Helping a brother out!

"A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart and can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words."

Apple CRISP...Sun Shining..Crisp Winter Run!

Ahh, green tea and the smooth tunes of Childish Gambino, Redbone ringing in my ears.
Music loud enough to hear nothing and feel everything.
The tea hot but not enough to burn and sweet enough to calm any circulating thoughts.
Such a happy place to recount my morning trail run.

A friend of mine was planning a 32 mile training run today. Waiting to hear their plans I held off to see if they wanted some company.
When I got the OK, I sent out a bunch of calls, messages and texts.

Luke 6:31 And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.

I have ran 32 miles and I have had friends jump in making almost every mile enjoyable.
Running 6-8 hours solo...Ohh I have done this too. Its so painful mentally and physically.

I have been blessed with some amazing friends. Sometimes I look at the awesomeness in my crew and don't understand why God has blessed me so much. I can hear the words my enemies have said about me. They leave me confused. I begin to believe them. I fight them. I try to remove them but they haunt me. Words Haunt, hurt, disable you, especially when they come from those you love and you think should LOVE you.
BUT THEN....God gives you affirmation through friendships that are strong. He reminds you, sometimes its a whisper and sometimes its a roar.

Today when 4 girlfriends, running partners, showed up to help a fellow runner run their long run I so fell in love with my crew.
Because it was 19 degrees, but felt like 9'. There was 2 inches of snow on the trail and still snowing.

We ran at Holly Rec. The trail is a 6 mile loop if you come back to the car. We came back to the car a few times. We picked more girls and dropped some off.

Everyone was full smiles. We ran a easy pace allowing everyone to stay together. I trailed in the back, my favorite place.

Ahh....OH Wonder..."Without you"...in my ears...Such a great song...Ahh

Squirrel...Sorry

I never really got cold. I was doubled layered, we all were. The trails were so romantic. Soft white snow laid gently across the tree limbs. The ground glistened pure and white. The woods were in full glory.

I only ran 2 loops, about 11 miles. My calves were burning from my run with Lacey Sunday.
I had 29 miles in 2 days.

Sundays Long run, Lacey and Holly

Claudia, Erin and I ducked out together. These girls, LOVE them. I am looking forward to my summer trail runs with them. 
Kris and Rachel held strong on the trails. Those girls are tough as nails.

But all good things come to an end.. the run ended, the smiles remain.

And now the tea is gone and I am ready to close it up too.

People say best friends are hard to find -- that's because the best is already mine!

- Unknown

Anita~~

Cant walk and chew gum!

Galatians 6:9

"And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart."

A week overdue. A week less of my ramblings.
We are merging into week 11 of marathon training.

WHY is this training any different than all the other marathons?

BECAUSE I am older, busier, sorer, and whinier!
Because I love Lacey and I so badly want her to get to BOSTON. This being said, being her running partner we are in this together.

I have morphed into trail running.
This whole pavement pounding, road running cocktailed with track workouts.. stinks.

Glass City Marathon is APRIL 23, SUNDAY. I have yet to have a training run that I feel secure in.

March 2
Holdridge: Trails
Run with Kris
8 miles
Pushing snow and fallen trees

March 5
Bicentennial Park, Grand Blanc: Pavement
Run with Holly and Lacey
17.2 miles
9:03 min/mi
Windy Whinefest

March 6
Holly Rec: Trails
Run with Lacey, Paula and Matt
10.2 miles
SURPRISE! Lacey, at last minute told me she could ran with me on this Monday. We joined Matt and his wife on the trails. Lacey does NOT run trails, but she loves me and actually suggested running trails.

March 8
GAC: Treadmill
Run with Jeff
7.25
1 mile w/u 6x800m repeats w/400m recovery, easy jog. 1.5 easy
Track-1 miles easy with 3 strides.

Today..Was the suffering on the TM next to Jeff. Every time I hit another repeat I threw my hand up with the number I just completed with overwhelming excitement. "Just knocked off another one!" Jeff couldn't hear anything I was saying, he was trying to drown out his own suffering with music.

