Conference, Fire...and A Little More Running

The view in Boulder now looks something like this:

A lightning strike today sparked the blaze they're calling the Flagstaff Fire. I first saw it driving down to Boulder to pick my kids up from preschool. The school is right on the side of the ridge just north of the one where the fire is. You can imagine my good driving manners went out the window a little. Please pray for the firefighters and the people whose homes are near there. My family is safe, but we know a lot of people who are probably facing evacuation.

It was a dramatic way to come home. I spent the weekend at a different kind of marathon, the American Library Association Annual Conference. This year it was in Anaheim, CA, right next to Disneyland, but alas there was no Magic Kingdom time for me. The days were packed with programs on topics like "Social Media in Libraries" and "Serving Underprivileged Library Customers," as well as discussions of ebooks and other hot topics. There was also a giant expo with publishers and other vendors who sell to us. Famous authors visit (George R.R. Martin spoke about the fantasy and science fiction genre), and other famous people who have written books turn up to sign copies (I saw Molly Ringwald of 80s movie fame; apparently she's written a book of short stories; the line was far too long for me to stand in).

Each night I retired to my cool, quiet hotel room and crashed. Other librarians partied far into the night. Yes, it's true! Librarians unleashed love to dance and cut loose.

I, of course, couldn't do that. Too much alcohol and too many late hours aren't compatible with my exercise addiction. I rose every morning of the four days I was there at 5:30 a.m. for my workouts, which included my second return-to-running session, this time on the hotel treadmill. While it wasn't as fun as running outdoors with Cynthia, it was still much more fun than the recumbent bike, and a definite confidence booster. Not such a confidence booster was the ALA-sponsored yoga class I attended on Sunday morning. My back was not pleased with all the forward folds or the quick flow of the sun salutations. No more yoga for me for a while.

This morning I went to Pilates with Patty (MUCH better than yoga) and followed it up with another treadmill run, this time increasing the running time to 35 minutes. I felt great, throwing in eight 30-second pickups and stretching well afterwards. My back is doing fine now, away from sitting in conference sessions and on airplanes and shuttle buses.

It was the first of THREE runs on my schedule for the week. I'm starting to add in a little running time on Saturdays, though it will continue to be supplemented by low-impact machines for at least a little while. Saturday will also be on the treadmill, but I will try to up the fun quotient by doing Friday's run outside (unless smoke moves into town, in which case...treadmill).

I apologize that I've been such a bad commentator on everyone's blogs. I'm going to play a little catch-up.

Stay tuned for a review of Scott Jurek's Eat & Run (amazing how much reading I get done on planes when the kids aren't around and there's no wi-fi to tempt me onto the Internet). Will Terzah go vegan? Doubtful....but Scott was more persuasive than I expected.....

My First Comeback Run!

Today I ran! Outside! For a little more than three miles! Here are eight seconds of video proof:



The video, taken during the first of eight strides I did mid-run, also gives you a good idea how I was feeling. It's not much of a stretch to say that this was better than any finish line I've experienced. A big part of it was that Cynthia joined me, bringing her confidence, her camera and her good humor (also her gadgets; I was watchless, having lost the Timex on a walk last month and having loaned the Garmin to Dan). Her presence made the run feel like a real celebration.

Everything's better with friends! Cynthia and me post-run.

It also helped that the run, while not pain-free, was nothing like the rusty slog I'd forced myself to envision because I'm a hope-for-the-best-prepare-for-worst type of person.

We arrived at a park called Golden Ponds at 8:30 a.m. The day was on its way to 100 degrees, and you could tell already as we started walking to get off the concrete before our first running steps. Egrets drifted on the pond surfaces, and at one point a great blue heron wafted up from the shore and flew to the opposite bank. I didn't care that it was hot. I didn't care that my tailbone spoke to me as we started running.

Graceful egret swimming

The first few steps felt a bit labored, but once I warmed to the rhythm, I realized that my legs, the raising of each knee, felt lighter to me than I remembered from earlier this year. It could be I was just overtrained at that point, but I prefer to think that this says something about my core muscles being stronger, doing more of the work expected of them than they were able to do before.

At the beginning of the run, legs feeling good. I wore my pink "Run" shirt from Kathy and my Brooks PureFlows.

Fifteen minutes into the run, we launched into strides, as Coach Darren had spelled out in my plan for today. We were supposed to do seven, but somehow I lost count and when Cynthia checked the data later she found we had done eight. Running faster felt wonderful. A breeze had picked up, and I pictured myself slicing through it like a knife through silk. On the last stride, I repeated "BQ by 40" in my head. Really, though, for this run I didn't think much about the Boston Marathon. I enjoyed this run for itself.

During a stride. Cynthia was nice to pause and take pictures.

After the strides we had about four minutes to cool down running slowly, and then we finished up the lap around the pond by walking. All told, it was a bit over three miles in 30 minutes. I'm not a demonstrative person, but I was elated with how this run went. My cardiovascular fitness is about as good as it could be given the lay-off from running and the tedium of the recumbent bike, and my legs didn't let me down at all. At the end, I felt hungry for more (my next run is on Friday).

