Full Moon or 'What I do on weekends'

Last Saturday Night. Full moon. A fun group of runners. 'Santa's little Helpers' picked as a theme for this theme run.

That's moi on the right. On the left, yep, that's a guy. In a dress.

A full moon trail run = A heck of a lot of fun.



Courtesy of Fred & Marianne

The 13K Lordie ran on Saturday, combined with the 24K he ran yesterday (Sunday) made one tired doggio. :) He snuck his way on my side of the bed while I was in the shower...

Wordless Wednesday

Silly me for thinking that running an ultramarathon would be exhausting. Apparently spectating tops that!

Manic Monday - Epic fail

Multitasking. Trying to get some work done while dogsitting for my mom. Epic fail. This little 3 1/2 months old monster-to-be seems to have a weird fetish for my roommate's feet...

Let me formally introduce you to...

...Lordie and Diddy. Running buddies extraordinaire. A long due formal introduction. It's about time! Here we go!

Lordie

Come on, let's go already, woman!

Nickname: Bunnychaser.

Favorite distance: 25K+.

Day job: sidekick to Silly Girl Running. Keeps him busy 24/7.

Favorite running gear: Zero DC blue/orange harness.

Favorite recovery food: Dried beef.

Favorite recovery drink: water.

Quote:

"10 miles? That's my warm up."

"I have Greyhounds for breakfast."

"Running is better than chasing cats."

"Poodles do it better."

Diddy

I'm going that way. You'd better follow...

Nickname: Birdchaser.

Favorite distance: Anything up to a Half Marathon. Loves the sprint.
Day job: service dog (seizure alert dog to my mom).
Favorite running gear: Zero DC blue/orange harness. And Musher's secret paw cream.
Favorite recovery food: Pedigree brand Schmackos.
Favorite recovery drink: water. Well...you can't really give him a protein shake, can you?
Quote:

"Ha! That's what you call fast?"
"Eat my farts."
"I'm with stupid." (Yep, he's referring to me...)

"Service dog by day. Superhero by night."

Lordie doing what he loves to do. Drag me across the trails.

Who's your #1 running buddy?

Wordless Wednesday

The new puppy: 10 1/2 weeks old. :)

This puppy is interfering with my stretching routine...

Oh yeah, he's aiming for the hair...

Tuesday Tidbits - Things I love

1. Puppies and Vibram Five Fingers:

2. Companies that have great, amazing, 'wow' customer service. Moeben deserves a huge shout-out: their customer service is hands down amazing! I'm seriously in awe. As from today I'm not only a fan, but also a loyal customer. More on this one later. Post coming up! :)

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday

Let me introduce you to the latest addition to the Canicross gang. Meet our new service / assistance dog in training 'Frits'! And yes, that Canicross harness might still be a tad too large for the little guy. Don't worry, he'll grow into it before you can say 'cutie pie!'. :)


Oh yeah, those are Christmas decorations in the background. Let's just pretend I'm 'early' this year.


"Why the bleep did she make me wear this? It's pretty obvious that it doesn't fit, right?"

"Don't touch me, woman! Stop that!"

"Harrrrr!!! I told you to stop touching me!"

Tuesday makes me wonder...

What bleeping point was I trying to make in this photo?

Uhm...yep... Up to you to find a subtitle for this photo. :) [And please don't say my #ss looks huge, because it does...what the bleep!]

It's a dog's life

Well, I've cheated on the taper. Beginner's mistake numero uno.

Lordie and moi - 5K. I absolutely love this photo.

And I know my body and especially my legs will make me pay for it in Paris (Paris marathon, if everything goes according to plan...). And I'm fine with that. Because, A. I had an amazing time cheating on the taper, B. I wouldn't run anywhere near an 'okay' time in Paris anyway (overcrowded course and too much photos to be taken), and C. I had a kick #ss time cheating on the taper!

My dear mom cheering us on at the finish line.

How did I cheat on the taper? I raced (well, I didn't want to puke, so it wasn't really racing, was it?) a 5K canicross with Lordie. And a 2.3K canicross with Diddy. In my defence: I did plan on just running those distances at marathon pace. No lie.

Well...that didn't work.

