Hill workouts for kids' cross country

Yesterday evening, I had cross country practice. I knew I wanted to do some sort of hill work with the kids, but I was having a hard time thinking of a way to make it FUN. Hills are tough! Just asking the kids to run up and down a hill is boring, so I wanted them to want to do it. The problem was, I Googled it a thousand different ways and couldn't find anything online about fun hill work for kids. I decided to go to the dollar store and see if anything inspired me to make some sort of game.

I'm really glad I did that, because I came up with a very fun game that would also be a great hill workout! We don't have a budget for the team, so whatever we buy has to be paid for out-of-pocket--therefore, I had to get creative, but that's a good thing.

The supplies:

Two bags of marbles in different colors--I got one blue and one green; and some sort of containers to hold them (four total--I was able to buy 5 for $1). Total cost of the game was $3.

For the game, I set the bucket of green marbles halfway up the grassy hill, and I set the bucket of blue marbles at the very top of the hill. We divided the kids into two teams, and each of them got an empty bucket, which was placed at the bottom of the hill. Here is a picture of the hill (it's steeper than the picture makes it look, honest!)

To play, the green marbles (halfway up the hill) are worth 1 point, and the blue marbles (top of the hill) are worth 3 points. The object is to get as many points as possible for your team. Each kid can only get ONE marble at a time, and they can choose whether to run halfway up the hill for a green marble, or all the way up for a blue marble. Then they have to run back down, and drop the marble in their team's bucket. All of the kids are doing this at the same time, so there are kids running up and down the hill constantly until all the marbles on the hill have been moved to the team buckets.

When all the marbles had been moved, Renee and I tallied up the points for each team, and declared the team with the most points the winner. The kids loved it! They had been pretty tired from the time trial we'd just done before the hill game, but they were really focused on getting the marbles. It was interesting, because most of the kids decided to go for the blue marbles first, so they ran all the way to the top of the hill. Once that bucket was empty, then everyone went for the green until they were gone. The whole thing took probably 10 minutes, and the kids got a heck of a workout running up the hill multiple times.

I had a couple of other ideas for hill games as well. Instead of marbles, we can put puzzle pieces at the top of the hill. The kids can only bring down one puzzle piece at a time, and the goal is to complete the puzzle at the bottom of the hill. (Again, this could be done with two teams, each working on their own puzzle. I found some puzzles with 50 pieces at the dollar store, which would work well for our group.)

My original idea was to get a bunch of silly clothes and accessories (hats, glasses, etc), and put those at the top of the hill. The kids would be divided into two teams (one for Renee, and one for me). They would run up the hill and grab an item, then run back down and Renee and I would have to put the items on. The first team to get all of the items on us would be the winner.

Another one I thought of was a matching card game. I bought a deck of cards with animals on them, typically used for a memory game to try and pair up the matches. I figured the kids could run to the top of the hill, grab a card, and bring it back down. Then run up again, get another card, bring it down... and keep doing that until they get a match. (Working as individuals rather than a team)

Finally, and I didn't buy this because it was too expensive, I thought of using the game Connect 4. The tokens would be up at the top of the hill, and the kids would have to bring down one at a time. The Connect 4 game would be at the bottom of the hill, and they could make their move as they brought the tokens down. It would help to be fast, because the faster their team brings tokens, the more likely they are to connect four. This would probably work better with a smaller group of kids, maybe 6-8 total.

Yesterday's practice was great, and I'm loving coaching this team!! It's been awesome to come up with ideas to make running FUN for kids. It makes me so happy when the kids tell me that they have fun at practice. Noah told me that he likes our cross country practices better than the ones for his middle school team, so that made me feel good ;)

---

Yesterday, I had plans to meet Jessica for a walk. We were going to meet at the State Park, so I decided to ride my bike there (I figured it would be about six miles each way). After I got the kids off to school, I had some breakfast and then headed out on my bike.

I had been hoping that there would be a spot for me to chain my bike while Jessica and I walked, but I figured that I could chain it to a tree if nothing else. There was a small fence post at the start of the trail, so I chained my bike there and just hoped that nobody would mess with it! It was gorgeous outside--a perfect day for a walk.

When Jessica got there, we walked around the 5K loop plus a small detour to make it 3.5 miles total. I hadn't seen Jessica pretty much all summer, so it was fun to catch up with her! She said that she'd be interested in doing a 10-mile walk with me, which is awesome--I need to do one sometime before the Detroit Half. We made plans to do the 10-miler on October 7th.

We are both working on getting back to our goal weight, so we each set a goal for October 7th. We decided that if we are BOTH at that goal by the time we do the 10-mile walk, then we can go to La Pita for lunch after the walk. Reminds me of when we were marathon training in 2012! ;)

I got in over 12 miles of biking and the 3.5 mile walk--it was a good morning!

---

Well, tonight I'm staying the night in Detroit, and I'll be doing the Tour de Troit tomorrow morning. Please cross your fingers for good weather for me! Right now, it's looking very, very bad--thunderstorms all morning. As long as they don't cancel the ride, I'll be doing it!

Continue Reading...

Inspirational Running Story: "My First Ultra Marathon!" (A guest post by my brother)

As you already know, my younger brother, Nathan, completed his first ultra marathon on Saturday. He ran the Freak 50K, a part of the Run Woodstock weekend of races through Hell, MI. I'm still rather awed by my brother's drive when it comes to running.

