As seen on the run

I like nothing more than a good LSD. Me, alone with my thoughts and my music. I actually enjoy running alone--even long distances. I entertain myself by listening to my music and being observant. I've seen some pretty interesting things on my runs. I learn a lot about my neighbors just by running by their homes on a daily basis--you get to know their patterns and routines. One of my routes takes me along a stretch of a busy suburban arterial road and I see stuff people throw out of their car windows. You'd be surprised what is laying on the ground. But in the winter, the snow covers everything up and there isn't as much to look at. So I have to find other ways to entertain myself.

About 2 miles into my 10 miler today, I saw this guy ahead of me: 

As I ran down the path, Chevron Man came into view. Like a beacon in the distance, his jacket signaling me to approach.

Hey guy..the 80's called..they want your jacket back....

What an ugly jacket, I thought to myself. Must get ahead of him...my competitive juices flowing. I kept telling myself to slow down, this is just a training run. But Chevron Man was there for the taking. A guy wearing something like that can't be a serious runner, right? Those stripes were just inviting me to race, his arms flapping like a checkered flag. As I approached, Chevron Man turned around. I've had a few weird incidents on this path, so I understood why he might be a little nervous. No worries, Chevron Man, it's just little old competitive me....And I passed him, giving him the runner's nod and a friendly good morning. Eat my dust--or in this case, snow--Chevron Man. Nice jacket.

What's wrong with me? It isn't like I'm a fashion plate: 

Just me and my thoughts.

I was moving pretty well, I thought, and the path and roads were pretty clear:

A few miles into my run, I realized that the app I've been using to keep track of my miles, routes, and times, Map My Run, wasn't calling out my miles to me. I stopped to check and found that the app had quit. When I opened it up, my miles appeared, most likely because of the GPS. But my splits were hilarious. Mile 2 was logged at 3:22 pace! Holy Moley.

Thankfully this will keep me honest:

Actually it read 7 when I approached...

Frustrated, I restarted the app and kept going. Which I had to do multiple times this morning. Here's the summary it gave me: 

If only I could have those 6:28 splits!

Overall, it was a decent run. I didn't like having to stop and restart that app so many times. I'm just going to chalk it up to the cold weather. I think I am the only runner in the world who doesn't run with a Garmin. I also forgot to wear my watch, so I have no idea how long I ran. At least the distance is accurate. Oh well. Hopefully once it warms up again, if it ever warms up again, the app will work properly.

Speaking of that spring, towards the end of my run, I had a somber moment as I saw a dead robin on the path. It doesn't seem appropriate to share a picture of it. I thought about how that came to be. Did the bird not migrate south for the winter? Did he come back too soon, thinking it was time? The path runs under those electric towers, so most likely he flew into a wire. I felt kind of sad, seeing that. And as it began to snow again, I headed towards home, legs numb, face numb. Cursing the cold.

Another long run in the books.

What do you think about when you run alone? Or do you run with a friend?

Do you use a Garmin to track your runs? Or an app on your phone? Any recommendations either way?

Reason to run #386: Teenage Sons

There is a great Tumblr blog called Reasons to Be Fit. Anyone can post a motivational reason to work out. I personally love these.  For example:

But let's face it. There are other reasons we run. Reasons that might not make a great motivational poster. For example, you might be the mother of this guy: 

Truly, I am grateful JB is not my son. And no, JB is NOT one of the reasons I run. As a matter of fact, I'm tired of hearing about his antics. He represents the worst example of teenage decision making. Does his mother run? If not, she should consider it!

I know, I know, the teenage brain=poorly developed prefrontal cortex=bad choices. Lack of reasoning. A feeling of invincibility. Clearly JB hasn't developed his frontal lobe completely. I get it. I just don't want to experience it. But my son?

About 5 months ago, my 16 year old was arrested for shoplifting at Walmart. When we got the phone call from the police to come and bail him out of jail, my first response was disbelief.

"Seriously, Walmart? Why would anyone shoplift there?"

Ok, maybe that wasn't my first response. Actually, I couldn't breathe after that phone call. And I didn't go for a run, but I did go for a brisk walk around the neighborhood before we went to the police station. Have you ever had to pick up your son from the police station? We had to go into a special side entrance where the sign said "Bail Out" and waited in a little room for the police to "process" him and his 2 equally idiotic friends. 

I didn't speak to him until the next day. I went for a long run and lost myself in my thoughts. When I got home, his father and I talked about how to handle this. His punishment was handed down: grounded indefinitely + he had to pay his father and me back for whatever this was going to cost. We told him he had to find a job. But in all honesty, I wanted to throttle him. 

I accompanied him to court about 5 days later and watched with wonder the process of settling cases of other people with poor judgement. What amazed me is that people actually showed up and told the judge, "no, I didn't do my community service". Or "no, I didn't buy car insurance". The judge actually wanted to help these people make things right, and they still blew it. I pointed this out to my son and he nodded. I thought, ok, he's starting to take this seriously.

