Gear check: Cash in

I came home from work last to find another package on my doorstep. Well, it was actually at the foot of the stairs where Mark moved it but you know what I'm getting it. It was another friggin' package and the worst part was that I couldn't imagine what it could be.

"What did I sign up for this time?" I thought.

As much as I love trying new gear, doing reviews and, best of all, offering giveaways, it can be a bit overwhelming and a smidge disingenuous. It's easy to think that one would like anything or support it if it was free. A blogger is bound to love a dirt-tasting cookie if it has chia seeds, flax and PB2. (Note: Read Kim's insightful post here about blogger-company relationships.)

For the record, I do not like all free things. If you were to give me a 10,000-calorie chocolate chip cookie right this second, I would throw it at  you and tell you that I loathe free cookies and all that sugar. 

It can also be easy for one to think that bigger bloggers get everything for free and don't have to drop a dime on fuel, clothing or gear. Seeing as I am not a big blogger, I have to open my wallet and pay for the things that I want. Sometimes, I'm happy with my purchases. Other times, I'm not.

But usually I don't spend money on things I won't like. And here's what I'm liking ...

Lug Life Puddle Jumper. After my first session teaching the circuit class - going from work to work, I guess - I decided it was time to invest in a nice gym bag. I looked around at various sites and was astounded by how expensive even an Under Armour duffel can be. With a little searching, I came across the Lug Life Puddle Jumper. It has a ton of zipper pouches, pockets and ample storage. My favorite feature is a separate shoe storage area. While it does take up room in the main part of the bag, there's a mesh to let the sneakers air out and keeps sweaty clothes from making them worse. I also like that there's handles and an adjustable shoulder strap for carrying convenience. It can be a bit pricey but I found my on Amazon via Wayfair for $60-ish, about the same as a name-brand bag.

Fila Cheeath Capri. I picked these up the other week at Kohl's for $24 (before 30 percent off coupon) because they were fun without being outrageous. I wasn't sure how I'd like the fit but I've worn them for running, BODYPUMP and Piloxing, and I have not one complaint. They don't sag like my oh-so-pricey lululemon capris, the waistband is wide enough that it doesn't create muffin top and the pattern doesn't look stretched. The pants really make me want to go back for the blue animal print capris.

Nike Free TR Fit. I'm pretty sure I've talked about these shoes but this style is my absolute favorite for cross-training. I have two pairs in rotation and love the functionality + fashion.

SPIbelt. I got mine when I was training for the Columbus Marathon. I've worn it for two races and countless training runs, and I can't imagine not having it. It's comfy, doesn't shift and is adjustable. I carry pepper spray, Clif Shot Bloks and a key in there and barely realize it's there. Well, except when it bunches my shirt and catch a breeze but I'm sure that's more of a user error than a design flaw. I have the Original SPIbelt in the polka dot print and totally want to add the race number toggles.

Yurbuds. And for the token "I am not sold" piece of gear. Mark bought me a pair of Ironman Yurbuds (these?), which are unisex, on a pilgrimage to REI. He knew I was in the market for a better earbud as I spent more time on the treadmill and had heard me mention Yurbuds. It was super sweet of him, and I was really excited at the thought and his good taste. The Yurbuds have been great for lower impact exercises, like the indoor bike when we had the trial Y membership, but I do have some problems on the treadmill. The right bud just doesn't want to stay secure. When I stop to take it out, wipe it off and readjust, I can't get it to feel the same. I wonder if I need the women-specific model? I will say that the sound quality is amazing. After wearing them for some time and then going sans buds, I was a bit jarred to hear just how loud our treadmill is. It's truly a miracle that no one wakes up when I'm literally pounding out miles.

What gear have you bought lately that you like?

Three Things Thursday: Try me, maybe?

Taper. I'm terrible at it.

I'm nine days out from Run the Bluegrass and rather than scaling back my mileage, I keep thinking of ways to add more exercise to the week. Seriously, I was running on the treadmill this morning and I was all like, "I could get up at 5:30 a.m. tomorrow, run 3 or 4 miles and still have enough energy to try Piloxing before work."

The workout on the Train Like A Mother plan? Three miles OR cross-train. Womp, womp.

I think I might be feeling thrown off because I punked out on my Monday recovery run but I'm also realizing that my goal race isn't so far away. Six weeks separate me and the Wisconsin start line, and I want to get there knowing I put in the work, the miles and the heart.

But I also want to get to Lexington with healthy legs.

In order to do that, I do need to abide by the taper (sort of) but I can can make some plans and a few changes to build my game.