Nathan started running in the early spring of 2014. After finishing his duties with the Army, and returning home from Iraq several years ago, he'd put on some weight and got out of shape. When my sister started running in late 2012, Nathan was the only one of my siblings that wasn't a runner. He saw my older brother, my sister, and I having fun doing races, and I think that influenced his decision to start running.

I'm SO GLAD that he did! Nathan and I were not close at all a couple of years ago. I only saw him a few times a year, and I just wasn't sure what to do to fix that. When he asked me if I'd like to go for a run with him one day, I was thrilled. We finally had something in common we could talk about, and an excuse to get together.

At first, we were running close to the same pace; but as Nathan started getting faster, I started getting slower. And as Nathan lost weight, I started gaining weight. Still, I ran his first 5K with him, which was fun (even though he and Brian left me in the dust at the finish line, haha). I've gotten to watch as he progressed from completing his first 5K to his first 10K, first half-marathon, first marathon, and now his first 50K.

First race with all my siblings!

When Nathan does something, he really puts his all into it. He's only been running less than two years, but he's already gotten pretty fast and can run 32+ miles at a time! Anyway, I wrote about my experience watching his first 50K, but several people asked if Nathan would write about his experience... and although he was a little shy to do so, he obliged ;) I hope you enjoy this guest post by my brother!

---

In the days leading up to my first 50K, I started to really question if I had trained enough, and was worried that I would end up bonking toward the end of the race. I looked through all of my training runs on Garmin Connect and that boosted my confidence. I added up the total mileage since I began my training plan and also saw that I did five runs of 20+ miles with another long run the following day. The back-to-back long runs were generally not fun at all but proved to be valuable by learning to run on tired legs and while glycogen-depleted.

The morning of the race, I woke up at 3 a.m. so that I could eat a good breakfast before we left at 4 a.m. I had a big bowl of oatmeal, a banana, a Clif Bar, and some Pop-Tarts. Katie and my mom came to pick my girlfriend, Kendall, and I up; and we drove about an hour to Hell Creek Ranch, which is where the race started. The weather was perfect for running, about 45 degrees with a forecast high of only 65 (I had been worried, because just a few days earlier it was really hot and extremely humid). I had a hard time deciding  to run with a hydration backpack and handheld water bottle or to just use a handheld bottle and carry another bottle in a waist pack. I wanted to have one with Gatorade and one with water but wasn’t sure what to expect at the aid stations so I opted to use the hydration backpack and handheld bottle.

The atmosphere at the starting line was completely different than any other race I’ve ever run. It was very relaxed and nobody even lined up in the corral until about a minute before the race start. There wasn’t a big build-up with music playing and everyone cheering or anything. We all just lined up in the chute and someone said, “go”.

The course circled around the campground for about a quarter mile before entering the woods on a single track trail. At that point, it was too narrow to pass any other runners and the pace seemed quite slow; but it was nice, because it kept me from going out too fast. Everyone was very friendly and making jokes such as, “50K? I thought this was the 5K!” and as everyones Garmins beeped for the first mile, someone said, “only 30 miles to go!”. We ran in the dark for about the first 45 minutes and then it started to get light enough to see without a headlamp. During that time, the runners started to separate.

I didn’t expect to see "Team Nathan" (my mom, Katie and Kendall) until the second aid station around mile eight, so I was surprised to see them at the first one. The aid stations were really well stocked with all sorts of food, soda, water, Gatorade, GU, etc. I grabbed a cup of clear liquid (assuming it was water) and one of the volunteers said it was pop but I drank it before the words registered in my head. It turned out to be Sprite which made me feel bloated for a while, but luckily it didn’t give me any other stomach problems! 

After realizing how awesome the aid stations were, I decided that I’d drop my hydration backpack with my “crew” the next time I saw them and just go with a handheld and waist bottle (which is lighter and a little more comfortable).

I made it a point to take in a Huma Energy Gel every four miles with a few ounces of Gatorade every mile and water whenever I felt I needed it. (I used Huma gel for nutrition along the course. They weren’t sponsoring me or anything! It just tastes great, has the needed carbs/calories, is all natural, and makes me feel full from the Chia seeds.) I realized during training that I sometimes would not take in enough nutrition because I was feeling good at the time but it would catch up with me in the later miles.

I can’t remember exactly when, but I think it was after the second aid station that a few other runners and I found that we were all running at roughly the same pace and ended up running most of the race together. A woman named Laurie was out front; and trailing her was myself and two guys, both named Matt. We talked and tried to encourage others to join our “team”.

Some runners would hang with us for a while and either pass or fall back. I know it sounds kind of crazy but we’d get excited when we started up a steep hill because that meant we could take a break from running and walk up! Running with them was awesome because the miles seemed to fly by and we were able to keep each other motivated.

I wasn’t sure how often I’d see my mom, Katie, and Kendall, but they were able to meet me at every aid station which was great! It not only gave me something to look forward to every few miles but I was also able to add/drop gear and refill on gels and Gatorade. I packed a bag with a extra pair of shoes (I was running in Altra Lone Peak trail running shoes), shorts, shirt, hat, gloves, a bunch of fuel and anything else I thought I might need.

I asked Kendall if she could make sure it was with her whenever she’d see me along the course. At the second to last aid station, which was around mile 25, I was still feeling great and had plenty of fuel, so I told them to skip the last one and just go to the finish line.

