Item #177 on my list of Things That Make My Heart Leap Into My Throat:

That would be the 24th mile marker of the Rochester Marathon that is now three weeks away.  THREE! WEEKS! Seeing that freshly spray painted “24″ on the marathon course during a bike ride today made me gasp and cover my mouth with my hand whilst laying my other arm across my forehead before pretending to faint.

Holy.  Crap.  They have marked the miles for the race.  We are that close.

Yes, that bright orange, yet-to-be-faded by the weather or bipeds or Godzillas was my cold, harsh reminder of just how close the marathon is now.  I’ll probably be doing the exact same thing with my mouth, hand and arm in three weeks too.  Except maybe the fainting thing will be real then.

Be scared.

Yup!  No problem!  I am scared.  I admit it.  And I feel as though I shouldn’t be!  I’ve run a marathon before after all.  I’ve trained the same way this time.  I did it once, I can do it again, right?  But what if I can’t? I know all too well how freaking sucky it gets at the end. I remember how much my legs hurt.  I’ll never forget wondering how on earth I was managing to move forward despite a pair of legs that felt like over cooked summer squash. I know I promised myself right around that very same mile marker two years ago that I was never, ever going to do this again.

This is when I think about the fact that marathon running is a lot like child birth. It feels really long. It is not easy. There’s a lot of build up and preparation. A lot of swearing and sweating and grunting and crying. A lot of saying that you are never, ever going to do this again. But then before you know it, it’s a couple of years later and you’re holding another positive home pregnancy test in your hand or you’re mailing in the registration form with your check, and in both instances thinking “what the hell did I just do?”

But do it anyway.

So it’s ok be scared, but you still have to do those things that scare you. That’s how change happens. When you do the things that scare you, you give yourself the opportunity to succeed. Sure, you give yourself the opportunity to fail too, but how awesome is that?  Failure is good.  Failure is how you figure it out.  And even when you fail, chances are you’ll have at least a few small successes along the way too.  And it’s those small successes along with some big ones that eventually begin to add up.  Before you know it, you’ve got something much bigger and something very real in front of you; a change in the way you perceive who you are and what you are capable of.

You don’t change your self image in one moment of feeling good about yourself. It’s a compilation of all your successes, both big and small, that start to make a difference in the way you see yourself and allow you to move toward becoming that person that you want to be.  Nothing builds success like success.  Succeed at one thing, and suddenly you’ve got the courage to try something else, something that at one time probably seemed impossibly scary.  But that’s when you run your fingers through the hair of Fear and grab a hold of those nappy roots to look Fear straight in the face.  That’s when you really begin.

So begin already, would ya?

Start small.  Go for a walk and run just a little.  Do one push up.  Or ten.  Run a 5K.  Run another marathon.  Write a post like this for crying out loud!  Do I even know what the hell I’m talking about here?  Do I sound like an idiot?  Maybe.  Probably!  But how else am I going to figure out what works and what doesn’t in this tiny plot of cyber real estate of mine?  How else am I going to figure out what I enjoy writing about and what I don’t?  All I can do is be honest and be myself and share what works for me and hope it might work for you too.  So that’s what I do – scary or not.  Put it out there, risk failure, adjust course as needed and then keep going with some new knowledge to come along with me for the ride.

Nike was right.

So just do it.  Do something.  Do anything!  And it’s ok to be afraid.  Spray painted numbers are pretty scary after all, as are positive home pregnancy tests.  One of those I plan to plow right over in three weeks, the other would surely make me faint.  That would be #154 on my list of things that make my heart leap into my throat.  In fact, let’s not even go there.  Too scary.

• Lost Something? I’ll Find It.
• Home Field Advantage
• Everywhere You Look

For those of you following along, I read Born to Run a few weeks ago.  This book was awesome and continues to have a strong influence on my running life as of late.  Much of the book is about these ultra-marathoners who run this insane, 100 mile race through the Rocky Mountains in Leadville, Colorado.  One of the runners featured in this story had the bright idea to do his training for the race on the actual course itself.  And what do you know – he ended up setting a new course record that year.

Do you know what I think of that?

I think that is Pure.  Genius.

Racing can be as much of a mind game as it is a physical one, and boy do I know an awesome idea when when I steal one.  It just so happens that our new city residence is about one mile from the last 1/5th of the marathon course – the marathon that I plan to run 7 weeks from today.  And while until now I’ve been doing most of my running through my neighborhood streets, I’ve come to realize it’s time to get my ass on the course and take advantage of my serendipitously strategic living quarters.

