So Much Fun at Night!

When I approach the end of the semester, my stress heightens, and I find myself looking for ways to blow off steam so I don't punch someone in the throat. This is where the night runs came in this week.

On Tuesday I ran the annual Christmas Lights Run. It's a 4-mile run to Stan Hywet Hall from Lock 3, a walk through the lit up gardens with lots of photo-opps, and then a 4-mile run back to Lock 3, where we finished with holiday cheer. There were at least three big clubs joining this run, and I belong to all of them: Phillips Phlyers, the Canal Rats, and the Crooked River Trail Runners. Over 100 runners showed up, decked out in Christmas Lights and elf and Santa running gear.

Lock 3 before we left. I'm standing on a chair in the back, but of course I turned my head to the side at the wrong time.

The weather was perfect--in the 40's--and the traffic wasn't too bad, so we had a safe and fun run to Stan Hywet Hall following the Blue Line. I had a great time talking to everyone on the way there (when I wasn't sucking wind).

When we got there, we took lots of photos. The grounds at Stan Hywet were all sparkly with holiday lights. So beautiful!

Crooked River Trail Runners. I am wearing the Santa outfit on the right.

Phillips Phlyers in front of the mansion

Katrina and I passed the time by taking selfies, and of course, Doc Craino had to get in on the action:

Before shot: The Pretty Picture of Katrina and me

I feel like someone is behind us. CRAIN????

 We ran back to Lock 3, with Katrina and Crew trying to kill me by running 9-minute miles (which, for them, is like a stroll in the park). All three clubs were meeting in different bars for our holiday cheer, so I was a bit torn on what to do. I went to 69 Taps to see the Crooked River Trail Runners, but without my glasses, I couldn't see anyone I knew with my quick peek, so I headed to Barley House and ate burgers with Phillips Phlyers.

Post-Run Shenanigans with Joey Phillips

This was an incredible night; 8 miles is exactly what I needed to relieve some end-of-semester stress, and it was so fun to hang with such kind and fun-loving people.

But!

The week's celebrations were not over!

Thursday night was the Crooked River Trail Runners group run and White Elephant Gift Exchange. I knew I would show up for the run, but I didn't intend to participate in the celebration after because it was for 2017 members, and I only just joined for 2018.  I ran 3 miles through the woods and then through Lock 29 with the elves and Santas for the Polar Express. It was a bit surreal to pass about 20 Santas cheering us on.

We arrived at the clubhouse, and I ordered a beer and sat back to watch the exchange around the table. Right away, my new friends encouraged me to join them at the table, even if I didn't participate. This meant that I got some great pics:

Cari got the hot-ticket item of the night. There was a lot of fighting over the onesie.

Kelleigh seems to be VERY SERIOUS about the rules of the game. Was she negotiating for the onesie? Marta seems ready to step in if necessary, and Ken is too busy looking at his own gifts to care if there might be a cage-match going down.

Highlight of the Night: As I'm drinking a Christmas Ale and waiting for everyone to set up the exchange, a young man approaches me. No, it's not what you might think:

Young Man: Mrs. Itibrout? Are you still teaching at Medina?

Me: sigh. Hi, Darian! It's good to see you! Wow--you are an adult now!

I'm like a gazillion years old.

Today, Christmas Eve, I ran 7 miles of Boston Run with Marta. We decided to do our photo opp with a little help from a friend:

Can you guess where we are?

Marta and I focus on the important parts of the statue.

This week was all that I could want in de-stress running. I look forward to running what I like, when I like for the next week or so. In the meantime, I will be calculating my running paycheck next week. What's that? You don't know what a running paycheck is? Check me out next week, and I'll explain it.

Have a wonderful holiday, Peeps, and don't forget to run happy!

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19 Miles!

