tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-90237947036471671362024-03-13T06:51:08.949-04:00Adventures Of Running MomTrail running for my sanity and vanity.AshleyRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15820378445689167003noreply@blogger.comBlogger69125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9023794703647167136.post-39478785652105198562011-09-20T12:00:00.000-04:002011-09-20T12:00:09.638-04:00Qucik Update and More Vacation PhotosI've been back to running for over a week now. I'm taking it slow, literally. I've decided this comeback would be the perfect time to finally get to running barefoot and in my Vibrams full time during my road runs. I've also decided to do low heart rate training. There are sooooo many LHR training methods out there! I decided to go with the one that I know some other ladies, that are plagued by injuries as well, are following. So, I'm following the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1616080655?ie=UTF8&tag=philmaffetone-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1616080655">Maffetone Method,</a> many times referred to as MAF (maximum aerobic function). The pace is quite slow for me, about a 13:00 min mile, but it's the pace I need to safely ease into barefoot/minimal running anyway. I won't bore you with details since it bores me but you basically don't go out of your MAF zone until you've built up your base if ever. Many people swear by it and others try it and abandon it pretty quickly due to the frustration of having to go so slow. I'm hoping to stick with it and have it pay off. Hopefully after a good month I might break 13:00 min mile. I'm up to 2.25 miles in my VFF with the last half mile of my runs being barefoot.<br />
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I'm also going to see a sports chiropractor in hopes that getting my lower back worked out will straighten my imbalances out. I had many accidents back in my equestrian days but I had one that left the right side of my lower back pretty messed up. Since 1997 I've rarely had a day where I didn't feel some level of pain in my lower back. I had a few adjustments in 2000 that helped a lot but didn't take care of it completely. After one adjustment and a tiny bit of ART my back feels better. I can feel that I have a bit more movement in that area but it still feels really tight compared to my left side, which makes my whole right side seems stiff when I run. I have my second appointment tomorrow and hope to be feel even better. I will probably be doing a total of 4-5 sessions.<br />
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Now on to some more vacation photos! From our trip to the Quinault Rain Forest in Washington. It lived up to it's name and rained on us. Not a nice drizzly rain like we all envision the PNW usually gets, this was a good soaking rain. Even with the rain it was beautiful but the rain did dampen our spirits after awhile and after a few short hikes we did the rest of the Quinault Rain Forest loop drive in the car.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First small hike, still fairly dry. </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The world's largest known Sitka Spruce Tree. You can't tell from the picture but I am soaked to the bone. </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Waterfall seen from the comfort of the car.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We actually enjoyed the dreariness of the day. It would have been better if we had proper rain gear though.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beautiful view of the base of the surrounding mountains. I wish I could see this kind of beauty every day.</td></tr>
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I hope everyone is having a nice start to fall! Stay tuned for more pictures, next time: Astoria, Oregon.AshleyRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15820378445689167003noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9023794703647167136.post-13584483983415510392011-09-07T11:23:00.000-04:002011-09-07T11:23:27.000-04:00What a Beautiful Day!It's not just a beautiful day because it's overcast and 60 at 11:00am. It is a wonderful day because I had my follow up appt at the Orotho and was cleared to start running again! I have to start at 1-1.5 miles for the first two weeks. That's fine because I'll take what I can get at this point. I'm also cleared for easy hiking since the ortho doesn't want me trail running for about 6 more weeks.<br />
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Tomorrow I will don my running clothes and hit the nice flat greenway for a run! I'm so excited I can hardly contain myself. Then Friday I might head to the Ridgeline trail for an easy hike. I hope it all goes well. There is a little voice in the back of my mind telling me that things might not be all unicorns and fluffy bunnies tomorrow. What if the ortho is wrong and I'm not ready? What if my ITB decides to join in the fun? I will ignore that voice as best as I can and hope for the best and be prepared for dead unicorns and fluffy bunnies.<br />
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Happy running everyone!AshleyRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15820378445689167003noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9023794703647167136.post-68537760788157933322011-09-04T07:13:00.000-04:002011-09-04T07:17:56.144-04:00My Vacation in Pictures- Seattle<br />
Here are some photos from our Seattle portion of our dream vacation. I'll try not to bore you with too many words.<br />
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One of the first things we did after we arrived and had lunch at Pike's Brewery and Pub, The Seattle Aquarium. The aquarium was really enjoyable, probably one of the best I've been to, not that I've been to a lot. I wish we could have gotten some pictures of the sea otters since I've not seen them in person before. I was surprised at how large they were compared to river otters.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Super cute river otter that put on a show for us. Unfortunately the show involved the large rock closest to us and marking his territory, if you know what I mean. Thank goodness for the glass divider.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The under the dome portion of the aquarium. Simple yet super cool effect.</td></tr>
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Pictures from my Sunday hike with Kay at Discovery Park.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Poor little abandoned rabbit population. I don't think I've ever lived anywhere that had a feral domesticated rabbit problem.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The shortest lighthouse I've ever seen.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I love the personality of the beaches in the Pacific Northwest. Such a huge contrast to what I am used to seeing on the gulf and east coasts.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Salmon going through the fish ladder at the<a href="http://www.seattle.gov/tour/locks.htm"> Ballard Locks</a>.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sculpture at the Ballard Locks.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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That is all for today of my super fabulous photos from the Seattle portion of our vacation. Next up will be photos of the Quinault Rainforest.AshleyRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15820378445689167003noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9023794703647167136.post-39435146719404999582011-09-01T20:44:00.001-04:002011-09-02T07:27:07.866-04:00Dream Vacation Hangover- part 2<span style="font-size: x-small;">Let's see if I can remember what I had babbled on about in my eaten by the interwebs part of my previous post.</span><br />
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Upon arriving in Portland both the hubby and I felt right at home. It seemed so relaxed and down to earth. It's a super pedestrian and bike friendly place. We took a short cab ride to our hotel only to find out later that day that we could have taken public transportation for <b>free</b>! Oh well, now we know for next time. Since we arrived early our room wasn't ready at the hotel. The concierge placed our bags in a secure closet so we could wander aimlessly around the city for a few hours. The first thing on the non-agenda was to find a Starbucks so the hubby could get some Chai Tea Latte for the second time that day. He was attempting to overdose on it while we were in the PNW since Starbucks are few and far between in the south. We don't have a Starbucks, yet, in our little town. We have to drive a whole thirty minutes to get to one, oh the humanity. Our aimless little stroll around the city helped us to come up with more activities to add to our busy tourist schedule. <br />
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The first night we decided to take a <b>free</b> street car to Deschutes Brewery. The stop where we caught the street car had the most awesome shop called Crafty Wonderland on the corner. I peeked in real quick and made a note to go back later. I went back on our last day there and bought something for each of us. I could have gotten more. I got a super cute shirt by <a href="http://alittlelark.com/">Little Lark</a> for Emmett. (I've already ordered a surprise grab bag of shirts for Emmett and will be getting us adult sized shirts to match his) I could have spent some serious cash in that store but I was fairly restrained and think we managed to keep it in the double digits.<br />
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Dinner at <a href="http://www.deschutesbrewery.com/brews/list">Deschutes Brewery</a> was good. But, the beer sampling was the best part. My favorite beer was the Black Butte Porter and the Green Lakes Organic Ale gets and honorable mention. One big thing I learned on our vacation is that I'm not a huge fan of IPA's and tend to prefer the stouts.<br />
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Our second day we actually spent on the Oregon Coast. We rented a car and drove first to <a href="http://www.parks.wa.gov/parks/?selectedpark=Fort%20Columbia">Fort Columbia </a>(just across the Columbia River from <a href="http://www.oldoregon.com/">Astoria, Oregon</a>). It was a fort in a lovely location but it wasn't as cool as the forts on the east coast since it doesn't date back as far as the east coast forts. We then headed back across the super long Astoria bridge for lunch and to check out <a href="http://www.oldoregon.com/visitor-info/entry/goonies-never-say-die/">The Goonies</a> house. This was pretty cool since the owner is a big Goonies fan and allows people to come up and take pictures, she'll even give tours of the house. The house next to it is for sale for a reasonable price if you're looking, or if you feel like buying it for me just let me know. We also went by the <a href="http://www.oldoregon.com/visitor-info/entry/oregon-film-museum/">Oregon Film Museum</a> which houses lots of Goonies memorabilia. We also went to the <a href="http://www.oldoregon.com/visitor-info/entry/astoria-column/">Astoria Column </a>to get a better view of the surrounding area. I'm proud of the hubby for going up since he really doesn't like heights. It was a long climb up the stairs but worth every quad burning minute of it.<br />
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We left Astoria and headed south down the <a href="http://www.oregonstateparks.org/park_188.php">Coast to Ecola State Park</a>. Absolutely gorgeous! I didn't want to leave. I really could live almost anywhere along the Oregon coast and be beyond happy. Indian beach at Ecola park was where the La Push beach scene from Twilight was filmed. We sat and enjoyed the beach watching the surfers attempt to catch waves for a long time, followed up by checking out the life in the tidal pools. We finally tore ourselves from the beach and headed into the town of Cannon Beach right next door to the park. We found an awesome tiny pizza shop to eat at called <a href="http://pizza-a-fetta.com/">Pizza a'Fetta.</a> This is totally my kind of beach town! Anyone want to buy me a vacation house there? I promise I'll share.<br />
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The rest of the stay was just as awesome as the day in Astoria. I'll just wrap most of it up with a quick list:<br />
-took a 3 hour boat tour down the Willamett River to the falls. Not as cool as the Seattle boat tour but still a good time.<br />
-visited the<a href="http://japanesegarden.com/"> Japanese Gardens</a><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tiny Park</td></tr>
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-visited the smallest park in the world, <a href="http://www.portlandonline.com/parks/finder/index.cfm?PropertyID=265&action=ViewPark">Mill Ends Park.</a><br />
-had lunch at <a href="http://www.cupcakejones.net/">Cupcake Jones</a> (they serve frosting shots, absolutely genius!)<br />
-went to a wine tasting on the east side of the Willamette river with another of my make-believe interweb friends (this one from a running forum) and had an absolutely fabulous time!<br />
-went to breakfast at <a href="http://www.breadandinkcafe.com/">Bread & In</a>k in the Hawthorne neighborhood, yummy! We wandered the hood for a bit after and fell in love with the area. Sadly after checking zillow.com I discovered we can't afford to live right in the area and would have to go at least 15 blocks out. (insert sad blue face)<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Enjoying the show on the lawn with the hubby.</td></tr>
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The last thing we did while on vacation was to go see <a href="http://decemberists.com/">The Decemberists</a> at the amphitheater at the <a href="http://www.mcmenamins.com/54-edgefield-home">McMenamins Edgefield</a>. Before the show we ate dinner at the pub there and did more beer sampling. This time I fell for the Terminator Stout. (must find some local NC beer to take the place of all the yummy PNW beer, I already miss the beer and I'm not a big drinker.) The show was great. The lawn at the amphitheater was lovely and the weather was gorgeous. I got a bit choked up at the end of the show knowing our dream vacation was coming to an end. We seriously fell in love with Portland. It lived up to our expectations and more. It just felt like home to us immediately, felt natural to be there among the natives.<br />
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The only thing I forgot to do in Portland was to visit the <a href="http://www.museumofcontemporarycraft.org/">Museum of Contemporary Craft</a>. I was sooooo excited about going there. But, in all the excitement about the other exciting things, I forgot to go. I think my craft geek status has been revoked due to this error. Hopefully one day I can be reinstated as a true craft geek when I find a way to move there and visit the museum.<br />
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So, now I'm suffering post dream vacation hangover. I'm sad to be gone from Portland and my body is trying to readjust to east coast time. For now I will daydream of Portland and work on a plan to move us out there and become residents of Portlandia. It's an awesome place to be. <a href="http://www.hulu.com/watch/205428/portlandia-i-dream-of-the-90s">After all the dream of the 90's is still alive in Portland.</a><br />
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I have lots of pictures to share but I'll put them in another post in a day or two since this post became quite the novel. I'm sure I'll remember other things that I must <strike>bore</strike> excite you with about our vacation as well.AshleyRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15820378445689167003noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9023794703647167136.post-64991774548483451722011-09-01T17:31:00.000-04:002011-09-02T07:25:58.533-04:00Dream Vacation Hangover- part 1<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SsxHmXv13zE/Tl_zO5RojgI/AAAAAAAAAho/bO-ATZUFR8g/s1600/PNW+Vacation+314.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="139" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SsxHmXv13zE/Tl_zO5RojgI/AAAAAAAAAho/bO-ATZUFR8g/s640/PNW+Vacation+314.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ecola State Park</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Last week the hubby and I finally got to go on our dream vacation! For many years we have fantasied of moving to Portland, Oregon. The only problem with this fantasy was that neither of us had ever been there. We loved it based on rumors, stories, pictures, blogs, movies, etc. Seems silly to love a place you've never been to. So, a year ago we discussed going for a visit. This year we finally put the discussion into action.<br />