I want to be mentally prepared for the end.  I want to triumph over those last 6 miles instead of fighting the urge to just lay down on the side of the road and take a little nap like I wanted to last time.  And while of course I’m gonna have to do a bit of running to get there, the mental prep I can begin to do now is invaluable too.

When I ran this race two years ago, I didn’t know the area at all.  What I saw around every turn was a surprise.  But now, the tables have turned!  I’m getting to know every twist and hill and pot hole like the back of my hand.  I really want those last 6 miles to suck as little as possible.  I want to breeze by people at mile 22 and say “what?  this old path?  oh I run here all the tiiiiiimmmeee.  this is like any other ordinary run for me!  why on earth are you looking so tired?”

I also figure it will be good to know which bushes are best to duck into to when these people are ready to bitch slap me.  And I want to know the best place to stash a first aid kit to bandage up the gash in my cheek when that last line comes back to bite me in the ass on September 12th, 2010.

I’m not just running on the course though, I’m riding it too.  I rode the entire course a few weeks ago and at about Mile 9 I started to realize that “dang. 26.2 miles is far.  what the hell am I thinking?”  What am I thinking? I’m thinking I’m gonna know these 26.2 miles well, that’s what!

If I might now go on record and state my various goals for this race, they would be, in no particular order:

1.  Finish the race in an upright position.  Smile optional.

2.  Beat Alison circa 2008: come in under 4:14:59

3.  Hit the goal of Alison circa 2008: finish in under 4:00

4.  Qualify for the Boston Marathon: 3:40:59

If I were a betting gal, I’d wager on coming in some where between Goal #2 and Goal #3.  Given this Less is More Marathon Training Program touts “running your best marathon ever”, I really want to believe I can beat Alison circa 2008.  Alison of 2008 was a couple years younger of course, weighed about 8 lbs or so less I think, but! was also less experienced and was a little more flighty too if I might say so.  She also had to run the race on a very hot and humid day and therefore walked more than she expected at the end.  Fingers crossed for more cooperative weather this year, and maybe even a mild stomach bug the week before to help drop a little excess baggage.

So what do you think, Alison 2010?

Well, I think we can take her!  I also think #4 is a long shot this year without a really strong tail wind or a really good short cut.

Wait.  A short cut?  That is exactly what I should be looking for here!  Pure!  Genius!

• Scary, Scary, Quite Contrary
• A Girl’s Best Friend
• Won’t You Be My Neighbor?

I go through breakfast phases.  Phases where I pretty much eat the same thing day after day after day for weeks on end until one day I wake up in the mood for something different.  This is how it always goes.  I eventually grow tired of the same old, same old, get some new breakfast idea and the cycle starts all over again.

Right now I am in a cold oatmeal phase.  I have been here before and will be here again I’m sure.  This means that my husband and children are also in a cold oatmeal phase.  As the primary meal preparer in this house, they are pretty much at the mercy of whatever breakfast phase I’m in.  Alternate breakfast requests are usually honored provided I have enough notice.

During some phases I hiss and spit and shout obscenities at grains and dairy.  And then other times I care a little less about consuming cow’s milk products or unsprouted grains as long as they are organic.  It those during those phases – like the one I am currently in – where I find myself busting through the door after a run or bike ride, ready to dive head first into breakfasts made from rolled oats and yogurt.

This morning before a speed work session I put together three bowls of oaty goodness.

That’s right.  Three bowls.  One for Mama Bear, one for Papa Bear and one for School-Aged Bear.  Pre-School Aged Bear would rather hiss and spit at Mama Bear than eat cold oatmeal.  This means that Pre-School Aged Bear gets toast and eggs, a phase she’s been in for about two years now.

Each of the three bowls pictured here contains about a half cup of oats.  That’s pretty much where the similarities end.  You know how the story goes… too hot, too cold and just right.

Ava gets rice milk with agave nectar, a little ground flax and exactly 9 granules of cinnamon.  I counted.  10 granules and she won’t eat it because it’s “too spicy”.

Zak gets almond milk, raisins, cinnamon, flax, agave and absolutely no yogurt lest he hiss and spit and shout obscenities at the sourness that is fermented dairy.

My bowl contained just oats until I was home after a little hissing and spitting and shouting obscenities on the track.

