Versatile Blogger

I was given the Versatile Blogger Award by Angie over at Barefoot Angie Bee. Thanks Angie! I am now obligated to list seven random things about myself.....I apologize if any of these fall under the guidelines of TMI.

7. My husband and I sleep naked. Again, sorry if this is TMI. We have no modesty in our household. We still all walk around freely after our showers. My nephew came over and I shut the door while taking a shower and my 4 year old son asked "Mom, why did you shut the door?" so I had to explain that not everyone walks around naked and they shouldn't at other people's houses either. My nephew said "Eew, gross! You've seen your mom naked!". He's 10 and I know my kids will probably get embarrassed at some point but aren't you supposed to give your child those scarring memories :)

6. I was married once and divorced before and feel like it was part of someone else's life. I would have been a "corporate wife" and I cannot for the life imagine that type of lifestyle now but it did teach me valuable life lessons. At the time, nobody in my family could understand it and thought I was crazy. On paper, there was nothing wrong but I knew that it wasn't right. I found out what I was made of during that period of my life so I don't regret it. Plus, it led me to my current husband with whom I cannot imagine life without. Now that my family sees me with Jason, they understand my decision and probably love Jason more than me :)

5. I love to cook. I've taken a few cooking classes from the local Culinary Institute but if I had the extra time and money I would love to go to French Culinary School just for the fun of it. I wouldn't want to work in a restaurant but I would love to learn all the tricks and techniques.

4. When I was ten, my brother and I were wrestling around with each other and I stepped on a needle. I pulled it out but 3 days later I had severe foot pain. My mom took me the the ER and it turned out the needle was rusty and half of it had snapped off in my foot. I had to have surgery to remove it. The doctors gave me the needle to take home in a jar but over time I lost track of it. That would be cool to show my kids now.

3. My younger sister is half black. My mom divorced and remarried when I was 4. At the time, her family was very angry with her and it was not common at all to have interracial marriages. Many people made rude and racist comments but she ignored them all. I think my mom was ahead of her times in many ways. She was also one of the first female construction workers in the early 80s.

2. I had a Big Sister (part of the Big Brother/Big Sister program) when I was 9. It was one of the best experiences I had growing up. My mom divorced her second husband when I was 6 and raised her 5 kids by herself afterwards, so money was tight. I became a Big Sister myself when I was 23 to pass on the experience I had and enjoyed so much as a kid.

1. I have 3 kids but did not enjoy my pregnancies. I feel guilty admitting that becuase I feel like I am supposed to like it. I didn't have any complications or even morning sickness but I felt like my body wasn't my own, I felt bulky and couldn't enjoy things like running or working out. Even though I continued to work out and run (to a point) it wasn't the same. I did, however, love giving birth. That might make me sound strange but I absolutely loved it. I liked pushing and breathing and bearing down. Knowing what was coming and feeling that little life form come out of me was so awe-inspiring. There is no other feeling like seeing my babies for the first time. The picture below is of my first baby, Ava. I love that scrunched up face!

Sunday’s Run & Surgery

I wanted to get in a longish run on Sunday before my surgery (to remove my thyroid) because I didn’t know how recovery would go and when I would be up to running afterward. My mom stayed overnight so we could get up early and run Sunday morning. The weather forecast was supposed to be hot and humid so I wanted to head out early.

My husband and I we were ready to run at 5:30 a.m. Normally, I don’t run quite that early but the last week has been so hectic and kids are getting wound up at school along with my own kids at home that I longed for solitude and quiet. I wanted to run before most people were up and things were still quiet.



It was wonderful running before most people are out of bed and to be able to watch the sun come up. There is nothing like the still quiet of the morning. We started by parking down by the beach and ran along the bike path. Our plan was to run along the bike path only. I didn’t want to be too sore the next day so I was going to try and make it an easy run but I changed my mind mid-run.

We got about 3 miles in and there seemed to be an unusual amount of cars on the road for how early it was. I wasn’t feeling the roads and the surrounding noise at that moment. We had planned to fill up our water bottles at a park called Rosy Mound (that name always makes me giggle) and head back to the bike path but I asked Jason would he mind changing our route?

The park doesn’t have a long loop to run but it does have a ton of stairs and at the end of the trail you end up at the beach. It always has a few side routes and trails along the dunes that I didn't know about until that day. We ran the stairs and decided to get adventurous and run the not-so-well marked trails. There was absolutely nobody around, no noise, just the gentle lapping of the waves while we were running. This is exactly what I had been craving!

