running: the dawn

So, you might have noticed that I am in love with runningskirts.com…

    

So, imagine my delight when I was sent a runningskirts.com Triathlon Skirt!  Althought…I’m not sure what they’re trying to tell me.  I don’t own a bike and I’m pretty much terrified of water.  Maybe they teamed up with Marlene and are trying to convince me to go to the dark side….hmmm…anyway…about the skirt…

It is the same lightweight material that their other skirts are made out of, just without any briefs or shorts attached.  I must admit that my favorite part of my runningskirts are the attached reverse-seam briefs.  So, I wasn’t so sure how this would go.  As always there are two side pockets that have velcro closures on either side.  Always perfect for stashing my ipod, gels, and phone.

   

I was also sent those adorable pink compression socks.  I have always had zensah socks before and these felt just as snug as my zensah ones.  I love the little heart (that gets really stretched out because my calves are huge).  And pink…you just can’t go wrong there!

The fit on the skirt is great and the slipped right on over my champion shorts.  And as always there was the cute running skirt ladies reflective logo.  Gotta stay safe on those roads, right?

  

So, I took the skirt out for a run.  Honestly, I still prefer the classic runningskirt with the attached brief.  I didn’t love that I could feel the edge of my shorts and the edge of the skirt on the back of my legs.  I kept thinking that something was crawling on me.  However, I love the idea of having these to throw on over my capris when the weather cools down a bit (if it ever does around here…).

The winner for me?  The socks!!!  Seriously.  Last summer I lost one of my Zensah compression socks and I haven’t ever bought a replacement pair.  So sometimes I’ll wear my calf sleeves, but I never feel like they get the same compression that the socks to.  These ones where nice and snug.  They were a little too tall for me so they actually covered a little bit of my knee.  It didn’t bother me at all and I’m sure that they would be ideal for someone who isn’t as vertically challenged as I am (I’m 5’3″ and most of that height is in my torso…my legs are super short).

I love that these socks come in such fun colors:

 

 

And at $32, they are way cheaper than most other compression gear out there.  They get a great big scratch-and-sniff sticker from me!!  (As a calculus teacher there is no higher honor I can give)

Oh, and have you seen their new fall collection?  I die!  Yes, I’ve already ordered this little number for myself:

~~I was sent these items free of charge in exchange for a review.  The opinions are my own.~~

 

 

 

Today was the day I finally got to test out my new winter running tights.  Result?  A++

I’ve been looking for a pair of actual running tights so that I’m not running in my snowboarding base layer under a pair of old sweats.  True, I survived all last winter with this combo, but it’s high time I act like a legitimate runner…so I found these:

I am in LOVE!  I really wanted to make sure that the pants I got were warm without being bulky, reflective, and included ankle zips.  The description from the Road Runner’s website:

Prevent wind chill in the women’s Road Runner Sports Pro Velocity Windfront Tight thanks to windproof front leg panels. Feel great with muscle-supporting compression, moisture management, and secure-fitting grip elastic leg openings with ankle zips. 360º reflectivity.

Everything I wanted, and more!  I love the compression, it’s not so much that it interferes with range of motion, but just enough to feel supported.  And the wind panels?  Genius.  The material is great.  I’m seriously in love with these pants.  Now, if only I could make a full body suit out of those wind panels…

When we got back into town on Friday, it was 50* and raining.  This was the first time that we’ve come home after our Christmas travels when we haven’t had to snow blow our way into the driveway.  Usually the accumulated snow is well over a foot by now.  The heatwave did not last for long, and it has lightly snowed a couple days since then.  However, the major advantage to our lack of snow is that the high school track is available!!!!  Just in time for me to start back with my training.

Today there were 800′s on the agenda!  Most people have their favorite length of intervals, but I’ve come to love them all.  True I don’t always love them during the last 100m when I’m gasping for air, but I just love the structure and focus of track work.  So, after admiring the glory of my new pants, I headed out towards the high school.  A mile’s worth of warm up later, I was lined up and ready to roll.

Goal: 3:17 per 800

Actual: 3:14, 3:13, 3:19, 3:15

I pretty much nailed it.

Then I ran 2 more miles to cool down and was done.

Honestly…it feels a little weird to only have one more run to do this week.  And by weird–I mean I don’t have a stress headache trying to figure out when I’m going to fit in all the workouts I want to do.  I used to carry the weight of my unfinished workouts around with me all day, every day.  And now, I feel almost breezy about it.  I know that my mileage is going to increase and I know that the track and tempo workouts will get more intense, but I must say that for my mental health this plan was 100% the right thing for me.  I love the tomorrow I can go to Jazzercise and have my Insanity date with Shaun T. without feeling guilty because I’m not running.

