Running Challenges

I rarely have a problem with motivation to run. I generally always want to run.  When the kids were younger the challenge was finding a babysitter to watch the kids, which thankfully I live in a small spread out "village" of family here on the ranch. I have 3 aunts, 2 siblings, my parents, and a grandmother all close by as well as a cousin, and neighbors that are like family. My husband also is awesome of course, but he works a lot in the fall, summer and spring.

Now that the kids are bigger I tend to run in the mornings before they get up in the summer.  When they go to school I have two days a week at home by myself.  I find those days I tend to procrastinate on running the most for some reason.  I think it is because I have from 7-4:45 to get my run done while they are gone. I don't feel hurried to get it done while there is someone to watch them.

Other running challenges include

• Speed work: I'm just not that into hitting the paces right now. I kind of just want running to feel good and feel fun. 
• Mud:  I have about two miles of pavement close to me, but the rest of the roads I run are either county gravel roads or field roads. If it is muddy out the pavement is nice, but who wants to run the same stretch over and over. The gravel roads can be okay when it's muddy but the field roads and trails are out, I just end up sliding around and getting mud caked on my shoes.

• I get distracted:  I want to stop and check out cool rock formations, old homestead sites, old rusted machinery, and beautiful views.  

• Weather: I have no treadmill. I do have an elliptical but that does not satisfy like running does. So when it is the middle of winter or raining I have to convince myself to just run a mile. I rarely just run a mile. Once out there and warmed up, only once did I turn around after a mile. It was 40 below zero and my eyes kept trying to freeze shut.  Everything else was warm enough, I just needed ski goggles or something.

• Animals: I ran into a bear once and they now seem to be in the country all the time. Thankfully I haven't run into another one, but now I have to run with bear spray all the time. Cows thankfully while they might chase my dog so far run off when I wave my arms or yell at them.  

Linking up today for Tuesdays on the run:

Have a great day!

Weekly Wrap: 2 weeks post marathon

Sunday: 3.16 miles  easy run. 2nd run post marathon, things feeling stiff.  45 minutes of yoga

 and a ride to look for a bull that was out. We found him in the brush and got him back in.

Monday: 60 minutes of yoga

Tuesday: 5 mile run. This felt pretty good although my legs did start to feel pretty tired by the end, still feeling that marathon!

Wednesday:  Easy bodyweight workout

Thursday: Nothing

Friday: 18 minute HIIT workout and a 7 mile run. The run felt really good, although I did break it down into a 4 mile run with a 5 minute break for some yoga and then three more miles. My shoulder while not 100% did not hurt.  It didn't make me stop and walk it out, it may be getting better!

Foggy grey rainy day

Saturday: I didn't have very long to run, so I ran fast..sort of. But it felt great, and it quit raining by the time I got out running. My legs are feeling like they really want to run.

Roader is fast becoming comfortable in the house and a spoiled part of the family.

Running 17 miles
Yoga: 2
Strength:2
Overall a good week and I am so happy I took last week so easy after the marathon as now my legs are feeling rested and refreshed,  ready to start thinking about Ragnar Hawaii in 17 days.

and the rest of the yoga poses from the challenge that I didn't get into my runstagrams.

What a difference between the foggy sky and the blue sky!

and once again linking up with Holly and Tricia for the Weekly Wrap

 feel free to check it out and join in! 
The purpose of this link is to connect with and support other active women.  You can summarize your whole week or just a small portion of it.  It's up to you!  Race recaps are also encouraged!   {See complete rules} 

Fright in the Night and Little Victories

So
Having a baby in the house again has been a little rough on my sleep. Roader does not like to be in his crate at night and I am pretty sure he has not spent an entire night in it yet.    Thursday night I got up at midnight and took him out in the pouring rain so he could do his business. I took him back to my son's room where the crate is and put him back.  He started howling in such a sad manner I took him back out and snuggled with him for a bit.  Since my son's bed is a full size, I laid down on the bed with the puppy next to Cade and tried to get Roader to fall asleep, but he just wanted to play.  It wasn't long before he woke up Cade.   I whispered "Puppies aren't always snuggly are they?" I gave Cade quite a fright. He sat up quickly and said "OH MY GOD".  I started laughing and then he did too. "Mom, you scared me! It isn't funny!"   He hadn't realized I was there at all until I spoke.

