Barefoot running anyone?

While on my run at lunch today (second run this week by the way...and still without foot pain!) I was passed by a guy, wearing these funny looking shoes that immediately made me think...another one of those runners trying to get into the barefoot running trend. Now i'm not knocking the whole barefoot running thing or Vibrams 5 finger shoes (even though I think they look ridiculous)...and I do understand the concept and why it might work for some etc but I have to admit i'm definitely not convinced...

Towards the end of my run I caught up to him and passed him but could hear him not close behind. As he caught up to me he asked "how was Boston" since I was wearing my Boston jacket...I almost cringe when I wear that jacket and get that question on the path...because it's always by a smirking guy...as he's passing me...and then for some reason I feel like I need to prove myself or something. Dumb. I know. But I digress...

He started chatting to me about running...marathons...how he's doing ironman this year...and somehow started talking about the book Born to Run (which I own and have still yet to read...it's next in line though after my current book) which led to the conversation of barefoot running. Today he was wearing water shoes...or aqua socks if you may...to allow him to not heel strike and strike more mid sole etc etc. He actually got quite into it and even stopped mid stride and started jumping up and down to show foot strike etc while other runners passed us and looked at us as if we were nuts...while in my head I was shouting, I don't even know this guy!!! lol Just kidding...kind of...but it was pretty funny and it did make for an interesting lunch time run :)

Anyway...while he further enlightened me on barefoot running today...I'm still more than sure that I really do love my nice comfy runners and have absolutely no desire to ever run barefoot...

NYC update!

Since writing my earlier post today about the NYC marathon I just decided to check my online status for this race...i'm happy to say it's now changed from "in lottery" to "....

Marathon registration status: Accepted

Yay! I'm super pumped!!

NYC Marathon?

Yesterday I submitted my entry for the NYC Marathon on November 7th. For women under 39 to qualify for guaranteed entry and skip the lottery process you need to have a marathon time of 3:23. You would think that means I'm automatically in but the form is silly...you apply on the same lottery form as everyone else and it has a little spot that says if you're applying for guaranteed entry then put in your marathon time and which race you qualified in. I've heard of people still getting rejected even though they "qualified" as they had just been thrown into the regular lottery.

After applying my status says "in lottery" and it was suggested to me to email them about it, which I did. I'm impressed that they wrote me back so quickly and said to give them a few days to verify my time and if I don't see a change in my online status in about 10 days to let them know. Soooo...i'm hoping that means it won't be a problem and i'll be in! If for some reason I get rejected them i'm going to look at running Chicago on Oct.10th, Seattle on Nov. 28th, or Vegas on Dec. 5th.

While I thought that I was getting sick of road races after all the fun trail running and racing I did last year, I'm actually looking forward to another road marathon in the future. I have a pretty hefty time goal I'd like to achieve and I definitely think I can do it (am gonna keep that time goal to myself for a while though sorry! :). I still plan on doing tons of trail running this summer and a few trail races i'll be focusing on once i'm back full on running again!

In the mean time, i'm still working on getting rid of the plantar fasciitis. I took 2 full weeks off and since then I ran 2 short runs last week completely without pain. I've been waking up every morning with virtually zero pain which is amazing...I think i've gone the last year with always some form of pain in my heel in the morning! I'm itching to get out there on long runs again but i'm holding back and will stick to the shorter runs for now. I'm actually a bit scared to increase the distance and have the pain come back so i'm going to settle on just being happy to get out there and run pain free...no matter how short the run is!

I LOVE my new skis!!

Yesterday Andrew and I went skiing up at Sunshine and I got to test out my new skis!

They had about 30 cm of new snow in the last week so I was excited! My skis are wicked and it was definitely one of my best purchases to date :) I've never owned a pair and the thought of not having to rent anymore either makes me super happy!

Aren't they beautiful?

Anyways, i've already skied more this winter than I think all of last winter and I can tell that i'm already getting better. Hopefully that means at this rate I should be significantly better by the end of the season...then on my way to some sweet backcountry skiing next winter :)

We had a great day yesterday and I even skied some shorter black diamonds...I know, retarded right? I'm usually terrified of the harder stuff but it always looks easier to me when there's lots of powder...i.e. softer landing if(when) I fall...and the powder slows you down which is nice since I get a little freaked with speed sometimes! I just hate feeling out of control!

We had the gondola all to ourselves on the way up!

I like skiing with Andrew...he's a really good skier and I find i'm more likely to get out of my comfort zone and try some harder stuff when I go with him (lucky for him he grew up close to Marble Mountain on the west coast of Newfoundland, and some pretty good skiing.)

I'm super pumped as this is my week with friday off (I work a compressed work schedule to get every second friday off) and a bunch of us are heading to Lake Louise for some skiing :) It's great when you get to go during the week as there should be hardly any lift line ups! My friend Leanne only gets one friday off a month with her work so it's sweet that we're both off at the same time this month!

