I'm back and I'm on a mission

So maybe you hadn't noticed, but it's been a while since my last post. In the past 8 months, I've been a little busy. I've run a ton, training for races varying from 1 mile to 26.2; I got hitched; I traveled; I worked; I continued my non-stop (yet favorite) role of being a mommy; and so on. That said, we're all busy, so my excuses will stop here.

It's a good cause that prompted me revisit my abandoned blog. On July 21, I will run the St. Jude East Peoria to Peoria Run for the second year. The run is one of many satellite runs in Central Illinois that day. Participants run to the Peoria Civic Center prior to the annual St. Jude Telethon from many local cities, St. Louis, Chicago and even from the St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital in Memphis. Every participant is running for the kids of St. Jude.  For more details, you can visit my fundraising page (and donate if you feel so inclined).

I'm very thankful to have a healthy six-year-old son. But it's comforting to know that a place like St. Jude is there if ever needed. It costs $1.7 million to run the hospital for just one day and is mostly funded by contributions. Despite this, no family is turned away regardless of their ability to pay. Not convinced that St. Jude is an awesome, amazing place? Check out a few other quick facts.

As a fundraiser, the wonderful people at Bondi Bands are allowing me to sell those famous bands again. I had a lot of success with this fundraiser last year and am excited to offer them as a way to raise money for the kids of St. Jude for the second year. They're the perfect accessory for any running outfit and they keep the sweat and hair out of your eyes. So without further ado, here are the Bondi Bands.

All of the Bondi Bands shown here are moisture-wicking. They're great for a run, a gym workout, yoga, a trip to the grocery store, a bad hair day, lounging around the house and so much more. Pricing this year is the same as last year at $10 for 1 band, $18 for 2 and $25 for 3. This includes shipping. For questions on colors, sayings, designs or to place an order, please email me at hrichrath@hotmail.com. Thanks so much!!!

Marathon Thoughts

A little mental preparation for the marathon ...

It's Monday ...

Well, it's Monday again, and I have the perfect motivation to help get rid of that zero miles/week lingering on my Daily Mile page. Last week, I interviewed and wrote a story about two local ultramarathon runners. These guys are fathers, work full-time jobs, are active church members and still find the time to fit in the occasional 100-mile race. So while I stress about squeezing in a long run here and there to prepare for 26.2, I'll try and remember the story of these two amazing local runners. Hope you enjoy!!

To get my booty out there ...

In honor of recently signing up for the Grand Rapids Marathon, I'm going to start doing "Motivational Mondays." Each Monday I'll post some sort of motivation (whether it be a quote, a photo, a story ... ) to help keep me going. It won't necessarily always be marathon related, but it will always be motivational. 


For me Monday's are the toughest day for me when training. It's time to get back to work, I'm still aching a bit from my long run on Saturday (or Sunday if I wasn't quite motivated to run Saturday morning, like this weekend). 


The other day, I found the comic strip below. It's the perfect first Motivational Monday post as far as I'm concerned!





If anybody sees this hat in stores, would you mind picking one up for me? Pretty please?


So, what motivates you? 

Virtual Mile Entries

The drawing for prizes for the Virtual Mile will be Monday, July 25. I will choose winners via Random.org and notify them by the end of the day. Anybody else interested in entering has until 10 p.m. CST Sunday, July 24, to do so. Click here for details.

One entry each is given for every $10 donation, reporting your time and sending a photo before/during/after the run.

Here is a list of those who entered, with the numbers that correspond with their entries:

Anne Ryerson - 1, 2, 8
Hope Epton - 3, 4
Candice Hope - 5
Bethany Becker - 6, 7, 9
Kaci Naci - 10

Thanks so much and good luck!

And so it begins ...

After weeks of conversations and racking our brains, my super great running friends and I have chosen our fall marathon. We thought about running the Quad Cities Marathon, the inaugural Savannah Rock N Roll Marathon, the Des Moines Marathon and the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon. All would be great races, and all would add to my goal of someday — and when I say someday, I mean probably when I'm in my 70s — running a marathon in all 50 states. But that list will continue to dwindle. After October 16, I will be able to scratch off Michigan. On that date, we will hit the streets of Grand Rapids at the 2011 Metro Health Grand Rapids Marathon.

