Tamara’s Post – A Steamy, Sunny, Sweaty Run…

After months of not finding the time to blog – I’m back…again. It’s been a whirlwind few months, but I’m hopeful that things are settling down and I can catch up with posting – I like getting my running thoughts out.

With a high of 103 predicted for today, we decided to hit the road early. My sister and her 2 children are here visiting from Maine so I gave Samantha the instructions last night to wake them up if she awoke while we were still running. The house was quiet when we left – until I realized I forgot my sunglasses and startled the dogs which made them bark as I trampled back inside…I heard some mumbling from Samantha’s room…and then silence – whew, let’s get out of here. It was almost 6:30am and I could see the sun had risen past the trees already. Ugh – Jeff was right, the earlier the better – it was gonna be hot! As we sprinted down the driveway I noticed the sun rising higher and higher in the sky with every step we took…we can’t outrun it. We didn’t talk much on the run, we actually didn’t talk at all. We ran. Just having Jeff beside me keeps me going…and as he sped ahead of me with each rolling hill I kept my focus and tried to catch him. It’s like a game. Fortunately we had some shade from the tall trees on the back roads and at one point the shade came from very tall corn stalks sitting high on a knoll to our left – ahhhh…thank you corn! It’s been a few weeks since I’ve had the opportunity and ambition to run outside in the heat and I can’t say enough how much I hate it. The steam seemed to rise from the foliage and leave the air stagnant making it difficult to breathe. I could hear Jeff’s quick breathing – from the steamy air or from the pace, I didn’t know. We press on and with the descent down into each little gully in the shade I seem to linger a bit in the coolness – or at least it seemed cooler. As we round the corner and head down the 1 mile straightaway that leads to the road we live on, I notice the cell tower wwwwaaaayyyyy in the distance…jeez, it looks like someone moved it further away today! I run 50 or so feet behind Jeff for the reminder of the run – pretending I’m in a race and trying to catch him – which I never do. It was a hot, steamy 6.2 miles. As we enter the house we realize no one is awake yet, no surprises there…it feels great to get a nice run in so early in the morning – I’m glad we went!

Jeff’s Post – A Slight Hitch in my Giddy Up!

I feel like this is a broken record but Tamara and I continue to plug away on house stuff.  We were up Friday night past midnight painting (that makes me a little grumpy btw) but we are finally getting there.  I’m still wishing I had time to post more and will soon and Tamara will be posting again (one she finishes rearranging the kitchen!).

Now for your enjoyment a running recap of the past week :).  I started Monday off with a ½ marathon on the treadmill.  Some people think I’m nuts for doing this but after running on the treadmill so much I need to find things that challenge me and right now that is challenging me.  This was actually my second Monday in a row doing this.  I followed it up with a fast 6 miles on Tuesday, 8 on Wednesday.  When I went to bed Wednesday night I was thinking I wanted to try for another 13 on Thursday and that is whata I did but at around mile 12 I felt a pain in my left calf.  I thought it was a cramp and pushed through the final mile but I was definitely feeling some pain that day.  Friday was a planned day off for me and I was relieved that my leg was feeling better but not 100%.  I wanted another 50 miles for the week and only needed 10 over the weekend but my leg was hurting a little on Saturday so I decided another day off was best.  This morning I woke up before the sunrise and headed out for a 10 mile run.  I was a little nervous not knowing how my leg would react but by mile 3 I knew I was good.  The run this morning was so enjoyable.  The weather was perfect, watching the sunrise was amazing and it was so early that it was just me and the open road.  I ended up having my second best 10 mile time ever coming in just a little over 1:14.  The only thing missing was Tamara who was in the gym running while I was out on the road.

I’m thankful for another good running week and will definitely pay attention to my leg this week but I want to keep pushing it.  It won’t happen for a little while but I really want to run a ½ marathon a day for one week and I want to run a marathon on the treadmill sometime this year.

Hope you have a great week – keep pushing and run smart!

Jeff’s Post – Making Strides!

After months and months of work around the house I finally feel like we are making strides.  The basement is about 90% finished (pics coming soon!) and today we moved all of the remaining furniture that was sitting in the garage down to the basement.  Now we can fit two cars in the garage again – Yeah!

One of the things I’m most proud of is that during all this chaos I did a good job of staying focused on running.  In fact, running helped me stay focused on all the things that were going on around me.  One of the many many things that I love about running.

Last week I had my first 50 mile week in months.  I started off strong running a 1/2 marathon on the treadmill Monday and Tamara and I finished strong with 6 hot miles today.

