Running in the Rockies AKA Tortoise Training

Yay, Spring is finally here!  I’ve been running on the treadmill all winter, and it can get kind of boring.  The weather had been nice all week and so I decided that last Friday I was going to do my eight mile “long run” outside.  Imagine my amazement when I opened the blinds on Friday morning to two inches of snow! 

I just couldn’t face eight miles on the treadmill; I was starting to feel like a mouse on an exercise wheel going aimlessly around and around, and not getting anywhere.  Plus, I had too much fun the night before (St. Patrick’s Day) to even think about going around and around and around.... you get the picture.  The Irish do know how to have fun – just sayin’. 

No matter, I put my run off until Sunday and it worked out great!  The weather was in the forties with clear blue skies and some high clouds.  Eight miles seemed incredibly a little daunting to me.  I knew it would take me two hours and I just didn’t know if I could run for two whole hours!  Oh, and let me just mention that we live in the mountains and there are hills outside!  Something you don’t get on the treadmill – unless you set the incline, which I would never actually do on purpose, lol.  Needless to say, I was working muscles on my backside that may never be the same.  I’m walking kind of funny now, like a corn cob is stuck somewhere it shouldn’t ought to be, but I just have to trust that someday I’ll be normal again. 

Here’s my tortoise training update!  I began training for the San Diego Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon in January running 3, 3, and 4 (Three miles twice per week and four miles once per week for a total of 10 miles per week).  Now at the end of March I’m at 4, 4, and 8!  That’s not bad considering my “long run” was only four miles last year. 

And since I couldn’t possibly post a Run Gwen, Run! blog without poking a little more fun at myself, here’s a true story:  I was laying in bed the other morning, trying to wake up, my hand on my stomach.  I patted my tummy a little and thought, Huh!  My stomach is feeling a little flatter these days!  And then I shifted a little and realized that I was sort of laying on my side – and Crap!  The rest of my stomach was still there, only it was laying there on the downside.  Damn gravity! 

The "Long Run"



My personal track



I keep hearing the term “Long Run” come up.  I did a little research to see how long a “long run” actually is, and from what I can tell, it’s anywhere between 10 – 15 miles all at the same time, consecutively.  No, really!  This may sound funny, but my “long run” is three miles, so there is an obvious discrepancy here!  My daughter calls it the “easy three.”  Well, not for me, smartypants! 

We live at the end of our street on a cul-de-sac.  Our house is the only one on our street, by the way.  And since my husband has a bad back and can’t run, I guess you could say that I’m the fastest kid runner on my block!  Oh, yeah!!!  Of the two-legged kind, anyway.  Let me say that my husband is my biggest athletic supporter (← oops) fan.  We live in the mountains and my paranoid over-protective husband doesn’t want me to run outside alone without protection from mountain lions and bears.  And believe me, I’m easy prey because I’m not about to outrun anything!  Even after 22 years of marriage, my husband still sort of likes me.  So he sits on a stump with his shotgun halfway up our street, while I run up and down eleven times, or approximately three miles.  Of course, the dogs have a great time running up and down too, blasting by me and showing off, looking over their shoulders with their tongues flapping out of the sides of their mouth and telling me to hurry up.  Impudent little mutts! 

Well, I’m all about comfort, and that’s how I ended up this way, but that’s another story and beside the point.  Back to Comfort.  My husband takes the card table and sets it at the top of our driveway on the side of the road, in the shade, and I set up my own Watering Station, so that every loop of the street that I take, I can stop and refresh myself.  And I really need it too, because our street is on a steady incline!  Both Ways! So I run almost up to the top, have a short little breather, and run back down the hill, toward the Water Station.  Basically, I have my own personal track, which is pretty awesome.  And at this time of year, our street is gorgeous! 

Here is what I have at my Water Station:

·         Bottled water (I like Dasani)

·         Iced green tea in a Rubbermaid container with lots of ice (and a bendy straw)J

·         Squirt bottle with cold water (ahhhh, feels so good)

·         Box of Kleenex

·         Chapstick (I like spearmint or mango)

·         Peppermint sports inhaler (they say mint is motivational, and I need all the help I can get!  BTW, it’s only peppermint oil)

·         Mints

·         Bear Spray (in case the shotgun doesn’t work)

·         Pocket notepad and pen (to mark down my laps, because I’m totally capable of losing where I’m at in the process)

·         Handheld tape recorder (because I think of the damndest things while I’m running, but my memory sucks, and if I don’t note it down, I’ll forget.  I may run like an elephant, but I don’t have the memory of one)

Now, my Watering Hole is at home, so I don’t need to bring everything and the kitchen sink.  But if I ever get past a three mile long run and have to run elsewhere, I’d bring other things such as ice packs, snacks, BandAids, Sunbrella and sun screen. 

I’m just saying….the more comfortable you are, the less you’ll mind running.