Color Vibe

For Nebalee's 40th birthday (I'm a month late posting), we did a 5k.  It would have been a better birthday present if I'd actually agreed to run the 5k with her, as she's one of those crazy runner types and I am not. 

It seemed like it would be a fun time.  We'd get to hang out for a couple of hours, take a leisurely 3.2 mile walk, get all sorts of dirty, what could be better?  We even had tutus.  Yep, you read that right.  Yours truly wore a tutu (and pigtails, but I don't think you can see them in the picture).

There was definitely a party atmosphere at the starting line, with the tunes thumping and the color packs being thrown about.

Once we got out on the course (which I thought would be a leisurely stroll with my sister and turned out to be a forced march), they had color stations scattered throughout.  We had a good time with the color stations.  We locked arms and skipped through one, and then ran through the rest while holding our breath, because who wants to breathe that stuff in?

The theme of the race was fun, and the starting line party was fun.  However, when it came to actual course management, the race was lacking.  We passed no less than three people who were down and being tended to by their friends/family.  I saw no course marshals or aid stations along the course.

The finish line was a cluster.  I don't know if I can blame the course management for it - wait, yes I can.  Races like the Color Vibe are designed to entice non-runners like myself to get out and do something active and it worked.  But ... when you have a bunch of non-runners with no direction, they don't understand basic course etiquette.  You know, like just because you crossed the finish line doesn't mean you get to just stop and stand there while there are still hundreds of people behind you trying to cross the line.

Maybe I got spoiled from the Bolder Boulder - they put tens of thousands of runners through a finish line without it getting clogged up.

By the time we were finished, Nebalee and I were both over the crowds and couldn't get out of there fast enough.  We would have gotten out of there even faster if I hadn't buggered up my foot on the uneven ground.  I've always had trouble with my feet; my lateral arch of my right foot has always given me problems, but I can usually work through it once it loosens up.  Only, it kept getting worse and worse throughout the morning, to the point where I couldn't bear weight.

By God, we weren't going to miss out "after" picture, so Nebalee and I just switched sides so I didn't have to stand on my bad foot.

The pain continued to build, so I made the snap decision on my way home to stop by Urgent Care to get an x-ray.  I wasn't worried so much that I'd broken my foot per se, but I was concerned that I had avulsed the tendon from the 5th metatarsal (long bone on outside of foot).  The PA at Urgent Care didn't see an avulsion fracture on the x-ray and sent me on my merry way with instructions to ice and take ibuprofen (which I was already doing).  Oh, and she also told me that if I felt I needed crutches, I could go rent some from WalMart.

Needless to say, I was less than pleased with my treatment.  Honestly, I needed crutches and a script for pain management.  I was alone and couldn't bear weight, despite proper initial management.  I'm not quite sure how the hell she thought I'd be able to hobble myself into WalMart to rent crutches when I couldn't stand.

I'm far from a drug seeker - I rarely use narcotic analgesics, so when I ask for them, I have a real reason.  Of course, the PA didn't know me from Adam, so I can understand where she was coming from, but it took a lot for me to admit weakness and ask for help.  I left Urgent Care in pain and discouraged.

I spent the rest of the weekend alternating Advil and Tylenol and cuddling with my ice pack.  I hobbled into work on Monday with my teeth clenched.  Luckily, we have pediatric crutches and someone was willing to go to the other building to fetch them for me. Yes, I'm short enough that I required peds crutches.

I made an appointment to see my doc, who thought I had a stress fracture and finally wrote me for some pain meds and encouraged me to continue to use the crutches.  Getting off my foot and getting my pain under control was the key to turning around my healing.  By Friday, I was off the crutches and almost completely pain-free.

Happy (late) Birthday, Nebalee. I hope you enjoyed breaking me :)

Recovering

Holy Cow!

We did it!

We actually finished a 10k.  My feet and legs are telling me all about it, too, with every step I take.

I've never seen anything like it - 50,000 people at one race.  Apparently, the BolderBoulder (or the organizers) invented the wave start; a new wave is started approximately every minute, with the fastest waves going first and walkers bringing up the end.