Today I had my 19 miler--a mileage I have not run since training for the Akron Marathon. It went surprisingly well.  Here are some pictures and some lessons I learned:

1. (Re)Learn to run by yourself.  This one is odd for me. When I first started running, I primarily ran alone. I loved running long, slow distances (as well as shorter runs) and races all by myself. Just me and my music. What can I say? I'm a rebel, Dottie, a loner.




 In the past two years, I have switched my focus to running long with groups or partners. In a way it was really good for me to be sociable. As I get older, I have less patience with others, and I often find it tiring to talk to other people when I don't have to do it. Such is the life of a teacher.

Anyway, I grew to love running long with others, but unfortunately, I also grew to depend on it. When I decided to train long with groups, I forgot the fundamental rule: People will not always come through when you need them to. (It's the same rule with running with music, by the way.) As long as you depend on people, you are always opening yourself up for a letdown. Now, this isn't a condemnation of anyone in particular; it's just a fact. For example, you might set up a long run at 8:30 AM with another runner, and she/he might wake up sick. It happens to all of us, and it is nobody's fault. That, however, will not help you when you realize that you didn't take your earbuds with you because you depended on conversation as your distraction.

I've had a few situations in the past month where my runs were partly alone. Mostly I have awesome friends who have "rescued" me by running a few miles here and there during the long runs, but I now realize that I have to stop depending on running with other people.

Today I ran the first ten miles of my long run alone, and it wasn't terrible, but it would have been so much better if I hadn't gotten out of the habit of running long alone.

Technically, I wasn't completely alone. Snappy here was on the Towpath cheering for me.  Or hoping to chew off my leg.

I need to get back to depending on myself, Peeps. After all, chances are really good that I'll be running alone for the Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon (unless you want to run with me?). I used to be so good by myself, and I need to get back there.

2.  Don't sit in an Epsom Salt bath immediately after your long run if you have ANY SUSPICIONS AT ALL  that you might have chafing anywhere in your nether regions.  'Nuff said.


Joy ran with me for the second part of my run: 9 miles. It has been a while since we were able to talk, and I really missed her, so we had a good time. We dodged a lot of snakes.

There were LOTS of these.

The weather was really hot, and by the end of the run, I looked like a salt lick. Joy was my savior, and I'm so grateful to her for saving my butt and getting me to finish 19 miles.

We finished at Lock 29.

I kind of screwed up my mileage plan for the marathon. Normally I should hit my 20 miler on April 30, three weeks before the race; however, I couldn't pass up a fabulous deal to run the Pro Football Hall of Fame Half Marathon on that day (for only $26.20!), so I had to decide whether I want to hit 20 miles before or after that. I've chosen the Sunday following the race, which will give me 2 weeks to taper. This is actually more than I normally schedule to taper, so I'm hoping this will all work out for me.

How is your training going, Peeps?

Do you prefer running solo or group running?

How long do you take to taper? Do you REALLY respect the taper?

I hope to see you in Cleveland. Until then, run happy, Peeps!

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Still Got It!

First, this has nothing to do with running. Thursday night my friends and I attended Puddles Pity Party at the Cleveland House of Blues, and this happened:

Best. Concert. EVER. I highly recommend you see him if he is in your area.

Second, I was worried that my foray into trail running would give me a sense of false confidence. That is, because I allow my self to walk any time I like on a trail, I worried that I would not be able to run on a flatter surface for an extended length of time. To test this theory, I decided to run 17 miles on the Towpath today (Sunday). The Burning River Goddesses have been so kind to me; they offered to either run the full 17 with me (Marta and Kelsie) or join me for part of the fun. Jen's husband Steve, who is an honorary Goddess and a rock star trail runner who is training for Burning River (the full Monty, folks), also offered to join me for the first 12 miles.

