Hamburg, NY, along Lake Erie...

I sent my mom a text after my run this morning/early afternoon along Lake Erie, and she made the comment that with all the locations that I run, it might be super interesting to read about my runs in various places. I do tend to travel a fair amount, and in every place I go, I make a point to go on a run in the locality I am in. This particular trip has seen me running in Fruitland, WA; Dupont, WA; and now in Hamburg, NY. And this is one trip.

I think she has a point. I have been rather bad about actually keeping up with this blog. And besides... who really wants to read a long blog? ;)

So... I think that I shall not be overly ambitious and attempt to write about all the runs that I have had thus far in various areas of the country and world, but start from this point on, and see how it goes. In addition, I shall attempt to be brief in thoughts of running.

So. Today's run. :)

Frankly, coming from WA before this has me more than a bit spoiled, and also most recently hailing from the Midwest where there are tons and tons of trails.

I went for a short run in the neighborhood yesterday morning. Most of it consisted of on the street. But upon looking at a map, the friend I am staying with is about 6 miles inland of Lake Erie. So, in my looking upon a map last night and this morning, I found a place where I could park the car and attempt to find places to run up and down the shore.

Now, let me explain something about this particular city. It doesn't seem to be much of a running city. Very few sidewalks, and I have yet to find an actual trail in the nearby region, but the roads are wide enough to include an occasional pedestrian. Water sports seem to be a bit more popular, obviously, I suppose... I have been able to squeeze out a few miles, but running along highways is less than ideal, and so would my route take me if I had ran to and from Lake Erie... I may indeed love my long distances, but I do need to know the area before I set out to attempt much more than 5 miles.

And besides. I REALLY wanted to run along Erie... not just to and from it. ;)

So... my run along the beach. I went along the road for a bit, found a steep path down to the beach... ran until I came to some piled up rocks and slabs of cement... and traversed my way over those (kind of a fun interruption)... started running again as soon as I got to the beach... which was a combination of pebbles and sand, makes for some good ankle strengthening... and ran as far as the water and cliffs allowed... and turned around again... traversed a few more things on the way back... added in more beach as I could, but eventually had to go back up to the road.... added another beach... traversed a small stream and more rocks and logs... and eventually ran out of running space...

My total amount of running time amounted to about 30 minutes. So... less than I prefer, but I got it in.
Lake Erie is beautiful and in my run I saw some shiny shells and smoothed glass...

(a picture of the cliffs taken from my phone.)

A lot of the cliffs were this sort of packed shale, so unclimbable for the most part. I got in the couple of hills going up and down to the beach, but not a lot of hills. Today's run gets 3 stars. 3 stars out of 5 because it was pretty, but in some ways, less than I had hoped for. Interesting, but I like more mileage. :)

The general atmosphere around here is rather interesting. People are pretty friendly, but it doesn't always feel safe. The houses are gorgeous, and there really aren't so many hills I have come across, but there is a pleasant livable-ness about this place... A farmer's market is down the street from my friend's house, and her neighbors are super friendly and helpful... like neighbors should be. The area is saturated with a sort of quiet historical awareness... pictures of older times in a Walgreen's window, and the houses having an incredible classic feel. But the area is quickly losing population, according to the last census in the area... thus this odd feeling of ghost town at times... and at times a run down appearance from the outside, and a good thing on the inside of stores.

Lots of gardens, and a warm summer, but more temperate than how it has been this summer in MN.

Overall, it is nice being here, but my sights are still set West Coast in the next few years, I hope and pray. But for now, Tuesday will send me home to MN and trails and smaller lakes in the Twin Cities area. The beaches are quite nice here along Lake Erie and only lack the salty ocean smell to fool a person for a moment of a calm bay by the sea.

It was tank top and running shorts weather... I work my Nike running shorts, my Asics top, Mizuno running shoes and Smartwool running socks. (Links are to a newer version in some cases of my current attire. The running shoes are current, as of the date of the posting of this blog.)

motivation

So... sometimes the winter is just HARD to run. Whether it's snow drifts, or ice, or blustery horrible wind conditions, MUCH darker days... Sometime my motivation is lacking.

