Hiking and Biking and Lessons Learned

The mountain behind my house has been my place of refuge lately. My husband grew up just around the corner from where we live now and the mountain was his hide out as well. He played there all the time, went there when he was mad, and generally just spent a lot of his childhood up there. Not running is hard. I know that most of you have been there. It's like wanting chocolate cake and someone telling you that you can have other flavors of cake, but no chocolate. Vanilla and lemon cake just aren't the same. I have been filling my need of the outdoors (especially in winter time, my favorite season to run) with hiking. While it's not running, it's still o.k. It gets my heart rate up, provides me with a sense of accomplishment, and gets me out in the cold, crisp, winter air.

Last time we hiked to the top of the mountain we decided to come straight down the face of the mountain. Not so smart. This picture does not do it justice. It was really really hard mostly because of the rocks. They weren't small enough to ski down on, they weren't big enough that they didn't move, and there was the constant danger of falling or getting your foot squashed by a moving rock. We moved strategically apart from each other so that our slides didn't cause problems for the other person. And when we weren't on the rocks we were climbing through trees and maneuvering around cliffs. I will admit that I got pretty frustrated after about two hours of this. We did get down though and to a trail with help from my son at home and his binoculars and it was a great trip. At the very least it was certainly an adventure!

I've perfected a little 3.5 mile loop that takes me about an hour to do. It has about 1000 feet elevation gain in just over a mile and then I take the long way home.

It's hard to believe this is January in Utah.

Now that's a little more like it. A week ago Saturday we got a little snow. I had gotten some super cute new snow boots that I tried out on the mountain. We did the 3.5 mile loop and had so much fun.

Gorgeous.

This wasn't even staged. Promise. Why is it so much fun making tracks where you know no one has previously been that day?

Those super cute warm boots that I wore gave me some silver dollar sized blisters on each heel. That wasn't so fun. I'm still recovering from those suckers. And it didn't help that the skin peeled off when I took my socks off. I knew they were going to be bad, but didn't realize how bad. Don't worry, I spared you the pictures of those.

Gotta love it when the sun hits new snow and makes it sparkle.

I went up the next Monday and was chastised by my husband for hiking again before my blisters healed. Bandaids and socks should be o.k., right?

We made the 3000 ft. ascent to the top of our mountain again this Saturday to retrieve a nice water bottle that we left there last time. It's a little over 3 miles up to the summit. We came down the trail this time instead of down the face and made it back in half the time. It ended up being over 7.5 miles and a really good day. Last time we did the ascent my quads were sore for about 5 days afterwards. It was reminiscent of downhill marathon recoveries. This time was minimal. I can't wait to go up again. I am not allowed to go clear up to the top by myself though...(can you say mountain lions?) so any takers?

It was really cold and windy up at the top so my man, dug into his primal need to make fire, and made one with flint and steel to impress and warm his woman. I will admit that it was nice.

We were down in a little valley out of the wind and we took a break and ate a little lunch. Coming down was not nearly so frustrating this time. Note to self: always stay on the trail.

I went and did the 3.5 mile loop again yesterday. It had snowed again and made the footing a bit tricky. Ice underneath and powder on top. Makes for an interesting climb.

Again, I love it when my footprints are the only ones up there.

I really don't know if it gets better than this. Oh wait, yes it does. I could be running it.

This herd of deer are my friends. I've seen them often. Unfortunately they don't want to get too close.

I've been going to the gym for a weight class twice a week and to a spin class twice a week as well. I've also been able to use my trainer in the basement for a ride once or twice a week. That little purchase was really good timing. Thank you all for your TV suggestions. I'm trying to keep myself busy and my cardio up. I've done some stupid things in weight class that have not helped my ankle (pulsing step ups and backward lunges) but for the most part I've been pain free for a week and a half (even hopping on one foot!). The countdown is on. Around 3 weeks left.

I'm finding that I'm grateful for this time to focus on something different. I usually avoid the mountain because it's so hard, but I'm really enjoying my time spent up there and the beauty that I usually don't see.