Waiting on our wave line-up

RCC, me, Kyzzer, Nebalee, Autobot, Mr Nebalee

It was easy to get caught up in the pre-race excitement.  Even as much as I hate crowds and easily become claustrophobic, it wasn't an issue.  Probably because it was outside and there was so much to see.  I had no idea runners were so crazy.  We saw the X-Men, The Avengers, The Lego Men, a whole gaggle of Waldos, a ballet-company's worth of tutus, and costumes we just couldn't figure out.  The worst dressed award goes - easily - to the group of three males running in nothing but their boxer briefs.  Of course, I didn't get pictures of any of the costumes because I was just in awe of everything going on.

The show didn't end with the runners. Oh, no. The show - circus might be a better term - continued along the route.  They had thirty bands stationed around the route and in-between, neighbors made a party of the race.  There were keg stands for runners, free shots, a slip-n-slide, lots of free hugs, and my favorite...people with garden hoses soaking all of the runners down as they went by.

Our goal (by our, I mean mine that I was holding us to) was to finish in 1:47:00, so I estimated that we'd have to keep about a 17:00/mile pace.  I didn't figure that would be too hard, as it's just slightly faster than a walking pace and I've been doing Ease into 5K for the past five weeks.  Turns out, we were able to do better than what I had hoped.  We didn't do nearly as well as Nebalee's family, who ran it the entire way, but we didn't embarrass ourselves either.

Because we were slightly ahead of schedule, I didn't feel too badly about stepping off the course at the summit to take this picture...

Summit: 5,391 feet above sea level
As they say, "Sea Level is for Sissies" :)

Believe it or not, the first half of the race wasn't bad at all.  All of that work with Ease into 5K definitely helped.  RCC and I alternated walking and running, only I got sick and tired of getting my ass kicked every time we did a run interval.  His strides are so much longer than mine that he was finishing our intervals a few seconds ahead of me.  It pretty much pissed me off, so about halfway through the race, I said to myself, "Self, I'm tired of getting my ass kicked.  Eff this shit, he's not beating us again."  And myself said, "Damn straight chickadee.  Kick it into high gear and kick some RCC arse!"

It took full-on sprints to keep up with his longer legs, but I managed to tie or beat him on every interval we ran in the second half.  That made me very happy.  Things started getting tough after the fourth mile, but that's when my conditioning really started to pay off.  It was still going fairly well, right up until the 9th kilometer.  That's when RCC pulled his hip flexor and I started losing some steam, but after completing 9K, what's one more?

We shuffled along, forgoing running intervals, during the last kilometer and then the stadium came into sight.  Whoever dreamed up the notion of running into a full stadium was a genius, even if the last bit into the stadium is uphill.  I told RCC that it reminded me of traveling in Italy - uphill and lots of people.

Walking into the stadium, and around the track to the finish was indescribable.  Touchy-feely alert: RCC and I crossed the finish line holding hands.  Seemed like a good idea at the time, now seems a little mushy.  Damn it.  Don't tell anyone.

I'm pretty soon the smiling was due to relief of
still being alive.
Or hypoxia.

The only drawback to the race is that some idiot, who we all know and love, forgot to put sunscreen on and now her skin is the same color as the shirt she ran in.  And, the shirt she chose to wear didn't completely cover her new tattoo. 

I don't know for a fact, but I'm pretty sure that my tattoo guy wouldn't have told me to be careful about putting sunscreen on it if sun was good for a brand-new tattoo.

Sorry for the bluriness of this picture...
I kind of ran with my phone tucked into my bra
and this is what dried boob sweat does to the camera lens.
Oops.

Because I'm so thrilled with finishing - and beating our goal - I'm going to leave you with our splits.  They make me happy.