Do you feel unmotivated? I'll give you a "little" hint of wonderful motivation:

I took this photo of Quinn, who is technically my brother's dog, on a 3 mile evening run tonight. The run itself took much longer than a usual 3 mile run would take. And that, if you choose to get a dog, is something to keep in mind... runs and times are and will be different. :) But a dog is a great companion. There are all sorts of articles out there about the best type of dog to get for your running style.

So if you need a little winter motivation... think about a dog... they make runs so fun. :)

random breathing tips

I've been asked about breathing techniques lately, and also about things like coughing after a run and how to get rid of a cough that doesn't seem to go away.  Anyway, I thought I'd share a bit of what I've learned here... from my own unique perspective. (Runner, vocalist, [amateur] herbalist, outdoor enthusiast, etc.)

Let's start with this evening.  My brother very kindly accompanied me on my 5 mile run this evening.  He's not used to running a lot, and not particularly in the snow or cold.  It wasn't terribly cold--high 20's, perhaps--and it had snowed a bit last night, so personally, I really like these kind of runs. 

As a random side fact, I find that my evening runs tend to be a bit slower.  Not sure always why.  Sometimes I think perhaps because I'm tired from the day.  I do so enjoy the company in evening runs particularly!

Sean was having a harder time breathing off and on during the run in getting the right breath.  He said he felt like he was sort of almost having asthma or something.  It's fairly common for a lot of people to have this happen when breathing harder outside--particularly in the winter for some.  What I told Sean to focus on is his breathing out.

Because you are automatically going to breath in. You just will.  It's the focusing on breathing out evenly that help the breathing in even out as well.  And try to stand up a little straighter, and don't be always looking down.  Sometimes that's a little harder in the winter when the ground is uneven and mushy or icy (or all of that).  But try to look up a bit more.

And now the breathing AFTER the run.

I was asked this recently (and I actually get asked it quite frequently), and the question usually goes something like this, "whenever I return from running--no matter what the temperature is out--I cough like a smoker, and it is really annoying.  Do you know any remedies?"

And my answer is YES!

I have dealt with it in the past--affects me randomly.  What has worked best for me time and again to help with the coughing is Wild Cherry/Petasites Compound by HerbPharm.  I'm not a medical doctor, but what I do is take a rather large spoonful of LOCAL, raw honey, a dose of the Compound on the spoon and swallow.  I'll take up to 2-3 servings if I need to within an hour, but I never have needed more than that for the cough to go away.  It is soothing and warming usually.  I like it.

Staying hydrated is really important, too.  The source of the cough can be a combination of things.  My thought is that if you're breathing in really harshly with a lot toward the throat instead of a deep lung focus, whatever is in the air--mold, pollen, ice, moisture, dust, etc.--can hit the back of your throat and lungs.  Then when you stop and your body's primary focus is no longer just the intake of oxygen, there can be some muscle spasms in the throat that may have been meaning to happen all along.  It can be exacerbated if you are even somewhat prone to any respiratory things--allergies, colds, asthma, various versions between, etc.  So...  Focusing on your breath may help, too.  Also, a simple extra dehydration and dry air and depletion of minerals make it more likely.  Try to breath evenly, drink plenty of good fluids, eat your greens (haha) [minerals], and have the compound and honey ready after the run to help soothe if this is a habit.

Ooh, and look into allergies.  There's lots of good tips on helping to naturally cope with allergies.  Hydration being one of the key things.

And, if it's an oxygen intake level, try using something to help oxygenate your blood, or help your blood respond better.  Sound weird?  Wanna know more?  Just let me know!

Hope your breathing comes back to you!

P.S.  At this point in my blogging, NO ONE pays me to promote anything.  This is just me talking about what has worked for me, and what I like.  Ta da!

California runs, and other inspiration while traveling...

Well, now that it's almost a month after my trip to California, and I've been doing a bunch of other things, I thought it was high time I wrote some about my trip out to California... from a running perspective!