I have gotten quite a few questions about the skirt I wore in the marathon (pics here) and why I switched from shorts to skirts.  Well, first of all I LOVED my first skirted experience.

I’ve always had a hate-hate relationship with running in the summertime.  Mainly because it meant that I had to wear shorts.  I have always had a problem with my shorts riding up between my thighs.  I would spend  so much time either adjusting said shorts or feeling self-conscious about what I looked like.  Yes, I tried all the different kinds of shorts: nike, adidas, mizuno.  Loose fitting, spandex, booty shorts.  No matter what I tried I would obsess over how I looked and how I felt.   And…don’t even get me started with race pictures.  While most people see the expression on the face I would only see how ridiculous my thighs look like…

Gross!  So, what’s a girl to do?  Skirts baby!

I was first introduced to the idea of skirts by my running BFF Andi.  She had found a nike skirt a couple years ago and kept telling me how much more comfortable it was and that she never felt self conscious.  Since then I’ve been on the search for the perfect skirt.

Enter runningskirts.com.  Yes, I found their website first by googling “running skirts.”  At first I was more than skeptical of the idea of “briefs” under the skirt as opposed to compression shorts.  I was pretty sure that I would rather have the coverage of shorts.  I kept researching and reading reviews online, became a fan of runningskirts.com on facebook so I could look through pictures of real people wearing the skirts.  Eventually became convinced that I should at least give them a try.

It’s hard though.  Running apparel in general is fairly expensive and skirts in particular seem to range between $50-$60.  Which is a lot to me.  But then. . . .my AMAZING sister-in-law suggested that she and my brother gift me a skirt for my birthday!  Even though my birthday was the day after the marathon they made sure that it got to me in time to take it for a spin before the big day.  I got my adorable pink-dot skirt Wednesday before the race and took it for a little three mile run.

Now, yes, I do know that you’re not supposed to try anything at a marathon that you haven’t first tested out on a long run…but…I did anyway.  And seriously, I’m sure that I could not have been happier.  I loved wearing the skirt every step of the way.  I never once had to adjust anything.  Every time I passed by the medical stations I’d ask myself if I needed any more chafing protection and never needed it.  And as horrifying as the “incident” was after mile 20, I was so thankful that I was wearing a skirt.  The idea of having shorts on to stick to my skin and rub me raw make me cringe even now a week later.  At the end of the race I had poured so much water on myself I was literally dripping wet.  The skirt stayed in place perfectly.

This was a complete trial by fire of a new product and I am happy to say that the running skirt passed with FLYING colors!  Speaking of colors…check out the skirts that I got while I was at the runningskirts.com store:

Yes, I when I left for California I was skirt-less.  Now,thanks to Ann, Jeremy, Sis, and me, I own 5!!!!  Basically I can’t wait for my two weeks of not running to be over so I can rock all my new skirts .  I no longer dread hot summer days.

I know that there are skeptics out there…feel free to ask questions, disagree, or share your skirt-tastic experiences!

Oh, and PS…The running skirts are having a HUGE sale.  Check it out here!  Some of there skirts are $10 and $20!

It is amazing how different I can feel from one day to the next.  Yesterday a coworker asked me how the running has been going and it was all I could to to keep from crying.  I still felt hopeless.  I mean, I have think I have been doing everything right: stretching, varying my running surface, keeping my mileage reasonable, babying my legs.  Basically any remedies that have been suggested I’ve been doing.  I couldn’t pinpoint the reason why my knee would start acting up so abruptly seemingly out of no where.

Then I read Katye’s blog from yesterday where she shared some of her recent knee issues and how they may have been caused by the shoes she’s been wearing.  Well, since I bought my new shoes only three weeks ago, I hadn’t considered the possibility that they might somehow be involved.  When I looked back through my blog posts I did notice that once I started wearing my new shoes I also started complaining about leg trouble.  Almost down to the first day I started wearing them.  At first I was heartbroken because the shoe I’d bought were expensive and there was no way I could afford another pair so soon.  And there was no way I was going to go back to my previous pair that cause so many blisters.  Kayte suggested that I take the shoes back to the store where I purchased them and see what they could do for me.

While I was glad to have a plan and probable cause, I wasn’t so sure that would really work for me.  I am not a person who likes to make a fuss.  I eat whatever is in front of me.  I don’t call phone companies to complain.  I hate to return gifts people give.  I just like to smooth it out and deal with the consequences.  But in this situation, I can’t deal with the pain.  I had to do something.  So, I climbed in my car and headed down to Metro Run & Walk.

To tell the truth, even while I was driving down there I was worried about what I was going to say, what they were going to say, what would happen if they couldn’t fix it….just over and over in my head.  I decided to call my mom to see if I was crazy and to practice my lines.  I pulled into the parking lot, took a deep breath, and pieced together my courage before heading in.

