Washam 5K Registration

Registration forms are now available for the Washam 5k Run and Post Party on October 3rd! Let us know if you have not received one yet. The deadline is September 18th and we must have the registration form and money in hand by then so we can order the t-shirts (and keg). No exceptions!
We hope you plan to join us!

Mizuno and me

I have a new brand of shoe. For the longest time I only ran in Saucony's. They were great, but Dustin turned me on to Mizuno's. I started with 2 consecutive pairs of Mizuno Wave Inspire 4 to help me get through 2 marathons. Then Dustin bought himself a pair of Asics Gel-Kayano and loved them. A few of the guys we run with on Sunday mornings also wear them and love them. They have good ratings and are expensive (so they must be good, right?) so I figured I would give them a try.
Whether it was the Kayanos or not, the first time I ran with them was the first time that I had pain and soreness in my upper calves. I figured it would all go away once I broke in the shoes, but it eventually turned into the (what I now know) cause of my knee pain. I wore them for about 3 months of easy running and decided I was going to eat the money and just get a new pair of the Mizunos that I know and love. I bought the Mizuno Wave Inspire 5 and immediately they felt like home. No waiting period and no need to break them in. I'm a happy girl again. Why didn't I just settle for what I knew worked for me? (because I'm a woman)

Don't get me wrong, I saw 2 women today wearing the same Kayano shoes that I have. And, they are popular. They just weren't right for me. Each runner had their own gate and way that they smack their foot to the pavement a million times, so they should also have a matching shoe. For now, mine is the Mizuno! And I don't plan to make any switches any time soon :)

By the way...if you are interested in running but need a pair of shoes I have a pair of gently used Kayanos that I will give you size 10.5 in women's. They would be great to help you train for the Washam 5K! We could barter like the old times...I could really use a bearskin rug, pelt thermos, or homemade canned salsa.

Happy Running.

~Aimee

Running with the Kiddos

This morning I went with Dustin to his JH cross country practice. Today they were doing a long run with a choice between a 2 or 3 mile course. Since a middle school XC race is only 1.5 miles long, I was really impressed to see so many kids decide, with their own free will, to do the 3 mile. It was a lot of fun! Some of the students had ran 5k races before but to most of them 3 miles is such an accomplishment at that age and I was so proud of them.
I remember when Dustin called me when I was in Quebec to tell me, "You will never believe this! Today in bootcamp we ran 5 miles! Without stopping!!". He was so proud and so was I! We talked about that story on the way home and how he was around 22 years old. These kids are in JH and I hope they brag like crazy to the other kids in school that were probably sitting at home watching TV or sleeping in while they ran 3 MILES! What a fun, healthy sport for those students. It makes me smile.
~Aimee

Diet Starts Monday

"Diet Starts Monday," have you ever heard or said that? I've never been much of a "diet" person. I will just decide to "eat healthier" or "cut back on sweets". But I am going to have to do something! I can't stop eating. I don't even know if I am hungry anymore or if I am just eating because I am so used to it. I will start off with a good, healthy meal. Then I will crave sugar like crazy. For example, tonight I had a big, hearty salad for dinner with all the fixins. That normally does me in for the evening. But then I had some cookies, then some cereal, then an ice cream sandwich...later a peanut butter sandwich. This was after a day of eggs with toast, donut holes, frosted animal crackers, chips, pizza, dessert pizza, and a granola bar (you would have thought I was done by noon). We finally finished off Dustin's birthday treats which makes it easier not to feel the obligation to "get rid" of what is left. I bought him cheesecake the morning of his birthday since I didn't have time to make anything "homemade", later made him a rainbow chip cake, and had mom's chocolate chip cookies. It's just so tempting sitting around!
I'm not quite sure what to do. All I know is that it will be much easier to race if I don't pack on extra pounds a few weeks before the race. I never thought I would say this but, "Slow Down Metabolism!"

Oh What A Beautiful Morning...