The trails were very technical and challenging but so much fun. Different paths led out to dunes, the beach or back to the road. We ended up at the road but I wasn’t ready to head back so we made another loop throughout the trails. This time we our loop ended up at the beach and we ran along Lake Michigan. I dipped my toe in the water and it wasn’t as cold as I thought it would be. We ran about a ¼ mile along the beach and headed back to the stairs.

I haven’t done a lot of hill training or speed work and that’s going to be my goal throughout this summer so this was a great way to kick it off. Between the hills, the stairs and the sand I got a very challenging workout and loved it. The more trails I discover the harder it is for me to run roads. I don’t have to worry about traffic, the scenery is always beautiful and it’s such a great work out. The only downside is we don’t have a ton of trails in our area to run.


We ended up running 10.5 miles total. I had intended on running a few more miles but after the hills and stairs I was happy with that amount.

A brief update on my surgery. It went really well. I was a little nervous before since I would be under general anesthesia but everything went smoothly. It feels very strange not to have that bump on my neck. I prepared the kids the day before of what the doctors would be doing and what they would be removing. I had them feel the bump on my neck and they had a ton of curious questions. They wanted to feel my bump “one last time” before I left for the hospital which made me laugh.



I’m hoping recovery will go quickly. Today is my first day out of the hospital and I feel a little like a truck ran over my neck but I’m hoping with a lot of rest that I will be back to running soon!

Road trip to NY and a 12 hour run

This by far was one of the most fun weekends I have ever had. My husband and I signed up for Mind the Ducks 12 hour race. This race was organized by Shelley Viggiano, who is a wonderful race director. The race could not have gone any smoother.

My goal for the year was to jump in feet first into something that I feared. What sounded like a good idea in January, scared the living daylights out of me the week before. I was having such a hard time wrapping my head around 12 hours. Doing anything for 12 hours is a long time. Even if I stood up for 12 hours, that’s a long time to do something.


I’m not a very good planner and organizer so getting myself ready for the race and making sure I had everything for the kids that would be spending time with their grandma (the older two) and my sister (the baby) was difficult. As an indicator, we had planned on putting our dog in the kennel and finally called them on Monday (4 days before we had to leave) and didn’t think about the fact that he didn’t have his latest shots and needed a kennel cough vaccine. We got it all done though, I think I work best under pressure and it all worked out.

Friday morning I took the day off of work and we dropped the kids off at 6:30 that morning. We had two other friends running with us (we conned them into going) so we met up with them and were on the road by 7:15ish. Three of us were barefoot/minimalist shoe runners and our goal of the trip was to convince Mark that he should join us…..but more on that later.

The road trip itself was so much fun. I’ve never laughed so much in one weekend. We all have very similar senses of humors so we found the most stupid and corny things humorous. Going through customs, it was hard to keep a straight face because we are all pretty juvenile and pointed out silly things to make each other laugh. I knew it was horribly inappropriate and we were supposed to be serious but those guys just make me giggle.



We did get stopped at Customs both times, coming into the U.S. for reasons I can’t totally divulge because that’s not my story to tell. It wasn’t too bad other than someone was told to get out of the car and it was while we were at the booth so following instructions, he got out of the car. What they really meant was, get out of the car *after* driving to the Customs building. He was sternly told to get back into the car. I was sure we were going to see him get tazed for non-compliance but things went smoothly after that. That was the stop going into NY. We were stopped again coming back into Michigan.

On our way through Canada, we stopped at Niagara Falls. Three out of the four of us had never been there before. It was a beautiful sight to see. To see the pure strength and rush of water was gorgeous. I love that it was spring time and everything was so green. I even got to see a double rainbow!



On par with our lack of planning, we didn’t have the proper maps after entering New York. We tried using the GPS on the phone but were having problems with the connection. Jason finally broke down and bought a map. After getting the map, I drove while Jason navigated the way. That’s a system that’s worked for us in the past. I say he can’t make quick turns and he says I can’t read maps and both are accurate : )

We finally got to our hotel. It was an Extended stay so it was great to have a little kitchen and coffee maker right in the room. We did a quick freshen up and stretch and we were off to Shelley’s house to meet fellow racers and aid station workers. I’ve talked to Shelley over the Internet and it was so nice to be able to meet her in person. She was so generous to invite us to her home for pizza and drinks. She truly went out of her way to make us all feel right at home and I can’t express my appreciation enough.

