Now Norma Knits

There's A Downside To These Shoes When Used On A Stony Trail

Before I bought these Nike Free Run + running shoes, I read some reviews, and this was a known issue. Those reviewers said that they can feel the stones. I don't feel them, but that could be because I use Superfeet inserts* in the shoes. I do worry that this problem with the stones is going to quickly wear the shoes out, though. It's not an issue when I run on pavement or the track, but that is rare now. I prefer the stoned path for many reasons, and that's where I tend to run. Liking where you run might just be half the battle.

I'm still not running marathongs (<----- typo purposely left because it cracked me up), but the Nike Frees, when combined with the Superfeet inserts, seem very much the right shoes for me. My comfort, stride, and gait seem so much more elegant and natural to me -- and I feel so much lighter on my feet and more in control -- in them than in the many other versions of heavily engineered running shoes I have tried in the past.**

I may not yet be a gazelle out there, but at least I am not clunking along, the way I did in all those other shoes. Sadly, the Free Run +'s have been discontinued and replaced with a "2" model that doesn't quite fit me right. I learned that in time before they were all cleared from the stores, and was able to snag an extra pair to have in reserve, though.

Yesterday was brutally hot, but I managed to make it through Week 6 Run 1 of the C25K program. I got a hamstring cramp in the last 5-minute run portion, and, true story: I decided to imagine that the guy who was walking behind me was a psycho polygamist serial killer (Thank you, all those awesome Dexter and Big Love episodes!), and I had to run away from him. Would a hamstring cramp and a little bit of heat keep you from running from a psycho polygamist serial killer? I think not. 

Anyhoo, even without my weird imaginings, I am making slow, steady progress again, after getting back to it following the mysterious incident with the ankle that occurred back in May. When that happened, I was on Week 7. Almost back there, and it feels great!

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*Superfeet inserts have been life-changing for me, so much so that when Abigail asked me what I wanted for my birthday, I said I just want another pair of Superfeet, so I don't have to keep switching them out from my running shoes to my hiking boots that I use for gardening. She obliged (yay Abigail!) and now I'm the thankful owner of two pairs of green (the ones for high-impact activities) Superfeet. 

**(Having read Cari's post of yesterday, I am reminded that I need to say that a) I bought my own shoes and inserts, and b) I am not being paid to say this.)

Oh HONEY! You Are So SWEET!

A package arrived at my doorstep yesterday morning, and inside it was this:

A jar of honey from the bees that work the garden of my sweet friends Margene and Smith, in Salt Lake City, Utah.

A more meaningful and thoughtful gift I cannot imagine. I can't wait to have some in my pre-run breakfast drink this morning -- sweet and natural fuel for my run from across the miles. 

Thank you, my dear Margene and Smith! 

I Am 52

Up until just a few months ago, I felt like 52 going on 29. 

Right lately, though, I've sort of felt like 52 going on 72. The stiff, achy joints; the sore, tight back; the sore knee -- oy oy oy! When working in the garden, I'm a completely different person than I used to be. It HURTS! I can't reach that zucchini to cut it! I can't bend down to pull those weeds!

This is a rude awakening like no other to me. I was always so critical of people who were "too lazy" to "work hard" and "stay in shape."  

Hell's bells.

I'm lucky compared to many. I don't have Type II diabetes (or anything close to it), I don't have hot flashes (knock wood) or many of the other ailments so common to so many my age. I'm not dead, as are some of my high school classmates. But I do have those blood lipid issues lurking in the background, and I'd better damn well perk up and get rid of these aches and pains. I could have another 45 or 50 years to live, if my genes are any indication, and I don't intend to live them not well.

My name is Norma and I'm middle-aged: Hair dye needed, calorie-counting needed, fiber intake monitoring needed, anti-wrinkle cream needed, no more getting asked for my ID when I buy alcohol.

Sigh.

[sh]It happens, despite our best intentions.

Anyway! I'm not intending to get all morose on ya or anything. My mom's birthday was two days ago, and yesterday I took her out to see Midnight In Paris and to eat French-inspired food at Leunigs (I had beef bourguignon). It was ten freakin' flavors of awesome, all of it. Truth be told, it was just as much my present to myself as it was my present to her. (Bonus!) I wouldn't mind a do-over of the whole thing, in fact.

Here, do this for my birthday: I've adapted it from a meme I've seen on Facebook. 

I would like my friends to comment on this post, sharing how you met me. But I want you to LIE. That's right, just make it up. 