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Since I have two AWESOME friends in Seattle, Washington we decided to start our trip there then head to Portland. We flew into Seattle on Saturday around noon and planned to leave for Portland via Amtrak Tuesday morning. So we had a packed two and a half days in Seattle.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Idqk755Ktac/Tl_e6BG489I/AAAAAAAAAhU/c-qgt9JMn10/s1600/Seattle+Locks+Tour+010.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Idqk755Ktac/Tl_e6BG489I/AAAAAAAAAhU/c-qgt9JMn10/s200/Seattle+Locks+Tour+010.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tara and me on the boat tour.</td></tr>
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For many years I have had a make-believe friend, Tara, that I met via the interwebs horse forums. She has always been awesome on the phone and via the interwebs. She was gracious enough to pick us up from the airport to take us to our hotel. Upon meeting her for the first time it felt like we'd be friends in real life for ages. I am beyond thrilled that she lived up to all my expectations that I had created in my imagination. She and her husband were a lot of fun and good sports to visit with us so many times in just a short few days. Tara and my husband got along so well that I'm sure if I let them loose somewhere they'd get in big trouble with their very similar senses of humor. <br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MN6YRLoM8ZU/Tl_cT3Y3w3I/AAAAAAAAAhQ/Wcs1ZWiiu1A/s1600/PNW+Vacation+091.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MN6YRLoM8ZU/Tl_cT3Y3w3I/AAAAAAAAAhQ/Wcs1ZWiiu1A/s200/PNW+Vacation+091.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kay making a bridge at Discovery Park look good.</td></tr>
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On Sunday I met with my old trail running buddy, Kay, from Charlotte. She took me on a hike around her local trail at Discovery Park. Then we went into Ballard to eat lunch. We picked a not so stellar Indian restaurant but stopped to pick up cupcakes on the way back to make up for it. It was great to see her again and made me long to be able to run with her again on our favorite trail in NC.<br />
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In the two and a half days in Seattle we:<br />
-ate at <a href="http://www.pikebrewing.com/index_flash.shtml">Pike Brewery and Pub </a>twice, loved their Kilt Lifter Ale!<br />
-walked around <a href="http://www.pikeplacemarket.org/">Pike Place Market</a><br />
-visited the <a href="http://www.seattleaquarium.org/">Seattle Aquarium</a>, very nice aquarium with lots of cute sea and river otters and seals.<br />
-ate at <a href="http://www.sweetironwaffles.com/">Sweet Iron Waffle</a>, twice<br />
-drove to the <a href="http://www.quinaultrainforest.com/pages/loopdrive.html">Quinault Rainforest-</a> it lived up to it's name and we got drenched! Totally worth it since it was beautiful.<br />
-did a 2.5 hr boat tour around Seattle with Tara and her hubs. This is where my hub and Tara really got their goofiness on.<br />
-Sunday morning hike and lunch lasted most of the day due to the traffic from Hemp Fest. But again worth it to hang with my trail buddy again.<br />
- ate at <a href="http://www.pintxoseattle.com/">Pintxo</a> with Tara and her hubs.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WNUwTaL9E6o/Tl_g7cIpwtI/AAAAAAAAAhY/OEg7lAWAxG4/s1600/PNW+Vacation+084.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WNUwTaL9E6o/Tl_g7cIpwtI/AAAAAAAAAhY/OEg7lAWAxG4/s320/PNW+Vacation+084.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Huge jellyfish at Discovery Park. Kay's hand demonstrating the size of the unfortunate creature.</td></tr>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-E-tte6Wg0Cg/Tl_iqG0fIQI/AAAAAAAAAhc/y6_R9VEntHg/s1600/PNW+Vacation+134.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-E-tte6Wg0Cg/Tl_iqG0fIQI/AAAAAAAAAhc/y6_R9VEntHg/s320/PNW+Vacation+134.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">World's largest Sitka Spruce tree.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TYCOWn4uQGg/Tl_UOV0pPRI/AAAAAAAAAhM/i-Jsp5CyOpk/s1600/PNW+Vacation+024.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TYCOWn4uQGg/Tl_UOV0pPRI/AAAAAAAAAhM/i-Jsp5CyOpk/s320/PNW+Vacation+024.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yummy ale and mac & cheese at Pike's!</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EvexmDqisGY/Tl_w1uSjcXI/AAAAAAAAAhg/EWfyIMLXhvY/s1600/PNW+Vacation+170.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EvexmDqisGY/Tl_w1uSjcXI/AAAAAAAAAhg/EWfyIMLXhvY/s200/PNW+Vacation+170.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lovin' the train!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
After the whirlwind adventure of Seattle we boarded a train to Portland on Tuesday morning. I've never been on a train other than subways, els, and short distance trains between PA, NJ, & NY. The comfort of the long distance train was <b><i>awesome!</i></b> There was lots of leg room and leg and foot rests. The train ride wasn't as scenic as we had hoped but it beat driving or flying down to Portland.<br />
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Holy crap! I had a whole bunch about Portland but it didn't publish. Guess I'll be making a second vacation hangover post, sigh. More to come...AshleyRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15820378445689167003noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9023794703647167136.post-80118584244878498752011-08-10T12:42:00.020-04:002011-08-10T18:20:19.221-04:00Lake Logan Aquathlon 2011<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PaDmwNTSon0/TkL4lvlAjhI/AAAAAAAAAhI/SjZUl5vTCqs/s1600/091.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 268px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PaDmwNTSon0/TkL4lvlAjhI/AAAAAAAAAhI/SjZUl5vTCqs/s400/091.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5639343010731822610" border="0" /></a>I had been looking forward to the Lake Logan Aquathlon for several months (1500 meter swim & 5k run), excited about venturing into a new sport. Sadly, we know that my high hopes for being able to compete were shot when the Orthopedist told me no running for six weeks due to being on the verge of a stress fracture. I decided to go ahead and go to the event and at least do the swim. I couldn't get any money back at that point so may as well make the most of it.
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<br />I switched my attitude from competitor to mom on vacation for 24 hours. I did decide I would at least attempt to walk the 5k so I wouldn't have a DNF. The weather forecast was iffy for the weekend and I was worried that it would storm and ruin my camping experience and even worse cancel the swim portion!
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<br />During the drive up ther<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ycD7rbSJ_eA/TkLw3qSIzoI/AAAAAAAAAg4/h4srls4T1UI/s1600/062.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 134px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ycD7rbSJ_eA/TkLw3qSIzoI/AAAAAAAAAg4/h4srls4T1UI/s200/062.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5639334522455117442" border="0" /></a>e I ran into some really bad rain and was quite worried what the weekend had in store. Turns out when I arrived at Lake Logan it was dry as a bone! Sweet. I picked up my packet and asked a few newbie questions then headed off to find my camping spot and set up my tent.
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<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-H8VtsXp0v7s/TkL0FXNYWoI/AAAAAAAAAhA/-lP6InxEOtk/s1600/065.JPG"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 134px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-H8VtsXp0v7s/TkL0FXNYWoI/AAAAAAAAAhA/-lP6InxEOtk/s200/065.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5639338056387943042" border="0" /></a>
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<br />Once I got my tent set up I grabbed my camera and checked out the venue. I took a peek at the mysterious and fear inducing transition area. Ha, you don't look so scary, for now.
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<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HXmDLMOTa8k/TkLoFwqnsaI/AAAAAAAAAgg/95VRAC98MVY/s1600/046.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 134px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HXmDLMOTa8k/TkLoFwqnsaI/AAAAAAAAAgg/95VRAC98MVY/s200/046.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5639324869081936290" border="0" /></a>
<br />I checked out the doc<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KF4P-JxKGY8/TkLqIQRWohI/AAAAAAAAAgo/GngS3XpYwHY/s1600/048.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 134px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KF4P-JxKGY8/TkLqIQRWohI/AAAAAAAAAgo/GngS3XpYwHY/s200/048.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5639327110948889106" border="0" /></a>k where we would be exiting the water. Then I walked over to the bridge and checked out the HUGE lake. The water didn't feel all that cold, very similar to the temp of the water at the YMCA. The water by the exit dock was cold but that was a teeny tiny fraction of the swim. At this point I sta<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6HhkCWMAelg/TkLszwTb5AI/AAAAAAAAAgw/tluiAhMQpqI/s1600/080.JPG"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 134px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6HhkCWMAelg/TkLszwTb5AI/AAAAAAAAAgw/tluiAhMQpqI/s200/080.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5639330057305187330" border="0" /></a>rted to contemplate the need for a wetsuit. Seemed everyone was opting for it. I figured I'd try it out. If I didn't end up liking it there would be no big loss since I wasn't really competing.
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<br />My night of camping was uneventful, other than the guy in the tent next to me that snored. OMG, don't camp in a group campsite if you snore! It's just rude! Thank goodness for my ipod.
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<br />I spent my morning getting my first body marking, setting up my transition area, and picking up my chip. Everyone I spoke with was really nice and helpful. I watched the experienced <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Qg1PsTpQWNQ/TkLc9a0oLWI/AAAAAAAAAgA/63NytFRPmZw/s1600/078.JPG"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 134px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Qg1PsTpQWNQ/TkLc9a0oLWI/AAAAAAAAAgA/63NytFRPmZw/s200/078.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5639312631151471970" border="0" /></a>people and hoped to pick up some cool tricks. If I did see any cool tricks I've completely forgotten them now. I eventually put my wetsuit on and made my way over to the start of the swim with everyone else. I enjoyed watching the sprint triathletes head off for their much shorter swim. It is interesting to see everyone's swim style. There was even one guy that was breast stroking the whole sprint swim instead of freestyle. That looked really slow going, but, at least he was out there getting the job done.
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<br />Our turn came to swim and I was actually pretty calm, probably because I had no pressure on myself. I enjoyed getting a view of the surrounding mountains with each breath, that was amazing. I felt like I did really well sighting on the way to the first turn buoy. That all changed once I turned around th<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JNOiKweLwoA/TkLk6tq6IxI/AAAAAAAAAgQ/V7AXS9d7U2g/s1600/068.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 134px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JNOiKweLwoA/TkLk6tq6IxI/AAAAAAAAAgQ/V7AXS9d7U2g/s200/068.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5639321380764394258" border="0" /></a>e second one. There were fewer buoys and the other swimmers were well spread out by then. There was so much more empty space and my right pull started to kick in. I felt like I needed to sight more because I kept drifting to the right back towards the start dock instead of under the bridge to the exit dock. I thought I'd never get to the bridge. Once I finally got close the current from the stream that fed the lake made me feel like a salmon trying to swim upstream, ugh. The water was much cooler there but was very welcome at that point. Thank goodness they had people there to help us onto the dock since I felt a bit disoriented upon standing up.
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<br />I thanked my helpers and started my slow march to the transition area. I took m<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Qf8bBvsrzBg/TkLkc0v16xI/AAAAAAAAAgI/DL2VZ07N5C0/s1600/075.JPG"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 134px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Qf8bBvsrzBg/TkLkc0v16xI/AAAAAAAAAgI/DL2VZ07N5C0/s200/075.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5639320867268061970" border="0" /></a>y time in transition since there was no reason to rush. I kept an eye on how others were going about things. I struggled to get my wetsuit off my legs and was glad to see it gone. I got all my gear on and grabbed two fig cookies since I knew I'd be out there for a good long time. I hit the potties too since I figured there wouldn't be one on course. My transition time was around 3:30min. Not too bad for taking my time. I now know what I will and won't do next year in transition. I won't be wearing a wetsuit next year either. I'll save that for truly cold water.
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<br />I'll admit it <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bBl142hpyQo/TkLb7etkcQI/AAAAAAAAAf4/wFsb7hwoST8/s1600/082.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 134px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bBl142hpyQo/TkLb7etkcQI/AAAAAAAAAf4/wFsb7hwoST8/s200/082.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5639311498324242690" border="0" /></a>was tough to have everyone cheering and being all overly supportive when you're just walking. I felt so silly but I thanked everyone who was giving me support. I just wanted to wear a sign that said, "No running for 6 weeks on Dr's orders, I swear I can actually run." After I got past the thick crowd of spectators I almost cried from disappointment of having to walk. I did my best to turn that around and enjoy my walk. I admire my fellow competitors and took in the beauty of the Appalachian Mountains. I had one runner that tried to get me motivated to run with her. I told her I was walking on Dr's orders and she gave me kudos for not letting that stop me from having a good event. I had several other runners ask if I was okay. I really enjoyed the friendliness of the triathletes, very similar to my beloved trail runners.
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<br />I was happy to reach the finish. I was second to last in the aquathlon. The only reason that happened was one swimmer took nearly an hour for the swim. But, I'm fine with it. I learned a lot that day. I learned that I definitely need help with the swim if I want to be competitive. It took me 32 mins for the swim, that counts my walk to transition. My watch gave me just a hair over 30 mins. With that time I was 9th out of 13 women in the swim. The winner swam in 20 mins! Wow, I've got some serious work to do. I now know next year I will wear a swim suit only for the swim and run. I'll have some shoes I can slip on easier and I'll skip the potty break.