I'm learning to trust myself more. I think I knew deep down that this was a bone issue and not just a tendon problem. But when someone is telling you that it's not, you want to believe so that you can still accomplish your goals. I'm finally the one who took charge and said that I was going to get an x-ray to make sure. I'm glad I did. I only wish I would have done it sooner. I need to trust my body more. Speaking of which, I need to listen to my body more as well. I was running in 2 days what I used to run in a week. I just ramped up the miles too fast and am paying for it. Lesson learned.

I'm also finding alternative ways, other than running, to make me happy. Sometimes I find it's hard reading about and talking to people who get to eat chocolate cake right now when I can't. It's even hard seeing those happy runners out on the street. But I'm realizing that life does go on. This isn't permanent. I'm one of the lucky ones. But what if I couldn't ever run again? Could I find other things to fill that void? Could I really be happy again? I'm not sure if I'm in a zen enough state to answer to the affirmative on that yet. Thank goodness I don't have to. But it does make one think.

I finished reading Matt Long's book "The Long Run" yesterday. As the tears were streaming down my face multiple times throughout the book, I wondered these questions, "could I ever be truly happy without running ever again?" "Would I feel like the same person if I couldn't run again?" If you haven't read this book yet, it's worth it. Life altering, changing your thinking kind of book.

If you have read it, did it make you ponder the same questions too?

What do you think your honest answers would be?

Embracing the Suck...again

"A life without problems, limitations, or challenges; life without opposition in all things, as Lehi phrased it, would paradoxically, but in very fact, be less rewarding and less ennobling than one which confronts, even frequently confronts difficulty, disappointment and sorrow."

-Jeffrey R. Holland

Back when my youngest went to kindergarten this fall, I worried about being alone or wasting time while he was gone. One of my goals to rectify that situation was to try to memorize a quote or scripture a week. While it hasn't ended up being exactly one a week, those that I have committed to memory have been implanted in my heart. And the great thing about having them there in my mind and heart is that when I least expect it but when I need them the most, they are there when I need them. And this quote came to my mind in just one of those moments.

Giving up this goal of mine and coming to grips with a stress fracture is not easy. Not only is it frustrating to put so much time and effort into a goal that's not realized, my mind can't help go to the place that says that I'm not cut out to run. Feeling sorry for myself is not something I like to do nor is it something that is fun to live with, so after having a little cry to a best friend and then a little cry to my husband in bed after a day of putting a smile on my face, I decided to make the best of it. I had a funny little chat with myself about a post that I wrote a while ago where I said how I was looking for the lows in running instead of the highs to learn and to grow. I told myself that this was a definite low and in a weird way I had found what I was looking for. The next day I got this comment from Mike. It said what I was thinking more eloquently. "This is one of those moments where all we can do is embrace the suck. Several posts ago you spoke of searching for the lows -not the highs- in running for this is where we find the truths about ourselves. I absolutely love this concept and the frame of mind that understands and accepts this as wisdom. This is a low for you. Embrace it for, in a weird sort of a way, it'll make you tougher than you already are, and you are one tough girl. It's a good day to be alive, but it sucks, eh? And that's ok."

So I'm embracing the suck once again in a different way than I had planned. I am truly lucky. I am not in a boot. No crutches. Just no running for 6 weeks. I can still bike, walk, do yoga, even hike if I'm careful. I could even swim if I was desperate enough. My husband bought me a really nice bike trainer for Christmas to use during the winter. It was a perfect gift, even before I knew about my little setback. It's set up in front of the TV. Now I just need something good to watch. (Suggestions please...) I got to ride it 3 times last week and then went for a hike on Saturday. It was a great week even without running.

And yesterday my husband and I hiked to the top of the mountain behind our house. It was hard and good. A great way to start the new year.

And though it was really windy, I was even able to do a little yoga on top of the mountain. Doesn't that just seem like something you should do when feeling like you're on top of the world?

It was awesome and I'm embracing this time to recover and come back stronger than before.