Shortly after leaving the last aid station, I looked behind me and we had somehow lost Laurie and one of the Matts. I was hoping to all finish together but they were nowhere to be seen so the other Matt and I decided to push it pretty hard for the last 4 or 5 miles. It seemed like quite a while but finally we could hear the music playing at the finish line! As we came off the trail and into the campground he said, “All right, lets go!” so we both sprinted (or it at least felt like we were sprinting!) to the finish line.

After we crossed, a woman there asked my name and age and I was pleasantly surprised to learn that I took first place in my age group!

Overall, if I had to sum up the whole experience in a word it would be, “AWESOME”! The event was very well organized and all of the other runners were extremely friendly. Whether you were passing somebody or they were passing you, they always gave a compliment, words of encouragement or a high five.

I knew for a long race like this that it would be important to fuel properly, so I made sure to stick to my plan. I think that helped me avoid hitting "the wall” and I felt great the entire race. The support along the way from my mom, Katie, and Kendall was great, and definitely much appreciated!

My only goal was just to finish my first ultra but I was kind of secretly hoping to do it in under 5:30. I ended up finishing in 5:21 which put me in 11^th place overall! Trail running is a whole different animal compared to road running but it’s a blast and a nice change of pace--literally!

Continue Reading...

Week 5 weigh in (and ortho appointment)

Today started the final week of my six-week experiment with calorie counting. I've been doing really well with it, so I can already spoil the ending by saying that I'm going to continue with it after the six weeks are up ;) I started today off with my Wednesday Weigh-in:

I was 147 this morning, meaning I dropped another 2 pounds this week. I'm thrilled with that! It's kind of odd how consistent my weight loss has been... for each of the last four weeks, I've dropped exactly 2 pounds. I've never had such consistent losses!

My body fat was down by 0.6%, and my waist was down by another 1/2 inch. I've really noticed the weight loss over the last couple of weeks. My love handles are almost gone, and I can fit into a lot of jeans I couldn't before. All it took was five weeks of being consistent with my calorie counting. I wish I could smack myself a year ago and made me do it then!

Several people have asked me why I think I'm more successful with calorie counting that I have been with Weight Watchers. Weight Watchers worked really well for me in 2012. When I used Weight Watchers in 2009-2010, I was doing their old Points system (Flex Points, I think it was called); but in 2012, I decided to give their new PointsPlus system a try. I was kind of bitter about the new system, because I was used to the old one, and I didn't want to have to learn everything all over again. But I decided to give it my all for 10 weeks or something like that.

During that time, I was following the program very closely, and I didn't know any ways to "cheat". I measured out my portions, counted the PointsPlus, and the weight came off pretty quickly. Eventually, as I started to get comfortable with the program, I started picking up on the "cheats". I learned that 5 grams of peanut butter is 1 PP, but 8 grams of peanut butter is also 1 PP. Naturally, I'd want to have 8 grams. (I put "cheats" in quotes, because I was technically still following the program, just finding ways to push the rules a bit.)

As I learned how much food I could have to get the most out of my PointsPlus, I was probably taking in quite a few extra calories--all those little grams add up! And once you learn the PointsPlus system, you can't really "unlearn" it; so even when trying this past spring to stay 100% on plan (and I did), I wasn't dropping much weight.

By counting calories, there isn't any leeway. If you have 5 grams of peanut butter, you log the 5 grams. If you have 8 grams, you log the 8 grams. You also log your fruits and vegetables, which you don't do on Weight Watchers. You count every calorie you eat, so there isn't really away to cheat the system.

That's my best guess as to why the calorie counting has worked so well. Next week, I'll write more things I've noticed about calorie counting versus PointsPlus counting--after my "experiment" is over.

---

I had my appointment with the orthopedist today. I originally scheduled the appointment after seeing my general practitioner for my annual physical--I mentioned that my back pain has gotten much worse over the past year, so she scheduled an MRI, x-rays, and had me make an appointment with a specialist (the orthopedist).

While I was waiting to get in to see him, I had issues with my ankle again, so I decided to bring it up at my appointment. Well, when I got there today, I learned that he only sees patients for back pain, not for other orthopedic issues. So, I didn't get to ask about my stress fracture. I think I'll give it a few more weeks of cross-training/rest, just to make sure it's healed, and then start slowly with running again.

I did learn a surprising fact about my back, though. The doctor pulled up my MRI images on the computer while I was there, and even I could see it plain as day... I have mild scoliosis, of course, but two of my thoracic vertebrae (right where the pain is located) have pretty large bone spurs on the right side. I couldn't believe that it wasn't mentioned in the MRI report. The doctor explained that those two bone spurs rub together when I bend or move certain ways, which is likely causing the pain.

I felt so much better after seeing that--of course, it sucks that I have the bone spurs, but I was feeling like I was crazy for being in so much pain from "mild" scoliosis and "mild" arthritis. I've had the back pain for years and years; and the doctor said that judging by the size of the spurs, they've been developing for a long time.

As far as treatment, he mentioned a steroid injection for the pain (that will be a last resort for me--it sounds terrible); also physical therapy to improve my posture, and a topical cream to rub on my back for the pain. The only way to really remove the spurs would be with surgery, and there is no way that I want to do that. The doctor even said that he wouldn't recommend it right now anyway. Even though the news wasn't that great, I'm really glad to know what the reason behind my back pain is!

After my appointment, my mom and I went to pick up our packets for the Tour de Troit bicycle ride on Saturday. I'm really looking forward to it! It's looking like it's going to thunderstorm on Saturday morning, so I'm crossing my fingers that the forecast changes.