17 miles and .4 cool down walk on the Towpath with these badasses! Lots of turtles 🐢 on the logs. #akrun #secondsoleakrun #clevemarathonambassador @jennpierce517

A post shared by Stephani Itibrout (@itibrout) on Mar 26, 2017 at 8:51am PDT

So it was that Steve, Marta, Kelsie, and I started from Lock 29 at 8 AM. I was worried that I would hold them back, and I told them all to leave me whenever they felt that they needed to. . .but they didn't. One of my big problems is that I CAN run a good mid-pack pace, but that doesn't necessarily mean that I SHOULD run that pace, especially on the long runs. My goal was to finish strong and feel good, and to accomplish that, I knew I had to run much more slowly than I normally would like to run.

We all had a great discussion on the Towpath, sometimes running fast and sometimes running slowly. I was wearing my Cleveland Ambassador long-sleeved tech shirt, and within two miles I was ROASTING, although I looked super cool.

This is EXACTLY how I look when I'm roasting, but I'm rocking a super cool shirt.

After 9.5 miles, we were back at Lock 29, where I ate a banana, changed into a short-sleeved shirt, and used the bathroom. Then we joined up with Jen and Tracy for the rest of the run.  I'm not going to say it was easy because it wasn't, but I really enjoyed my run with everyone.  We saw turtles, lots of turtles:

This was one log of four in that section--all full of turtles. 

And we talked and bitched and laughed.

At mile 16.9, I decided that the kick had to come now, and I actually picked up the pace and ran very quickly (I'm not going to say I sprinted because I didn't) to the end. Then I had .4 miles to walk as a cool down. I am very pleased with how I finished. I felt strong, and although I felt sore, I still think it was a good run.

I have a while until I need to hit my 20 miler. While talking it through with Jen today, I decided that I'm going to hover around these middle miles for a while, which is what I did when I trained for my first marathon. I would like to get to a point where I say, "Oh. It's only 16 miles." Maybe then my 20 miler won't feel as awful as it did when I ran it for the Akron Marathon.

How is your training? Have you registered for the Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon?  NO??? Well, you can register here today, or you can check out the Cleveland Marathon Ambassadors to see who is giving away a race entry. Join me! You know you want to see how I handle running this marathon by myself (unless you want to run with me???).  Until then, run happy, Peeps!

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Taper Begins. . .NOW!

This Sunday I ran my 12 miles before taper.  It was incredibly humid, like running though a jungle, but Heather and I got through it just fine.  We even kicked it up a notch in the last mile, mostly because I was so sick of running by then, and I just wanted to be done.

There were plenty of geese on the Towpath, and they were defending their goslings, so they were mean and scary.  I hate when geese hiss at you.  Freaking snakes with wings.

This is EXACTLY how those geese looked.

We saw plenty of turtles sunning themselves on logs in the river:

Look!  It's the Towpath Turtles! (See what I did there?)

I've been feeling a little soreness around the knees lately, so I pulled out the foam roller and HOLY GOD ALMIGHTY did that hurt like the bejesus!  I felt so much better afterward, though. I've got to bring that foam roller back into play more often.

This starts two weeks of tapering for me.  For those of you who don't know what tapering is, basically you cut down on your mileage in order to rest and recover before a race.  Most runners don't handle tapering very well; they feel antsy, and they want to hurt people.  Not me, though.  I'm cool as a cucumber. Really.  I'll be fine.  I will.

Wanna find out if the taper works out for me?  Join me in running (or volunteering) at the Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon in two weeks. I'd love to see you there!  I promise I won't bite.  Much.

Until then, run happy, Peeps!

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Short and Sweet

I can't believe it's almost Thanksgiving!

I also can't believe that five days ago I ran in capris and a long-sleeved shirt, and today I ran in tights, a long-sleeved shirt, a short-sleeved shirt, a jacket, a hat, and gloves.  And honestly, it wasn't that cold; I'm just not used to it yet.

Today I ran the Towpath from Lock 29.  Gorgeous as always.