Let me tell you.  Those two women in that store are angels!  I’m sure they could see my struggle written all across my face.  I explained to them the problems that I’ve been having with my IT Band and all about my history of shoes.  They wanted to see me run in the Brooks, so I laced them up and took them for a spin.  They discussed my gait amongst themselves in shoe-speak that I couldn’t understand which is probably much like the math-speak I sometimes use.  After explaining to me what they were observing, they decided to have me try out the Mizuno Nirvanas (which is what I’ve run in before).  Apparently my feet look amazing in Mizunos, because the two angels decided that I needed them and would take my old (three-week-old) shoes as an exchange!!!!  I’m sure that some might think, “Well, yeah, they should give you shoes!”  But I was not expecting such supportive wonderful women who cared for me as though I was their own daughter.  It was so gracious of them.

Here are the beauties

I got to chat with one of the ladies about our fear of injuries interrupting our training schedules.  She’s actually training for a half-ironman which is AMAZING!!!  She gave me all kinds of advice and was so understanding.  Just knowing that there are other people who have experienced these moments of panic, worked through it, and triumphed on the other side gives me such hope and peace.

I feel like a different person now.  Yesterday, in the valley, I feel directionless.  There was a problem that I couldn’t identify and therefore there was nothing that I could do.  Today, as I head back up toward the summit, I feel like I have found a path that will get me back on track.  Now, I know that this might not be a cure-all.  In fact, one thing that I’m realizing is that with every set back that I encounter (blisters, IT Band Syndrome) I become more aware of how to treat my body.  Since my 18-miler with the feet issues, I have taken special care of my feet.  And since Sunday, I have been doing everything possible to protect my knees from further injury: yoga, stretching, strengthening my hips/quads.  I’m much more aware of the abuse that my feet and legs deal with, and now I feel like I can cater to their needs.

I have now worn my new injinji toe socks a several times, including my recovery run, speed work, and my mid-distance run this morning.  I must say, I am rather impressed with them.  I was skeptical with the idea of extra material between my toes, I didn’t think that it would actually cut down on the friction.  Surprisingly they work just as described: “engineered to separate your toes with a thin, anti-friction membrane that is both lightweight and breathable.”

While it is true that they keep blisters from forming between the toes my favorite part of the socks is how they form to the underside of my toes.  I know that it sounds silly, but there it is.  The fabric doesn’t just go from the end of my toe and meet back up with my foot somewhere around the ball of my feet.  The fabric follows the curvature of my toes.  It’s quite nice.  There’s something about being able to move each toe without disturbing the surrounding toes.  They don’t feel restrained by fabric tethering them together.  I must say, I do enjoy that.

So now, I just need to keep my two pairs clean and/or prioritize my weekly schedule.  Actually, I do LOVE the double layer socks that I bought with my new shoes, which means that I have 6 pairs of socks that are ideal for running so as long as I don’t get too lax on my laundry duties I should be well stocked each new week.

In other much more important news.  I just found out that my running twin Andi is going to be moving much much closer to me in June!!!  Currently she lives practically on the other side of the country but in a few short months she will be within driving distance for a weekend’s visit and/or to keep each other company on the trails in between our two homes.  Hurray!!!!  Andi will forever be the person who inspired me to become a marathoner.  Neither once of us had ever run that far when we decided to train together and we were with each other through every up and down of the training and racing process.  I love her like a sister (many people actually think that we look alike and confuse us for sisters all the time).

Can’t wait to run with you again Andi!

Yesterday, in the important moment of decision between stopping at 16 or continuing on to 20, I pulled this out of my handheld waterbottle pouch:

And I knew.  The 20 miles were mine!

By mile 15 I couldn’t remember what flavor of gu I had left.  I knew that I had packed 4 in case I decided to add on to the 16 miles and for some reason I was afraid that I was only left with a strawberry-banana one.  Gross.  I hate have a strong aversion to any kind of artificial banana flavoring.  Now, just to be clear, I did not select this flavor on purpose.  It was mixed in my 24 pack that I ordered.  While I like to believe that if a strawberry banana gu had been the flavor of the moment I would still have chosen to lengthen my run…however I am not entirely convinced.  But with the power of the delightful mint chocolate to spur me on, I took off without hesitation.

So, yeah, I’m pretty sure that I’m going to need more of this flavor.  It tastes just like the Andes mints that you get when you eat at Olive Garden (which is my favorite part of the meal of course).  They say it’s a holiday “limited time offer” so I better get on it.

As my 3-year-old niece would say, “It’s tasty!”  Actually, she is constantly asking if something is tasty or not before she tries it.  Ergo, Mr. Dawn and I have started to classify things as “Abigail tasty”.  This being the highest praise for any food.