We were both a mess when we finished. Kay, a coaching partner of mine was texting me on the TM. When she realized I was responding during my run she text me "OMG, wth. Your gonna break your neck. You can't walk and chew gum at the same time."
Do you know how hard it is to laugh and do speed work on a TM?
During my recovery I sent her selfies. This about tipped her over the edge.

KAY was SO Correct...
I finished my run, even got my core work in. But only because I had Jeff keeping an eye on me.
The rest of the day...TOTAL Mental catastrophe. Nothing fired properly after leaving the gym.
I couldn't walk and chew gum no matter how hard I tried.
AIRHEAD MOVES:

1. Meeting mom and maw maw at the Green Apple at 9:45..Arrived..but without much makeup, I LOST IT!
2. Maw maw wanted to go to Big lots after breakfast. I sat in the parking lot of KMART for 10 minutes looking for them!
3. After discovering my error I heading up Dixie Hwy to Big LOTS...PASSING it. I didn't even know I passed it until I was in Clarkston on the other side of Waterford Hill.
4. My girlfriend needed her hair done this afternoon. As I headed out to her house, I drove RIGHT pass her complex. AGAIN!
5. At Terri's house I began emptying my bag with her goodies in it. I had just spoke to that HOUR as I was at the store. "Terri, do you need me to get you anything?" She asked me to pick her up some Shampoo...NO Shampoo in the BAG. I forgot to purchase it.

NOT DONE YET...

At this point I should just barricaded my self in a little white room with padded walls. I SHOULD NOT have been doing HAIR. But we had some very tragic circumstances this week and it HAD to happen. As I was spraying Terri/s hair down, I smelled something very strong. I just used the water bottle she had sitting on the table. "ANITA, That is alcohol in that bottle!"  AHHHHH! I had just sprayed half her head with it!

One thing after another. Everyday has been crazy. From the moment I left the gym my brain never fired right again. Its a good thing I wasn't CHEWING GUM!

"And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart." Galatians 6:9

I didn't sleep well last night. My mind was churning with all the projects, deadlines and details I had to accomplish for the week. My body is tired. I have not eaten properly, in my scatterbrained schedule eating has not been penciled in accurately.

I am sure many of you can relate to this busy schedule.

There are several problems with being overbooked. For me I get anxiety, fatigue and I get discouraged. I try so hard to have a good attitude. I try not to let my venom spew on my loved ones and when it does...I know its time to put myself in TIME OUT. Re-evaluate my list, Re-connect with ME, and Re-cover any damage I may have caused.

Take a breath and don't loose heart.

Anita~

"One of the most miserable people in all of the world is the person who spends every waking hour trying to find something that will make "ME" happy."

Lover of quotes, ideas and notes

I decided to clean out the desk drawer today. Every time I opened it papers flipped over catching on the top of the desk. The desk drawer is full of quotes, notes and lessons I have written for church or ideas I have for coaching. Its tangled with pictures of the boys, drawings and every little thing I just can't throw out.

A 10 minute job leaves me reading all my notes and quotes and crying at my yesterdays.

So I thought I would share some of them with you~

• "Its not what you look at that matters, its what you see." Henry David Thoreau
• "Once you start appreciating life, that's when you realize how much you truly have to live for."
• Showing up is always the first step.
• Can't never go wrong doing right.
• "If one could run without getting tired I don't think one would often want to do anything else." C.S. Lewis
• The world is but a canvas to your imagination
• "I always like to look on the optimistic side of life, but I am a realist enough to know life is a complex matter." Walt Disney
• Difference between STRONG WILLED and STRONG MINDED
• "The worse enemy of good is BETTER.

Funny thing. The notes I was looking for...I have NO idea what I did with it. But I have a lot of material..

But I am a listener. Don't get me wrong, I can talk, ALOT. But I love to listen to wisdom, stories, ideas and laughter.

I met Jeff like clockwork for our Wednesday day of torture.

