Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Turkey Leg!

Thanksgiving morning...

14°

It was SO COLD.



And I wore Vibram Five Fingers to a 5k Turkey Trot.
My toes on the left, my bros on the right
Felt like little stumps of senseless ice stuck there on my little footsies.

Once the race started things warmed up real quick



I was able to keep up with my brothers until the last quarter mile.

BAM asthma attack! I think the Albuterol that I inhaled before the race hindered more than it helped. No more of that.
I was struggling. Still finished with a decent 22:13 and frozen feet.

It's interesting to see that since the Vegas Ragnar my running stamina has really improved. I've been able to run right around 7 minute miles for a while now, but being able to consistently stay at that pace... that's new. My brother in law who runs a LOT more than me has said he's improved a lot since the Vegas Ragnar as well. Maybe it did something!

This was a great family outing - a 5k on Thanksgiving morning with almost my entire original family (i.e. my parents and siblings) minus one sister and one brother, and a bunch of spouses.


I couldn't feel my toes. So I tried using my weird flexibility to warm them up on my face while updating Facebook at the same time. It helped a little!

Thursday, November 18, 2010

3 Months!!

I like to blog.

However I get nothing out of it other than personal satisfaction of having chronicled my adventures in the world of Fitness or whatever.

And while personal satisfaction is definitely an important thing, when life invades with higher priorities (working and children) blogging gets left behind. I wish working to provide was simpler thing that didn't interfere with the things I enjoy. Even better if it WAS something I really enjoyed.

So. What's happened since my last entry? (*Warning! Long post!*)

As I mentioned we were preparing for a trip to Canada.

Canada was beautiful, we spent a little under a week with the wonderful relatives of our new Sister-in-Law. They were VERY hospitable, but I think they tried a little too hard to get us to realize how GREAT small town life is in Canada.

Dune Buggy!

Trying to get some sun... Didn't work well, but IF does!
Sadly after Canada we were not able to continue Insanity. Sleep is a bit more important at the moment (there are some (lots actually) cases where it is appropriate to sacrifice sleep, but taking care of a nursing baby is not one of them!

After we returned home and school started, I continued Yoga at work. The instructor is great and thankfully they have hired her to start full time at the beginning of the year, and she is continuing great hour long yoga classes every Tuesday and Thursday. Even better is that Tuesday and Thursday are my IF days, so I am able to get a GREAT workout while fasted.

In September I ran in the Utah Marathon Relay with a bunch of coworkers. Great little 5.24 mile run, my knees didn't really bother me too much so it was also great training for the Vegas Ragnar.
We had four awesome teams - mine was 2nd fastest. We ALMOST caught our 'fast' stacked team!

Finishing my leg!
I was satisfied with my pace, but it really wasn't great. I ran the 5.24 in just under 45 minutes, so 8.5 minute miles. Dang knees. Notice my Brooks shoes - nice little track flats. I think they might be part of my problem.

Next up, the Las Vegas Ragnar Relay! The Ragnar Relay is a GREAT event. Lots of fun, and pretty tough too! I had 3 legs again, just like the Wasatch Back, but this time I had what is now the 'infamous leg 24'. 8 miles on a trail that is more a 4 wheeler track in the middle of the night. There was much weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth that night! I think I would have enjoyed the challenge except that less than 300 yards in my knee started acting up BIG time. Yeah I wasn't mad at the trail... I was mad at my knee.
Yeah that was easy...

What?!

I thought everybody was supposed to be a Pirate!

Yarr all Pirates have iphones I promise!

What a good lookin' buncha Pirates!
We still did better than expected.

Just last week I ran in a Work sponsored 5k, our annual Turkey Trot. I was feeling pretty good although I hadn't run since the Vegas Ragnar... so I was a bit worried about my knee. I decided to wear my Vibram Five Finger Sprints. That was a good choice.

My knee didn't start hurting until after the race (so there still needs to be some adjustments made), but I came in THIRD place with a time of 21:57, so just over 7 minute miles. Nice! I probably can improve on that too, which is amazing since I haven't run that fast since Jr. High... Now I've known I can run a just barely sub-7 minute mile... but doing it for 3? Didn't know I could do that still. Now I know. So now I've got to. The $25 gift card ("Turkey Voucher") was a nice bonus as well!

Today in Yoga I held Crow pose for longer than I ever had attempted. It felt great! I impressed the other newer yoga attendees too, which while not very important is still nice. Nobody else even tried it.

I'm pushing myself harder, because I know I can do more. It feels great!