Last Year/This Year

Last Year

August 29, 2010, I wrote This

I was up to 15 miles.

I only ran long runs on Sunday Mornings.

I did track workouts.

And "hill days".

I was motivated to lose weight.

I did the majority of my runs solo.

I whined about running (a lot).

I was a computer tech.

I got chub rub.

I drank wine.

I went to the beach.


{EstrogenFest 2010}

This Year

I ran 11 miles on a Sunday night (yesterday). It's the longest I've run thus far in training '11.

I've done 1 track workout.

And no "hill days".

I'm up in the air about losing weight. At this point, I view it as a pleasant bi-proudct of training.

I do (just about) all my runs with Billy.

I don't whine about running.

(Because compared to last year, I don't do much of it!)

I'm not a computer tech anymore (praise Jesus! he knows I wasn't very good at it).

I get chub rub.

I drink wine.

I go to the beach.


{My dear MuM doing what she does best

GLORY!!!

Racing is FUN!
Billy and I ran the first in a series of races leading up to the Marathon. I ran it last year. You can read about that here. If you don't feel like it, I'm going to go ahead and summarize the results, so don't worry. Most importantly (and I'm not just saying this because I ran 4 minutes slower than last year) is that this race was frickin' FUN. Like, "Ooooohhhhhh, so THAT'S why I woke up at 4 a.m. on a Sunday" fun.

It was fantastic to have a race buddy too. Billy and I ran together for the whole time, except for the last 50 yards or so when his long legs bettered my chubby gams. No matter, though. For 15 glorious kilometers (9.32 miles) there we were side by side, occasionally making fun of people (need to work on the snark factor)offering encouragement, checking up on each other now and again - in lovey marital running bliss. Sigh. Swoon! Vomit ;)

I knew going into it that I wouldn't be as fast as I was last year at this time. Last year around now my training was on a whole different level. Our goal was to just run 9 minute miles or faster - and we definitely did that. Setting realistic goals is important, and we were both very pleased with the way the race went. Also, because it went so well, it was not only a HUGE motivator to kick up our training, but also gave us a nice snapshot of where we are at. The outlook is sunny!

Just for fun, here's my stats from last year compared to this year:

Last Year
Time: 1:17:38
Finished: 203 out of 784 overall
Age Group: 11 out of 63

This Year
Time: 1:21:55
Finished: 267 out of 789 overall
Age Group: I was 6th in my age group, but I don't know how many of us "25-29F"s there were.
Av. mile split: 8:47

Billy
(It should be noted that this is the longest Billy has ever run in his life. He figures this means that everything is a PR)
Time: 1:21: 47
Finished: 262/789 (do you REALIZE the EPICNESS of this?! His first race in the Marathon Readiness series and he finished 262?! A marathon is 26.2 miles! HELLO!)
Age Group: 23
Av. Mile Split: 8:47

The More Things Change
So maybe last year at this time I was running faster than I am now. And last year I was on my own instead of with Billy. But, we all know that the more things change, the more they stay the same and alllll the lessons I learned last year about slathering feet with vaseline and wearing microfiber socks could not keep my battle wounds away:



Lovely blood blister, no? Didn't you all MISS the nasty pictures of my feet?!

Hope you enjoy ; )
xo

Bend With It

Flexibility In Life
Is important. Things change. Shit happens. Pleasant surprises come along. Life tends to be dynamic - and it's important to just roll with it rather than snap, no?

I find myself thinking a lot about flexibility of late. Some of you know that last week I was fraught with anxiety over a decision about jobs. "WHAT DO I DO?!?" I asked about a million times a day to anyone who I came in contact with whose opinion mattered to me. The dilemma was this: the job I have right now allows me to be extremely - you guessed it - flexible, the new job didn't come with that option. Currently, I work between two offices, so no one really knows where I am at any given time, and I can do a lot of my work from my home as long as I have my work computer(s) and my cell phone(s). I thoroughly enjoy leisurly lunches, impromptu customer meetings, site surveys, and the rest because my days aren't STRUCTURED or RIGID or TIGHTly packed with a set daily schedule. Yes, in life, I prefer flexibilty.

(and, for the record - although I accepted the other job offer against my better judgement, it ended up working out since my boss gave me a raise to stay. BOOM!)

Flexibility of Body
Now here, I have an entirely different outlook. I'm about as flexible as the wood chair I'm perched upon to write this. My muscles are tight - especially in my legs and lower back and stretching HURTS (!!!) so I generally don't do it.