About 15 minutes before 9 (that night), Jason asked where he could purchase some wine for a wine-based iskiate. He had talked to others online about this. It’s basically mixing chia seed with wine to drink during the race. Again, we didn’t plan so well and should have purchased something before we got there because as it turns out wine can only be purchased at a liquor store in NY which closes at 9 p.m. We got directions from Shelley’s husband, Jim and made a mad dash for the store. I thought for sure we would make it but as Jason was walking up to the door the lights went off and he was waved away.

It turned out to be a very useful mistake as it turned out. We went to the gas station instead (where you can purchase beer and other drinks) and purchased Mike’s Hard Lemonade. It turned out to be a really good combination on race day for my husband Jason. I only took a sip at around hour 7 when I was really hurting. It seemed to help but I was afraid of getting too sleepy to try any more than what I did.

On the day of the race I woke up early. I don’t sleep very well if I’m not in my own bed and combined with race day nerves I was up at 4:30. I like not feeling rushed the morning of, so it was nice to have time to linger and get ready. The day was supposed to be fairly warm, some wind but overall a really good race day. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to wear shorts or a racing skirt. I hadn’t actually tested out the skirt for a long run but it felt so comfortable and light weight that I decided to wear it and had no problems at all with it during the run.

Pre-race I took my usual chia/flax combination drink and we stopped for coffee, I got a mocha and a bagel with cream cheese. The great thing about running/walking for 12 hours….you don’t care what you eat because you’re burning so many calories. The food alone makes the running worthwhile.

Heading into the race I was still in denial that it was a 12 hour event. I felt really good that morning. We all lined up at the start and we were off! My legs felt really good. I was glad I was having a good morning because the last two weekends, the run was really difficult. I don’t know if it was the weather or the event or fellow runners but everything was feeling like you want it to feel at the beginning of a race.

At the start I was racking my brain on what my strategy was going to be since this was my first time running or moving for so long. I couldn’t decide when I should start walking because I knew I wouldn’t be able to run the entire way. I was also trying to think of when and how to take breaks to eat and rehydrate. I basically had no plan and was going with it and would make decisions along the way.

The first couple of hours felt great. My name was at the top of the leader board and I knew it wouldn’t be staying there for long. It kind of freaked me out that it was there at all. I began to worry that I was running too fast and started second guessing myself. I didn’t have to worry for long because my name dropped quickly.

Around hour 3 or 4 I started to think about the fact that I had 8 or 9 hours left. Sure I felt good now but how in the world was I going to keep going for that long? I had a lot of conversations in my head about this. Should I make it a goal to reach a marathon and see how I feel? Should I make 30 miles and then stop? I thought about a lot of options but I am stubborn and determined and didn’t want to stop. Plus, I had 3 other racers there. What was I going to do if I did stop?

Around this point (things get fuzzy) I decided I should conserve some energy and walk for a bit. I didn’t know how this was going to work out for me and I still struggle with my decision to walk before I felt like I absolutely had to. Rethinking it I think I should have kept running until I felt I couldn’t run and then walk but then I think well, if I walked early I would have more energy to run later on. As it turned out the transition from running to walking and back to running was really flipping tough for me.

I don’t remember how many laps I walked but I did transition back to running but like I said it was really tough. I ran for as long as I could and went back to walking. I think this was around the halfway mark (6 hours). I couldn’t fathom running and I physically couldn’t do it but I also didn’t think I could walk for 6 more hours. Talking with fellow runners was a huge help when I was getting fatigued because it gave me a nice distraction. I talked to many fellow runners at different points along the race. I am really grateful to them.

At some point after much walking I talked myself into running. It was so hard! It took every ounce of mental toughness and lots of talking myself up to get them going again. It was strange but I was getting my second wind. I decided to run with it as far as I could and managed to run a few more miles. I ran a few other times in between as much as I could, which wasn’t as much as I would have liked. I kept setting small goals for myself and once I would reach those I would set another. For example, I wanted to make it to 26.2 miles, then 30miles and so forth.

Somewhere in the middle, Mark , who was also running his first ultra was hurting. He took off his shoes and ran in his injinji socks. Our plan was working! He ended up running for about 18 miles in his socks and said he doesn’t think he would have made it to 50 miles if he hadn’t taken his shoes off. I think we have a convert!