I could listen to Jeff all day long. He always has a new fact, quote or idea that catches me. I have been on the TM trying to record something brilliant he has said in fear I will forget it.

We started with our usual, unconventional ab exercises that hurt for days. I was DETERMINED to try those stupid angled hanging leg things. "COME ON PUPPY!" I could feel myself get red. Jeff knows everyone up there. I could feel all these eyes looking at me. All I could do was laugh THEN tell Jeff to "SHUSH"! I was going to try these stupid things again. I DID 8 OF THEM! Not eloquently or graceful BUT I did it! And my belly is so sore from it!

Wednesday is usually some sort of speed work, for both of us.

TODAY: A makeshift ladder workout.

1 mile W/U

2 400's @ a 5k pace, easy jog 400m recovery

2 800's @ 10K pace, easy 400m recovery.

1 mile at a 10K pace

HOWEVER.....

On my third lap of my 1st mile @ a 10K pace I got this BRAVE idea to go for another mile, no recovery.

I just kept telling myself "Make it to the next lap,"

I counted the minutes down with each lap...

"6 minutes..you can hold this 6 minutes..."

"4 minutes, breath, relax, focus on something other than the numbers and the pain.

"2 minutes, anyone can run for 2 minutes, buckle down and PICK IT UP." And with that I turned it up a little more.

Jeff was done and heaving over the side of his TM and I was right there with him, desperately punching the buttons trying to lower my pace.

I got 6 miles in, I was red faced and sweating.

 

I tried to gain my composure before he says, "OK, lets hit the track and do some strides."

I was like...REALLY? I was still trying to catch my breath as we headed to the track.

I'm not gonna lie. It FELT AMAZING. To run fast enough that I could feel the wind pushing my hair back. On my toes, running light and wild.

"Nita, I just try to get 2 steps in front of you...." And he takes OFF before the starting line. As I catch up I giggle "OK, theres you two steps..." And off I go like he expects me too.

Yes, we both couldn't talk when we finished but within seconds we both giggled over randomness.

But like any good ending I love the last lap of two. We are in a conversational pace. We are wrapping up of session of torture with a few good words and ideas. This is my favorite.

But I cant remember half of his quirky comments and I cant run with a pen!

RUNDOWN:

GAC: TM/ track

Distance: 7.25

Average pace: 8:25

"The wonderful thing about the game of life is winning and losing are only temporary, UNLESS you QUIT."

Which quote, thought or idea caught you?

ANITA~

Practice what I Preach.

Last week I met a girlfriend for coffee to talk about her training. She is running her first marathon.
I am no professional. Not even close. But she wanted some of my thoughts.

Those thoughts came into play with me this week when planning training run.

Lacey and I have continually increased our long run every week.
Regardless of getting sick, bad weather, small body nuisances we continue to plug along.

Last week, I got my teeth knocked out from the never ending cold. Lacey was annoyed with a knee issue, we knew this was the week to scale back.
The same advice I had just given my sweet friend earlier this week, I too was chewing on it.
It was tough to swallow, but a entre that was good for both Lacey and I.

Rather than run 17 miles, we scaled back to 14 miles.
Last week we were in shorts, this week we were back to our Michigan winter wear.
I picked the route. Flat, out and back. I had us doing a loop, Lacey did not want to end up trying to add miles or subtract miles.
When we reached a very easy 6.65 miles she had us turn around to guarantee our mileage. Two airheads running in the cold and wind are not the best at navigating mileage.

The first 6 miles went by like cake. We removed and hid our buffs we got so warm. I have no idea what we both drank but we tinkled multiple times. I almost peed my pants laughing at Lacey trying to pull her britches up in the ditch as a car was approaching. Lacey got her paybacks when I squatted behind a tree the said "NO TRESSPASSING." I quickly discovered I was peeing in what appeared to be a dead deer cemetery. A pelvis bone, a leg bone, a whole leg all connected, it literally scared the pee out of me. GROSS.