Cuyahoga River

I ran two miles alone, met up with a group and ran with them for about three miles, then ran the rest alone.  It was nice to run with people, but it was also nice for me to run with silence and then with music.  Yesterday I had a reflexology session, and while I can pinpoint my problems and "blockages," I still have some work to do on getting rid of those blocks.  I feel like alone time might be a good thing for me for a while.  I plan to do some more journaling and meditation to see if I can work through my issues instead of ignoring them, as I usually do.

Stacy asked me today what I'm training for, and I said nothing; however, when I started listing what I committed to for next year, I realized that I will have a full plate.  Just this week I will run the Home Run for the Homeless and the Tryptophan Run.

This is EXACTLY how I looked in last year's Home Run for the Homeless.

  The following week I'll run the third race in the Ohio Outside Series and the next morning I'm going to run an eight-mile stretch of a trail relay.  And that's what I called nothing.  Huh.

Well, Peeps, I said this would be short and sweet.  I'd like to finish by listing what I'm thankful for:

1.  My family and friends
2.  My ability to run
3.  My career
4.  My enjoyment of reading and writing

Lastly, I'm thankful for YOU.  Don't think I haven't noticed what a difference your presence has made in my life.

Before you think that I'm getting all mushy, I'll post something that I think comes directly from my heart:

Until next week, run happy Peeps!

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Running with Joy

And Happiness.  And Satisfaction.

Today I ran ten beautiful miles on the Towpath with my friend Joy, whom I haven't seen in weeks.  Joy and I used to run together regularly in the morning and on Sundays, but life got in the way for us, and it has been a while.  I was surprised and happy when she responded to my invitation to run with a "See you there!"

I've been worried about a bit of weight gain lately--food will always be a struggle for me--and I haven't run more than nine miles at a time in the past few months, so I wondered if today would be difficult.  It turns out that it was easy-peasy.  I felt like I could have easily put in a few more miles.

I attribute this to several factors:
1.  I ran with Joy, who is so easy to talk to.  Even after not seeing each other for weeks, we were able to slip back into our long-run conversations.  That is a true running peep.

2.  I haven't neglected my strength training, and I've tried to step up my core-strength training during my non-running days.  It's amazing what a difference weights can make.

3.  Believe it or not, I also credit trail running, which I have done about three weeks in a row.  I initially thought it might make me slower or more reluctant to run a longer distance since I walk the hills most of the time, but guess what?

We ran from Szalay's into Peninsula and turned around just a mile past Lock 29.

The Towpath coming back from Peninsula

One of the great things about living near the Cuyahoga Valley is that during fall I can randomly point my camera at ANYTHING and it will look artistic.  Case in point:

The Cuyahoga River from the Towpath

How could I not enjoy such a beautiful run?

On a final note, I would like to congratulate my running peeps who raced this weekend: Stacie and Cassie did the Buckeye 1/2, Teresa and Julie did the Buckeye 1/2 Relay, Heather and family did the Marine Corps 10k, and Jennifer and Steve ran the Marine Corps Marathon!  Well done, Peeps!

Gotta race coming up?  Yes? No?  Mine's in two weeks, but I'm definitely not stressing about it (I know--who is this person?).  Enjoy what is left of the fall leaves, and run happy, Peeps!

Like what you read?  Follow me on Twitter @itibrout!

Will Run for Chocolate

Today I ran 10 miles on the Towpath from Lock 29.  It was so beautiful to see the colorful leaves, and this morning it was still warm enough to run with capris and a long-sleeve shirt.

This is EXACTLY how the Towpath looks in October

This is our starting point:  Lock 29 in Peninsula, Ohio.

I ran with Michael and Shelby, and while the run wasn't exactly relaxing (a bit faster for the lsd than I usually do), it was so nice to be with them both in the sunshine running next to a river.  Poor Michael had to listen to Shelby and me rehash the Akron Half Marathon.  He is a true gentleman; had I been in his shoes (very speedy shoes, by the way), I would have hit us both over the head.