Lordie and moi about to finish the 5K in 22:03. He had stopped dragging me along after 500 meters, so I had to do this thing all by myself. Oh, and he decided to greet the trees with what I'd like to call "the longest pee session of 2011"...Yeah...during a race. What the bleep!

Still ready to finish... This race reminded me of the fact that I do NOT like 5Ks. At all...

I was just trying to focus on staying in front of the other runner (Monique). Lordie was just focussing on taking it as easy as possible (Okay...in his defence...he was hot...it was a hot day).

Diddy kicking it into gear. My abs are still in pain because of this.

Andrew described it as 'a dog flying a Silly Girl kite'. He was quite right.

Diddy and moi about to finish the 2.3K in 9:10.

Those are not my quads. I borrowed them from one of the guys. My real quads are nice and feminine.

Lordie and I placed first in our AG in the 5K. Can you tell Lordie feels like he's above the other dog? ;) Prize: dog food. And lots of it. Not fair...considering the fact that I had to work this one on my own, while Lordie was too busy finding a tree. ;) By the way...being in the same AG as a 16-year old (that does track by the way...ouch) is...different. It made me feel 'old'...

Diddy and I placed 3rd in our AG in the 2.3K.

My love on the run

Solid proof that it is doable to capture happiness in a picture. :)



I tried an easy 3.3 miles / 5.3K last Saturday. Lordie and Diddy were happy to accompany me. :) Amazing blue sky, freezing weather, sunny...I couldn't stop smiling. :)

Plus yesterday (Sunday) I tried my luck at a long run. Runningbuddy A and I found a paved 5K path around a lake, and decided to run these 5K laps to see if The Foot would hold up. If The Foot would bug me again, I could just go back to the car, and A could finish the long run. After a little over 5 laps, 16.3 miles / 26.1K we decided to call it quits. :) When we headed out for the run I figured I would be perfectly happy if The Foot would be okay for 9.4 miles / 15K. I couldn't believe that I had actually finished the long run - without limping, crawling, etcetera due to The Foot. :) Today there's a bit of a tired feeling going on in The Foot, but I guess that's okay. :) I celebrated with sushi! :)

Hmmm...sushi...that brings me to 'post long run' snacks. :) What's your favorite 'post long run' snack?

New Year, New Run

Saturday: Ran 10.1 miles / 16.2K with the dogs - 1:32:33 hours - easy first day of the year run

Sunday: Ran 5 miles / 8K with the dogs

Today: Cycling: 30 minutes

No better way to start the New Year than to head out for a nice, muddy, mushy, slippery trail run on New Year's Day. So, on January 1st 2011, that's exactly what I did: run. 10.1 miles / 16.2K of pure fun. The dogs loved it. Diddy even ran his distance PR! :)

'Zaterdag' means 'Saturday'...

That trail was slippery and mushy, though. Tired me out completely! It sure is hard to keep your pace up when you're plowing through some serious mud/melted snow. But, on the plus side, I felt like I was flying on the last two miles of the run: these last two miles were on the road/pavement, in case you were wondering. ;)

Well...that's all for now. I will put another post up later today. And yep, that will be the first of the 'official 5 year plan bucket list' posts. :)

Happy New Year to all of you! :)

Canicross in fresh powder - The "Can you say instant happiness?" post

Saturday: ran 4.5 miles / 7.2K with the dogs
Sunday: ran 2.5 miles / 4K with the dogs

I guess I don't need to explain to you all how much fun this was, huh?

Mushy Monday - Cold weather and Trail Running

This photo was taken in March of this year, while on winter vacation in the Swiss Alps. Oh boy, do I love to go out for a run on those trails!

Oh boy, I just started running then - bad bad running form!

Looking at this pic makes me actually want to book a plane ticket and head over to Switzerland to spend the weekend in those beautiful surroundings! On the other hand, it might be better to wait to do so till I can actually run again (!%!~^!^!^!@^ calf)! ;) :)

Cold weather running rocks!

