Map my run

When I run outdoors, I run with a GPS tracking app to see how far I've gone and how slow I'm running. I've tried multiple apps and landed on the MapMyRun app about a year ago. I found it to be easy to use, accurate (once I got an iPhone, I had no issues with the GPS working), and best of all, free!

The app keeps getting better with each update too. When running this week, I discovered that it now speaks to you at each mile, informing you of the distance, time elapsed, and pace. No longer do I have to dig out my phone to find out how far I've gone and if I'm keeping a good pace. You can also see your splits at each mile and the elevation of your run.

If you are looking for a good app to help track your runs, I recommend MapMyRun!

Miles logged: 9.3

Academy Aqua Sox

Today was my first run in the recently purchased Academy aqua sox. Other than looking like an overgrown schoolgirl in my purple and black Mary Janes (and not in a sexy Britney Spears way), the aqua sox were a good buy. There was no pinching, or rubbing, or awkward dragging of the shoes. I noticed that I had 2 blisters on the bottom of my right foot, both of which had popped on their own. I'm not sure if they are from the new aqua sox or if they are from something else.

And you can't imagine how happy I was to be wearing these aqua sox when we had to stop our run so my barefoot husband could dig a piece of glass out of his foot. I'd rather experiment with new minimalist shoes than to worry about foreign objects lodging themselves in my feet!

Miles logged: 8.5

I neglected to include in my race report yesterday that I tripped and fell during the Warrior Dash. As a minimalist runner, I do not lift my feet much when I take a step and this has hurt me in the past. I tripped on a root on Sunday and was not able to right myself. I ended up stumbling and falling on my right elbow and hip. Like I don't already have enough issues with my hips! I skinned my elbow, but it doesn't look too bad. My hip, on the other hand, is varying shades of purple and green. The good news is that it only hurts when I put pressure on it. The bad news is that I can't sleep on my right side.

Miles logged: 3.25

Warrior Dash Race Report

I had to drag around immense guilt most of the weekend for not going on my long run Saturday morning. But I had so much to do around the house (my husband comes home later this week and I can't let him know what a terrible housekeeper I am!) and in the yard, that I just couldn't squeeze in 2 hours of running on Saturday. And I had the Warrior Dash on Sunday afternoon, so there was no way to get in a long run this morning either.

I rad the Warrior Dash in North Texas last year and had a blast. I was dealing with a stress fracture in my foot and my running buddy had a stress fracture in her fibula and tibia, so we were quite the pair. There was no way we were going to miss out on the race, so we sucked it up (hello painkillers) and powered through. This year, we were able to pull a group of 9 together. Since there were great costumes last year (I think the guy in the full business suit, including briefcase was my favorite), we thought it would be fun to have a group theme this year. In my lazy head, iron-on transfer shirts were the perfect solution!

The back said "Damn it feels good to be a warrior"

The Warrior Dash is just over a 5k distance, and I had run it before, so I had no concerns about finishing. We all made a pact beforehand, no man (or woman) left behind! 

The team in matching shirts

We started promptly at noon, and while it was warm out, it wasn't 89 degrees like the start line thermometer was reading. We realized afterwards that it was so high because of the starting line flames! This was the first race that I've ever run without a hat and I realized that I sweat a lot...I never notice it in the gym since I have a nice towel. But, with nothing clean to wipe my face, the sweat ran into my eyes and it burned! 

Several of the obstacles were the same this year, but they did change the course up this time. I think my favorite obstacle was the water hazard. It was an ice cold pond/lake/really slow moving river and you had to make your way through and climb over floating pontoons. I could not have made it over the pontoons without the help of the men on the team (no woman left behind)! I enjoyed jumping over the fire (duraflame logs in a trench), though it wasn't difficult or scary. I tried to do a "spectacular" jump for the cameras...so we'll see what they actually caught! And the last obstacle was the mud pit. I vowed to cannonball into the mud pit this year. However, that wasn't possible due to the shallow pit and nowhere to really jump from. I did make a big splash falling in though! And I made sure to kick my feet the whole way to ensure the guy behind me was covered in mud!

