Even though low temperatures are hovering around zero this week, the longer days and daytime highs of close to thirty are giving me spring fever. Thoughts of riding my bike outside and long runs in shorts are constantly popping into my head. Since my marathon is so late in the season, this seems like the perfect time to experiment and try new things.

Yesterday, I ran 10 miles and decided to try something new for me. Natalie said it was one of her favorite things, and Helen has mentioned it in her race reports. It is:

These are tablets that dissolve quickly in plain water and, shazam, you have “a light refreshing electrolyte drink without all the sugars”. Ya, I stole that right from their website. What I get out of that is that it has the electrolytes of a sport drink without any energy. I am trying out the tri-berry flavor right now and I love it. It adds just a little bit of flavor to my water. I thought it was great for a longish run like 10 miles. The workout wasn’t so long that I felt low on energy, but I was sweating and the nuun satisfied my thirst. I’m going to keep using the nuun with water instead of my usual G2, and for longer runs I’ll use it with GU’s for energy.

I’m also tinkering around with my bike set up. I love my bike and I felt like it fit me well last season. Two problem areas, however, were my pedals and my seat. I was using the SPD clips and my pedals could only be clipped on one side. I was constantly frustrated as I had to get my pedal flipped to the correct side before I could clip in. My seat was okay but not the most comfortable on the “sensitive”  areas, if you know what I mean. I now have Speedplay pedals and a new “female friendly” seat, both of which  I tried out for the first time today on the trainer. I had to keep getting off the bike to adjust the seat and to figure out why my shoe was making an annoying clicking noise. It was driving me crazy! I won’t bore you with the details, but basically there is a wad of toilet paper in the bottom of my shoe that seems to have solved the problem for now. I didn’t ride enough to asses the seat comfort, but now that everything is adjusted, hopefully next time I can ride longer to know if it is going to work for me. I have been avoiding the bike trainer all winter, so it was an accomplishment just to get the bike loaded up and to give it a try.

I’m hoping to be working on my swimming, too. I requested a couple books from the library. Unfortunately, I’m not the only one thinking about swimming so there is a wait list. In the meantime, I’ll amuse myself by futzing around with my bike and drinking my nuun.

Thanks to everyone for switching over to my new web page. Yesterday was the deadline to enter the drawing for the book 50/50: Secrets I Learned Running 50 Marathons in 50 Days — and How You Too Can Achieve Super Endurance!  by Dean Karnazes. I put all of the  names into a bowl:

I closed my eyes and pulled out a slip of paper:

Mark T is the winner! Mark writes a blog over at Thompson Training Journal. He is a super speedy swimmer who started running last year and is signed up for the Stillwater Half Marathon in May. Congratulations, Mark! I will catch up with you and mail you your book so that YOU, TOO, can have super endurance!

I was getting some really good runs in last week in the ice and snow thanks to my “Get a Grips.”

I’ve had them for a while but, to be honest, I was a little leery of trying them. They have little carbide pegs that come out, and I was worried that if I ran a route that wasn’t totally snow covered that it would be hard to run on the pavement. Silly me! These things are awesome! I should have been using them since the moment I bought them. Other than making a little noise, I don’t notice them at all when I run on the pavement. Best of all, it is wonderful to run on the packed snow and ice and not lose a little grip with every step. I also ran in them in 3 or 4 inches of snow and they were great. So, thanks to the Get-A-Grip, the snow didn’t frustrate me quite as much.

I ran on Thursday, lifted on Friday, and did something the rest of the weekend that I’ll tell you about in a second. I had planned 8 to 10 miles on Sunday, BUT I have a cold in my chest and decided I better not run. Every year around this time, I get a chest cold. Usually I am training for something, so I go ahead and run anyway. I’ve had pneumonia twice and bronchitis more times than I can count. Is it because I kept running while I was sick? I don’t know, but I’m tired of it. I’m not training for anything big right now, so I’m taking a few days off. Will I still get something terrible? Probably, but I’m going to give the rest thing a try and keep my fingers crossed.

So what did I do the rest of the weekend? Mike, the kids and I took a scuba diving class! We are going to Aruba this spring, so we thought it would be fun to get scuba certified while we were there. We took the class room and pool portions here this weekend, and now when we go on vacation we are ready for our open water dives. Here we are after completing all of our pool training:

Katy is my “buddy”, so here we are underwater.

It was very fun and it was great to do something with the whole family. It’s also great to look forward to some warm weather actitity! For now, I’m hoping to kick this cold to the curb in the next day or two so that I can get back to running in the ice and snow.