I absolutely love running in cold temps. As long as I have my The North Face Windstopper tights and my Mammut softshell on, I'm fine and good to go. :) I would honestly pick snowy cold weather running over hot summer running.Just looking at snow makes me smile! :)

Last winter was pretty freezing in Holland, so I'm prepping myself for the colder temps. I already have the Inov-8 Terroc 308 trail running shoes for running on snowy and slippery trails. Since those have a mesh upper, and might result in me having frozen toes, I'm looking into the Salomon GoreTex trail running shoes. I still have to do some research on those, and check out where I could try them on, but they sure do look promising!

Ahhh, I can't wait till my PT tells me that's it's okay to head out for (at least) a slow jog! :)

Do you love cold weather running? If so, how do you layer up and what's your pick in shoes?

I'm no saint, I'm only doing it because I like their logo...

If the Running Gods allow me to, and cure this stupid knee injury, and nothing else prevents me from running the New York Marathon, I will run the New York Marathon to raise money and awareness for a good cause. A very good cause, if you'd ask me:


Hulphond Nederland (http://www.hulphondnederland.nl/)

(partner of Assistance Dogs International: http://www.assistancedogsinternational.org/)

Hulphond Nederland is an organization that trains and places Hulphonden (translation in English: assistance or service dogs).

A service dog is a dog that literally helps disabled women and men (and occasionally also kids - the child has to be old and responsible enough to handle the service dog). Service dogs assist people with disabillities other than hearing or vision impairment. They can be trained to work with people who need a wheelchair, need seizure alert, need to be allerted to other medical issues like low blood sugar, etcetera. The dogs can be trained to help you get the mail, run your errands, get dressed, do laundry, and ofcourse can be trained to signal a seizure or for example low blood sugar.

And most importantly: service dogs do not only provide a specific service to their handlers, but also greatly enhance their lives with a new sense of freedom and independence.

Since my mom has been a puppy family for a couple of years now (the puppy family has a service dog puppy until it's a year old) I've seen how these dogs work and it's amazing!

But why did I choose this cause?

Just a couple of months ago my dear mom was diagnosed with severe diabetes. Diabetes to the extent where her body doesn't tell her when her bloodsugar is dropping. No sweating, fatigue, dizziness. None of these signs. Just sudden low bloodsugar and the inevitable seizure that is the result of such low blood sugar.

As said above she has been a puppy family for a couple of years now, but recently she was assigned with her own service dog. Because of the severe diabetes.

Mom and her service dog finishing their first 11K race together.

Diddy, Mom's service dog, 'tells' her when her blood sugar is suddenly dropping. Even when this means that he'd have to wake her up in the middle of the night. Or stop her while running errands. Diddy is the reason that Mom's got her confidence back again. She even felt secure enough to run an 11K race - with Diddy, ofcourse. And for this, that sweet dog deserves a statue in my opinion. Or two. Heck, name a street after him!

And that, my friends, is why I'm proud to (hopefully - fingers crossed) run the New York Marathon to raise money and awareness for Hulphond Nederland!

Did you ever run a race to raise money for a good cause?

Why men don't listen and women can't read maps

Ran: 6.3 miles / 10 km - Canicross Running Group - intervals

Why women can't read maps

Yesterday I was supposed to run a 17 miler. 17 miles, 27 km. But as good as I am with figuring out what's the easiest way to get from one point to another, without getting lost that is, I suck at mapping my run correctly. Honestly, how easy is mapping your run on mapmyrun.com? I just can't do it. Somehow I get more miles in than scheduled - every single time. And no, I'm not doing this on purpose. I just suck at it. And that's exactly why I shouldn't be surprised that yesterday's scheduled 17 miler turned into an 18.4 miler. 18.4 miles, 29.5 km. Just like that. Ofcourse, I did not know this until I got home and remapped my run. Good thing was, and that's the only good thing about it, that I finished the run believing that I was uber slow, but after remapping my run, my pace appeared to be right on schedule. Pfffeww!

My good friend Bunny (she's going to punch me for making this her Blogworld nickname...) came with me on my long run...on her bike. I tried to convince her of running being the way to go, but after seeing me sweat and in pain (The Hip...yep, she's back...), and seeing me eat Energy Gel (I say 'Yummy', Bunny says 'total nutcase'), I doubt if she'll ever pick up long distance running.... It was so nice to chat while I was getting my long run in, though, and she brought her camera! :)

Pretty, huh? And, nope, that's not my mansion...I wish...

