tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34990414107351032652024-03-19T03:24:31.358-06:00Run Faster! The kids are catching up.Adventures in weight loss, raising a large family, and barefoot running.Robbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12788242660040874176noreply@blogger.comBlogger65125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3499041410735103265.post-49627480599925149892012-07-04T08:55:00.002-06:002012-07-04T08:55:52.127-06:00Oh my I was on Run Barefoot Girl<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Awesome self portrait while running. </td></tr>
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Hey guys, I'm on vacation in the mountains but I had to stop by and tell you that I was featured on <a href="http://runbarefootgirl.com/2012/07/yay-for-me-from-robbie-lynn-haskell-nichol/">Run Barefoot Girl's </a>Yay for me. I have listened to this podcast since I started running in Vibrams last year. Caity is awesome and she has brought together so many wonderful women and men to provide information and inspiration to the barefoot running world. I wanted to thank Caity for including me. I feel like a 'real' barefooted now. Maybe I'll have to change my name to Barefoot something. Lol. Anyways go check out her<a href="http://runbarefootgirl.com/podcasts/"> podcast</a> if you haven't already I am sure you'll love it. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The view. </td></tr>
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And just because I can't help myself, here are some pictures of my first run out here. It was hilly, think running in the Rocky Mountains, and beautiful. I am challenging myself to run the hills, I have gotten lazy. I used to be so good at hills but I have started dreaded them or walking. This<a href="http://runkeeper.com/user/robbielynn/activity/99378483?&mobile=false"> run </a>was sweet, I pushed hard on the climbs and I did it. I seriously felt amazing afterwards, so proud of myself and energized. Now if I can only find a way to get out on the trails and run, that would be perfect.<br />
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- Posted using BlogPress from my iPadRobbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12788242660040874176noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3499041410735103265.post-62975701640154257352012-06-24T23:29:00.000-06:002012-06-24T23:31:23.229-06:00Kyle's Millarville Half Marathon Race ReportWhy hello everyone. Yes, this post is late by about a week. Robbie did a great write up of the half marathon from her perspective and I wanted to make sure that I did one also. It just apparently takes me a lot longer before I get in the writing mood to do one. I should really get better about that. Ah well.<br />
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Anyways so like Robbie said, we started off the day by getting up at Zero Dark Idiotic as our friend Kelly would say, or in actual time 4 in the morning. We got up, got all our stuff on, ate some food and then headed down to the Millarville Race Track to catch a shuttle bus. I was a little worried before we got down there that there would be tons of people arriving early and that there wouldn't be enough room on the shuttle buses to take us over. When we got to the race track just before the first bus was scheduled to leave there was almost no one there. I guess we had nothing to worry about.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Robbie and I on the bus.</td></tr>
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We got on the bus and waited to head out. Our friend Barefoot Neil joined us on the bus and we headed to Black Diamond to start the race. There we did the usual pre-race activities. Potty time!!! Laff. Neil and I got the usual stares and scoffing from people. Robbie was in the washroom line just behind one lady who was scoffing so she made a point to call me hot stuff and to mention us being barefoot. Love it. Funny how being barefoot, or almost barefoot gives you thicker skin. Really I don't care because I'm passing most of the people who are scoffing at me. ;)<br />
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Met up with our other minimalist friend Maria and chatted with her about her lovely Hattori's. As Robbie mentioned she was in her Stems and I was in Robbie's pair of Invisible Shoes with the beautiful bright pink laces.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The technical T from the race, which of course we did not wear to the race. Standards, people!!!</td></tr>
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I had originally intended on running the race in my Stems also, but a week or two before the race I was feeling like I would prefer something a little more roomy and airy. Granted the Stems are super wide and lovely, but I think I really wanted to be barefoot. However I knew that my feet weren't quite ready for a half marathon distance and so I wanted to save them a bit. So I went with a pair of huaraches instead. I know they say not to do anything new for a race, so I put like 5 miles on the huaraches, then relaced them for my feet, put another 7 miles in them and then ran the race. That's totally fine, right? Laff<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Once again this picture from the lovely Maria showing off our great footwear.</td></tr>