The team, post race

I did it!

Dirty doesn't even begin to explain it. We were covered from head to toe in mud. It was in my clothes, ears,  nose, and even got some in my mouth. That is particularly disgusting because someone apparently threw up in the mud pit not long before we arrived. Hopefully antibiotics can cure whatever I catch. We were able to get some of the mud off in the fire shower. No, you haven't lived until you have taken a shower by fire hose. During this "shower", you are standing in mud up to your ankles and can barely get the surface mud off. I stood there for several minutes with my eyes closed because I had nothing clean to wipe my face with after getting sprayed and my hands were still covered in mud. 

Obligatory beer pic--see, we are moderately clean

Shoes donated for charity

Awesome finishers medal

Miles logged: 3.2

Race Recovery

To help your body recover quickly from a long distance race, your body needs 2 things: carbohydrates and protein. You need carbs to replace this muscle fuel and protein to help repair your muscles. Supposedly chocolate milk is one of the best foods for recovery since it is a perfect meld of these two things. I can't imagine anything more disgusting after a long hit run than milk, of any flavor. I prefer a banana as a post race snack, and a beer if available at the race (when else is it socially acceptable to pop open a beer at 10am?). I typically hit up a fast food place on my way home, Chipotle, Jimmy John's, or Potbelly, for a meal. After the Austin 10/20, I had crab cake eggs Benedict. Not only was it absolutely delicious, it also met the carb/protein needs for the quickest muscle recovery! Miles logged: 4

Austin 10/20 Race Report

I was so relieved this morning when I woke up, looked outside and saw the moon. Clear skies meant that the rain hadn't arrived yet to ruin the race. I was worried that we would wake up to storms and my running crew would chicken out (and I didn't plan to run alone!).

We all met at the lobby at 7am for a delicious breakfast of bagels with peanut butter and bananas. I consider this the perfect pre-race meal. Once we had sufficiently stuffed ourselves (I was still full from dinner last night, but made sure to eat this morning), we headed over to the start line. The start area was organized into corrals, but there was no corral number on our bibs. The announcer said that the corrals corresponded to our bib numbers, but I couldn't figure out how. However, they removed the corral lines before the starting gun, so I'm not sure what good they did anyway.

Starting line

Lookin' good pre-race

The race started off with a great band--singing the ever popular "Ice Ice Baby" and were wearing funny costumes. They were the best band of the race and we got to run by them twice, though I have no idea what they were singing the second trip by. There were bands about every half mile during the race, so there wasn't much of the course where I couldn't hear music (I ran without headphones). Thank goodness for the bands, because the area that we ran in wasn't very scenic. We were somewhere north of Austin and a somewhat industrial area. The course was quite flat, but we had a pretty strong wind to contend with for a bit of resistance. And it was quite warm, mid 70s, and humid, so the wind was actually welcome!

We all tried to stay together as a group, and I was impressed that the men didn't sprint ahead and leave us ladies in the dust. I, however, managed to lose the group I was running with again. Losing my running buddies about 3/4 of the way through the race seems to be status quo now.

There were a couple of fave moments during the race for me. One of them was at mile 5, when the race volunteers handed out ice cold towels. It was like a little piece of heaven that lasted about 90 seconds. Then it was back to running through soup. My other favorite moment of the race was when we reached our cheering squad after mile 8. My parents and Eddie were there waving signs and cheering us on.

I was so happy to see him!

The finish line was a bit unorganized, but they had plenty of bananas and water for me. We were able to meet up with the rest of the group pretty easily after the race. The medals are great! Easily the biggest and heaviest medal I've received to date. They really make you feel like you accomplished a big feat!

Big winners!
 

Miles logged: 10

Inaugural Austin 10/20

I made the trek down to Austin today for the Austin 10/20 race. Austin is about a 3.5 hour drive from Dallas, but I had my trusty cheering squad with me make the time pass quicker (Mom, Dad, and weenie Eddie).

