Taking the Trail-With Friends

After Wendy politely reminded me in a round about way that it's really not as safe to run solo on trails as it is with others...I decided to hit them this morning with friends.  I've been really nervous about doing this because....well, I'm slow.  When I'm alone it's no big deal.  I don't have to feel like I'm holding anyone back, I don't have to feel like I'm wimping out or giving up, I don't have to let anyone down.  When I'm alone, I can get lost in my own little world of thoughts.  I don't have to make conversation when I'm having trouble breathing.  I don't have to worry about how I smell, except when someone runs past me who smells like they just stepped out of the shower (seriously this happened recently-yes, she was running-but I digress).

And, I don't get to share the experience with anyone.  I don't get to look at someone and say, "Did you hear that?" in response to what clearly sounded like a shriek.  I don't have to have that ever-so-slight tension in my stomach when I hear what could be a furry little furry creature in the woods because it might also be some crazed psycho blog stalker who's aiming to snatch my body right off the trail.  I don't have to wonder what would happen if I broke my ankle and face-planted right in the middle of a less than well traveled path in the middle of the day with just a few more sips of water.  I wouldn't get to hear someone say, "GREAT JOB Dana!"  (Well, until I got home and fished for compliments from my darling husband!)  I wouldn't get to borrow a towel because I forgot mine and would instead have to drive home slipping and sliding all over a car seat drenched in the evidence of hard work that had oozed from every sweat gland in my body but couldn't evaporate because the humidity is so high it might as well be raining!!  And, I wouldn't make new friends who love this sport as much as I do.

I had a great run this morning thanks to the six other people I got to run with this morning.  I met a long-timer who has run in 29 or 30 consecutive Rocket City marathons!   He's currently training for a 50K trail run.  The man is a machine.  He started running just over 30 years ago and hasn't stopped!  What a privilege to get to run with him...that I wouldn't have enjoyed if I had continued to go it alone.  I did 5.1 miles with an overall average moving pace of 12:37.  Not too stinking bad for this particular trail!!

Thanks for caring enough, and for being honest enough, to tell me like it is Wendy!!  My run today would not have been the same with out you!  AND....I don't want to leave out the great running friends I have who kept encouraging me to come out with them.  I've been really worried that I couldn't keep up or that I would slow them down.  What a GREAT run!!!

Thanks for stopping in, come again soon!
:D

I FOUND my glutes!

One of my friends, we'll call her Hard Body (HB for short) teaches the Extreme Abs class (among others) at my gym.  We were talking a couple months back ...

HB:  "You should come to my Extreme Abs class"
Me: "Are you kidding?  I couldn't do 30 minutes of nothing but abs!"
HB: "Oh, no, we 'only' do 15 of abs, the other 15 is glutes."
Me: "No, see, I don't think I have glute muscles."
HB: "Oh, trust me, they're there.  Come to my class, you'll be introduced to them!"

So, I went to her spin class then stayed for The Great Glute Discovery Expedition!!

Not me doing the "Quadruped Hip Extension"

The first time out I didn't have a lot of luck.  The first attempt at finding them was a move sort of like the one called the "Quadruped Hip Extension" pictured to the right....except we were in a prone position, with just the top of our chest up a little...legs are straight back.  The working leg is curled around a small weighted ball (instead of a barbell).  The idea is to lift the working leg straight up to the ceiling while not letting go of the ball.  I couldn't do it!  I was able to get a little lift, but only by using my hamstring muscle, which quickly cramped up.

HB was telling me, "you can do it!"...and I was mentally reminding her, "I DON'T HAVE GLUTES!!  REMEMBER??"  Later that same day a lady trying to sell me a dress told me I had the perfect FLAT butt for that kind of dress.  She went on to say that people like HB, with a bubble butt, can't wear that kind of dress because it doesn't hang right.

Now, I know she might have thought she was giving me a compliment-but, really?  I have a flat butt?  I always thought I had more than my share of junk in the trunk, I just thought it was FAT when it "should have" been muscle.  Since then, I've been told THREE TIMES my butt is FLAT.  Once, "as a pancake" was added for good measure. 

The day after that first "expedition", I heard the ever-so-slight whisper from my glutes muffled under layers of...insulation.  They were calling, "I'm here...don't give up on me.  Please come find me!!"

At the end of yesterday's beat down torture session (AKA "Group Power"), HB had us do some glute moves--and I think for the first time I actually FELT a real muscle when she said, "SQUEEZE!!!"

EUREKA!!!  THEY REALLY ARE THERE!!!

So...last night we were in the local book store searching for a magazine my daughter's friend is in (!!) when I saw  THIS magazine:

Really?  A whole magazine?  Just then, it jumped off the shelf into my hand as if my butt had beckoned it, like when the ambulance shows up after you dial 911!   (It's actually a special edition of Oxygen magazine devoted to the derriere.)  My darling husband was appalled that I would even pick it up, but the idea that I could actually have an apple bottom without using something like the "Booty Pop" my daughter suggested I buy the other day is fascinating!  .....wow, she was trying to tell me, in a nice way, that I really don't have "back" like I have thought all these years!!  (That actually makes four times!)


As I was looking over the magazine full of apple bottom girls...my darling husband (who thought he was being helpful) told me that I just don't have the body shape to have a tush like any of those in the magazine.  If he stopped there it might have been okay, but NO....he had to elaborate....  "Sweetheart, I love you just the way you are, but your butt really is FLAT..."  (even stopping there would have been okay, not great, but okay.  But no....he had to add on, "and WIDE!!"  Yes, folks, my butt is flat and wide.  Honestly, I always knew the wide part, but combined with flat?  That is just COMPLETELY unattractive!!  