The weather has been so nice for our runs lately! When we started our marathon training it was in the 90’s during the day so even running before the sunset was warm (in the 70’s). I normally complain during hot runs, but I think running in Jamaica’s 90 degree weather really prepped me because even the warmest days so far haven’t really bothered me. But, this past week the highs have dropped and we have had awesome morning running weather. It has been cool, not rainy, and low humidity. Perfect! I couldn’t ask for anything more than a nice run in sweet weather! I hope it continues!

The Marathon Gain

I always gain a little weight when I train for a marathon. It is something that I just come to expect, but while it is happening it is a bit annoying. I checked my weight right before we left for Jamaica which was a month ago. Yesterday I checked my weight and I had gained 6 LBS!!!!! Let me say it again, 6 LBS!!! How is that possible??? Well, I did take FULL advantage of the "all inclusive" part of our trip to Jamaica, but still. I don't think I could do that if I tried. It certainly wouldn't be healthy for me to lose 6 lbs in a month, so it doesn't seem healthy to gain that much. Dustin thinks it is muscle from the increase in miles. I don't feel like I have gotten fatter or am unhealthy but my loose pants are now fitting quite well (a good thing, I guess) and the scale doesn't lie. 6 lbs, that's like the size of a small baby! (no, I am NOT pregnant. It was just a comparison). Good Grief.

Fun Half-Marathon Training Run

Today was one of those runs that remind you why you love it so much. We had to run 13 which is approx. the distance of a half-marathon. When we run this distance we always joke about the fact that we ONLY have to do our 13 mile "long run" two times in order to equal our race distance. Right now 13 seems like a big accomplishment because pre-training we hadn't ran over 10 miles. In a few weeks, we will be begging to go back to only having to run 13. :) It's weird how your perspective changes.
Last night I told Dustin that I might not even be able to run today because of my failed attempt to run 4 miles yesterday (my knee starting hurting after a few yards). After yesterday's attempt to run, I walked a few miles, stationary biked for 25 minutes, and iced my knee a few times throughout the day. Even though I was skeptical, this morning I filled my hydration belt with expectations of completing 13 miles. I spent extra time warming up my knee. We started slow. I shortened my stride on every incline. We walked up the Kansas Expy bridge instead of chancing it. To my surprise I didn't feel any pain from my knee until mile 5! It never got to the point of needing to stop and, thank God, after a few miles the pain went away. It doesn't even feel sore right now! Even though it felt like we were running slow, I still ran only 30 seconds per mile slower than race pace (on long runs you are allowed 1-2 minutes per mile slower than race pace). It felt great. I know Dustin wanted to race ahead because it was about 1:30 per mile slower than his race pace, but he stayed with me the whole way. We had a good time talking and I really appreciated his company and support. It was a fun run!! Now time for an ice bath to get ready for Tuesday's run :)

First week of marathon training...

...and I'm already injured :). I somehow hurt my knee running up a hill on our 10 mile run Sunday. Now any bit of incline bothers it. On our tuesday 8 mile hill run, I ended up turning around and walking shortly after the first 2 miles. I was fine until I hit a hill. It's actually not my knee but the muscle/tendon/ligament area around and behind my knee. I guess I should say that I'm not really "injured", more hurting. Wednesday I spoke with a trainer and she said that my calves and hamstrings are really tight and gave me some stretches. It's funny actually. In high school I could do the "sit and reach" and reach a foot PAST my toes. Now I have a difficult time reaching my toes. I definitely have tightened up and need to stretch more often, maybe even bring back Yoga night. It just seems to be one more thing on the list of things to do before I go to bed: brush, rinse, and floss teeth to prevent current cavities from getting too deep and needing fillings (yuck!), wash my face and moisturize to prevent aging, take my hair down to prevent breakage, read my Bible study to connect with God (really important), lay out running clothes, golf clothes, and work clothes because I don't have ANY time in the morning after a run and I don't come home before 6:30pm, pack a lunch to avoid grabbing crap at school, catch up Mary Kay business so my customers feel taken care of, and now...do my stretches. Does anyone else have an hour bedtime routine??? Goodness! Oh well...I want to get better soon because I have been running really well (minus knees) and feeling really good. As Dustin said, this morning I still ran the race pace 6-miler under race pace time with having to stop 4 times to stretch my knee. I just want a magic wand to make it all better quickly :0) I need to learn patience and I guess increase my evening prep time.

