Running

Last week, I joined the millions of Americans who are out of work. Despite an exemplary year-end employee review, in which I was called a "rising star," and a merit-based pay increase, my position and other positions were eliminated as part of a larger "reorganization" of the department in which I worked. There's a lot more I could say about this situation, but I'll stop here and just point out that being out of work is fairly difficult for an overachiever like me who's been told at many points in my career that I'm valued, needed and fundamental to the success of the organization.So, with that, my job search is under way! I'm looking for a job that allows me to actually put my expertise with communications and fundraising to work. Many people use unemployment as an excuse to "have fun," reevaluate their life, reconnect with old friends and/or family, feel sorry for themselves, read, travel, etc.? Me? I don't see this as "FUNemployment." There's no fun in being unemployed. So, I'm using this bout of unemployment to...find a job. I owe it to my family to get back to work ASAP.That said, when I'm not applying for positions, I can often be found on nearby mountain trails. Last week I put together some solid running numbers: 80 miles, over 12 hours and 10,500 feet of climbing. Never before had I really tracked my climbing numbers, but last week I was determined to surpass 10,000 vertical feet. I hit Mount Falcon, Deer Creek Canyon, Castlewood Canyon and Green Mountain in Lakewood. It's worth noting that I barely escaped being bitten by a vicious adult rattlesnake at Castlewood Canyon on Monday.This week, I'm gunning for 12,000-15,000 feet of climbing. That will require a huge chunk of vertical gain, which I expect to take with an outing or two to Pikes Peak. Last I heard, the Barr Trail is runnable up to A-Frame, with the situation improving almost by the day. Running up to A-Frame will get me about 5,000 feet of vertical.Last time I was unemployed was March 2007. During that time, I signed up for my first 100 and trained harder than ever before. I got into super shape and did really well in that first 100, held in August of 2007. That period of insane training set in motion a few really good years. This time around, I fully intend to be back to work very soon, and that will mean some sacrifices in terms of how I hoped to train for Leadville this summer. Starting a new job, I won't have any vacation time. So, with that, the Friday excursions to Leadville that I'd planned for this summer won't happen. The weekends will be when I hit the big vertical. Between now and when I'm back to work, though, I fully intend to get in some serious climbing, because I believe in my hearts of hearts that what separates the haves and have-nots at Leadville is the amount of time spent on mountain trails.One thing I learned last week is that the guys and gals with daily access to the mountains have a huge advantage over those of who live in Parker. As the week wore on, I noticed myself getting stronger on the climbs. I have no doubt that, if I had ready access to the mountains, I could perform quite well at Leadville. I will continue to hit the mountain trails three to five times a week until I'm back to work.

The sidewalk was hot Friday afternoon. Despite my watch acting as a time governor so I didn't do too much, too soon, that's exactly what I did when I logged my first barefoot run of the year. The ball of my left foot, between the first and second toes, was tender from either pushing off or a result of the scorched earth. But it wasn't so bad. Sand Run was crowded Saturday afternoon. Sticking to a loop along the Mingo and Dogwood trails, my run avoided the throngs of walkers and runners, and apparently the GPS signals too. My calves and quads were sore from the barefooting the day before, and so was the tender spot on my left foot by the time I finished. But it wasn't too bad. Trying out a new reel mower Sunday afternoon already had me sweaty. After a couple glasses of water and a damp rag to cool me down, I hit the sidewalks again for a shod run around the neighborhood. The sun felt like a hot iron steaming down on my already tired body, but I just kept going. When I got back home, I had topped my highest weekly mileage to date. It felt quite good.

By request:1/2 c sour cream or greek yogurt1/2 c mayo or sour cream or greek yogurt1/2 c milk (I use almond milk)1/4 tsp each salt & pepper1/2 tsp each chives, onion powder, garlic powder1 tsp dried parsley flakes

And we're back from an amazing weekend! Here's where we went:We drove down to Key West Friday afternoon, stopping in Islamorada for dinner. Saturday we woke up at butt crack and boarded a boat for the Dry Tortugas - the trip was a little over 2 hours. There is no electricity or water on the island - really, island is far too grand a term. It's 13 acres of rock & sand, with a mostly finished fort on it.I rate it as tied for the best snorkeling I've done (it's tied with Hanauma Bay Hawaii). It was just incredible - lots of fish, lots of color, large fish, and a nice variety. I saw some huge parrot fish:and a good size barracuda:plus a lot of other fish. We ate breakfast and lunch on the boat, then had steamed shrimp and cole slaw at the Half Shell raw Bar in Key West when we got back.Breakfast Sunday was eggs & some sliced ham at the hotel, lunch was a conch burger at the Cracked Conch Cafe in Marathon, and dinner was vegetable soup at home.My phone didn't work saturday so I didn't take it and honestly I didn't much think about photgraphing my food. For the record, we didn't purchase any key lime pie. Food was okay, not terrible but not as on point as when I'm at home.