Tamara and I are committed to picking up the blog posts and hope you continue to stay with us as we share our journey. Stay tuned as we gear up for a great summer – we can’t wait to share!

Have a great running day!

Jeff’s Post – Ups and Downs!

I don’t normally like to get off the topic of running but I will for a moment with this post.  Tamara and I have been through a crazy range of emotions over the last week.  So, I give you a little behind the scenes at “werrunners”.  We didn’t discuss it much but some of our loyal readers picked up on the fact that Tamara and I are a “dating running couple”.  We both own houses and decided recently to move in together (Tamara moving in with me – on Memorial Day weekend).  We have been working non-stop (with an amazing amount of help from my parents) to get things ready for the move.  Part of this was to finally finish my basement and to get a nice gym set up for us.  Rewind to last Wednesday – Tamara calls me at 2:30 in the morning (still living apart) to tell me that her Manchester Terrier “Kilee” came in from outside and couldn’t move her back legs.  She didn’t appear to be in pain but obviously we were both alarmed.  Tamara stayed with her and made an appointment for her at the vet first thing Wednesday.  She calls me from the vet and says that they think Kilee had a stroke and referred us to an emergency animal hospital about an hour away.  I left work and met Tamara and we headed to the animal hospital.  The doctor advised us that they would have to do an MRI to get a better idea on what we were dealing with.  We took Kilee to an imaging center about 2 hours away for the MRI and then headed back to the animal hospital to discuss the results.  The results – no stroke, no disc issues, no tumor, no cancer and a spinal tap confirmed no infection but the spinal cord was showing some sort of discoloration around ½ way down Kilee’s back.  Kilee was a 100% healthy dog, she was the athlete in the family and Tamara often took her running with her and now she was paralyzed in the hind quarters.  Needless to say we were devastated.  Tamara has another Manchester Terrier “Kacee” and I have a beagle mix “Teddy” and we were so exited for all of the dogs to finally live together.  They have spent many weekends together and Teddy and Kacee were fast friends spending their time chasing each other around the yard.  We decided it was best to leave Kilee at the animal hospital for a few days to start a steroid treatment.  Move to Thursday – We begin the move to my house on Thursday and Friday (again with amazing help from my family).  We check on Kilee a few times a day with no change.  On Saturday we decide to go get Kilee and bring her home.  It was important for Tamara and I to make sure Kilee made the move with the rest of the family.  Again, another range of emotions when we see her.  She was scared but so happy to see us when we came in.  I wish I had a video camera running when we brought her in the house.  Kacee and Teddy were so excited to see Kilee and it was amazing how gentle they were with her.  At the moment we are caring for Kilee in our home.  We have been carrying her around like a baby and I have walked her some with a towel around her hind quarters.  Tamara has quickly learned how to express the bladder and at the moment we are just glad to have her home.  It is still heartbreaking to see her in this condition and we are hoping for the best over the next few weeks.  We are puzzled, saddened and angry over the sudden paralysis of her legs and continue to look for answers.  Of note is that she was treated with Simple Guard flea and tick medicine a few days before her paralysis.  Tamara is convinced that this treatment played a role in Kilee’s issue and she will be writing a blog post over the next few days to talk about her findings.  Hoping all the dog lovers can send some positive thoughts our way.  We would love nothing more than to see Kilee run free again.

A few running notes: For the first time since I can remember I took 3 days off from running as we dealt with Kilee and our move.  I did get a run in on Sunday – it was a hot 6 miles and I thought of Kilee often during my run.  Tamara and I also ran a hot 4 miles this morning.  Tamara got her new Landice L8 treadmill delivered on Wednesday and got to run on it the first time on Saturday.  The gym is also nearing completion.  Still have some things to add but we are getting there.

Have a good day – Go for a run if you get a chance and give your pet a hug!

Jeff’s Post – Quick Weekend Recap!

Wow – the weekend just flew by.  The basement remodel is in full swing but we found time for a few runs.  Saturday we got up early and went for a speedy 4.85 miles – ( I know – we should have gone 5 but Tamara said no).  This was such a fun run and there was definitely some racing going on.  We ended up with a 7:25 pace – No world records but it was fun to go fast and I loved how we pushed each other.  After our run we headed to Lifetime Fitness and finally bought Tamara’s new Treadmill.  She ended up picking out the Landice L8.  This such a nice machine and after 10 years on her current Nordic Track I think she deserves it!  Now I want one :).  We should be getting it in around 3 weeks – They are waiting for us to finish the gym!  Saturday night we stayed up until 2:30 am painting the gym (don’t you love the color) – Then after a few hours sleep we went for another fun 3.1 miles on Sunday morning.  We ended the weekend with a nice Mother’s Day brunch with my parents.

