Honey!

So this happened...

On a lark, I applied for sponsorship with Honey Stinger earlier this year.  I really didn't expect to be accepted.  After all,  I'm just an ordinary, forty-something-age-group athlete.  But I couldn't be more excited to have a brand to identify with.  I primarily used Honey Stinger products during my fall marathon training season.  The honey gel packs were a great change from the pudding-like gels I had used before. I much prefer using real food to fuel rather than glucose. The honey is easier on my stomach too.

I am looking forward to next year, and what this first try at sponsorship may yield.

On Running My First Marathon

I ran my first marathon in November of 2013.  Recently, I was asked to write about that experience.  That essay was published here.

Now I have completed 5 full marathons.  The truth is, I am an unlikely athlete.  Every time I run I defy the habits of a past version of myself.  It's a humbling reality. I am grateful.

Counting the Days

One week from today I’ll be running my next race.  November 22, 2015 is the Route 66 Marathon in Tulsa.  This will be my 3^rd time on this course, and my 5^th marathon.

My priority this week is to get adequate sleep, eat great food and stay healthy.  I’ll continue my strength work and cross training, but with a modified intensity.  

Yesterday was my last double-digit long run before the race.  Today I rode 15+ miles, but chose a flat course rather than my usual Sunday route.  Tomorrow I’ll do fewer reps of my core strength routine and ride the same flat course from today.  I have been using the routines from www.strengthrunning.com .

Maybe I should back up and describe how my training has gone this season.  In April, I ran the Golden Driller Marathon.  It wasn’t my best run.  I came through it, but largely felt discouraged, drained and doubtful.  I was grateful to be switching my emphasis to cycling for a couple months as I prepared for my next century ride.  Running in May was minimal at best.  My left hamstring had been nagging me during spring training and wasn’t getting much better.  I only ran 6 miles in the entire month of June.  It was important to let the hamstring rest and enjoy what cycling and yoga could do for me.  

I was already registered for the fall Marathon, but all through the early summer I was hatching a plan to drop back to running the half instead.  Mostly, it was a wait and see situation.  My mind was quickly losing interest in the demands of marathon training.  

I started running with a small group in July, testing how my hamstring would respond.  I also decided to try to wean myself off the custom orthotics I’ve been wearing for 15 years.   It was a slow and unimpressive reentry into running, but, I didn’t have pain. Three mile runs were comfortable, so I moved up to six, then 8.  I still had my doubts about running the full marathon again, but my body was responding to this gradual increase in distance without incident. 

Now we are six days from race day.  Over the past sixteen weeks I have put in the training, running more than 400 miles.  My body feels strong and my mind has made peace with the distance.  All that is left is to run my race.

preparing to repair

This week we are replacing the roof on our house.  The roof was old when we moved in. After living here nearly eighteen years, it's past the preferred time to get this done. There are actually two layers of roof to deal with.  The original cedar shake roof from 1940 is under the composite roof that is who-knows-how-old.  Since they'll have to take off both old layers of roof, the attic will be exposed once those cedar shakes are removed.  There is no decking under them, only a slatted frame.  This means, that part of preparing for the work crew was to empty the attic.

Last night, we unloaded everything from the attic and stacked it in the dining room.  Many things had been discarded a couple years ago in one of my aggressive de-cluttering and craigslisting sprees. Many things still remain.  It's going to be a big job to sort and discard from this bundle of boxes - but we have all agreed that most of it needs to go.

I was inspired to re-read, or rather re-listen to, the [audio] book by Marie Kondo called, the life-changing magic of tidying up.  Taking everything out of the attic is pushing my 'tidying up' to a much deeper level than just superficial de-cluttering.  I have a hope that one day, I'll only own what I actually need and use.  I remember as a young girl thinking to myself, "I only need what I can carry". It's doubtful I'll ever get that streamlined.  But, I still do long to pare down and live with minimal possessions.  I want my life to be more about being with people, about creating, about doing, about going.  Having just doesn't interest me like it once did.

Simple Summer

Day one of my 'Sardinian Summer'*

Focusing on:
 a simple vegetarian menu
 Latin language study
 time with my family
 making friends
 and fitness.


* nod to The Blue Zones by Dan Buettner