Because I was able to whine and moan with Shelby about our disappointing times in Akron, I am not going to burden you with a more in-depth recap, which was originally my intention.  I will save you from the torture I have subjected myself to as I covered EVERY FREAKING INCH of the terrain to figure out where I lost those 32 seconds.  Enough.  Let's move on, shall we?

Let's talk about chocolate, the Hot Chocolate 15k/5k, to be specific.  I ran this in Columbus, Ohio, in 2012, and I loved every second of it!  Today I'd like to write about the Expo, and next week I'd like to write about the race and post-race events.  The expo was in downtown Columbus on a Saturday.  I arrived with my peeps: Teresa, Deidre, Julie, and Tina.  We had reserved two rooms through the race webpage, so we checked into our hotel, and then we went on to the expo. It was very big and user-friendly.  Even better, it was full of CHOCOLATE!  Chocolate fountains, chocolate tabs, hot chocolate. . . mm m m m m.

I picked up my bib and my swag.  Hot Chocolate always has a cool item of clothing as the goody bag.  In 2012 I got a windbreaker.  This year the goody bag is super cool:

Cute, huh? The hoodie is fleece-lined.  Perfect for the Polar Vortex.

The volunteers were so fun at the expo.  They were rocking out while passing out chocolate and bibs. They also encouraged us to try on our jackets to make sure they fit, which I really appreciate since I stink at guessing my size.

The Expo this year promises to be just as great (and full of chocolate).  There will be lots of vendors and the chance to buy more race gear, and there will be a DJ (our own dance party!) and a Kid Zone with inflatables.

As much as we enjoyed the Expo, my running peeps and I were anxious to move on to carb-loading in the Short North, so we did our photo-op and then left for pasta and wine.  And more chocolate.

This is EXACTLY how I look at the Hot Chocolate Expo after gorging myself on chocolate.

You, too can have this experience, Peeps.  Register now for either the 5k or the 15k!  Use my code:  TroubleRunHat, and you'll get a free hat with your goody bag!

Let's do this together!

Next week:  My memories of the 15k race and the post-race experience

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Goodie Bag

The wait is over—check out the award-winning Hot Chocolate 2014-2015 goodie bag. It’ll become your go-to outer layer whenever you need to stay cozy and stylish. Pair it with the included reusable drawstring bag.
• Luxurious full-zip hoodie
• Fleece-lined material
• Men’s: cool green accent lining, piping, + drawstring
• Women’s: hot pink accent lining, piping, + drawstring
• Roomy front pockets

Goodie Bag

The wait is over—check out the award-winning Hot Chocolate 2014-2015 goodie bag. It’ll become your go-to outer layer whenever you need to stay cozy and stylish. Pair it with the included reusable drawstring bag.
• Luxurious full-zip hoodie
• Fleece-lined material
• Men’s: cool green accent lining, piping, + drawstring
• Women’s: hot pink accent lining, piping, + drawstring
• Roomy front pockets

Tapers and Tweets

Today I ran nine beautiful miles on the Towpath in Peninsula.  I started from Lock 29 with Renee, Kathy, and Carrie, and we ran for five miles before the Turtle training session.  Then I ran with my favorite band, Gogol Bordello, for the last four.




This is such a cute video, and it has the bonus of being one of the few "clean" Gogol Bordello songs I can post here.  I am in love with Eugene Hutz, the lead singer with the sweet 'stache.  My husband and I have an agreement: if Eugene ever calls for me,  I am outta here.

Anyway, I was running and zoning, and I passed a couple with my typical warning, "Passing on your left. . .unless I die first."  I thought I heard my name, but I was still in music mode, so it didn't register until I heard it a second time.  I turned around.

"Are you Stephani?" the gentleman asked.