Got the following note from Fred who recently went on a school trip to Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands—talk about an amazing school trip! Seems Fred and a few of his friends were all wearing toe shoes—both Vibram FiveFingers and those other toe shoes from Fila ... Anyway, here's Fred's account of how his Bikilas fared on the journey: While on an amazing school trip to Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands I sported my Bikilas for many different activities. Hiking, walking on beaches, wading through streams in the cloud forest of Ecuador, walking across lava fields, boating, sunbathing, etc. Two other members of my group wore Komodosports and KSO's (and another with Fila Skeletoes). My Bikilas worked great for everything and kept most of the sand out. I especially liked how versatile they were for all the different surfaces we encountered in the Galapagos. They handled lava, sand, dirt, water, rocks, and everything mother nature could throw my way while both protecting the soles of my feet and also allowing me the great proprioception to really feel the ground underneath my feet. The breathable, quick drying fabric was great, too, because we had a few wet landings when disembarking for hikes on the islands. A longtime follower and fan of BirthdayShoes, Fred Thanks for sharing, Fred! And let me know if you find any other photos from others on the trip!

We’re delighted to announce the first winners of The Great Bugathon Giveaway! 25 lucky Bugs have won one of our very own bugdanas! Whether you use this incredibly versatile bit of kit as a hairband, headband, wristband, mask, or a neckerchief, you’ll be able to stand out from the crowd and connect with your fellow Bugs! Check below to see if you’ve won! Bugdana winners! 1. chrisaylmer40.65 miles 2. aghidau18.8 miles 3. JPryer17.29 miles 4. new body wanted16.3 miles 5. Alien6613.22 miles 6. keldoll11.42 miles 7. aandyv88.66 miles 8. carolhaylett8.41 miles 9. malakita5 miles 10. tazzygirl36.6 miles 11. Bathford Dixon3.87 miles 12. Trink41.12 miles 13. gavtris2.89 miles 14. alex rob martin0.99 miles 15. lehorse34.19 miles 16. Martin Hopkinson23.73 miles 17. pault4925 miles 18. Paula Gibson24.85 miles 19. daffy6516.3 miles 20. Book ladybug7.8 miles 21. James Daly6.44 miles 22. Lisa Speedy Hunt6 miles 23. fireblade196424.36 miles 24. swiftbyname20 miles 25. nigeruns15 miles Congrats to all of the above! If you haven’t been lucky this week, don’t worry – we have hundreds more top prizes to giveaway. This week you have the chance to win a pair of the latest Brooks specialist running shoes – and if you win you’ll get to choose any pair in the Brooks range! This means you’ll receive the perfect fit, style, and support, in line with your running needs! And to qualify for the stunning star prize -- a running holiday in the Algarve – simply log 15 runs in total over the course of the competition. Please see terms and conditions. Every time you go for a run, simply log your miles, add to the total – and win prizes! Prizes will be sent out on completion of The Great Bugathon Giveaway competition. More from The Running Bug Running Discussion Forum Running Injury Advice Food, Nutrition & Weight Loss Running Training Tips, Tools & Plans Join the conversation in our buzzing forums. Over 100,000 runners are already talking! Avoid running injuries by following our advice on how to prepare your body for running. Running to lose weight? Get your diet right to shed pounds and enjoy running. Training advice, free training tools and loads more training plans for runners. New to the Running Bug? We're the online community for runners with over 125,000 members! Join today - it's free and easy - and you'll get access to all our running events, training schedules and advice, shop, groups, blogs and forums. You will also be able to share and communicate with the running community in bugmiles and the great debate. JOIN THE RUNNING BUG HERE! It's free and takes just 30 seconds.