Let's see how creative you are, and how much you can make me laugh. Laughter is the best medicine, after all.

 

 

 

 

 

Remind Me To Have This Drink For Breakfast More Often

[Apparently This Is A] RUNNING SUPER-POWER DRINK

1 1/2 cups So Delicious unsweetened coconut milk

1 ounce raw cacao nibs

1 T. chia seeds

1 1/2 t. raw honey

1 overflowing, packed cup raw spinach

1 scoop Garden of Life Raw Protein powder 

ice

Blend for a couple minutes in the Vitamix (or however long it takes in another blender to make this smooth).

334 Calories, 20.3 grams fat, 18.6 grams carbs, 24.8 grams protein, 15.4 grams dietary fiber (!)

I'm calling this a super-power running drink, because this is what I had for breakfast at 8:30 a.m. yesterday, then I did not have anything else to eat before I went for a run at 1 p.m. And I felt so fabulous I can hardly stand it.

Since returning to running (under my doctor's orders, I might add -- she said she strongly disagreed with the orthopedic P.A. who advised against it) after the mysterious ankle injury, I have been stuck on Week 4 of the Couch to 5K running plan, seemingly unable or unwilling to move beyond that point. But yesterday when it came time to run, I felt so great that I decided to give Week 5, Run 1, a go. I also changed my running location to a sort of rustic (a packed small-stone surface), mostly flat recreation trail that is not far from my house. It's much more scenic than going around and around in circles like a hamster on a wheel.

The temperature was just perfect for me yesterday -- about 68 or 70 degrees, and mostly cloudy, but with some blue sky peeking through. I think the humidity was rather low (for Vermont) also. I'm sure that wonderful temperature had something to do with how well I performed, but I do think that breakfast drink had a lot to do with it too. 

I started the run as per the instructions on the podcast, which begins with a five-minute brisk walk as a warmup, then moves into a five-minute run for Week 5. When the guy's voice came on for the first time after I started running, I assumed he was going to say, "You're half way through your first run." Boy was I surprised when he said, "OK, you're now done your first five-minute run."  

Huh?!

Dayum. I was the loony on the Rail Trail yesterday afternoon going, "No way! No way! Really? Wow! What? No way was that five minutes! No way! Really?" 

Week 5 in this program (I've done this already before, back before the ankle thing) is that wonky week where all three runs of the week are different from each other. I almost kept on going because I really wasn't ready to slow down and walk for three minutes after that first run (or the 2nd one, OR the 3rd one, for that matter), but especially since I was running on a new surface, I did not want to push it. So I did as I was told, because the point of this running exercise is to ramp up my running fitness, and to NOT.GET.INJURED. We'll see how the rest of the week goes.

I'm now using a different Couch to 5K podcast from the one I started with. I switched to the ones by this guy (I got mine on iTunes). I like his simple techno beat music -- I really go zen with it. 

As you might have noticed about that drink recipe, it is quite high in fat. I don't have anything to say about that, really, because I'm no expert, and the information on fats (and other nutritional factors) keeps changing faster than even I can type. I am choosing to believe that the fats in these ingredients are good fats, though some of them (from the cacao nibs, for example) are labeled "saturated" fats. Whatever. All I know is, that drink provided me with the most amazing fuel I've ever experienced, and I'm choosing to believe that it's all not only good for me -- but excellent for me. 

 

 

 

 

Hell Yeah

My Long-Weekend Sunday went like this:

Breakfast.  

Knitting. Yes, knitting! I'm working on the raisin brown Iceling baby sweater. Love it. I ordered a whole bunch of buttons to try with it -- a variety of wooden, bone, and antler ones. I'll be sure to show them to you when they get here.

Running. Yes, running! I went to the track with the idea that I would go back to square one on the Couch to 5K program, which would be mostly walking, with spurts of a minute running here and there. I hemmed and hawed over whether to stick with my favorite Nike Free Run+ shoes or to use the Gel Cumulus. I decided to stick with the Nikes because I love them so much, but I put in the Superfeet inserts that that orthopedic guy recommended I get. I figured that was a sensible compromise, and when I put them on my feet like that, it felt good and seemed like The Right Thing To Do.

When I got to the track, it was in use by a group, so I couldn't use it. I had to use the trail. Though it's not rubberized and is a hard paved surface with some imperfections, it is mostly flat, with some gentle slopes and only a couple little hills, so I thought I'd be fine. But also when I got there, I just could not bring myself to go back to literally square one. I thought I might die of boredom, and I also felt that I could handle more of a challenge than that. When I left off with the program and hurt my ankle, I was repeating Week 7 of the program, so I don't really know why I chose Week 4 yesterday, but I did. Another compromise that seemed like The Right Thing To Do.