Poor kid. How he slept through all the puppy noise I have no idea.   Last night Roader slept in the mud room with Cola and did really well.  I got up and let him out to potty at midnight at 3:45.  I think the little guy is getting this thing down.

I did a longerish run yesterday and in the category of little victories: my shoulder did not hurt!!! WHOOP!  I ran 7.3 miles and not once had to stop or stretch it out because of the pain.  Maybe, I am finally over the hump. It hasn't been waking me up in the middle of the anymore either this last week. It isn't all better, there is still some stiffness and uncomfortableness going on, but a huge improvement. Maybe it won't be an issue for Ragnar Hawaii!

Look how foggy it was yesterday.  The sky is all white! it was so pretty to run in. Doesn't make for good pictures though.

Bulls in the mist?

Anyone else like running in the fog? It just seems peaceful to me

and just for laughs, I saw this yesterday. My husband could have used one of these when the kids were younger!

What is something that made you laugh this week? or a little victory?

Three Things Thursday: Meet Roader

1.  My son got his heart set on a puppy for his birthday.  It was actually my fault although I had no intention of a puppy and I never even mentioned a puppy.  It all started with him not really knowing what he wanted for his birthday and telling me he didn't need anything and not to worry about it.

Right. Don't worry about it.

Then one morning about a week before his birthday I was joking around with him about how a boy who was going to be 10 and finally double digits in age surely ought to have more responsibilities and chores.  He thought about it carefully, looked at me out of the corner of his eye and said

"What are you telling me here?  Are you getting me a pet for my birthday? Oh, my gosh a puppy?!  A PUPPY?! That's all I want is a puppy!"

Uh, no. I am impressed with his reasoning though. We already have 2 goats, 6 horses, 4 cats, a dog, 2 rabbits, and a hamster. Not to mention the cows, but those aren't really pets.  Only Cola and the hamster live in the house.

of course, that was all he could think about. I, however, did not want to shell out the big bucks for a puppy. I did start looking in the shelters.. no puppies.  Like seriously!  So I looked in the classifieds.   I was still leaning towards no puppy.  The day before his birthday we had a discussion about how much puppies cost and I just didn't have that much to spend. He agreed to pay for half and handed me the money.  I was losing my case here.

Later that day we went and picked up this guy.

2. I asked on a Facebook group what beagles are like to run with and got mixed reviews

On my 3rd beagle In 23yrs of running. Best dogs ever! Running city/street they're good for 3-5mi. But off-lead (sportdog ecollar) on trails they're good for 8-15mi easy. Just need to bring water or find streams for 'em. Great little running buddies! You'll love yours. 😀

 I ran all the time with our beagle when she was younger. But the running was more of a fartlek workout - ha! She would put her nose down and run like hell until she smelled something - then dead stop, follow the scent - sometimes backtracking - until she found it, peed on it or ate it 😂😂 

 Beagles can be very stubborn (may want to run in the opposite direction that you are running)

My son however, said I am not allowed to run with him. Roader might decide to be my dog and not his if I ran with him.

3. So far Cola is tolerating him really well.  He has growled at him a few times, but mostly seems interested and follows him around.

and this guy..look how grownup he is looking on his 10th bday compared to his third!

So handsome!

Weekly Wrap: week 1 post marathon

Sunday: Bozeman Marathon the recap for that is posted HERE. I did throw in a few of my race photos into this post just for fun.

Monday: Nothing. I did have to work so I did walk around a lot and did a few squats..not on purpose just work related.

Tuesday: 1 hour of yoga.  It felt really good. Quads still really sore, hammies tight but otherwise not too bad.

Wednesday: 45 minutes of yoga

Thursday: Nothing.  I am really good at this recovery week thing.

Friday: 30 minutes of yoga before work. Legs feeling back to normal and wanting to run!