Continue Reading...

Speed work for kids

My second cross country practice was yesterday right after school, so I got stuff ready for that. I made up a plan for speed work--I wrote the names of four different animals on index cards (turtle, pig, horse, and cheetah) and then taped them to sticks to tuck into some orange cones. I figured we could place the cones around the path for the kids to run, and use those as cues to walk, jog, run, and sprint.

I also bought some rubber bands to keep track of laps. Since we have so many kids on the team (28!), it would be impossible for us to keep track of their laps. Some kids are much faster than others, and could do twice as many laps.

Anyway, I figured that each lap around, they could put one rubber band on their wrist. Renee had measured out 1/4 mile path for them to run, so each rubber band was equivalent to 1/4 mile. Then, at the end, we could just count their rubber bands, multiply by 1/4 mile, and give them their total distance run.

We started by doing a dynamic warm-up (light jogging alternated with dynamic stretches). Then, we started the animal speed work. I told the kids they could do as many or as few laps as they wanted for 15-20 minutes, but gave them the goal to get in at least three.

I brought a bag of candy, and said anyone that gets in at least three laps can have a piece. That worked well to keep them motivated ;) The kids really liked the rubber band idea, and wanted to collect as many as they could, so all of the kids did at least three, but most of the kids did more. It worked out really well!

We let them take a water break for a few minutes afterward, and then we set up to play a game. We organized them into four teams of seven, and had them do a relay race. I gave the first person from each team a stick to carry and hand off to their teammate, and the first team to have everyone finish was the winner.

We did three rounds of that, and then it was time to go home! It went by really quickly. I collected the rubber bands and gave each of the kids a small slip of paper with their total distance written on it, so their parents could log it on their mileage chart at home. Most of the kids got in 1.5-2 miles, which was great. The kids seemed like they had a really good time, so I'd say it was a successful practice. :)

Watching the kids practice really makes me want to run! I am going to see the orthopedist tomorrow, so I'll see what he says about getting back into it, and hopefully come up with a plan. Crossing my fingers for good news!

---

After a very busy weekend, I still managed to get in a lot of activity yesterday. In the morning, I decided to go for a long walk to help prepare to walk the half-marathon next month. I ended up walking over five miles alone, and then planned to walk three more with Joey later.

Yesterday was Jerry's birthday, so I wanted to spend some time with him. He was sleeping while I was out walking, but when he got up, I asked if he would want to ride bikes to Subway for lunch. It was really nice outside! I estimated that Subway was probably about five and a half miles away, so it would be a good place to ride to.

We headed out on our bikes, and I was in front of Jerry. The wind was so strong! I almost suggested turning around and going back home, but kept reminding myself it was "only" about five miles there. I was blocking the wind for Jerry, so he didn't understand why it was so tough. When we got to Subway, I was exhausted and my heart was racing.

I didn't know Jerry even took this picture until he showed me at Subway. Clearly, I have awesome posture while I'm on my bike ;)

I got my usual veggie sub, and was totally disappointed when they said they don't have guacamole anymore! I love guacamole on my subs. If I had known ahead of time, I may have gotten something else, but my veggie sub was really good anyway. After we finished eating, we started the ride back home.

It was MUCH easier with a tail wind. On the way TO Subway, our average speed was 12.1 mph; but on the way home, it was 14.9 mph--big difference! The effort level on the way there was harder than on the way home.

Continue Reading...

Motivational Monday #121

Happy Motivational Monday! It has been a super busy week for us--the kids went back to school, had their first baseball game, started cross country (and I started coaching cross country), Nathan ran his first ultra marathon, and today is Jerry's birthday. It's been kind of nice getting into a fall routine, though.

I have some great Motivational Monday stories to share today... enjoy!

---

Schellen (far left in photo), along with some friends, her sister, and future sister-in-law, completed the Dirty Girl Mud Run! Schellen used to put things off until she was "skinnier", but recently decided to do what she wants now--there is no reason she can't do it. She said this race is one of the hardest things she's ever done, but also the most rewarding and fun.

---

Four years ago, Elena decided to change her lifestyle and drop her excess weight. Starting at 250 pounds, she made a lot of progress over the next few years, even throughout a pregnancy. This past February, she decided that she was going to start running and drop the last 20 pounds. Last weekend, she was ready to run her first half-marathon. She'd done the training, having run a successful 12-miler two weeks prior. When she got to the starting line, there were only about 200 runners total; and by mile 1, Elena found herself running alone at the very back of the pack, with the pacer motorcycle behind her. She hung in there until mile 11, when severe back pain forced her to stop. She felt defeated, but was still proud of the fact that she'd lost over 90 pounds, weighing in at 158. Yesterday, Elena decided to prove to herself that she was capable of running a half-marathon. She didn't have any spectators, or a medal when she finished, but she ran 13.1 miles in 2:35!

---

Meredith has been battling her weight on and off for 15 years; then in April of 2014, she decided enough was enough. She started by working on portion control and walking for exercise. She was able to drop about 25 pounds before hitting a long plateau. She decided to switch things up by doing clean eating and BeachBody workout programs. She became a health and fitness coach to help others as well, and she's since dropped another 20 pounds! (Meredith's blog is iamfeelingalive)

---

Andréa recently ran a very meaningful run, the NH Run for the Fallen. Rather than try to aim for a particular time goal, she stopped along the way to look at the photos and read the names of the servicemen who lost their lives, as well as shake hands with their family members. She says, "I think that sometimes as runners we get caught up in the numbers, PR's and stats, but I think it's important to remember that sometimes we can run for more." The run was a total of 12 miles, with everyone stopping at mile 11 so that all the runners could finish as a group. Andréa's husband and five-year old son participated as well! She said the run was overall a very moving experience.

