Sunday, 12/31/17 Hydration

I’m concentrating on hydration today (but tonight I’ll probably be focusing on champagne). For some reason, I let myself get really dehydrated, yesterday. I’m racing tomorrow. OK, not really racing. Staying up until midnight drinking champagne does not really equate to racing, but I will be running & polar plunging, so I’ve got to drink a lot of water today.  I’ll have a juice, too. 

Gaviota Wind Caves Hike Saturday, 12/30/17

I did no running today, but took a hike with the kids to the Gaviota Wind Caves.  The hike was short, but pretty steep.  My knees were burning on the way down.

Saturday, 12/30 Crossrope Jump Rope

I purchased the starter set which consisted of 1 pair of interchangeable handles, a quarter pound agility rope and a one pound rope.  I also ordered a jump mat a few days later.  The ropes came within a few days.  They were packaged well and exactly what I expected.  The ropes seem durable, and they work the way jump ropes should.  Using one handle for both ropes is a bit of a hassle.  The workouts that are included with the free app ask you to switch ropes during the workout and the switching is not all that easy, at least not for me.  I don't switch.  I just stick with one weight during the workout.

The mat took three weeks to arrive.  It was marked as shipped the day after I ordered it. Customer service told me three separate times that it had shipped, and I would have it in three days.  I can't figure out what the problem was.  Clearly, it hadn't shipped.  You can't speak directly to a customer service representative when you call.  You have to leave a message, but I did get a call back on each occasion that I called.  The mat wasn't exactly what I thought it would be.  It is pretty similar to a mat that you would buy to put a piece of heavy workout equipment on.  It works just fine, but nothing too spectacular.

All and all, I think that these are high quality ropes and worth what I paid.  Crossropes has a 30 day challenge that gives you 30 days of rope workouts in a pdf, and they have you-tube videos to help you learn different jumps.  They even have an fb group to help keep you motivated.  I wish that I would have waited and gotten the infinity ropes.  The handles look like they offer easier exchanges between ropes.  The infinity wasn't available when I ordered and I won't be investing in another set anytime soon.

If you are willing to pay $70 for jump ropes, I'd say go ahead.  A one pound rope really isn't all that cheap.  You could definitely find a quarter pound rope and a one pound rope for less than $70, but I would guess you wouldn't get as good a product.  I'm not sure most people need the highest quality ropes in the world.  How many people jump exclusively for cardo?  If you do intend to jump every day, you might want to spend the money.

Friday, 12/29/17 Hip Exercises, Jump Rope

Today, I didn't run at all, but I did my hip exercises and jumped rope for 8 minutes.  I did the cross rope workout from the app listed as Burn Set 1 beginner level 1.  The routine called for me to switch from the 1/4 lb to 1 lb rope, but that was way too much trouble, so I just did the entire routine with the 1lb. rope.

Thursday, 12/28/2017

Yesterday, I did a bunch of nothing.  Today, I ran 4 at what was supposed to be MP, but was in fact pretty slow.  I've guess I can blame the big hill, but I still have got to do better than 7:58.

I ran one mile exactly before I got started to calibrate my new footpod.  With warm-up, & cool down, all together I ran 6.5.

Tuesday, 12/27/2017

Yesterday, I did exercises and hip exercises, but more importantly, I reached my 2017 mile goal.  I have had an amazing year running, but injury and health concerns took their toll this year.  I wasn't sure that I could do it, but I did.  That is the most that I've ever logged in a year. 

Lululemon 40/80 Challenge Strava Monday, 12/26/2017

I just found out in a fb group about the lululemon's 40/80 challenge on Strava.  There is a possibility of free gear.  You can sign up anytime.  It runs from January 2-15. The challenge is to run 40 or 80 km.  Last year, if you ran 40 km, you got a lululemon running shirt, and if you ran 80 km, you got the shirt and a pair of running shorts.  TM miles don't count, and you have to go to a lululemon store to get your prize.  I wasn't on Strava, but I signed up, today, to join the challenge.