Hope you have a great running week!

 

Jeff’s Post – Weekend Recap

Tamara and I took it easy (running wise) this weekend.  We are in between races (Rock ‘n Roll last weekend – Cherry Blossom this weekend) and we are both still nursing sore legs so we thought it would be best to take a little break.  We decided we would take Saturday off and go for a run on Sunday.

We have been a bit spoiled with the weather this year and weren’t so excited (especially Tamara) when we woke up and it was cloudy with a light rain and temperatures in the low 50’s.  We wanted to run someplace different and ended up driving a few minutes from the house so we could run down a new road.  Tamara made me laugh multiple times as we were getting ready to get out of the car.  A few comments she made: I’m tired wake me up when you get back, I don’t want to run it is too cold, My legs hurt you just go, I’m retiring from running and a few other things.  I’ve heard these comments before so I knew with a little push I could get her out of the car.

We decided beforehand that we would only go 5 miles and that it would be an easy 5.  We have been pushing it on training runs lately so it was nice to run at a little slower pace.  We ended up talking the whole run (which we don’t normally do) and the 5 miles just flew by.  I forgot my camera but we ended up running down to an old marina and turned around at the end of a long pier. We both commented on how much fun this run was and it turned out to be one of the more enjoyable runs we have had in a long time.

Jeff’s Post – Weekend Recap – Taking it Easy!

This is the first weekend in a long time that I’ve only run one day and only six miles at that.  Rewind a few days back to Thursday.  Tamara and I planned a 10 mile run after work.  I wasn’t 100% sure if we would be able to get it in so I went ahead and ran 6 miles on the treadmill that morning.  My legs were sore during the morning run so I was a little concerned about how I would make out in the afternoon.  Well, I knew right away this afternoon run wasn’t going to be easy.  I was struggling during mile 1 and by mile 2 my calf starting hurting.  I’ve never really experienced any muscle pain so I was hoping it would just go away but It didn’t and I had one of the more miserable runs that I can remember.  I finished the 10 miles in 1:20 not a bad pace but by the time I got home I could barely walk.  The next morning my calf felt a little better (a good sign in my opinion) but I still decided to take a few days off.  This morning I wanted to test the leg a bit.  I could still feel my calf around mile 2 but it wasn’t that bad and I wanted to get in 6 miles so I just ran.  I was actually very pleased after.  I could still feel some pain but not nearly as bad as Thursday.  Even with the days off I ended up getting in 36 miles for the week so I’m happy.  As long as the leg holds out I plan on running 6-8 miles on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and will probably take Thursday and Friday off in preparation for Rock N Roll USA in DC.  Tamara and I are very excited to Rock DC next weekend.  Tamara has had some incredible runs leading up to this race and I have no doubt she will Rock DC.  I’ve had a few tough runs but you can bet your best pair of running shorts that I will also Rock DC!

Have a great week and Happy Running!

Tamara and I enjoyed a little Ice Cream at Carl's in Fredericksburg, VA today.

Jeff’s Post – Weekend Recap – Nine – Thirteen – Out of Gas!

I’m happy putting 47.7 miles in the books last week.  This is my highest total in a few months and for the most part I feel good.  Last week was treadmill runs (10K a day) Monday thru Thursday, Friday off and outdoor runs on Saturday and Sunday.  I’m one of the event organizers for runforhospice.org and Saturday we were having one of our planning meetings.  I decided early last week that I wanted to run to the meeting.  I figured why not run to a meeting about running, makes perfect sense to me.  I also like to add something like this to switch things up a bit.  This was a new running route for me which was nice.  I woke up Saturday morning excited but with an immediate concern about the weather.  It was a warmer morning (in the 50’s) but rain was all around us.  As I drove to my launch point it began to rain but I decided I was running regardless and I did.  I was lucky as the rain held off for the entire run and I finished the 9 miles with a 7:55 pace.  This was a hilly route and I had some stomach issues the night before so I was thrilled with both the pace and finish.  I got the gold star award for running to the meeting but there was also a mention that I need to run back next time (I caught a ride back with my brother – slacker).  Don’t these people know that they shouldn’t challenge me?  I will be running to the meeting and back home next time – Put that in your running shoes!

