Runaway Chicken

With daylight savings fast approaching and being one of the few runners who does not look forward to it, I have tried to get as many miles in after work as possible. This can mean shorter than normal runs but I would rather run that than the treadmill sooner.

Tuesday I headed to the lake path on the chance that it was open like last week. Unlike last week, the signs were out. Waah. I stood for a few minutes and pondered. Then I became a lemming and followed the 20 people ignoring the signs. So bad I know but it was my last time at the path until spring. I only managed 2.5 miles before I thought it would be too dark to complete another lap. The path only has two lights- both near the playground.

from last week, when the signs were down

I was stretching out on the fitness bars when I saw a Chihuahua looking dog coming down the street. I waited a moment and didn’t see any owners. This corner of the path can be pretty busy car-wise so I decide to see if I could figure out where the dog lives. He was having none of that. His barking made me laugh. He didn’t sound mean, more like a petulant teenager. “Leave me alone, mind your own business, what are you looking at”. While I am trying to decide if I want to force it, I hear a rustling in the bushed across the street. I looked up to see a chicken walking away from a house and going towards the street. It’s making a jail break!

So now I don’t know if I should chase the dog or the chicken! Or do I leave them both and just go back to my car? A group of people was coming my way and a nice older man told me that the dog wanders on its own all the time. He also agreed that it wasn’t the friendliest. So I asked him about the chicken. While we were chatting the chicken came back down around the house. It walked to a gate in the fence and tried to squeeze in. Then it tried to climb the bush running along the fence. It wasn’t escaping, it was locked out! Once again, it followed the path around the fence, I think there must have been another gate back there. The man tried to open the gate but couldn’t get it open. I was beginning to feel bad for the chicken, all it wanted to do was go home. It knew exactly what door to go to but couldn’t open it. So the nice man and I went door knockin’. We found someone who lived in the same house but didn’t own the chickens. He called the owner before heading out to try to catch it.

Apparently the chickens roam during the day before going back inside the fence. I run this path 2x a week and have never seen or heard the chickens before. Plus it’s a residential area. After handling that, the man and I parted ways. So I probably could have finished another lap but I wouldn’t have had the runaway chicken experience. 🙂 Last evening at the path completed. I work this Saturday, so I was able to get off a little early on Wednesday. I headed back to town hoping for at least 6 miles but dreaming of more. Ha! I completed 6 but it was so damn hard. Nothing hurt, I just had zero energy. It was also 87º… on October 29. Ugh, where is fall. I hit 4 stop lights between mile 2.5 to 3.5. Then my stomach informed me that 4 miles would have been a better idea at mile 3.75. I was 2 miles from my car. There was a bench just past mile 4 and I took a break. I think I sat for about 10 minutes before finally heading off to finish my run. 6 miles done and I managed to keep my overall average pace at 11:45. Considering how I felt though, I will call that a win!

What was not a win was the bloody toe I found when taking off my socks. Boo.

What’s the strangest animal situation you’ve ever run into?

Did you know chickens were so good with direction? I had no idea.

Anyone racing this weekend?

Water and Gatorade, then go left

I said that a lot on Sunday!

First things though thanks for letting me know I’m not the only one! The comments on my last post were awesome, thanks guys! 🙂

I was still riding that runner’s high from Thursday when I went for a run on Saturday. While it was nowhere near the epicness of Thursday, it was still pretty good. My planned 3.8 turned into 4.5. Oops. 🙂 The weather started out overcast and chilly but I quickly warmed up. I’m still slower but I think I’ve finally, really accepted it. I just took my time and enjoyed my run. Going longer was only an oops because I had a meeting to go to with my mother. I ended up just throwing a sweater over my running gear. The only reason I felt ok doing this was because we were headed for a volunteer check in for the Harvest Marathon. I have wanted to run the half at this race for the last two years but it’s proximity to City to the Sea usually has me feeling burnt out. So instead I volunteer. My mother and her tennis teams have to work 2 stations so I hang out with them. The race has a 5K, half marathon and a full marathon. The half and the full are run on back roads through vineyards and orchards as well as farms and homes. Last year the teams were split between 2 water stations. This year we had one of the water stations from last year and a course monitor point at the 12ish mile turn around point. It was an early morning. Being up that early and not racing seemed like a crime. Have I mentioned that I love sleeping? However stopping for donuts along the way made everything better. Didn’t you know that donuts have magical healing powers? My boss said that the other day, I thought it was awesome. 🙂 We arrived at our aid station- mile 8.7 of the marathon- a little before sunrise. Fall has finally arrived, so it was damn cold, after setting up the station I jumped back in the car until it was almost time for the first runner. This is a small race put on by the high school and the funds go back into the high school athletic program. It is Boston certified but draws a smaller crowd. There were 97 finishers for for the full and 283 for the half. As for the Boston qualifying part- it has an elevation gain of 1600 feet. The aid station was at the top of a long slow climb followed by an immediate left and more climbing. I felt so bad every time a runner asked if this was the last hill. 😦All the runners were so nice. Most of them thanked the team for the water and for being up early on a Sunday. Our station had water and Gatorade which was an improvement over last year when we just had water. The port-a-potty was a huge hit too. Apparently one guy couldn’t handle the line of one and did his business behind the port-a-potty. Really?! There was no line! One runner did yell at me for the lack of race food provided and a woman from the orchard asked me if we were cleaning up after “the parade”. When I said yes, her response was that she wasn’t going to yell at me yet then. Ummm, thank you?On the whole, it was a good morning. It’s fun to cheer other runners on. Especially for a race that has no crowd support for the majority of the miles. The people who run this race rock. Now I am torn for next year- do I finally run it or do I keep volunteering? Getting teenagers to voluntarily get up at the crack of dawn is like pulling teeth so my mother will probably need help again. 🙂