Did I talk about this last year? I may have, I don't recall. Regardless, it warrants coming back to because I am trying, TRYING so very hard these days to improve my flexibility. Ok, that's a lie. I suppose I'm not really trying. But I WANT to be trying! And I WANT to be as flexible in my quads as I am in my job!!! And look all elegant and graceful and be able to do things like this:



And wanting all of that is very fine and dandy, but it's not going to make my lower back/hip woes disappear and wanting sure isn't going to make me all bendy like I want to be.

Being Flexible With the Life of My Body (or something like that)
So, in what is the most valiant attempt I've ever made towards furthering my flexibility (did you know flexibility as actually a measure of fitness?! true story. who knew?) I have started going to yoga classes. Pilates, too. Sometimes, I have even been stretching out before and after my runs! This may not seem like much, but to me it is HUGE because I've never seen my self as a mantra-chanting, birkenstock-wearing, healing-crystal wearing, "OM"ing kinda gal. I haven't seen much improvement yet, but it has to be helping right? I mean, the only way to get mo' flexible is to strech mo'. There's definitely a lot of stretching going on in yoga and pilates.

I'll try to keep you updated on the progress of my flexibility - in all facets of my being. The goal is to be able to put my palms on the floor and to eventually be so flexible and strong that I look like this:



Or this:


Or this:

(but without the ballet shoes, because we all know those dreams were thwarted long, long ago. And dancer's aren't allowed to have fat ankles) ;)

An afterthought
If any of you lovelies out there have any tips for improving my body's ability to bend, please, pass it along this way!!

Stress and the Solution

Yesterday
I was stressed out, so I went on a 60 minute run while Billy was flying to clear my head.

Today
I was stressed out so I'm drinking too much with Billy instead of doing a track workout (which we've put off for days).

It all evens out, you see.

xo

What Doesn't Kill You...

...might cost you a hip!

Myth: Running is good for you!
Fact: Running 26.2 consecutive miles put me in physical therapy for almost 6 months. Also, a lifetime of running is giving my dear dadE one of these:



That's what ol' dadE is going in for surgery tomorrow. A new hip. All of you must be thinking "YEESH...Ash, how old is your dad?" Well, I'm here to tell you he is 53 years young, which is (to me, anyway) not the age I think of when I start envisioning the type of person who needs a hip replacement. I can't be alone on this on, can I...?

In Running's Defense:
Running cannot be entirely blamed for dad's hip woes. He joined the Army right out of high school and as a Ranger (read: total badass) jumped out of a lot of planes. The impact from hitting the ground, even with a parachute, probably hasn't done his hip much good. Dad was also in a very bad car accident in his early 20s that messed him up pretty good. That doesn't help things either.

BUT
...neither has running. And just because those other factors hurt doesn't mean that running helped. In fact, I'm pretty sure that running 1,000s (10,000s? 100,000s?) of miles over my dad's life is a very LARGE contributing factor to why he has to go into surgery tomorrow.

Want to see what a "buss up"* hip looks like?


(bad hip)


(good hip)


See how there's no room between the hip bone and socket in the first x-ray?? That's because the cartilage is practically ALL GONE. Poor dad :( I feel so bad for him! Back in March the Eppens clan convened on Maui for a week of too much fun before Lil' Brother Epps shipped off on deployment. I remember dad couldn't walk too far because his hip was hurting so bad. Back when he visited me last October, we hiked Maunawili for goodness sake! I know it has to be hard for him to be so immobile when he's been so active (running, hiking, skiing, etc) for his whole life.

Is he nervous for tomorrow's surgery? Nah. He thinks this stuff is "neat." Mostly, I think he's just ready to get it done with and healed so that he can move around without pain again. And really - what was the alternative anyway? To not have jumped out of perfectly good planes? To not have logged all those miles? To not have run all those races and pusehd himself? To not do what he has always come so naturally to him and what (at the time) felt good? Puh-leeze. Some people run every day and then need a hip replacement at 53. Some people run every day and don't ever have any health problems. That's life. It could all be over tomorrow, so run as hard as you can today.

I do admit that I'm nervous. I'm nervous for my dad going in for major surgery. I'm nervous that my current hip problems are just a small taste of what awaits me in 20-something more years of pounding the pavement. But when I get really worked up, and the hamsters in my brain start spinning in their wheels, I do what I always do: go for a run, and then drink some wine. Clarity and perspective are almost always waiting at the end.

*Buss up is pidgin and out here it means "busted" "busted up" "messed up" or "really really really really drunk"

PS - DAD!!! I'm talking to YOU here! You have a month off of work. I totally expect you to write about running/your new hip/anything else for this blog while you're sitting around doped up on pain meds. It will be awesome!!!