 

I always feel a little nervous when registering for a marathon. With three under my belt, that still hasn't changed. But yesterday, just before registering, I interviewed a couple local ultra marathon runners for a story I'm writing for work. I go into this interview thinking, "These guys are crazy!" During the interview, they started trying to convince me to do an ultra. At which point, I thought "These guys are carzy!" They said their training really isn't much different that that of a marathon runner. They each have full-time jobs, wives and kids and said they honestly don't have the time to log hundreds of miles each week. A key part of preparing for 50 or 100 mile ultras, they added, is mental. I had almost considered taking them up on their challenge, until mentality came into play. I'm still having issues wrapping my head around the mental challenge associated with marathon running, I'm not sure I could stretch my mind even further and tackle an ultra (even a 30-mile ultra sounds terrifying right now).

I came home from the coffee shop where I interviewed the guys, grabbed my credit card and computer, and sat down to make marathon #4 official. Just as I was about to click "Register" there was a ridiculously loud clap of thunder and my power went out. My laptop —with its dead battery and therefore dependent upon that power — turned off as well. I thought this might be a sign. But if it was, I wasn't listening! As soon as the power came back on I completed my registration. Take that, crazy loud thunder and momentary power outage!

So, I am now preparing to run 26.2 miles in precisely 86 days, 20 hours, 33 minutes and 52 seconds (according to the countdown on the marathon's website). Hopefully this chick is there with her encouraging words of wisdom, which I would assume ring true for runners of all distances:

I'll try and keep that in mind during my training runs as well! Training runs, which I should probably step up a little now that Grand Rapids is official. I'm very excited for Michigan to join Arizona, Illinois and Tennessee, raising my 50 in 50 total to four! Watch out 50 in 50 ... I'll get there someday! And, who knows, I may even run an ultra someday. But for now, I'll just have to focus on Grand Rapids ... and not shitting myself.

I don't care if people are staring ...

As promised, the following is a blog I wrote last August about my first experience running in my brand new, shiny and beautiful Vibram FiveFinger Bikilas. It was quite an experience, but I'm sorry to say that nearly a year later, my FiveFingers are still pretty shiny. Minimalist running definitely sounded good at the time, but my calves ... and later my ankles just weren't convinced. Anyway, here's what I thought after giving them a go for the first time:

I don't care if people are staring ...

I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I’ve kind of been obsessing over a certain pair of shoes lately.

My not-so-subtle hinting paid off, and I received a pair as a birthday gift from my boyfriend. 

He surprised me Monday morning with the hot-pink-and-orange loveliness of my new Vibram FiveFinger Bikilas. I immediately slipped each of my toes into their individual pockets.

Luke was almost as excited as I was when I opened my “toe shoes,” as he likes to call them. But he won’t have to wait too long to own a pair of toe shoes like mommy and daddy. Check out the Vibram Kids KSOs that will be out sometime in 2011. The three of us will certainly turn heads as we wear these shoes around town. Now there’s a great Christmas card idea! 

I wore my new shoes around the house for the remainder of the morning and considered wearing them to work, but they didn’t really go with my outfit.

Yesterday after work, I decided to take my new shoes on a test run. I’ve heard that too much, too soon in Fivefingers can cause muscle pain and such, since our feet are used to the support provided in everyday, cushiony shoes. But, I figured if I can rock a pair of super uncomfortable heels for hours on end, surely I can run a few miles in these shoes. Just to be safe, I planned on running a quick three miles around my parents’ neighborhood in East Peoria. I strapped on my pretty pink shoes and hit the road. 

About a quarter of a mile into my run, I wanted to call it quits. My calves were already burning and the balls of my feet were not liking the rough pavement. I pushed on, but decided to shorten my run to two miles. 

I felt everything under my feet. I felt the cushion of grass, the flat hard pavement and even a few rocks. I definitely noticed the rocks, but they weren’t enough to hinder my run. 

From everything I’ve read, one of the major reasons runners are forgoing traditional running shoes for minimalist or even no shoes, is to help them maintain a forefoot strike. This guy explains it better than I ever could. 

So, as I was running, I was concentrating on my forefoot stike. It was incredibly awkward. I can only imagine what I must have looked like out there. I felt like Phoebe in this episode of Friends.

Good thing there were no horses along my route!

I’ve also heard that barefoot/minimalist running can help increase your speed. But, during my two-mile run, I struggled to keep a 10:30 pace. I usually have no problem holding a 9:00 pace in my Brooks and Nikes.

I finished my run a little frustrated and woke up this morning with calves that felt like they had been put through a 20-miler as opposed to two measly miles. But, I plan to run in my Bikilas again soon. Probably not tonight as I tackle a few hills, but soon.

I’ll just try to keep my Phoebe-esque running skills in check. But, to paraphrase the great Phoebe, I don’t care if people are starring. It’s just for a second cause then I'm gone!