Shout out to Dustin - it's his birthday. He is the hottest guy ever and the best husband in the world! I love you so much and I hope you enjoy every last bit of your 20's this year! XOXOX!

My Birthday

Today is my 29th Birthday! It is officially the last year of my 20's, but next year I will be the youngest in my racing age category (sweet). Maybe of few more top 3 finishes will be in sight. Aimee and I had a great 8 mile run with 6 at marathon pace this morning as we go through our first official week of training. This afternoon I am looking forward to a good round of golf with my dad.

In the meantime check out this video from Nike.

Dog vs. Skunk

Over the past week Aimee and I have been completing some early morning runs to beat the heat and get back into running early before we leave for school. And by early I mean waking up at 4:30 in the morning and running by 5:00. So, as you can imagine it is still dark. As we do on most runs, we brought along Marlie. Today we did the standard 5 mile run from our house to the South Creek Trail, around the pond at Nathanial Greene Park and back to the house. We have done this run so many times we could probably do it with our eyes closed and Marlie could probably complete it on his own too (unless the ducks distracted him). Typical morning: streetlights, headlights, stars, moon, chirping birds, and dark shadows over the sidewalk. You know how you can pass by the same thing everyday and never notice something about it until one day you are like, "hey, when did they do that" and someone with you says "like a couple months ago"? Well, today was one of those days.

So there we are running on the trail, about 1.5 miles in when I see a dark spot on the trail. No big deal. Marlie (not on leash at the time) goes to check it out. Dark spot moves, dark spot has white stripe down back, dark spot hisses, dark spot gets into attack position, Marlie continues to investigate. Problem! Dark spot is Skunk! Me (yelling): Marlie! Marlie: "hey buddie want to be friends"? Aimee: Dustin! Me: more yelling. Skunk: appears to aim spraying device at Marlie and moves at him. Marlie: continued investigation. Me: more yelling. Skunk: more aiming. Marlie: finally realized this is not a friend and moves away.

As the skunk runs off into the weeds, I ran down to my dog and begin to smell him. Luckily there is no smell and the skunk is gone. Thank goodness the skunk can aim about as good as Marlie can when he tries to pee on a tree (always misses). We continued on to the turnaround point another mile away and in the process saw 3 more skunks along the trail for a total of 4! Which leads me to wonder if it is mating season or have they always been there and I have never noticed them before? As for Marlie he lives to run another day unaware of the potential tomato juice bath that awaited him upon our return home.

put some FUN in your 3.1

So, this was my idea for the Washam 5K t-shirt. In case you don't know, don't speak metric, or have ask Aimee in the past a 5K is 3.1 miles (Aimee swears it is 3.2). It did not go over that well; Aimee did not think it was creative as I did. Oh well, guess we will keep searching for the best slogan to slap on this years shirt.

Speaking of the 5k, have you started training yet? Yeah I know its hot, BUT not at 6am. Yeah I know that's early, but then you're done for the day! AND, FYI..... my sister (yes Robyn) has started running several days a week for the past couple weeks! Who knew she had it in her? The Washam 5K will be her first race ever and she is ready to kick some butt! and maybe drink a little beer, but hey that's what the race is all about.

The race will be in 8 weeks (October 3) from this Saturday (August 8), and the following weekend (October 10) will be the ST. John's Sunshine Run in Downtown Springfield. Most 5K plans for beginners last 5 weeks, which means you could start on Monday, August 31st. Here is a direct link to a training plan on RunnersWorld.com When you are looking at the training plan X/T means "cross train" which could be any non-running activity (weights, bike, swim, elliptical).

Happy training and we look forward to seeing you at the second annual Washam 5K!

Yes, I was this close at the All-Star Game!