It was a really strange feeling for me towards the middle. My mind mentally was feeling great but my body was really hurting. I knew if I was strong enough mentally I could push my body to continue forward. I almost felt disconnected with my body but in a good way if that makes any sense at all.

The people at the aid stations are the most friendly people I think I have ever met. They were such a good cheering section to have coming around the laps. I love the atmosphere that surrounds ultras. I noticed this first when my husband starting running them and am still amazed and inspired by how truly encouraging people are. Maybe it’s the combined pain and toughness everyone is experiencing whether you are fast or slow you are all in it together.

I also loved watching the elite runners. WOW! Can they run and run fast. I cannot fathom running as fast as they do for 1 hour much less for 12. They are so humble and truly inspirational!

Towards the end I saw my husband. I asked him if he was going to walk or run to the end and lucky me he was walking so we got to walk the last hour and a half together. People commented on us walking together and I told them this was our date night since we didn’t have the kids with us. I still think we’re a bit crazy. Most people hire babysitters to go out or to sightsee. We got babysitters so we could run a 12 hour race together.


I couldn’t have asked for a better weekend! It was so great walking in at the end with my husband. It was a great feeling. I was getting really close to 40 miles so I made it my goal to make it to 40 and made it a little extra by getting to 40.196 miles (I thought it was 41 but I have poor math skills).

I have things I would do differently and learned a ton. I am hoping to continue to improve and enjoy myself. I know now that I can push myself and probably push even harder if I believe in myself enough.

Our ride back to Michigan wasn’t as painful as I worried it would be. We did get a night’s rest at the hotel before heading back the next day. I was worried about cramping up and other than getting in and out of the car, it wasn’t too bad. I can’t believe how much better my recovery is since I transitioned to Vibram’s.

We did get stopped at Customs again on our way back into Michigan. I bought my two older kids hollow chocolate eggs with a toy inside. They have a similar thing in our grocery store but the egg isn’t edible so I thought they would really like this. After getting stopped I noticed they walked back in carrying the eggs. For the life of me I couldn’t figure out why they would take those. It turns out they had to inspect them because of their hollow center. Sadly, they made us open them up in front of them and leave them there. I remembered to get my kids something during the trip and it was the one thing they confiscated. Odd thing I noted afterwards: I had 4 or 5 pacifiers in the back that were my for my youngest son and they lined them all up. They were tidy searchers I guess : )

I know I wasn’t as prepared as I would like to be. I knew it would be tough for me during the school year to train. Some people are much more disciplined and I know that’s not me, at least during the school year.

I’m not sure if you ever really feel like you’re totally prepared or not but my hope is to train more and see where it takes me. I’ll have all summer and hopefully I’ll be ready to tackle my next challenge which is the North Country Trail Marathon in August (hopefully barefoot!) and a 50k trail race in September.

Even with the shared pain we as a group were able to laugh and continue to enjoy ourselves. This was an experience I will never forget!

A tough run

Yesterday’s run was really tough. I’m not sure exactly why it seemed tougher. My thoughts were heavy, my body felt heavy and overall I never found my groove that I usually find at some point during the run.

My husband and I ran together and we started on trails and then ran on a bike path and eventually back to the trails. My best guess is that many factors made the run tougher. It was much warmer than normal. I forget it can sometimes be tricky transitioning from cold to warm weather running.

Before the run, my 3 year old son had a huge meltdown and sometimes dealing with him can be like walking a tight rope act. Some days he can push my buttons and some days I have more patience and tolerance. This day was a button pushing day.

We’ve also been really busy so that is probably taking its toll. Lots of meetings, races coming up, and the end of the school year.

Usually running helps clear up my thoughts but today that never happened. As a result, I ran heavier and my body hurts a lot more than it should. I’m not sure what happened to my form but my body is paying for it today. I must have twisted my right knee or something while running because it’s very sensitive and painful today. I thought yesterday it was a leg cramp but it never went away. I ended up walking for the last 2 miles of my 14.5 mile run. Walking can be good training for my 12 hour race coming up and it did give Jason and I the chance to walk and talk.

I did try to keep running even with the knee pain but Jason told me “Don’t be a hero.” Which made me laugh and he was right. Why push it and further injure my knee. He also told me I should save that pushing it attitude for MTD’s race.

