Oh those toes!

Thursday was going to be my long run on trails day. We decided to try a new trail system which was a little further away. Kids were taken care of for the day so we had plenty of time. Alot of people were raving about this trail system so we wanted to check it out ourselves and also throw in a little variety since we've been running the same places lately. By we, I mean my husband Jason and I.

There was an 11 mile loop I was ready to complete and if all went well I would run a second loop. I was feeling pretty good and even had a few new organic bars to try out during my run. Since I've cut soy and some other things from my diet I'm trying to find new foods to fuel me during the run. I used to like Cliff Bars but most of them have soy in them.

We got to the trail system, read the map and we were off. The nice thing about this trail system is it has many shortcuts and loops that take you back to the start. This ended up being a good thing after mile 1.

I was enjoying the lush scenery. This trail system was much greener, had more rocks and more roots than the other trails we've run. I'm not sure if I was just my clumsy self or if I just wasn't looking down as much as I should have but while wearing my Vibram's I hit a tree root. I've done this before and thought ok, I'll shake it off. But unfortunately, this wasn't shaking off. It was a different kind of pain and lasting longer than normal.

I tried to walk but ended up limping. I stopped to examine my pinky toe on my right foot. I've broken toes before. When I was 15 I was playing a game of dodge ball and ran right into a brick building. Again, I'm not the most coordinated person. When I broke toes then there was immediate swelling to the point where it looked like I had a golf ball on the top of my foot. This time I had swelling but not to that extent so I was hopeful it wasn't broken and wouldn't sideline my training efforts.

I figured it was probably a sprain. When I hit the tree root, I could physically feel my toe being separated from it's #4 toe-mate. It was bent in an unnatural way so I knew I did something bad. I tried to walk in socks but figured what the hell? I've been a little timid about running barefoot on the trails so what do I have to lose?

Oddly, walking hurt more than running. I ran when I could which ended up being a mile back to our car. The only time I found I couldn't run was when the terrain was really rocky. Once I stopped, I felt the throbbing in my foot. Sadly, I thought about running more but thought there's a fine line between stupidity and common sense and I'm not always good about knowing which is which.

I decided to go to the nearest gas station and ice my foot. Once I was off my foot it seemed to hurt even more. I was a little panicky because I'm training for a trail marathon and only managed to run 2 miles and with the possibility of a broken toe I wasn't sure what that would mean for my impending race.

My plan was to stay off of my feet for 2 days and then try to run. I would ice it whenever I could and see what happened. Other than dodging my kids attempts at stepping on my feet, it worked pretty well. You don't realize how little your kids watch where they're going until you have an injured toe and do NOT want them to step on it.

After day 2 I decided since it felt so good to run barefoot on the trails (and I wasn't sure if I could even squeeze my toes into my Vibram's) I would try doing a little barefoot hill-work. There is a spot by the beach called 5 Mile Hill that I thought would be perfect to try out.

It starts by running up a sand hill, then downhill on asphalt, around a loop, back up asphalt and finally back down the sand hill. I had to walk up and down the sand hill because I was worried about further damaging my toe but all in all it felt really good. It was overcast and rainy and it felt so good compared to how hot our days have recently been. It's so much fun to splash through the puddles during a run!

I still don't know if my toe is broken or just injured. I can't bend it but that might be because it bent so far backwards initially. I didn't want to waste the time and money on finding out since they don't do anything other than possibly tape them up. I did have my friend, who is a nurse, look at them and she thought just taping them would be fine. Great for me because I dislike going to the doctor!

I have found that over the last 3 days I've been much more sleepy and have taken cat naps during the day. It's amazing how the body can heal itself with sleep. I managed to get in a 5 mile trail run today. It was very slooow and I ran the last mile barefoot but I'm hoping to at least maintain some mileage. I'm going to rest for a few more days before trying to run again. I suffered from some leg pain which I know is due to bad form and compensating for my injured toe.

Lastly, I have decided to do something probably pretty stupid but I don't always follow conventional advice. Knowing how I react to pressure I'm going to go with it. My "brilliant" idea since I haven't been getting my long runs accomplished for various reasons is to sign up for a marathon before my marathon.

I told you it sounded stupid but I do have a rationale for it. The first marathon I am going to sign up for would be mostly roads. I won't put any pressure on myself to be fast but it will hold me more accountable. I would view it more as a training run than anything else.

I think one of the main issues I have been having is a lack of confidence. This way I won't put pressure on myself for the trail marathon if I complete this one first. I'm hoping I will gain some of my confidence back. I work better under pressure and will procrastinate if given the choice so my theory is this will ensure I follow through with plans and instead of second guessing myself I will just do it.

