Mad Manatees 2015.4 CLOSED (or Poptart/pet pic ticket) (Page 44)

I think that where I get stuck is that there are two elements within "what makes me happy" when it comes to running and they contradict one another a bit, one is the pure joy of doing it and the other is pushing myself to, as you say, be the best me. To push myself to be the best me, I have to sacrifice a little of that joy (IE executing a challenging workout a couple times a week.) 

And I am sure this is true of everyone. We are all in this because we enjoy it (or I hope so!) but we also all need to push ourselves, too. And while satisfying (particularly afterward) it's not always pure joy. 

If it were up to me and I could be my best me by meandering around in the mountains every day, I totally would! 

I think you are saying that balance is the key. It seems to be one of the pieces of advice we all give, yet finding the balance is a challenge for most of us. I believe this is because we look at balance in the context of a week or a month.  ie, "sacrifice a little of that joy" vs "meandering around in the mountains every day".  I'm beginning to think that balance is a life long thing.  I give you example one, DubSix.  In 1987, I started down what I thought was my lifetime work path, which was restaurant ownership.  A good choice at the time, as it afforded me a few things in life, yet took away a few others. 12 years later, I wanted a different type of life, so we sold our half of the business, moved back to Florida from LI and began working in IT in the financial industry.  A completely different life, one that afforded me completely different opportunities.  And, those 2 choices have given my life more balance, due to perspective.  My point is that life affords us each different opportunities, and while I am not in favor of floating through life like a leaf on the breeze, I do believe that taking advantage of some of those changes leads to more internal balance through understanding of ourselves.  Were I you, I would be grateful for the experiences you've had road racing, Cross Country racing, and being a member of the team, but be open to the pull of something new.  Easy for me to say, yet so much harder to do when we dial in things like emotions and such.

And who is to say what we should be pushing ourselves with anyway?   Should we push to become more in tune to the world around us, push ourselves to be better runners, push ourselves to be better leaders or employees or whatever happens to be in our world at that moment?  Remember that the only constant in life is change and if we are not willing to change, then we atrophy.  And that is not good, not as runners, but even more so, not as people.

One of the items in your toolbox that I admire is your ability to think along with your willingness to push, ask, listen and adjust.  Don't overthink it all, but think it through. And have fun with the process, because in the end, what is life but a process of going from one place to another?

45' on the recumbent at the gym tonight!

Originally posted by Asalzwed

Originally posted by rrrunner

Originally posted by 4agoodlife

Originally posted by rrrunner

Originally posted by 4agoodlife Jumping in for quick question... anyone tried Brooks Pure Grit trail shoes? I think a pair may be on its way to my house. Catching up with you chatterboxes later.

That's what I've been using for my long trail runs. Love them

Woohoo! They look so much smaller and yet more aggressive...30 days back with LRS, so thought I'd try. Cascadia 10s felt good, but curious about something different.

I'll be in Phoenix tomorrow but, as usual, a whirlwind trip. In tomorrow evening and out Friday afternoon. I'm going to try for a run around Tempe Town Lake tomorrow evening after I land.

I would say they are much less aggressive than the Cascadias. Just less shoe really and meant more as a more hybrid shoe, yet a little further on the trail side than the Cascadias. 

In addition to just being more shoe and traction, the Cascadia is also much more stiff. The Grit, like it's other Pure counterparts, tend to be very flexible (which I really love in a shoe) 

Finally, the Cascadia 9 and 10 seem to have a major defects and wear issues. Someone told me that and I discarded the comment then sure enough, I wore right though them. Brooks did replace my 9s with the 10 but I have heard the same thing about the 10 (although have yet to witness it, the shoes don't have many miles yet)

 Aggressive looking

     vs aggressive looking

I know...It's weird that this was actually in my head while I was looking at them  The flex and mid-foot support drew me, and I was surprised at how cushioned they felt for being less shoe. Hopefully I get to try them out this weekend.  I tried on the 10s, and my feet snuggled in happily. However, I figured I can sate my curiosity, and go back if I want.  Thanks for the info on the 9 and 10 (possibly)!

Originally posted by rrrunner

Originally posted by 4agoodlife

Originally posted by rrrunner

Originally posted by 4agoodlife Jumping in for quick question... anyone tried Brooks Pure Grit trail shoes? I think a pair may be on its way to my house. Catching up with you chatterboxes later.

