July 08, 2014

Frogger

I went swimming with the kids yesterday. This is kind of surprising, because I never swim. I hate swimming! But I wanted to get in a run, and with the kids being home from school, I have to get creative with fitting in my runs when and where I can. I decided to take them to the rec center to play basketball while I ran on the indoor track. Then, afterward, I said I'd go swimming with them.

I mostly hate swimming because you have to change clothes, and bring a ton of extra stuff (towel, fresh clothes, etc). But I packed all of our stuff up into a couple of bags, and we headed to the rec center. I decided to run three miles on the track. There wasn't a single soul on the track other than myself, so I took a selfie. It was obviously so blurry because I was running so fast. (not really)


I wore my foot pod, and my Garmin showed that I was running something like a 10:30/mi pace. That just did NOT seem right to me! According to the "rules" of the track, 12 times around the inner lane is 1 mile. According to my Garmin, it's about 12.5 times around. I'm not sure which to believe. Just for the heck of it, I used the stopwatch on my phone to see what my pace would be if I was doing 12 laps per mile. It would have been an 8:30/mi pace. According to my Garmin for that segment, it was 9:45/mi. Does it really matter? No. But I like to think I was running 8:30 ;)

Anyway, when I was done with the three miles, the kids and I changed into bathing suits and went swimming for a little while. When I swim, I don't really swim swim. I just tread water, and doggie-paddle around. Even though I don't like being in the water, it felt awesome after running on the track! Until I got out, and had to deal with being wet and soaked with chlorine. 

There is something very odd going on near my house this year! Last year, the state land across the street from us was (deliberately) flooded from Lake Erie, and turned into a marshland. Since then, there have been all sorts of new critters around, and it's kind of fun. We've had ducks, and tons of turtles. The turtles have been laying their eggs all over the place. And like I mentioned recently, there are now frogs.

Over the past 11 years that Jerry and I have lived here, I've seen a few frogs each summer, usually when doing yard work or something. But over the past week, our entire street has been littered with dead baby frogs. They hop across the street from the marsh, and get run over by cars. There are literally hundreds, if not thousands, of frogs smashed on the street. 

Today, when I went out for a run, I was shocked at how many frogs there were! My run was really, really tough. I felt like I was running SO fast, but my watched showed mid-9:00 range. This humidity messes with me every summer, and every summer, I stop and wonder what the heck is wrong with me. I need to learn that I have a summer pace and a winter pace, and the summer pace is much slower. 

Anyway, a mile in, it started to rain. It felt AMAZING, and I was so glad to have the rain cool me off a little. When I got to my street, it pretty much came alive. There were hopping frogs everywhere! I felt like I was playing hopscotch to avoid stepping on them. It was so awesome--which I know, many people would be grossed out, but I love frogs. Once I got home, I turned around to go back and take some pictures. Here is a short video clip on Instagram--the frogs are tiny, so those things that look like grasshoppers? Yeah, they're frogs.

I took the kids outside to play in the rain and try to catch some of the frogs. They couldn't believe how many there were.


I've sure been selling Michigan by writing about the fish flies and now these frogs, huh? ;) 

If you missed my last couple of posts, I'm doing Five Days of Giveaways this week--giving away a different (running-related) item each day. On Sunday, I posted New Balance trail running shoes; yesterday, I posted some Balega socks; and today, I will be giving away a RooSport pocket. I'll be honest--when I saw this in our welcome bags from Runner's World at the Heartbreak Hill Half, I had no idea what it was! But then I saw the demo at the expo, and I thought it was pretty smart. 

I'm completely obsessed with my FlipBelt, however, so I wanted to give the RooSport pocket to someone who would get some use out of it. Here is what it looks like:



If you go to their website, you can see how it's used; but basically, it's a pocket with a really strong magnet that holds it onto your pants. You set the pocket just inside of your pants, and then the part with the orange tab goes on the outside, and using the strong magnet (trust me, it's REALLY strong), holds the pocket in place. It can fit a few small items in there--Gu, keys, driver's license, etc. It's a clever way to turn any pants into pants with a pocket!

To enter to win the RooSport pocket, just fill out your name and email address below. I'll randomly select a winner on Monday, July 14th, at 9:00 AM EST. Available to U.S. friends only--sorry, international peeps!


16 comments:

  1. oh the frogs are so cute... you sure do a good job of keeping the kids busy and active -- how awesome for them to grow up in an active family !

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  2. Hi Katie! I love love love your blog! By reading it and tracking my calories, I've now lost 20 pounds (with 80 still to go). You're such a motivation ... er, I mean determination to me, and I look forward to your posts every evening!

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  3. Oh my goodness! I LOVE frogs! Send some my way for California!

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  4. I know just what you mean about pacing. My summer pace is about 1:00-1:30 slower because of the heat and humidity here in Florida. I'm hoping that running through it will just make me stronger come fall :)

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  5. I love the Roosport idea!! I entered to win but I will have to get one if I don't win. I hate wearing some of my exercise gear outside sometimes because I don't have a pocket for phone, keys, etc!

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  6. AnonymousJuly 09, 2014

    Haha, I could have used that RooSport pocket this past weekend when I "lost" my car key at my race. :)

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  7. I have a Roo Sport Pocket! I actually use it more for concert-going than running, but it's a pretty nifty little thing!

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  8. AnonymousJuly 09, 2014

    We used to live near a street that had tons of frogs (mostly dead). We used to call it "croak" street. lol.

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  9. I love my RooSport! Got it at the running expo at the Disney Wine n Dine half marathon last year, and find it much nicer to use than an arm band.

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  10. Ugh I have a summer pace too. Cause the humidity makes my legs feel like 500 lbs each!

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  11. Did you get mosquitoes too?

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  12. Man, fish flies and frogs! That's awesome! I keep telling people at least the wildlife in Michigan isn't going to poison/eat/kill you.

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  13. Cute! I would be excited about all of the frogs, too! I wonder if the frogs eat fish flies??

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  14. My kids and I would have so much fun catching frogs in the rain.

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  15. We have a large creek behind our house and we have the same thing happen whenever it rains here.

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  16. Ya'll have the fish fly issue over on your side of the state....we don't have them on the westside. I am just fine with that! Now the frogs I could take...we like froggys!

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I used to publish ALL comments (even the mean ones) but I recently chose not to publish those. I always welcome constructive comments/criticism, but there is no need for unnecessary rudeness/hate. But please--I love reading what you have to say! (This comment form is super finicky, so I apologize if you're unable to comment)

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