---

On Saturday, Lisa completed her second half-marathon! It was her first half-marathon since having her son; and during training, she managed to drop 43 pounds with Weight Watchers. Her previous half-marathon time was 1:57, and she really wanted to beat that time. She smoked her goal, finishing in 1:42!

---

Marine ran La Parisienne yesterday, a women-only race around Trocadéro and the Eiffel Tower. Last year, she ran the 6.7K race in 44:23, and she decided to set a goal to finish under 40:00 this year. She ended up finishing in 37:08! Next up is the Paris Centre 10K in three weeks.

---

Congratulations everyone! Keep up the good work!

Continue Reading...

Dog day at the pool

I don't have time to write much, but I have to bombard you with photos and videos from dog day at the wave pool today. The Lake Erie Metropark is about to close their pool for the year, so they have a day that's just for dogs to play. I wasn't sure what to expect, but I was surprised to see just how many people (and dogs) there were! I'm glad Joey has gotten used to playing with lots of dogs at once from doggy daycare, because otherwise I would have been a little worried about so many dogs in one place.

Needless to say, Joey had a blast! It was really fun to watch all the different dogs, and I didn't see a single fight break out. The dog owners weren't supposed to get in the water, although some of them did anyway. I noticed several dogs pooped in the pool, so I wouldn't have wanted to get in! ;) But there was an employee scooping poop out of the pool the whole time. I think it's really cool that the Metropark does this--we're already looking forward to next year! (It'll be September 11th, 2016, if any locals are interested.)

Now, for the pictures and videos... they pretty much speak for themselves :)

Joey is the black dog on the far left. I kept an eye on him
by looking for the red collar and curled tail. There were
so many dogs running everywhere, it was hard to follow them!

Joey's on the far left

Here is the best video of Joey... although I had my finger over the corner of the lens, oops.

In this video, Joey is the black dog with curled tail in the center, swimming toward the right in the very beginning...

Joey has been sleeping the day away after getting home, of course ;)

---

Don't forget, tomorrow is Motivational Monday! Here are instructions on how to submit a photo and story.

Continue Reading...

A different breed of runner (Run Woodstock spectator race report)

My day started at 2:30 am. TWO THIRTY! I had my alarm set for 2:50 (my mom was going to pick me up at 3:15), but I woke up at 2:30 and figured I might as well just stay up.

Today was Nathan's first ultra marathon, and I wanted to go cheer him on. My mom picked me up at 3:15, and then we went to Nathan's house to get him and Kendall. Nathan wanted to leave by 4:00, because it was an hour away and the race starting time was at 6:00.

When we got to Hell Creek Campground, it was still pitch black outside. There were tents set up all over for runners who were there for a weekend event (the Run Woodstock has races of all distances--5K, 5-Mile, 1/2 Marathon, Marathon, 50K, 50-Mile, 100K, and 100-Mile). The races are all on trails, which are hilly and "woodsy". I've never done a trail run, or even spectated at a trail race, so I had no idea what to expect.

When Nathan was ready to line up for the start, we took a quick picture:

Kendall, Nathan, me, and my mom

Nathan lined up for the start, and it was still as dark as can be outside. All the runners were wearing headlamps. I can't even imagine what it would be like to run through the woods in the dark. For that reason alone, I would never want to do this.

Starting line

I'll preface the rest of this post by saying that I was SO surprised at how different a trail race is from a road race. Not just the race course itself, but the atmosphere, the people, the mood--everything. It wasn't necessarily better or worse, it was just different. I learned that trail runners are basically an entirely different breed of runner ;)

The atmosphere was very non-competitive. Nobody was fighting to get to the front of the starting line, and the runners all seemed so friendly toward each other. There wasn't a big ta-da when it was time to go--someone just said "Go!" and they started running. The 50K'ers and 50-Milers started at the same time.

One of the things I noticed most was that trail runners go more slowly. In a typical road race, you see the people at the front of the pack just flying past, completely focused on getting to that finish line as fast as possible. But I found myself finding it odd when we saw someone running at a faster pace during the trail race. You could tell which distance people were doing just based on their pace as they ran by. Even the slowest half-marathoners were going faster than many of the ultra marathoners. It was very interesting to see.

Kendall, my mom, and I had to figure out exactly where to go to see Nathan. The map of the course was really confusing, so I just picked some crossroads that looked like they might work, and we started driving there. We were on a dirt road, with woods on each side of us. I could see a flashing light coming from the woods ahead, and as we got closer, we saw a runner emerge from the woods, wearing a headlamp. We stopped to let some runners cross the road, and it was just such an odd feeling to be where we were, pitch black outside, with people running in the woods.

When we got to the crossroads, we kept going a little farther, and came across an aid station. The aid station was awesome! I've never seen anything like it at a road race. There were tents set up, with tables full of the usual Gatorade, water, and Gu... but also with tons of fruit, candy, soda, pretzels, and other stuff that ultra runners might want. Seeing that table almost made me want to sign up for an ultra (just kidding).