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<br />I'm looking forward to next year. It was a beautiful place to visit. I hope I'll have a much improved swim time and I'll be uninjured so I can run instead of walk!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-O5l7KkanBso/TkLXSmMOisI/AAAAAAAAAfw/ABLF-wvmaXo/s1600/097.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 268px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-O5l7KkanBso/TkLXSmMOisI/AAAAAAAAAfw/ABLF-wvmaXo/s400/097.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5639306397910731458" border="0" /></a>
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<br />Sunrise at Lake Logan:<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0Q93UPGnR6I/TkLTsgHZ_7I/AAAAAAAAAfo/R4ZNyFNYuXw/s1600/112.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 268px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0Q93UPGnR6I/TkLTsgHZ_7I/AAAAAAAAAfo/R4ZNyFNYuXw/s400/112.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5639302444909985714" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-139K1uZBxHQ/TkLTQRMimWI/AAAAAAAAAfg/e9yVnXai1VA/s1600/114.JPG">
<br /></a>AshleyRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15820378445689167003noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9023794703647167136.post-50085398033970228882011-08-01T17:43:00.003-04:002011-08-01T18:21:20.308-04:00New Blog Name- Adventures of Broken MomJust a quick update. Last week I went to the orthopaedist to check out what I thought was a soleus pull in my right calf. Sadly I was wrong. It was worse than that. I was told I am on the way to a stress fracture on the inside of my right tibia if I don't take a break from running. I was shocked that my tibia is where the pain originates, never did I dream of poking around the inside of my tibia for pain when this latest injury cropped up. When he poked my tibia in the spot next to where I thought the soleus pull was I about hit the ceiling.<br /><br />Of course the second he finished with the sentence, "No running for six weeks," I broke down and cried. I blubbered something to the effect of there goes everything. He tried to tell me all is not lost that I will run again. But I continued to sob and rattle off my three big races I've been looking forward to and specifically training for are all out of the equation now. He gave me some tissue to get the snot under control and I tried to compose myself. He assured me this was nothing that happened from bad training or over training. I just had some bad luck recently and put my foot wrong at some point, which is easy to do when you are a crazy trail runner.<br /><br />I am finished with week one of rest. I've officially taken myself out of 2 of my 3 races. The only one I'm still doing is this weekend. I know, I've been told not to, but it's an aquathlon, <a href="http://www.gloryhoundevents.com/lake-logan-aquathlon/">Lake Logan</a>. I could have gotten some of my entry fee back but I couldn't get my camping and pre-paid cafeteria meals back. So I'm going ahead and heading to the event on Saturday afternoon, hopefully with <a href="http://www.myreasontotri.com/">Laura (my reason to tri)</a>. I'll camp and enjoy a quiet evening away from home then have a lovely 1500 meter swim surrounded by beautiful mountains and call it a day. For me the challenge is the swim anyway. I'd like to see how I measure up in a race situation with my swimming. I'm still quite a newbie at it and hope this is a good learning experience for me.<br /><br />So no <a href="http://www.blueridgerelay.com/">Blue Ridge Relay </a>or <a href="http://www.medoctrailmarathon.com/">Medoc 10 mile trail race</a>. There is always next year. Now that I have a tent, and no ordinary muggle tent, I can afford to travel a bit farther for some trail races. (Feast your eyes on the <a href="http://www.rei.com/product/810122/rei-hobitat-4-tent">Hobitat</a>.) I won't feel so bad going out of town for a short race if I'm only dropping between $10-$25 for lodging. Medoc Trail races are planning on holding some spring races for the first time next year, a 5k and 15k, so I think I'll head up for that since they are such a fun bunch of runners.<br /><br />On the bright side: I don't have to run in the summer heat any more. I will be a stronger swimmer at the end of my 6 weeks. I also have more time to craft, something I have felt either too busy or tired to do this summer. I've even pondered maybe trying mountain biking to see if I could be an off road triathlete. I'm not convinced I'd do all that well on a mountain bike. Thank goodness for<a href="http://usnwc.org/"> USNWC</a> where I can rent a bike and ride the trails before investing in something I won't like.<br /><br />Well, so much for a quick update, more like a novella. Hope everyone else is still in one piece. Hopefully I'll have a fun report after next weekend.AshleyRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15820378445689167003noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9023794703647167136.post-24653030493829055382011-06-25T12:53:00.007-04:002011-06-25T18:20:35.549-04:00Miles For Marines 5k Trail RaceToday I ran the <a href="http://milesformarines.org/Miles_For_Marines/Welcome.html">Miles For Marines Trail 5k Race</a>. I wanted to do this race last year but for some reason that I can't remember I didn't get to. It's for a really great cause which is a big bonus reason to run other than, "I like trail running." "All proceeds will benefit the <a title="http://semperfifund.org" href="http://semperfifund.org/">Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund</a>. The IMSFF works tirelessly to assist injured Marines/Sailors and their families on the road to recovery. We are proud to be a part of their mission. Oorah!"- <span style="font-size:85%;">from the Miles For Marines website.</span><br /><br />I had been planning for months to run this race. But, last night I was not feeling the race. Luckily I had already told others I would be there so there was no backing out.<br /><br />I won't go into the boring details of the prerace nerves and lack of motivation. I'll just jump into the race itself. I checked out the other runners as we ran down the grassy hill into the main trail. I realized there was only one female in front of me. Ruh roh! The pressure was on! A couple of teen aged girls popped in front of me for a tenth of a mile and then fell back and were not seen again by my eyes. So I leap frogged with the other female for the first mile. After mile one she took off, easy breezy. I thought to myself that she had just been leap frogging to wear me out. So I resigned myself to second female. At this point I was already having moments of feeling queasy due to pushing myself like one should in a 5k.<br /><br />Around mile 2 the bigger hills started. At this point I checked behind me for any other females and there were none so I chose to start walking the larger hills. Each time I'd walk a hill at least two guys would pass me but then I'd get them once it leveled out.<br /><br />At 3 miles (according to my Garmin) I caught sight of the lead female. She was far enough ahead of me that I thought a miracle would have to happen for me to catch her. By 3.1 miles I had shortened her lead by half of what it had been. "Not too bad, maybe there is hope?" After looking at the distance on my Garmin I decided we couldn't be too far from the finish so I surged and managed to overtake the lead female. "Sweet, not much longer now!" Famous last thoughts. With each turn of the path I kept expecting to see the finish in sight, nope, no such luck. Each time I thought, "How much longer can I keep up the vomit inducing, leg cramping pace?" At that point I had to keep going. I just couldn't let her get me. I wasn't sure how much of a lead I had. I was afraid to look back for fear of tripping myself up. (At this point my Garmin was reading over 3.4 miles) When we finally turned for the finish I let out a groan upon seeing that we would be running back up the grassy hill we started on. I kept up the pace, telling myself the pain would be over soon. People started shouting that the first place female was coming in. Several people with cameras started taking what I'm sure will be very unflattering photos of me. I raised my hands up in victory as I crossed the finish, thrilled to finally have my first overall female win!<br /><br />Trying to get the tab off my bib in the shoot was torture. I just wanted to fall down and be doused with a tub of ice. It was so tempting to crawl into the baby pools full of ice and water bottles but I refrained from such unbecoming behavior. While shoving ice down my sports bra a local newspaper reporter stopped me and asked for my name! Oh, it's good to be popular. At that point I realized I hadn't stopped my Garmin. Oh well, I'll just have to wait for the online results for a more accurate time.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rvAArqMYnXQ/TgYmjqOPP-I/AAAAAAAAAbM/p4pMteF7r0g/s1600/005.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rvAArqMYnXQ/TgYmjqOPP-I/AAAAAAAAAbM/p4pMteF7r0g/s320/005.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5622223578889928674" border="0" /></a><br /><br />I got some sweet prizes! I must say I picked an awesome race to finally have an overall female win!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NKj0y_c6jVk/TgYlS1bsWbI/AAAAAAAAAa8/LvZAvM9DjKU/s1600/010.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NKj0y_c6jVk/TgYlS1bsWbI/AAAAAAAAAa8/LvZAvM9DjKU/s320/010.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5622222190329747890" border="0" /></a><br /><br />I'm so glad I didn't poop out on this race and not go. The victory was great but I did get to enjoy the company of my friends (who all ran the 15k). All of us walked away with a gift certificate to a local Tri store since everyone else all placed in their age groups. It was a great morning all around! Seems the races I'm least excited about end up being the best sometimes.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QRSHM7yP9QU/TgYkWlZMBUI/AAAAAAAAAa0/lQFtXCkD1F0/s1600/008.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QRSHM7yP9QU/TgYkWlZMBUI/AAAAAAAAAa0/lQFtXCkD1F0/s320/008.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5622221155232122178" border="0" /></a>AshleyRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15820378445689167003noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9023794703647167136.post-27968144396819228042011-06-05T08:22:00.011-04:002011-06-05T11:34:02.534-04:00Inspired to blog again!<div align="left">I finally did something recently that is making me feel inspired to blog! Grab your coffee or popcorn! I plan to bore... I mean... intrigue you with all my new inspiration!<br /><br /></div><br /><div align="left">As you all know I struggle to keep my IT bands happy. I go through phases where they don't cause trouble for nearly half a year. Then they flair up and beat me down for half a year. I recently tried an experiment with more days of running but shorter and easier. That experiment was an EPIC FAIL! So, once again I came up with a new plan of action to keep me running and sane. The new plan consists of 3 days running, 1-2 days yoga, and 2-3 days swimming. Much more kind to my body than trying to force it to run 5 days a week. </div><br /><div align="center"><br /></div><br /><div align="left">I cut my running back two weeks ago and had already added the yoga in the mix the previous month. I just needed to get back in the pool. Even before getting back in the pool my legs felt tons better even though my runs were on average longer and harder than a few weeks back.<br /></div><br /><div align="left">I've been intrigued by the idea of competing in an <a href="http://www.usatriathlon.org/disciplines/aquathlon">aquathlon</a> but couldn't find one without an intimidating swim distance that wasn't too far away. My good friend <a href="http://myreasontorun.blogspot.com/2011/06/carolinas-open-water-swim-challenge.html">Laura</a> came up with a brilliant plan of us doing a triathlon relay and I could do the swim and run! So exciting! Last week she asked if I wanted to go to an open water swim practice on Saturday. I told her I didn't know since I had no idea what my swim fitness was like. It just seemed crazy to be getting into open water so quickly after starting to swim again.</div><br /><div align="left"><br /></div><br /><div align="left">My plan was to sign up at the YMCA again this past Thursday. Wednesday night Laura sends me a link to the <a href="http://www.openwaterchallenge.com/">Carolina's Open Water Challenge</a>. It's so tempting because it's a reasonable distance and they have a 5k following the swim! Perfect, except I haven't swam in a year. I tell her I'll have to see how the swim on Thursday goes but I doubt it's a good idea. </div><br /><div align="left"><br /></div><br /><div align="left">My swim on Thursday went surprisingly well. But I still wasn't sure. Laura helped convince me I could do it as long as I took it easy and took breaks from freestyle stroke from time to time. I spent Thursday evening and Friday morning trying to make a final decision. By the end of Friday I had committed to the swim! Yikes, I couldn't believe I was venturing into the unknown world of open water swimming. I was nervous due to hearing other <a href="http://myreasontorun.blogspot.com/2011/04/epic-fail-or-epic-victory.html">people's accounts </a>of their first open water experiences.</div><br /><div align="center"><br /></div><br /><div align="left">I was nervous on the way to the swim. I kept talking myself into and out of swimming most of the morning. Luckily as we waited around for the swim to start we realized there were lots of newbies there and it was a pretty informal race.<br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-APkwdeSzrtQ/TeugF7p54zI/AAAAAAAAAas/NRsqLXr_eps/s1600/001.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5614757384220697394" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-APkwdeSzrtQ/TeugF7p54zI/AAAAAAAAAas/NRsqLXr_eps/s320/001.JPG" /></a><br />The time came for us to get ready for the swim. Luckily the water was toasty warm and not too murky looking. Laura and I took our places at the back of the group. The signal was given for us to hit the water. A handful of experienced, or brave, swimmers got right to the task ahead of us. The rest of us, at least half the swim field, just looked at each other. We all mulled around hoping more would get in the water ahead of us. Once it was clear nobody else was gung ho, Laura and I slowly made our way in to the deeper water to start our swim. </div><br /><div align="center"><br /><br /></div><br /><div align="left">I finally take the plunge and get to work on my freestyle swim. Not too bad, only a little water got in my goggles and I was feeling calm. After 100 meters or so I notice a swimmer to my left drifting far from the course. I knew, without looking, it had to be Laura. She got back on course and we laughed about our newbie skills. Luckily for me we kept the same pace. I think Laura's wandering helped keep her back with me, otherwise she would have been far ahead. I took several breaks from freestyle and did side stroke. I had to flip to my back a couple times to fix the leaky goggles. I was having a hard time finding a rhythm until we rounded the buoy for home. After that I hit a good rhythm and managed to freestyle most of the way in, just one break for the goggle situation. Every now and then I'd tap Laura on the leg to alert her she was veering left again. I was really worried about getting pummelled by other peoples' arms and legs during the swim. Luckily I only got hit by a stranger once. The rest of the colliding came from my cohort. I actually swam head first into her thigh once. I knew immediately I must be off course if I had hit Laura. And yes, I was off course, again. </div><br /><div align="left"><br /></div><br /><div align="left">I was so thrilled when the shore was in reach. Not just because I was tired, but because I was excited I had just conquered my first open water swim and enjoyed it! I knew I could finally commit to one of the aquathlons with a 1500 meter swim. Once on shore we celebrated our awesomeness!