I was happy the last few miles were on trails because it was so nice to absorb the scenery while walking. We saw a few deer and there was a foggy mist over everything which made me feel like I was in a movie scene. I wish I had my camera to take photos but those are usually the types of pictures that don’t translate well anyway. I’ll have to store it in my own memory banks.

I’m bummed about my knee but I know it’s not a critical injury. I just need to stay off it for a few days. My lesson learned I guess is to really watch my form and not let my mood affect it. If I get complacent it doesn’t take much to throw my whole body off.

What Did I Sign Up For?

MTD’s is 3 weeks away and at this point I’m asking myself “What the hell was I thinking?” This will be my first foray into the ultra world. It’s a 12 hour race and I know I am nowhere close to where I should be as far as training. I’ve never signed up for a race this early in the season. Normally I would sign up for a late summer or fall race so I had all summer to train since I’m off in the summers with my teaching schedule.

My reason for signing up for this race was for two reasons. The first being to face my fears and do something that is outside my level of comfort. This is definitely way outside. The longest race I have previously run is a 25k and that was 3 years ago.

The second reason I signed up is to try and motivate myself to train more in the winter and spring months since those are times when I tend to taper off because of weather, the winter blues, and work. It’s much harder for me to motivate myself to run during the winter months and I thought having an impending race would greatly help.

So even though I don’t think I’m prepared for this race I’m going to look at the list of positive things that have come from training for it:

• I ran in conditions this winter that I have never run in before including a 2 degree winter run and my longest run which was 21 miles.

• I ran trails in the winter for the first time. Since I transitioned to Vibrams this was a lot tougher than I anticipated. The bottoms were very slippery in the snow especially going up or down hills but I didn’t fall once. Ok, that’s not totally true. I fell once but that wasn’t while I was running, it was when I was videotaping my husband run up a hill. Stupidly, I had the camera out while I was walking up the hill. I was so worried about dropping it that I fell on my side and had a nasty looking bruise for a week. Running on trails in the winter is a whole body workout. It was a love/hate relationship. I loved the hard workout but I was sometimes cursing myself on the hills.

• My total mileage this winter was more than I have ever done in the past. I kept up my mileage and even broke new ground by running longer runs much sooner. Normally I would have saved my long runs for when school got out and I had more time available.

• I am cross training earlier than I normally do. In the summer my husband and I are both off and we joke that we become gym rats. It’s easier when you don’t have to work and can both help take the kids to the gym so we go at least 4 to 5 times a week. I have even been getting up, although not always consistently, to work out before work.

• I have a new love of trail running. Running on trails is mentally so much more pleasant than running on roads or bike paths. I love that I don’t have to watch out for cars or cross roads and am surrounded by beautiful scenery. I only wish we had more trails to run. We are limited to about 3 different options in the area and have to run loops to get in a longer run. Last week I ran 15 miles on trails alone. It reminded me of my 20 mile run because it was so tough.

• I climbed a very steep hill while running trails. It might sound silly but it was a big accomplishment for me. Here’s a picture of my husband climbing it. Previous to running barefoot/minimalist any hill would kill me. I don’t know what or if there’s a correlation but I went up the hill with much more ease than I ever expected. My husband says he’s convinced there’s a connection but cannot say why. I felt very powerful getting to the top of this hill!



• This is the healthiest I’ve ever eaten. This is still very much a work in progress but I am happy with myself for eating better. When I eat healthy I feel better overall and less sluggish but sometimes those temptations are hard to resist. I weigh 10 lbs less than I did previously (minus having 3 babies in between). People attribute it to me running more but really it’s been about me making better choices. I have been doing a better job at eating less and being more conscious of my food decisions. While I’ve been running longer distances at one time I have had previous summers where I have run the same number of miles per week so for me it’s really been about what I put it my mouth…or don’t put in it :)

I know I will learn a lot during my first 12 hour race. That’s the mindset I’m going to use going into it. I’ll take what I learn and use it in my next long race. So far I have signed up for my first trail marathon in August and will sign up for a 50k trail race in September.

I’m looking forward to meeting Shelley the race director, running my first 12 hour along with my husband, and enjoying the whole experience with my friends Mark and Jesse. I hope to learn a lot and have a lot of laughs along the way. I might not be in the shape that I want to be but I do know I will gain valuable experience and have fun at the same time.

