Training Runs

Sunday Trails

September 23, 2012 By Runner Susan 2 Comments

Another great trail run this morning, it was a bit slower and warmer but we ran the same distance. The cooling temperature is bringing out more cyclists and runners – and I am pleased to see more people out and about getting fit, but part of me is selfish and doesn’t like to share my space.

Trail miles are tough to log, depending on the terrain you can be so very slow or feel like you’re flying – but miles are miles. I only wish the body knew that. I started logging my miles in late 2005 (and I haven’t been diligent) but I’m now over 4,000. I think I’ll throw a party when my odometer reaches 5,000. Let me know if you want an invitation.

This photo is from yesterday’s run. This bit of our trail vaguely reminds me of the wooded area that my brother and I would ride our bikes through in the summer. He had a red and black Huffy and I had a pink Schwinn with tulips printed on a banana seat.

These little lanterns from today – they make me happy. As does the curly bits of vine around them. I want to squish the lanterns and see what happens, but then they wouldn’t be pretty. I can’t believe I didn’t notice them yesterday – but I reckon that is the beauty of trail running – always, always, always a different view.

Hugging Trail Air

August 6, 2011 By Runner Susan 7 Comments

All of you who keep up with my blog know about our battle for clean air and water. These past few weeks the heat and the air have been particularly rank. We are on day 35 of 100+ degree weather – many days of which have been 105-110. On Tuesday of this week Peggy and I went to do our training run and were quickly over come by fumes that were so horrendous we were chocking back vomit and cyclists coming that direction were saying to turn around and run the other way. I can’t even explain how bad it was – worse than sulfur, tires burning and a boat load of vomit all mixed together. It was brain-numbing, to say the least. For days after that run my sweat smelled like ammonia and I was seeing spots. I’m guessing the combination of record breaking temperatures and a gas processing facility in the middle of a residential neighborhood are a bad combination. Go figure?

After filing complaints with TCEQ we were told the gas processing facility was repairing a compressor and during the process they were venting natural gas directly in the air. Mind you, these aren’t your everyday compressors. These are the big boys, the kind that make you pee your pants. Undeniably massive. Cannot. Get. Any. Bigger. Massive. Did you know that venting natural gas directly into the air is perfectly acceptable. Yeah, I know. It sounds like BS but this is Texas and it really is okay to do that here. Four hours after our complaint TCEQ investigators arrived and their toxic vapor analyzer was reading 223 ppb. Freaking shocking.

So what’s a girl to do when you can’t even run in your very own neighborhood for fear of being poisoned? You run someplace else, that’s what you do. So this morning Peggy and I loaded up and headed over to the trails for some fresh air. I guess I should say fresher air, since all the air around these parts are bad. But at least we weren’t running through plumes of freshly venting natural gas.

What can I say? It was magnificent and I fell in love with trail running all over again. I kept opening my arms to hug the air and the surroundings. The surroundings that weren’t filling our bodies with poison. It was wonderful. We ran happy, we ran cute and the trail twins are gonna do it all over again tomorrow. Hurray for dirt tans, fresher air and mostly, for not being poisoned!

Bad Air Running

August 3, 2011 By Runner Susan Leave a Comment

Yesterday I met up with my friend, Peggy, to make up a missed run. We weren’t a mile into our run before we ran into a plume that was so intense I was chocking back vomit. Four hours after filing a complaint with TCEQ the investigator arrived. Four hours later the smell wasn’t as bad and the Toxic Vapor Analyzer wand was still reading 223 ppb. I am quite certain the reading would have been much higher if they had arrived right then. We only ended up with 2.5 miles.

This morning, the air was still bad, but not as bad as yesterday . . . although it seemed to have spread throughout the area and settled in pockets. Perhaps the gas equipment can’t function in this heat? Who knows. Anyhow, 3.5 miles on the books today. With plenty of walk breaks for choking and coughing.

We’ve decided our long run on Saturday will be done AFAFACAP. (As far away from Argyle Central as possible.)

Eight Miles

July 30, 2011 By Runner Susan 5 Comments

So P and I got eight miles in this morning. Eight great miles I might add – except for part we ran through a plume of bad air near the Fuller Gas Wells. But geesh, only one stinky plume seems like a blessing these days . . . we usually hit 3 or more plumes. I can’t even begin to tell you how wonderful and exhilarating it is to finally be able to accomplish something like running eight miles again. I was beginning to think surgery had snapped up all my running and I was never to be RS again. But no, go us! Eight full miles.