Milestonepod, Christmas 2017

My sister sent me this Milestonepod for Christmas.  I'll check it out on my run tomorrow.

Christmas Eve 2017

Today, I ran 11.4 miles at an easy pace, non-stop.  I didn't have to stop to go to the bathroom or at a light.  I have so much to do today that I had no time for running, but I’ve just got to try & reach 2017.  My family understands (I hope).  I felt pretty good on the run and I have less than 12 miles to go.

After the run, I went for a short soak in the spa.  I had been skeptical to use heat right after a run, but it feels great and I can really stretch my toes out.

Saturday, 12/23/17

I juiced this morning.  My idea of a green juice is to use anything that I have in the frig.  I sweeten with apple.  I try to use either cucumber or eggplant as a base.  Cilantro & lemon makes everything taste better, but I usually use lime, because lemons are too expensive.  Today, I had lemon in the frig.  You can’t see in the pic, but I found some spinach & celery.  I’m not one to claim this stuff taste good.  It’s usually ok at best.  This morning it tasted almost good.


I'm very frustrated with the company crossrope.  I purchased a couple of jump ropes and a mat from them.  The jump ropes are good, but the mat has never arrived and the frustrating part is that customer service keeps lying to me.  They ship everything three day shipping.  It was marked as shipped on December 7th.  I've called just about every three days since then and they keep telling me that it just shipped.  Why lie?  Why not just tell me that the item is back ordered or whatever.  It is just stupid and a waste of time on everyone's part.  My right knee is hurting a little, so I don't want to jump on my concrete patio, and I don't want to damage the carpet in my living room.  So, I'm stuck waiting.

Friday, 12/22/2017

For breakfast, I had a green concoction.   I can go for months juicing everyday, but I can also fall off the wagon and juice infrequently.  When Costco stopped selling the greens I like, I stopped juicing as much.  I hope to juice more during the upcoming marathon training.

Yesterday, I did a whole bunch of nothing.  I have to get running to get ahead of my pace bunny, so I ran 11 today.  It didn't feel great.  My legs didn't feel recovered, and I have a terrible cough.  I figured out that the cough is asthma.  When I get sick, sometimes I have a lingering bout of asthma.  I have an inhaler, but it has expired.  I took it before my run, and it still worked very well.  The prescribing doctor is from one of those med stop like places, so I doubt if I can get a refill, but I called it in anyway.  My pharmacy will contact the doctor.

I tried my ab and hip exercises in the evening.  The hip ones were fine, but the ab exercises were too painful to complete.  I basically gave up about halfway through.  My abs did not hurt when I ran, though.

Wednesday, 12/20/2017

11 miles at an easy pace felt great.  Could my ab strain finally be healing?  I hope so.  I felt those toes, but not too bad.  Hip & ab exercises taken care of, too.  During the run, something amazing happened.  It rained.  Rain might be a strong word, but water definitely fell from the sky in a sorta sideways fashion.  The weather was so unexpected that my husband came looking for me to make sure I was OK.  He caught up with me around mile 8.  I turned down the ride, and made it home pretty quickly.  Off to see Star Wars!

Tuesday, 12/19/2017

My abs have been feeling good lately, but I woke up with pain.  I guess yesterday's run was too much.  I did my hip and ab exercises today, but I didn't push too much.  When I tried to jump rope, I actually hit myself in the eye on the first turn of the rope.  It took a few minutes for me to be able to see.  My heart wasn't in the jumping after that.  I ran around the neighborhood with my husband and discovered that I was really, surprisingly sore.  I didn't wear my garmin, but I can tell you it was very slow.  I ended with a yoga session and cryotherapy.