We quickly realized that we were definitely the odd ones out at this race. We were the only spectators at this spot, and we walked up with our "Team Nathan" shirts on, and carrying the giant cardboard head (I found it in the eleventh hour last night!). We watched as some of the runners came through (the 100-Milers and 100K'ers started yesterday afternoon at 4:00, and they were still out running).

Eventually, Nathan came through, and we started cheering. He headed straight for the portapotty, so we immediately thought, "Oh no! We embarrassed him. Maybe the shirts are too much." Later, Nathan told us that he just totally didn't expect to see us at the first aid station, because it was only at mile four. Still, we kept thinking that we were like a parent showing up at a child's first day of high school and embarrassing the heck out of him. We were just proud! ;)

He headed on his way, and then we went back to the car. We had asked a guy at the aid station about the best places to go and what the actual route was (it was hard to tell on the map). It turned out that we could see Nathan eight times during the race by hopping between three aid stations (the station pictured above was hit twice on each of the two loops). So, it basically went like this: Station 1, Station 2, Station 1, Station 3. Repeat. Station 3 was also the finish line.

So, we started driving between each station, which made the time fly by. Each time we arrived at one, we only had to wait 10-15 minutes to see Nathan. I was surprised to see how amazing he was feeling. He did great!

Every time we saw him, he got more and more enthusiastic about how he was feeling. He was eating a ton, and never hit the wall.

I loved seeing the 100-Milers on the course. It's hard to even wrap my mind around the thought of running that far. Nathan was doing a two-loop course, and the 100-Milers had to do the same course (with the exception of a small section) six times! We clapped as each runner passed by us (there was usually quite a distance between runners). When Nathan came through, we gave him all the stuff he needed (his gels, Gatorade, etc). It honestly felt similar to a Ragnar, in that we drove from station to station to support our runner--except Nathan was the only runner.

At Mile 25, Nathan insisted that he was good to go until the finish line. He was running with a group that he met on the trail, and they were all encouraging each other. So, we skipped the last aid station, and went directly to the finish line to wait. We set up some chairs, and watched the runners go by. I was so excited to see the firefighter in his gear! He was doing the 100-miler, and had been running since 4:00 yesterday afternoon. Seventeen hours later, he passed by us...

He was just finishing one of his loops, and then continuing on. There is a 30-hour time limit on the course, so I'm not sure if he finished or not. I wish I knew his bib number or name, so I could look at the results. Even if he didn't finish, I am just so amazed by this guy! You would have to have some serious mental stamina to make yourself keep going.

About 10 minutes later, Nathan came running in...

He was cruising! He ended up finishing in 5:21:46, which is a great time for a 50K (31 miles)--except that he'd ACTUALLY run 32.4 miles, because the course was long. He had said he'd be really happy to finish under 5:30, so he was thrilled with how he did. And he still felt great at the end! He even said that he felt like he could keep running. It turns out that he finished 11th overall (out of 176) and first in his age group.

The little VW Bug is his age group award

I'm so glad that I went to spectate this race! It was completely different than any road race I've seen, especially because there were very few spectators (which is totally normal for a trail race, I learned). I also learned that trail running is basically a completely different sport than road running, and has it's own set of "norms". It was really interesting! Next year, I would definitely love to volunteer at the aid stations. I'm just so astounded by the runners doing these obscene distances!

Continue Reading...

First cross country practice

Well, yesterday was the first day of cross country, and it went very well! (In case you missed it, I am coaching cross country for the second, third, and fourth graders at Eli's school.) I was nervous going into it, because Renee and I really had no idea how many kids were going to show up. She'd gotten a list of people who were interested in joining, but only got confirmation from 11 out of 33 kids. I was counting on about 11 kids to actually show up, so when I planned out our activity for practice, I wanted to choose something that would be good for that number of kids.

I got to the park early, so that Renee and I could discuss our game plan and get organized. Most of the kids hadn't yet signed up, so we still had all the paper work to get done, too. Once the kids started showing up, I couldn't believe how many people were there! Things got crazy really quickly. The plan was to have the first practice be a parent information meeting and fun running activity for the kids--but it was much less organized once we saw how many people showed up.

Renee started collecting paperwork, and I started trying to gather all the kids into one spot to start an activity. I wrote each kid's name on a wooden stick (like a popsicle stick) and passed those out to the kids (there were 24 kids total). Then we went into a large field, and I explained a little game that we would play. The goal was to gather as many of the sticks as they could by playing a modified version of tag. To collect sticks, they had to tag someone; once that person was tagged, they had to hand over their stick (and any others they may have been holding) to the person that tagged them. So, basically, they wanted to tag other people but avoid being tagged themselves, collecting as many sticks as possible.

After I yelled "Go!", they all took off chasing after each other. I set the timer on my phone for 10 minutes, and then we'd see who had the most sticks after the time was up. It was funny to watch--at first, the kids were running their hardest, and then gradually, they started slowing down until you could see they were just exhausted. And there was still about three minutes left on the timer! I called them all over, and there were only three kids who had sticks--one girl had 12, so she won; one boy had 10, and another boy had 2.

Renee did the whole parent meeting while I was doing the game, so I'm not sure exactly what she went over, but I think she just did an introduction to what cross country is and what they can expect. The kids took a water break, and then I gathered them over to the start of the path that winds around the park. The path is 0.38 miles long (I had Noah run it before practice with my Garmin on, so he could measure it).