Saturday: 4 mile run, 20 minutes of strength training. The run felt pretty good although a bit sluggish.  Quads felt more tired than usual after strength training. I kept it pretty easy though.

Shoulder update:  Meh. I had it taped Thursday by a physical therapist and he says I need to work on my posture. He said the muscle, infraspinatus, is very mad and to work on doing some strength training for it as well.   It felt pretty good for my run Saturday until about three miles in and then started to bother me. Grr.  I walked for a bit to let it work out and then finished my run without it bothering me.

Next step if it doesn't start improving is to get an xray.  I feel like it is so so slowly getting better and I am so so impatient.  It continues to be stiff in the morning and feels really good by afternoon and into the evening.  Wondering if I need a different pillow or something to help.

I also continued with the yoga challenge

Running: 30.2 miles.  One marathon, 5 days of rest and one easy 4 mile run!
Strength training: 1
Yoga: 3

and once again linking up with Holly and Tricia for the Weekly Wrap

 feel free to check it out and join in! 
The purpose of this link is to connect with and support other active women.  You can summarize your whole week or just a small portion of it.  It's up to you!  Race recaps are also encouraged!   {See complete rules} 

Three Things Thursday

Thursday already!

1. I am feeling pretty good post marathon, my quads were really sore Monday and Tuesday, a little sore yesterday and maybe just a tad sore today. I haven't run at all yet and I am okay with that. I am determined to take my whole rest week! Maybe this weekend I will go for a short easy run.

2. I am having my shoulder looked at by some sports medicine people today. We are going to try to figure out what is going on and if there is a good way to use kinesiology tape on it to help with the pain the happens while running. I a wondering if they are going to make me run to recreate the pain.   It continues to be stiff in the morning and sometimes by evening it feels really good and I don't even notice it.  I will have more on it later

3. If you have a Holiday themed run in mind...Inknburn has a Holiday pre-order up right now that is pretty fabulous. 

There are women's, men's and childrens (both boys and girls) available in the top and the capris are for women only. SO the whole family can match! sooo Run run as fast as you can, can't catch me...
(No I don't get paid for this, but I am an ambassador and I do think these are pretty sweet!)

Bozeman Marathon

I, of course, did not sleep very well the night before the marathon. I finally got out of bed just before my alarm went off at 4.  I made some coffee and started getting ready. I had set out everything I needed the night before, so I got ready fairly quick.  Sarah was picking me up in front of the hotel at 5 and I got downstairs just as she pulled up in her old ranch pick-up which we decided was the perfect thing for two Team Beef girls to be going to the marathon in.

The man at packet pickup kept emphasizing to me that the last bus was leaving at 5:45 so we wanted to make sure we didn't miss the bus.  We were there before any buses were.  No worries there!  The bus ride out seemed to take a long time, but it was nice and warm and fun to visit with Sarah.

Once we pulled up to the starting area we could see the grass on the side of the road whipping around. Eeek! It looked cold out there, and it was! We got in line at the porta potties right away and then got back on the bus to wait for awhile. We didn't have long to wait and before we knew it, it was time to drop our drop bags off and head to the start.

Once the gun went off and I started running I warmed up right away. The wind was behind us and it was in the low 40s so really it felt great for running.  I concentrated on keeping my pace around 8:30 to 9 min/mile pace and the first few miles went by easily.  My shoulder didn't start to bother me until about 2.5 miles in.  I played around with a few stretches while running and finally found one that seemed to really help around mile 4.  It didn't take away the shoulder pain, but kept it somewhat under control.  Although I am sure I looked funny clasping my hands together and running with them straight out in front of me every now and then.

Miles 9-13 seemed really hard mentally. This was the most uphill portion of the marathon and my shoulder was really bothering me. On top of that my Honeystinger chews and Tailwind that I have used with no problem during all my long runs while training were bothering my stomach. I hadn't stopped at any water stops until mile 12ish since I was carrying Tailwind, but by that point I was craving water and feeling very thirsty.

Mile 14.5ish  I was feeling super motivated to get here as I knew my husband and kids would be waiting for me here with a fresh bottle of Tailwind.  I took it and high fived my kids and kept running. The kids couldn't believe I would even stop for a high five "Keep running Mom, don't stop"!