And it was! 

I ran the course with ease, did not feel any pain whatsoever, and ended up with no swelling -- no new swelling, at least. I felt great. GREAT, I tell you!

Lunch. Healthy and delicious. Grilled salmon burgers and see below.

Gardening. Oh yes, four more hours in the garden doing the heavy lifting and moving of bags of composted manure and cleaning out the compost bins, digging and dividing of perennials, planting, turning soil, and etcetera and so forth. 

I harvested this, which served as the focal point for lunch.

Dinner. With friends.

More Knitting while

Watching South Riding.

It was a verra good day. Mr. Jefferies says so, too. 

My Nike Frees Against The First Blue Sky In A Week

I am a big fan of these shoes*, in spite of the pink.

Hell, since the shoes work so well for me, and have even almost got me close to saying I LOVE RUNNING, pink might even be growing on me. 

Did I mention, I completed Week 6 Run 1 yesterday?

Did I also mention, I sprinted the last 60 seconds, and then I did 30 pushups, 50 jumping jacks, and a bunch of other strength-building moves and stretches, and felt absolutely fabulous afterwards?

Who hates running now?! Hm?!

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*I guess we have to say this now, because blogland has become nothing but a big mess:  I have no affiliation with Nike, and they have not given me anything, not even a discount on the shoes that I paid for out of my own pocket, to say this.

They don't even know who I am (I see this phrase works for The Pioneer Woman all the time, so I figure if it's good for her, it's good for me.) However, if they wanted to send me another pair of these shoes (Nike Free Run +, Size 7.5), I would not refuse them. Not Free Run 2+s, though -- they don't fit me right. It has to be the originals. Why is it that everything good gets discontinued? I've got the same issue going with two (Nike again) workout tops that I own. They are the best for me, and they don't make them any longer. Wouldn't you just know.

 

Terrier Tuesday -- Getting Fit Edition

Dear Readers,

I keep hearing Alpha and many of her friends agreeing with each other that "Fitness is the New Knitting," as her friend Jodi said.  

Alpha's old friend Sandy, who pretty much abandoned her old knitting blog quite a long time ago, has started a new blog to document her journey getting on the fitness bandwagon, and loads and loads of others are joining Alpha in drinking healthy green drinks and doing the Couch to 5K running program and all kinds of other fitness activities. You can just go take a look at the rousing "Welcome Back, Sandy" comments that she received on her first entry in this new blog. Alpha says it's so nice to hear Sandy enthusiastic and happy about taking care of herself.  

I am right there with them! A terrier just LOVES to be fit and active, and I sure am glad that the worst of the winter is over. What's that you say? It's really spring? Well, it sure hasn't felt much like it around here. I'm not calling it spring until it starts ACTING LIKE IT!

But still, it's been a lot nicer outside, and Alpha has been my super-super-best-best-best-buddy and been taking me on lots of walks and lots and lots and LOTS of plays out in the backyard.  

She pretends she's doing garden cleanup, but I know what she's REALLY doing -- she's throwing the toy for me to fetch over and over and over again.  

She's pretty awesome.  I love her, and I'm stuck to her like burdocks stick to my feet.

Love in health and fitness,

 

Mr. Jefferies

 

And So It Begins

I am sure I must have used that title half a dozen times in the life of my blog. Sorry. But anyway, the weather has warmed up (so to speak) for a few days, and the ground has thawed out in some places, and not that I like to push things much or anything, but seriously there are still ice chunks in this growing bed:

However, there are also little signs of life, such as worms, and as I say, some thawed-out portions, and some of the garlic in the adjacent bed is poking through the mulch.

These poor seedlings were not exactly thriving in the house under the lights...

I mean, at least they were living, which they may not be for much longer, but I couldn't stand it any longer and I stuck them in the ground. I wasn't completely irresponsible and heartless. I did cover them up with the rather el cheapo, but nice and light and easy-to-put-together [and I'm all about the light and easy] coldframe...

..and gave them a decent burial watered them and put them to bed with a nice warm, windproof blanket...

...except for these poor orphans, which I just plunked into the ground and told them, "Live or die, whichever you choose. I'm just so done with you." (I think running has made me more cranky than usual.)

Or we can think of these as my control specimens. In a few weeks, we can see the progress of these as compared to those in the cold frame. Won't that be fun? 