Two bowls in the fridge to get their soak on, one on the counter to wait for moisture until I returned.  Time to run.

On today’s schedule was 3 sets of 1600 meter sprints.   Translation: one mile repeats at about a 7:30/m pace with a half mile recovery at 11:00/m pace.  x3.  Might I add here that I was NOT feeling speed work this morning?  Not at all.  But thanks to the Working Out with a Buddy phase I’m currently in (vs. my Working Out Solo phase) I was dragged to the track by my friend and we got the job done despite any early-AM speed work reluctance.

Home again, home again, jiggity jig, my favorite oaty combo du jour is a couple spoolfuls of 2% Fage (plain) with unsweetened almond milk.  As much as I love overnight oats, a brand new aspect of this current oatmeal phase involves enjoying the consistency of oats soaked until the count of 10.

1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10!  Time for a reverse three and a half somersault tuck into my bowl of oats, yogurt and fruit.

No sweetener is necessary when you’ve got a hearty helping of strawberries and blueberries to load on top.  I am very happy to be at the mercy of this awesome summer fruit phase we’re in!

Phase or no phase, breakfast was fabulous today and will be tomorrow too.

• Pushing Up Pansies
• Lost Something? I’ll Find It.
• A Day of Calorie Counting

This week I finished reading a book that has earned itself the well-deserved honor as my new favorite book:

Born to Run by Christopher McDougall.  

Born to Run is one of those books that has left me feeling sad that it’s over. It’s also one of those books that is going to prevent me from picking up any new book for quite some time here. I am going to need a little time to recover from it’s awesomeness and allow a little space between now and whatever I pick up to read next. Any new book right now is quite simply going to suck in comparison.

So instead of writing about what this book is, I’m going to write about what it is not.

This is not a book that is going to leave you feeling like running is something you can’t do or might ever truly enjoy.

It is not going to make you throw confetti in the air when you read about the study that says the more expensive your running shoe, the more likely you are to get injured.

It is not going to make you shriek toe curling, joyous laughter when you think back on all the hundreds of dollars you’ve spent on running sneakers over the last five years.

Born to Run is not going to leave you feeling unmotivated, unmoved or believing that running is just for those with lots of natural talent and grace.

This is not a book you are going to look forward to putting down when you’re forced to break up a fight between your children who probably wouldn’t have even been fighting in the first place if you’d been paying attention to them instead of sneaking off to read.

If I might now impress upon you what this book is and has done for me in recent weeks here, I suppose now is the time to do it.

I’ll start by saying that I have found myself appreciating running even more than I already did.

Born to Run has left me feeling inspired to get out there and improve my form, to work on running lighter, longer and easier.

I have now found myself looking forward to and embracing the fatigue that rears it’s head during a hard work out.

I have started to involuntarily cradle my chin in the space between my pointer finger and thumb as I stare off thoughtfully and ponder the idea that the way to conquer something is to love it.

I am also enjoying the challenge of trying to balance attempts at sneaking in some barefoot runs along side long runs… long runs that at this point my barefoot career require shoes. Yes, those same long runs that I had initially planned to skip this summer! A plan I was forced to abandon when I realized Born to Run had other motivational plans for me.

The concepts found among these 282 pages not only have me paying closer to attention to my own running form, but the form of other runners too. I look on with new eyes as I notice what my fellow runners are out there doing. I find myself resisting the urge to holler out “Dude! Shorten your stride!” or “Girlfriend! Bend your knees! Stand up straight!” or “Way to rock out old man! Nice pace! You’re doing something right!” or “Oooo girl I am loving those shorts but hey, stop landing on your heel!”

Woven between a great story are smaller stories and tidbits about well known and lesser known athletes, amazing coaches, scientists and researches. It was an entertaining and funny read. It had me nodding my head in agreement, scooping my jaw up off the floor in disbelief, laughing out loud and snorting grapefruit seltzer out my nose.

In short, it’s easy to say that Born to Run has most definitely had a positive impact on my running life and a book I would recommend to runners and non-runners alike. It has unfortunately has put a damper on my reading life for a next couple of weeks here, but no big deal – I’ve got some running to do anyway.

• Foot Notes
• So Happy Together
• Pushing Up Pansies

At the end of last year I saw this hippie barefoot runner dude in the November issue of Runner’s World in their “What it Takes…” column.