GunDiva's splits:

• Mile 1 = 0:16:11
• Mile 2 = 0:15:34
• Mile 3 = 0:16:35
• Mile 4 = 0:16:41
• Mile 5 = 0:15:23
• Mile 6 = 0:17:09 (<-- actually 1.2 miles, so we did come in sub-17s for each mile)
• Total time = 1:41:28

RCC's splits:

• Mile 1 = 0:16:10
• Mile 2 = 0:15:28
• Mile 3 = 0:16:41
• Mile 4 = 0:16:40
• Mile 5 = 0:15:23
• Mile 6 = 0:17:09
• Total time = 1:41:27

Yep, we'll be doing it again next year.

Big Day Tomorrow

Our first 10k.  (Oh shit, by saying "our first", I've implied we'll be doing more than one.  Let's not get crazy here.)

Now, don't go getting all impressed.  RCC and I are walking it.  But Nebalee and her crew are running it because they're the insane branch of the family tree.  Running the BolderBoulder has always been Nebalee's birthday thing.  I have no idea where it came from, but she's been doing it for a while.  For some reason, RCC thought it would be a good thing to do this year.  Yep, he's got some crazy running in his family, too.

The BolderBoulder is a Big Deal.  I knew that.  But I didn't really know it until we went to pick up our race packets today.  There will be something like 50,000 people participating.  I don't like crowds of people.  Certainly not enough to want to be with 50,000 of them in a town I despise.  However, it's Nebalee's birthday thing and she promised she'd do my Zombie run for my birthday if I did her birthday run.  Aw crap, if I live through this thing tomorrow, I'll probably do it again next year for her birthday.  Do you see the sacrifices I make for my crazy sister?

If we live through the race tomorrow, we'll head up the hill to bring Queen Estes home!  I miss my girl something fierce and can't wait for her to come home.

Lots of pictures forthcoming, I'm sure!

Everyone have a safe Memorial Day and don't forget why we celebrate it.

Thank you to everyone who has, and is continuing to, serve our country.

If You Can't Say Something Nice...

...don't say anything at all.

Which is why I've been so quiet lately and why you've been inundated with Ripley stuff.

What do you write about when you can't write about what's going on in your life?  My job description has changed and I'm having a hard time adjusting.  Can't really write about it - though I'd love to - because I don't know who (if anybody) from work reads my blog.

My kids (well, two of them) are adults and dealing with adult things.  Can't write about what they're going through because it's their "stuff" to deal with.

That leaves me with Ripley and pseudo-running.  So, because y'all are riveted by RCC's beautification of Rip, here are a couple of pictures of her newest additions.

Black is the new chrome apparently,
so the chrome had to go.

A couple layers of Plasti-Dip,
let it dry and...

...no more chrome.
(Sorry for the lousy pic, the phone washed out the green)

 A long time ago, before RCC and I met, the kids and I dreamed about owning a ranch (still do) and I told them I'd name it after them - The 3 Heathens. We even drew up a "brand". RCC had the brand made as a badge, painted it alien green and added it to Ripley.

The kids' 3 Heathens brand

Digger has the brand tattooed on his forearm and I'm fixing to have it tattooed on my shoulder blade.  Ashinator is trying to figure out how to incorporate the brand into her family tree tattoo on her forearm.  Some families have family shields, apparently, we have a family tattoo.

The running thing is still going.  I started week four of Ease into 5K, which called for a four minute run and a six minute run.  I managed the four minute, but the six minute was too much mentally.  I have no doubt that my body can run for six minutes straight, but - wow - I'm having a hard time being mentally tough enough to gut it through.  I've got to get through it or I'll never progress.  The Bolder Boulder is coming up, which RCC and I will be doing, but we'll be walking it.  I do want to be able to do the Run For Your Lives Zombie obstacle course in July for my birthday, so I really have to get through this training program.  I'm open to suggestions if anyone has any...

The Bionic Cowgirl and I are going to see a Julie Goodnight clinic tomorrow as a fundraiser for the Colorado Therapeutic Riding Center; it's Mom's combo birthday/Mother's Day gift and of course the weather's supposed to be crappy, but we need the moisture, so I'll keep the whining to a minimum.  It'll be good to watch Julie at a clinic.  Though I'm part of her Colorado crew, the focus is on making the TV show work when we're filming.  I learn a ton at each shoot, but everyone is always multi-tasking, so it's not focused learning.  I've sat in on several of her lectures at the Rocky Mountain Horse Expo and loved every second, so I'm anticipating an amazing day with Mom tomorrow. One of these days, I'm going to participate in one of Julie's riding clinics, I swear.  It's one thing to learn from the ground, but I'd love to ride in one of her clinics.