Ever volunteer at a water station?

Ever been yelled at by a runner?

How about the port-a-potty? Would you have jumped the non-existent line?

This is how we do

My new boss recently told me how impressed she was by my dedication. I didn’t know what to say. Partially because I am socially awkward and partially because I don’t feel very dedicated these days. I have been hitting my 3 days of running but cutting back on speed and mileage has often left me feeling a little low. A little uninspired. Running’s always hard but sometimes it’s so hard you wonder what the hell you keep doing it for.

Running motivation quote gift for runner by JenniferDareDesigns, $10.00 — source

Why do we put ourselves through it? Why do we commit to the craziness? Some get up at the crack of dawn to get in a run. Others run at night in the dark. Runner’s run tired and injured and cranky and mad and sad and hungry. We run when it’s freezing cold outside, or when it feels like the side of the sun. Running in the rain can be fun until you fall on your ass. Running puts you at risk of crazies, inattentive drivers or animal attacks. You could run on a treadmill but sometimes you wind up feeling like a hamster on a wheel. Squeak, squeak.

And your body? Something usually aches. It could be a hip or a knee. Your ankle or crappy shins. Tight calves or hamstrings. Black toenails, no toenails, hide those feet! In my case, a crappy stomach. But we keep running. What person voluntarily chooses a sport that has a side effect called “runner’s trots”? I think we’re all slightly masochistic or just a little crazy. What does Einstein say about insanity?

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

Albert Einstein

Oh yeah, that. Lets not even talk about the mind games we play with ourselves. Even when I don’t want to run, I want to run. How does that even make sense?Work ran late every day this week and on Thursday I had little to no desire to run. I was looking for a reason not to. I wasn’t injured and my stomach felt average for me these days. I have been in a funk and just felt meh. I just wanted to veg in a chair and catch up on my DVR. I wasn’t even hungry and didn’t want to eat. Which is very, very rare for me. But I changed into my gear anyways. Drove back to town and decided to run the river path. Daylight was fading fast but I had zero desire to run on the treadmill. That is coming soon enough. I just wanted to get it over with, if darkness cut it shorter so be it.

Running has become a chore lately and it’s been awhile since I have had good run. There have been decent miles here and there but all runs were less than stellar. It’s a big reason why I am working on getting back out on the trails. I set out for Thursday’s run not expecting or hoping for much. My warm up was little shorter due to the twilight hour. I started running waiting for the cough that would come or the stomach cramp that joins on all runs these days. My run went something like this-

1/4 mile in – oh jumping Rottweiler please don’t jump that fence and attack me. Are you on a trampoline?! 1/2 mile in- may as well start running. 1 mile in- no huffing and puffing. 1.5 miles in-still no cramp. 2 miles in -breathing still easy, no wheezing and still no cramping. Hmmm, this is nice. The weather is the perfect temp right now, and the sky looks so pretty at dusk. Oh the streetlights are on, that’s kind of cool. Can I run all of mile 3? Haven’t done that in a while, let’s try. Yay, I’m still running and I feel good. Damn this darkness, I want to run more. I feel like I could keep going for miles. Breathing is still easy, sweet. 5K mark, time to cool down, kind of dark now, oh and some interesting looking, umm, kids smoking on that bench. Run is officially over.