Zak and I had a conversation then about the fact that you don’t see a whole lot of barefoot running articles or barefoot runners in running magazines. Of course not! They make the majority of their profits from companies buying ad space to sell running shoes! These advertisers probably wouldn’t be too keen on a loads of pages glamorizing this crazy concept of running without shoes on – the way nature intended! (This is where it becomes obvious that I’m currently reading Born to Run.) And of course the guy featured in this snippet was a hippie with a long grey beard and dirty feet – not a young, hot running babe or hunk with a tight buns and bulging biceps donning a smokin’ running outfit and a pair brand new sneaks to match. We wouldn’t want anyone to think that anyone hip or cool runs barefoot, now would we?

You can hold your applause, cynicism is a gift.

ANYWAY. I was tipped off by a friend last week that this same hippie looking barefoot dude I stumbled across last year in Runner’s World is actually on tour this summer doing free barefoot running workshops – AND it just so happened that he was going to be in a city only an hour from here this week AND it was free! Well what are the freaking chances? It probably goes without saying that yours truly jumped at the chance to hear what a vegan runner who’s finished over 70 marathon’s wearing only the shoes he was born in had to say.

And did I mention it was free?

So last night I left my sneakers at home and ran off to attend Ken Bob Saxton’s barefoot running workshop.

Even his dog runs barefoot YO! Isn’t that whack? (This is where I confirm for you that no one hip or cool runs barefoot.)

I, along with 20 or so other barefoot intrigues, got to listen to Ken Bob talk about the fact that running barefoot is all about learning to run gently. It’s about learning to run and move in a way that our bodies are intended to run. He cleared up one misconception I had, which is that it is ok to put your heel down when you run (good, because I’ve come to realize that I do in fact set my heel down) so long as you don’t land on your heel. You want to land on the balls of your feet and then setting your heel down is ok and natural, provided you don’t pound it into the ground at the completion of every step.

He also stressed the importance of bending your knees, taking note of your posture and to be mindful that you’re keeping your torso vertical and not hunching over. It’s also important to note that you should not be pushing off with each step, but instead lifting the whole foot. When you run barefoot, you give your feet the opportunity to provide you with this incredible feedback that can tell you if your running form is right or wrong. Even minimalist shoes like Vibrams can keep you from receiving this crucial feedback.

We listened to him speak for about an hour, and then it was time to practice what he preached.

He explained the importance of running barefoot on hard surfaces, and that running only on the grass or sand is a lot like running with sneakers on – because it still gives you a lot of cushioning that can keep you from feeling the effects of improper form or foot strike. He suggested treating grass and sand like barefoot dessert, and using hard surfaces as your barefoot nutrition. It’s the road, sidewalk, trails and pavement that are going to give you the best feedback. Grass and sand are a nice treat, but too many treats and you’ll never grace the pages of a running magazine – whether you’re cool and hip or nerdy and barefoot!

Watching Ken Bob run and observing his form was probably the most beneficial part of the workshop for me. He doesn’t bounce or bobble up and down when he runs – he keeps his knees bent and moves very smoothly and fluidly. We ran in a group to various spots around a paved parking lot and got to try out these new tips and techniques for ourselves. I was shocked at how easy it felt when I started lifting my feet and moving them forward with quick, short steps instead of pushing off and taking longer strides, focusing on keeping my feet lower to the ground instead of bringing them up higher like I do when I have shoes on. Basically modifying all the movements that would otherwise lead to landing hard instead of softly and gently.

This might be a good place for a quick homeblogschool physics lesson (feel free to disregard the fact that I never took physics) about the laws of gravity and acceleration. (More proof that no one cool runs barefoot.)

You see, it is known in the land of the physical sciences that any object falling through the air due to the force of gravity increases in downward acceleration by approximately 9.81 meters ever second. Something like that.

In short: the higher you lift your feet, the harder they are going to fall. Don’t lift your feet any higher than you need to and you will more easily be able to achieve this new concept of “running gently”.

Two hours from start to finish, I left my new barefoot friends feeling totally pumped and ready to run home and give everything I learned a shoeless whirl.

And whirl I did first thing this morning!