Spring Break Highlights

I am getting really spoiled with spring break. I’m spending time with the family, getting in some long runs and getting back into cross training (which I missed more than I realized). It makes me ache for summer but it’s only 9 weeks away!

The highlights so far from Spring Break:

• The hubby and kids and I went on nature walk. We started on trails where there is a little more “nature” in the walk but had to desert that plan due to pesky black fly season. We ended up parking my car at my mom’s house and walking down dirt roads. Not quite as much nature but the kids really enjoyed themselves. We did find a stream of water to throw rocks in and stopped by a tree and had a picnic. The kids packed their own lunches and I was so proud of them for making such healthy choices.

Sometimes being so busy with school and work I worry they aren’t always getting the best nutrition. What I consider a lot of sugary or snack-type foods might be different than the next person. I was reminded of this when I accompanied my daughter on a field trip that parents had to pack lunches to eat. One of my daughter’s classmates drank Coke (regular), ate Rice Krispie Treats, chocolate chip cookies, and neglected her cheese and crackers.

I want to set my kids up with healthy food habits now to make it easier when they are adults. I think I’m doing a pretty good job overall but it’s still something I worry about.

Ava deemed the walk and day “the best day ever!” because we got to sit down and eat our packed lunches. It was a simple thing to do but those are what make such great memories.

• I’ve gotten back into cross training and boy do I need it! I’ve missed building muscle and feeling strong. I have been so focused on running and getting in my long distances that I’ve neglected what will help make me a stronger runner. My husband, who is quite diabolical when it comes to making up workouts, has been coming up with some great work outs. We belong to the YMCA which has an indoor track so our workouts consists of one person doing an exercise while the other runs two laps and then we alternate. We’ve been doing 10 exercises total and running 3 miles when we’re finished. The exercises he picks are fun things like jumping scissors, one armed clean and jerks and walking push-ups.

Since I’m able to work out more this week because of spring break, I’m vowing to continue the fitness when work starts back up. I only have 9 weeks until summer so my goal is to make it to the gym at least 2-3 times a week after school. We have 45 minutes before we pick up the kids so it will be a shorter work out but sorely needed.

• My son Reese stayed with grandma one night so we were down to two kids. It’s funny how much personalities change when you remove just one kid from the equation. Sometimes this is good and sometimes it’s bad. While I enjoyed one on one time with my daughter she doubled her noise level to make up for her missing brother at times. If it’s quiet at my house then something’s wrong :)

• I’ve had time to sort through some of the kids stuff and reduce some of the clutter. I donated 4 garbage bags of clothing to Goodwill and handed down Ty’s clothes he’s grown out of to my sister who’s baby is only 5 weeks younger than Ty. Ty is a big boy. He’s 11 months and 25 lbs strong! I guess starting out big from birth helps. All my kids ranged from 9.1 to 10.2 lbs at birth. My sister’s baby is 18 lbs. so I’m glad she can get some use out of the clothing. Next I need to tackle the garage and old toys but I’m not feeling quite that ambitious yet.

• My kids have been playing outside a lot more and one of the things they like doing is running around the yard. I love watching my kids run. The sheer joy on their faces is priceless. Both of my kids run barefoot even in cooler temps. They ask me if they can and I figure if they’re cold they’ll say so. My daughter is usually in shorts and a t-shirt when it’s 50 degrees outside. My son is the opposite and likes to be fully covered.

Spring Break is already half over. I’m looking forward to enjoying the rest of my time off and planning another long run on Friday.

My First 20 Mile Run!

This was my second attempt at running 20 miles. I was better prepared with food and water and how to carry it all. I picked up a few packets of GU, stashed water beforehand at a park and Jason was carrying a backpack for the food supplies we were carrying. I am going to get a backpack for myself to carry in the future; I just need to do some shopping.

I decided to go earlier in the day so I started my run at 7:30 in the morning. We had childcare taken care of so I was lucky enough to have Jason join me and I was very glad towards the end. I’m not sure I would have made it running all the way back without his advice and support.

We started down by the beach. The temperature was supposed to be in the high 70s or low 80s so I dressed in layers. I ended up keeping them all on because it was super windy, especially down by the lakeshore. The wind worked in my favor on the run out but I was cursing it on the way back.