</div><br /><div align="center"><br /></div><br /><div align="left">There was plenty of time between the swim and run to stretch, relax, change, and revel in our awesomeness. The run was really informal, really just a preview run for the tri that will be held there the next weekend. I was excited when I first heard it was trail, but it wasn't lovely single track. It was ankle killing gravel. We picked a comfortably hard, but not race, pace. By 2.5 miles my shoulders were fading fast. Tired shoulders do not make for fun running. I was thrilled when we got to the end of the run. We did the run in just under 30 minutes, which I'm thrilled with since I had done 5 trail miles the day before and was exhausted from the swim and all the excitement.</div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5614751872737936322" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-q-D3mxCB0Gc/TeubFHyBA8I/AAAAAAAAAac/Db5YrHDSobk/s320/006.JPG" /> <br /><p align="center"><span style="font-size:78%;">Look at me! I'm a multi-sport athlete. Complete with a sharpie marked swim cap to prove it!</span><br /><br />Today I'm exhausted but inspired. I had a great time yesterday and can't wait to do it again. If you got this far, I thank you for indulging me in my excitement. I hope you all have a great week of feeling inspired on your adventures!</p>AshleyRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15820378445689167003noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9023794703647167136.post-40277786936571845862011-05-19T10:02:00.002-04:002011-05-19T10:29:51.325-04:00Oh, where to go with things now?I wish this post was going to be me rejoicing in the fact that I am all better, 100% free of ITband woes. The reality is that after months of physical therapy I still struggle to keep my IT bands happy. I was fine for awhile. I even felt good enough to play with running five days a week. I figured if I kept most of my runs easy, minding a low heart rate, then I could pull it off. I've also only been adding 5% to my mileage each week with a step back week every third week. Sounds reasonable, right?<br /><br />Wrong! Last week was my 5th week of running 5 days a week, only 18 miles total. I even made it back up to 5 miles for my longest run. But, alas, on Monday I woke up with a tender IT band on both legs! Sigh...<br /><br />So, it's time again to adjust my goals and have a talk with my ego. My main goal is now just to be able to run any mileage. No more chasing mileage goals. Time to put the blinders on when looking at what my friends and fellow runners are up to. Time to start swimming again so I can sustain running on just 3 days a week instead of 4. I've been fairly successful with 4 but I think 3 with 2-3 days of swimming will be the best for my IT bands. It's clear it's not the intensity or distance that does in my IT band it's the lack of rest between days of running that they need.<br /><br />It will be a few weeks before I can hit the pool again. But I've got yoga classes I can go to. I checked out the local yoga studio, finally! Only took me 6 months of knowing about it, and driving past it many days each week during errands, to finally check it out. What a find and only 2 miles away! I'm still going to keep my running going but only as much as my IT bands will allow. I'm taking this whole week off except for Saturday. Saturday I'm going to a 5k that is being put on by <a href="http://myreasontorun.blogspot.com/">Laura's</a> multi sport club. Not sure if it will be a race or just a run for me. Guess I'll find out when I get to the line and the gun goes off.<br /><br />Hopefully next time I stop by I'll have better news. Maybe having better news will make me blog more. For now blogging is so uninspired since my running is questionable these days. Fingers crossed for some inspiration!AshleyRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15820378445689167003noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9023794703647167136.post-45321391841676237552011-04-04T15:34:00.015-04:002011-04-04T16:36:16.250-04:00Coming Out of Hiding<div><br /><div><br /><div><br /><div><br /><div><br /><div><br /><div><br /><div><br /><div>Since things went south at the end of January I went into hibernation mode. We tried desperately at physical therapy to beat my IT band woes into submission again. It very slowly responded but after almost two months I still had a hot spot on the side of my knee that was keeping me from doing more than 2 miles at a time. We broke down and sent me back to the Sports Med Dr and got a cortisone injection. Ah, sweet relief. I can now run 3 miles pain free! My doc wants me to keep at 3 miles per run this week then I can add about 5% overall per week to build back up. Fingers crossed we have this back under control and PT can start slowly torturing me properly again!</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>In the past two months lots has happened. I won't pain you with too much written detail but photos are definitely in order.</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>First the sadness that happened. Not only have I been depressed over not being able to run but I was walloped with the news that my good trail running buddy, <a href="http://blog.kaypow.com/category/running/">Kay</a>, was moving to Seattle. I knew it was going to happen sometime, it just happened at an extra sucky time for me. I'm glad we got in a last 16 mile run together before my knee went kablooey. Even though we couldn't get any more runs in before she left, we got together with our spawn at one of our favorite places to trail run and had a lovely stroll around the lake.<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QbI5dwFmOiE/TZoqN87_9XI/AAAAAAAAAaA/Fw4ZcrK3Mnw/s1600/crowders%2Bkids%2Bon%2Bdam.bmp"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 214px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591828306518340978" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QbI5dwFmOiE/TZoqN87_9XI/AAAAAAAAAaA/Fw4ZcrK3Mnw/s320/crowders%2Bkids%2Bon%2Bdam.bmp" /></a></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-plL6Uj6y5IA/TZoqYDAjI7I/AAAAAAAAAaI/c4HHSEU8rtc/s1600/crowders%2Bkay%2Band%2Bme.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 134px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591828479946728370" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-plL6Uj6y5IA/TZoqYDAjI7I/AAAAAAAAAaI/c4HHSEU8rtc/s200/crowders%2Bkay%2Band%2Bme.jpg" /></a> <br /><div></div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gV_7Er_M5R4/TZop9MR3UFI/AAAAAAAAAZ4/t5Y-kMh4FPA/s1600/crowders%2Bkids%2Bon%2Bdam.bmp"></a><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div>A failed attempt at a group photo: <br /><div></div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 267px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591827499031244530" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-C0m0YanBZqk/TZope80ErvI/AAAAAAAAAZw/DqrolSp9lQ8/s400/crowders%2Bgroup%2Bpic.jpg" /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BaMqt9qpb7s/TZonZoj8a0I/AAAAAAAAAZg/e_cAl-3kSLI/s1600/crowders%2Blake%2B051.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591825208672283458" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BaMqt9qpb7s/TZonZoj8a0I/AAAAAAAAAZg/e_cAl-3kSLI/s200/crowders%2Blake%2B051.JPG" /></a> <br /><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lt9b66TeXZo/TZonDPJ6QvI/AAAAAAAAAZY/YO_WbQaggAs/s1600/crowders%2Blake%2B018.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591824823895081714" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lt9b66TeXZo/TZonDPJ6QvI/AAAAAAAAAZY/YO_WbQaggAs/s200/crowders%2Blake%2B018.JPG" /></a></div><br /><div></div><br /><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lt9b66TeXZo/TZonDPJ6QvI/AAAAAAAAAZY/YO_WbQaggAs/s1600/crowders%2Blake%2B018.JPG"></a></div><br /><div></div><br /><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lt9b66TeXZo/TZonDPJ6QvI/AAAAAAAAAZY/YO_WbQaggAs/s1600/crowders%2Blake%2B018.JPG"></a></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div>Thank goodness for the Facebook and the interwebs for keeping me connected to Kay! It's a bit harder to coordinate a chat with the time difference but it is nice to still get my Kay fix once a week on chat and to see pictures of her new life out in the PNW. (I am extremely jealous after just a few weeks of pictures)</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>The good stuff:</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>I changed my hair color from pink to blue and love it! I also did my first big Tunisian crochet project with my newly found spare time. Awesome wool wrap:<img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591826897714106514" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pEwbNGO_Qrs/TZoo78u5UJI/AAAAAAAAAZo/Q84OCwBduu4/s320/105.JPG" /></div><br /><div></div><br /><div>I also crocheted these cute little guys:</div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591823537038298722" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YgLkPDBgNr0/TZol4VPWDmI/AAAAAAAAAZI/vWxI7dWaeq0/s320/003%2B%25282%2529.JPG" /> <br /><div></div><br /><div>I also taught my first class on Tunisian crochet! It was fun and everyone seemed to have a good time. I didn't earn much but it covered half the cost of my new tattoo!</div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 214px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591823002399573698" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2Y_1gKEoMOs/TZolZNjihsI/AAAAAAAAAZA/yaOY2grwFuY/s320/037.JPG" /> <br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div>I joined a team for the <a href="http://www.blueridgerelay.com/">Blue Ridge Relay </a>and joined a newly formed running club, <a href="http://www.meetup.com/Gaston-County-Runners/">Gaston County Runners</a>, that is actually in my town vs having to go into Charlotte for a running club. WOOT!</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>I have to give a huge CONRATS to my best running buddy, <a href="http://myreasontorun.blogspot.com/2011/03/i-am-triathlete.html">Laura</a>, for becoming a Triathlete last month! </div><br /><div></div><br /><div>Hopefully as I heal I'll have some actual running adventures to share again. For now I'll just pop in every now and then so everyone knows I'm still alive and, of course, awesome!</div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>AshleyRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15820378445689167003noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9023794703647167136.post-69194559092293500642011-01-31T10:05:00.006-05:002011-01-31T11:07:30.156-05:00Ugh!<div><div><div>It figures that after blogging last week about how great things are going this month I had to finish the month with a thud! This past week was to be an easy week with a shorter long run of 10 miles to give my body a break. What could go wrong? </div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 214px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5568378982316640050" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_D5pco2ATkjU/TUbbLo-8BzI/AAAAAAAAAYY/M0G73-7bLuo/s320/Bday%2Bnumber%2B3%2B055.JPG" /> I spent the week doing easy short runs on the roads. Thursday and Friday were too hectic with birthday party preparation to run. That also means I didn't do any stretching either! Oops! Wait, not just oops, more like DOH! I ran Saturday at the end of the day after all the party guests were gone, just an easy 3 around the hood. Sunday my left IT band felt a hair tight and was a bit worried about that for my planned 10 miles in the afternoon. You'd think this might prompt me to stretch some earlier in the day. Nope. I chose to snuggle on the couch with my jack russell terrier and a book. Really, who can resist a snuggle fest on a Sunday morning? Not me! <img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 214px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5568380884631905890" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_D5pco2ATkjU/TUbc6XqPZmI/AAAAAAAAAYo/wAURFVqswg8/s320/017.JPG" /> <div></div><div>I met with the <a href="http://www.meetup.com/CarolinaTrail/">Carolina Trail Runner Meet Up </a>group for two laps around Francis Beatty Park's mountain bike trails in the afternoon. First lap was great. The worry over the left IT band was for naught, felt completely fine. I didn't try to keep up with the fast guys on the first loop but did allow myself to push it a hair and was keeping a nice pace. Then we met back in the parking lot to pick up more members for a second lap. This time there was another runner that would be a back of the packer so I slowed down and stuck with her since I'd already done a lap at a good pace. A little over half way around the second loop I felt tightness in my right IT band. Crud! This is not cool. This trail system isn't the kind that I could hop off the trail easily and get back to my car so I pressed on. I stopped once to stretch and that seemed to make it happy for a bit. But I had to call it quits around 9.75 miles, about half a mile from the end of the loop. It was clear running any more at that point would be detrimental to my IT band. Fortunately the girl I was running with was nice enough to walk it in with me even though I offered for her to leave me. (Gotta love trail runners! Such an awesome bunch.) </div><br /><br /><div></div><div>Today my IT band feels sore. I've already stretched once and will do so again later. I'm dreading telling my PT tomorrow but I guess it's better that this happen while I still have PT available. (Good news about PT, I found out I have 20 sessions for this year so I'm still covered by insurance. Whew!) I'm guessing I'll need a few days off and may need to re-evaluate my goals.</div><div></div><br /><div>Luckily I haven't signed up for any half marathons yet. I'm hoping to get my IT band happy again and alternate my long runs to look like this: week 1: 8-9 miles, week 2: 10-12, week 3: 13-14, then back to week one. I just want to stay healthy and be able to run. I need to stop dreaming of long miles. It is clear my body isn't ready for it. It may take another year to get there, if ever. It is better to keep it shorter if that means I get to run. It's so hard not to dream of the glory of long races. It's the ultras that get all the glory and coverage on the trail blogs and in the trail magazines. But I need to make myself immune to the lure and be happy with shorter and faster. It seems in road running it's mostly about the speed, at least it is with my road running friends. But on trails people focus on the distance not speed for glory. Time for me to look into the glory of speed again, but on the trails. I'd still like to pick a few half marathons for the year to do. But, I may look at the shorter local races again to put on my schedule and focus a bit more on speed vs long distance in my training. </div><div></div><br /><div>I like fast and I like going long too so it's an inner battle I deal with. One of my wise trail buddies said last night when I told her I'd keep my long runs to 14 miles at the most, "14 miles is a good distance. Not too long but long enough to stretch the legs and clear the mind." She is correct and I will still have the energy plus time left to enjoy the day. Once you start to get past 14 miles it starts to eat up your day and energy. It's also depressing to have all the set backs so I may as well stay with what my body is comfortable with to keep my mental health in order as well. </div><div></div><br /><br /><div>If I start to get cocky and start dreaming of longer distances in the near future I need someone to smack me upside the head with reality! Please help keep me in line!