That 37 mile run is still going to happen. And that song still rings in my mind..." lock me up, that's what you'll have to do if you're gonna stop me from getting where I'm going to. Or try to keep the sun from coming up or the tide from rolling in now that I know what I'm capable of. Cause every time I wanted to stop I kept running and every time I hit a wall I climbed. I'm breaking the bands of my self limitations going go into line... going past the point, beyond the mark further than I ever thought I could, out of the dark into the light just like He always knew I could. And when heaven tells me I can I believe it."

It's not gonna happen

I've waited until the very last minute and it's been decided for me that I will not be running my birthday run. I've got a stress fracture in my left fibula. After being quite patient and waiting until it didn't hurt to hop on one foot, I took off for a run. Within 15 steps I could feel the pain coming back. So after waiting some more, I decided to have an x-ray taken to rule out a stress fracture. And if it came back with everything looking good, my plan was just to have it taped up and then go for it. However, even after a normal looking image, my doctor wanted me to have a bone scan just to make sure. And that image clearly showed it. So I will be stuffing my face with cake instead of getting my sweat on tomorrow. I am simply devastated.

Life goes on. I have so much to be grateful for. It's still a good day to be alive.

Vega Sport Performance Protein

A couple of months ago Vega Sport contacted me about trying out some of their product. It was great timing as I was getting into the thick of my training. I have really experimented with a lot of products in the past because of my sensitive stomach and have found some things that work for me and some definite things that do not. So I was curious about how my stomach would deal with this nutrition. After investigating the company a little I was more than excited. Though I am not a vegan or vegetarian, I completely believe in the power of plants and how essential they are for our bodies to work properly. I am always intrigued by superstar athletes like Brendan Brazier that manage to eat this way and thrive on it. The biggest thing that peaked my interest was the ability for the body to recover quicker and be ready for the next work out. With back to back long runs, I knew my body was going to get run down and needed good nutrition to be able to recover well.

The package arrived and was more than I was expecting.

There was a wide variety of products for each stage of activity. Prepare, sustain, and recover.

To be honest, I didn't try the prepare drink mix. Because of religious reasons I do not partake of tea or coffee and it included tea in the mix. I typically do not eat or drink a ton before a long run because of my stomach issues. But lately, I've been able to eat a bit of banana or even an apple in the mornings. And once I get going into the run, I am drinking and refueling well.

The sustain portion was the part I couldn't wait to try. There are 3 products. First the electrolyte drink mix that has no sugar or artificial sweeteners and antioxidant protection with 0 calories. I personally can not do Gatorade or Powerade or anything that has sugar in it. It irritates my stomach the more I drink it and the more the miles pass. I get sick of all the sugary taste in my mouth as well and long for real water. I enjoyed the drink mix. It was not sweet at all, in fact I found it refreshing and I had no cramping on the run. There was also a bar that I consumed that surprisingly didn't bother my stomach at all. I always worry about real food that won't be digested but this seemed to be just perfect. There is also a gel which I was not crazy about. The taste was not good but we've all just sucked down a gel before because we know it's we need it, right. Well, this one has a gritty, sand texture that was really hard to swallow. It's the only product that I didn't enjoy and haven't even had the guts to open the second flavor.

I have known for years the importance of refueling after a tough workout so that the body can repair itself and be ready for the next day. So I was pleased to find so many options to try. There were a couple of protein bars and they both tasted good. My favorite was the chocolate coconut. There is an aftertaste that seems to accompany all protein bars but it was minimal and the flavor made up for it. I also enjoyed the recovery accelerator drink mix. I really like that it not only has protein in it for muscle repairs but also has ingredients to suppress inflammation in the joints and muscles and supports the immune system. The performance protein drink was also really tasty. The thing that I really like about this was the included ingredient of glutamine. I usually take some glutamine after a hard workout and I like that it was already included.

My overall impression of the company and it's products is extremely positive. It's been researched and developed by someone who was looking to improve his own performance and then wants to help the average Joe or Jen improve their performance as well. It's a labor of love. I respect it.

Lastly, the company is sponsoring a HUGE sweepstakes coming up in January offering more than $30,000 in prizes. So be sure to go enter for your chance to win! Here's all the info!