I wanted to get a starting measure of where each kid was as far as their speed. I told them to run it as fast as they could, but not to race against other kids--just run their personal best as individuals. With that many kids, I had to get creative as far as writing down their finishing times. I waited at the finish line, and then as each kid crossed, I gave them a number in order of when they crossed. Meanwhile, I had the stopwatch app open on my phone, and as each kid crossed, I tapped the "lap" button, which marked their time, but kept the clock running for other kids.

When the first boy came through (Renee's son, Speedy McSpeedster), I told him "1" and then his time corresponded with the time next to lap 1. Later, after all 24 kids had finished, I had to go through and ask them which number I gave them at the finish, so I could write their names next to their times. It was a complicated process, but I'm not sure of an easier way to do it! Anyway, now I have their times for that lap, and we can use that as a progress marker. Every couple of weeks or so, we can have them run it again, and we can give them incentives to try and better their time.

The kids were exhausted after that, between the tag game and the fast lap. We let them rest for a little bit, and then to end practice, Renee and I walked them over to a grassy hill, where we all ran up together. Then we did a little chant at the top, and practice was over.

It was completely exhausting mentally, because there were SO many kids. But now that we know what to expect, it'll be easier to make a good plan for practices. We'll probably split the kids into two groups, so Renee can take one group and I'll take another, and we can switch activities halfway through.

Anyway, I'm very happy with the good turnout we had, and I am excited to see what happens with this season!

---

I had a garage sale today, and I was happy to make about $200 doing that. I got rid of a lot of stuff that I didn't want laying around my house anymore. Tomorrow is Nathan's first ultra marathon! It starts at 6:00 am at Hell Creek Ranch in Hell, MI. My mom and I are going to meet at Nathan's house at 4:00 in the morning--yeesh!--and then drive up there with Nathan and Kendall. So, I'll be setting my alarm for 3:00. I hope my brother knows how much I do for him! ;)

I was hoping to find Nathan's giant cardboard head to carry while we spectate, but I have no idea what happened to it after his marathon last year. Instead, I'll just make a couple of signs. I'm really excited to watch the race, because I've never seen an ultra marathon before. Today, the 100-Miler and 100K runners started their races; so, tomorrow, I should be able to see the 100-Milers running on the same course as Nathan. They'll actually be running for several hours after Nathan finishes his 50K! Nathan texted me this picture from the starting line of the 100-Mile race...

That guy is running the 100-Miler in full fireman's gear! I can't even imagine running 100 miles, but to do it in that? Wow. After the race, tomorrow we're going to Anson's for pizza (Nathan's favorite after his long runs).

On Sunday, the wave pool at the Metropark has a dog day, where they open just for dogs to swim in the wave pool. It's the last day that the pool will be in use before closing for the season, so I think it's awesome that they have a day just for dogs! I'm going to bring Joey, because he's obsessed with swimming, and I'm sure he'll have a blast.

I'm not sure how much of a chance I'll get to write this weekend, but I may do a quick update. Have a great weekend, everyone!

Continue Reading...

Week 4 weigh in

Is it really Wednesday already? It feels like I just did Wednesday Weigh-in, and now it's already due again. Today is the start of week five of my calorie counting experiment. My weigh-in was another good one:

I was down another 2 pounds on the scale, bringing me back into the 140's. I am so happy to see the 140's again! When I reach 144, I will no longer be in the "overweight" category, so that is my next big milestone to look forward to. My waist measurement was the same as last week; and my body fat was down by 0.7%, so I was happy to see that.

I'm surprised to see that I've consistently lost two pounds per week for the last three weeks, and one pound the first week (so today's weigh in brought my total to seven pounds in four weeks). I thought it was going to take forever to get back to my goal, but it's going much smoother than I expected. I'm still doing really well with the calorie counting, so I'm going to keep doing what I'm doing.

My goal for last week was to get in a 20-30 mile bike ride, in order to help prepare for the Tour de Troit coming up quickly. And I did it! I rode 30 miles on Thursday. I also did the stair stepper once this week, several walks, and a few more bike rides (biking total was 66.6 miles this week!). I'm feeling really good; and getting real enjoyment recently out of cycling makes me feel almost back to "normal" as far as the depression after my running injury. Mentally, I was in a really bad place after re-fracturing my fibula, and cycling has helped a lot!

My legs were definitely feeling tired today, so I made it a rest day. I wish I'd have saved a long bike ride for today, though, because it was much cooler outside (78 degrees--haha, that actually felt nice compared to the 90's we've had for about a week). And it was overcast all day. I did take Joey for a walk through the marsh so he could run off leash, though, and then I took him to the boat launch to swim.

Having Joey is almost like having another child to entertain during the day ;) He has missed having the kids home the past two days while they've been in school. When we walked to the bus stop to pick up the kids after school, Joey got really excited to see the bus coming down the street.

Yesterday, the buses were SO late getting the kids home. I waited at Noah's stop for almost 45 minutes before the bus dropped him off. And at Eli's stop, I waited for an HOUR. When it was 25 minutes late, I got a text from the school saying that the buses were running a little behind because there was a car accident on the main road. But I didn't know how long it would be, so I just stood at the bus stop with Joey and waited. Things were much smoother today, both in the morning and the afternoon. The bus routes are much longer this year, though, so I may just start picking the kids up from school.

Tomorrow is our first cross country practice. I'm nervous to get started, but definitely excited for the season. When I got my certification a couple of years ago, I thought it would be really great to be able to help kids get into running at an early age; and now I'm actually getting that chance! My only goal is to get them to enjoy it enough to want to keep doing it. Since they are all second, third, and fourth graders, most of them haven't had any experience with running for sport. Crossing my fingers that all goes well!