We stood in front of the judge and my son received a lecture on crime and a sentence of 20 hours of community service. The judge also threatened my son with juvie.

I see some of those kids as patients in my clinic. These aren't the kind of kids he's ever met. My pampered, suburban son has no idea what juvie would be like. He joked about it on the ride home. It took every ounce of self control not to throttle him again.

At first, the community service hours weren't hard to get. He did some hours at a not-for-profit where my sister works and I had him volunteer at a couple of races, handing out water to runners. He tried relying on one his buddies to help with the hours, but oddly, those opportunities never panned out. I kept nagging him to get it done. 

Fast forward to now. We are one month away from the court date and he still has 8 hours to go. The other night I woke up after a dream where he stood in front of the judge and told him he didn't do his hours. Before the judge laid down the verdict, I woke in a sweat. The next morning, I went for a run and thought about all this. When I got home, I started making calls. Luckily, our church said they would take him this Saturday for 8 hours, so he could finish. When I told him, he said, "oh yeah, I was going to call them". His dad laughed at that. I wanted to throttle my son again. And no, he hasn't found a job yet.

I never was one of those moms who complained about her kids. Don't get me wrong, they weren't angels, but when I listened to other moms talk about their kids, I always felt lucky. They gave me very little trouble as toddlers and school age kids. Both my boys are good kids. They make me laugh and we still have fun together. But for the first time as a parent, I am struggling. How do I support them and guide them, without being controlling and alienating them? I know I have to let them make mistakes, but I'd like to avoid another brush with the law. 

All things to consider while I run. Running is my therapy. And one of the reasons I run is because I am the mother of teenagers.

Why do you run?

A pain in the a**

Injury is unavoidable after all these years of pounding the pavement. The list of the 7 most common running injuries reads like the 7 deadly sins: ITB syndrome, plantar fasciitis, runner's knee (aka patellofemoral pain syndrome), shin splints, hamstring issues, achilles tendonitis, and stress fracture. And yes, I've suffered almost all of them.

Now I get to cross another one off the list.

For the past month, I've had some nagging pain in my right butt cheek. Yesterday during my run, it really started to hurt. When I finished my 10 miler, I had trouble lifting my right leg up to go up the stairs. My friend Sara, aka Cheesy Runner Mom, commented yesterday on the severe grading of the roads around here. I've been doing a lot of road running this winter. I think that may have nagged this one on...

Yep. Piriformis syndrome. Actually..I'm not one for drama, so let's call it pre-piriformis syndrome. A major pain in the ass. Hasn't travelled down my leg yet. And it won't, if I can help it.

A little preventative medicine: yoga stretches and rolling.

I stretched out into pigeon pose:

http://www.fitbie.com/exercise/pigeon-forward-fold-runners

And rolled on my lacrosse ball.

http://www.biokineticspt.com/blog/uncategorized/the-lacrosse-ball-is-my-new-friend.html. And no, this is not me!

After this targeted therapy, I felt some relief.

Today was a planned yoga day. I have done yoga for a long time, and since I was so sore from running yesterday on slippery roads, I wanted something that would stretch me out. Something akin to Yin Yoga. None of the videos I have would do, so I turned to YouTube and found a great slow video that hit all the targets. The poses were held for a loooooooooooong time. This type A+ gal had a little trouble settling down at first but once I started my yoga breathing, it was all good.

Now I feel loose and relaxed. On tap for tomorrow...treadmill intervals. Let's see how that all works out.

I've got the music in me...

Anyone remember this?

I guess I've always run with music. When I first started running, I ran around a track at the local health club. Eight times around was a mile. Which I guess isn't too bad...but the walls were painted gray and it was pretty boring. To help pass the time and shut out the grunts of the muscleheads in the weight room, I used to listen to cassette tapes on my Sports Walkman. It had a nifty handle on the back, or I could wear the neoprene waist pouch. Can't believe I still have it! EBay lists it as "vintage". Yikes! Outdoor runs were music free, though.

Once my son was born, I stopped going to the health club to run. I wanted to avoid the health club day care. Germs. I bought a treadmill and set up a mini stereo, which was an upgrade from my cassette player to a CD player.  The downfall with the CDs and cassettes was that you had to listen to an entire album. First world problem, I know...

Then I received one of the first iPods for a birthday present. And suddenly, I could make playlists to match my running mood! I began using my iPod for running full time. I found that if I didn't have to listen to my breathing, I could go farther and faster.

It still works!

The iPods got smaller and the playlists grew. I got an iPhone and found Spotify. What I like about Spotify is that for $10/month (which is less than I used to spend at iTunes, sadly), I have unlimited access to music. I can make playlists and change them at will. If I don't like a song, it's gone. This is a great feature if you want to try a song out and you find that it doesn't work for your needs. 

One thing I don't like about Spotify is that some of the songs cut out/stop playing, unless you have the playlist in the "offline mode". The offline mode allows those songs to be available on your device, even if you aren't connected to WiFi. You need adequate storage space--a potential problem. 