Race gear

We spent the day enjoying the sights of Austin, and by sights, I really mean freaks! I definitely understand the "keep Austin weird" bumper stickers now.

We ended up at the Aloft hotel this afternoon, my parents and Eddie are staying there, and there was a big race pre-party. We weren't officially a part of it, but the photographer took Eddie's picture! There was a guy that came in with a camera crew-he was African, and will probably win the race. The going joke between he group is that he agreed to carry me on his back tomorrow, so we will finish #1 and #2! We carbo loaded at Maggiano's tonight; I had eggplant Parmesan... I'll let you know if that was a bad decision in the morning!

Our yummy dinner site

The weather has been a challenge today and I am worried about what tomorrow will bring. The wind has been blowing at 20+ mph and there is a 50% chance of rain in the morning. If there is lightening and thunder, I won't be running.

Miles logged: 0

Time to Taper?

The Austin 10/20 is this Sunday, a 10 mile race and I'm wondering if I'm supposed to taper since this is race week. I've never run a 10 mile race, I would normally consider it a training run (though I don't have any races longer than this scheduled). So the question is, should I taper this week? I've been running 15-20 miles a week for a couple of months now, so I'm not sure I need to worry about lightening my mileage.  If I can fit in another visit to the gym this week, I plan to run once more before the big race!

Miles logged: 3.5

Oops, I did it again!

I have a confession to make. I didn't run today (no, not my confession), but I did have a close encounter with the most amazing selection of aqua sox I've ever seen! I ended up at an Academy, looking for a gift for a friend, and figured why not look for aqua sox while I was there. I think I might have hit the aqua sox jackpot! They had a hug selection for men, women, and kids, and all around 7 bucks.

Aqua sox heaven!
I love that they squeezed the Fila Skeletoes into the group! Not quite the same price range!

I wonder if there is a support group for this obsession?

I brought these beauties home with me (managed to only buy one pair)!

Miles logged: 0

Winter is over!

 I know that the official end of Winter was on March 20, but I don't judge my seasons by an equinox. Who cares which way the earth is tilted anyway? It wasn't the chirping birds that woke me up before dawn, or the bunny that hopped alongside me (maybe it was the Easter Bunny!), or the turtle that crossed my path. No, it wasn't any of the normal telltale signs of Spring that convinced me that Winter was over. It was the working water fountain!! I am so relieved to have working water fountains again. I sucked my backpack camel dry today, and it wasn't that hot outside, nor was I on a very long run. Working water fountains means I can switch back to my camel with the easy to refill bottle.

Happy Spring everyone!

Miles logged: 9

Inspiration, Courtesy of Louis Zamperini

I recently read an amazing book about WWII that inspired my running. The book is called Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand and chronicles the life of Louis Zamperini. As a child, Louis was a thug and a neighborhood terror. His older brother saw something in him and taught him the skill and discipline of running. Louis became one of the nation's greatest milers, winning 2 NCAA titles, and competing in the Berlin Olympics before WWII. Had it not been for the war, Louis would likely have been the first American to break the 4 minute mile. After he enlisted, Louis became a POW and endured more than 2 years of unimaginable torture. He never competed in another race. "Pain is that last quarter of a mile. The last of anything. You feel it, but when you're through racing, your whole body just feels elated. So the pain is worth it." Louis Zamperini Miles logged: 0

Review of 2012 Aqua Sox

Today I wore my new 2012 Wal-Mart aqua sox. I have to say, my review isn't great. As I mentioned before, the colors are obnoxious. Don't get me wrong, I wear a lot of pink and black, but not combined on my shoes.

I also don't have the size right. I think I might be able to pull off a kid's large. I had a problem with dragging the tip of my toes. I think it was because the shoes were too big. I was afraid of tripping, but somehow made it through the run without an accident. I'm too cheap to toss the shoes out, so I will be running in them until they wear out. I'm still holding out hope that Wal-Mart will re-release the aqua sox from last year!!

Miles logged: 8.25