitstops twice.  I hate that!  What if this happens during the marathon?  Yesterday was 6 weeks to the Wineglass Marathon & I am having periodic anxiety attacks about my ability to not only finish it, but to be able to run and enjoy it without having to look for a place to stop multiple times.  I have another 20 on deck this week...

Oh, and a HUGE shout-out to Michael @ Slowly Tri-ing http://slowlytri-ing.blogspot.com/2011/08/oops-i-did-it-again.html who PR'd another sprint tri!
Happy Running :)

REDEMPTION!!!!!!

Yup, that's 20 miles on the Garmin! Woo Hoo! (& isn't it pretty?)

I prepped, planned and fretted over it....I was determined that I would get through it no matter what....AND I DID!  Yay me! Went out last thursday while up at the lake (sorry! no computer access til now) and despite the fact that it is rolling hills all around, the weather was perfect (high 60's) and I was psyched to get out there in those cooler temperatures.  I knew the constant hills would be hard so I borrowed some ultrarunner advice from 'Born to Run' (an excellent book, btw) and decided that 'if you can't see the top of the hill, walk it' was the way to go....and that's what I did.  Gave myself permission to walk those big hills and it worked!  This run actually felt better than the 18 I did in the heat.  I did not collapse on the floor in exhaustion when I got home & I don't feel that it overly impacted my time.  The goal anyway being to just FINISH today.  The big challenge though, was figuring out how I was going to fuel and hydrate out in rural Ontario for 20 miles with NOTHING but hills and trees around.  I caved and bought some GU (which gave me pep, but my gut did not fully appreciate them....yes, lots of trees, thank goodness!), and as I was running and out and back route, brought and dropped  2 bottles along the way for the return trip...and good 'ol Mum made a gatorade drop on the way to the golf course with Thing 1 & Thing 2 ;-D......so I was set!  It was a bit of a hassle carrying the extra water/gatorade but no option there. 

Oh, and SO cool bonus!!! Love that garmin tracks 'moving time' (which was 3:58 in case anyone cares)!

I starting to think that I will be able to do this marathon after all!

See...still upright & able to take pictures after 20 ;D

Oh, and I have been using the HR monitor (thanks, Nelly!)....how cool is that????? Already I have found that I feel best around the 149 range & want to die when I hit 170......no 170's on this run.  But for those of you who use the HR monitor, that strap is ok, but not super comfortable after a couple hours....any suggestions?

AND a HUGE shout out to my husband who KILLED his first Olympic Distance TRI on August 7th in 2:46 to take 83rd overall!!!!

I'm in LOVE!

I did it. I never thought I would but I did. And I LOVED every second of it!

Though my husband told me 2 years ago I should do it, I didn't. I was afraid to commit. It seemed like something REAL runners used, not me. But I found myself on the Internet, stalking, for the past few months. Then I worked a crapload of OT at work &thought id reward myself. Yup. I did it. Took the plunge. Gleefully joined the cult. I now own a ........

GARMIN!!!!!!!!!!! Woohoo!!! OMG! I LOVE that thing! Seriously, it could not charge fast enough for me this morning. I will post a picture when that sucker shows 20 frickin' miles later this week....no more failures for me. They weather is breaking & I feel my enthusiasm rejuvenated!

Epic FAIL!

So I had 20 miles on deck today.  Was supposed to be thursday but since that is Thing 1's birthday & Thing 2 is getting braces (yes, he is thrilled) I felt like I needed to do it today.  I knew better. I knew conditions weren't optimal - Didn't get home from work til 0430am, up to take boys to running camp at 0730, 2 hour nap, back to pick up....now it is afternoon and 86 degrees.  Yeah, just typing it I feel stupid....but I went out anyway.  I could have pushed and maybe got another couple miles today, but shut it down at just under 4.  It was hot, I was tired and I just wasn't feeling it.  I feel both like a failure for not doing it & a dumbass for even trying. I think I'm going to back off and let life sort itself out for the rest of this week and try again next week, this time maybe rested and at a sane time of day.