I kind of got this idea from my (bad influence) husband when he ran this same marathon last year. BEFORE the race started he ran half the course and ended up with a little over 40 miles which he used as his training run for his 100 mile race.

It could be the most brilliant thing I've done or the most stupid....let's hope for the best!

Love those hills!

Today my husband and I were meeting a fellow runner to run hill repeats...or so I thought. The person we were meeting just finished his first 100 mile race which just happened to be Western States. We met Roger by chance. While we were listening to the Western States lottery being drawn last December I noticed someone named Roger from Grand Rapids, Michigan had just been selected. I commented to my husband I wonder if he has a Facebook page, we put in a friend request and have formed an electronic friendship since.

My husband was very disappointed his name wasn't drawn but it would have been pretty tough for him to complete this year due to family commitments & timing. I hope next year his name is drawn!

Roger's Western State's pacer, Brandon, was also going to run hill repeats with us so it was a really great chance to talk to them about their whole experience there. I wanted to ask him to bring the buckle for us to see but didn't know if that sounded to stalkerish/groupie-ish. The fact that he finished any 100 mile race is cool enough but that Western States was his first was really cool. We talked about the terrain (Jason wanted to see if would be something that could possibly be done barefoot), how he was feeling, blisters, hydration and other fun running lingo.

We had actually met Roger before during the a winter trail run but this is the first time we actually had a conversation. I should preface that he is also an Ironman finisher and actively places 1st or 2nd in triathalons and duathalons. I mention this because Roger is FAST! But I figured running hills is at everyone's pace so no real pressure.

We were doing hill repeats at a local ski resort. Obviously, there is no snow on the ground now but it makes for a great place to get in hill work. The hills are long and at a great elevation. We started heading in that direction when they said "Ready?" and we realized they were headed for the trail (which is a 5 mile loop I have run previously with Jason). I had a water bottle but I had on Vibram's I normally dont' wear for running but I wear for short workouts. I drink Nuun and try to hydrate a little more before running and hadn't done any of that.

We told them "We thought we were only doing hill repeats" and there was some confusion. Our plan was to have our long run on Thursday so I was worried about running today. I told Jason let's run it. In reality, I'm a girl who when around boys feels the need to keep up. I get way more competitive with boys and am non-competitive with women. I think it's because I have 2 older brothers who would always tell me "Girls can't do that" so even though nothing was said to me I still have that thought in the back of my head.

So we were off for a 5 mile trail run. I figured if nothing else this would be good training since I didn't do my normal pre-running routine. Roger was first, then Brandon, me and Jason. Jason is always sweet for running with me even though he could have easily kept up with those guys.

When we first took off I thought I was going to have a heart attack. I couldn't breathe and it reminded me of my attempts at running after giving birth. Man, these guys were fast. They were talking to me about North Country Trail marathon I am signed up for because Brandon will be running the 50 miler (his first ultra). I tried to cough out some words but I couldn't talk. I finally stopped for a few seconds and caught my breath.

They got a few steps ahead of me but I caught up. They started out at an 8:30 pace which on roads is tough for me much less on trails. They slowed their pace down to 10:00 and I was keeping up! I kept up for the first half of the trail and slowly fell back. I could hear them talking in front of me so I figured they couldn't be too far ahead.

There were a few times I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to keep the pace but I took a drink and kept on running. At the end of the trail, they were only a minute or so ahead of me. I finished with an average pace of 10:30 which I was very pleased with. This particular trail has lots of various terrain, rocks, sand and hills.

In my head of course I was keeping up with a Western States & Iron-man finisher & a triathlon & duathalon winner - you know, I don't want to brag or anything : ) In reality, he finished WS a little over a month ago, just placed 2nd overall in a duathalon last Saturday, rode bikes Sunday, swam Monday and did track work on Tuesday. His legs weren't so fresh but when I retell this story nobody needs to know those small details. I was happy to somewhat keep up with these guys.

After the run, we ran 3 hill repeats. Jason was barefoot the whole time and I took off my shoes for the hill work. Brandon also threw caution to the wind and did all 3 hill repeats barefoot! These hills are pretty steep and long. For 3 hill repeats our total distance was 1.5 miles.

It was a great, unexpected workout. It reminds me that I need to push myself when I think I can't do something and that I'm an obvious sucker for peer pressure. I didn't want those boys thinking I couldn't handle those hills & run. I'm hoping it works out to run with these guys in the future and that I can push myself even further!

Trial & Error

I was a little bummed that last Thursday's run was so tough but after the same route on Sunday I'm feeling much more confident. There were a few things I did differently and still some question marks but I feel like I'm headed in the right direction.

