The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

The Good

being healthy, feeling strong, still laughing with friends (even after 17 miles!), experiencing the outdoors, setting an example for my children

The Bad

chaffing (in extremely odd spots!), walking like I'm 90 years old the morning after a long run

The Ugly

my second to biggest toe (honestly it's the ugliest thing ever!)

Training Statistics~
Longest run to date:   17 miles in 3 hours and 5 minutes on January 29th, 2011
Miles ran so far this years:   65
Hours spent training and running so far this year:  21.5

Meet my shakers!

Yesterday I decided to take the day off from 'training'.  Instead, I stayed home with my three sweet children, a.k.a. 'my little shakers'.  Why shakers? Because they are always shaking and stirring up something, constantly keeping me busy.  We spent the day making crafts, reading books, and creating shadow puppets with our flashlights.  In between all of these activities, I somehow managed to clean our entire house.  I may not have gone to the gym, but I still worked hard!
Cardio?  Covered... I chased the kids! 
Weight training?  Covered...by hauling the vacuum up and down the stairs!
Plyometrics?  Covered...squatting down to scrub the toilet and bathe the children!
I am a woman of many talents!  After all, I'm raising a runner and three shakers!

Instruments of torture?

I have read recently that a runner's greatest asset (sic) is a strong behind.  Yes, a tough butt makes for a better runner.  So, with this knowledge in hand I have decided to widen my fitness horizons and join a 'Body Blast' class at my local Y.  I'm ready to sculpt, lift, strengthen and otherwise torture my behind.  Pictured above is a deceitfully cheery colored array of fitness tools.  It was not until our hour class closed, that I realized  these should more accurately be described as 'instruments of torture'.  I repeatedly lifted my 6 pound hand weights over and under, up and down, in and out....  I bobbed up and down grunting through hundreds (yes, you've read that correctly, hundreds!) of abdominal crunches while balancing my wobbly body on a large ball.  I wrapped my feet with obnoxiously slippery resistance bands and kicked 'to the beat' of a girls rock band screaming "we are strong!".  All of these exercises were making me feel less than "strong".  But none of these exercises compared to the partnered squats I conquered today.  After balancing a ball between my back and friend's, we squatted up and down courageously.  After warming our quads up with several of these lovely moves, we performed heel rises while in squatting position.  Ouch!  My poor legs and butt burned worse than hot sauce, seriously.   But, in the journey of marathon training, a tough tushy is must! 

Where is my cute t-shirt?

The last time I ran this many miles was in October of 2010 at the Evansville Half Marathon.  A gun signaled the beginning of my 13.1 mile journey through the humble city of Evansville, Indiana. Every couple miles I was given a paper cup of water, a smile, and a 'Go, Lyndsey!' (though don't be deceived, I am not that popular. Instead the generous station volunteers spotted my name on my race bib.)  Many citizens of said humble city lined the streets to 'ooh' and 'aah' those of us committed (crazy) enough to show our raw selves fight the good fight of our race. And at the end, the glorious 'Hallelujah' was heard (or at least to my delusional self. Hey, you run that many miles and I bet you'll be hearing it, too!). I crossed the finish line with a glowing (ok, sweaty) smile and arms victoriously punching the air. I came away from this battle feeling worthy, strong, jubilant. Carrying with me a sense of conquering, and oh yes, the t-shirt. So I guess what I would like to know is, 'Where is my cute t-shirt?'.


Training Statistics~
Longest run to date:   15 miles in 2 hours and 57 minutes on January 22nd, 2011
Miles ran so far this years:   41
Hours spent training and running so far this year:   15