Hello!  It’s been a couple o’ weeks since I last blagged.  How was your Christmas?  Mine was good.  I got the camera I’ve been lusting after for a while now, the Canon Rebel XS. Very cool!

I’ve been spending a lot of time trying to learn all the photography terminology (ISO, aperture, shutter speed) and taking tons of pictures.  Some are pretty good, some not so much. Here are a few of the okay shots.

Keweenaw Brewing Company

Anvil Ale, Keweenaw Brewing Company

Bring me more beer!

Work!  Supermodel!

I am happy to announce that come January, Running Chick will refocus to running!  Yep, training will start up again after a three month hiatus.  So, be prepared for major bitching about how out of shape I’ve become, slow mile splits and various aches and pains.  Honestly, though, I can’t wait to get back to a fitness routine.  My shoes are lonely and in the fall I bought a swanky Brooks running jacket that is just begging for me to take it out for a spin.  That baby’s supposed to be hurricane/tsunami/avalanche-proof and I’m anxious to test it out.  I can report that it stands up to beer spills just fine. 

Happy twenty-ten all!

I’ve been thinking about getting myself a RoadID for quite a while now, but never got around to doing it.  Finally, after seeing mentions of it on two of the blogs I read and an ad in Runner’s World, I finally quit procrastinating and ordered one.

I do all my runs and rides by myself.  My previous method of identification when out running or biking was an old driver’s license with my contact info written in permanent marker on the back.  It would have worked fine, except that I never remembered to take it with me.  And then the info I wrote on the back wore off.  So much for permanent markers.  I carry my cell phone, which has my contact info in it, with me all the time most of the time, but what if my phone got smashed and my contact info couldn’t be accessed?  Or the battery went dead because I forgot to charge it before I left the house (the most likely case)?  RoadID seemed like the perfect solution.

I debated about getting the ankle ID, but I’m not really into ankle bracelets, so I passed.  Then I debated on the elite or the sport.  I thought that maybe the nylon band on the sport would get stinky over time, so I went for the Wrist ID Elite.  Then I debated about the color – there’s about a billion selections!  Okay, there’s only nine, but anybody who knows me knows that I am horrible at making decisions when there are multiple choices.  Especially when it comes to colors.  Ooh, purple!  No, that would look weird.  Pink!  No, I’m not really a pastel pink kinda gal.  Red!  Too racy?  Orange!  Nah.  Yellow!  Meh.  Green!  Ehn.  Finally, I decided that I should select a color that fits my personality.  So, I chose boring black.  Because I’m boring.  As soon as I ordered it, I wished I’d have ordered red.  *slaps forehead*

ANYWAY.

The laser engraving of my emergency info on the tag is done really well.  You can sort of get an idea of it in the picture above.  I blurred out my info because even though I want first responders and ambulance people to read it, I don’t necessarily want all of the internet to know my emergency contacts or that I’m allergic to peanuts.  Not that I’d wind up having to have a shot of peanut juice in an emergency situation, but I had one line left and didn’t know my blood type or have any witty or inspirational quotations to add.  So, I thought – hey! I’m allergic to peanuts.  That’s probably important to someone besides me! I’ll throw that on there.  I bet the person who set up the engraving got a good giggle out of that.

ANYWAY. AGAIN.

I figure the best way to get into the habit of wearing my ID is to wear it all the time.  So, I’ve been doing that for two days now, and it’s quite comfortable.  And, since I got black, it goes with all my work outfits.  Score.

As an additional bonus, the nice folks at Road ID have extended a little discount to my friends who order one for themselves.  To get $1 off your entire order in the next 30 days, using the coupon number:  ThanksNancy559738

One final note.  Accessories are pretty cheap.  If I do decide to get that red wrist band, it’s only $12.99 and the id tag is, obviously, easily interchanged.  Speaking of the tag, if my contact info changes (say, for example, if I were to give the BF the boot and wanted to remove his number..HI JOSH JUST KIDDING LOVE YA! xoxo, or I were to find out my blood type – which probably wouldn’t be a bad idea in the first place..) replacement tags are only $16.99

If you’re out working on your fitness by yo’self like me (ahem, Bad Decision Bicyclist), please consider a RoadID.  You can thank me later. 