Up until now, 95% of any barefoot running I’ve done has been on the grass, mainly out of fear and also out of necessity due to skin pain! But this morning, armed with my new techniques I quite literally hit the road with no fear and no shoes. I planned to go out for about a mile and then come back and fetch my sneaks if needed. But lo and behold – the end off Mile 1 was upon me and I was feeling pretty incredible foot loose and sneaker free! I easily ran 4 miles around my neighborhood streets and sidewalks, barely running in the grass at all. Insanity! Lifting my feet with short, quick steps was key! Not only did it make running on the pavement easier, but it also felt like I was running more efficiently too. I absolutely felt like I was exerting less energy overall, especially compared to what would otherwise be a typical shod, foot poundy Thursday morning run.

Love it. Totally love it.

It wasn’t until the end of the workshop yesterday that I thought to take a little video – so if you’re curious, take a peek at the short clip of Ken Bob discussing the fact that once you learn proper form from barefoot running, it really doesn’t matter what you wear on your feet!

Interested in seeing Ken Bob saunter around shoelessly yourself? Maybe he’s coming to a town near you! And hey – it’s free! (OK, so I did donate the small contents of my pay pal account to my new friend Ken Bob, it was the least I could do. I mean, I would do the same for the library after all…)

• Pushing Up Pansies
• Born to Read This Book
• So Happy Together

Some where in the span of the last half year – give or take a couple weeks – life went from sickly sweet and seemingly picture perfect to oh-so-insanely soap opera-ish that even Susan Lucci would have to change the channel because she can’t keep up.

Yes, once upon a time I used to watch All My Children.  So sue me.

I had to stop blogging because when the going gets tough, the tough just makes a salad.  And the tough can only blog about green juice and breakfast cookies and crudites with hummus lunches for so long before her readers start yawning and drooling into their keyboards.  Then before I know it, I’ll have a stack of bills on my desk from bored readers invoicing me for their new typing apparatus’s (apparati?  what’s the plural of apparatus?) to replace the ones said readers ruined after they dribbled puddles of saliva while falling asleep from reading about my vegetable monotony and posts full of run on sentences.

Here’s where I stop being annoyingly cryptic and overly dramatic and get to the point of this post.

So, as the new saying goes… when the going gets tough, the tough makes a salad.  But the tough can also tie on her sneakers and go for a run if she likes as well.  A girl always has option.  And after all, what better way to take full advantage of the feel good hormones evolution afforded each of us than to rub the sleep out of your eyes, throw on some non-cotton clothes and your (still relatively new!) Garmin 405 and hit the road jack?  It’s all about figuring out how to give that pituitary gland a good hard squeeze and allow some endorphins to ooze out into your blood stream for a cheap and natural pick-me-up.  Personally, I prefer to squeeze my pituitary gland around 6am when most of the creatures in this urban jungle are still sleeping.  Or, while the creatures in my very own urban habitat are still sleeping at the very least.

Given the going is still going a bit tough these days, the first thing on today’s to do list?

Squeeze pituary gland.

Check!

Sneaks on, garmin buckled to my wrist, off I went for a few butt-crack-of-dawn miles around town on a pseudo drug run to turn any frowns at least temporarily upside down.  All I know is that it’s a good thing running feels a lot more like a habit these days rather than a chore ’cause otherwise I’d probably be watching old episodes of All My Children on Hulu whilst simultaneously shushing and barking orders at my kids to Be Quiet and Fetch Mama Some Bonbons.

Another happiness tip?  Find pleasure in the little things.  And what little things pray tell am I finding pleasure in these days?  Why a spinach bed overflowing with fresh, backyard and organically grown spinach – that’s what!

Here’s a true story:

Ready for lunch one day last week, whole wheat tortillas in one hand, tub-o-Family Size Garlic Sabra in the other, visions of veggies wraps danced in my head – until I realized I was out of spinach, or greens of any kind for that matter.

Crap.

Ummm, out of greens in the fridge maybe… “out of greens” with the exception of the very green spinach flowing from the raised bed in my back yard, ready and waiting to be harvested.  Ohhhh yeaaaaaahhhhh forgot about those greens!

Tortillas and hummus tubs quickly cast aside to be replaced with plastic bowls and purple handled scissors as I skipped and squealed gleefully down my back steps and into my back yard.  It’s time to snip snip snip until her Daddy takes the scissors away.

Enter more skipping and squealing back up the steps, into the kitchen to get to work on a hummus wrap masterpiece magnificent enough to belong in a museum.

The Museum of My Mouth, that is.  MoMM?  How quaint.  And oh yes, there is a layer of hummus under Mount St. Veggie, I promise.