Vega Sport Sweepstakes

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Sweepstakes Entry Period: January 3^rd - March 31, 2012

Enter @ www.vegasport.com/sweepstakes

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$5,000 in Vega Sport product

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Ten Runner Up Prizes

$1000 in Vega Sport products

Twenty Finalist Prizes

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Five Weekly Prizes (per week for 11 weeks)

1 Vega Sport product

Weekly prize winners will be announced weekly via social media!

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A Winner and a Baby!

It's been kind of crazy around here this week! Christmas programs and just Christmas stuff in general has been keeping me quite busy. Although with a kindergartener I am able to wrap things during the day. That has been nice. And also, my runner partner Heather had her baby last night 5 weeks early. Mom and baby are doing well. Go here to wish her congratulations!

Jerilee is the winner of the Zip Fizz! Congrats! I can't wait to hear how you like it! Shoot me an e-mail and I'll get it shipped out to you right away!

When I'm not running...

I bake. Oh, I've been to 5 spin classes, done full body weights 6 times, and yoga 6 times. But with all this free time I've found some new recipes and have been baking. And with Christmas right around the corner you would think that it would be sweet things too, but I'd almost rather eat this other stuff. Almost.

Herbed Focaccia Bread. I got to use my fresh rosemary plant for this one. I LOVE focaccia bread and will gladly pay the $3 a loaf at my local grocery store. But I was too lazy to go to the store and wanted to try to make it. Let's just say that I'll never be buying it again. This was SO yummy and really easy to make. I made some chicken salad to go with it. It didn't last long. I'll have to elaborate on that chicken salad some other time.

The next night I made homemade soft wrap bread.

We had chicken tacos with it and as you can see, there were plenty of leftovers for personal pizzas. I even froze a dozen of them for later. Again, delicious and easy to make.

I made Mel's chicken corn chowder tonight. It did not disappoint! I better be able to get to running again soon or else all this yummy food is going to catch up with me!

An Update and a Giveaway

First a quick update: I knew deep down that taking time off from running was really what I needed to get this ankle thing under control. However, it is hard to do that when you've been logging miles and it becomes a regular part of your day. Thank you so much for all your comments and encouragement and advice. For some reason I was having a really tough day and you all made it so much better. I am pleased to say that my ankle is doing so much better. I did jump squats yesterday and didn't feel it one bit. I still can't jog in place without some pain so I'm not going to run quite yet. But I am confident that it's going to heal in time for my run. Which by the way, is December 30th. If you are remotely close to the Northern Utah area and want to run part of my 37 miles with me, send me an email and we'll hook up.

Second: A giveaway! I was contacted by ZipFizz to try some of their drink mixes. It is a healthy alternative to sports and energy drinks.

I'm not a big caffeine drinker (I do have the occasional diet coke on the weekends) so the company has offered to give it to one of my readers. You will receive 6 different flavors and a nice water bottle along with a thumb drive with information on their product. Also, you must be a blogger who is willing to do a review on your blog after you've tried it out. Leave me a comment and I'll pick a winner on Thursday December 15th.

Training Update

I have nothing clever to say. I try not to write when I feel like this, but it's been far too long so maybe it will get better as I go. Training for this birthday run has been all sorts of things. It's been fun, tiring, challenging, inspiring, amazing, and lonely. I don't mean to be a Debbie Downer but in reality 24 miles with myself is a lot. I just plain run out of things to say to myself. I've gotten up at the wee hour of 5 for these long runs and they take me a while. I've done them on Mondays for two reasons. First: in order to do back to back long runs I can't do it on Saturday because I rest on Sundays. Second: there are some pretty fun races this time of year and they are all on Saturdays so I wanted them free so that I can do them. The problem with that kind of thinking is that by the time the weekend comes, I'm bushed. So I haven't really pushed myself during them and just physically can't and knowing that I have another long run coming in two days mentally makes it so that I just can't push it to the hurting point.

Winter is still my favorite running season though even if it has been bitterly cold here lately. What is the weather like where you live?

Winter seems to produce some incredible sunrises. And they don't last long.

