My previous request for good wishes may have been premature. I had every intention of doing the 8 mile training run last week, up to the point of having my running stuff on. When I start hacking my lungs out while tying my shoes, the hubs gently suggested that I get over whatever plaugue MB infected me with before attempting to run. You know, since breathing was difficult that point.
This Sunday morning I got up all excited to do my long run. Ok, ok, maybe "excited" isn't quite the word I would use, more like dragged my tired butt out of bed to get it done. I was, however determined to beat this. 8 miles would be the furthest I've ever gone. I don't like running in the morning, I never have. I feel sluggish, tired and not at my best. (Something I should work on since the 1/2 starts at 5:30am but whatever) This run was no exception. It felt like a chore just to keep my legs moving but I got in a groove and kept moving forward. About 3.5 miles in I noticed a bit of pain in my surgery-ed ankle but just took a quick second to stretch it and kept going. Having never had a problem with that foot since I start this whole thing, I didn't think much of it and kept going. Well the pain got worse and worse. I kept going, hoping that I could power through but my better judgment took over and I called it quits at 5 miles. I know better than to push that foot to hard so I limped upstairs for ice and rest. I also baked, took a bath and watched a movie. I know, I have a hard life.
Needless to say I was VERY disappointed. I have never not been able to do a training distance ever. It was not a good feeling. It even made me question whether 13.1 is possible. Thankfully that moment of despair didn't last long. I still have concerns about whether or not my ankle* can handle these kind of distances but I'm determined and have a really good physical therapist if it comes to that.
So there you have it, I promised to share the successes and the failures. I'm trying that dreadful 8 miles again on Tuesday so send good thoughts again!!
*Recap- Ankle surgery in 2009 after a (ironically enough) running injury in 2008. Scar tissue removed from the whole joint and a sizable chunk of tendon removed due to calcification.
Monday, July 29, 2013
Friday, July 19, 2013
Farm Fresh
3 Miler maintenance run this week, did it, it was fine, not much to report on that front....
I have always loved fresh food. Packaged food is convenient yes but it rarely if ever fills you up, is nutritionally abysmal and just doesn't taste as good. I also love to cook and try new things so a CSA* seemed like a perfect fit for my family.
For some back ground, Cindy took me with her to pick up her parents CSA share once when we were hanging out while she was on summer vacation, though she swears she has no idea what I'm talking about. I was immediately kind of obsessed with it. The veggies looked divine and it was a lot of fun tromping through a farm field picking beans. I harassed her for the info and she sent it to me. The shares for that year had already been sold so I bookmarked the website, promising to remember to sign up in the fall and promptly forgot about it for about two years. Towards the end of that two years I discovered the Fulton Street Farmers Market. Holy crap, I was in heaven. This place had/has stall after stall of fresh veggies, fruits, breads, cupcakes, etc with the nicest people ever! .....Save for a rather awkward encounter with a free-range chicken farmer but we'll save that for another day. Two years later, I still drag my tired butt out of bed every Saturday morning at 6:45am (MB is awake anyway) to get my little family up and ready to be at the market by 8 to avoid the worst of the crowds in rain, shine or snow to get our produce for the week. Yes I said snow, I'm that into it.
To swing this rambling story around, one week at FFM, I saw the Trillium Haven Farm stall and remembered it was the farm I had visited with Cindy. OF COURSE their shares were sold out for the year already but I was determined to get one next year. Well, next year they opened a restaurant and halted the CSA program for a year ARG! So this year, Finally!! My mom and I went in on a half share and it has been great! I've started eating things like Kohlrabi, garlic scapes and green garlic, three things I had never even heard of a year ago let alone eaten.
While not the greatest picture, you can see the over abundance of veggies we get every other week. (Sorry. Bad lighting, trying to do it fast with a niece and nephew grabbing on to me) My market bag was overflowing with yumminess. Seriously, like overflowing. It had to weight 20 lbs and stuff kept falling out while I walked to the car. Beets, kohlrabi, two kinds of cabbage, carrots, turnips, radishes, lettuce, spicy greens, broccoli, kale, Swiss chard and I'm sure some other veggies I'm forgetting. This is a typical haul for the week. The value in this program is phenomenal. If I were to buy each of these items at the FM individually it would easily be about as much as I paid for the whole season through Trillium. Not because it's expensive because there's so much of it!
So long, weird story aside, I encourage everyone to try to buy and eat local! Almost every city has a farmers market somewhere these days. Our immediate area has 4 that I can think of off the the top of my head. Buying straight from the farmers is the way to go. Everything tastes a whole heck of a lot better then any of that "produce" you get from Walmart . I swear farm fresh lettuce changed my life. And it's just fun! I love that my daughter gets to see where her food is coming from at an early age. It's a great thing to do as a family after a long week of work and daycare. We started small, getting a couple things here and there the first couple years and have slowly increased our market hauls. Try it, I promise you will not be disappointed!
