What's on Tap for 2014?

Well . . . let's take a look. Get ready for a ton of pics! ;)

More running . . . injury free!

More riding (for Liv, and maybe me, too - I miss it). 

My "Alumni Weekend"/25th reunion at Culver Academies in May!

 The Iowa State Fair!

An air show, hopefully!

An air show with the USAF Thunderbirds, I should clarify!

Continuing grad school (for me, and elementary for Liv)!

 And more obedience training for Jock!

A Few Views From an Iowa Trail

Yesterday after taking Livie to Kindergarten, I decided I'd get my exercise outside, instead of in the gym. I made this decision for a couple reasons.

1.) It was a clear, sunny day, not too windy, not bitterly cold - a good day to get outside and enjoy some natural vitamin D, fresh air, and the unusual lack of ice (!!) in January in eastern Iowa.

2.) My gym is being renovated. Sure, it's still in use, but the number of machines that are currently "in service" has been greatly reduced, and they're kinda in unusual spots, clumped together, and as of last Thursday, I couldn't see the TVs from any of the cardio machines I'd normally use . . . plus, the work is kinda loud - so what's the point of being stuck inside on a treadmill, right? Sure, it'll be worth it once the renovations are complete, but now it's just kind of a hassle.

So off to the park I went. I think it was about 27°F (with a windchill of 15°F) by the time I headed out. (It ended up being close to a "balmy" 50°F, cloudless, and really breezy by later in the day!) There are a number of trails/paths throughout the numerous parks in the Cedar Rapids area. Some trails are like sidewalks, made of asphalt or concrete. But others are more gravel-like, made of crushed limestone. This is what the paths are made of at the park near my house.

I headed out for about 30 minutes of (mostly) walking and running, so as to not cause my plantar fasciitis to flair up. It was kind of hard, keeping it an "easy" workout, because it felt good being outside running. Especially in new running shoes. But every time I started pushing myself too hard, too soon, my left heel would remind me, "You're being the hare, not the tortoise!" and I'd back off.

I think I may have gone a little too fast, a little too long, because after today's workout, my left heel is nagging me a bit. I've been doing the stretches the physical therapist recommended, and they're helping (especially with the right foot), but the little bit of pain in the left that's not completely going away is a good reminder to take it easy, like the PT recommended.

Anyway, I took my camera with me (it fits perfectly in the back pocket of my running jacket), so I'd have an "excuse" to take it easy on my heels . . . and to have it in case I wanted to take photos. And of course, I took photos. Nothing great, but you get the idea of what it looks like here in east central Iowa during an unusually warm, dry January.

Here are some of the photos I took: 

Farm land - this field was corn in 2011, but has been soybeans before. Now, a lot of this land is being developed for homes. Those mounds of dirt in the background are located approximately where they're starting to build.

Livie likes these kinds of holes in trees because she likes to imagine what (if any) creatures call these holes "home." I took this photo for her. When I showed it to her after Kindergarten, she started telling me how it's "Jumpy Squirrel's" home.

This is the crushed limestone the paths are made of. Usually these paths are nice to run on. As you can see, there are bike tracks, human track, and dog tracks - it looks "smushy," like there's a bit of "give," right? Well, during the unusually warm part of the days, it is, but then we get freezing temps at night. So this path was hard as a rock during my morning jaunt, the tracks having frozen like that overnight.

Some Pac Man-like grafitti under an overpass.

Blue skies!! No clouds!! Woo hoo! Unusual in Iowa this time of year! Usually it's more overcast (and gloomy).

Just about to go around the bend and into the wooded area just behind the farmland. It's nice to take this path in the spring and summer with the green foliage. My allergies, however, don't appreciate it too much.

Woo hoo! New Shoes!!

While we were at Abuelita and Nonno's house from Christmas Day to New Year's Eve day, "Santa" gave me a couple extra goodies.

One afternoon, Andrew, Livie, and I headed to Fitness Sports in Windsor Heights because I was desperately overdue for some new running shoes. I'd been on a bit of a running hiatus because I'd developed plantar fasciitis in both feet (it was worst in the left foot, and somewhat bearable in the right) last spring.

Plantar fasciitis (PF) is a painful foot problem caused by irritation in the foot's plantar fascia - the ligament connecting your heel bone to your toes, and supporting your arch. Running tends to make plantar fasciitis worse.

Mine was so bad (in the left foot anyway), that I had to go to physical therapy. I went twice a week for about 8 weeks, and in that time, took a break from running. I was given some stretches to do (calf stretches, foot stretches, quad stretches) to help alleviate the pain, in addition to PT.

Then once my fall 2011 semester started up again, I went back to doing a lot of walking on campus (including lots of hills) on school days, which also aggravates PF.

So, unfortunately, running was put on hold indefinitely.

Well, I like how I feel when I've been running consistently, so after talking to "Santa," it was decided that I needed new running shoes so I could gradually (meaning within a painfully slow time frame) add running back into my normal schedule. Besides, I'd asked about adding running back in while I was still going to PT; I was told that when I felt ready to add it back in, I need to do it very, very gradually . . . and to make sure I do my recommended stretches regularly (which I've been slacking off doing lately . . . shhhh!!).

Needless to say, if I want to run, I have to stretch, so the day after our visit to Fitness Sports, I began re-incorporating my stretching into my routine. I'd been really, really good about stretching - that is, until my end-of-semester crunch time in early December, and then . . . well . . . I got out of the habit.

But my belated Christmas gift of running shoes (a green pair and a blue pair) was just what I needed to get back into properly caring for my feet.

Old pair on the left (obviously), and new (green) pair on the right. The new blue pair is in the closet.