1. Work on my core. I'll do bicep curls and squats till the cows come home but ask me to do a plank and I get all whiny. I do get in some core work with BODYPUMP but it doesn't get the attention I think it deserves - especially since I know that a strong core could come in handy during Wisconsin. I would like to make more of an effort to strengthen my center in the next six weeks, so I opted to borrow Jillian Michaels' "Killer Abs" from the library. I am not making any promises that I'll do it as regularly as should but it's the thought that counts.

2. Cut out or limit sweeteners. I did so well with the Dr. Fuhrman's Healthy Holiday Challenge between Thanksgiving and Christmas but once Santa came a ho-ho-hoing, the wheels fell off the bus. I've tried with varying success to rein in my sugar consumption but still feel frustrated with the crap calories I'm eating. Last night - after a day that included orange poppy seed loaf, Chips Ahoy thin crisps and a homemade chocolate chip cookie bar - I decided that I needed to stop letting cravings control me. I wrote three goals for today on a sheet of paper and the first was no sweeteners other than natural fruit. (The other two? Run 5 miles and eat 4-5 servings of vegetables.) I'm going to take this sugar attack day-by-day but I'm hoping to feel strong and lean by May 4.

3. Ummm, I totally had a third one when I decided to write this post. I swear I did. I wonder if it was eat more chia seeds? I just ate some lackluster oatmeal and actually missed those flavorless little things. I was going to go to the co-op to pick up some from the bulk bins but went to the library instead to grab "Killer Abs."

Hmph.

For fun: Miles began his singing career with "Wheels on the Bus" and has recently added "It's Raining, It's Pouring" to his set list. This kid cracks me up!

The revolving belt: Tips for getting faster on treadmill

I used to be an outside-only kind of runner. It was, in part, because I felt like I had to run outside to be a real runner and, in part, because I had limited access to a treadmill.

Then I moved into a house, got a hand-me-down treadmill, had a baby and lived through (hopefully) one of the coldest winters in recent memory. Running indoors not only became an option but a necessity at times. 

Even still, I didn't love it. I felt trapped, lethargic and slow. My pace indoors didn't come close to what it was outside, often times 30 seconds to a minute slower. I bemoaned the stats as I put them in and compared them with other outings, the ones outdoors. I feared that those slower numbers would be more and more common. I feared that the treadmill would suck the runner right out of me.

Logging more than 100 miles on the revolving belt this winter, however, I have learned to accept my situation. Sure, I'd give anything for a leisurely run in shorts with a slight breeze at dawn, catching the sun rise but I no longer bemoan it's existence. I head down the basement steps at 5 a.m.once or twice a week, sans griping, prepared to tackle whatever miles I have on deck. I listen to music, watch Netflix, spit on the floor (sometimes hitting the dog who's lapping up water).

And somewhere in this acceptance, I've seen some progress.

On Feb. 21, 2012, my last treadmill run of the season, I did 3.75 miles, including four 800 intervals. I did it in 36 minutes, 16 seconds - an average pace of 10:28.

On Nov. 15, 2012, one of my first this winter, I ran 3 miles in 32 minutes, 25 seconds - 10:48 pace.

On March 19, 2013, and sadly probably not my last treadmill run, I did a progression run of 5 miles in 46 minutes, 45 seconds - a 9:21 pace.

Don't you just love the benefits to keeping somewhat-meticulous logs of your runs?

So what was the trick, you ask? I'd have to say that it was finally losing the last 5 pounds, doing genealogy research that uncovered I am part Kenyan and a fancy new pair of shoes.

Or not.

Here are my tips for improving treadmill speed:

Accept that it won't be the same. So don't try to make it the same. Whether you are faster on the treadmill or slower or you hate looking at the peeling paint on the basement wall, take it for what it is and be glad for time on your feet.

Learn to be uncomfortable. Running doesn't always feel good and it's even more relevant in treadmill running. The air can often feel stagnant, there's no breeze and you're often in air that's warmer than you'll see till mid-summer. Sweat will roll down into your eyes and your breathing will feel off. It won't feel good. But it's no excuse to make a run on the treadmill easy, keeping the speed far below your capabilities. Remember, too, that running outside doesn't always feel good so take it for what it is and suck it up, buttercup.

Check conversion charts to see what you should be running. When I first started trying to run - a failed attempt at C25K - I thought 6.0 was super fast because that's the speed Mark would start at when he ran at the YMCA. As for the girl who ran in bum shorts and doing so at 7.0, she was an elite for all I knew as that speed terrified me. I now know that 6.0 is a 10-minute mile and 7.0 is an 8:34 - what 3-year-old Kenyans run for fun. Checking a conversion chart reveals that the oh-so-scary 7.0 pace is my 10K pace and what I want to do for certain workouts. I also know that 6.4 is what I want to average to hit an unofficial, unspoken threshold.