So, the moral of today’s true stories?  Implement some healthy habits into your life NOW, before the shit hits the fan, so that when the fecal matter does inevitably fly into some speedily rotating blades one day, you can more easily avoid being completely splattered from head to toes covered by running sneakers.  Who needs daytime drama and chocolate covered ice cream balls to escape your own personal soap opera?  Instead, you’ll be all set up to get up and get out and feel good after a few easy miles on a muggy Thursday morning at 6:36 AM.  You too can be making chirping noises as you bound down your back steps into your yard to load up on fresh spinach for a museum worthy hummus and veggie wrap instead of watering your garden with tears.

And if the shit never hits the fan?  No harm, no foul. Consider those healthy habits the Real Life insurance policy that you never had to file a claim on.

• When the Garmin Strikes Midnight
• Stay At Home Turkey Trot
• Stay at Home

I’m officially stocked up on things to blog about!

First things first! On Sunday I took my camera along with me on an overcast and very-mild-for-January morning run.

I took a punk along with me too.

Who wants to come along on a 5 mile run through my new neighborhood? Well, you don’t have a choice. Get your sneakers on. It’s time to go.

Our first landmark would be what is currently my most favorite thing to run over in the whole wide world. A pedestrian bridge that crosses the river that divides the city in half.

Why I take so much pleasure from running over a pedestrian bridge I’ll never know – but I love it, I do!

(Pictures are more fun with people in them so expect to see my running friend Shawn a lot during this post.)

Over the river.

To the river path that also happens to run along a college campus.

A glimpse of downtown from the path.

Getting closer…

I should let you in on a secret goal I have in life: to be able to do a cartwheel even when I’m 100 years old.

30 years and going strong! 70 years to go.

After the river path, it’s time to break into the cemetery though a broken spot in the wrought iron fence.

Dude, you ran right by it!

The only problem with taking my camera with me on this run was that Shawn would run up ahead while I stopped for my mid-run photo shoots, and then I would have to bust ass to catch up with him. Ah well, probably a good thing really, especially given I haven’t done speed work in ages.

Spooky!

Don’t just lay there, get up and run with us!

Through the cemetery. (And figuring out to just take pictures while I’m running.)

Back across the river.

To stop and admire some graffiti.

Why does this come as no surprise that this very cryptic message was spray painted on by men? I certainly can’t imagine a group of women spray painting “BALLS” under a bridge. “KITTENS”? Probably not. “DIAMONDS”? Maybe. “CHOCOLATE”? Getting closer now.

There! 5 miles! Done! That wasn’t so bad now was it? We were only gone about 45 minutes, and it seemed to go by like the scroll of a mouse wheel, didn’t it?

Next on today’s bloggy agenda would the awesome care package that arrived via United States Postal Service from my boyfriend Brendan Brazier yesterday!

OK, maybe not from BB himself, but a girl can still dream.

I need to give a big shout out and thank you to my girl Kelly at Sequel Naturals for offering to hook me up with Brendan’s latest book, Thrive Fitness. I’m so excited to read and review this book!

In case you missed it, I happened to love Brendan’s book Thrive. The changes I made in my diet thanks to everything I learned in his first book have made such a difference in my life. Thrive gave me the information I needed to make adjustments in my approach to eating which in turn has given me more energy in general, has allowed me to sleep better, and made my runs and workouts feel positively amazing – I can’t wait to see what Brendan’s training program and book dedicated to fitness has to offer!

This happens to the perfect segue into Blog Worthy Item #3:

I realized this weekend that the half marathon I plan to run in April is now less than 12 weeks away! Considering the training program I used last time is 12 weeks long, I guess that means it’s time to start thinking about training? Ugh. I’m not ready yet. The Sunday long runs don’t start getting longer for another 5 weeks, but still. If I hope to beat my previous half marathon time of 1:47, I’ve got to get back to doing long runs and speed work too. Speed work is so much easier in the summer! Or at the very least, on a treadmill.

Well, it’s not anywhere near summer and I don’t have a treadmill or even a gym membership, so I’m going to have to figure something out. I’m probably going to have suck it up and run fast outside. In the cold. Joy to the world.

Runners! Do you do speed work outside in the winter? (And if you live in a warm climate, your comment doesn’t count!) Does it suck as much as I imagine it’s going to? Maybe I’ll be surprised and sucking in cold, frozen air fast and hard will be petting a kitten? Putting on a diamond necklace? Eating chocolate? No?