Picked up the orthotics on Thursday afternoon and all I can say is that I now understand why Podiatrist warned me to break them in for a week before running  (well, actually he said two weeks, but I negotiated him down to one week ) – they’re going to take some getting used to.

The first thing I noticed is that, unlike the cushy over-the-counter insoles I’ve been buying for the last many years, these ones are rigid.  That rigidity is (apparently) what’s realigning my lower leg and keeping my ankle from rolling in too much.  They do have a cushy surface on them, so it’s not like I’m completely running on hard plastic.

Second, the heel cup is really deep, deeper than any other insole I’ve even worn.  I forgot to ask Podiatrist what that meant, but since the ultimate goal of these things is to realign, I’m sure that somehow comes into play.

Third, they feel different.  I feel my heel sitting differently in my shoe, I feel the arch support pressing into my arch.  The realignment of my feet are causing my outer ankle to rub on the top edge of my shoe.  I’ve been really lucky in that every shoe and insole I’ve ever worn has been instantly comfortable and I’ve never had issues with shoes causing me blisters or even causing hot spots on my feet, but I don’t know how the orthotics are going to work out once I start running.  I am a bit concerned about that.  I guess I’ll have to stock up on tape or something.

Last, and most annoying, the damn things squeak.  I’ve worn them constantly for two days now and all I hear is squeak, squeak, squeak.  I can’t imagine how annoying that’s going to be when I start running.   I can only hope the break-in period will take care of that.

I left Podiatrist’s office with a warning from him to not freak out if I start to get aches and pains mysteriously on other parts of my body.  He said that since my base (feet) is being realigned, that could have a domino effect on other areas of my body as it adjusts to everything.  He said to give my body a solid month of working everything out before I go back for any adjustments.

Well, anyway, onto the pictures. Here's the orthotics from several angles.

Here's me standing without and with them. (How come I look like I have cankles?) You can see how my ankles are rolling inward in the first picture, and how they're realigned in the second.

My plan is to wear them around as much as possible for a week and then I’ll start running.  My tendonitis is under control, so if all goes well, I’ll be able to get back into the running groove fairly quickly.

I finished my final long run on Friday afternoon.  I was supposed to run on Saturday, but the forecast called for rain all weekend so I decided to take a rest day on Thursday and do my long run on Friday.

It was a balmy 67 degrees, so I wore shorts.  I’m sure the oncoming drivers appreciated the glare from my alabaster white legs.  I ran to Chassell and tried to stay on the trail the entire way, but parts were completely swamped and I got tired of running up & down driveways working my way around the water, so mostly I just stuck to the road.  My shins are a little pissed off about that but they’ll get over it.

And, since I’ve been running in frigid temps the last four months not worrying too much about hydration, I completely blew the amount of water I took and ran out around mile 8.  Fortunately I was able to refill my bottle in a car repair shop (unbeknownst to them).  I was totally going to ask permission, but nobody was at the front desk and the water fountain was right there, so I did a quick refill and took off.

Anyway, I ended up doing 11 miles at 10:42.  I was originally intending to do 12, but I was dumb and wore my heavier winter socks instead of my lighter summer ones and I felt hot spots on my feet around 10 miles.  I didn’t want them to turn into monster blisters, so I decided I’d better quit while I was ahead and finished up once I hit 11.  Had it not been for the blisters, I could have made 12 with no problem.

In my quest to collect every single GPS running device Garmin makes, I bought the Forerunner 305 last week when I noticed that the price came way down.  This one’s got a heart rate monitor so I’m able to collect even more data that I have no idea how to interpret!  My average heart rate for this run was 171.  I have no idea if that’s good or bad but I didn’t keel over from a heart attack, so I can only assume it’s okay.  The chest strap is pretty comfortable, I completely forgot I was wearing it once I left the house.

New toys are fun!

This week’s totals:  19.58 miles @ 10:36

Next week’s schedule calls for 16 miles with a long run of 6.  Depending on how my shins are feeling, I might end up cutting back, we’ll see.

