Race Day part II: "I really rocked that half-mile when Ke$ha was playing..."

Race day is here, and we rocked it.  It was good weather, a good pace (this is a relative statement), and good tunes.  It is always a motivating and humbling experience to run a race as a normal person.  It is incredible to see all of the real runners who ran a half-marathon in less time than I ran 6 miles, and I am also amazed at the number of people who are less prepared to run a 10-K than I am.  Both are helpful motivators. 

I am a slow runner, so I always pick a few people out of the crowd that I am running near and race them.  Good news, I beat all of my fake competitors.  I was not so lucky at the last Brewers' race that I ran where I was actually beat by a real racing sausage, the Hot Dog.  Today was a nice day and a great route to run - we ran through Miller Valley and Miller Park, which is a route that you normally don't get to run and certainly not without traffic.

Let's talk about race day "Do's and Don'ts" based on my observations today.  Do wear exciting colors, people are mostly drawn to neon yellow (the kind that the cows, my running buddies, like).  Do have funny signs if you are in the crowd cheering people on, we love that.  Don't have three different flavors or Gatorade strapped around your belt for a six mile run, you'll just have to pee.  I wanted to do a top ten cool running shoes blog, but the hubs convinced me that it was creepy to walk around and ask people if I could take a picture of their shoes.

The best moment(s) of the run was first when the hubs started running really fast, and I was like, "WTF?" and ran to keep up.  This phenomenon was explained later with the quote, "I really rocked that half-mile when Ke$ha was playing."  It all began to make sense.

All in all, a worthy project for us to train and run the race. Now let's eat some of that leftover spaghetti.

Race Day part I: Pasta for me, the hubs, and 30 of our closest friends.

Race Day eve is here, and it already has been entertaining.

In preparation for the hubs and I running the Brewers' 10-K tomorrow, we are doing the standard pre-game routine: Pick up the race packets, eat our body weight in pasta, and finalize outfits and playlists.  I asked my husband if he picked out what he was wearing, and we was like, "Um, shorts? And a t-shirt?"  Bo-ring.

 

I go to pick up the packets, and make a few key observations.  First, if the lack of traffic control at packet pick-up is any indicator for the race, I am a little concerned.  Second, I got to drive behind this guy, who I could safely assume was going where I was going:

 

 

The walk to the packet pick-up was oddly long.  As I was walking I thought, well, it is for a half-marathon race so what is an extra half mile?  Well played, Brewers, well played.  While I was walking this guy totally speeds past me...walking.  Good thing that I am just running for fun because he can walk faster than I run.

 

When I got home, the hubs had made enough pasta to feed ourselves and 30 of our closest friends.  Except, it's just us.  It was delicious, and I can't wait to eat it through next Thursday.  Finally, I check the weather to make a final decision on the race day outfit, and spruce up my playlist.  Bright colors (obvi), and some bitchin' new dubstep.  At least I will look legit right up until I start running, and take a pasta-coma nap after 4 miles.

 

Wish us luck!

Dance Running: The hot new thing

Via friends.wikia.com

I have been developing a new kind of exercise, and I think it is ready to be unleashed onto the world.  Dance running is here.

Do you remember the friends episode, "The One Where Phoebe Runs" (pictured above)?  It is not quite like that, but it is equally freeing, and other people who are susceptible to caring about other peoples' opinions might be unwilling to run with you.  But don't knock it 'til you try it.

The origin of dance running for me goes back to my early dance days where I used to dance three miles in the 4th of July Parade every year in Racine.  I assure you, dancing and travelling forward three miles is much harder than it looks.  After much training, we would basically do dance running in the parade and it is a great workout.

Fast forward many years, and combine my constant dancing with a new hobby of running and a love for music, and I just can't help myself.  I go running, pump up the tunes, and insert forward moving dance moves here.

Here are some moves to introduce to your run for the novice dance runner:

• Skipping
• Galloping
• Snaps or jazz hands
• Shuffles
• Kicks
• Leaps

Please stretch before the leaps so that you don't pull something important.

Here are some songs that I can't help but dance to while I run:

• Dancing on the Ceiling, by Lionel Richie
• Most anything by Katy Perry, particularly Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)
• Party Rock Anthem, by LMFAO
• You Are the One, by Shiny Toy Guns
• Forever, by Chris Brown
• Some Nights, by Fun.
• Footloose, by Kenny Loggins
• Stuck Like Glue, by Sugarland
• Stompa, by Serena Ryder

It is SO much fun, you should try it.  Dance like nobody's watching, as the internet says.

Downtown Running: "Did you tell the cows you'd write?"

Ahh, nothing like switching up your run like a little new scenery.  Don't tell the cows, I don't want them to feel like I am cheating on them with the Milwaukee lakefront.  Except that I totally am.

While it is a little awkward to haul my cookies around while I see people that vaguely recognize me from work, I suppose I just better plan good running outfits.  Anyways, the park and trail areas downtown are great venues for thinking and exercising.

 



There are of course pros and cons to every location.  Pros of downtown include:

 

1) Waterfront scenery

2) Lots of runners and bikers so you feel like you have to push to run faster to keep up

3) No bushes for creepy murderers to hide in or jump out of

 

Cons, on the other hand:

 

1) Wiiiiiindy

2) Lots of runners and bikers so you feel like you have to push to run faster to keep up

3) High probability of getting pooped on by the bird army

 

There are few things in life that freak me out more than the prospect of (A) getting attacked by a bird or (B) being pooped on by a bird.  I ended up running in a zig zag to not be underneath hovering seagulls.  I've seen the Alfred Hitchcock movie, and I am statistically due for being shit on, so it is only a matter of time.