Now normally I would run outside, even especially in cold January weather, because I'm one of those polar bear types who prefers running in cool or cold weather instead of hot, muggy, melting weather (even warm spring weather is almost too warm for a truly comfortable run for me). However, when we got back from Abuelita and Nonno's house, we came home to find a busted hot water heater. So we've been out of hot water since we got back on Saturday. And today is Tuesday. Not fun.

We had the guy come out and see what he could do - he'd put a temporary fix so Livie was able to get a bath last night, but that's about it. The guy was supposed to come back today to install a new water heater (which was delivered to the house this morning). But he called Andrew to reschedule . . . he won't be here to install it 'til tomorrow.

So off to the gym and the treadmill I went.

As good as it felt to be running again, I limited myself to 20 minutes and a total of 1.43 miles - mostly walking with a little bit of running sprinkled in. The running felt really good, but I'm already feeling a bit of heel pain, so I'm glad I limited my running. I kept reminding myself, "turtle, not rabbit!"

And even better than the running was the hot shower in the locker room after my mini workout! I must've stood there forever, enjoying hot water, since the last decent shower I had was Saturday morning at Abuelita's house!

Aaaahhh, sometimes we don't realize how good we have it until something like a busted water heater puts things into perspective.

And hopefully I'll be running as much as I used to before I know it. 

Memory Lane Friday - New Shoes

Today's Memory Lane Friday topic is "New Shoes." I'm going to talk about running shoes.

Before I joined the Air Force, it seemed like I could wear any running shoes I picked out at the store. I could've picked out a pair based solely on the colors. Or, I could've picked out a pair because I saw them on a commercial . . . or because they were on sale . . . or because of the brand . . . it didn't matter which ones I picked out, except for ensuring they were my size (7.5 at the time).

Now, at this time, I'd run because it was good exercise, but it certainly wasn't one of my top cardio staples. My usual cardio was using the elliptical, taking a class (the cardio-boxing type classes were my favorite), or maybe riding a stationary bike or going swimming. Running was my last choice.

However, when I decided I wanted to go into the Air Force, I knew I'd need to run more, especially since I'd have to run certain distances for time (the faster, the better), and the more I ran before I joined the Air Force, the easier the running tests would be.

So I started running more.

Well, guess what? Running started getting fun, and moved up my "Cardio" list. And during this time, while my running mileage increased, I could still wear any type of running shoe without having any discomfort/injury issues.

When it was time for me to head to training, my info packet stated to bring "Running shoes (conservative color, high quality)" with me. So I went to some athletic store in the Chicagoland area to get new running shoes. Somehow, I had it in my head that I needed to find white or almost all white shoes, or, if possible, white shoes with blue accents (even though the packet simply indicated "conservative color"). Maybe I'd been talking to someone who suggested I try to find all white shoes . . . who knows.

I didn't find all white shoes, but I did find a pair that were mostly white, with a few black accents (for instance, the swoosh was white, but outlined in black and the soles were black).

During the 12.5 week training, I wore these shoes all the time for PT (Physical Training), and I never had a problem with them. They were comfortable.

At some point after training, I must've gotten new running shoes to replace the now worn down white ones, because I remember having a completely different pair (maybe a couple different pairs) by the time I got to my second duty assignment in Tucson, AZ.

By this time, I was running regularly, and it was fun. But this is also when I realized that the type of running shoes I chose were starting to matter. See, I'd gone to some sports store and after briefly (VERY briefly) talking to someone, I picked out a pair of silvery-gray and white shoes. Supernovas, I think? The first run in these new shoes ended abruptly because I was feeling a sharp pain in my right knee. The second and third runs? Same thing. Okay, these weren't going to work.

I knew of a running store specifically geared towards running stuff - I'd passed it every day on my way to work - and decided to go there, instead of going back to the generic "sports" store. The following Saturday, I took the Supernovas in as well as my previous pair and told the guy "Help me, please!" explaining the knee pain, and everything.

He spent a lot of time talking to me and asking me questions about my running, watching me run up and down the street, and finally suggested a type of shoe (Brooks Ariel). I tried them on, and they were comfortable right away. I ran down the block and back. Still comfortable. I'd take 'em. He even told me that, if by some off chance they started causing knee pain, or any other kind of discomfort during my first few runs, I could bring them back and we'd try a different pair.

I never had a problem with them - not one little ache or knee pain in the 400+ miles I ran in them.

I figured out after 400+ miles in these shoes, that once I started getting a bit achy in the knees and lower back, it was time to "retire" these shoes and get a new pair of Ariels, and that would always do the trick - I'd be back to pain free, comfortable running.

So, needless to say, the only pair of running shoes I'll buy is Brooks Ariels. But now I'm in an 8 instead of a 7.5. (My feet grew sometime between Livie's birth and our moving to New Mexico.)


Here's my newest pair. I bought them a number of months ago so I'd have them on standby for when I had to "retire" the previous pair.

The previous pair has been retired recently, so I haven't logged too many miles in these yet . . . maybe 40 - 50 miles or so, mostly on dry trails (crushed limestone), streets, sidewalks, and treadmills (at the gym and also in my parents' basement). 

That's why they're still clean (aside from some dirt on the bottom which you can't see in the photo) and new. And they're the most recent pair of shoes I've bought for myself. 

I love the green accents. The "lime" green seems much brighter in person, though. All my other Ariels were silvery gray and blue, so the green is a nice change.

Memory Lane Friday is hosted by Two Bears Farm and the Three Cubs. Please click on the button below to check out her post, as well as this week's other Memory Lane Friday posts:

Next week's Memory Lane Friday topic is another "No Theme"! Come back next week to check it out.