I was quite inspired by my friend, Ingrid, who wrote a fantastic blog about her running experience.  She is amazing and continually inspires me.

As a quick side note, Kara Goucher has really been so awesome lately.  I love how her priorities are just so... incredible.  What a great way to look at being both a mom and a runner.  And what a runner she is!

And while I will never be a Kara, I do still love my runs.

About a month ago, I took a long weekend trip out to California.  (Check out some photos from the trip and other info, on my blog page here.)  I didn't run the first morning I got there, but instead got ready for the day a bit to go skiing with my cousin up at China Peak.  The drive up was beautiful, and up there, too, it was a gorgeous day, and we got in a half day of good skiing... with only a couple of falls on my end.  I like downhill skiing, and sometimes doing things other than running really can be quite good for the body.  I always notice in winter than my hips and knees and ankles get a lot stronger from the factor of ice to run and play on... and my core.  Love it!  That constant re-balancing factor!

Ooh!  And on the way down the mountain, definitely saw an amazing sunset!  Loved that I even went to California... to ski?  Haha... ironic, especially considering the crazy snowstorm Minnesota got that weekend.

The next morning, though, I did go for a run.  I was in the San Joaquin Valley, and it was not exactly cold (50's?).  I didn't go for a long run, and I found the air kind of... "heavy"?  I have heard that there is a greater pressure from gravity the closer one gets to sea level, not to mention a bit of fog.  Kind of fun, but I actually sort of preferred the idea of a decent MN winter run.  (For that one, at least.)

From there I went to the central coast foothills, where more family lives.  Early on the 3rd morning of my trip, my cousin and I got up, and went for a run.  I absolutely loved that run... Hills, fog, and my cousin (who is rather like a sister)... made for such a fun run!  Pretty much perfect!  Coastal hills, fresh air, comfortable temps (40's when we started), and I could definitely see myself kicking it hard and pushing it quite readily if I was living there.  We only we 4-5 miles (I can't remember exactly right now), but definitely a great run.  We were off to church after breakfast and showering...  You know how awesome it is to share a great breakfast with family after running together?  Good conversation, run, church... and then, even better!  We went to the ocean that afternoon...!

Where... we taught ourselves how to surf with a body board.  Not standing yet, but that will come on another trip or two, I'm sure!  We couldn't have asked for better weather!  80's, crazy cold water (full-body wet-suits a MUST), sunlight... perfect day.  We hung out at the beach, walked around in Pismo, stopped and saw the monarch butterflies on their trip south, and stayed in the waves until our feet were stiff and almost painful from the cold.  Had a fantastic supper, watched the sun set... felt the sand in our toes, and salt water in our hair... water, sunlight, sea salt, fading light, and crashing waves.  Yes.  Mmmm.  Surfing is a fantastic feeling, a great alternate to running, eh?  And if I lived on the beach, I would probably run the sand, too, like I saw a few people doing.  Glorious day.

Definitely decided that there is something about the rhythm of the ocean and waves that sets into a person, calms them.  And so, I fell in love a bit more with surfing and the ocean than I even had before, when I was growing up in California.  (I had body surfed, just no board ever.)

By this point, I was getting definitely tired from all the activity.  I didn't really push myself to complete exhaustion in anything--I was out to enjoy myself, and I definitely was enjoying myself!

On the 4th morning, I got online on my phone to check the weather in MN.  Still in bed, tired, and debating about whether or not I really wanted to get up and go for a run by myself before getting on the road to head back to the airport to fly home... I thought perhaps the Minnesota weather would potentially motivate me.

It did.

It was negative something degrees.

So, I pretty much flew out of bed, pushed myself a bit faster and harder for a short run, and was SO VERY GLAD that I did.

I did make it back to Minnesota... with a sigh remembering temperate running conditions, but a bit excited to attempt some runs on the crazy snow that happened while I was away.

And that... friends, is a bit of my lovely trip to California.