And that is why I keep banging my head against a wall. Sometimes the stars align and you experience a glorious run. It wasn’t long and it wasn’t fast but that wasn’t the point. The point was how I felt during and after. It was kind of awesome. Running is work, but the reward is worth it.

Thanks for listening to me ramble.

Who’s with me?

Why do you keep running?

Any quirks you want to add to the list?

Have a great weekend!

Walk for a Purpose

Saturday started a little rougher planned.

I had set an early alarm because I was heading down to SLO to take part in the Walk to End Alzheimer’s. I dragged myself out of my nice, comfy bed before heading out to work town to pick up T before continuing to SLO. It was that drive that turned rough. I saw something that I know happens but have never seen happen and never want to again. Let’s just say it involved a deer and a car. I learned that I must have a soft heart because I literally cried for the next 10 miles.

Yeah, I had to put an epic filter on it- it deserved it

Once picking up T, I had to laugh. She hadn’t wanted to get up anymore than I had and was wearing a nice comfy maxi skirt and flip-flops. And she rocked them both for the whole 5K. Thanks for the smiles T! We met up with R and L and headed over to the park. There was a good size group of people walking at the event. Some in regular clothes, others in exercise gear. Checking in and getting our shirts was a breeze. Then we headed to a table to pick up a promise flower. The flowers were different colors representing different things. I was torn between yellow- you know someone who has dementia or Alzheimer’s- and orange- you support the cause to end Alzheimer’s. Both applied, but in the end I went for orange. We could write names on the flowers to honor those we knew. As we crossed the starting line, we handed them to volunteer. They were going to make a promise garden for when we returned.

I ran a race in this park years ago so I should have knownn better. 2/3 of it was trail. I was thankful I had worn running gear. However I think they should have put this on the website, people might have dressed a little differently. One older gentleman fell. It was also freakishly warm with little shade. However they did have the Grizzly Academy handing out water bottles along the course. There was also a 3K option if you didn’t want to do the 5K. Along the course, they had signs of people with Alzheimer’s as a way to honor them. It was great to see so many families out there. I also know that a good amount of money was raised as well. After completing the walk, we could view the promise garden. There was also a breakfast booth and various vendors and live music. Over all it was well put together event. Just next year, they should warn about the lack of paved course.Following the walk, we headed to the Madonna Inn. The original intention was for Bloody Mary’s but it turned into breakfast. A little truth- I drink so rarely you could say I don’t drink. All I wanted was a Diet Coke. They ordered the Bloody’s and food and I ordered the french toast. I did try T’s drink, apparently my face was hilarious. I should have asked what was in it first. 🙂 But the Diet Coke was awesome. The food was good too.

From there I headed home for the usual errands. Later in the afternoon I decided that it had been too long since I had taken the puppy for a walk. So once I wrangled her into her harness, we headed out for an easy 3 miles. She kept a good pace and never once laid down.

How was your weekend?

Bloody Mary’s- yay or nay?

Ever participated in a walk for charity?

Mark Your Calendars

Happy Friday!! I hope everyone had a good day and if not, well tomorrow is Saturday! Go for a run! I survived my day trip yesterday but man it was tiring. If you follow me on Instagram, you may have seen that I was in notary class. It was for my renewal so realistically it should have been easy but sitting in a room for 8 hours sandwiched between 2 2+hour car trips and I was done. The class was only 6 hours and the rest of the time was spent on registering, picture taking, finger printing and listening to the exam proctors drone on. I actually made it through the day on one 20 oz Diet Coke, which was probably not good as I dozed off 4 times. Oops! Now just to wait for the results. Odd note- my seminar was at the Santa Barbara Mission- who knew they had conference halls?

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It’s time to start thinking of what races to run in the beginning of 2015. What are you doing in April? Come run with me!! Well and a couple thousand other people. Last year I was lucky enough to an open call for Ambassador for the SLO Marathon pop up on Facebook. I jumped at it and was lucky enough to be chosen.

Sweet! I met a great group of people and had an amazing weekend. The scenery for the half marathon was awesome and I heard the full was even better. Plus I love SLO which is why I spend many weekends there. 🙂

For 2015, I get to be an Ambassador again, woo hoo! I am so excited. I am also determined. There’s a hill or 2 that I have some unfinished business with. 🙂 I know it’s early but if you’re looking for a great race, come visit!! Plenty of planning time!! 🙂

And now it’s off to bed for me, I heading down to SLO in the morning. 🙂

How was your week?

Ever doze off more than once in the same seminar/ class?

Anyone racing this weekend?