Running in Crocs

I have been reading on the Fast Running Blog as various participants have experimented with running in Crocs. It sounded interesting to me, so I was able to get a pair for free (thanks to a wonderful runner)! I was told that you can run longer distances in them right away, compared to having to build up distances in Vibram FiveFingers.

Yesterday was my first day for the experiment. I brought the Crocs along on a business trip to Livonia, Michigan (the hotel people are pretty good about recognizing us by this point in time) and went for a run. My goal was to run eight miles and I figured I could always just walk back if my feet started hurting. No problems whatsoever! My feet felt light and I only had to stop a few times to get small rocks and stones out of the footbed.

Crocs advantages:

• Inexpensive
  
• Stylish (snicker)
  
• Lightweight training shoe
  
• Not a lot of support, so the foot still needs to be strong
  

I'll post an update after I've run in them several times. It will be interesting. Even though I am sure I will get comments about my footwear, they will be much lesser in number than those I get when I wear my Vibrams.

Inside Joke

Boss: (In speech at a company party)…."I can't believe I'm crying over software!"

Me: I can!

The Goofy Challenge

This week my daughter and I signed up for races in January, 2011 at DisneyWorld. Jennifer is going to be training for and running her first ever half marathon. I am thrilled about the idea of running an endurance race with her. I trained for the St. George Marathon in 2007 with my son, Kevin and am so happy to be having this chance to run with Jenn.

I will be doing the Goofy Challenge. DisneyWorld has a half marathon on Saturday. This is the race Jenn and I will be running. We are planning a nice time of 3 hours which should not be too hard for a novice half marathoner and should not stress my legs too much. For finishing that race, we will get a Donald Duck finisher's medal. Then, on Sunday morning is the DisneyWorld Marathon. Jenn will be supporting me in this race and I will be enjoying a marathon at sea level. For finishing this race, I will get a Mickey Mouse finisher's medal. For finishing the two races in two days for a total of 39.3 miles, I will then get another Goofy medal – hence the Goofy challenged.

This trip will be a combined marathon event and also time spent with the Merkley clan in Richmond Hill/Savannah, Georgia. So neat to already have a race on the schedule for 2011. Plus, it will be my first race after moving up into the next age group bracket.

Bring it on!

There is something worse than labor!

Friday I had one of the scariest experiences of my life. One minute I was feeling fine, the next I was feeling like I wanted to die. From nausea to vomiting to severe abdominal pain, I really didn't know what hit me. Things spiraled downhill quickly and I eventually had to call 911. My blood pressure started to tank and my body was going into shock. They had to turn on the lights and sirens to get me to the hospital. It is hard to describe being blasted like pain like I was and feeling totally out of control. I was terrified that I might be dying. I am usually a pretty tough person, but this was scaring me to my core and a living nightmare. Pain relief was finally given and my body was able to relax.

Many hours and tests later, it was determined that I had a bouncing 7 mm kidney stone that had worked its way from my kidney almost to the bladder. Maybe I should be proud of that, but I'm not. It wiped me out. It humbled me. It made a 100 mile run look like it would be easy.

I sure hope I never have to deal with something like this again.

And, YES! It is worse than labor. Unrelenting pain with nothing enjoyable as a reward in the end. Forgive me for my earlier skepticism.