I'll write again soon to tell you about something else I've discovered this winter!  And that... is running with snowshoes!  :)

Hey!

Hey guys! thanks for letting me join this blog! I think it's pretty cool that runners are such community driven people :) First of all though I should set the record straight- I've only done one triathlon, but the second is scheduled for july 2011! By way of introduction I wanted to share a little bit about why I run and there's a segment from my journal that just about sums it up. It's kinda long but it's really all you need to know about me and running :)

Dad was a runner. When I'm afraid I'm forgetting him, I remember that. I don't know if he was fast or slow, or if he ran in college. I don't know how many miles he did every day or if he ever thought he might want to do a marathon. I wasn't a runner then, so I didn't know to ask. We ran a jungle bell jaunt together when I was three. The only race I would ever run with dad. We tied jingle bells to our shoes and hats and ran for not very long. At some point dad put me on his shoulders and I remember a sea of runners and a deafening symphony of jingle bells.

He ran every day until he got sick. I don't know when that started. Maybe before I was born. He'd put on embarrassingly short purple (why purple?) shorts, and a large race T-shirt that made it look like he hadn't put on the shorts, and he'd run. I went with him once, on my bicycle. I couldn't have been older than nine. By the end, he had to push me by the seat of the bicycle so I could keep up.

My memory fades and is replaced by dreams. The words "cancer" and "chemo" and "the chances are good" weave themselves through patchy sketches in a teenage mind of a sick father I didn't want to think about. A skeleton that lived on the couch and didn't talk like dad. I was afraid of him and afraid of losing him. I went about life as if he wasn't dying, and when he did, I felt like I'd woken up from a dream I couldn’t quite remember, to a life without a dad.

I ran a little before he died, but only a few miles, and I didn't do any real races until the 5k a couple months after he died. Even then I didn't run regularly until college and work forced me to quit dance freshman year. It started slowly, in the gym on the elliptical, until I discovered I could run three miles without stopping, and then 6, and then that I could keep up with the boys who ran distance in high school. I started to cling to it, but I didn't know why until the first time.

The first time I felt him was my freshman year of college. I decided to run with a friend and her uncle, Bill, and the running group he went to. She got tired and had to stop after the first mile. I wanted to keep going. I turned back so she wouldn't be alone, but I watched Bill get smaller in the distance, and felt that he knew more about dad then I ever would. I felt as if dad was running away from me to keep up with his friends in the desert. It was a strange, haunting sensation that I tried to ignore.

Three years later I decided to run the Las Vegas Marathon on a whim. I didn't do it for dad or because I thought maybe he'd wanted to do a marathon, just because I was bored and I wanted to stay in shape. During training I savored the words of the "coach", did what he said, and ran with a man through most of the training that was only a few years younger than my father. I was one of only two women in the group and by far the youngest member. I noticed that all of the men of the group treated me like a daughter or a sister if they were young enough, and I loved them for it. They were there for me, unknowingly, through a breakup, the hardest semester in college, and the most friend-less time of my life. They gave me some of the best advice I've ever known. "Look to the horizon mija" Jose told me one day, "never at your feet." At times that's all I need to keep going now.

Finally the marathon came, and around mile 24, I was alone, in pain, and nearly crying, willing my legs to keep moving. Somewhere down the stretch of arid highway I began to feel like something was pushing me, not forward, but up, like a mother dolphin pushes her new baby toward the air. Suddenly I felt protected and at peace. That was the second time.

A year later I was attempting to keep up my training in a new state, new house, new job, new husband, new life that was beginning to take its toll on me. I was bored, frustrated, and feeling trapped by the snow and dismal days that hung around the month of January in Minnesota. Driving home from a kick-boxing class I signed up for when I realized running in negative degree weather is nearly impossible, I decided what I needed was a coach. I could run faster maybe if someone were pushing me. I’d always done better with outside motivation. Unbidden a vision came upon me. I was sprinting down the long stretch of a track I knew well- a track outside the nearest high school to our old house in Vegas. My father leaned over the chain-link fence with a stop watch in hand, baseball cap pulled low over his dark curly hair. In the car I felt the dry breeze in my lungs and the sweat gathering at my hairline. I saw his finger press the button to mark the lap time, my toes dug in to make the corner and red dirt slipped beneath my shoes. He was younger than any of my real memories. He looked like the pictures my mother had showed me of when they were dating, well muscled, smiling, no hint of cancer. With my next breath I was back in my car sobbing so hard the green-light swam in front of me. The crunch of the snow beneath my tires reminded me how far I was from home.