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So back to the start of the race. We lined up at the front of the back third with Barefoot Neil and off we went. There were 3 little sections of gravel on this run. The first one was right at the beginning for a very short distance. However the rocks were big and on a very hard surface. Of course I managed to catch one rock on the arch of my foot. Ouch. Thankfully that was the only real problem with rocks that I had that day. I ran with Robbie for the first little bit. While I was still running with her one of my shoes wasn't fitting nicely. I felt like my foot had moved over to the edge of the shoe and the laces weren't tight enough. Crud. Maybe I should have spent a little more time making sure they were fitting properly. However, since I'm stubborn I decided I would wait it out and see if the problem would fix itself. I said goodbye to my lovely wife and started to ramp up the speed. I was aiming to average about an 8 minute mile the whole time and so I started going in between 8 and 8:30 minute miles for the first little bit. The first 2.75 miles are all uphill so I kept that pace the whole time. Thankfully my shoes did work themselves out and I was a happy flying man.<br />
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I should probably pace myself better. I have heard that you should go slower at first and then aim for negative splits. Apparently that's not my style. I try to aim for one pace and then keep roughly around that pace the whole time. So far it has worked okay, but maybe I should try it the other way. Either way I have to say I love the first little bit of a race when you start closer to the back and then get to pass lots of people. Helps the ego. :)<br />
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From there my pace sped up a bit so that it was more in the 7:30 to 8:00 minute mile. As I passed one group of guys I heard them all start to mention 'that book', and that Caballo guy. Cool. Once I started running I don't think I heard a single negative thing about my Huaraches. I think the people who were the most amazed by them were the Volunteers. Always good to wave and thank them and to interact with them as I run by. I found it funny when one person called them Flip Flops. Other than that struck up a couple conversation with people as I passed or they passed me. Other than Robbie, Neil and Maria I saw a couple of people in Vibrams, a guy in New Balance Mininus and a girl in New Balance Minimus shoes as well.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I so wish my phone was set to video when I tried to take this. This dude when he passed me had his arms in the air conducting an orchestra. He almost did a jig or some fancy step to his run. It was hilarious.</td></tr>
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The race was supposed to be a Net downhill course and I guess technically it was. I will contend that really, they lied. Net downhill but still lots of big hills. That and a long long stretch between Black Diamond and the Millarville Race Track made it a big mental game. I sucked it up, kept my pace and chugged on. I played leap frog with a couple of runners. They would pass me, keep going for a while and then peter out a bit and I would pass them and leave them behind. I had a bit of a mental game near the end. I had about 2 miles left to run. I knew from checking out my garmin that I was running around 8 minute mile average. I had two miles to go and was feeling tired. It would be nice to PR, but I wasn't really pushing for it. However with the distance remaining and the current time I knew that if I just pushed out two more 8 minute miles I might be able to just manage a new Personal Record. So even though I wanted to slow down, I made myself continue going the current pace. Chug, chug chug, Ugh. Then the end was in sight. I entered into the Millarville Race Track grounds and then came across the gravel at the end. Ugh. Really sucks when you want to give it a final push, but then you hit gravel. Got past the worst of the gravel and put on the speed. The girl just behind me did the same. I tried my best to get in before her but she had just a little more push than me and so she finished like .2 seconds before me (I took comfort later that my chip time was a good 15 seconds faster....Laff). Race done! I finished in a time of 1:45:20. Woot!!! New Personal Record! Beat the last one by about a minute and a half. And I would say that this was the harder course. Very pleased. Glad to get another half marathon done and I had a really good time.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The hand fired clay finisher medals. Note the iPhone for scale. Big medals and very heavy.</td></tr>