At this point the course was mostly downhill. It seemed like at every water stop, and I stopped at nearly every water stop in the second half of the race, someone would say "It's all downhill from here"  and then there would be a hill. Not a big one, but a hill all the same.

Kiley drove by somewhere around mile 21, yelled some encouragement and took some pictures.  So nice having encouragement along the way!  I even managed to smile.

My pace was slowing quite a bit as I was now walking through water stops and my guts started protesting.  I had to use a porta potty around mile 24, but from there I finished feeling pretty strong.  For the most part my shoulder quit bothering me for the last 5 miles or so.  I feel like it really sucked a lot of the fun out the marathon. My quads were feeling a bit crampy for the last three miles, and I know I will be feeling that for a couple days!

The last 2 miles is a long straightaway and you can seem the turn to the finish for a long time, when I finally turned onto main street the finish line seemed soooo far away! It was great to see my kids and husband cheering me on and I finished pretty strong, passing a few people along the way.

Two more fellow Team Beef Montana runners, who had run the half, were waiting just across the finish line and after I had a couple minutes to catch my breath and drink some water we had fun catching up and the race. We also met some Team Beef runners from Texas.

We are all headed to Hawaii in a month to run Ragnar Hawaii

I ended up 3rd in my age group and scored a belt buckle for an age group award.  I am super happy with my time and completing my second marathon without hitting the wall as insanely as I did in my first one.

I got a 28 second PR even!

Randoms

• It got really warm towards the end. 
• By the time I got home and weighed myself I was down 6 lbs...better hydrate!
• The water stops the first half of the marathon were about three miles apart and two miles apart the second half. 
• I was very glad I carried my own hydration as well
• Injuries: one big blood blister on my left foot and several small blisters. One of my toenails ate the toe next to it. Very sore quads. Chaffing in left armpit and chafe marks around waist from my hydration belt.  Nothing very major thankfully.  Now to hopefully get this shoulder thing figured out.
• Marathons are hard
• Bozeman marathon is a very scenic course. 
• awesome medals and awards!
• Loved having my family there for support.

linking up

Randon Pre Marathon Thoughts

As I sit here typing this I have 5 days, 2 hours and 43 minutes until the start of my next marathon. As you sit there reading it, I have even less!

So far the weather is looking pretty fabulous with a forecast high of 66 degrees. The predicted low that morning is 39, so a bit chilly at the start, but that is how I like it!

I haven't decided what I will wear. I have been wearing my Inknburn skirts for all my long runs so I want to wear one for the marathon also. The big dilemma is of course, which one?!  These are my skirt options...

I am leaning towards the blue one or the green one.  Inknburn needs to come out with a black skirt!
I could easily go with a pair of shorts, but I really like the side pockets on the shorts for my phone and fuel. Ergh.

I was planning to carry my hydration in my Orange Mud, but with the shoulder thing bothering me recently I don't want anything that will aggravate it so I think I will wear my hydration belt that I have worn for many half marathon and wore for my first full marathon. I am hoping my husband and kids will agree to meet me out on the course about halfway or so and have some full bottles they can trade out for my empties.  If this can happen I will only carry the two 8 oz bottles. Otherwise I can carry as many as three 10 oz bottles, but I really don't want to!

Shoes: Altra Torins

I am working on a music playlist for when I need some motivation.  I am planning to start with no music for at least the first hour.  This is what I usually do for half marathons too.  I have added a lot of old favorites as well as a few fun new songs that were suggested on Instagram. Here are a few new ones that I am loving!

• Honey, I'm Good  by Andy Grammer
• Just like Fire by Pink
• Parachute by Chris Stapleton

I am super excited.  and nervous, and impatient. I know I can do it, I know I will hit a wall. I am feeling more determined than ever to have another marathon on the books.

What's your favorite marathon advice? Which skirt should I wear?

Linking up this week for Tuesday's on the Run

This week's writing prompt: Free Topic.  If you don't have anything to share about Free Topic, feel free to post any running related blog post.  Link-up with Patty, Erika, and Marcia!