Send your spare good thoughts to me this weekend, this week I'm tackling an 8 miler! I'll share how that went next week. Keep cool and eat local my friends! :)
*What's a CSA you ask? It is Community Supported Agriculture. A lot of farms around this area (and I'm assuming nationwide) have them. You pay for a half or full "Share" of the farm and in return get a predetermined amount a produce. In my case it's every other week plus you-pick-it on the farm.
 |
| Hard to read, bad picture. Our CSA* haul for the week |
For some back ground, Cindy took me with her to pick up her parents CSA share once when we were hanging out while she was on summer vacation, though she swears she has no idea what I'm talking about. I was immediately kind of obsessed with it. The veggies looked divine and it was a lot of fun tromping through a farm field picking beans. I harassed her for the info and she sent it to me. The shares for that year had already been sold so I bookmarked the website, promising to remember to sign up in the fall and promptly forgot about it for about two years. Towards the end of that two years I discovered the Fulton Street Farmers Market. Holy crap, I was in heaven. This place had/has stall after stall of fresh veggies, fruits, breads, cupcakes, etc with the nicest people ever! .....Save for a rather awkward encounter with a free-range chicken farmer but we'll save that for another day. Two years later, I still drag my tired butt out of bed every Saturday morning at 6:45am (MB is awake anyway) to get my little family up and ready to be at the market by 8 to avoid the worst of the crowds in rain, shine or snow to get our produce for the week. Yes I said snow, I'm that into it.
To swing this rambling story around, one week at FFM, I saw the Trillium Haven Farm stall and remembered it was the farm I had visited with Cindy. OF COURSE their shares were sold out for the year already but I was determined to get one next year. Well, next year they opened a restaurant and halted the CSA program for a year ARG! So this year, Finally!! My mom and I went in on a half share and it has been great! I've started eating things like Kohlrabi, garlic scapes and green garlic, three things I had never even heard of a year ago let alone eaten.
So long, weird story aside, I encourage everyone to try to buy and eat local! Almost every city has a farmers market somewhere these days. Our immediate area has 4 that I can think of off the the top of my head. Buying straight from the farmers is the way to go. Everything tastes a whole heck of a lot better then any of that "produce" you get from Walmart . I swear farm fresh lettuce changed my life. And it's just fun! I love that my daughter gets to see where her food is coming from at an early age. It's a great thing to do as a family after a long week of work and daycare. We started small, getting a couple things here and there the first couple years and have slowly increased our market hauls. Try it, I promise you will not be disappointed!
Send your spare good thoughts to me this weekend, this week I'm tackling an 8 miler! I'll share how that went next week. Keep cool and eat local my friends! :)
*What's a CSA you ask? It is Community Supported Agriculture. A lot of farms around this area (and I'm assuming nationwide) have them. You pay for a half or full "Share" of the farm and in return get a predetermined amount a produce. In my case it's every other week plus you-pick-it on the farm.
Monday, July 8, 2013
Half way!
Well hello again! I promise my less than regular attendance on here has nothing to do with my progress on the current venture. It has more to do with the insane pace our life has been on this summer as is evident by the utter lack of food in my fridge/cabinets and the 4 diapers I currently have in my house.... I should probably figure out a time to go shopping......
Anyway! I have officially completed over half of the required distance! 7 miles to be exact! That in itself is mind- boggling to me. If you would have told me six months ago I would be able to keep my body in a continuous forward motion for 7 miles I would have LOL-ed at you while sitting on my duff watching TV. Not to say I still don't have my duff sitting- TV watching moments but much more of my time is now put into training, which I'm going to take as a good sign! Building on that success, I'm now more determined to run the Grand Rapids 1/2 in October to get an accurate measure of the time it's going to take to actually go 13.1 miles. That way if I'm ridiculously slow, I have 3 months to either bust my butt and get my time where it needs to be or just maintain. I have until August 15th to decide on the GR 1/2, after that the price goes up and I'm cheap. Someone talk some sense into me! (Or just kick my butt into signing up now, I'm good with both options)
So that's where we are at now! I'm fairly happy with the progress I'm making and I'm hoping to keep it up! I'm working on a couple posts dedicated to my recent introduction to farm-fresh food from the CSA program I joined this year and my ongoing obsession with our local farmer's market. Preview: Farm fresh lettuce kind of blew my mind with it's awesomeness.
Counting down 226 days to race day, we can do this!
Anyway! I have officially completed over half of the required distance! 7 miles to be exact! That in itself is mind- boggling to me. If you would have told me six months ago I would be able to keep my body in a continuous forward motion for 7 miles I would have LOL-ed at you while sitting on my duff watching TV. Not to say I still don't have my duff sitting- TV watching moments but much more of my time is now put into training, which I'm going to take as a good sign! Building on that success, I'm now more determined to run the Grand Rapids 1/2 in October to get an accurate measure of the time it's going to take to actually go 13.1 miles. That way if I'm ridiculously slow, I have 3 months to either bust my butt and get my time where it needs to be or just maintain. I have until August 15th to decide on the GR 1/2, after that the price goes up and I'm cheap. Someone talk some sense into me! (Or just kick my butt into signing up now, I'm good with both options)
So that's where we are at now! I'm fairly happy with the progress I'm making and I'm hoping to keep it up! I'm working on a couple posts dedicated to my recent introduction to farm-fresh food from the CSA program I joined this year and my ongoing obsession with our local farmer's market. Preview: Farm fresh lettuce kind of blew my mind with it's awesomeness.
Counting down 226 days to race day, we can do this!
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