Our route was going to be a variety of terrain. It started on sidewalks in a residential area then along a path by the lake and water - which was oh so nice! I love seeing the lighthouse and waves crashing as I ran by. We crossed over a bridge and eventually ran about 7 miles of trails and made our way back.

The first 10 miles felt pretty good. I was keeping hydrated, eating and keeping up a nice pace. Last time I hit a wall at mile 14 and that happened again on this run. This time I decided to try some chocolate flavored GU that also had caffeine, sweet, sweet caffeine! At first I didn’t think it was helping but after a few minutes I noticed a difference. I wasn’t feeling great but I wasn’t feeling as bad as I was 10 minutes ago either.

When I hit these walls, some of it is mental and obviously physical. I am working on mentally pushing through the walls. Even with proper food and water the voice in my head was working against me and desperately wanting to quit. Some of the thoughts that entered my mind were how in the hell do people like running this far? What was I thinking running trails on part of my first 20 mile attempt? Look at Jason, he looks like he’s hardly breaking a sweat and I’m here dying. I am never going to run another mile after this run – ever!

I asked Jason what he did when he was felt like stopping and how he mentally pushed through it. I think I’m a strong person and have a high pain tolerance but this was a new type of pain so any advice was welcome. He suggested thinking positive thoughts, tricking your mind into thinking it feels good and just keep moving.

This strategy worked until mile 18. I wanted to lie on the side of the road in a fetal position and have Jason pick me up. Go on without me!!! I’ll be fine curled up here on the road. No one will bother me. I’ll just take a nice little nap and see you in a few minutes. I was thinking these thoughts and not sure if I was going to make it the last two miles.

It was taking all my mental toughness to finish. It didn’t help that this part of the run sand from the beach was blowing in my eyes. The wind that helped push me along earlier was working against me now. I kept telling myself how good it would feel to accomplish this goal, just keep moving and used my music to pump me up. At this point I was really feeling like I was in a tunnel. I didn't notice much of my surroundings. I just wanted to keep on moving.

It was a long slow two miles but I made it. It was a great feeling knowing I had made it. I pushed through and accomplished my goal. Even though it was rough I know it will get easier. I can remember feeling (not to quite this degree) this way when I ran my first 10 miles and now 10 miles actually feels good.

Eating more along the way definitely helped. Being able to recognize that feeling from the last run was very useful. I still have issues with hydrating and going to the bathroom. I feel like I go to the bathroom far too much and don’t know if I’m drinking too much or if that’s normal or if it will get better. I don’t want to dehydrate myself so I tend to drink more. It’s probably something I’ll have to figure out the longer I run.

I also felt really nauseous after the run. I had taken a prescription antacid prior to the run because it’s an issue I’ve had in the past any time I increase my mileage. I will have to bring something along during the run to take to help counter that. It took at least 3 hours, lots of Tums, Pepto and another prescription antacid pill until I felt better.

For this run, I bought a new pair of shorts. I was pleasantly surprised how much I liked them. They are now my new favorite short to wear. They don’t offer a lot for storage but I’m using my backpack as a trade off for any supplies I might need to carry. I tried the Race Ready shorts which had a lot of storage but I think I’m really picky on how things fit. I don’t like shorts that have tight elastic around my waist. I tried on a medium and a large but still feel like the elastic digs in a little too much for my liking. Maybe I just have a little extra around the waist :)

I found a pair of New Balance shorts which were a little longer which prevents rubbing against my thigh and chafing. They were really comfortable and lightweight. I like the wider band because it fit nicely without feeling like it was too tight or too loose. I didn’t have any issues with chafing with any of the clothing I was wearing. So far I've found I haven't had to use any Body Glide.


Jason ran the whole run barefoot and I wore Vibrams. I’m going to try and do more barefoot running this week and ditch the shoes altogether! The town we ran through is a resort town and populated with many wealthy individuals. It’s always funny to watch people’s reactions to Jason’s running barefoot. Some people point, some make comments, some have looks of shock but this time he had two people that actually laughed out loud. I’m used to the stares but I thought the laughter was a bit rude.

The next day, I feel surprisingly good. I’m not as sore as I expected I would be. I felt like my form was awful at the end but Jason said it was good. I know that is a huge reason why I am feeling so good today.

I’m looking forward to my next long run and having the whole 20 miles feel as good as the first 10 miles. Watching Jason run gives me hope and motivation. When I watch him run he appears to run so effortlessly even at the end of 20 miles.