Hook & Handbag Fest

March 12, 2010 By Runner Susan 8 Comments

I may have gone a little crazy with the hooks, but something had to be done with the handbags. So hooks all over the world was the solution. If you have a better solution for the March 2010 Closet Reorg, I’ll be happy take suggestions. I’ve even made room for new spring shoes & bags, because I’m nice like that. I’ve also decided that I’m WAY under fashionable and I need to step it up a bit – but in a reasonable I’m not going to break the bank so the Chef won’t yell at me too much sort of way . . .

[miniflickr user=”19202613@N00″ tags=”marchcloset”]

Now, I have some packing to do 10 miles to run in my spanky new shoes. Official shoe of the NTRT! Don’t they look super-fast?!?

Coming up soon is the Runner Susan official Should I Stay or Should I Go Shoe, Bag and Clothing Fest!

The Cowtown Half Marathon Race Report – Proving Once Again that Fun Lasts Longer Than Fast.

March 1, 2010 By Runner Susan 17 Comments

The long runs training for the Oklahoma City Marathon have been getting loooongerer, 19 miles this week, 21 miles next week, then 23, etc . . . you guys have been there, you know the drill. So, last Saturday the Martini Twins© had 19-miles to run. And what a better way to run 19-miles than sandwich a half-marathon between two 3-mile runs. Saying it that way sounds like three much shorter runs – and anytime you sandwich something it just makes it funny, I’m a 13-year-old boy like that.

Months ago Michelle and I registered for the Fort Worth Cowtown Half Marathon and we worked it into our training schedule. Since we’ve started this marathon training we’ve ate, hydrated and rested like we are training for a marathon. With special emphasis on hydrated – my pee has been a lovely shade of clear for weeks. We have been the picture perfect epitome of training.

Friday night we were in bed by 9 PM. We woke at 4:45 AM, drank some coffee, ate some our chia infested oatmeal, dressed and were on the road. We arrived at the interstate off ramp in downtown Fort Worth at 6:25 AM – over an hour early for the half. We stayed on that off ramp not moving for nearly three hours. And I have no clue why – we were so early. Runners were abandoning their cars on the off-ramp bridge and running to the start line. Really. My Candy Car was not getting left on a ramp, so we entertained ourselves the best we could; face-booked our ridiculous status, we car danced, took pictures and made videos for as long as two girls trapped in a car for 3 hours and hydrated to run 19-miles could. For your car-dancing pleasure:

Cowtown Traffic from Runner Susan on Vimeo.

By the time we actually parked the car and got to the start line, the half course was being taken down. Bye, bye sandwiched half marathon.

Car-fatigued, frustrated and hungry, since it was almost lunch time at this point, we decided to make the best of the situation – we needed to run, it was a gorgeous day and we were right next to the Trinity Trail – a beautiful place to run along the river. We knew we couldn’t do the distance with the water or fuel we had on hand, so our plan was to run as far as we could and enjoy the beautiful day. See, here we are enjoying the beautiful day in our hot pink and hot peach matchy, matchy outfits:

For about 4 miles there wasn’t a soul in sight and then our trail merged into another trail and we saw runners. Lots of runners. So many runners we thought we might be dreaming. Runners with bibs and chips. We got closer and noticed ULTRA on the bib. ULTRA? I didn’t know they were running an Ultra-marathon as an event for Cowtown. Oh well, we decided to follow the Ultra course for a bit and head back to the car, and at this point if we could get ten miles run, we’d be good.

We chug along, and then before we knew it these hippy-looking, water-vested and often barefooted ultra distance runners were giving our cute, neon-dressed selves a “great job, girls” and thumbs up all over the place. I look down and we still have our timing chips on. These insanely happy ultra runners think we are a part of the ultra-marathon. I turn to Michelle and say “let’s just finish the Ultra”. We had a brief discussion about whether these runners are insanely happy or just insane. We had no clue at that point how long it would be to the finish, but decided we didn’t care, we liked the happy runners and we kept going.

So it wasn’t really “our” mile 29, but we were having 29 miles of fun.

We weren’t expecting to get coronated with medals and t-shirts as we crossed the finish line, but then again, we never received our half shirts or medals. By the time we finished the entire day was just comical. We ended up running at least 14 miles and Gallowaying another 4-5 miles. A perfectly unexpected day of training.

We topped off our weekend by doing out best to dehydrate ourselves with good wine and stuff ourselves silly with shopping and good food. One of the best girl weekends I’ve ever had. Who other than the Martini Twins could miss a half-marathon, crash an ultra-marathon and finish with a marathon medal?

[miniflickr user=”19202613@N00″ tags=”Cowtown”]