---

I have a question for you My Fitness Pal users... Jerry has his Fitbit synced with MFP. He doesn't do a lot of "formal" exercise, but he gets in a lot of steps every day (about 12,000-15,000). My Fitness Pal adds in extra calories for his exercise, which is good; so, he eats those extra calories, and usually has a little leftover. Then, the following day, most of those calories that he was given were taken away, and it shows that he went over his calories!

It's kind of hard to explain. For example, his calorie goal is 1800 per day; the Fitbit might give him an extra 800 calories, so on MFP, it looks like 1800 - 2200 (his food intake that day) + 800 (the Fitbit calories) = 400 remaining. THEN, the following day, when he looks at that log, it will have changed to something like 1800 - 2200 + 200 = -200.

I have my Fitbit set up with my MFP account, and I've never had that problem. Do any of you know what is going on, and how to fix it? He wants to stay within his calories, but he never knows what his target is until the next day! Thanks in advance for any insight :)

Continue Reading...

First day of school and a ride to Panera

What a day! I'm completely exhausted. Today, the kids started school, so we had to get back to using alarm clocks in the morning. Noah was very nervous about school, while Eli was very excited (this is how things usually go). I walked Noah to the bus stop this morning, and he looked so grown up!

We got to the bus stop at 6:55, and the bus was scheduled to arrive at 7:05 (Noah was worried about missing the bus, so we left pretty early). The bus didn't arrive until 7:27! School starts at 7:30, so we already knew he'd be late. I felt bad for him, because the teacher was going to let them pick their seats today; and I later learned he was the last one to arrive to class, so he had to take the last available seat.

I had been planning to wake Eli up at around 7:10, but since Noah's bus was so late, I didn't get back to the house until 7:30. I woke him up quickly, and he got dressed and ate breakfast. Then we walked to the bus stop, and the bus was pulling up at 7:45 while we were still down the street. He ran to the bus and got on. At least we didn't have to wait, like we did for Noah!

When I got home, I took a shower, had some breakfast, and then tried to clean up the house a little bit. I had plans to meet my friend Andrea for lunch at Panera at noon, and I was really looking forward to seeing her. At around 9:30, I had the crazy idea of riding my bike to Panera instead of driving. I looked up the distance, and it was about 12 miles each way. I asked Andrea to meet a little earlier, so that I could have enough time to ride home before Noah got home. Then I got ready to head out.

I decided to bring my Camelbak today, but without the water reservoir. I just wanted to use it for a lightweight backpack, basically. I brought some fuel (Gu and Shotbloks, in case I needed them), my driver's license and debit card, a towel, a t-shirt to throw on over my sweaty tank once I got there, and my cell phone.

I headed out for the ride, guessing it would take probably about an hour to get there. I didn't plan a particular route, but I wanted to avoid going over the expressway if possible, and avoid those new rough gravel roads. I just went the general direction toward Panera, and made decisions as they came at me. It was a pretty nice ride! I took the backroads to avoid a ton of traffic, and it went by pretty quickly. I made it to Panera with 15 minutes to spare before Andrea got there. I locked up my bike and then sat outside while I waited, drying off before going inside.

For the last few days, ever since Andrea and I made plans, I was really looking forward to having broccoli cheddar soup and bread. It sounded SO GOOD. Once I got there, however, I was hot and sweaty, and the last thing I wanted was soup! I wanted something cold, so I got a chicken caesar salad with a baguette on the side for 610 calories total.

Andrea and I chatted for a couple of hours, catching up. She's in the process of moving, so she's got a lot going on right now. I really enjoyed my salad and bread, knowing I had burned so many calories to get it!

I left with enough time to get home and shower before Noah was due home. I was kind of dreading the ride back, but I knew I'd be really happy to get it done. It was crazy-hot when I stepped out of Panera! It was 89 with a "real feel" temp of 97. I bought a bottle of water when I bought my lunch, so I tucked the water into one of the pockets of my Camelbak (I want to get a water bottle holder soon--it's on my list for sure).

The ride home was hot, but it went by pretty quickly.

I downed the bottle of water in the last four miles, and was really looking forward to a cold shower and more water when I got home. The ride home was a tad shorter than the ride there, because I made one slight change in the route on the way back. My time includes all of my traffic stops--I never stopped the Garmin while I was riding, just because I was curious how long it would actually take me to get there and back, in case I ever want to do it again.

Going TO Panera

Going home from Panera

It was a little over two hours round-trip, including the traffic stops. Not too bad! Maybe Jerry and I can ride there for a bagel one morning while the kids are at school.

One of the things I was thinking about on the ride was how much bike riding can help me branch out as far as where I can go. When running, I would never run all the way to Panera and back. Where I live, there isn't much within about an 8-mile radius of home, so I could never really run to a destination from home without logging some serious miles. Riding my bike has opened a whole new world of places for me to go without a car! Especially if I decide to increase my distance a little, and do 40 or even 50 miles in a day. Since Jerry got a bike, too, we can ride places together. I've always been a little envious of Lori at Finding Radiance (one of the first blogs I started reading)--she and her husband regularly go for long bike rides for ice cream and bagels, and other yummy treats.

I got my bike four years ago, so I don't know why it took me so long to really like riding it--but I can honestly say that I actually enjoy doing it! I'm really excited for the Tour de Troit, which is a week from Saturday.

Continue Reading...