#100happydays Day 94 Found a quarter
We found a quarter on the road yesterday during our long run. Of course I picked it up. As I did Glenis asked if that meant we were now paid athletes?
Paid Athletes?
Monthly Archives: August 2014
#100happydays Day 94 Found a quarter
Categories: #100HappDays, Run
Tags: #100happydays, Blister Sister, Fun, happydays, Morning Run
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#100happydays Day 93 An eventful 30k
#100happydays Day 93 An eventful 30k
Yesterday I wrote of the important of planning your running route. We set our goal – 30K – and planned our route and even started out at the designated time.
Quiet roads.
The weather was great as we cruised along our favorite road. Feeling pretty good we started to run over the new overpass that is almost finished being built. Humm, apparently that wasn’t a good idea, (but it was last week). This week we were greeted by a fellow in a truck who told us not to run on the new overpass yet and that he would “escort” us over the bridge but that we shouldn’t come back that way. Oh oh, we might have to re-think our route.
Running along the back roads can be so relaxing, very few cars were out this morning and we only pass one peloton of cyclists. The grapes were hanging from the vines, the jewel weeds were in bloom and the soybean fields looked lush.
We just passed onto the 4 concession road when we heard a large vehicle coming up behind us. The road was a little narrow at that point. As we turned to see what was coming up on us, we were a little surprised to see a large farm tractor with duel back wheels pulling a double liquid manure spreader. Wow, we had to step off the road to let it pass. Then the smell hit us! It was so strong you could taste it! GROSS! This is when we decided to not follow our planned route. We made the decision to turn back to the corner and run north instead of following behind the smelliest thing out there.
This is what we ran away from, what a smell!
From there on we use the Garmin to help us decide our alternate route, 15k out and then we figured out how to get back while avoiding the overpass.
We were there and now we are here
It was a beautiful day for a run. The weather was a little overcast, and the temperature was on the cool side but the rain held off until we were home eating great omelets whipped up by Glenis’s husband!
Another thing to remember about planning your route – be adaptable.
Categories: #100HappDays
Tags: #100happydays, Blister Sister, happydays, Morning Run
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#100happydays Day 92 Finding the perfect running route.
#100happydays Day 92 Finding the perfect running route.
Finding a running route is kind of important whenever you run. We find that our run will always end up short if we don’t have a plan. Before deciding on a route we discuss our goals for the run and 99% of the time we are on the same page.
Planning out a running route on the ipad over a morning coffee. We are all set for our long run in the morning.
We think about the scenery, hills, traffic, air quality, footing and how far we want to run while considering the weather and our goals. There is nothing like a smoggy, flat, busy, broken road to shorten our run. Trail running adds some additional considerations like the bug activity in the bush, how technical is the trail is we are considering and how much rain fall had occurred in the days before we want to run.
There are lots of great websites and apps to help you find and tweak a route. In most of them you can even save your route so that you can run it again.
Map My Run (there’s an app for that) Google Map Pedometer and Running map.com all work great. We are sure there are more out there, have a look.
Categories: #100HappDays, Run
Tags: #100happydays, Blister Sister, Fun, Morning Run, summer
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#100happydays, Day 91 Anchor Park
#100happydays, Day 91 Anchor Park
We ran through Anchor Park today and we stopped for a minute to look at the huge old anchor resting there that gives the park its name.
An old image of the anchor. I’m not sure what Anchor of Emily May, Bradford means but this is the anchor in Anchor Park.
The history of the anchor dates back to the War of 1812. The Anchor was manufactured in Chatham, England and transported by ocean to Quebec and then overland to Kingston, there is was loaded on another ship and sent to York (Toronto). Back then winter roads were not easy to travel so it was hauled by oxen on a catapult sleigh to the Holland Landing Depot on Soldier’s Bay and the south end of Lake Simcoe. By the time the anchor got to Soldier’s Bay the war was over so the army just left it there.
Holland’s Landing Depot on Soldier’s Bay
It ended up in the current park when a group of residents asked the government for land for a park. They must have felt that having a huge anchor resting in the park would make a good display because they rescued the anchor from being melted down and established it in the park.
The Anchor Park Anchor
It is kind of cool to look at the plaque in the park showing old photographs of people sitting and standing on the anchor from so long ago and knowing that you can do the same today.
#100happydays Day 90 Ultrarunning Field Guide
#100happydays Day 90 Ultrarunning Field Guide
The other day I came across a great article on my Facebook page from Outside Magazine about ultrarunning and I fired the link off to Glenis in an email with instructions to read the article.
The article was about Hal Koerner and Hal’s Top 10 Must Do’s on Race Day. It included obvious must do’s like wear a watch and have fun along with ones you might not give much thought to like be ready to be resilient when things go wrong and do stay aware (after all most ultras are not in urban areas). The article also touched on what not to do like don’t fret over natural phenomena and don’t let aid stations dictate your personal fueling. That last one is so important not only for ultrarunners but for any racer. Race directors placing aid stations don’t know where or when you will need fluids only you do.
Not only did Glenis read the article, she bought each of us Hal Koerner’s book! Yeah sister! Hal Koerner’s Field guide to Ultra Running. It covers training for ultramarathons from 50K to 100 miles.
Field Guide to Ultra Running by Hal Koerner
A few years ago we ran a 50 miler; it was an awesome event in our lives but talk about winging it. We only did a little research and figured out our own training schedule then drew on our experiences from all the marathons we had run. Having a field guide would have been great.
Well we aren’t planning on a 50 miler this year, just a little 50k, but this book will be a great reference. We should have an easier time finishing. Check out Hal Koerner’s blog.