After next week, I have two short runs for 5 miles then it’s off to the races!

I successfully completed three pain-free, conservative (read slow) miles on the dreadmill today. Holla!

I was a little afraid of reinjuring my calf, so I took it really easy and wore the calf sleeve I picked up last summer. It's supposed to do things such as keep the muscle warm and provide compression and support which are all good for a calf injury. At least that's what the doctor told me when he advised me to get one. Seeing as how my calf stayed attached throughout my run, I can only assume it did it's job.

Anyhoo, tomorrow I'll attempt four miles. I don't know if I'll do it on the dreadmill or not, I'll let the weather determine that. Speaking of weather, Ma Winter can't decide whether she wants to give up or not. We had snow yesterday and today and it's also on the forecast for tomorrow. The temps have been in the mid-to-high 30's so what snow we've been getting hasn't been sticking around, but it leaves us in a constant of wet and sloppy roads. That's no fun for running. If I do run outside tomorrow, I'll have to pick a hill-less route that's calf-friendly. That'll take me at least half the day messing around on www.mapmyrun.com.

Oh, new gear! The Superfeet insoles that I got a couple of weeks ago weren’t so super on my feet so back to www.runningwarehouse.com they went. The UPS guy dropped these babies off today:

New Balance Pressure Relief Insoles

I’ve used them before with no issues, and bonus - they don’t need trimming.  I’ll be taking them for their first spin tomorrow.

Shameless plug:  www.runningwarehouse.com 

I’m completely in love with this store.  Their prices are great, they have **free 2-day shipping** and they’ll even return, for a full refund, trimmed, worn insoles.  I’ve spent so much money there in the last two weeks that I’ve put myself on time-out from their web site.  Hopefully there are just as many other runners out there as addicted to it as I am and their business won’t go under because of my hiatus.

Let’s hope, anyway. 

I got the mostest awesome birthday present from the mostest awesome boyfriend.  Who, by the way, completely sucks at real sports but totally kicked my ass in tennis, bowling, boxing and golf last night.

 Must practice, must practice....

Have I mentioned that I hate running on the treadmill?  That's what I've been doing this week while Mother Nature tries to remember that we're not Antarctica.  Since Tuesday, high temperatures have been anywhere between 0 and 5, while the lows have been, well, low.

 Here's what thermometer on my car said last night around 7pm

It did say -11 at one point, but I didn't think to take a picture.

So, Tuesday and Wednesday I logged my boring and dull miles on the dreadmill at the local fitness center.  My runs were uneventful, except when I accidentally snagged the cord for my headphones with my hand, which sent my iPhone flying through the air to come down with a very loud bang on the mental front of the treadmill and caused everybody in the gym to stop what they were doing and look at me. Whoopsie!

Thursday morning I rolled out bed, took my first steps and immediately felt like I stepped on a sharp stone with my left heel.  Throughout the day, the pain got progressively worse until I could barely put weight on my left foot.  I was really concerned that it was plantar fasciitis, and I guess I'm unconvinced that it's not, but it seems to be getting a lot better as time goes on.  Yesterday it was about 50% better.  Today it's about 80% better and I'm walking without a limp.  There's still some pain there, but it's not the piercing pain that it was on Thursday.  I was supposed to run 3 miles today, but I decided to skip that.  I'm hoping to do some snowshoeing in Eagle Harbor tomorrow and test out the new gaiters I bought.  As long as my heel is agreeable.

I'm contemplating buying a new digital camera.  The one I have now is about 7 years old and it's pretty beat up.  I dropped it in my driveway a couple of years ago and the display got all distorted and fuzzy and sometimes that trickles into the photos.  It's also big and bulky when compared with today's cameras.  I'd really like to get something that's small enough to easily slip into my pocket or purse so I can take it with me all the time.  I've got my eye on the Olympus FE-330.  It's very light and compact and has all sorts of neat functions like digital image stabalization which is cool because I can't seem to take a picture that's not blurry.  It also gets Josh's stamp of approval in the resolution and optical zoom department.  I don't really know beans about that stuff, so it's always good when Josh approves.