Nothing was easy on the turn around back into town where I parked. The wind hit us in the face like the devil himself. I was thankful I had us running a very flat route, making the beating a little less intense.
Our fun conversations came to a screeching halt on the way home. It was all mental, all the way back.
I kept checking our pace thinking we were running too fast. OH no, we were keeping pace and it was keeping us feeling like death, a death crawl. "LSD, this doesn't feel like a LONG SLOW DISTANCE, this wind is sucking the life out of me." I thought, and even my thinking felt like work.

RUNDOWN
Distance: 14.01
Pace: 8:57

Week 9 Glass City Marathon training.

Practice What I Preach.
Yeah, I did good this time. I chuckled to myself when Lacey suggested we bring our miles down and then kick the back up next week.
I secretly patted myself on the back as I remembered my little coffee conversation I had last week. I took my own advice.
The reality is, I am far from perfect. I don't always to this. I am not picture perfect by any means. I do say things and completely do the opposite.
But today, I got it right!

Anita~

Keep it Simple Thursday: THE Hard Things.

"I love life. I think it's fantastic. Sometimes it deals hard things, and when it deals great things, you have to seize them." Sam Taylor 

THURSDAY with the girls.
This morning we ran Holdridge, the East Loop for 11 miles.

I was so excited to put on shorts and compression socks on.
It was full sun and 55' degrees out when we started running.

We were full of conversation, chatty and in full spirit.

I rarely take the lead when running trails but the girls let me lead when we run Holdridge.
This is good training for me. It helps me pace better and locate obstacles on the trail.
In full "ANITA" mode I was having fun yelling "ROOT, ROCK ROCK ROCK!"
Being in the lead also helps me to learn the trail better. Because I am usually at least 2 people back on the trail, I never pay attention to anything but the persons feet ahead of me.

Holdridge is full of switchbacks, this makes it both difficult and entertaining. I love the adventure in it.
We didn't push the pace but we enjoyed running the downhills with a lighthearted squeal and our hands in the air.
We took a few minutes for some pictures. The sun was coming up over the trees as we were climbing up a incline. It was so beautiful.

We did run into a Asian man with a large gun wearing a ORANGE hat. He was smiling and pointing at us as we giggled down a hill towards him. I have NO idea what he was saying to us but I am pretty sure he was getting a kick out of watching us having so much fun.

We made it out of the trails with our water bottles drained but we conquered the HARD THINGS.
Poor Rachel got peer pressured into jumping off a stump and having her knee pop out of place. WHO would pressure someone to do something so juvenile?? Kris and I quickly came to her side in prayer. God is SOO good. She was able to run the next 4 miles out of there with little pain. She is a tough cookie. BUT that girl made me run the hard things reminding me of her little leap of faith she took for me. It was the perfect motivation.

We finished with Girl Scout cookies waiting in my truck to share. I had filled a Stanley Thermos full of Chicken Noodle soup. I was excited to sit at the picnic table and eat with them...EXCEPT..
I FORGOT THEY ARE BOTH VEGETARIANS!
I shared my cookies and water with them!

I was about 15 feet in the air, "Hey, don't get any shots of my booty!"

Racehl..."NITA, you should climb up that tree..." I am such a sucker for climbing!

RUNDOWN:
Distance:11ish
Pace: 12:10
Nutrition: Breakfast, Honey Stingers Vanilla waffle.
Honey Stingers chews ,water w/ Nuun electrolytes.  

I felt great when we finished. Love these girls.

"I don't know what the future holds, but I know that God holds tomorrow, so it is exciting. Even when I have hard things happen, He loves me so big, so much. I come through it and I grow from it, because He has got me." Barbara Mandrel

Anita~~

A Temporary Condition

This is the worst sickness I have had in a while.
I was sick last week and lost a day of running.

