Falling leaves

As I followed the Rogue Running marathoners through east Austin, I watched as their breaths disappeared above their heads, like clouds of smoke. For the first time this year, the leaves, grass, and trees were all covered in frost. As the sun began to rise, the weight from the melting frost was just heavy enough to cause the leaves to fall at a constant flow. As I passed under the deciduous trees, I stretched out my arms to catch them. I felt like a kid again. By the end of the 18-mile run, I collected 12 leaves. It was magical. I thought to myself, this is my church.

PB-18-miles in 3.17

PB and new shoes

Yeehaw!
I've trained for two weeks barefoot. The transition was rough. My calves have never ached this much in my life. For a week straight, I walked like Frankenstein. It's like I'm learning to run all over again. I have to mentally tell myself to make contact with the ball of my feet and not my heel. It's weird. This past weekend I purchased some new Brooks to help me transition to a lighter shoe. This advertisement should say, "objects on website may be brighter than they appear," because they are just about the ugliest things in the world. The good news is that they don't hurt my feet and that's what is important. I didn't know if I would be able to run our time trial this week, but I did. In fact, I kicked some butt in my new kicks. I had another PB. I did the 2-mile run in 16.15.

Barefoot Running

These are my new running shoes. I'm training barefoot for the next four to five weeks. This is an attempt to learn to run lighter, to help heal my Plantar Faciitis and to transition to a lighter shoe. This morning I ran six miles barefoot and it was real eye opener. I learned to run quieter and I worked muscles that I didn't know that I had. Check out Geezer's video of us running in the dense fog.

Cycling date

Yesterday I was supposed to run 18 miles with my group, but my P.F. injury has set me back. YUK. In order to keep my muscles moving and strong for the ATX marathon, I decided to go biking for three hours instead of running. Charlie and I made a date out of it. In an effort to find things that are "keeping Austin weird," we decided to go where we've never been before. Here are some things that we found.

We met on Avenue A in Denton, Texas seven years ago


Inside the men's bathroom at El Chilito

A cucumber garden

Everything is going to be okay.

Charlie next to an old Cadillac hearse.

Don't you forget it!


At the new Crestview metro rail station


A ghetto fabulous swing


Watch out Chuck!

Plantar Fasciitis

This week, I completed my 16-mile run three minutes faster than last, but it didn't come without pain and suffering. Around mile 10, I started to feel a burning pain in the arch of my right foot. I finished the run and visited the Rogue doctor on staff. He started to massage my foot and I almost had a heart attack because it hurt like hell. He told me that I have plantar fasciitis. Basically, it's the most painful and the most difficult to relieve according to my coach, Geezer. Well....mother f**king s**t is what I have to say about that. I was told to freeze a bottle of water and roll my foot across it, limit my running, and work on building my strength in other ways for a while. In addition, I am going to try barefoot running to see if that helps because it's quite possible that my shoes just aren't the right ones. I'm going to give the barefoot thing a try tomorrow. If it hurts worse, I'm going to the doctor. If it's better, then I guess I'll start searching for a new shoe that's only made of a small sole and a couple of strings. Until next time.

PB 16 miles in 2:47

An ice bath with coffee is the only way to do it.

When I hear the letters P.B., I often think about Marley's saggy hound dog lips. One is pink and the other is black. I frequently have to wipe the hanging dog slobber from her floppy P.B.'s. Sometimes when I hear the letters, I often think back to my college days of eating P.B. straight from the jar. These days, P.B. has a new meaning and I'm happy to report that I set my Personal Best this weekend for our 16-mile run. I ran it in 2 hours 47 minutes.

It didn't come without hard work and suffering. Actually, the run wasn't bad; it was the 10-minute ice bath after that SUCKED. Yeah, that's right. I would rather run three hours, than take a 10-minute ice bath to soothe my aching muscles. First, I filled the tub with cold water. I made sure to just cover my legs. Then, I poured a big bag of ice on top. I wrapped a towel around my upper torso and drank hot coffee, as goose bumps began to cover my body. I shook uncontrollably for the entire period. I thought to myself that if I ever wanted time to slow down, then this was the way to do it. Ten minutes seemed like an eternity compared to the nearly three-hour scenic tour through south Austin that I had just experienced. Near the ten-minute mark, I started laughing at myself because only a crazy person would do this. I was sure it wouldn't work. You know, I was WRONG. My legs felt great the next day. In fact, my hips were the only sore parts on my whole body. I guess next time I'll fill the water up a little higher to cover my hips too.

Tengo la gripe

Running with (potato) chips

We were told that we were going to be doing a potato chip run. I thought that meant running to my water stops and eating chips. What a great way to stay motivated on an 8-mile run! HA! Come to find out, we had to just hold the chips during the run. So here I was, hungry at 6pm, running with two potato chips in my hand, and trying to relax without breaking the potato chips. Sounds silly huh? Well, it worked. I managed to slow my breathing, concentrate on keeping my hands relaxed, and I finished strong. After 3 miles Geezer lets us eat them up. During the last five miles I practiced holding my thumb and middle finger together to relax my body, mind, and spirit. Now, I'm just wondering if that technique will work while I'm teaching freshman. Stay tuned to find out.

Me gusta correr.

Me gusta correr cuando hace fresco. (I like to run when it's cool outside.) It was 65 and a fantastic day for a run. I'm teaching "me gusta" and "no me gusta" in my Spanish I class this week. Here's a hilarious student video that I used to introduce the topic. I hung with the "big DAWG" group tonight for our 7-mile run and it felt GREAT!

Passion Vine

I began my native landscape design class with the National Wildlife Federation this week. I'm slowly learning about drought tolerant plants for central Texas. The Passion Vine is beautiful deciduous perennial, which provides food for several species of butterfly larva. It likes sun to part shade. It blooms in early spring to summer. Once it is established, the Passion Vine only requires water every three weeks. Be careful because it's a vigorous vine, which can reach up to 15 feet. In Spain, it is known as the espina de Cristo or Christ's Thorn. In the 15th and 16th centuries, Spanish Christian missionaries adopted the unique physical structures of this plant, particularly the numbers of its various flower parts, as symbols of the last days of Jesus Christ and especially the Crucifixion.

Stretch-a-DAR

Here are some excellent stretches for pre and post running. If you run with your dog, then you can use the dog leash. Happy running.
http://www.roguerunningequipment.com/video/main/show/id/200319-Rogue-Stretch-Routine

No EXCUSES!

Running six miles in a rainstorm with the best running partner in the world (Marley) is a great way to cool off, get your long run in, and make people smile along the way.

I decided to go for a little run....

I started my first week of marathon training with Rogue. I've completed 19 miles in the first week. My goal is to finish the Austin Marathon on 2/14/10. Here's my training schedule for the next week.

Sat: 6 m
Sun:3 m
Mon:OFF
Tues: 5 m
Wed: 2-4 + XT
Thur: 4 m
Fri: OFF

"Runners have balls, other sports just play with them." -Unknown.

'Maters are growin'

I left the country for five weeks and my sweet husband, Charlie, managed to keep the tomatoes alive! Our first Roma for the 2009 summer season is on the vine.