Listen all you naysayers out there (yes, sweetheart, I'm talking to YOU)....it's muscle.  It's obviously just atrophied from having NEVER been used (no wonder I never could do all those high school drill team moves!!).   Now that I know the truth, I'm going to work my butt ON!! 

Yes, I bought the magazine.   I'll let you know how it goes.

Thanks for stopping in, come again soon!
:D

Gear for New Runners

I told you a while back that I'm one of the many mentors for a new runners group called No Boundaries....

We had our kick off the other night and I'm telling you, it was so exciting.  There were about 200 new runners there, 120 or so in the Huntsville PM group (the one I'm helping out with).  The program is set up to take someone from non-runner status through their first 5K race.  Each person sets their own goal-walk, walk/run or run.  There were so many people who came to the registration table saying, "I don't know if I can do this, but I'm here to try."  I can't tell you the good feeling I have "knowing" they really can because they are trying, because they have taken that first step of saying, "this is something I want to do".

Speaking of new runners...I found a newbie's blog, "Running North"...and I love it.  She's moving from a self-professed hater of running to someone who recently ran her first full mile (and then did a couple more intervals afterwards for a 3+ mile run)!!!!  Her posts are beautifully written, not like the angst filled bathering on I did when I first started.  (Okay, and not like the bathering on I still do...)

If you read every post, as I did today, you'll see I made a comment on every single one!  I just couldn't help myself.  A couple of things came to mind as I was reading that I thought I should devote some of my words to today.

The very first thing you should do as a new runner is to get properly fitted for running shoes.  Do NOT lace up the shoes you've had in your closet for years that you bought to walk the dog.  Do NOT go to the mall and look for a cute pair of tennis shoes that are on sale.  Find a running specialty store, even if you have to travel an hour to get there if you live in the sticks.  Chances are, if you live that far away from "town", you have to go that far to get to the doctor: just consider it a preemptive measure to save MANY future trips to take care of the inevitable injury you'll get if you don't take this first trip.

TELL THEM you are a new runner and are there for your first pair.  You might think those are dollar signs flashing in their eyes, but hopefully that's just the sparkle runners get when they see someone taking that first step toward an addiction they are fully in the grasp of themselves!  Don't be skeptical, you are doing the right thing.  But...

The place you go to should, at the VERY LEAST, measure your foot and watch you run in some neutral shoes, before making suggestions.  I don't want to get too technical here, but depending on how your foot moves when you run, and how your foot is shaped, you will have different needs in terms of support.  It's very likely you could need inserts as well as shoes.  I'm not talking orthotics that you have to get from a doctor, although some people do find they have to go that route, most can just get a stock insert to add to the shoe.  Ideally the store will have a treadmill set up with a video camera that will allow them to slow the image down to show you exactly what is happening when you pound pavement (or trail).

If you have been running a good bit, take the shoes you've been wearing with you.  Also be sure to mention any pain you have when you run which can also be useful information in determining what kind of shoe you need.  The store should be able to show you several options.  More expensive is not necessarily better-try them all on if you have to.  Run around the store, or on their treadmill.  Good stores will have a generous return policy that will allow you to run in the shoes for at least a week or two to try them out.

WOMEN ONLY:  The next thing you need to get, most likely at the same place (since you didn't go to the local shoe store, but a running specialty store), is a properly fitted running bra.  Now, if you are like me and can almost get away with wearing band aids, it's not so critical (in my opinion), but if you have breasts larger than your average 12 year old girl, then you need proper support for your "girls".  Most women are wearing the wrong size every-day bra (if they haven't been fitted recently), so just going to The Bullseye Boutique and picking a sports bra off the self won't cut it.  Again, I'll resist the temptation to get too technical here, but breast are supported by Cooper's ligaments which can be irreparably damaged.  Get measured, get fitted, buy more than one, and take good care of them (the bras, as well as your "girls".)

And, finally (for today anyway)...don't forget proper moisture-wicking running socks.  Let me be clear--the blister pictured here was NOT the result of improper socks.  This runner is an experienced ultra runner who got this nice trophy after running 161.1 miles in four days.  It's just a nice graphic example of what could happen with improper socks.  NO COTTON.  They hold in moisture, they stretch, and they WILL certainly create friction.  Put enough miles in them and you WILL get a blister.

I have a favorite brand and, because I've had very good luck, I've been reluctant to try anything new.  But, I won't mention them here because I actually don't think they are the best sock out there....I think I've just gotten really lucky.  Find what works for you and don't be afraid to try out some different kinds until you discover your favorite.

To my darling husband:  I have a piece of gear I am going to want to buy before too long as I start training in earnest for Rocket City...a freezer.  Yes, a freezer.  See, the other day I tried to take an ice bath but even the full container from the ice maker didn't really make my bath water cold.  After today's Group Power beat down, I wanted to come home to a nice FULL bathtub of ice but knew I'd have to carry out at least 3 or 4 bags from the store-something I was not going to be able to do since I had trouble even lifting my PHONE to my ear after that class torture session.  If I had a freezer, I'd stock it full of ice for times such as this.

So, honey, when I ask you if you read my blog today and you say yes...and when I say, "so can I go buy that gear I talked about needing" and you say sure....don't ask me why Lowe's is at the door saying our freezer is in!!  ...Trust me, buying a freezer would be a lot cheaper in the long run than buying ice after every long run, or "Elizabeth* beat down" class, I'll ever do!  (*She's the dominatrix that lead the Group Power class today, as well as the leader of Extreme Abs.)

Thanks for stopping, come again soon!
:D