Cynthia and I hugged and said goodbye at the cars. I wish we had had time to go out for a celebratory iced tea or coffee, but she had a work meeting to call into and I had a Pilates appointment. There wasn't a lot of time between arriving home and needing to leave again for that appointment, but my back and my left flank had started talking to me again on the walk to the cars. It wasn't much worse than I've felt on occasion post-Alter-G, but I wanted to nip it in the bud so I took some of my shower time to take a mini-ice bath and then drove down to Boulder with a package of peas stuck down my pants.

I think I am headed toward having a shot to finish off the inflammation, but I'm going to see how the month of bringing back running goes. At Pilates, Patty and I discovered that my IT bands and hamstrings are REALLY tight, much worse than I would have guessed. She gave me a new exercise called leg circles (mine are just like the "intermediate" ones in the link, where the model is using the band to help). This felt wonderful. And I'm going to attend Patty's class next week, so there's more Pilates in my future.

Today, though, was about one perfect run. It was about being outdoors, an understanding friend by my side, wind in the trees and on the water and the mountains above us like the beautiful but indifferent sentinels they are. It's a feeling I haven't had in too long.

Apologies to Maya Angelou, but this caged bird got to sing today.

Scott Jurek and the Food Question

Cynthia and I had a great time at the Scott Jurek book-signing event last Thursday. She's so much fun to chat with, and once we arrived at the party we both knew other people and were each able to meet someone new. Meeting other runners, especially local ones, always helps me feel more connected. You can see pictures and get a good summary of the event at her post.

After Scott's talk was finished, I attempted to win a pair of shoes from his sponsor, Brooks. They invited volunteers up onto the stage, where we were put through a series of what Scott called proprioception tests. The first test? Merely lifting one of your legs and balancing on the other foot. I don't know if it's that my confidence has been shaken by this back thing, or if it was because I was wearing clogs, or if it was because I was up on stage with a pair of running shoes at stake and lots of eyes out in the audience--but whatever it was I failed immediately, put my leg down and was the first player disqualified. Oh well. Reminders to continue doggedly with my core work are always welcome (and if I'm ever on Jeopardy someday, I hope I do better than that)!

The book itself will be my next read. I'm really curious how I will feel about it, because there is a lot about food in it. Scott is well-known for his vegan eating style. He thinks it's what made him the runner and the man he is today.

As a former vegetarian myself, and as someone who struggles to eat healthily for the sake of my running and my girlish figure (ha!), I have no problem with those who choose to eat vegan, or those who emphasize protein or carbs, or any other style of eating. There are vegetarians in my family, others who are committed meat eaters, and there are others who have to watch carefully what they ingest because of blood pressure and other issues. To me, it's all good--and none of my business really.

The only time other people's eating styles bug me is when it's implied that I need to eat their way too, or there's going to be some dire consequence for my body and, sometimes, for my soul. When that happens, discussions of food can drive me up a wall. There are very few things in this world that I think are black-and-white--and food choice isn't on that select list. I think you can be a good and healthful person who chooses for whatever reason not to eat animal products....and I also think you can be a good and healthful person who DOES eat animal products.

I'm really curious how Scott will come across on this topic. From his presentation and our brief meeting with him when he signed our books, he seems like an open and nice person who thinks of others and contributes his time to charitable causes. But I'm still a little wary, because there are a lot of over-the-top eating-style zealots in Boulder, and there's far too much obsession with food choices. If there was as much attention paid here to, say, homelessness and solving our issues with that as there is to food choices, we would have much less of a problem with homelessness.

I put myself in this category, too. I think about food and body issues far too much. Really, in the great scheme of things, my eating is fine. I have enough money for food, I'm not overweight, underweight, or a frequent patron of fast-food joints, and I try to keep animal welfare in mind when I buy poultry and dairy products. I, too, should refocus the unnecessary attention I pay to food and drink on those with real troubles.

What do you think about the food thing? Do you think we rich types (and yes we are rich compared to the person holding a sign on the corner and/or using the local soup kitchen) obsess too much about food? Do you share my opinion that any eating style can be healthful and ethical?

7 Randoms, 5 Things I'm Loving and 5 Days Until Tuesday

Countdown to my return to running: T minus five days, and tick tick tick.....

Beth over at Shut Up + Run recently posted five things she's loving and invited others to do the same. I'm not good with product reviews (my motto with gear is, if it's cheap and serviceable, I'll use it, and I have no brand loyalty), but there actually are a few items I want to mention this time.

I'll start with something decidedly non-commercial.

1. Girlfriend time!

If you've been reading this blog for a while, you know that my weekly hikes up Boulder's Mt. Sanitas with my friend Christine were a fixture for a long time. We never ran, but we'd try to get a little higher each week, until a sick kid, or a sick one of us, or a trip, or the busyness of life set us back. But we'd just start trying again, having lots of laughs on the way up and down for one fun hour at dawn every week.