Be consistent. The more you run, the better you become. It goes for running outside and it goes for running indoors. I'm not saying to skip your outdoor runs - those are key - but if it comes to the treadmill or nothing, go for the treadmill. I have continued to run four, even five, days a week this winter by sucking it up and running on the treadmill.

But switch it up. I never just turn on the treadmill, crank it up to a certain speed and stay there. Rather, I warm up for a mile and try to perform a somewhat deliberate workout. Sometimes I try to run each quarter-mile faster and reset at the mile marker (ex: 6.1, 6.2, 6.3, 6.4; 6.1, 6.2, 6.3, 6.4 ...) or run 0.4 mile at a reasonable rate and 0.1 hard. And, of course, you can always go the hilly route. Adding in intervals not only builds speed and fitness but lets your body become acquainted with certain speeds so that when you try to hold them for a longer period, they don't seem so intimidating or hard.

If you do what you've always done, you'll be who you always were. OK, I'm not so sure that's how that phrase goes but it sort of works in this situation. If you always hop on the treadmill and press 6.0, you are always going to run 10-minute miles. For the longest time, my warm-up on the treadmill was the same. I'd start at 5.5, bumping it up to 5.7 in the first five minutes. At the five-minute mark, I turned it up to 6.0 and I averaged about a 10:15, 10:20 first mile. I ended up spending much of the run trying to make up time to bring my average pace under 10. I realized that I no longer needed to ease that gently into a run. My warm-up is now 6.1 from the start, and I feel just fine. It makes averaging a faster pace less of a challenge because I don't have to make up for being a weenie.

And we all know that runners are not weenies.

What are your treadmill tips? Share them here and I'll put them together in a future post.

Spring Training: Week 11

Spring Training posts document my training for the Run the Bluegrass Half Marathon on March 30 and my "A" race, the Wisconsin Marathon half, on May 4.

The week, in training:

Monday: TurboFire Stretch 40 + 4 miles
Tuesday: 5 miles + BODYPUMP (taught)
Wednesday: Rest
Thursday: 4 miles + BODYPUMP 85 (at home)
Friday: 5.35 miles
Saturday: BODYPUMP (taught)
Sunday: 11.85 miles, long

◊ ◊ ◊

Run the Bluegrass is the fifth half-marathon that I trained for and will be my sixth 13.1 (I ran the Indianapolis Women's Half in September as part of marathon training). While those numbers still put me on the novice side, I can tell you I have learned one thing. One thing that will be true from training cycle to training cycle.

That truth? The last "real" long run will suck. And suck hard. 

It is my belief that the running gods feel the need to scoop up any doubt about a particular training cycle, form it into a ball and roll it down a giant hill, allowing it to gain incredible momentum. Enough to knock you right on your ass. The running gods want you to know that even though you've logged hundreds of miles, consumed your weight in carbs and finally feel strong, that you are not invincible.

The memory of my last long run for the 2010 Flying Pig half marathon is crystal clear. Every long then was a personal distance record, and the miles seemed overwhelming. Mark and I were nearing the 10.5-mile marker, and I just wanted to be home. But as we turned the corner to the street that would take us there, my calf seized up. I couldn't walk a step much less run one. I stopped to stretch and as I leaned over, the tears began to roll down my cheeks. I told Mark to go one without me, that I'd never be able to run 13.1. Mark believed otherwise, encouraged me to keep moving forward, and I hobbled the rest of the way. 

While my run on Sunday wasn't as dramatic, it was just as knock-you-on-your-ass. The weather was less than desirable though definitely not the worst I've seen this winter. And, yes, I said winter because those pesky running gods have failed to tell Mother Nature that it is March and time for spring. It was high 20s, or just at 30, and windy - just below my threshold for taking out Miles. But the little bugger was begging to go outside so we put him in snow pants, coat, gloves, hat and extra socks and decided to do a family loop before I finished up.

I wasn't particularly enthusiastic in the early part of that loop. There were lots of stops and starts - Miles kicking off his shoes, traffic on the way to the park, Denali's collar jacked - and I wasn't able to hit my groove once we were on the greenway. Mark and I strode in silence, which is never a good sign, only letting out grunts as we fought the wind. I tried to stay "in it" but as we closed in on home, all I could think was that it would be so nice to be done.

At which point Miles decided that he was no longer enjoying the run and began screaming. I told myself that my 8 remaining miles might suck but they'd be scream free. The inherent mother runner motivation.

Quiet though the miles were, they were unpleasant. I got temporarily mislocated in a confusing subdivision, finding myself on unfamiliar roads without sidewalks and drivers accustomed to seeing runners. I spent a good mile or two freaking out that I was going to be hit by a car or forced into a 14-mile long run that would incite panic in Mark when I didn't return in time. I eventually got my bearings and going in the right direction, a direction that happened to be into the wind. For four miles, the wind whipped around me and I cursed with every gust. 