</div></div></div>AshleyRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15820378445689167003noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9023794703647167136.post-59520172207518929262011-01-24T09:29:00.007-05:002011-01-24T12:16:17.219-05:00A Good Month<div><div><div>I've had a great month so far and it isn't even close to over. I've gotten my mileage back up to 16 miles for my long run and my weekly over 25 miles. I'm hoping to have my final physical therapy session tomorrow since my body is holding up so well and also because insurance is no longer covering my visits. PT is an expensive venture when paying out of pocket. There goes our flexible spending account in the first month of the year!</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>I've been crocheting lik<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_D5pco2ATkjU/TT2zbQ_bHQI/AAAAAAAAAYQ/mO2BAwXe4SM/s1600/009.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 214px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5565801995498626306" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_D5pco2ATkjU/TT2zbQ_bHQI/AAAAAAAAAYQ/mO2BAwXe4SM/s320/009.JPG" /></a>e a mad woman. I belong to this wonderful website, <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/">Ravelry</a>, for knitters, crocheters, and yarnies. You can share your projects with the different forums, you can keep track of your friends' projects, and you can search for patterns. It really has added a lot of fuel to my crochet fire. I have discovered Tunisian crochet and am in love! I'm dying to get some more Tunisian projects started but I'm having to wait for my hooks to show up. The hooks are difficult to find locally so I'm having to order off the web, a few are special order as well. In the mean time I'll just work with what I've got.</div><br /><br /><br /><div></div><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_D5pco2ATkjU/TT2yQJua7bI/AAAAAAAAAYI/4ifQ-fJnfCs/s1600/003.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 214px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5565800705058074034" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_D5pco2ATkjU/TT2yQJua7bI/AAAAAAAAAYI/4ifQ-fJnfCs/s320/003.JPG" /></a><br /><br /><div>One of the more exciting things to happen to me this month is that the local yarn shop has asked to teach a class on a Tunisian crochet neck warmer that I came up with on my own. So now I'm busy working another one up and writing the pattern down and trying to translate what I did so others can understand it. It's exciting and scary! I'm still such a newbie to crochet, especially Tunisian, but I'm pretty sure I can guide others through making my neck warmer. I enjoy teaching others to do things that I have a passion about. I used to love giving riding lessons back when I used to ride horses so, I'm hoping I'll really enjoy teaching others my pattern.</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>The most excitin<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_D5pco2ATkjU/TT2S_NvNYiI/AAAAAAAAAYA/pYY0HKcvd4U/s1600/021.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 134px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5565766329216885282" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_D5pco2ATkjU/TT2S_NvNYiI/AAAAAAAAAYA/pYY0HKcvd4U/s200/021.JPG" /></a>g thing for this month is yet to come. My little man turns 3 on Saturday! Crazy! I'd say the time has flown by but it really hasn't. His first two plus years were quite challenging but luckily he has outgrown his fussy years and has become a really fun toddler. Just in the past few months we've seen a huge change in his personality. I think a lot of what makes my little man happy is being independent and being able to communicate better. What a relief that his talking is finally starting to catch up a bit. At the ripe age of 3 he is finally starting to string two words together! The one thing I've really enjoyed is when I get dressed to run he finally recognizes what I'm planning on doing. Many times this leads to running warm up laps with him around the living room. Could I have a future trail runner on my hands? I hope so!</div></div></div>AshleyRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15820378445689167003noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9023794703647167136.post-77427271650226397682011-01-03T14:49:00.004-05:002011-01-03T20:31:12.301-05:00Project 333 Update<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_D5pco2ATkjU/TSI6qvenywI/AAAAAAAAAX0/1m9Te-wO1XY/s1600/project333%2Bcloset%2B001.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5558069396102433538" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_D5pco2ATkjU/TSI6qvenywI/AAAAAAAAAX0/1m9Te-wO1XY/s200/project333%2Bcloset%2B001.JPG" /></a><br /><div>At the start of October 2010 I started a minimalist wardrobe project called <a href="http://www.bemorewithless.com/2010/minimalist-fashion-projects/">Project 333</a>. I was already minimizing the stuff in my home so, I was intrigued to see if I could use just 33 clothing items, shoes included, for 3 months. I never expected it to be a permanent change but I figured it would help me on my journey to having less stuff in my life. So I made my <a href="http://adventuresofrunningmom.blogspot.com/2010/10/project-333-minimalist-wardrobe.html">wardrobe list</a> but changed a few rules to fit my needs. I was worried I wouldn't do well with my limited wardrobe but was excited to find out what would happen.</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>I really enjoyed participating in the project. It was so much easier to make a decision about what to wear for the day when you have so little to choose from. There were times I wished I could wear a different jacket or shoes but for the most part I was quite content. I learned to dress up plain T-shirts to work for special occasions and dress down nicer things for everyday. So now I know I don't need to have so many just in case type of outfits waiting in the wings taking up space. I also now know that I don't really get bored with my outfit choices and nobody else seems to notice that I wear the some things over and over. Heck, I don't remember what my son or husband wore yesterday so I'm pretty sure that others outside my home can't keep track of what I wear.</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>The project ended on Dec 31, 2010. On Jan 1st I didn't jump for joy that I had a larger wardrobe again. Though, I did wear a turtle neck and some shoes that weren't on my list that day but, I didn't drag out my stashed away clothing with wild abandon like I thought I would. It's been three days and I still have yet to sort through my wardrobe that is packed away. I'm not really in a hurry to put my wardrobe back together, it just doesn't seem important right now. I did go out and buy a new t-shirt on the 1st. I know it sounds crazy since I'm supposed to be minimizing but the project taught me what really works for me and what doesn't. I <a href="http://daytum.com/AshleyRainey">kept track </a>of what I wore each day for about two months but let it fall to the wayside during the holidays. It turns out I really like to wear my Mossimo tissue tees and wanted at least one more long sleeve and short sleeve shirt. I only found a long sleeve that I liked so that is all I bought. No more buying unless I know I am going to love it and use it until it is in tatters.</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>Project 333 is going in for <a href="http://www.bemorewithless.com/2010/quick-start-guides-for-project-333/">round two </a>but I won't be joining them. I've learned what I needed to from the first round. What a person considers minimal is a personal decision. It can't be dictated by a set number. So I will continue on my minimalist journey on my own again having more knowledge about what works for me. I will be going through my wardrobe sometime this week and weeding out what I no longer need or want. I hope I can keep my wardrobe down to a smaller size, I'm thinking around 50 items, but for now I won't be attaching a set number to what I'm allowed to own. I'll be using the honor system to keep my wardrobe under control. </div><br /><div></div><br /><div>No longer concentrating solely on my wardrobe might help me to focus on minimizing elsewhere, whether it's reducing knick nacks, kitchen utensils, boxes packed away with memorabilia, junk drawers, computer and internet use I'm not sure yet. I'm excited to keep working towards my goal of buying and having less stuff in my life so I have more room, time, and money for the things that really matter to me in life. </div><br /><div></div><br /><div>If you're looking for a challenge in the new year this could be the one for you. Give it a try! You'd be surprised what you can learn from having a small wardrobe.</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>A list of minimal wardrobe projects:</div><br /><div><a href="http://www.bemorewithless.com/2010/quick-start-guides-for-project-333/">Project 333</a></div><br /><div><a href="http://www.thegreatamericanappareldiet.com/rules-for-participation/">The Great American Apparel Diet</a></div><br /><div><a href="http://theuniformproject.com/#!about">The Uniform Project</a></div><br /><div></div><br /><div><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/08/business/08consume.html?_r=3&src=me&ref=homepage">The article </a>, <a href="http://rowdykittens.com/">and blog</a>, that got me started on my minimalist journey. </div><br /><div></div><br /><div>If you know of any other minimal fashion projects or any type of minimal lifestyle challenge let me know about them, please!</div>AshleyRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15820378445689167003noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9023794703647167136.post-76026125789977182422010-12-31T20:49:00.002-05:002010-12-31T21:13:25.901-05:00Surprise! Another Indulgent Year End RecapIt's that time of year where everyone recaps all the good and bad things that happened in the past year. Lots of over analyzing occurs and people set goals and resolutions. I'd like to say I'm immune to such frivolity but, alas, I am not. I will try to make this quick and painless for all, hitting on the things I am most proud of and excited about. So here goes!<br /><br />In 2010 I...<br /><ul><li>ran my first <a href="http://adventuresofrunningmom.blogspot.com/2010/02/xterra-thrill-in-hills-half-marathon.html">half marathon</a>.</li><li>was 4th overall female in a <a href="http://adventuresofrunningmom.blogspot.com/2010/03/sticks-n-stones-trail-race.html">5k trail race</a>.</li><li>ran my first <a href="http://adventuresofrunningmom.blogspot.com/2010/10/medoc-trail-marathon-i-did-it.html">marathon</a>.</li><li>ran 1,061.2 miles</li><li>started working towards living a minimalist lifestyle by clearing out my home and <a href="http://adventuresofrunningmom.blogspot.com/2010/10/project-333-minimalist-wardrobe.html">wardrobe</a>.</li><li>started crocheting again with a passion.</li><li>made lots of new running friends that I adore!</li></ul><p>For 2011 I want to...</p><ul><li>concentrate on the half marathon distance for the spring.</li><li>run <a href="http://www.medoctrailmarathon.com/">Medoc Trail Marathon </a>again.</li><li>run 1,300-1,500 miles.</li><li>continue on my minimalist lifestyle journey.</li><li>learn to crochet good enough that I can set up an <a href="http://www.etsy.com/">Etsy shop</a>.</li><li>make even more great running friends and keep the existing ones close to my heart.</li></ul><p>My biggest wish for the new year is that my good friend finally gets the family she wants. If only one thing could go my way in 2011 that would be the one thing I would ask for!</p><p>Happy New Year to you and yours! May you all be graced with love, good health, and happiness in 2011!</p>AshleyRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15820378445689167003noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9023794703647167136.post-23526182753304529572010-12-27T14:46:00.009-05:002010-12-27T15:29:09.073-05:00Holiday Running Wrap UpI am happy to report that my running has been good this past week. I managed to run 5 days! I rarely ever do that. Most of the time I feel my body just can't do it. That must be a sign that physical therapy is working. I'm not 100% yet but I'm feeling stronger than I have in a long time.<br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_D5pco2ATkjU/TRjy3GwBYEI/AAAAAAAAAXc/SY146_Zn7h0/s1600/Xmas%2BEve%2BRun%2Bat%2BCrowders%2BMtn%2B002.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555457168880263234" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_D5pco2ATkjU/TRjy3GwBYEI/AAAAAAAAAXc/SY146_Zn7h0/s320/Xmas%2BEve%2BRun%2Bat%2BCrowders%2BMtn%2B002.JPG" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Christmas Eve the hubby and I got to trail run together. We went for a run with the Carolina <a href="http://www.meetup.com/CarolinaTrail/">Trail Runners Meet Up </a>group at <a href="http://www.ncparks.gov/Visit/parks/crmo/directions.php">Crowders Mountain</a>. My friends Kay and Laura came along. Laura dragged her hubby along as well. Kay put everyone up to the challenge of wearing festive attire. Apparently only us ladies were in the festive spirit. We have no qualms about looking goofy out in public.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_D5pco2ATkjU/TRj1MxM1LeI/AAAAAAAAAXs/1hbNcpBDQas/s1600/Xmas%2BEve%2BRun%2Bat%2BCrowders%2BMtn%2B010.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555459740075896290" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_D5pco2ATkjU/TRj1MxM1LeI/AAAAAAAAAXs/1hbNcpBDQas/s320/Xmas%2BEve%2BRun%2Bat%2BCrowders%2BMtn%2B010.JPG" /></a><br /><br />We ran to the top of Kings Pinnacle where we all took photos and enjoyed the beautiful clear view of the surrounding land. This is the first time that the air was clear enough for me to see the city of Charlotte's skyline. I got my hair bows caught on some branches while up there and couldn't seem to free myself. Luckily Kay managed to save me from hanging myself by bow. Thank goodness for friends! After our rest and photo ops we ran back down as fast as possible. I admit running up that pinnacle is painful but it's so worth it to run back down like a streak of lightning. After 5 miles of running we enjoyed some well <a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_D5pco2ATkjU/TRjyfVQBntI/AAAAAAAAAXU/axmkR6LqHoM/s1600/Xmas%2BEve%2BRun%2Bat%2BCrowders%2BMtn%2B026.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555456760455732946" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_D5pco2ATkjU/TRjyfVQBntI/AAAAAAAAAXU/axmkR6LqHoM/s320/Xmas%2BEve%2BRun%2Bat%2BCrowders%2BMtn%2B026.JPG" /></a>earned snacks and good conversation. I'm looking forward to more group runs with them. It was a great way to start off the days festivities!<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Christmas night it started to snow here. I was hoping the roads in the morning would be nice enough to hit the trails. When I first got up they looked good but by 8am there was a covering of slush so I decided to brave the roads for my long run. It's been a long time since I've done any long mileage on roads so I was worried more about that than the conditions.<br /><br /><br /><br />I bundled up and I strap<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_D5pco2ATkjU/TRjzvaMMcoI/AAAAAAAAAXk/HLaa5qoRphc/s1600/022.