Thanksgiving day was nice and so we went for a little mountain bike ride after dinner. It was muddy and hard. Just the thing I needed before stuffing my face with pie.

My dad, me and my hubby.

Me and Jodi right after the Turkey Trot. I ran it 1 minute faster than last year but 1 minute slower than I thought I would. I did come away with a pumpkin pie for 3rd place though.

I only have one more long run before the taper starts and I'm not sure I'm going to be able to do it. I've done the following runs the last couple of weeks: 18, 20, 22, 22, 24 miles all followed the next day by 10 mile runs. The second to the last 22 miler I felt SO good. I wanted to go further but kept myself reigned in. It was also my first 50 mile week ever. I was pretty excited. I stepped on the treadmill the next week to start my 24 miler and from the first step my ankle felt off. It didn't hurt, it just felt like it was tweaked. Well, with no other warning, I just kept going thinking it would work itself out. It did not. The 10 miler the next day was torture. It did hurt by then. Why I kept going I can not say. But I haven't run for almost a week now and it's getting better. I've been to see the chiropractor to make sure nothing was torn or broken and it looks good so now it's just the waiting game. I've been going to spin class as often as possible and lifting weights and doing yoga. I hope that if I can't do that 26 miler that things will still be o.k. for my birthday run. I'm trying to be patient but anyone who know's me knows that it's not my strong suite. However, I was very proud of myself because I was a very good girl and had my first DNS. It was only a 5K, but it's a fun one and I sat it out. I now have a really cute $20 pajama shirt. First race I've paid for and not run. Guess there's a first time for everything, right!

Tell me things will be o.k. for my run. (Lie if you have to!)

What is your favorite season in which to run?

What holiday plans do you have?

Garden Love

Now that there's snow on the ground I am really missing our garden. Not the weeding or the work, but the fresh tomatoes. Store bought ones just do not taste good. And we're a good 7-8 months away from that luxury again. My husband is the visionary in our house. He killed half our back lawn in order to put in a big garden. And while I was the skeptic, I love it just as much as he does. Our kids really enjoy it as well. Not so much the weeding, but all the great produce. And they like running up and down the rows playing games.

We had quite a few lover carrots this year. And even a three some. It was fun pulling them all out before it got real cold and seeing all the different sizes and shapes. We need to do better about thinning them next year.

I peeled them all, diced them, blanched them, and then froze them for the winter use.

We got 32 quart sized bags full. They're great to throw in soups or just to eat. And they taste so much better than store bought.

This picture does not really do justice to the size of this bowl. These were what were left over after making spaghetti sauce and salsa. I chopped them up as well and threw them in the freezer. They're great added to eggs or soups as well.

My awesome neighbor gave us some grapes last week for juicing.

He let me borrow one of his juicers so it went twice as fast!

There is nothing like fresh grape juice. My favorite after workout snack is grape juice mixed with 1/2 scoop vanilla protein powder. So good!

We also grew an abnormal amount of basil so I could make pesto sauce. It really doesn't take as much as I thought it would. And toasting and peeling pine nuts sucks.

But the efforts were so good on homemade pizza!

It was my husband's idea to get chickens as well a couple of years ago. It was so nice to be able to go out back and get breakfast.

Spaghetti sauce. I think we're stocked up for the winter.

My favorite way to eat tomatoes is bacon and tomato sandwiches. We grew a lot of different kinds of heirloom tomatoes as well. The yellow ones were so sweet!

And that sweet corn on the cob was delicious! Unfortunately we ate all of it and didn't get to freeze any this year!

Peaches from our tree

More spaghetti sauce. So good with lots of garlic and basil.

These little cherry tomatoes were better than candy. So sweet and everyone's favorite snack!

And beans. Truthfully, I let these go to waste more than I should have. If you keep picking them, they will keep growing. I let some go too long and the plants died at the end of the summer. Next year I will keep on top of them and try to freeze them once a week. We did eat a lot of them during the summer. I just didn't put much away for the winter.

And it's nice that the kids will help too.

Do you garden?

What is your favorite vegetable?