Quite plainly, thyroids or lack of thyroids sucks but I could be dealing with a lot worse things. My struggle is I'm never sure if it's my adjustment of medication or various other factors when it comes to how I'm feeling. It's only been around 7 weeks since I had my thyroid removed and typically it takes 2-3 months so I need to be more patient. I'll be getting my blood drawn this week to determine if I need any adjusting.

Some of the things that I think contributed to my run going much better on Sunday is hydration. Looking back, I don't think I was properly hydrated. I LOVE water and feel like I drink a ton but when it's hot and you're outside playing, working out or drinking coffee you don't realize just how much you really need. So this Saturday I made sure I drank water throughout the day and before bed.

The other factor that I think helped was getting a double dose of my thyroid meds. Once a week, I double the dose and while I can't confirm it yet until I get my bloodwork but I do think it helped. I'm sure they still need some tweaking.

The last factor is I have cut out soy from my diet. I was raised a vegetarian and really like soy-based products, especially since I don't eat beef or pork it's been a good source of protein for me. After much research, I found that soy-based products can interfere with the absorption of thyroid medications so I decided to cut them out and see how I felt. I have also been dealing with some hair loss which may or may not be related. I'm seeing a dermatologist on Wednesday to get their expertise about that subject.

The other factor that I would be remiss if I didn't mention is my hubby was testing out his SportKilt during this run. I have to say, it was damn sexy! It takes a man with confidence to wear a kilt while out running. It's funny because people don't even notice he's barefoot, they only noticed the kilt. While he was waiting for me to finish the stairs, he had someone asking him questions about it.



So far, I've been feeling much better. Again, at this point I'm not sure how everything is related but Sunday's run was very encouraging. I ran 8 miles which included a 3/4 mile loop of stairs. I worried about climbing the stairs at first but my husband convinced me it was a better idea than saving them until the end and shhh! He was right. The beginning of the run I felt really sluggish but those stairs kicked my butt in gear.

It's strange how it seems to take my legs a good mile or two to get warmed up. For some reason it took me a while to make that connection. I want to stop in the beginning but now I tell myself...give it 2 miles and see how you feel. So far, I haven't wanted to stop after 2 so it's been a really good motivator.

I've been really lucky this summer to have my niece available to babysit my kids when my husband and I want to run. She just graduated and is so good with the kids. They love having her over and practically push me out the door. It's nice not feeling guilty for getting some "me" time. When she comes over my daughter now asks me "Mom, are you going to go for a run or out for a date?"

At the end of 8 miles I felt good and wished I had more time to extend the run. My next long run is scheduled for this Thursday and I'm confident I will complete it!

No Excuses

My 16 mile run did not happen. I made it 8 miles before I called it a day. I'm a no excuses kind of person. I don't like when others will say they can't do something if they've never tried or have excuses like I'm too busy, I have kids, etc. I think you can prioritize doing the things you want to do so it saddens me that I didn't complete my goal.

I'm not going to beat myself up over it. While I'm disappointed I'm going to cut myself some slack and listen to my body. Could I have pushed it and went on? Yes, but I wasn't feeling like that would have been my smartest option. I think I'm still adjusting to my meds and fatigue sets in more quickly than it did before my surgery.

I still think there's time to get in my long runs before the race I'm signed up for. I worry that I'm making an excuse but I'm trying to look at my situation objectively. I think I can be very hard on myself at times so instead of doing that this time I'm going to accept that I need a little more time to adjust.

I'm accomplishing so many of my summer goals already and doing more than I ever have before physically. I'm also lucky that I have a great husband who always lifts my spirits when I start to get down. He's my soft place to land and I appreciate that greatly!

On a side note my oldest daughter lost her second front tooth. She is too adorable for words!

Preparation for a Trail Marathon

I have 7 weeks until my first trail marathon in Manistee State Forest. To say I'm nervous would be an understatement. Before having my thyroid surgery I was much more confident but somewhere after my surgery I've lost it. I've been able to run and even had a PR in a 15k race post-surgery but I can't help but feel like I am not able to complete a long run as of late. So far I haven't run more than 10 miles continuously.

I'm cross training more than I ever have before, I'm doing more hill work and speed work but I'm still feeling that lack of confidence. The last few times I've set out to run longer distances I've had time, weather or fatigue issues. So to combat that, I've decided to map out the next 7 weeks and stick to an actual training schedule.

Mind you, it's all made up by me and not an official schedule or anything but just putting it in writing has helped tremendously. This Thursday I am going to run 16-20 miles on the trails. I will not leave that trail system until I have completed my goal. I feel the only way to get my confidence back is to set my goal and achieve it. I don't care if it's the slowest 16-20 mile in history but I am going to finish it whether it's raining, whether their are evil deer flies buzzing around or whether I feel tired.