I can’t count. It’s true. I went to a top business school, graduated with an accounting degree, passed the CPA exam, and worked some tough audit and finance jobs. Yet, despite all that, I am unable to count past three. Well, I take that back. I can count past three as long as I am dry. As soon as I hit the pool, my counting skills swim away.

As everyone knows, swimming laps in the pool is monotonous. After the first couple of laps, I totally loose count of what lap I’m on. I used to use the big clock at the end of the pool to keep track. It takes me just over a minute to swim 50 yards, so keeping track on the clock tells me how many laps I’ve done. After a while though, foggy goggles make the clock hard to see. Having to spot the clock as I’m trying to make a fairly quick turn is also a challenge sometimes.

This SportCount watch is pretty nifty, and I’ve been loving it since I got it for the holidays. As the picture shows (no, that is not my hand!), you wear it on your finger and hit the button with your thumb. This is so much better than wearing a wrist watch because you don’t have to cross your arm over to slap it. Since it’s made specifically for lap counting and timing only and not telling time of day, it’s very simple and easy to use. It counts your laps and displays your lap time. At the end, it gives you your average lap time, fastest lap, slowest lap, and you can review each individual lap.

Now, if I could just get a device that tells me how many laps are in a 800 yd set. After warming up and doing a couple of sets of 400 yds, I was supposed to do an 800 yd set. Somehow, I convinced myself that it was 32 laps. After 16, I decided to quit and felt terrible that I wimped out. When I came home and told Mike, he nicely informed me that 16 laps was 800 yards. I was feeling guilty for nothing!

I love running in my running tights. Yes, I know that most of my posts have a picture to accompany the text. You are not getting a picture of me in my tights. I said, “I love running in my running tights.” I did not say, “I want you to see what my butt looks like in my running tights.”

Yesterday I had to go 13 miles for my marathon training. By the time a friend arrived to gut it out with me, it was 11:00. The sun was shining, but it was still only 5 degrees and it was pretty windy. I’m not very good at deviating from my schedule, so if it says 13 miles, by golly*, that is what I’m doing. Should I wait until the next day when it will be 20 degrees warmer? Heck*, no! Actually, I do have other things to do in my life than run (hard to believe) and my schedule was jam packed today. After the crappy* run on the treadmill last week, I was determined to go outside no matter what.

I know people make fun of runners in tights. You know what? I don’t care. When I’m shuffling my sorry-self around the block for over 2 hours, I only care about a two things: (1) how much pain am I in, and (b) am I too hot or too cold. That’s it. If you have to see a little jiggling or don’t care for the curve of my bum*, then too bad for you.

My Under Armor Cold Weather tights always keep me just the right temperature. I’ve run in them from 35 degrees all the way down to zero. I never get too hot or too cold. As long as I keep moving, my lower half is always just right.

Tights also prevent any chaffing issues. I know, it’s something that non-runners would be too embarrassed to talk about. Runners will tell you with no hesitation that a hot spot from a chaffing pair of shorts or a top is sheer torture. I have a scar on my leg from a pair of shorts that rubbed me raw. Runners of all shapes and sizes get hot spots, so stop blaming me for excess rubbing. I’m just your regular sized person who, because she is so slow, gets to spend extra time on her runs and therefore tends to generate a little extra friction.

If you are not a running tight fan, I say give them a try. You may feel a little self conscious at first, but let’s face it: you can’t see your own butt while you’re running anyway. Everyone else can just avert their eyes if they don’t like the view. Try going a few miles in those warm, toasty leggings and you may just find yourself a running tight convert.

*In everyday life, I have no problem cursing like a sailor. Seeing as how this is a public forum and that my kids may read this, I have used expletives that are G-rated.

Oh, Soyjoy, my feelings about you are so conflicted. You have just the right amount of calories mixed with a little protein making you the perfect afternoon snack. If only you didn’t taste like cardboard. I try to love you, whispering positive sweet encouragement as I open your wrapper. But then you reveal your true, dry, tasteless self. The problem is… I just can’t quit you Soyjoy. You go on sale at Target and tempt me with your claims of my insides smiling. Nowhere on your box or advertising do you claim to be delicious. You are not a poser, pretending to be a cookie. No, you are upfront with your no nonsense, wholesome goodness. The worst part is… I actually feel a lot better after eating you. I feel energetic and don’t have the sugary crash that your sweet cousin the Fig Newton gives me. I don’t want to admit it but, Soyjoy, you are worth the sacrifice. Yes, you are still too expensive at full price, but I promise to stock up on you when you go on sale.