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Taking a look at the final times I ended up finishing 40th overall out of 263 people. Not bad. 33 out of 99 guys and in my division (Males between 30-39) I came in 12th out of 28. Nice. I never really considered myself a speedy person and I certainly don't think I'll finish first ever (unless everyone else stays home... Laff), but I guess I am pretty speedy.<br />
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Well I'm tired now so I should wrap up this post and head to bed. I'm looking forward to more running. Running for the fun of it and enjoying running. I love to run and I really love to run barefoot. Thankful to have other barefooters to run with downtown and I'm looking forward to my first actual barefoot race, like my rockstar wife just did. I'm also interested in trying another type of Huaraches. Robbie and I have our eyes on a pair of Unshoes Wokova Feathers. We have heard good things about them and we love the look of them. If anyone at Unshoes wants us to review them, we would love to. Otherwise we will just suck it up and buy a pair each. ;)<br />
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Until later, have a great night everyone and happy running.<br />
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Kyle<br />
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<br />Kylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11186831665942452603noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3499041410735103265.post-71405909012448427512012-06-24T21:58:00.000-06:002012-06-24T21:58:07.775-06:00Barefoot 10KOh my goodness I am so excited to write this post. If you are friends with me on Facebook I am sure you've seen all of my postings about this weekend's awesome run. I don't have many photos of the race so you'll have to look at the same ones again (Sorry, have to figure out how to run and take pictures at the same time). <br />
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So Saturday Kyle and I woke the kids up at the crack of dawn and piled them into the van. It was pouring rain and coldish. I was running my first 10k and Rebekah and Abi were running a girls 1k. It was the Starbucks Run For Women. This was a run totally on pathways and what we thought would be a easy course (note it was NOT). After the Millarville Half I was really aching to get out of my shoes and do a race barefoot. I have been running some barefoot and I spend all my time barefoot around the house and the yard. My furthest distance before the race was 4.5 miles. I figured I'd carry the invisible shoes if it got to be too much or if the course was just too rough. <br />
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The rain stopped just as the festivities got under way. One of the race officials came over to me and asked if I would be on camera saying why I was running and that he wanted me to get my picture with Catriona Le May Doan, the Olympic Medalist for Speed Skating who was the special guest there. I guess the tutu caught his eye. I was really out to have a good time. It seems to me that so many people take races so seriously and I know that I'm not going to win. The tutu helps me remember that this is fun. Really I pay good money so that I can run these races so I should really enjoy it. We listened to a great speech by Catriona and then did a short warm up.<br />
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I did all of this barefoot standing in the soaking wet grass. Oh man it felt so good. I got a number of weird looks and some questions about if I was actually running the race barefoot. Overall I think that being barefoot actually kept people away more than caused them to be curious, either that or the tutu made me look crazy. <br />
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We walked over to the start and bunched up with our estimated finish time. I have never run a 10K but I was hoping for 60 minutes or less, given that I thought it was a pretty easy course. The only worries I had really was the start. So many people in clunky shoes and my defenseless feet. I was worried someone would stomp on my toes and I'd be hurt before things even got started. Things turned out great and I didn't even get a nudge. When I was standing at the start line a couple of ladies standing beside me asked me about my feet. I told them that I often run barefoot but that this was my first race barefoot. They mentioned that they saw a guy running downtown barefoot even through the winter. This made me laugh because I am sure that it is our friend Paul, or one of the other barefoot runners that Kyle runs with. It seems that the group of barefooters running around downtown are starting to get people's attention.<br />
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Anyways the run was great, the pathways were wet and covered in puddles, and worms I must add. The puddles were amazingly warm, it felt so great to run through them. Stepping on the worms was an interesting experience. The race had a number of big hills. Running up was good and running down was ok. I found it challenging to get my feet turning over fast enough as well as dodge the many people putting on the brakes as they ran down. I played leap frog with a couple of ladies up and down a couple hills. They would get in front of me on the up hill and I would zoom past on the down hill. It was fun and we chatted for a bit on the straight away. They commented that it was amazing to watch me run down hill with no shoes. <br />