I've run at some pretty low levels before and feel like I'm really making good headway with my cross training so there is no reason other than my own mental lack of toughness when it comes to finishing this run. The biggest confidence boost I can give myself is pushing myself to complete this run!

Trails, Cross Training & Rambling

Watching video posts of Western States and seeing the beautiful terrain and breathtaking views got me thinking of running trails. I am glad we have some good local trail systems but when I see what else is out there it makes me long for better running trails.

I love running trails even though it's so much tougher for me. I love the quietness, seeing the occasional deer, coyote and other fellow runners or hikers. The other added benefit is being shaded. I hate wearing sun screen and haven't come up with a good alternative as of yet to replace it so running in the shade of the woods without the hot sun blaring down is a great alternative.

My husband and I ran about 7 miles on the trails but I wanted a little bit more. I wanted to take advantage of every bit of grandma babysitting time available. We had about 20 minutes so we took a turn down the trails we hadn't been down before that led down the beach out onto Lake Michigan.

Before getting to the beach there was a loop of stairs. It was unexpected but I was up for the challenge. My husband tried to convince me he didn't know that the stairs existed but as long as he's been running these trails before me I'm thinking he was putting on a pretty good poker face. I actually like running up stairs and this loop provided an excellent way to practice stair work.

I can remember a time when just walking up stairs was difficult and put me out of breath. It's amazing to me that I ran almost the whole (I'm guessing here) 1/4 or 1/2 mile loop without getting winded enough to stop. When we got to the top of the stairs we had a gorgeous view of the beach below. It was such a nice little treat to have this view just outside of our regular train run. Knowing it is there, we will have to take advantage of it more often.

I have been doing a lot more cross training this year (and earlier) than I ever had which I know has made the hills and stairs less strenuous. Since my husband and I are both teachers we have a difficult time motivating ourselves to get to the gym or do exercises at home. I'm good about running all year, but I'm happy with being able to be a little more disciplined throughout the winter.

My transition to running barefoot has been much slower than I thought it would be. I always run in VFF's but since I've been running more trails, I am not brave enough to run it barefoot yet. I have the world's best role model when it comes to that (my husband) and am constantly amazed at the terrain in which he can run. If it's not a smoother type of terrain, I have a hard time being able to run it barefoot. I suppose one of these days I'll just do it and see what it feels like instead of worrying about it without trying it. I'm so clumsy that I think I get myself more worked up about something than I should.

Speaking of clumsy...one of the other cross training things I'm doing is an outside bootcamp with my running partner, Sharon. It's a group of 12 ladies and the first day we tested out our abilities like sprinting, how many pushups we could do and so on. The instructor also throws in some fun games like linking up with another person and playing tag. I was linked up with Sharon and she's done the class before (the previous 8 weeks) and mentioned that we ran together.

That put pressure on me to look like I knew what I was doing while running. I had on my new pink Vibram's so I stood out. The premise of the game is one pair of linked ladies has to tag all of the other linked ladies. Once you're tagged, you have to do jumping jacks. Sharon and I were the last to get tagged. We're both competitive so we were strategizing on how we would run and where we would go.

Once we saw them coming for us, we took off. About 5 steps later I hit the floor. My feet fell out from under me and I was down! I nearly peed my pants from laughing at myself. Some runner :D In my defense, we were running on hilly terrain and fresh cut grass. Never mind that nobody else fell...shhh! Luckily, I'm used to being clumsy and looking like a fool so it doesn't bother me. I liked that Sharon took off without me in an attempt to not get tagged. We had a good laugh about it the next day on our morning run.

I think my new addiction when it comes to cross training is swimming. I took my kids to the pool the other day and kept looking at the lanes and thinking...hmmm..I wonder if I could sneak over there for a few laps. I'm happy my swimming partner wants to continue swimming in the fall with me. It's nice to share a lane with someone you know and to keep each other motivated. She told me of a program to get discounted swimming lessons since the pool we swim at, I am an alumni. I know I need to work on my technique and it would be great to have a professional give me tips.

I've made a few changes to my diet recently. I'm going to try going dairy and egg free and see if that helps my overall health, weight and running. So far it's been a much easier transition than I thought it would be. I love cheese but have found some other good substitutes to eat so I haven't missed it as much as I thought I would. My next race, a trail marathon, isn't until the end of August but I will be helping pace my hubby at Burning River at the end of July!

Below and above are a few pictures from our run. Jason was having fun running on the rocks!