Well, she moved south of Boulder and I moved north of Boulder, and it's gotten more difficult to meet up. But I'm happy to say we managed it this morning. It was beautiful, despite the smoke that blew in toward the end from the horrific High Park Fire (now over 50,000 acres and counting--please pray for those affected).

Christine and me at sunrise!

That's Green Mountain to the south, where Dan and I hiked on our anniversary. The sky was lovely and blue until the smoke came in.

That's not all the girlfriend time on tap for today, however. Tonight Cynthia and I are going to see this guy:

Scott Jurek; thanks to womentalksports.com for the photo

He's doing a Q&A and signing copies of his new book Eat and Run in Boulder tonight. Cynthia's bringing her camera, so there may even be photos to prove we were there, next to his fat-free endurance god goodness. Maybe some of it will rub off (I have to say, though I was vegetarian for a few years, I don't think I'll ever be talked into being vegan--I just like dairy too much).

2. My new trail shoes:

Mizuno Wave Ascend 6

As a "pioneer" member of Mizuno Running USA's Mezamashii Project, I got to choose a pair of any Mizuno shoes I wanted for free. A huge lucky break!!

After my trip up Green Mountain with Dan on our anniversary, which featured a couple of falls on the loose gravel of the descent, I decided I needed some real trail shoes. Since I'm not running yet, I haven't been able to take them for a real test drive. But I did wear them on one of my Alter-G runs and I wore them up Sanitas this morning. The Sanitas trail is just as steep in spots as Green Mountain--and I did not slip once (notice the tire-like tread on these babies?). My back and I were both exultant about this.

I haven't decided if I'll be wearing these or my Brooks Pure Flows for Tuesday's return to running. It's on a gravel path, but it's so flat that it hardly qualifies as a trail. We'll see.

3. The American Library Association Annual Conference in Anaheim. The big library love-fest is next week, and I get to go. For five days it will be me and thousands of other librarians and guy-brarians (the affectionate name for that rare beast, the male librarian), mingling in all our geeky glory. These conferences are intense, but I'm hoping to get some early morning runs in while I'm there.

4. Green smoothies. The Green Smoothie Challenge is going great for me. Almost halfway through the month, I haven't missed a day, and I'm all stocked up on packets of Vega One for the conference trip next week.

A couple of things I've learned about making smoothies: having crushed ice really helps the consistency and pleasure factor of the smoothie; you really don't taste the spinach at all; and to blend best, put your greens powder, ice, almond milk and banana in first, then put the spinach on top of them (at least, that works best for my clunky old blender).

5. This book:

I'm not normally much of a mystery reader, nor have I ever read Jane Austen fan fiction (because, let's be honest here, 99.8% of all fan fiction sucks), but I'm enjoying this one.

Moving on to another list......

Earlier this month Michelle at average girl doing average things tagged me with the One Lovely Blogger award. Since I think I was at the end of the line on this, I won't post the rules or the logo or tag anyone else (though you should consider yourself tagged if you haven't been!).

What I will do is tell you seven random things that have nothing to do with physical therapy!

1. I wanted to be an astronaut for a little while when I was a kid. Then I found out that it would probably be really hard to be an astronaut with motion sickness issues. Since I start feeling sick in the back seat of a car in about, oh, 20 seconds, I changed my mind about my career path.

2. My maiden name is Ewing. I love the name, but I suffered through multiple references to the 80s show Dallas as a kid. Now that they are bringing the show back, I'm not regretting my decision to take Dan's last name (not that I regretted it anyway, but you know what I mean).

3. I'm hoping someday to do some fell running in the U.K. I dream about this kind of terrain and weather when it's especially hot and dry here. (Speaking of motion sickness, the video made me a little dizzy.....)

4. My daughter currently wants to be a boy (specifically, she wants to be Luke Skywalker) and my son has been known to play with Barbies. It cracks me up. I guess if they switched, I'd still have a boy and a girl, right?

5. My favorite breed of dog is the greyhound. Does anyone know if people with allergies can live with them? My husband and son are both allergic to dogs. Not can't-breathe-hives allergic, but red-eyed-sneezy allergic.

6. My spate of not taking crap from rude library patrons continued the other night. A particularly officious female patron with whom we've been dealing for a long time needed to go down to the circulation desk for an issue she was having with a hold on a book. She sniffed, "I am NOT going back down those stairs." To which I replied, "Well, you'll have to if you want to leave." (People are so lazy about the stairs there. I'm not talking about the disabled or moms with strollers or people who really need the elevator. I'm talking about the majority of the able-bodied, who should use the stairs because they're better for you.)

7. Dan and I are trying to decide if our kids, at 5 1/2, are old enough to fly on their own to see their grandma. It's a one hour flight. We can take them all the way to the gate, and my mom can meet them at the gate on the other end. Will wants to do it. Ruthie's not sure. My mom is game, and my sister is there if she needs help.

Do you think a pair of 5.5-year-old twins can handle a one-hour flight on their own (one of their classmates recently flew alone to see her aunt in Washington D.C.)? Could you ever be vegan? Any other Mezamashii/Mizuno free-shoe recipients out there?