"Yes," I said, wondering if the Turtles had passed a message on to me somehow.  You see, when my running peeps and I get separated on a path, we rely on people (usually the bikers) to relay messages for us.  We usually say things like, "When you see a woman wearing a neon pink shirt that says 'I'd rather be drinking,' ask her to turn around at the four mile mark."  So, it was for this reason that I thought I'd be getting a message.

"I follow you on Twitter," he said, extending his hand to shake mine.  Holy schmoly!  What are the odds of that?  Anyway,  I hope I remembered this correctly, but my newfound friend's name is Michael, and he found me by reading my posts in the Fairlawn-Bath Patch online.  Michael and his friend and I discussed the Cleveland Marathon, which is coming up next Sunday.  I will be running the half, and Michael and his friend will be run-walking the 10k.  They will love the 10k; I ran it last year and I had a blast.  Remember this review?

I am so happy that I met someone through running AND social media.  I used to think that Twitter was, well, for twits, but now I realize that I have connected with so many people from whom I learn many great lessons.  Thank you for reminding me of that, Michael.

I would love to meet up with anyone who is running Cleveland next Sunday.  When we all get more information on the staging area, I'll tweet out a meeting time/place for anyone who is interested.

Happy tapering, Peeps!

You know I can't leave you without mentioning Mother's Day, so here is Mike Polk's tribute to mothers.  Well, it's actually his Mother's Day tribute to MILFs.  If Mike Polk or MILFs offend you, don't watch this.  For the rest of you, this is hilarious.


Happy Mother's Day!

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Lunging the Turtle

This morning I attempted a divided twelve-miler.  Shall I break this one down?  "Attempted" means I didn't reach twelve miles; "divided" means I did seven miles with Leigh, took a gel, changed my shirt, and finished the rest with the Towpath Turtles.  "Twelve" means. . .wait, why am I parsing this? Are you dwelling on my pain?  You're a sadist, aren't you?  AREN'T YOU?

Ok, I've settled down.  Let's move on.

It was a gorgeous morning, perfect temperature for running in a simple long-sleeved shirt and either capris or tights.  I chose to run at Lock 29 in Peninsula, which is a common starting place for runners and bikers.

Beautiful shot of the Cuyahoga River at Lock 29

 It is also a common ending place because of its proximity to The Winking Lizard, one of the best places I know to blow your fitness on beer and wings.

I have written about Leigh before in my post called "Pace?  Isn't That a Salsa?"  She is still about half my age and at least forty pounds lighter than me (see, I've lost weight or hyperbole since that post!), and she still kicks my ass.  I had a plan, though.  This time I brought my phone, and I made sure to take pictures so that she would have to slow down or stop.  I am tricky, all right.  Here is my first shot:

Say hello to my leetle friend!

This is the first deer we saw on the path.  She didn't even want to move when we came up on her.  She just looked at me like, "Please!  You're in MY HOUSE now!  YOU move!"

Leigh and I had a great talk (I made sure she did most of the talking--I am tricky, all right), and we kept the pace at around 10:20. . . except when we didn't.  Anyway, we had a fun run together in a beautiful environment; I was thankful to be able to run, and I was thankful to run with her. I kept thinking, Well, I will make sure to run more slowly in the second part of my run.

Fail.

I was excited to see the Towpath Turtles today as I haven't run with them in quite a while, and four of us got caught up in conversation, and, well. . . I had to resort to my stalling tactic:

Look, Guys!  A bale of Turtles!

They didn't fall for it, so I had to run extra fast to catch up to them. . .and so it goes.  Jen totally took advantage of the situation after the turnaround and sprinted past me, calling back, "I've got to do this while I can!"  Thanks, Badass.

In short, I came up short--11.67.  I didn't even have the energy to push it to 12, and geez, I end up making up that distance by going back and forth in front of my house ALL THE DAMN TIME!!!

Lesson learned:  Do NOT go too quickly on Long, Slow Distance Day.  

Finally, I leave you with Mike Polk's Easter message (if Mike Polk OR Easter offends you, don't watch this):