I Hate My Sister

No, really.

Nebalee came home from the hospital and I demanded Mom take her right back. Mom refused! That pretty much set the tone for our lives as sibs.

She's more photogenic; she got the bigger boobs (which, even after breast feeding three kids are still located where they belong); hell, she even got the volleyball set I asked for for her birthday.

She runs half-marathons for fun. When we were at her house on Sunday, she mentioned that she'd run six miles at a nearby open space, Coyote Ridge. She said it was a "nice" run and it'd be a great place to go for a horseback ride. Mom showed some interest and talked about trailering the horses.

Fast-forward to today. I'm on week two, day two of Ease into 5K and given the choice of running on the treadmill or running outside, I chose to run outside. Specifically Coyote Ride, which my loving sister said was a "nice" run.

"Nice", my ass! Have I mentioned that my sister is a lying bitch and that Mom should have taken her back to the hospital when I told her to thirty-seven years ago?

The trailhead is at and elevation of 5,150. About the same as my house. From the road, the trail looks like a nice, flat loop. Well, it isn't. In the span of one mile, the trail gained approximately 200 feet in elevation. Now, that doesn't sound so bad, does it? 200 feet, what's 200 feet? Most of the 200 feet gain was done in about 1/4 mile; the rest was "gradual".

I Don't Know How You Runners Do It

There are some changes a'coming in my life (if everything goes according to plan), but those changes are going to require me to do more than just show up at the gym and hop on the elliptical machine or the rowing machine to get my cardio in.  I'm going to have to actually run.  R-U-N.  I hate running.  That's why I own guns, so I don't have to run. But, if this good thing happens (yes, I'm being vague, but it's still very up in the air) I'm going to be required to do the thing I hate almost as much as hair.

I routinely do four miles on the eliptical machine, walking on the treadmill, or on my favorite Precor machine, but I do. not. run.  Even the two 5Ks that RCC and I have done couldn't really be called "running".  We'd walk quickly for a bit, then run for a bit, back and forth, but I can't say I've done any real running since high school.

When I talk to a runner, I hear all about how they just get into the rhythm of running and let their mind go and a bunch of zen-like crap.  It doesn't work for me.  I can't get to that place in my mind.  I've tried.  Instead of going to that happy place in my mind, this is what it's like:

"God I hate this running shit.  Who the hell ever invented it?  I've been running forever...wait, what the hell do you mean I've only been running for ten seconds?  WTF?  Certainly the timer on this fucking thing is broken.  Great, just my luck to get a machine with a broken timer.  Damn I hate running.  My foot is cramping.  Ouchouchouch.  What the hell is that jabbing me?  Breathe, damn it breathe.  Great, is it time to stop yet?  I had to have made my one minute interval by now.  Shit!  I still have thirty seconds to go.  Really?  Damn it, I'm going to complain to the managers about this broken timer.  Comeonecomeoncomeon...twenty-eight...twenty-seven...twenty-six...twenty-five...fuck it. Done."

 And that's what it's like every. single. time.  I've tried running while watching the TV, I've tried running while listening to music.  Even El Poquito Diablo couldn't get me to run much without worrying that I might kill him in his sleep.  Doesn't matter that I don't know where he lives, I'd find him if I needed to.

But now, now I have to run.  Not even very fast.  Only two miles in 22 minutes.  Two eleven minute miles.  I've tried telling myself that I can do anything for twenty-two minutes.  Yeah, right.

I just don't know how runners do it.  Nebalee has offered to run with me, to get me to where I need to be.  She's a brave girl, 'cause running makes me rather homicidal.

The push-ups and sit-ups for this new direction in my life?  All day long.  I have no problem working through everything required strength-wise.  In fact, I could pass the strength requirements today.  It's this running crap that's killing me.