Tamara and I are still in training for Rock and Roll USA in DC and we wanted to get in a longer run on Sunday (Thanks mom and dad for the help!) Tamara was messing with me for most the weekend first telling me she wanted to run 4 then 14 so I had no idea how far she wanted to go.  As soon as we were about to start I look over to her and ask “so how far” and she says 10 – 14.  We take off on a long loop course that I have run before (and dang it I forgot the camera!).  The beginning of the run felt warm but somewhere around the 6 mile mark things changed.  The clouds started rolling in and the dang wind would not stop.  It felt like we had a headwind the whole time.  I started to get cold and started to mentally check out of this run.  We also started this run around noon and I only ate breakfast.  For some reason I don’t pay the same attention to fuel and hydration in the winter months – mistake!  I tend to always harp on Tamara for these issues but today she had both her Gatorade and Gu and I had nothing.  Tamara is crazy on Gu btw.  I can instantly tell when that stuff starts kicking in and today it was all I could do to keep up.  We decided on the way back that we were going to stop at 12 but as we got closer to our finish I knew we would be a little short. We agreed to add a loop around a few office buildings to get to 12.  As we were nearing 12 I look over to Tamara and ask are we just going to stop at 12 or run back to my parents and see where we end up she says “I think I’m going for 13”.  I’m a bit delirious at this point from the lack of food and hydration and I’m thinking to myself – yep that is what we should do while at the same time my mind and body are saying “huh”.  We begin the finish to 13 and for a moment I stop running then I hear a little voice in my head saying “what the???…really you can’t stop”.  So I start again at one point Tamara looks at me and says “I can’t pick you up if you collapse” This I realize but I was quietly hoping she would at least take the phone from my SPibelt and call for help if needed.  We finish the 13 and I couldn’t be happier to have this run over.  The last 5 miles or so all I could think about was eating a piece of strawberry cake that my mom made and that was the first thing I did when I got to their house.  I was so proud of Tamara on this run – she not only ran and finished strong in hilly, windy, cold conditions but she absolutely helped carry me through when I was struggling.  Thanks Tamara for always being there when I need it.  I love my running partner in so many ways!  Today’s run was one of those humbling runs that remind me to respect my distances and prepare accordingly – I promise I will next time!  Our run wasn’t awful pace wise we finished with an 8:18 pace which I will take all things considered.

Hope you had a good running weekend and good luck on the upcoming week!

Jeff’s Post – Weekend Recap – Look out for the Horse and Buggy!

Tamara and I both did something rare last week.  We took Friday and Saturday off from running.  We ran a fairly speedy 10 miles on Thursday afternoon (I ran that morning so I had 16 miles that day) and we both felt a slightly extended rest was the best thing to do.  Tamara mentioned on Saturday that she wanted to try to get 12 miles in today and that is exactly what we did.  Tamara left the route up to me and I felt like changing it up a bit.  I wasn’t 100% sure where we were going to end up but we just ran and ended up going down some really nice country roads.  We intentionally slowed this run down a bit but still ended up with an 8:23 pace on a challenging hilly course.  We both ran strong but by the end we were definitely “done”!  We live in Amish Country and today we had a few challenging horse and buggy incidents.  We ran off the road more than once to make room for the buggy but that is what I love about where we live.  We can drive a few miles and be on the water or we can walk out the front door and see the Amish on their way to church!  We are definitely counting down the days to our first race of the year – Rock n Roll ½ in DC on March 17^th.  I’m not quite where I want to be yet but feel good about where I’m heading.

Hope you had a great weekend!  Happy Running!

Jeff’s Post – Long Weekend Recap

Double running bonus – The middle of February in Maryland and I still managed to get two nice outside runs in over the long weekend.  Tamara did a nice job of recapping our Saturday run.  FYI – That run was tough for me too, not really sure why but it was.  I ran six days last week and decided to take Sunday off.  Monday was a work holiday for me and I wanted to try to get another outside run in.  I wasn’t sure that was going to happen when I woke up to a beautiful blanket of snow.  We only had a few inches and I knew it was going to warm up so I decided on an early afternoon run.  I typically do all of my running early in the morning so I struggle a bit with the later morning and early afternoon runs. I headed out for my run around 1:00 and was hoping to run fast and I did with a 7:29 pace but that run was tough.  I knew it was going to be a struggle from step one but I just kept my head down and kept pushing.  I had a killer headwind on my way back and it was just one of those runs that you wanted to be over with.  I was happy that it was over, happy that I finished strong and I look forward to my next good run because I know it is right around the corner.

Have a great day and Happy Running!