 

I'll try out a few different areas and report back.  I think I saw a trail that looked less windy, relatively bird-free, and still urban chic.  Except still no cows, I will have to bring my own. B.Y.O.C.



Running with the cows: The importance of finding workout buddies

Elsa and Hattie

It seems only fair at this point to introduce the cows to you, since you read so much about them.  In full disclosure, those are totally made-up names, but since they don't know the difference I just say "Hi Elsa" or "Hi (other cow name)" when I run by with a wave, and they seem to be fine with that.

Seeing as I am naturally a slightly anti-social introvert (Reference "Problems only introverts understand"), I want to share the top reasons why dairy farm denizens are my favorite running buddies:

1. I can't talk them out of a workout: The cows are always there, and I can't convince them to skip a day.  So then I just feel bad if I don't show up.
2. They comment on my running outfits: They LOVE yellow.  No one at the gym moos at my fashion choices.
3. They are good dancers: They always find a way to chew or bop their heads to whatever music is playing on my iPod.  They seem to favor "Dancing on the Ceiling," by Lionel Richie.

Bulah and Alfred



Granola-munchers unite: Pike Lake state park trails

Since it was the first day of fall here in Wisconsin (i.e. 59 degrees in July), trail hiking seemed like the perfect Saturday activity.  Preparing for the day meant long sleeves, bottled water, sunglasses, running shoes, tunes, and delicious earthy snacks.  I prefer the Simply Trail variety by Archer Farms, in a smiley face container of course.

Today's destination for the hubs and I was the brown trail at Pike Lake state park near Slinger, WI.  We felt a little bad for driving there since it is so close, but figured it was our civic duty to fork over the money for a state park pass anyways.  As we got started on the trail jogging, I couldn't help but imagine that I looked like a felt like a character from the Troop Beverly Hills movie:

Via zeebox.com

My other thought was, "I can't wait to find out which one of us takes a digger first."  It was not me.  I told the hubs that I was laughing "with" him, not at him.  The red spot in the middle is where he bit it.

One of the high points of the Pike Lake trails (pun intended) is the nice lookout tower on the top of Powder Hill.   You can see the lake (below), farms, the countryside, and Holy Hill in the horizon.  I hope my butt looks better after all of those stairs.

After a mid-trail break to rehydrate, make fun of high schoolers, and eat some trail mix, we continued on our path.  At this point the landscape was looking eerily like the Hunger Games (maybe we were just getting tired) and we kept each other amused by me shouting at the hubs, "That's nightlock, Peeta!" and by him doing his usual interpretive dance hand movements to whatever rap music he is listening to on his iPod.  For example, giving "toot toot" and "beep beep" hand motions for "Remix to Ignition" by R. Kelly.  I like to try and guess what  he is listening to by his interpretive dance hand motions.  Since I like to soundtrack my life, I felt like my usual running playlist was not a fit for the woodsy nature I was in, so today's hike was soundtracked by Bon Iver's self-titled second album.

Via treeswingers.com

Finally we made it back to the car after some slight detouring, as apparently we have a difficult time following colored stakes.  We decided that we wouldn't last long on Survivor with our lack of direction and my interest in eating snacks every 45 minutes, and mostly because we couldn't find our way out of a paper bag.  Ah tired legs, it's nap time.

Running: Not meant for sausage legs

 

So, no, I am not naturally a runner.  I naturally have little sausage legs that don't move very fast.  Nevertheless, I am not someone to miss out on something because I don't think the sausage legs can keep up, I just have to work harder.

In line with my only real addiction (i.e. overbooking my time), I decided a few summers ago that since I had just switched positions at work, was working on school and planning a wedding, naturally that was the best time to train for a half-marathon.  Sausage legs, activate!

I started training by my house, which is a lovely place to run, and made good friends with the dairy cows and the farmer that I run by every day.  He makes a point to stop what he is doing every time and give me a big long wave.  The cows really like it when I wear yellow, they always start following me when I wear that color.  As the distances started getting longer though, and hills are like kryptonite to me, I discovered that I couldn't really run further than about 6 miles without being eaten alive by the hills of the kettle moraine landscape.  I forgot to mention that I REFUSE to run the same area more than twice, once going and once returning.  I can only do it if I trick myself that I am only running 2-3 miles (out), and then just have to go home (back).

I trained my long runs on the exact trail my race would be on, the Eisenbahn state trail in West Bend, which is nice but I did miss the cows.  At any rate, it was nice on race day that I knew what I was heading towards.

 

I discovered that although I am not really built for running, it was an important part of my day to clear my head, work through a problem, get out some frustration, or just go visit my bovine friends.  Luckily, I have some runner friends, and they always helped provide some motivation.  I made the most incredible running playlist that even matched up with my walk breaks and included a song that reminded me of every friend who was a runner so that it motivated me when it came on (e.g. see soundtracking your life).  I have no idea what my race time was for the half-marathon, but I felt great the entire time, which was the only goal.

 

My husband and I signed up for a 10k this summer finally, which is not as long of a distance, but still requires some attention to training so I don't die the minute the running course hands me an incline any bigger than my driveway.  Since I never run in a really great routine without a commitment for a race, I am enjoying getting back on the road regularly to run and clear my head.  The cows missed me.