I ran with the gang on Monday and it was a pathetic crawl. The first loop, at Holly Rec I knew I was up Sh!**$ Creek without a paddle. I purposely didn't eat breakfast because my poor belly was angry over something. Well, that backfired and kicked me hard. I was getting spotty about mile 4. I was on my way to the car thinking I could grab something to eat. However, Kris and Rachel met us on the trail about a half a mile in. I never made it back to the car, we headed into our second loop.
While they were all chatting it up, I was trailing in the back praying God keep me upright. I knew it was more than sugar issues I was battling with. Sweat was beading up, the energy was drained out of me like a kiss of death and then the nausea started. With less than a tenth of a mile things got real spotty, I panicked and asked to walk. I just needed to calm down, catch my breath and try to access the issues I was struggling with.
I couldn't get home soon enough. I started the bath, hot, soapy and like a coffin I crawled in. Within 10 minutes I was OUT COLD.
I was sick AGAIN!

I called off work on Tuesday. I didn't need the guilt of getting anyone else sick. But I wasn't the only one who got sick. My poor Alec vomited 6 times. Alec never gets sick. That poor kid looked like death and smelled like it too.

There was NO WAY I was cancelling on Jeff again. I asked if we could push our workout back to 8am. This would give me time to take care of Alec before school. That crazy boy wouldn't stay home. But then his crazy mom wasn't staying home either.
Alec went to school.
I went to GAC.

TODAYS PLAN:

• Core
• Stretch, roll
• TM wars with Jeff: I had 10X400M repeats to do with a 400M recovery to do.
• Legs
• Stretch, roll
• Shower, sauna..

"Being defeated is often a temporary condition. Giving up is what makes it permanent." Marilyn vos Savant

Problem 1.

I had not recovered my energy, as excited as I get to see Ole Jeffery, it is NOT enough excitement to get me through a hard W/O.

Problem 2.

Everything was a problem, I was scared I was going to FAIL miserably. I started wussing out. There was only a "Do it and DIE doing it" thought OR "You suck, you should have just stayed home you big baby."

This is why I love having Jeff coaching me. I need a voice BIGGER than mine. One with Wisdom.

"OK, Nita, what are you going to do?" Jeff asks before he heads to the locker to grab his headband and drop off his phone.

" I was thinking 1 mile warm up, then hit my 400's at 8.5 on the TM. I know I should be hitting them faster but I don't think I can even do that...."  

Jeff just stared at me, "OK, see how you feel...." then turned and left me punching numbers in the TM.

Sweat was dripping off me like I was running in Africa. A stinking warm up mile and I was baking in a inferno. I felt weak, I felt like I just wanted to give up.

Jeff startled me as he came up from behind. "ANITA, Wait! Let's do this.....Try this and see how you feel......" Jeff is a numbers guy. That man is made of numbers, he breaths and sweats numbers. He threw out a bunch of numbers and a new plan for my 400's. I suddenly had hope. It was a plan. One I felt confident I could do, Yes, it was still going to hurt and I was still going to have to gut it out. However, He didn't just throw a plan at me, He gave me the training tips to motivate me and encourage me to accomplish it. It made sense.

"JEFF, NUMBER 6! YOU know Jeff, If you can do 6 you can do...." I giggled loudly waiting for him to finish my sentence.

"YOU CAN do 10!" Jeff responded in his own Suckfest.

"REALLY JEFF, I was thinking 8...."  I laughed loudly not caring who was listening to out ridiculousness.

I finished all 10. Not as hard as I wanted but each one I progressed. Each little progression gave me enough encouragement to keep that momentum going. Each repeat reminded me that I was still standing, I wasn't puking, dying or crying. And this gave me inspiration within MYSELF to keep going, One at a Time, Punching the buttons each time a little faster ending up where I originally wanted.  

Bringing this all together: What I learned today.

DON'T BE SO HARD ON YOURSELF.

• Do what you can do is MORE than NOT doing anything at all.

I was going to scratch all my speedwork with a million excuses. I was going to take the easy route. Who would say anything anyway? I mean, after all, I was sick. It was a bonus I was running anyway. NO!! You don't know what you can do until you really go TOE to TOE with yourself.

• The power of a good running partner

Jeff doesn't just spout his mouth with training plans and numbers. He does not speak to speak. He puts ME into the equation and makes it personal. He has ran with me enough that he knows what I can do, what I will do and what I will whine about!

