Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Lookin' So Fly

Did you know that during the Winter it gets cold in Kansas? Like really cold. Guess who had the day off on Monday? I've been mah-jah-lee slacking, even though I have a brutal half marathon coming up, so I went out for a mah-jah run. Goliath was mah-jah-lee stoked. The first half mile was mah-jah-lee cold. Downhill, wind whipping in my face, numb. It got me thinking, OH MY GOD I'm only going a mile. Well, that, and This is my third winter running.


Now, I know three winters doesn't make me an expert or anything....but three Midwest winters with a husky might. I've compiled a list of my some winter running tips, gear suggestions and hilarious winter running stories. It's going to be a series.

Today, we are going to talk about: Julia's Winter Must Haves
1. First and foremost, VASELINE. It's a life saver. Schmear it everywhere, like cream cheese. I mainly put it on my face to break the wind, and prevent face chapping. I mega-abhor coming home from a run, and having pores the size of moon craters because of wind/cold chap. Not this lady. Vaseline is a useful tool that can also help winterize your shoeskis. Dab a little on mesh areas of shoes to prevent snow, ice and snowmelt from invading. Now you have a foot-snow barrier.

2. Something fleece to cover your ears. I prefer a headband, it's aerodynamic. However, ear muffs, a hat, you hands with gloves on them-would also work, I assume. Personally, I need something that gives me the freedom to have a pony tail, or a braid, the versatility of reversableness and the warmth of fleece.



3. Decent running tights. Here's a shocker: top of line tights are just as good as cheap ones. So you can't afford $100 tights-one of my favorite pair of tights are from Forever 21, meant to be worn under some skanky dress and were $5. Sure Brooks has awesome tights, and I'd love to have a pair-but if I'm only running for 30-40 minutes, my little spandex tights with two seams work just as well.



4. Layers. This is a no brainer, but layers-even ditchable layers are life savers. I like a dry fit base, a cotton tee, and a fleece lined hoodie. There's the ole' 20 degree rule, so I try to stick with that pretty closely. Old Navy right now has these pretty baller hoodies, that have the headphones built into the lining. It's machine washable and eliminates extra baggage, so that's my suggestion.

5. Throw away gloves. Total need. Gloves you can blow your nose into, and toss on the side of the road in a race. They are like a $1 for two pairs at target. Get hip.



Ok, that's it for now for my gear suggestions. Tune in tomorrow for survival tips.

Yesterday Mileage: 5.1
Times: 50:14

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Du-Du-Du-Dumb

Running is hard. Like it's really hard ya'll. I've never ever once said "WOOOO DOGGGY! What an easy run that was!" So yeah, running is hard. It's difficult. It's difficult ENOUGH, but when you toss in things like doubling your work hours, getting sick and limited daylight-it becomes what we humans like to deem impossible.




Impossible is a word we are taught as kids that should exist in the human language. Anything is POSSIBLE when you put your mind to it! The countless adages reminding us that we are mediocre, and perhaps gave up too soon , personally I've always loved: Impossible is just I'm Possible! What does that even mean? I'm possible? To me, that sounds like a colleged-up way of saying I'm DOABLE! Ok, so I digress.


Running becomes impossible sometimes. Regardless of what you were taught, or come to convince yourself: there are things that are impossible or implausible or impractical. You pick your synonym.


So you work 12 hours a day, and say you spend another hour driving to and from work, 30 minutes getting ready for work (which is conservative), 30 minutes getting ready for bed, and 8 hours sleeping a night (which is being generous): that puts you at a solid scheduled 22 hours, 8 of which are unconscious. So there's two hours you could spend running right? WRONG. That little formula didn't account for things like taking a poop, preparing meals, opening your mail, answering your cell phone or updating your blog. Sometimes taking a poop can block out a whole hour, not personally-but I know a guy, don't ask.


I don't mean to make you panic, but that was just a week day. Weekends would be great then right? WRONG. Think about all those basic needs you neglected throughout the week: laundry, dishes, sleep, etc. Writing this all out makes me feel overwhelmed-but the point is: Yes, buying out the time to run can be impossible. There are going to be days, weeks-maybe months where it's IMPOSSIBLE for you to run. It could because your injured, it could be because you have an insane schedule where you wake up and it's dark, and come home and it's dark.


Whatever the reason the prevents you from the pavement, the key is to let go of the guilt. So yeah, it sucks-you can't run. Running might be your biggest stress reliever. So don't let not running cause you stress.
Clearly, you can tell what prompted this post. I really haven't been running much, despite my best intentions. I'll put my running gear out in the morning, but it's a little nutty to run at 4AM right? I'll pack my running stuff to work, and promise myself I'll change into and come straight home and run-but then I work late. When I don't run, I do go a little crazy. Something in my internally feels off. Worst of all, I get really cranky.

Monday night, I snapped at Lo over something so meaningless and trivial that I literally stood up, put on my running clothes and walked to the disgusting apartment complex gym to run on the treadmill. Yes, you are reading that correct. I, Julia, Queen of the Trail, forger of creeks, lover of mud-ran on a treadmill. AND.....IT....WAS....miserable.

I can run for hours outdoors with G-Bonez but I can hardly last 10 minutes on the rotating belt. I'm going to have to figure out how to make it bearable, but right now it's my only possibility. So UP Next on The Bosky Blog: Learning how to enjoy the DreadMill.
In other news...my husband has a moustache, and I don't hate it.

Sunday, December 05, 2010

Sigh, No More

Wow, I have been AWFUL about posting. My bad. But full disclosure: I
haven't really ran since Gobbler Grind, so there really hasn't been
much to update.

This happens every year. Every year I get really lazy, and skip out on
the running. It takes me a while to get out of the funk, so I'm
praying that tomorrow I can start to get out of it. Needless to say,
it's been cold and it's easier to stay in and remain warm.