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 214px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555458136171377282" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_D5pco2ATkjU/TRjzvaMMcoI/AAAAAAAAAXk/HLaa5qoRphc/s320/022.JPG" /></a>ped on a pair of trail shoes so I'd have good traction on the snow and slush. I also filled up my new Nathan 22oz handheld water bottle that Santa brought me so I could test it out even though I was pretty sure my 10 oz would have sufficed. It was snowing when I left and it snowed the whole run. It was absolutely gorgeous! The snow made running on the road so much more tolerable and entertaining. My body held out nicely. I first committed myself to at least three miles. Then a six mile commitment. Then nine and finally to ten miles! I was thrilled with my run and pace considering the conditions and that I'm not used to running long on roads! As much as I hate to admit it, I really need to do more long runs on asphalt, maybe once a month. I think it would be good for leg endurance since there are no walk breaks built in like on trails with the super steep long hills that demand walk breaks.<br /><br /><br /><br />All in all it was an awesome week. I hope I can start the new year of running off as strong as last week's running. I hope everyone else had a great holiday week of running!AshleyRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15820378445689167003noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9023794703647167136.post-1088404825133917662010-12-18T20:00:00.017-05:002010-12-19T11:39:11.809-05:00Snow Day!<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_D5pco2ATkjU/TQ41I9ALGOI/AAAAAAAAAXA/DxiW6Xe3wJY/s1600/029.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552433818524915938" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_D5pco2ATkjU/TQ41I9ALGOI/AAAAAAAAAXA/DxiW6Xe3wJY/s200/029.JPG" /></a><br /><div>This morning I went out for what I hoped to be a 12 mile run on one of my favorite trails. I got there by 9am with the intent on getting my run in before the rain/snow started in the afternoon. Even though it was a cold overcast day I saw several trail runners and lots of hikers out on the trail.<br /><br /><br />About 5 miles into my out and back adventure, as I was making my way up the fin<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_D5pco2ATkjU/TQ1b3rc5DzI/AAAAAAAAAVw/ca2-SU29bEI/s1600/023.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552194927732526898" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_D5pco2ATkjU/TQ1b3rc5DzI/AAAAAAAAAVw/ca2-SU29bEI/s200/023.JPG" /></a>al ascent to the top of the mountain before the pinnacle, I heard precipitation. What? It's not supposed to rain until later. Wait, that's too loud for rain! That's sleet! Time to put my windbreaker/rain jacket back on. When I got to my usual turn around I considered going down the other side of the mountain for an even 6 before turning around but decided with the sleet it was best to turn around at 5.5 miles. By 5.75 miles it was snowing!<br /><br /><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 200px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552196817322508914" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_D5pco2ATkjU/TQ1dlquQAnI/AAAAAAAAAWg/nCJzPBFa140/s200/024.JPG" /><br /><br />It was so beautiful<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_D5pco2ATkjU/TQ1dTckmtYI/AAAAAAAAAWY/oyJtUAuoCr4/s1600/025.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552196504286311810" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_D5pco2ATkjU/TQ1dTckmtYI/AAAAAAAAAWY/oyJtUAuoCr4/s200/025.JPG" /></a> and unexpected. Big fluffy flakes mixed with sleet. I was really wishing for a visor at that point since I kept getting sleet in my eyes. I enjoyed my run back. Around 7 or 8 miles I was grinning from ear to ear. What fun! Most everyone I passed was loving the conditions. Well, except one hiker, but she seemed a naturally grumpy sort anyway. I'll admit by mile 10 I was over the slush because it made for terrible traction on top of the leaves going up hill, like spinning wheels. Had I known there would be slush I would have worn my La Sportiva Crosslites with the big lugs. I made it 11 miles and decided it was time to call it a day. <a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_D5pco2ATkjU/TQ1c9ZFW6NI/AAAAAAAAAWQ/2kiDTtuAXp4/s1600/027.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552196125392824530" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_D5pco2ATkjU/TQ1c9ZFW6NI/AAAAAAAAAWQ/2kiDTtuAXp4/s200/027.JPG" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_D5pco2ATkjU/TQ1ccLMMyBI/AAAAAAAAAWA/hY2CNQNNK2U/s1600/031.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552195554727741458" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_D5pco2ATkjU/TQ1ccLMMyBI/AAAAAAAAAWA/hY2CNQNNK2U/s200/031.JPG" /></a><br /><br /><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 194px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552199894108227570" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_D5pco2ATkjU/TQ1gYwpIR_I/AAAAAAAAAW4/qpNTZYajAGQ/s200/030.JPG" /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Thank goodness I brought my camera. What a great day for photos on the trail!<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_D5pco2ATkjU/TQ1eQ-iARXI/AAAAAAAAAWo/CIS5arLMn5Q/s1600/032.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552197561374229874" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_D5pco2ATkjU/TQ1eQ-iARXI/AAAAAAAAAWo/CIS5arLMn5Q/s200/032.JPG" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />After the run, deflated pigtails and raw nose from wiping it constantly for 11 miles.<br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_D5pco2ATkjU/TQ1cOSyFp7I/AAAAAAAAAV4/HiTx3v9MkIM/s1600/032.JPG"></a></div>AshleyRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15820378445689167003noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9023794703647167136.post-79785645792766836632010-12-14T10:01:00.006-05:002010-12-14T10:34:39.710-05:00Blog SlackingSeems I've been a bit of a slacker here lately. Every day I've been telling myself I'd sit down and make a quick blog post. Yet, each day passes and my blog sits unkempt and lonely. I've also slacked on reading other people's blogs. I've been so wrapped up in other things that for the first time in a long time the computer is being ignored unless it is required for whatever project I'm wrapped up in.<br /><br /><br />Just a quick summary of what I've been doing during my blogging vacation:<br /><br /><ul><li>PT- my right knee decided to join in the IT band fun so I finally broke down and sought some help. My PT is doing an awesome job tortur... uh, I mean fixing me. I've been spending two hours twice a week there. I'm happy to report that I am up to just over 10 miles with almost no issues. I still get achy in my left leg after a long run but it usually clears up after a day. Hopefully we'll get this fixed for long term!</li><br /><br /><li>I've been working running in where I can around all the PT. Which means I've been running some at night, a rare thing for me. It's not as bad as I thought. </li><br /><br /><li>I've been crocheting a lot. I've jumped in full force with learning to crochet better. I've made lots of presents this year. I'd love to be able to post pictures of all my cool projects but I don't want to spoil any body's presents. I can post a few since they aren't presents. I'm really loving the crocheting. It's so soothing to do. In true to me form, when discovering something I really enjoy, I have become obsessed with crochet!</li><br /><br /><li>I'm still in on the <a href="http://www.bemorewithless.com/2010/minimalist-fashion-project-333-begins/">Project 333 </a>fashion minimalist project. </li></ul><p>I'll have to make a separate post on all that I have learned during Project 333 when I have more time. Now I need to go get bundled up for a running date in the freezing cold. I finally got my cooler weather, a bit too cool, but it beats sloggi<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_D5pco2ATkjU/TQeLwGxx3ZI/AAAAAAAAAVg/5sdfBS0vjeQ/s1600/felted%2Bflower3.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5550558724326808978" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_D5pco2ATkjU/TQeLwGxx3ZI/AAAAAAAAAVg/5sdfBS0vjeQ/s200/felted%2Bflower3.JPG" /></a>ng around in 90+ with high humidity.<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_D5pco2ATkjU/TQeMMRji6aI/AAAAAAAAAVo/kAYepva3JtI/s1600/053.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5550559208256235938" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_D5pco2ATkjU/TQeMMRji6aI/AAAAAAAAAVo/kAYepva3JtI/s200/053.JPG" /></a></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>A few of my craft projects.</p>AshleyRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15820378445689167003noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9023794703647167136.post-79635751782202310042010-10-28T14:20:00.003-04:002010-10-28T14:59:27.317-04:0028 Days Later<div>Well, I've been on my <a href="http://adventuresofrunningmom.blogspot.com/2010/10/project-333-minimalist-wardrobe.html">Project 333 </a>minimalist wardrobe journey for 28 days now. I was going to wait for a full month to report but I couldn't resist the 28 Days Later title so close to Halloween! </div><br /><div></div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_D5pco2ATkjU/TMnGoQx26aI/AAAAAAAAAVY/68R676FUGQg/s1600/project333+closet+001.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 170px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5533172012202518946" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_D5pco2ATkjU/TMnGoQx26aI/AAAAAAAAAVY/68R676FUGQg/s200/project333+closet+001.JPG" /></a><br /><div>I fretted and worried over my choices for the first few weeks. The weather was up and down with temperatures and I just couldn't decide if I had too much short sleeve or too much long sleeve. Do I really need that third skirt? Or even any of them? Will I actually wear my tall boots? Two tank tops? I must have been nuts when I picked my choices!</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>I am happy to report that all the worry was over nothing. It did take me some time to get into the swing of things and stop second guessing and just make do with what I have. I have to say I feel more confident in the choices I make each day about my wardrobe. I feel like I radiate that confidence when interacting with others. I've managed to make pieces that I love but normally have saved for the right occasion work for everyday situations. That little bit makes me really happy! Even this morning my neighbor complimented me on how nice I looked as I was getting in the car to take my little monster to preschool. </div><br /><div></div><br /><div>I'm loving how easy it is to make a decision about what to wear. I even look forward to certain pieces getting laundered so I can wear them again. Who would have thought that with only 33 wardrobe items I would get excited about wearing some of them over and over? Right now my favorites are my cheap-o grey tee shirt and my wool shrug. I've only worn one out of my three skirts and my boots have yet to make an appearance but that will come with cooler temps. I'm thinking of pulling out my black boots with my black skirt for a knitting group tonight! </div><br /><div></div><br /><div>I've already gone through my packed away clothes and put some in my donation box. I hope that in two more months I'm willing to put some more in that box. I keep the wheels turning trying to decide what else in my life I can pare down to only what I need or truly adore. It really is such a liberating feeling. I wouldn't be surprised at this point if I have more running clothes than I do day to day clothes!</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>If you are interested in starting your own minimal journey there is a wealth of blogs out there that can help you get started. One big thing that has helped me is setting aside a box in my garage to put things in that I will donate. Having the box always available makes it easy if I come across something during my day that I decide I don't really need. That way there is no need to take the extra step to find a box or start a messy pile of things to donate. When the box is full I load it in my car and swing by Goodwill after I drop my little imp off at preschool and bring it back home to wait for more goodies to fill it with. Seems like no matter how much I've donated lately I can always find something else that needs to find a new home.</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>Some inspiring minimalist blogs:</div><br /><div><a href="http://rowdykittens.com/">Rowdy Kittens</a></div><br /><div><a href="http://www.bemorewithless.com/">Be More With Less- the blog behind Project333 </a></div><br /><div><a href="http://mnmlist.com/">mnmlist</a></div><br /><div><a href="http://tinyhouseblog.com/">Tiny House Blog</a></div>AshleyRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15820378445689167003noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9023794703647167136.post-92174640548608980552010-10-17T06:17:00.006-04:002010-10-17T07:55:05.039-04:00Medoc Trail Marathon- I did it!<p>Oh man, where to begin?<a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_D5pco2ATkjU/TLrNHCgs1KI/AAAAAAAAAUg/O0ccJgq2F1M/s1600-h/0123.jpg"><img style="BACKGROUND-IMAGE: none; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; DISPLAY: inline; FLOAT: right; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px" title="012" border="0" alt="012" align="right" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_D5pco2ATkjU/TLrNHytEhdI/AAAAAAAAAUk/fH9Wwy0g7Yc/012_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="244" height="184" /></a></p><p>Kay and Michael both ran the marathon as well. This was Kay’s first, as well as my first, and Michael’s second. We were all set for a day of fun and we weren’t disappointed. The weather was perfect! Just chilly enough to make you shiver but not freeze. By the end of the race it was in the mid 60’s with a pleasant breeze. </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Waiting for the<a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_D5pco2ATkjU/TLrNJidFzdI/AAAAAAAAAUo/TxWzIUNYHgY/s1600-h/045.jpg"><img style="BACKGROUND-IMAGE: none; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; DISPLAY: inline; FLOAT: left; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px" title="045" border="0" alt="045" align="left" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_D5pco2ATkjU/TLrNK02lN4I/AAAAAAAAAUs/T4YvbA9Byq0/045_thumb%5B1%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="244" height="184" /></a> race to start I met many wonderful people. There were two girls dressed as Girl Scouts. As they walked past me they gave me the title of Fraggle because of my hair. Everyone had trail names on their bibs. I made mine up since I’d never been given one by anybody but have now proudly adopted Fraggle as my official trail name! After that a women came up to me and we started to chat, her name was Twila. How cool! I have a friend from HS named Twyla so it was neat to meet another one. In fact there were two Twilas in the marathon.</p><p>Twila and I started the race together and turned out to be a nice match in pace. Around mile 3 we caught up with a guy named Tobias and grabbed on to him making our group a threesome. The three of us ran the first lap and a half together. It was nice to have conversation while settling in to the course for the morning. </p><p>Around the halfway mark my worst fears started to come true. My IT band was feeling tight. WTH? I haven’t had issues with it since February. My only guess of what went wrong was since there was a lot of flat and I was busy chatting and feeling good I got to over striding and heel striking and it took its toll after 13 miles. At this point our group started to spread out and leave one another. Twila's hip was hurting and I needed to speed up to relieve my IT band pain. I did get to see each of them on the third lap and at the finish. I was happy to have had their company.