 

An Entire Season -- Zzzzzip, and It's Gone

There it was yesterday, and we were putting our clocks back already. I've lost an entire season. (May I just say that though I hate-hate-hate the "spring ahead," I kind of love the "fall back" part of the Daylight Savings thing? I really do wish they'd just set it and forget it, though. Why do we need to add messing with our internal clocks to all the other Hassles of Modern Living we have to deal with?) 

I completely missed the changing of the leaves. Oh, sure, I sort of saw it happening, but not really -- I was so busy and caught up in the whirlwind of campaigning that I forgot to stop and smell the roses photograph the foliage. And now the trees are mostly bare. 

I was outside yesterday photographing my new red scarf in progress* with a little help from my friend:

 

....and I realized I'd missed Pinoak Watch 2010! I noticed the starkness of the landscape on Saturday and remarked to David that It Looks Like November (subtext: "Brrrrr," and "How did that happen?!"). All the leaves have fallen and most everything is gray and brown. And yet, David still had to mow the lawn yesterday. Life is all topsy-turvy. 

The pinoak hangs onto its leaves far longer than the other trees, and so this is what we have -- a tree full of brown oak leaves. 

And so I have a whole LOT of catching up to do in every area of my life: The garden and yard are disasters, the house is a disaster, the car is a disaster, the blog is a disaster, my personal maintenance (proper eating, exercise, and grooming) are all disasters. I need a personalized set of second- or third responders -- the ones who come in and clean up the mess after a natural or manmade disaster -- to come in and take stock of the situation and clean it up.  

Over the weekend I managed to harvest and freeze up a couple of bushels of kale, cabbage leaves (cabbages that never "headed up" but I chopped and froze the leaves anyway), Swiss chard, broccoli, and herbs. And I emptied and relayered one compost bin, planted a bed of garlic (only 25 this year, and not the 100 of last year) and spread nine bags of chopped leaves over the raised beds and in the composter's lasagna layers. Dinner last night consisted of a potpourri of various leftovers from recent restaurant and farmer's market meals, together with a kickass salad of chopped red cabbage, broccoli and garlic from our garden, dressed with sunflower oil, raw apple cider vinegar, maple syrup, and smoked sea salt.

I started a new sweater for Mr. Jefferies in red Peace Fleece. (love!)

I even got somewhat caught up on reading Margene's blog (yay for Bloglines staying online!) and here I am, blogging two days in a row!

In short: Things are starting to get back to normal around here.

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*The yarn is Schaefer Yarns "Elaine," in the colorway "Clara Barton." It's a thick-and-thin 99% Merino/1% nylon yarn that just begs to be knitted in garter stitch, and is therefore perfect for knitting a row here and a row there on car journeys to pancake breakfasts and movies and whatever. 

I'm making this scarf wider than most of my others have been -- 8 inches -- for a nice textured muffler effect. The skeins of "Elaine" are BIG -- 300 yards. 

And Carrie* Was Disqualified in the First Round for Answering "CHEESECAKE!"

I have declared myself HEALED (OMG, HEALED -- well, 98% anyway -- and it feels SO GREAT TO BE A PERSON AGAIN) from the elbow injury and whatever was making me feel ill for so long. Even though my physical therapist and the chiropractor suggested I wait another week before going full bore in either the gym or yoga, I was feeling well and strong enough late yesterday afternoon that I playfully polled my friends in Facebook, "Gym or Bikram?"

I'm not sure, given the crazy answers I got, that we could declare a winner in the FB poll, but for me, Bikram won out. Mostly that is because of the wardrobe, but also because we have a brand spanking new studio that I was excited to check out, and I went. 

Funny Lynn Davis answered, "I need to know what Bikram is, but if it's food or drink, I vote Bikram."

I explained:  "It's hot killer yoga that feels so gooooooood, and yet at the same time you wonder if you aren't just a touch of a sadist for having participated."

And that pretty much says it all. 

But it was sadistically GREAT. And wow! Is the new studio ever gorgeous! Every time I've been away from this yoga for a while I am reminded how much I loved it. I'm not gonna lie -- I had some owie moments with the elbow. But I was as careful with it as I think I could be, and I iced it pronto when I got home. So we shall see how it fares in the next few days. 

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Abigail sent me this; she found it on Cute Overload. If you thought the cauliflower sheep were cute, you're not going to be able to BEAR seeing this. Don't say I didn't warn you.

*That Carrie