Categories: #100HappDays, Ultras
Tags: #100happydays, Blister Sister, Books, Fun, happydays
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#100happydays Day 89 Missed a day!
#100happydays Day 89 Missed a day!
Oh oh, life got in the way today! Sometimes life obligations get in the way of our running, like work or family life. As much as we try to juggle life sometimes we drop the ball. Today was one of those days!
This is how we feel when we do run!
This is how we feel when we do run! We are so in sync!
This is how we feel when we don’t run!
This is how we feel when we don’t run! We just are not ourselves!
#100happydays Day 88 The Need to Stretch
#100happydays The Need to Stretch
I’m sitting on the floor stretching as I write this post. As runners, we have deal with the tight quads, caves and hamstrings. Each step we take forces our quads, hamstrings, calves, hips and gluts to flex and extend over and over. All this repetitive motion can cause our muscles and tendons to tighten up becoming less flexible and more prone to injury.
Morning stretches after our run
Ideally we should do dynamic stretches before we run like leg swings and walking lunges and static stretches after we run like hamstring and hip flexor stretches, calf and quad stretches and full body stretches. Dynamic stretches help to loosen up and activate all your leg muscles and static stretches help to maintain flexibility and range of motion.
There are lots of excellent articles on the web about stretching. Runners World is one that comes to mind as a good resource. We recommend the book Stretching by Bob and Jean Anderson. (see image)
Stretching by Bob and Jean Anderson
I’d like to say we are diligent in our stretching, but we are not. Nagging injuries pop up every now and again to remind us of importance of stretching. As the saying goes “if you don’t have time to stretch, you don’t have time to run”.
#100happydays Day 87 Sticky Sticks
#100happydays Day 87 Sticky Strips
We have had an ongoing fight with flying bugs this year, in particularly the very hearty deer flies that seem to be mutating into buzzing jet fighters with teeth (as I mentioned in my post of Nature’s Little Dive Bombers ). There are some solutions on the web that we could try, they involve wearing blue beer cups on our heads. Hummmm?
We have found another solution. It still involves wearing a hat but we found this product called Sticky Sticks. They are made to use around houseplant with aphid infestations. Well those little strips are really sticky and they work on deer flies, the upholstery in my car, and Glenis’s hair. We just used safety pin to attach the little strips to the top on our hats voilà they worked like a charm! Happy Days!
Glenis is going to love these! I just don’t know how she is going to handle running with bugs stuck to her hat!
Safer;s Sticky Sticks, we got ours in the garden center of WalMart.
Categories: #100HappDays
Tags: #100happydays, Blister Sister, Fun, happydays, summer
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#100happydays day 86 A Long Run
#100happydays day 86 A Long Run
28k BOOM! Done! We had a great run today down our favorite road. We started our early and the weather was perfect! With hydration packs on, sunscreen and some nutrition in our packs we were ready for a great run.
Smiles at the start of the run.
Smiles at the turn around cows!
Still smiling at the end of 28k!
This was a run with memories. We have been running Doane Road for years. We’ve done most of our marathon training on this road. It is a quiet, rolling county road, but not for long. A major highway is going in and splitting the road in two. The plan is to put a major intersection on it and turn it into a major four lane road. So while the road is still a quite county road, we are going to take advantage of it and enjoy every step.
We ran out Doane to Queensville, then out to Warden to Bill’s Turkey Farm. They must have been cleaning the barn because the odor of “turkey barn” drifted down the road with us until we turned around at the cow pasture.
Technology makes it easy to work anywhere! Running Free work is never done!
Cyclists on Warden taking a run up to the lake!
Glenis and her knotty tree
404 construction is moving along. At least we can use the over passes now.
An out and back 14k works for us, like trails the road can look entirely different once you’re on the other side. As usual we never know what we’ll find on a run we found this door set up as a garden prop on our way back home.
A door to another world!
Ok, I got to say the best part was at the end of the run when we jumped in the pool to cool off!
Cool off time!
Categories: #100HappDays, Run
Tags: #100happydays, Blister Sister, Fun, happydays, Morning Run
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#100happydays Day 85 Friday is Yoga Day
#100happydays Friday is Yoga Day
Fridays are going to be yoga day for the Blister Sisters during August. We are getting limber for the “Big Event”. There is one thing we really need to do more of is stretching and yoga is the perfect solution for us. Between the poses and the breathing we really need the benefits of yoga.
There are many types of yoga and I can’t really say that we do any particular one. We do enjoy a slower pace yoga where we can really hold the pose. (I found this great little image here.)
Yoga for Runners
Runners and yoga just go together as explained in the Yoga Journal’s article by Baron Baptiste and Kathleen Finn Mendola.
“During the course of an average mile run, your foot will strike the ground 1,000 times. The force of impact on each foot is about three to four times your weight. It’s not surprising, then, to hear runners complain of bad backs and knees, tight hamstrings, and sore feet.
The pain most runners feel is not from the running in and of itself, but from imbalances that running causes and exacerbates. If you bring your body into balance through the practice of yoga, you can run long and hard for years to come. Although yoga and running lie on opposite ends of the exercise spectrum, the two need not be mutually exclusive. In fact, running and yoga make a good marriage of strength and flexibility.”
There are other good articles on line about yoga and running and don’t forget Pinterest. The best thing is to find a yoga studio that is geared for athletes.
One day I’ll post picture of us doing yoga, but we have to get a lot better at it before I do!
Categories: #100HappDays, Cross-training, Yoga
Tags: #100happydays, Blister Sister, Cross Training, Fun, happydays
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Blister Sister Adventure Race Team 