Overall, for me, Spotify has been a great fit! As you can see by the playlist below, I have pretty eclectic taste in music. Don't judge me..I won't apologize for any of the wackier songs...anything that gets me moving is fair game. If it is a really great song or a really great run, you might catch me singing...

Finally, if you need proof that music can help your running to feel effortless, click here for some research to back you up. Just remember to stay safe, stay aware..you know the drill.

Do you listen to music when you run? Why or why not? And if you do, what songs are on your go to playlist?

Firing up the glutes

Last summer, I started having all kinds of nagging pains. My left big toe hurt, and my podiatrist was at a loss as to the cause. "Maybe you need to take some time off of running".

Uh no. First, I sought out a running coach, who owns a training facility in the town where I live. She was a fast talker, and I heard a lot of things that didn't sit well with the way I like to approach running (remember, running is fun!): drills, stop running for a while, lots of drills. Anything fun about this? I also asked about her background, and as it turns out, she was a sprinter in college. But no professional training as a coach, altho she's coached plenty of people, she said. And while I know very little about all of this, her fees seemed high too.

Hmm. Desperate, I sought out my friend who owns a CrossFit box, with her Ironman husband. She recommended a coach who works at the box and does private training. The trainer, Becky, is also a corrective exercise specialist. "Come and meet with her", my friend said, "see what you think". I met with Becky. For my first session, she had me do squats and other similar exercises while she watched me. She also took some pictures. Becky told me that she would work with me and she wouldn't make me stop running while we worked on my issues. I cancelled my session with the manic running coach. The following week, we began to work on engaging my lazy ass (ok, my glutes) to get them to begin "firing" (add your own comment).

We met weekly over the summer. My scheduled half marathon in September went amazingly well. While I didn't meet my time goal, I ran the strongest race I have ever run. After that success, Becky began my immersion into the world of CrossFit. At first, I was resistant. I'm a runner, not a lifter. But I did some reading, and learned a few important things. One thing that stood out is that after age 50, while runners continue to maintain cardiovascular fitness, but begin to lose muscle mass no matter how much they run. The fix? Weight lifting. The result? A half marathon I ran in Schaumburg, on the spur of the moment? 1:58! I haven't seen the other side of 2 hours in several years. When I run, I feel lighter in my legs. I can feel the backs of my legs driving me forward. Going up hills is so much easier. And then there was this run yesterday, in the blowy, snowy, cold weather:

Seriously? sub 9 mins? Who am I? Haven't seen that in a few years...

Then I went to train.

After working on my "clean" technique:

Which I did with just a bar and got humbled many times...this requires coordination, which I am lacking!

And we did this: 

Becky ran behind it, I tried...

Alternating with 20 of these:

x3

Besides a great work out, the slam ball is a great way to work out stress or frustration. Perfect for Ms. Type A+!

The Gift of Running

A little over 20 years ago, I began running when life became too overwhelming for me. In a career that threatens to absorb me, raising two boys, and fighting with my type A+ personality, running always brought things around full circle for me. I found that an hour on the road 4-5 days/week was enough to keep me centered and calm. I've always run alone. I like the time by myself--sometimes to lose myself in my music, sometimes to listen to the rhythm of my shoes on the ground and the pattern of my breath. Most days, that hour on the road was the only time I was alone.

As my boys grew older, I began running longer distances and training for halfs and even a full marathon. While I loved the training, I found that going to the actual races was a little, well, lonely. Not that I minded, really. 

Over the past year, I began reading some running blogs. Personal favorites included Shut Up and Run and Another Mother Runner. I attended a home party-alone-to meet the BAMRs (Badass Mother Runners) and found a huge group of kindred spirits. I felt empowered. Every week, the BAMRs post a story about a blogger and link to her blog. This is how I met the kind-hearted Karen, from Trading in my Heels. Something about her blog struck a chord with me, and I began posting comments. Eventually we made plans to meet at the Fox Valley Marathon, where I was running the half. I found her before the race and she introduced me to some of her friends. Hanging out with them before the race made my race jitters disappear and I ran one of the strongest races I have ever run.

We continued to keep in touch, and Karen connected me to some other bloggers and runners with facebook pages. I didn't know that having a facebook page was "a thing", but it really is huge! In November, I made an impulsive decision to run the Schaumburg Half Marathon. At mile 3, I caught up to Karen and Michelle, another blogger. We ran together for 3 miles, laughing the whole way. We met up again at the finish line, and I found out that I ran one of the best halfs I had in years. 

Since then, I have met a few more mother runners through Karen and Michelle, and we keep in touch virtually. We are planning on a few races this spring.

So I've decided to start writing about my experiences. I have a different perspective, as a "seasoned" runner. My goals are to keep running strong for the rest of my life. And these women keep me inspired with their enthusiasm and love for all that is running. 

How lucky am I? Running has brought me so much more than health. Peace of mind, focus, goals, friendship--running truly is a gift.

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