• Half Marathon Race Recap
• Turn It Up
• Secret Goals

If I could sum up in one word what I’ve learned over the course of the last couple of weeks here, that word would be:

Balance.

Now of course this concept of “balance” is not a foreign to me or to you or to anyone who is at least somewhat committed to living a healthier life. Balance is something I like to believe I’ve always aimed for, but it’s a lot harder to find that sweet spot when you’ve got a ton of stuff heaped on the scale. And if you don’t stop piling stuff on? The scale is going to eventually buckle and come crashing down. The next thing you know you’re wiping tears from your eyes and resisting the urge to throw yourself into a heap on the floor while singing the lyrics to Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da wondering if the Beatles wrote that song knowing that one day a 5 year old girl in upstate New York would drive her mother crazy by requesting that song be put on repeat every time she gets in the car from May through December.

What’s one of the things that’s kept me sane during these scale crashy times? Running! If you know me or have read this blog for a while this probably comes as no surprise. But it’s true. Without my nice healthy endorphin rush from exercise I would be left trying to figure out a way to get my hands on some powerful mood altering drugs. Instead of adding “buy drugs” to my to-do list and figuring this new expense in to our budget, I’ll just go for a run instead. It’s just the easiest option really, not to mention the option that is least likely to get me into any sort of serious trouble, with the law or otherwise.

I ran this morning in fact, with my neighborhood running group in the cold, dark but at least dry streets. I’m still running regularly but not working out nearly as much as I have over the course of the last year. I’ve come to discover that I don’t need to work out 5 or 6 days a week to maintain my weight and my desired level of fitness. 3 or 4 days a week is perfect, and has come with a load of unexpected benefits. I have more time, I’m not as hungry, and I feel like I’m letting my body have a little break from the rigors of training. It’s felt great to run for maintenance and mental well being instead of focusing how to run faster, longer and stronger.

On the food front, huge salads have been my saving grace, both in a sense of ease and the wonder that is chlorophyll. I can’t say I haven’t taken advantage of the mood altering effects afforded to me by dark chocolate either though. Thank you 70% Green & Black for doing your part in keeping me from flinging myself off a bridge.

Did I ever tell you that melodramatic is my middle name?

In summary, that’s where I’ve been.  I think I might even turn my camera on today or tomorrow. For now, know that  I’m here – running, eating salads and chocolate and taking advantage of the power of loud music too. Chris Brown, I don’t care what you did – turning this one up always makes me feel better.

• When the Garmin Strikes Midnight
• Turn It Up
• Say What You Mean To Say

So for the most part, I have been thoroughly enjoying my 6 AM runs with my new running group. It feels great to get my run in so early and have exercise checked off my list first thing. I enjoy the company and conversation as well as the easy pace of the group.

I do have to be honest about one thing though, and that is that these runs in the dark are starting to wear on me a little. I miss the sun! I miraculously managed to get a run in by myself during the daylight hours on Wednesday. Even though it was an overcast day, it was still nice to be out when the sun was on our side of the earth for a little while. Stingy southern hemisphere.

This morning I realized that if I can’t have the sun, I can at the very least have the essence of the sun in its plant based form. Hi Chlorophyll, you’ll do for now – I’ll take what I can get.

New house, I’d like you meet my good friend Breville. I’m sorry I haven’t properly introduced you to each other sooner!

If you look carefully, you’ll notice something missing out of one of those apples. Oops. It just looked too good to not sink my teeth into while I gathered up all the produce from my farmer’s market of a fridge. Somethings are just irresistible I tell ya! I’ll try and control myself next time. No promises though.

Today’s juicy concoction would be a giant head of green leaf lettuce, a partial head of red leaf, a couple of carrots, a few inches of ginger, two apples (minus one innocent bite) and two lemons. I’ve recently stopped peeling the lemons and putting them straight in the juicer as is. I’ve noticed that it gives the juice a lot more zing, and I’m assuming that’s from the rind? Maybe instead of saying it gives the juice more zing I should say more zest!

Two glasses of green vegetable juice this morning, one for me and one for him.

Thanks to the red leaf lettuce and carrots, this morning’s green goodness in a glass looks like we’re about to drink the water the girls rinsed their water color paint brushes in. Cucumbers make a much more photo friendly glass of vegetable juice, but carrots or cucumbers – they both taste amazing!