Its not all numbers, its a lot of silliness and laughter. He is a old man version of me, he may even be a little bit quirkier!

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

I love cooking, more when I have time. I was in the kitchen cooking for 2 1/2 hours today.

I made a big pot of Chicken Noodle soup.

I sautéed my veggies and fresh herbs. (garlic, carrots, onions, celery, rosemary, thyme, basil & a bay leaf.)

I add sea salt, white pepper, Wildtree Garlic Galore and Organic Chicken Stock.

I cheat and buy the rotisserie Simple Truth chicken and tear that apart. I used to do my own chicken but then I had kids and life got crazier. I like healthy short cuts.

I can NOT think of the last time I made soup with noodles. I stay away from noodles BUT I splurged. I was making the soup for Andys Maw maw. She like noodles.

REAMES.. The ONLY noodles I have ever used.
OH...and I don't measure.. sorry.

NOW, my family will NOT eat soup. So I have this big pot to share!
I made then Pork chops with cherry currant sauce, green beans and cous cous. I also made a package of bacon. They LOVE bacon. It was going to be for in the morning but they might have snacked on it until it was gone!

TEA TIME;
I tried a new Tea, Harney and Sons. They make a lovely Green Tea. But I tried their Vanilla Comoro Decaffeinated. The tea came in a sachet. It was very fragrant. The vanilla was a cozy smell. I added sugar cubes, (always reminds me of my grandma) and a little Vanilla creamer. It was very nice.

Anita~

In a Nutshell

The kids just pulled out of our house from small group about 15 minutes ago. It got over at 7pm!

I am tuckered out.
Sitting in bed with a hot cup of green tea and honey. My legs are thanking me for putting them up after a long day and a long run.

This week has been full of craziness.

• I got sicker than snot on Tuesday, putting me out of commission all day Wednesday.
• Austin played Fenton @ Fenton for Basketball...LOST ..BUT didn't leave without needing stitches from the game as well as a parent who followed him to the car taunting him. THIS went south very fast when Andy jumped in to defend his son. Next I hear, my husband saying "NOT my PROUDEST moment". My 43 year old husband, deacon at church, lost his mind and almost had a "Come to Jesus" meeting with this knucklehead from Fenton.
• Saturday was Record Highs, 65' out.  After working in heels for 9 hours I was able to trade them in for my running shoes. I was able to make up my lost Wednesday run, IN SHORTS!

And that brings us to today..

Claudia joined Lacey and I for Sunday Runday at Indian Springs.

Another amazing day.

Lacey and I were in shorts and smiles. Claudia was waiting for us with her slim yoga body doing some crazy pose in the grass. I would trip over myself in a pose that she makes look like a ballerina.

I look at these two and giggle.

Claudia, tall slender, long brown hair and beautiful skin.

Lacey, legs like a gazelle, blonde hair, green eyes and breasts like they were bought, perfect.

Nita, pipsqueak, boring brown hair, barn as bark eyes, and a body that looks like a stinking 12 year old..BOY

I am running with rockstars.

The park was rocking. Cars were coming in like the second coming of Christ. It was awesome to see so many people taking advantage of the beautiful day.

Claudia ran 8 miles with us. Claudia is always fun to run with.

Those 8 miles helped break up our 16 mile long run.

Several times we had to jump over to dodge a dog, a biker or a rollerblader. We saw everything out there today. Skateboarders, families,  we saw 2 dudes and their babies in strollers, a couple both riding Elliptigo's and even a couple on a two seated bike, the gal in the second seat was totally just chilling while the guys was peddling like a champ. I was wanting to be that girl as we were finishing mile 14.

I was hoping for some tan lines out there today. But I still look like the palest Mexican you have ever seen.

Lacey had more color on her legs than I did!

The weather is supposed to stay this way for a few more days, maybe I still have a chance!

How was your day today? Did anyone do anything EPIC for the weekend of Aweome Weather?

Anita~