Any ideas?  I'm open to suggestions from any of you runners.

Thanksgiving Day Run

RCC talked me into doing a four-mile run this morning.  And by run, I mean we paid our registration fee, showed up and walked probably 3.25 miles.  It was a pretty route, through City Park and Old Town.

I was feeling pretty down about the results, 1:05:39 for me and 1:05:30 for RCC, much slower than our 5K pace back in September.  When we started talking about it, though, we realized that at least five minutes were wasted right at the start where there was a big bottleneck until the first turn.  Trying to fit 3,600 runners through a starting chute didn't work so well.  Some of the runners had strollers and some had dogs; those people were mostly clueless about what was going on around them and blocked the path for a lot of us.

I'm not a runner, I've never claimed to be, but I can only imagine how frustrating it had to be for the people who were stuck in the bottleneck who were runners.

I was feeling pretty good when we finished the race, certain that I was under one hour.  I wanted to be under 50 minutes, but gave up on that at the start.  Then I saw our times.  That 1:05:39 was crushing and I started getting upset at myself for not pushing harder once the crowd did break free.  Since I was so disappointed in my time, I was pretty certain that I hadn't burned very many calories either.

I plugged in my bodybugg when I got home, expecting to see somewhere around 300 calories burned.  Boy was I surprised when it showed 635!!!  I'm super excited about that and can console myself with the thought that at least five minutes was wasted at the start, so I was sort of close to the time I wanted to make.

Now, in just about an hour and a half, the feasting will begin and I won't feel too guilty about it.  RCC has made some meat pies, Digger's making his favorite pudding pie, Mom's got the turkey going and I get to eat.  Thanksgiving is by far my favorite food holiday!

I hope everyone has a blessed Thanksgiving!

GunDiva: A Runner?

Not in this lifetime.  But...

RockCrawlinChef decided a while ago that he wanted to run the Bolder Boulder, a 10K race in May that my sister runs every year as her birthday present to herself.  I personally think she's a little nuts and it has apparently rubbed off on my husband.

The first step in his little plan was to start running 5Ks.  He must have forgotten that I. don't. run.  Not for fun, anyway.  I've done my share of running while playing soccer, but that doesn't count.  There's an actual point to running when you're chasing down an attacker.  I still see absolutely no point in running just for the sake of running.  Nebalee is gearing up for her second half marathon.  That's just plain insanity in my book.  However, she swears that it's the only way she can keep any weight off.

I've been plateaued at 166# since July.  I've got to do something about that (other than denying myself food, let's not get crazy here).  *Heavy sigh*  Damn, I've got to get on the running bandwagon.  I'm not happy about that, but I've still got twenty (at minimum) pounds to lose and this seems like the way to go.

So...back to RCC's plan of running 5Ks.  He roped me into running the Harvest Farm Fall Festival 5K in September (so I'm a little behind on my blogging). Well, running wasn't exactly what happened.  We "ran" in intervals - we'd pick out a spot, run to it, walk to the next spot, and so on.  It worked. 

We made it through the race without ambulance intervention.

It was ugly.  Beyond ugly.  But we made it.

And we were starving - after the race I ate more than I'd eaten in months.  Obviously, running burns a calorie or two.  I ate non-stop for two days and it was just a 5K.  Imagine what I could eat if I ran them more often!  I may never lose any weight while running, but, by God, I'm planning on a world-class pig-out on Thanksgiving Day after RCC and I run the Thanksgiving Day run - a 4-miler.

It's probably not the best reason to take up running, but last year, I gained a ton of weight during the holiday season.  This year, I plan to eat what I want and run it off.  Wrong motivation, I know, but I'll take motivation where I can get it.

My plan to survive the 4-miler is to do 1/8 of a mile intervals for two miles a couple of times this week and step it up to 1/4 mile intervals for three miles a couple of times next week and four miles the following week.  I have no intention of actually running the whole four miles - that would just be crazy talk.

But I do plan to finish it, take a nice, hot shower and enjoy BOTH Thanksgiving dinners without guilt.