That's what I've been using for my long trail runs. Love them

Woohoo! They look so much smaller and yet more aggressive...30 days back with LRS, so thought I'd try. Cascadia 10s felt good, but curious about something different.

I'll be in Phoenix tomorrow but, as usual, a whirlwind trip. In tomorrow evening and out Friday afternoon. I'm going to try for a run around Tempe Town Lake tomorrow evening after I land.

Anything to do with a recent raid?

Bring your "winter wear". It's down in the 40/50 range. FREEZING!  (Actually below 30 the last couple of mornings. lol)

Bummer on the whirlwind.   I do see In N Out in your future though.

Originally posted by melbo55

Originally posted by rrrunner

Well I guess I'm commited (or should be commited):

Order Number: 718871 - Monday Nov. 30, 2015 9:27 AM

Terresa Lato
Rio Rancho, NM
Gender:F Age:48

Behind the Rocks Ultra 50K - Registration April 2, 2016

WOW!!!!  Exciting and a bit scary, I'm sure!  The scary part means you've chosen an apt challenge 

Just remember this from Mad Moose Events:

" While running on the Hunter Canyon Rim Trail, please be aware of where you step so that you are sure to stay off of the Cryptobiotic Crust"  (sorry. it just rolls off the tongue  

It looks like an fantastic event!

I'm all over the place as I skim through 5 pages...

Mary G- thank you for the Thanksgiving story!

Mary S- I couldn't read it. Literally. Couldn't. Do. It.

Randee- "beep! beep!"

Ben- good news on staples out and getting that long on recumbent already

Woo hoo! 

There is also the fact that pushing your self could mean many things.

• speed
• distance
• vertical/ascent
• multi-day (PCT, Appalachian Trail)
• leadership - maybe do more with Stoop or organizations like Girls on the Run
• new experiences - some sort of 50 states thing.  I'm sure that there is a 14er group.

x2, this is really good to see!!!

Adding my woo hoo too! :D 

That's great!

With this, a new concern has been growing in that the sling may become a bit ... funky. Trying to remember various ways to address this in our gear as I still need to wear this thing everywhere..

Therapist* this morning doesn't think it will become an issue as he's thinking I should be out of it within a few weeks. Only thinking recovery type effort level now, but that's still more power output than most would do. To give a reference point, the IF for my recovery rides has been 0.45-0.50. IM pacing and easy effort riding are both around 0.60-0.75, so a notable amount less. The power output is still 150-160 which can still bump the heat production just a little.

*- Every time now

Melanie told me to buy some hockey equipment defunker -- 2Toms Stink Free.  That seemed to do the trick.  (Melanie, please confirm.)

Really excellent stuff you guys. Lots of stuff to think about for sure! 

And interesting comments on coaching too, something else I am  considering. There are certainly pros and cons. I seem to do pretty well solo and don't struggle TOO much with motivation. I also hate when people go out too fast or race workouts, further building a good case for solo workouts/coashing. Probably the biggest cons for me are finding someone I can really trust and finding someone that I think can do a better job than I can. I feel I have a really good understanding of myself, what I can handle etc. I think I would need someone who is very good at what they can do and can see things I can't. And like I said, I would really need to trust someone a lot to let them override my guts...ya know? 

Again, lots to ponder.

In the meantime, to inject some speed into the time before marathon training starts I am doing the New Balance Winter Grand Prix, a series of races that alternate between road, track and xc. Additionally, I am doing a first Friday hill climb time trial. So, fun stuff!

Here is a sunset from my backyard last week.  It was stunning.

(Sunset.jpg)

Steve gets my vote for best backyard!!!

That's amazing!

The idea of twice that for half that comes up every now and then.

There was regular treadmill usage back at my fastest running a couple years ago. What do I need to accomplish with each run and how is it best to accomplish that?

I'm working with someone that I met through my tri club for Chattanooga and we'll see how that goes.

Racing Manatees!!!

December 5-6
Ann-Marie - OUC HM
Adrienne - New Balance Winter Grand Prix Road Race on Saturday
Janyne - Jingle Bell 5k on Saturday
Yanti - Ironman W Australia on Sunday

Disabled List
Mary - post-concussion syndrome
Lisa - broken ankle on the mend, two more weeks of the boot.
Ben - clavical.  still in sling prison but released for some activity