And then, at mile 10, 10.25, I saw a police car sitting in the park. I knew I had a mile and a half to get home, farther if I wanted to hit 12, but the idea of being in the cold for another 15 minutes seemed like torture. I was sure that I could run up to the cruiser and kindly ask the officer to take me home. Or at least let me call Mark and request a pick-up. Of course, it would have taken 5 minutes to request the use of a phone/make the call, Mark a good 5 minutes to get Miles packed up and another 5 to get to the park. So 15 minutes. 

The time it would take for me to get home.

So that's what I did. I ran home. It was slow. Ugly. And 0.15 mile shy of the 12 I was aiming for. But, it was 8 more than I almost ran and brought me to the elusive 30-mile week, proving that finishing is winning.

Get into gear: LOCK LACES review

The coulda, shoulda, woulda, oh fig it moments. We've all had them - in life and in running.

When I was interviewing the too-amazing Beth Schrader last month and just chatting about running, we talked about getting into a groove and how the clock doesn't stop during a race. Event directors don't pause it, the way one can a Garmin, for potty breaks, a drink of water or to unzip the SPIbelt for a chew. Learning to run "straight" can be an important part of training as to simulate that aspect of a race, especially if you are going for a time goal.

But running straight can only get you so far if you don't double-knot your shoes.

I shared with Beth the story of my half-marathon PR (which is nearly 2.5 years old). I finished in 1:54:12 at the 2010 Fort4Fitness but I wonder what my real time was as I stopped just shy of the 4-mile mark to tie my shoes. I'm certain that I could have had a 1:53:XX finish had I prepped a little bit better.

Coulda, shoulda, woulda, oh fig it.

Of course, the way I look at it now is that those seconds are just ones I don't have to try to shave off when I try to run hard at Wisconsin in May. Mrs. Brightside, right here. Just got to learn from the mistake and not make it again.

I was recently given the opportunity to try LOCK LACES, an elastic lace and shoe fastening system that makes bunny ears and double knots obsolete.They come in 13 vibrant colors, and the company has the best. slogan. ever. Win. Never Tie.

About LOCK LACES:

LOCK LACES™ is the only patented performance lacing system engineered to meet the demands of endurance athletes such as runners, triathletes, marathoners, and walkers. Also ideal for those who have difficulty tying their own shoes, LOCK LACES™ are popular with kids, seniors and individuals with special needs. LOCK LACES™ is a national sponsor of both the Special Olympics Healthy Athletes Fit Feet Program and The Challenged Athletes National Triathlon.

I was sent three pairs to try out - pink, blue and black. I only have two pairs of shoes so ... totally means I need a new pair. Right? Right!

Anyway, I decided to try the pink laces in my Lunar Flys, which I wear for shorter or faster runs. I took the laces out of the package, and I have to admit that I was a bit flummoxed as to how to lace the shoe. The directions on the package are clear but abbreviated and it was early. I found it better to look on the website and watch a video on YouTube and once I saw it done, I was laced up and ready to go in a few minutes.

I wasn't sure how I'd like the LOCK LACES as the clip doesn't secure to the shoe or lace and I was certain that I was going to feel like my shoe was going to fall off. I started the run a bit trepidatiously, wanting to be diligent and notice anything that felt off or uncomfortable. After a half-mile, I realized that the laces were doing their job, felt secure and I could just go. Like a cheetah. Or girl in a cheetah skirt.

I've been wearing the laces exclusively for two weeks now, and I definitely like them. My shoes feel secure and there is no annoyance with feeling a lace slowly loosen and become untied. I do advise to follow directions (imagine that) and lace the shoe with it on your foot. When I put the laces in my long run shoes, I didn't heed this advice and the laces felt tight. I was also a bit conservative and left more slack than recommended when trimming the laces. Doing so leads to a little more bounce than desired, and I went back to trim off another quarter- to half-inch.

My only real complaint is that it seems you would have to buy a new pair of laces every time you get a new pair of shoes as you have to trim the ends of the elastic and I don't see how it would thread through. But, at $7.99 a pair (or three for $19.99), it's not a huge cost and as the laces can be bought in stores, you can just tack it on with the cost of the shoe. Plus, there's a ton of fun colors, and it would be a great way to sass up shoes that don't come in fun colors (looking at you, Nike Structure).

But for the real question: Would I actually buy them? With my own money? Probably. I think they are nice to have - but not necessary - and I like the security of not having to tie my shoe laces. For someone who is going out for a PR or doing a triathlon where every second counts (thinking transition on the tri), it's a worthwhile purchase. If only for the sake of removing one last coulda, shoulda, woulda, oh fig it.