Monday, 12/18/2017

I haven't run anything more than a couple of miles in two weeks, so today was a bit of a shock to the system.  Not to mention, I'm still coughing.  If I didn't feel like I just had to run, I wouldn't have ran today.  I've had such a wonderful year running, but the last few months have been very hard.  My body threw in the towel and demanded a break.  I had a few long-existing, non-healing problems that I just couldn't ignore anymore, and I've been sick.  I'm still sick.  I had to run though, because I have a 2017 miles in 2017 goal, and I'm so close that I've got to give it one last ditch effort.  I have to do 47 miles between tomorrow and December 31st.  Unless my body just does a complete rejection, I can do it and still have a couple of weeks off before I have to start training for M2B.

Today, I ran a little over 11 at an easy pace.  I jumped rope for 10 minutes, did excruciating hips exercises and ab exercises.  My abs are hurting.  They hurt during the run.  I'm doing the rehab stuff for the abs, but otherwise, I'm just ignoring them.  I can run through it.  My toes didn't exactly hurt, but I felt them during the run.  That scares me.  I can run through a lot, but I've discovered that toe pain is a deal breaker.  I stretched my calves immediately and used some torture pressure point device on my feet.

Sunday, 12/17/2017

When I was training for Boston, I had a cryotherapy membership and went nearly every day.  I was convinced it is one of the reasons that I was so healthy during that training.  I had purchased three months but when it expired, I didn't renew.  When I started training for Louisiana and encountered so many problems, I renewed my membership.  This time, it did not make a difference, but I had planned to stick with it.  However, when I went on Friday, I was told that the business was closing down.  I'm not super surprised, because there were fewer and fewer people there when I went.  I guess my M2B training is going to have to happen without the benefit of cryotherapy.

Turkey Trot Sunday, 1/19/2017

I ran a Turkey Trot, yesterday, in the park.  My time was slow, but it was enough for 2nd female.  As for a RR, there isn't much to report.  I ran 4.5 miles to the event.  Instead of a nice easy jog, I was rushing, so I pushed a little.  I arrived at the event with zero time to spare.  A timing person actually had to find me in line to get my bib number.  With a quick look around, I realized that my turkey aspiration would be thwarted by the UCLA running team.  What in the heck is the UCLA running team doing at this little event, I had no idea?  When we started, I took off too fast, but I felt like, "What the heck?"  The UCLA girl took off.  I stayed with her for about 1/2 mile.  Eventually, she was gone and I was left with no women in front of me and none behind me.  I was going to be second female and clearly nothing was going to change that, so I spotted a young teenage boy and tried to keep with him.  The course was two loops with two hills.  On one of the hills I caught up with him and tried to encourage him.  It worked at first.  He put some distance between us and kept it for about another 1/2 mile.  Then, I started gaining on him again.  I told him that he couldn't let up, because if he did I was going to beat him, and he only had one more hill.  He looked at me and said, "I can't," and he slowed up.  I figured that fight was over.  I had no one else to race, so I just ran as fast as I could to the finish.  As it turned out, the young man finished quite close to me.  After he peaked the hill that was killing him, he probably got a second wind and took off.  It is good that I had no one to race, because toward the end, I was feeling a little light headed.

After the race, a parent was talking to me about the Boston Marathon and a local reporter overheard.  She interviewed me as a participant and had her photographer take my picture watching the kids race.  Here is the article.



The 4.5 mile run home was quite tough.  Everything hurt--My toes, my abs, even my right leg.  Ugh..

Wednesday, October 25, 2017

I haven't posted at in all this year, which I regret, now.  I spent a good bit of the year training for Boston.  I wish that I would have documented that training.  I don't think that I even wrote a race report for Boston.  The experience was so big, that it overwhelmed me.  I did a lot of other fantastic races in 2017 that I wish that I had documented them, as well.

Today is day 4 of a 12 week marathon plan for the Louisiana Marathon.  I purchased the 12 week plan from Hansons.  My body was a mess after Boston and I didn't take enough time off.  I'm still fighting injuries, but I want to try and make a go of Louisiana.