Seaway 15k Race Report

This is the 3rd time I’ve run this course. The first time was after I had my daughter. I used the race as a motivator to keep running and lose baby weight. It was my husband and myself’s first race we ran together. He beat me of course, but it created the racing bug for him and helped motivate me.

I couldn’t have asked for better weather. I thought it might be too hot and humid but since the race was along the lakeshore, Lake Michigan to be specific, it had a nice breeze. I knew a few other people running the race including our adopted brother, Mark Robillard. No relation, just the same last name and we live not too far from each other. I also saw a student of mine that I had encouraged to enter the race so it was great seeing him follow through. I like to give as many people the racing bug as possible. I know I was hooked after my first race and know sometimes just entering one is all it takes.

I was hoping to PR in this race but I didn’t know how it would go since I was post-surgery 4 ½ weeks. I figured I would do the best I could and see what happened.

At the start of the race I felt a little sluggish but I know that sometimes it takes a couple of miles to get a good pace going and luckily that’s what happened. I sometimes have a love/hate with my Garmin. Sometimes I’m really glad I have it and sometimes I don’t want to look at it at all. I guess it depends on the race and how I’m feeling on that particular day. I love it to track my training runs and distances but for actual races it varies.

There are some days when I know it will annoy me and some days I know it will motivate me. Today was definitely a day it was going to motivate me. Maybe because it wasn’t a 5k and was a little bit of a longer distance but I did look at it and it helped kick start my legs when I went above a 10 minute mile pace. My previous pace was 10:45 and I knew I would be ok with a little faster pace.

When I would look down and see my pace was above 10 minutes, I would give myself a little pep talk and push it a little faster. During this time I actually talked out loud saying “You go, girl! You got this!”. Who knew I would turn into the crazy runner who talks to themselves? The older I get, the less I care about what others think of me and if talking to myself works, I do it.

The race course starts out in an industrial area and goes downhill to a gorgeous view of Lake Michigan. I actually ran along the bike path to the beach and the boardwalk.


I am notorious for taking very bad race photos. No matter what I do I cannot seem to take a decent one. I’m not just being critical. Some examples of past races photos is one where I just ate a packet of chocolate gu and snap! Another photo I had a contorted face in an attempt to smile. I was actually looking for the cameras this time and had the idea in my head when I saw them I would smile and put my arms in the air.

Well, I saw the camera but it was snapping away as I was taking a drink (still trying to briskly walk/run) from the aid station. See? It’s not in my destiny to take a good race photo. To make matters worse the cups were really full so I ended up spilling half the drink on my face/shirt. It felt good but doesn’t make for a good photo. Oh well, something to strive for I guess.

About a mile from the finish I tried to give it all I had. I pushed harder and luckily it was mostly downhill which made things even easier. I sprinted into the finish with an overall time of 1:31:18 with a pace of 9:45. I was so proud of myself. I managed to shave off 8 minutes from my previous best race time.

I really credit doing more cross training, some speed and hill work and my new favorite – swimming! It’s such a different workout and focuses you to concentrate on your breathing. I know in the short time I’ve been doing it that it has helped my running already. I haven’t done a lot of any of these things and I’m excited to increase them all and see how that helps my overall fitness and speed.

At the end of the race, we met Mark (who is also one of the affectionately called “Michigan Crew from Mind the Duck’s 12 hour) to take a picture. Mark makes me laugh because he does things that only he can get away with. Only 3 out of the 4 Michigan crew were there so he decided to ask a perfect stranger to stand in as Jesse. More funny than the actual picture that was taken was the look on the stranger’s face when Mark asked him to stand in. When Mark’s mom first tried to take the picture she had to ask stand in Jesse to move closer to us. I joked and said “Yeah, he gives us that serial killer vibe too” which probably didn’t help matters. We got the picture nonetheless!


Lastly, we had a great time hosting Ken Bob when he was here for his workshop. He is a totally humble and generous person. We attended his work shop along with his wife and dog Herman. Herman is one of the sweetest dogs I’ve ever met. He’s pretty big in stature but all sweetness. If he can put up with our 3 kids you know you have a winner!

All four of us (all but baby) got a Ken Bob t-shirt. Mine is
tie-died. Ken Bob even wore the Guinness World Record t-shirt from Jason’s World Record attempt in May. The shirt we sent him was white and he tie-died it orange which I thought was so cool.

We chatted about everything from the obvious barefoot running to eating a vegan diet to various marathons he has run. I forgot he was originally from Michigan too so we talked about local events as well.

All in all, it was a great race and clinic. We might be lucky enough to host him again in a week on a stopover clinic visit from Chicago.