A few months ago I reviewed the book Running on Air from Budd Coates. Many of you saw an article about it in either Runner’s World or Men’s Health and were curious to know how it worked {read about it’s injury prevention and speed benefits if you missed it}. At the time I had only been able to try it for a few weeks and was already able to see how it might help, but it was HARD. Hard enough that it would be really easy to stop doing it because it takes a lot of thought and previously my thoughts were reserved either for form or for pondering life. However, I particularly noticed that I helped on long runs to increase my pace…so I kept at it. What I began to realize was that focusing on the breath also ensured that my posture was taller and my abs were pulled in tight. All of this combined makes for faster running, which is exactly what was happening during my training the last few months. Bummer it didn’t come together in Puerto Rico. Anyhow, what you want to know is does it work? How hard is it to master? Worth the time?Yes. Medium. Yes. Tips:- When starting out I found that it was easiest to start my run without focusing on the technique. This allowed me to get going at my natural pace and then switch my focusing to counting 3:2 (in for 3 steps,out for 2 steps). - Don’t focus on it for the entire run. Check-in with yourself occasionally, like when you change paces during speed work or when a long run starts to feel tough. I think the mental benefit is as big as the oxygen. - Considering counting only 3 or only 2. After a few paces, I started to find that if I simply counted my out 2 breathes it was much easier to allow my breath to flow more naturally. I can’t tell you that it comes 100% naturally to me yet, but now I am able to flow in to it much more quickly and do it without thinking. However, it quickly becomes harder again as I do more yoga because you practice such long inhales and exhales, compared to the very quick exhale of the 3:2 breathing pattern. A number of Spring Challenge participants also received the book and I know Kat has been seeing that it’s a great help for asthma! Anyone else given it a try?Checkout the purpose of Accountability Monday’s>>Want to participate? Fill out this form and I’ll be featuring people each week (see Your Goals below)! Goal check in: I was really focused early in the week, making it possible to leave for Blend feeling good about where all projects stood and fully enjoy my time. Goal for Week: Finish all prep for the Clean and Lean challenge - sooo much great stuff and I’m really excited about it. I’ve been putting some of the new stuff in to practice myself for the last few weeks. Success: My goal for this week was to do speed work and get moving again…but without going back to my full blown schedule. My energy was higher as I started working out, so it took some conscious decision making to hold it back! Goal for Week: 2 speed sessions, 3 cross training workouts and still lots of focus on recovery after each.May 13AM: Meditation, 5 miles with speed play of 3, 2,1 x 2 - goal was for the first run back to be fun but a little fastPM: 30 min walk with David May 14AM: Meditation 20 min yoga, 40 min walk, 20 min yogaPM: Core workout May 15AM: Meditation, Tempo run - 5.5 miles (7:52, 7:48, 8:05) - these are more of a mental workout for me now. I need to allow myself to push and not back away from discomfort. 20 min walkPM: 30 min walk with David May 16AM: Meditation, Kettlebell and core workout, 2.25 mile easy run, 10 min walkPM: 30 min, Yoga May 17AM: Fly to Utah for Blend! - yeah kind of an all day thing with the layovers May 18 AM: Meditation, 9 mile run with the ladies, hike-- 8,000 feet elevation, cold and rainy…but beyond pretty and a complete and total blast. This run was a GREAT reminder that while I enjoy my solo runs I get a lot out of running with others and will be pushing myself to get involved with local running clubs here in Orlando. May 19AM: BootcampPM: Fly back to

The Capitol Hill Classic is one of those very “DC” races that I’ve heard about every year since I’ve lived here, but never actually got around to running until yesterday. It’s a lollipop-course 10K that takes you past some of the gorgeous homes on the Hill before looping you out around RFK stadium and then returning you to where you started in front of Stanton Park. The weather on race morning was overcast and frankly, pretty disgusting, threatening to spit rain on us at any second. View from the metro on race morning It was chilly, but weirdly humid and I debated for a while what I should wear to run, eventually deciding on shorts and a tank top (definitely ended up being the right choice.) A few weeks ago, I had convinced Megan to run the race, and she had then convinced a few friends to sign up too, so we had a nice little group. Jen, Alex, Megan, me Alex was running her first race and Jen was running her first 10K. My only goal for the race was seeing what I could do speed-wise on the course. My 10K PR was from 2009, so I figured I could shave some time off. (Then again that’s what I thought during last year’s Lawyers Have Heart 10K and that definitely didn’t happen.) I almost never race 10Ks. They’re a weird distance that I don’t love because I don’t know how to run them well. You can’t push as hard as you can in a 5K or you’ll burnout too quickly, but you can’t pace them like you would a half marathon or you’ll finish too slowly with way too much left in the tank. So my pacing plan for the race, was too push myself to an uncomfortable place from the start, and see if I could hang on. The course helped me a bit here because you start running on a downhill. Actually the whole first half of the course is a nice downhill before you climb steadily back to the start. I knew that going in and figured I’d try to bank some time in the early miles. I clocked my first miles in 8:08 and 8:14 respectively. Thank you downhill! The course flattened out a bit then through the lollipop loop, but I was still pacing pretty well until we hit the first big uphill on the way back. Mile 4 was the first time one of my miles was not a sub-9 pace. I think it clocked in around 9:11. But I battled up the hill, and the course leveled out for a smidge so I could pick up the pace again. By mile 5 I was hurting pretty bad, but I knew I didn’t have too much farther to go, so I just tried to hang on. The rain had started to fall a bit more steadily, and it was actually a welcome relief and did a nice job cooling me down a bit. Plus there was a little bit of crowd support here, which was nice and something you don’t see a ton in smaller races. When I saw the mile 6 marker, I knew I had a new PR in the bag, it was just a matter of how much of a PR it would be. I kicked hard across the finish line, crossing in 53:25, good enough for nearly three minutes off my previous PR. Whoop! Turned out that all of us had a pretty good day. Megan was happy with her time and Alex and Jen set automatic PRs! Overall, I really enjoyed this race. Other than a minor blip at the beginning of the race with packet pick up delaying the start by 15 minutes, I thought the race was well organized and well run. It’s definitely a race I’d recommend and certainly one I plan to run again. The post Capitol Hill Classic Review and Recap appeared first on Jess Runs.

Meet Amanda (photo by Gary), who is a cat we bottle-fed from a small kitten. One would think that she would be sweet and loving and totally enjoyed being handled.One would be wrong, but I like to think she loves us as much as she can.More on running soon.

Who would have thought?