We get asked all the time about how to lace shoes. Just because the lace holes are in your shoes doesn’t mean you have to use them. Here is a good infographic that shows some simple lacing techniques for common foot conditions.
Run
#happydays! Update on our turtle eggs
We wanted to bring you an update on the turtle eggs we saw being laid back on June 12. #100happydays day 28 All through September we kept an eye on the nest. Finally we saw that it had opened a bit.
We are pretty sure the baby turtles clamored out of this hole.
The next day we saw that something had dug it out complete. We were pretty happy to see that some of the little eggs hatched because up to 84 percent of snapping turtle nests are destroyed by predators such as minks, raccoons and skunks. We sure hope most of those special little snappers made it to the water.
We are pretty sure that the nest was dug out by a racoon looking for stragglers.
According to the web: “As with many reptile species, egg temperature during a critical stage of embryo development determines the gender of the snapping turtle hatchling. According to Scientific American, cooler temperatures at that stage produce males, while eggs incubated in warmer temperatures will produce females.” We can only assume because our summer was so cool that most of these little guy were; well, guys!
Categories: #happydays, Finds, Run
Tags: Blister Sister, Finds, happydays, Morning Run, turtles
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#100happydays Day 95 Spied a ball on our run
#100happydays Day 95 Spied a ball on our run
It was another interesting run this morning. We were running along, chatting about the weekend when I noticed a large white ball to our left. There was something about the color of it that made me go have a look. It was a puffball mushroom a little bigger than a hand.
This one is a hand full!
I’m getting to know mushroom pretty well, although not enough to go mushroom picking. Once we were running in the early fall through a foggy damp forest and there were mushrooms everywhere, all different kinds. They were growing in circles along the drip line of the trees. Glenis and I thought it was so cool. When Glenis brought her husband back to see them, the mushrooms were gone, like she had dreamt we saw them. That’s when we found out about mushroom pickers!
This one today was remarkable because it is one of the biggest I have seen since I was a kid. Although not a large puffball, (they can get huge), it was pretty big for a mushroom around here. (I think people pick them before they get huge) Glenis was surprised on how firm it felt, they are pretty solid.
Puffball mushroom, just minding it’s own business
Puffball mushroom cam be eaten, they are fleshy and apparently taste good fried in butter. (We won’t eating this one). You might see one when you are out and about, they grow in meadows and even on lawns and are big enough to be noticeable. They always grow on the ground and they grow all over our area in the late summer to early fall. Once they turn brownish, it means they are or have gone to spore and they are not edible anymore. Apparently the best time to pick them is when the white exterior cracks and white interior shows through. The key word here is white, (Check this link) not any other color or you could be in trouble.
It was kind of hard to miss, even in this blurry cellphone picture
#100happydays Day 94 Found a quarter
#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?
Categories: #100HappDays, Run
Tags: #100happydays, Blister Sister, Fun, 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 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 83 Hill Training
#100happydays Day 83 Hill Training
Hill Training Motivation from Get Out There Magazine
This morning was the first day of a weekly rotation of hill training. Only 4 hills today but over the next few weeks the number of repeats will increase as will the angle and length of hill.
Hill training is a necessary evil when training for a race. We often skip speed work to work on our strength (as well as improve our form) and hills do that.
Hills – Down and up. (The hill is actually a lot longer and steeper than it looks here. I’m just not too good at capturing it with my camera.)
There are lots of different ways to approach hill training. Check out these tips in Runners World.
The best way is just to do them.
Categories: #100HappDays, Run
Tags: #100happydays, Blister Sister, Fun, happydays, Morning Run
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#100happydays Day 81 The Monday Long Run
#100happydays Day 81 The Monday Long Run
It’s not often we get to run long on a Monday. We started out in the forest but the bugs drove us out onto the side roads. We ran in new territory today but sure enough we ran into another runner that we knew. I could tell by the way he ran that it was Bob.
Long run day and there are the Queen Ann’s Lace, their fragrance is lovely.
It was a hot run in the muggy sunshine so after the run it was into the pool and a nice holiday afternoon with friends. Hey Sister!
After the run – the pool!
#100happy days Day 80 Back to Basics
#100happy days Day 80 Back to Basics
This long weekend is proving to be a busy one for us. Yesterday was the Bad Ass Dash (which we are feeling the effects of today), today was the last day of the sale at Running Free and we both worked, (great to see all our running friends) and tomorrow is the first long run of an intensive schedule getting us ready for the next “big event”.
We are both really looking forward to this month’s training run. July was a busy one with races or volunteering every weekend. In August we are going to concentrate on our training and get some long slow runs in. I think we both miss running for hours on our back county roads. August is the time for Queen Ann’s Lace, daises and the dreaded deer flies and I think we miss all of them.
Road side wild flowers
There is a little story about Queen Ann’s lace or Daucus carota– wild carrot. Queen Anne was tatting white lace. (Tatting is the all-but-lost art of making lace by hand.) The beautiful white lace she was tatting became the white lacy flowers of the wild carrot plant. She pricked her finger and one drop of blood oozed out. This became the central dark red or purple sterile floret that is present on some, but not all, Queen Anne’s Lace flowers. Now you know.
Queen Ann’s Lace
Categories: #100HappDays, Run
Tags: #100happydays, Blister Sister, happydays, Morning Run
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#100happydays Day 77 Nature’s little dive bombers!
#100happydays Day 77 Nature’s little dive bombers!
Deerflies, most runners hate them, so does anyone else who wants to enjoy the outdoors in the summer.
Dark-eyed deer fly
Glenis really hates them. She does this little twirly thing when they start to buzz around and then gets a panic look in her eyes and takes off. It’s sort of amusing to me because the flies usually buzz around her more than me. So if is stay a few feet behind her, I’m usually bug free.
You usually see us running with a face cloth clutched in our hand. While it looks kind of silly, that cloth not only wipes up sweat and blood, it smacks bugs and makes a good fly chaser.
Deerflies are in family Tabanidae, genus Chrysops similar to horse flies which can also take a chunk out of you. They are blood sucking pests which can really ruin a good day. Wouldn’t you know it only the females bite, the males are nectar and pollen feeders. Did you know they are attracted to blue? I should tell Glenis…
Bug hat selection
The web has lots of ideas to protect yourself from these beasts. One involves a blue cup or bucket covered with stick stuff called Tanglefoot worn on your head! Another is to apply double sided tape to a hat and wear that with all the little suckers stuck to it! That wouldn’t be too yucky, would it? I could see Glenis doing that! Maybe if enough of them were stuck there, we would be faster. Can’t you just see us in our next race running with blue cups covered with bugs on our heads?
What do you think? Could we rock the look?
Maybe I’ll just tell her not to wear blue.
Blister Sister Adventure Race Team 