Weekly Wrap: Into September

Sunday: No running, just more cow work.  We had two smaller bunches to pre condition so at sunrise we rode out and gathered, got them in the corral and then when that bunch was done we gathered everything up and went down the road a bit and gathered the two year olds (first time moms) and took them to the main corral which was nice since there was no setting up or taking down, except for the chute.

Us girls and Cade rode out while the men were setting up the chute and working on the old corrals to get them ready.

Monday: Hill repeats and a bit of a tempo run. 24 minute HIIT workout with weights

Tuesday:  24 minute HIIT workout with kettle bell and weights

Wednesday: Easy 5 mile run and 30 minutes of yoga

Thursday:  Nothing

Friday: Nothing, unless you count all the miles I put on at work.. it was a busy day and I did a lot of walking!  The surgeon I generally work with puts on short easy cases on Fridays like carpal tunnel releases and trigger finger releases. These cases sometimes are only in the room 15 minutes and we had 15 cases Friday.  That is a lot of going to pre-op getting a patient, taking them back to the OR, circulating a quick case, taking them to recovery room and then cleaning the room and starting over. Good thing my favorite surgeon brought in my favorite maple bars to fuel me through the day!

Saturday: Easy long run. 45 minutes of yoga in the morning.

Also I added up my August miles.  Not a highest ever, but pretty close I think!

I just got these sweet InknBurn pants and am so super in love with them!

Started a new yoga challenge. I was going to try one with harder poses. but my shoulder has been bothering me so I stuck with the easy one. Here is the first three days of the challenge

Miles for the week 18.6 ... wow hardly any
Strength workouts. 2
Yoga 2

Niggles, pains, injuries.  Just my right shoulder... which continues to give me grief when I run. I had it looked at Friday at work and was reassured that it is not a rotator cuff tear so I am thinking nerve thing, or mad muscle? It doesn't hurt when I first start running but kind of works up to a stabbing pain where I have to just stop running and massage it out. I think the weights this week did not help it. Saturday it was terrible to run with, but yesterday wasn't quite as bad.  I am going to a chiropractor this week to see if that will help. I am prepping myself mentally to run a marathon with the pain, on the bright side my legs feel great. A small niggle in my left ankle and foot, but nothing that seems to bother me running.

I would also love playlist suggestions for the marathon.  No rap though, I can't stand that shit. No hip hop either, same reason. I did just add  "Honey Im Good" and am loving it.

linking up with Holly and Tricia for the Weekly Wrap

 feel free to check it out and join in! 
The purpose of this link is to connect with and support other active women.  You can summarize your whole week or just a small portion of it.  It's up to you!  Race recaps are also encouraged!   {See complete rules} 

Three Things Thursday: August Miles, Marathon Goals

1.  I ran 140.9 miles in the month of August.  Other than a few niggles here and there it all felt pretty good. I am 10 days away from my second marathon and am getting excited and nervous! I know at this point I can do it, I mean I have already done 21.4 miles.  I can do this.

2. Goal setting. I haven't wrote down any goals so this is as good of a time as any to do that.

• A Goal: 3:48  This would be at about a 8:42 pace.  This is reasonable I think given the mostly downhill nature of the course.  There are some uphill miles from miles 6-12, but the rest of the map shows downhill or flat from there. I do know from having run the half marathon before that I will encounter two smallish hills near the end somewhere. 
• B Goal: Just beat my previous marathon time of 3:56:55.  This is about a 9:02 pace and close to what most of my long runs were at, so I think I could do this. 
• C Goal:  Just finish and have fun doing it!  I know some days races don't go as planned, so this is my back up plan.

A little blurry but you get the idea

3. Now I need to figure out if I am going to carry my own hydration or get it all from aid stations.  I have been using Tailwind for my long runs, so I think I will carry some and get some from aid stations. My shoes, socks, and tank are decided just not my bottoms.  I know from past experiences running here that I will feel the elevation a little bit, but not too bad.

How was your August?
Do you set goals for races or just run them?