Speaking of introductions, our indoor-outdoor cats (who, until just recently, were temporarily demoted to indoor-only status until we were sure that they knew this is where their food dish is) are starting to get thrown outside again to get back to their indoor-outdoor status. Cats need daylight too after all!

Their new kitty outdoor adventures have allowed them to meet some of the other cats in the neighborhood. Maybe they’ll go running together or something.

Today our male cat Andy (on the right) got to meet this other black and white cat that keeps showing up on our doorstep.

Don’t they look happy to see each other? I know I always lay my ears flat like that when I’m in a good mood and happy to see someone. As a matter of fact, I’m totally laying my ears flat looking at all the clouds in the sky as I type.

• Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
• Orange You Glad It’s Sunday?
• Birthday Beet Juice

One of the nicest perks of our new house would be the regular running group that came built right in to our neighborhood. They run Monday, Thursday and Saturday mornings and as luck would have it, today is Monday!

I found out about the group from a friend who lives in this neighborhood. He’s been running with them for a while and invited me to join them on a Saturday morning run back in October. I accepted the invite and by the end of the run I was already contemplating what it might take to get our closing date bumped up to that very afternoon.

I emailed my neighborly friend last night to confirm the days and times were still the same and that they were still meeting over the holiday week. When I got the thumbs up that running this morning would be a go, I got my running stuff all set out and ready. The group meets at 6 AM and while I am no stranger to getting up in the 5 o’clock hour – getting OUT before the clock strikes 6 is a whole new ball game.

Yesterday’s journey through my neighborhood streets, to the campus of a large university, through the cemetery and back over the river to make my way home again was great. It was sunny, not too cold and almost all the snow was gone. But when I peeled myself out of bed at 5:40 this morning, I found 6 inches of the white stuff on the ground. The street in front of my house was not plowed and there was one set of tire tracks through the road that showed me just how deep the snow was.

Ankle deep. And it’s still snowing.

So now what? Are they still going to run this morning in this crazy mess? If I was at at the old house, today would definitely be a treadmill day. Do I change out of my toasty purple socks and sexy sweat pants and get in to cold running tights and an adorable pink hat that I knit myself only to find that I’m the only fool that came out this morning? If that were the case, the next step would be to turn around and go home because I’m not running alone in the dark through city streets. Even though the roads are well lit, I don’t know the area well enough to head off by myself when the sky is still black. Well, orange-ish yellowy is more accurate than black really. We’re in the city now after all.

But I digress.

OK, fine. It’s worth the risk. I suited up and off I went, into the orange-ish yellowy snow filled sky, down a tire carved path on the otherwise empty and silent street to make the trek to the meeting location two blocks over. Sure enough, I was greeted by three smiling faces and we were joined by three more folks shortly there after.

Wait. A group of happy, smiling people wearing sneakers and face masks at 6 AM on a cold and snowy Monday morning? Really? Is this a drug run?

I don’t know what it is about running with a group of people, especially considering I barely know anyone besides my friend – but this morning’s cold, wet, orange, snowy and blowy run that was filled with conversation and laughs made today’s run just as good as any sunny and dry Monday morning solo run through my suburban streets or a random treadmill run at an old decrepit gym.

I kept coming back to the fact that if I hadn’t had plans to meet with this group today, I never would have run this morning. I’ve no longer got a gym membership to speak of, so without these plans I surely would have been home this morning wondering what I could do to avoid unpacking or putting away more stuff. There’s no doubt that making plans with a work out buddy can be a powerful tool to keep you on track and motivated and will get your butt out the door when you would otherwise eschew your pink hat in lieu of sweat pants with a large hole in the crotch. (I told you they were sexy.)

Our run took about 45 minutes and when all was said and done I was gone about an hour. Given our somewhat leisurely pace through the ankle deep snow I’m guessing we went about 4 and a half or 5 miles this morning.

My post run breakfast would be an old favorite, fruit cereal.

1 diced banana and 1 diced gala apple tossed and coated in ground flax seed and unsweetened cocoa powder, topped with sliced almonds and chocolate unsweetened almond milk. Who needs grains when there’s fruit to eat?

I enjoyed my fruit cereal while Maxine and her toys enjoyed our generously sized forced air ducts and the big blast of hot air from it this morning.

Looks like I’m not the only one who has found some fun perks that came with our new house.

• Scary Spoon
• A Day of Calorie Counting
• When the Garmin Strikes Midnight