</p><p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_D5pco2ATkjU/TLrNMoxK5eI/AAAAAAAAAUw/KIKMRoXHLps/s1600-h/0283.jpg"><img style="BACKGROUND-IMAGE: none; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; DISPLAY: inline; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px" title="028" border="0" alt="028" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_D5pco2ATkjU/TLrNNGFl2ZI/AAAAAAAAAU0/FdtKBQgQwnQ/028_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="244" height="184" /></a></p><p>After finishing my second lap I decided to keep pressing on, I was at 18 miles and had too much invested to stop. I devised m<a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_D5pco2ATkjU/TLrNOGPhrNI/AAAAAAAAAU4/AwKUGLVatVY/s1600-h/0313.jpg"><img style="BACKGROUND-IMAGE: none; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; DISPLAY: inline; FLOAT: right; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; MARGIN-LEFT: 0px; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px" title="031" border="0" alt="031" align="right" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_D5pco2ATkjU/TLrNOtfQ51I/AAAAAAAAAU8/OS80gLI7g8c/031_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="226" height="244" /></a>y plan of walking even the smallest incline and running the flats, stopping to stretch when needed. I managed to make my way around the final lap. Around mile 23 things got really rough. I stopped to stretch and began to cry. I was so upset at what was happening. As I was crying I started to run. The crying quickly turned to anger and I started growling at myself to get my legs going. I knew the best way to relieve the pain was to run faster and to get done! At this point there wasn’t a soul around me so I just growled and yelled at myself that I could get it done. Around mile 24.5 I started singing an altered version of Dori the fish’s motto “Just keep swimming, just keep swimming!” For the last mile and a half I sang, out loud, “Just keep running, just keep running.” At the 25 mile marker I did my best to run everything up hill, flat, and down hill. Screw the pain I’m getting this done now!</p><p>Upon reaching<a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_D5pco2ATkjU/TLrNPu2RVeI/AAAAAAAAAVA/GkpNUGD1S74/s1600-h/0413.jpg"><img style="BACKGROUND-IMAGE: none; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; DISPLAY: inline; FLOAT: left; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px" title="041" border="0" alt="041" align="left" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_D5pco2ATkjU/TLrNQKgjeGI/AAAAAAAAAVE/l31jvmJT5Ig/041_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="172" height="244" /></a> the grassy area near the start finish I just started to sob. I was elated, angry, and in pain. I used that anger to propel myself to the finish as fast as I could. I was so happy to see the smiling faces of my hubby, my son, and my friend Kay! I crossed the finish and gladly accepted my medal. The Race Director was handing them out and asked if I was okay. I told him yes, just emotional and my IT band really hurt. He offered me help. I thanked him but I told him I just needed to get to my family and friend waiting for me. My official time was 4:51:40, very close to the time of 4:50:00 I was hoping to beat. I am thrilled with that time considering the troubles I had.</p><p>I really enjoyed the three loop course. I had a chance<a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_D5pco2ATkjU/TLrNR-Rig-I/AAAAAAAAAVI/RVc5QJGtthM/s1600-h/0373.jpg"><img style="BACKGROUND-IMAGE: none; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; DISPLAY: inline; FLOAT: right; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px" title="037" border="0" alt="037" align="right" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_D5pco2ATkjU/TLrNTwfC6kI/AAAAAAAAAVQ/TsJdcSI0jOg/037_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="244" height="184" /></a> to see the hubby and my son twice mid run. Each time I got hugs and kisses from my son which really helped. The trail near the end of the loop passes near the finish and you can’t really see the finish well but you can hear it. On my last pass by there I hear my son crying, another good motivation to get it done! Turns out he had taken a header off a picnic table, awesome! </p><p>Kay had an awesome finish. She was 4th female in the marathon, so impressed and proud of her! Sadly Michael had some stomach problems and walked most of the last lap. I almost caught up to him around mile 20 but didn’t get to ask him what was up since he ducked into the port-a-potty. He said he finished just so he could get his finisher’s surprise. It was worth it, a nice lightweight running vest with the race logo on it. </p><p>The ride home was long and I’m very sore today. My IT band feels better than it did after my first half marathon so I’m hoping a week off will do the trick. I’m still very emotional this morning. An overwhelming sense of pride mixed with disappointment at my body’s rebellion. I’ll get this worked out because I’m planning on heading back to Medoc next year to set a PR!</p><p>So, I had to come back to edit this post because I realized I hadn't talked about the awesomeness of the race. This was the best race ever! From the RD, volunteers, and fellow racers I've never met a better group of people. Not one bad apple in the bunch. Great atmosphere, great aid stations, great medals, shirts, finisher's surprise, etc. Each volunteer on course made an effort to talk to you, and not just a "looking good," a specific comment related to each individual runner. The RD's were going around taking pictures before and meeting everyone, they even were on course encouraging as well. At aid stations the volunteers were eager to help refill my bottle and do all they could to help especially at the end when they knew you were suffering. I recommend this race to anyone interested in running a trail marathon or race. You won't be disappointed, I promise!</p>AshleyRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15820378445689167003noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9023794703647167136.post-21984168178867431322010-10-13T20:27:00.002-04:002010-10-13T20:47:00.924-04:00Marathon Week MadnessSo this week has not been the calm pre-marathon week that I envisioned.<br /><br />We started Saturday off with a yard sale. We made lots of money and got rid of lots of stuff. Unfortunately early that morning while I was setting up my husband came outside and declared that our son wasn't feeling well. I abandoned my merchandising to take his temperature. He had a fever of 102 and eventually it spiked over 103 during the night. By the end of Sunday his fever seemed to be gone.<br /><br />Monday there was no preschool due to the holiday, but that worked out fine since he hadn't been fever free for 24 hours by then. Sadly he was a pill all day, crying, whining, acting like a piece of velcro stuck to me. I tried to clean bathrooms and regretted that. Not a relaxing day at home to say the least.<br /><br />Next day he woke up in a decent mood and no fever so I sent him to school. I went for a 3 mile run and came back to two voice mails, one from school to pick him up and another from the hubby saying that he had picked him up. So I made an appt with the pediatrician. He has been tested for strep and flu, both negative. He basically has a virus. Today he has a cough and his fever is spiking again. We got some cough medicine from the pediatrician tonight. So no school the rest of the week, which means very little relaxing for me.<br /><br />There was one good thing that came from our second trip to the pediatrician. I found out that the nearby high school has a cross-country trail. Our ped runs there since he doesn't like roads but isn't a trail runner either. That will be so convenient for shorter runs or speed work! Sweet! Sometimes good things can come from a bad situation. I never would have thought to check there for a trail to run. I'm going to check it out tomorrow night for my last run of my taper, a whopping 2 miles.<br /><br />Another sad point to the week, I am getting a bit of what my son has. My sinuses feel clogged and I've got a scratchy throat. As long as it stays away from my chest I'll be fine. I'm running this marathon come hell or high water. I've dreamed of running a marathon for 8 years now. I'm two days away from fulfilling that dream, there is no stopping me!AshleyRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15820378445689167003noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9023794703647167136.post-90749089254433335702010-10-01T11:31:00.005-04:002010-10-01T13:14:09.668-04:00Project 333- a minimalist wardrobe challengeToday I embark on my first minimalist fashion challenge with<a href="http://www.bemorewithless.com/2010/minimalist-fashion-project-333-begins/"> Project 333</a>. Here is the basic outline of what it is if you don't feel like clicking on the link:<br /><br /><ul><li>Pick 33 fashion items including clothes, shoes, jewelry, accessories, outerwear to use as your wardrobe Oct 1- Dec 31. </li><li>What's not included in those 33: undergarments, workout clothes(thank goodness), wedding ring, in home loungewear.</li></ul><p>My own adjustments to the rules:</p><ul><li><div align="left">I'm not counting jewelry and accessories in my 33 because of two reasons: <strong>1)</strong> I have a toddler so accessories and jewelery are liabilities on a day to day basis. The only time I can wear them is when I'm out and about without him, which is rare. Chances are I won't even use any in the next 3 months.<strong> 2)</strong> I feel jewelery and accessories help to make a minimal wardrobe possible. They are what adds umph to a basic wardrobe without taking up a lot of space.</div></li><li><div align="left">I'm not counting my purse because for me it's a utilitarian piece, it's like asking a man to not carry a wallet or money clip. My purse is small and I tend to have to alternate it with a diaper bag. It literally holds my coin purse, a folded shopping bag (courtesy of my pal Tara), a pen, and sometimes my phone (all things I can't leave home without.)</div></li></ul><p align="left">You may ask why do this? What can you expect to get out of such an experience? Good questions.</p><p align="left">First, I like a challenge. </p><p align="left">Second, lately I have been working on going minimal in my life. I'm tired of too much stuff in my home and life. I've been slowly cleaning out the house and this will help me to make some final decisions on my wardrobe. At the end I don't expect to stick with just these 33 fashion items. I suspect I'll greet some old favorites with fervor and be able to let go of others that I forgot about. My vintage clothes that only get worn on special occasions probably will stay since I'm passionate about those clothes and they are my wardrobe gems. I hope to get rid of the silly guilt I feel when I look at clothes I rarely wear. I hope to spend less time figuring out what to wear and spend more time experiencing life. I'm sure my heart will still go pitter patter when I walk through Anthropologies but I will learn to think my purchases out more thoroughly.</p><p align="left">Life is about experiences not things. As much as I hate to admit it, I got sucked into acquiring things to a certain extent. These things started to control my life; bigger house to fit all my things, having to clean around them, worry over my spawn destroying my precious things, etc. It's time to let go of things and be free. It has been tough, there was a lot of unfounded fear upon letting things go to start with. Now that I've let so much go those unfounded fears were replaced with a sense of freedom, accomplishment and clarity. During the process of picking my 33 things I managed to weed out even more clothes to give away, yay for me!</p><p align="left">Here is the part you've all been waiting for, my list of 33 wardrobe items:</p><ol><li><div align="left">CK skinny blue jeans</div></li><li><div align="left">BKE bootcut jeans</div></li><li><div align="left">BKE black skinny jeans waiting to be purchased on Monday</div></li><li><div align="left">Grey Gap Skirt</div></li><li><div align="left">Long Brown Skirt</div></li><li><div align="left">Black Skirt</div></li><li><div align="left">Grey Short Sleeve Tee</div></li><li><div align="left">Black Short Sleeve Tee</div></li><li><div align="left">Plum Tank</div></li><li><div align="left">Grey Tank</div></li><li><div align="left">Long Sleeve Grey Tee</div></li><li><div align="left">Long Sleeve Brown Tee</div></li><li><div align="left">Long Sleeve Green Tee</div></li><li><div align="left">Brobee Tee Shirt</div></li><li><div align="left">INC Pullover Tissue Hoodie</div></li><li><div align="left">Big Grey Sweater</div></li><li><div align="left">Pink Sweater</div></li><li><div align="left">Olive Sweater</div></li><li><div align="left">Wool Shrug</div></li><li><div align="left">Cotton Shrug</div></li><li><div align="left">Knit Poncho</div></li><li><div align="left">Grey Cord Jacket</div></li><li><div align="left">Pink Northface Jacket</div></li><li><div align="left">Long Black Gap Coat</div></li><li><div align="left">Dansko Mary Jane Clogs</div></li><li><div align="left">DKNY Grey Felt Mary Janes</div></li><li><div align="left">Black Boots</div></li><li><div align="left">Brown Boots </div></li><li><div align="left">John Fluevog Wing Tips</div></li><li><div align="left">Grey Stripe 3/4 Sleeve Sweater</div></li><li><div align="left">Grey Leggings</div></li><li><div align="left">Striped A Line Mod Dress</div></li><li><div align="left">Black 3/4 Length Tux Style Jacket</div></li></ol><p align="left">We will be having a yard sale next week as part of our clearing out the crap experience. I'm sure I'll have a bit to share about that experience since I've never done one. </p>AshleyRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15820378445689167003noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9023794703647167136.post-6380903238848103772010-09-26T08:35:00.002-04:002010-09-26T08:38:33.062-04:00Let The Taper Madness Begin!<p></p><div align="left"><p>Y<a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_D5pco2ATkjU/TJ89SLv2L1I/AAAAAAAAASk/kRdZCvX9Sd0/s1600-h/last%20long%20run%20before%20medoc%20007%5B5%5D.jpg"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; DISPLAY: inline; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; MARGIN-LEFT: 0px; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px" title="last long run before medoc 007" border="0" alt="last long run before medoc 007" align="left" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_D5pco2ATkjU/TJ89Sl6xkKI/AAAAAAAAASo/353FT1w7F84/last%20long%20run%20before%20medoc%20007_thumb%5B1%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="244" height="184" /></a>esterday was my final long run of 20 miles for my training for the <a href="http://www.medoctrailmarathon.com/" target="_blank">Medoc Trail Marathon.</a> Kay and Michael (aka Sideshow Jesus), who are running Medoc as well, met me at the Boulders Access Parking to the Ridgeline Trail. The weather wasn’t what I had hoped for. I have day dreamed all summer about this run. The average temps should have been in the mid 50’s for the low and mid 70’s for the highs. Instead of dreamy fall temps we got 64 for a low and 92 for a high. I decided to try to embrace the less than ideal temps with a reminder that what doesn’t kill me will only make me stronger.