Ahhhh, nothing like the sweet sight of home! And nothing like knowing that I only have a couple of miles to go!

Thanks to Bunny part of my run turned into a photoshoot. Starring: Me. Heidi Klum, move over. Here's Sweaty Long Run Barbie (well, her lunatic and not so model-like sister...).

Here I'm demonstrating how to GU properly. Don't try this at home...

And, I know, I should have bought those shorts a size smaller...good thing about it; in case I poo my pants on a long run, no one will notice.

How not to hydrate.

And how to look like a total Goofball while you're at it... Yep, I sweat like I'm paid to do so...get over it...

Thanks, Bunny, for taking such great pics! :) And thanks for coming with me at such an early hour. :)

Why men don't listen

And for today, I had a 6.3 miler (10 km) scheduled with my Canicross Running Group. Great fun, and as always nice to chat with the other runners in the group. Perfect weather; the rain was kind enough to wait until we'd finished our run.

The Hip was hurting again, so I decided to stick to a 'slower' pace. Only thing was, Lordie and Diddy took off like it was a 5K race. Too fast for The Hip! And me screaming that they had to slow down didn't help. They chose not to listen and dragged me halfway along the course instead. And then, at the point where my Hip was killing me, they decided to slow down. But by then my Hip was killing me. If only they would have listened to 'Easy', 'Slow', 'Slow down!!!'... Oh, in case you were wondering: Lordie and Diddy are both male dogs.

How was your weekend long run or race?

Lazy Sunday

Ran: 6.3 miles / 10 km - 56 min - tempo run with dogs

Don't you just love these Lazy Sundays?

I just got back from my tempo run with the dogs. Nice and sunny. :) Showered and now I'm ready for dinner. And after that I will go to bed early and read a little (or for hours...you never know). So, for today I'll leave you with a running quote:

"Ability is what you're capable of doing.

Motivation determines what you do.

Attitude determines how well you do it."

- William Faulkner -

I hope you all have a wonderful and lazy Sunday! :)

Hello Mrs. Autumn, you're a bit early this year, aren't you?

Yesterday: Ran 11 miles / 17.5 km - 1 h 38 min - weekend long run

Today: Ran 7.5 miles / 12 km 1 h 5 min - tempo run with dogs

This truly was a weekend of wet, wet runs. And when I say wet, I mean wet; soaking wet! Apparently Autumn is early this year, and the rain kicked in this weekend; big time! Not to mention that it's a lot colder outside, than in the last couple of weeks. It's in the high 50's/ low 60's now (15/16 Celsius). A nice change from all the heat and humidity that we've had!

My schedule says that this week was supposed to be a rest week, and I'm fine with that. Promise, I'm a good girl now and I really do try to stick to the schedule and not add extra miles. So this weekend's long run was 'just' 9 miles. I got lost, so it turned into 11 miles. In the rain, that is. But it was fun anyway! :) Saw this lovely little church at about mile 6.

Do you see the roses in front of it? Pretty, huh?

And that's me at mile 6...wet, soaking wet...and yep, that's a long sleeve...in August. Do you understand now why the whole Flunning thing doesn't work for me? Look at that 'I'm on my long run' face... Not a pretty sight...

At mile 9, there was a horse. Even the horse was wearing a long sleeve.

Hello little horsie, says the Spinster...

As for today's run. I looked out of the window this morning, and this is what I saw.

It was raining...like crazy! So...I skipped the Canicross Running Group (rain rain rain + slippery trails = not the best of ideas), and decided to hit the trails later in the afternoon - with the dogs ofcourse. The rain was supposed (!) to be over by then. And it was...for the first mile of the run... Picked up runningbuddy A and we decided to hit the trails anyway. Heck, it was slippery! And wet! But woohooo, was it fun to 'dance' through the water and mud on the slippery trails! :) What can I say, I don't mind getting dirty. And neither did the dogs. The mud was literally on my back. So. Much. Fun!

And this is what Lordie's Snooki-updo looked like after the run:

And the best thing: The Hip sort of felt OK. (knock on wood!)