On the running scene...my foot is feeling better and I've been able to go the whole day walking around without pain like I used to get. I've been waking up many mornings now with little to no pain in my foot which is shocking as usually it's at its worst for the first steps after getting out of bed! I bought the Strassburg Sock last year when I went through plantar fasciitis and while it's kind of a pain in the ass to wear when you're sleeping, i've been making myself do it each night. Seems to be helping! It's a weird little thing but the theory behind it makes sense...pulls up on your toes in order to keep your foot flexed all night and therefore lengthening out your fascia...

Anyhow, that's about it in news for now! 3 more days of work till another ski day :) Then I have tickets to the Banff Mountain Film Fest on friday night...saweet! Have a great week!

Good-Bye...

...to cable! Will I miss you? Nope! What a waste of money for me...i've been hardly watching tv at all...and while I've been thinking about getting rid of it for a long long time, I finally took the plunge today! I love the idea of not having it or being tempted by it and can think of so many other things I'd rather be doing with my evenings. Hopefully that means i'll be a guitar playing superstar in no time! Well...maybe not...but I plan on spending a lot of my free time learning! I started last week :D

My first week of no running and recovery has gone pretty well...I did a bunch of crosstraining and am getting back into a regular weights program again. I'm loving doing legs again and I plan on doing lots of good leg workouts so when I get back into trail running i'll be able to climb some serious mountains!! My knee is feeling much better...now I just have to get that foot under control before I start easing back into the running again!

On Saturday I acquired some new skis from kijiji...well, they are "used" but only twice!! They're freakin sweet and I can't wait to get out and use them...along with the skis I think i've also acquired a new obsession...wanting to head to the hill for a ski every weekend :)

Andrew and I went snowshoeing yesterday at Ribbon Creek in Kananaskis...did around 20km. It was a great day and super warm out there...above zero! Logan had a blast as usual and no doubt did double what we did with all his racing around. He came home and crashed pretty quick, as did we...after we made some delicious home made pizza...mmmm.

Have a great week! I know i'll be enjoying the spring like weather in Calgary...10 degrees today!!

Change of Plans...

So...remember all those times when I said my foot is getting better yada yada yada? Well, it's not. It is better than what it was...but it still hurts...and still hurts like a mofo at times. Guess what else hurts? My knee...on the same leg as the bad foot. I have hardly been running...maybe 3 times a week and very rarely anything longer than an hour...and haven't had knee issues in like 10 years...so i'm pretty sure my knee hurts because i'm compensating and running and walking differently due to my foot (especially in the morning when my foot hurts most and I end up walking on the side of my foot). Awesome.

So instead of writing you guys and saying, i'm definitely taking a month off and then changing my mind a day later like last time...well, I really am taking time off...and to be honest, I don't even mind. I've been having fun doing lots of other things when I haven't been running...I've been doing more downhill skiing and plan on doing lots more...I'm going to be taking Logan out on some awesome showshoeing adventures...and a bunch of my friends all have xc skis and I haven't taken advantage of using mine as much as I should. I feel like the last week i've had this revelation that it's not a big deal if I can't run...my body clearly needs a serious break from it. If I don't get to race the races I wanted to this summer then i've realized i'm really ok with that as i've already got lots of other adventures wheeling around in my head that I'd like to do. It's not a tragedy if I can't race this season...and I think i've finally realized that.

It's funny that my last post I talked about still wanting to do the Death Race and then when registration opened on New Years Day and I thought more about it and sat down to potentially register...I started thinking that maybe I really didn't want to train for a 125km race this summer. I don't think I want my whole summer to be about training for races. Even if my knee/foot gets better and I can run tons, I think I just want to go out on running adventures like I did before...but not because I have to because there is a race coming up. Last year was an anomaly for me as I've never raced so much in a season. I basically just used all of those races to help train for Transrockies.

So i'm not signing up for any more races anytime soon until I feel like i'm an uninjured and pain free runner...and that I know I really really want to do a certain race. I've only signed up for one so far in July...the Powderface 42. Since i've qualified for the New York marathon which is next november, i'm pretty sure i'm going to do that one as well. New York would be a pretty sweet trip and I do love a fall marathon. So that's it for me at the moment. I'm surprisingly not bummed or unhappy that i'm injured and have to take time off...i've been doing lots of other things and having a blast. Currently i'm trying to work on my downhill skiing skillz which I severely lack...so hopefully i'll be able to join my boyfriend on some sweet backcountry skiing adventures in the future...

Here's what i'm definitely going to do this summer...my brother signed up for the Death Race on August 1st weekend so i'm going to be heading out to Grande Cache, Alberta and help crew him. I'm super pumped for him as he'll do awesome for sure. Kira, my mountainbiking superstar sister-in-law is doing the Transrockies Bike this summer which is freakin WICKED! That is a 7 day/stage race going from Fernie, BC to Canmore, AB...pretty much in my backyard! So i'll definitely be heading out to cheer her on somewhere along the way!

I don't intend to ignore my blog so no worries about that...I just might be blogging a lot about my non-running adventures!

Happy New Year!!