The running groups in Minnesota are not the all-inclusive bunches that inhabit Las Vegas. Most of the runners are Boston qualifiers, and while they are genuinely nice people, if you aren’t a qualifier, their conversation topics are limited. Running with them is much like training alone, and the few friends I’ve made in these groups have either dropped out due to injury or become qualifiers themselves. I run with them faithfully though. I’m afraid that if don’t run with them I may stop altogether, and then, I’m fairly certain, my moments of remembering would also cease.

The most recent time was at Grandma’s marathon. Again I ran alone. As I crossed the finish line, tired and irritated that my time was 3 minutes slower than I was hoping for, a man placed a hypothermia blanket around my shoulders and a ticket for free beer in my hand. “Brewskies!” Dad’s voice rang in my ears. Behind my eyes I could see him jogging happily to the free-beer tent in his 80’s style short shorts and old race T-shirt. His old white Saucony shoes padded heavily on the pavement. I stood rooted to the ground feeling breathless, and the world spinning beneath me. The image disappeared.

Each time he gets less clear. Each vision is more faded, like the photograph I keep in my pocket. So I run, and hope that maybe this time, maybe today, Dad will speak or run or simply be there next to me, if only for another second.

And an introduction to Meredith!!!

Guess what?

We get another runner/writer!

I am so excited again!

First off, I have to say that I love this.  I am currently in California on my second-cousin's computer.  She is a runner, too, and so, of course, we've talked about it a bit already.  But  oh!  Getting distracted!  I need to introduce you to Meredith!

I met Meredith through my friend Gina, but also when I was doing her wedding photos!

As a runner, she is a POWER woman!  Seriously amazes me.  She pushes like none other, and I ran with here a few months ago quite a good distance.  I actually talked about that run here.

Seriously, though, I can hardly say enough about Meredith.  She is wildly inspiring and will push like no one I've ever met.  She has done more races than I even know about, but I know they include several marathons and triathlons!  I am so excited to have her a part of the team!  Watch for more lovely posts from some amazing women!

Let's welcome Meredith onto the team!

You Know You're a Runner When...

First of all thank you, Amber, for letting me contribute to this blog. Secondly, I sort of apologize for what I'm about to post. I know it's cheesy, but, I think it's sort of fun as well.

You know you're a runner when...
- you have more running clothes than regular clothes in your laundry pile.
- you've lost a toenail. And you tell people, "It's not that bad."
- you smirk when non-runners ask you, "So how long is this marathon?"
- you go into Starbucks more often to use the bathroom than to actually buy coffee.
 - you no longer make fun of fanny packs because your running belt looks very similar (although cooler) to one.
- you have dreams about showing up to a race late or not wearing any clothes.
- you're not embarrassed to wear spandex.
- you're always hungry.
- you know how to take a cup of water from a water stop without choking on it or spilling it all over yourself.
- at least one of your web site usernames or email addresses has the word "run" or "runner" in it.
- you know where your illiotibial band is located.
- you no longer hate port-a-johns. In fact, there have been times when you've been very happy to see one. 
- you wear your running watch even when you're not running. ("It matches, right?")
- you know where exactly one mile from your front door is (in any direction).
- you own more pairs of running socks than dress socks.
- your holiday wish list can be fulfilled at any running or sporting goods store.
- your Facebook or Twitter updates frequently involve running. 
- your running partners know more about your bodily functions than your significant other.
- you get jealous when you're driving in your car and pass runners.

You can find the longer list here. Hope you enjoyed them!