</p></div><div align="left"> </div><div align="justify"><p>Most of the run was uneventful. The temps started to rapidly climb after about 14 miles. By mile 15 I was adding a lot more walking to areas that weren’t all that hilly. I took a dip in a stream twice in mile 17. That dip revived my hips and legs for a bit. By mile 18 every time I had to walk my lower back screamed at me, threatening to seize up. I did my best to run the flats and downhill but I just couldn’t muster the ability to run uphill with the temps in the mid 80’s at that point.</p><p></p><div align="left"> </div><p>Kay and Jesus ran a bit farther than I did before turning around so they were actually behind me for a bit but I knew they would catch up. At 19 miles I decided I would sit down at mile 20 and take a break if I wasn’t close to the end. I just really needed to let my back muscles relax for a minute. Kay caught up with me at 19.5 and stayed with me until I hit 20 but she couldn’t stop and sit because she was in the opposite situation, if she sat down she would seize up and I’d have to carry her in. </p><p></p></div><p></p><p>So, I sat down for a minute on a tiny log. I took a few deep breaths and tried to relax and not cry. I then decided to stand up an<a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_D5pco2ATkjU/TJ89TInKUpI/AAAAAAAAASs/_l5HuTWh39Y/s1600-h/last%20long%20run%20before%20medoc%20004%5B8%5D.jpg"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; DISPLAY: inline; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; MARGIN-LEFT: 0px; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px" title="last long run before medoc 004" border="0" alt="last long run before medoc 004" align="right" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_D5pco2ATkjU/TJ89TcCrrLI/AAAAAAAAASw/W8iVFa10zng/last%20long%20run%20before%20medoc%20004_thumb%5B6%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="184" height="244" /></a>d stretch my back . As I was bent over touching my toes I heard Jesus coming up the trail. Uh oh, not very lady like behavior, I’d better stand up! It was too late I had already given him a bit of a show. The humor of the situation helped to lighten my mood as we made a joke out of it. Having him with me at the end helped me to get done without crying. He offered to carry my Camelbak since my back was giving me fits but I declined since it wasn’t really the problem, but it was very nice of him to ask and just what I needed at that point. We finally reached a good stopping point near the end a walked it in. My final distance was 20.44 mi in 4:30:59. </p><p></p><p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_D5pco2ATkjU/TJ89v0zwXyI/AAAAAAAAAS0/i5wjT5O8sA4/s1600-h/last%20long%20run%20before%20medoc%20007%5B2%5D.jpg"></a></p>We found Kay sitting on the bench waiting for us at the bottom of the trail spur that takes you to the parking area. We all sat down for a minute before tackling that spur, it’s really brutal after a long trail run to hit this steep winding trek to the parking. We all agreed we were glad it was done. I think we were all out of water and the mountain had taken a toll on all of us. Even as beat as we were, we are all looking forward to a good time at Medoc on October 16th. <p></p><p>I had weighed myself before leaving for the run and when I got home. I had lost nearly 3% of my body weight. Way too much loss. Clearly I need a bigger hydration pack for these longer runs. Hopefully Santa will help me with that. I now think had I had enough water my back wouldn’t have felt so horrible. Lesson learned! </p><p><span style="font-size:78%;"><strong>All the photos are from after the run.</strong></span></p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_D5pco2ATkjU/TJ8-H-T5frI/AAAAAAAAAS4/-pYQ-fl3j0I/s1600-h/last%20long%20run%20before%20medoc%20011%5B2%5D.jpg"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; DISPLAY: inline; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px" title="Wrinkled toes from soaking in the stream." border="0" alt="Wrinkled toes from soaking in the stream." src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_D5pco2ATkjU/TJ8-IEAg7jI/AAAAAAAAAS8/0GcDa-YpBj8/last%20long%20run%20before%20medoc%20011_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="244" height="184" /></a> <span style="font-size:78%;">Wrinkled feet from sitting in the</span> <span style="font-size:78%;">stream.</span><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_D5pco2ATkjU/TJ8-Ja1lGNI/AAAAAAAAATA/Pbo6c38TJpw/s1600-h/last%20long%20run%20before%20medoc%20005%5B4%5D.jpg"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; DISPLAY: block; FLOAT: none; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; MARGIN-LEFT: auto; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; MARGIN-RIGHT: auto" title="last long run before medoc 005" border="0" alt="last long run before medoc 005" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_D5pco2ATkjU/TJ8-KFyPudI/AAAAAAAAATE/I5VbefPwqEc/last%20long%20run%20before%20medoc%20005_thumb%5B2%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="243" height="184" /></a> <p></p><p><span style="font-size:78%;">A more realistic image of what we felt like after the run</span>.</p>AshleyRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15820378445689167003noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9023794703647167136.post-90090483400436616672010-09-18T20:06:00.009-04:002010-09-18T21:26:13.583-04:00Laying Low to Run High<div><div><div><div><div><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_D5pco2ATkjU/TJVj3IJ7hzI/AAAAAAAAASc/lfzoD71urSM/s1600/001.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5518426717145499442" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_D5pco2ATkjU/TJVj3IJ7hzI/AAAAAAAAASc/lfzoD71urSM/s200/001.JPG" /></a><br /><div>So, last week I took it pretty easy. Only two runs to be exact, one 5 miler and a 13 miler. Wild and crazy, I know. I had planned an 8 miler for Thursday but that day I woke up and felt like I'd been hit by the sleep truck. I decided that I needed to spend the day taking it easy and skipped my run. I took the next day off because I don't like to run the day before a long run, even if it was a "short" long run. I'll admit the morning of my long run I just wasn't feeling it mentally. Physically I felt great but wasn't feeling like running 13 miles. I got it done and was glad to be done with my running for the week.</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>After a week of not feeling the run I was anticipating a possible crappy week of running again. I have to report that this past week of running rocked my stripey socks! Monday was 5 miles of bliss. Cooler temperatures and an easier route allowed for speedy running, averaging my best trail pace in a long time. Tuesday was warmer than I had expected but wasn't horribly hot. It wasn't a stellar 8 miles but nothing to complain about either. Thursday was nice and effortless feeling. Not that I went fast but, at the end of 5 miles, including more than a mile climbing to the top of a mountain, I felt like I hadn't run at all. </div><div><br /> </div><div>Wow, my body felt great the whole week and I still had my long run to go. This week was another recovery week. My long run plan was for 13. I decided to meet up with a <a href="http://wnctrailrunner.wikispaces.com/">trail running group</a> west of here, just under 2 hours. The plan was to run the Kitsuma trail as a time trial. Everyone starts their watch at the same spot and takes a halfway time at the same spot before heading back to finish up. We all stated what we thought we could run it in. Having little knowledge of the trail other than the elevation map. I declared my time goal of 1:45:45. I also planned on doing the time trial then follow it up with 3 easy miles to make my 13 for the day.<img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 100px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5518426247666376850" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_D5pco2ATkjU/TJVjbzNYoJI/AAAAAAAAASU/QpAa0fRRyYY/s400/Kitsuma_Graph.gif" /></div><br /><div></div><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_D5pco2ATkjU/TJVg6MchcAI/AAAAAAAAAR8/bRHpKiMNHkc/s1600/003.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 151px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5518423471301947394" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_D5pco2ATkjU/TJVg6MchcAI/AAAAAAAAAR8/bRHpKiMNHkc/s200/003.JPG" /></a><br /><br /><br /><div>I was pretty excited when I got there this morning. We introduced ourselves and went on our quests to make our predicted times. The trail head had a trail closed for maintence sign but we decided to go anyway since it was a mountain bike trail and maybe it just wasn't suitable for bikes. One of the guys ran it just last week and it was fine.</div><br /><div></div><div>As I headed up the mountain I glanced at my watch around half a mile and had already been going for over 8 minutes, crap! I know I'm not good at ascents. I'm working on my power hiking skills, something I truly don't like doing. I ran what little I could and walked when I had to, which was quite often. Halfway through the first mile I started noticing parts of the trail were turned up where they were working on it, not too bad, definitely tolerable. As the climbing went on the dirt became more churned up, lots of exposed and broken roots to be mindful of. It felt like running up hill in a really messy sand box, talk about lack of traction and no help propelling yourself up the hill. I made it to the top of the mountain and got a short break as I ran down to the parking area on the other side of the mountain. I took my split 4.5 miles with a time of 1:04:45. Crap! No way I will make my time unless I can find it in me to motor up the hills.</div><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_D5pco2ATkjU/TJVf-lvRRDI/AAAAAAAAARs/eqAHXBpxpgw/s1600/005.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 240px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5518422447299314738" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_D5pco2ATkjU/TJVf-lvRRDI/AAAAAAAAARs/eqAHXBpxpgw/s320/005.JPG" /></a><br /><br /><br /><div></div>I turned back around and headed back towards the summit with as much vigor as I could muster. I tried to do as much hill running as I could and walked as briskly as I could in a sand box on the side of a hill. It was less than 2 miles to the summit which was a relief because it was mostly downhill from there. The churned up dirt made for nice cushioning as I blasted down the mountain. I'm a downhill machine. Nothing better than saying a prayer and letting go as you run down a torn up trail with little room for error, just a small tree here and there to separate you from the steep drop down the mountain. Arms flailing and dirt flying I managed to finish my run in 1:55:39, almost 10 minutes over my predicted time, and an awesome negative split for the way back. (my slowest mile was 16:04 and fastest was 9:07)<br /><br /><br /><br /><div></div><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_D5pco2ATkjU/TJVgUFalgpI/AAAAAAAAAR0/Av-Ah-tSb7w/s1600/002.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5518422816579748498" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_D5pco2ATkjU/TJVgUFalgpI/AAAAAAAAAR0/Av-Ah-tSb7w/s320/002.JPG" /></a><br /><br /><br /><div>A dip in the stream as an ice bath and to clean the dirt from my legs was a perfect treat after such a leg beater of a run. I decided not to add the extra 3 miles because in less than 10 miles I had put in a 13 mile effort. Everyone brought food and we had a potluck cookout afterwards. I had a great time meeting everyone and eating some great grub!</div><br /><br /><br /><div></div><br /><div>I have to say this has been my best week of running ever! If I ever top this week I'll be pleasantly surprised and if I do I'm going to guess it will be awhile before I do. This week has been full of running high, both figuratively and literally! I hope everyone else has had a great week as well!</div></div></div></div></div></div></div>AshleyRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15820378445689167003noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9023794703647167136.post-67517608105761329402010-09-10T20:47:00.008-04:002010-09-10T21:20:22.963-04:00Friday Favorites<div><div><div><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_D5pco2ATkjU/TIrWyl1gNWI/AAAAAAAAARg/fqbz8Y-LKmI/s1600/016.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 314px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5515456858306917730" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_D5pco2ATkjU/TIrWyl1gNWI/AAAAAAAAARg/fqbz8Y-LKmI/s320/016.JPG" /></a></div><div>Today's favorite will have nothing to do with running. It's about a popsicle and a little boy. For dinner tonight I served my son some whole wheat spiral pasta and lima beans. Seems like a strange combo but it is a big hit with my son, he loves pasta and legumes. Don't ask him to eat a strawberry or any other fruit, unless it's a fig bar. Most veggies get ejected from his mouth pretty quickly too, but, hand him a kidney bean, a pinto bean, black eyed peas, lentils, etc and he'll give you a firm, "mmmm, guud." He wasn't always like this at one time he ate spinach, avocado, sweet potatoes, and applesauce. But, now he's a typical toddler with a limited food repertoire and what little he likes he picks at like a bird. </div><br /><br /><br /><br /><div></div><div>About 15 minutes after dinner I noticed he was pretty tight lipped. Lots of, "mmm and hmmm," coming out of his little mouth. Then he did something that seems to be built into the wiring of little boys, he let a bit of the lima bean slime from his mouth seep out only to suck it back in before it disconnected from the mass in his mouth. This isn't his first time at this game. He kept a piece of turkey bacon in his mouth for over an hour a few weeks ago. Ugh. I tried to get him to spit the lima bean out to no avail. After a few tries I pull out the big gun, the lure of dessert. I showed him a popsicle and informed my little imp if he spit the lima bean out he could have the yummy raspberry popsicle. Well, I could barely get a napkin in front of his mouth quick enough! </div><div></div><br /><div>So, rambling done, here are some pictures of the popsicle delight! It's a good thing it was bath night! <img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5515455961191013618" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_D5pco2ATkjU/TIrV-X0Z3PI/AAAAAAAAARQ/f8BF-YDWiuM/s320/019.JPG" />.</div></div></div></div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5515456339058741186" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_D5pco2ATkjU/TIrWUXfFz8I/AAAAAAAAARY/hHmW6TPS51A/s320/024.JPG" /><br />On the running front, I've only run once this week, on Tuesday. I had planned a run for Thursday but woke up feeling extremely run down. I actually slept until 6:45, very rare for me to sleep past 6am, I only woke up because the hubby's alarm went off. So, I opted to spend my morning resting on the couch and do as little as needed to get through my mom work for the day. I'm glad to report I woke up this morning feeling like myself again! I decided not to run today since I don't like to run the day before a long run. I'm only doing 13 tomorrow (pretty exciting that I can put the word <strong>only</strong> in front of 13!) so I should be back on track after tomorrow. One more true long run on the 25th of 20 miles and it's time to taper for my marathon on October 16!AshleyRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15820378445689167003noreply@blogger.com3