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I was not prepared for the hills, oh man. I haven't been running much. I am dealing with a number of chronic conditions and pretty much chronic pain so I have been taking way more rest days. I will post soon about my new diagnosis and what on earth I am going to do to keep running. To keep it short, I have trouble eating and digesting foods of all sorts, and I have constant GI pain. Good times I know. Anyways with all of the troubles I have been having I wasn't really running my best race. The beauty of it was that I could just enjoy being barefoot. Seriously there is no rush or crazy push to be the fastest, I was out finally running bare and enjoying the sensations. The only problem I encountered was after the turn around. There are some pretty big hills to get down and by this time the 5Kers were heading back some of them walking 3-4 across the path. I had to break often on the downhill when no one would move over. Seriously there are no brakes on bare feet running down crazy steep hills. I am pretty sure that the last 1.5 miles of down hills braking and weaving caused me my blisters. The last stretch was hard. My feet were done and I was getting so tired. I finished in 1:01, really not bad after all. <a href="http://runkeeper.com/user/robbielynn/activity/97124924">Run Keeper Race info</a>. I finished 24th out of 122 in my age group, and as Kyle says I was first in the barefoot division.<br />
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I had some blisters on my feet and they were pretty sore afterwards. But now on Sunday they are super happy and looking to get out again. I had Kyle take a picture of my feet after the race, I am almost embarrassed to post it because of the blisters, I know barefooters aren't supposed to get blisters, but hey I guess I can only get better.<br />
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There you have it, my feet post 10K on wet pathways, up and down crazy hills. All in all I am super pleased. <br />
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I had a nice surprise at the end of the race, while I was waiting to cheer my friend across the line I saw Maria!! I didn't know that she was running this race and I cannot tell you how excited I was to see her. We grabbed a quick picture of our beautiful faces and our feet, cause that's how we roll. Maria has been such an encouragement to me. She is relentless in her running and seriously puts me to shame with the miles she runs. It is super sweet to have another minimalist/barefoot women as my friend. Thanks Maria for all the encouragement. You Rock!!!<br />
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Thank you all for the messages on Facebook and the comments of the blog, I cannot believe how supportive you all are. I am a happy happy barefooter, and I am looking forward to many more miles run and maybe even a few more races run barefoot.<br />
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Robbie<br />
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-Posted using BlogPress from my iPadRobbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12788242660040874176noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3499041410735103265.post-7575222311442649612012-06-18T09:25:00.000-06:002012-06-18T14:50:44.704-06:00Millarville Half Marathon ... The race where I learn I can do hard thingsSaturday Kyle and I left the house at 4:30 am. This is nuts! Why would anyone leave their house at that crazy hour? Well for a race of course. We were running in the inaugural Millarville Half Marathon, dubbed the Hillbilly Half by some. It was a rural race from Black Diamond to the Millarville Racetrack and Farmers Market. I was really looking forward to this race. It was billed as a net downhill course. Ha! Net downhill includes a lot of freaking big hills. <br />Here's Kyle and I at the start line, happy to be running and racing together. Although we don't run together. That man is crazy fast, he'll post about his race later I'm sure, but I'll just hint that he finished with the front of the pack. Speedy husband. <br /><a href="http://photo.blogpressapp.com/show_photo.php?p=12/06/18/1437.jpg"><img border="0" height="281" src="http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/12/06/18/s_1437.jpg" style="margin: 5px;" width="210" /></a><br />We met up with some other minimalist and barefoot friends at the race. Here's our picture with 4 different shoe/no shoe options. Kyle in the styling pink laced invisible shoe, me in my Lemmings, our friend Maria sporting her stylish Hattoris (she ended up with 2 major blisters though), and our friend Neil in his bare feet. <a href="http://becauseallthecoolkidsaredoingit.blogspot.ca/">Neil </a>was one of inspirations for us to ditch our shoes and learn to run bare. <br /><a href="http://photo.blogpressapp.com/show_photo.php?p=12/06/18/1438.jpg"><img border="0" height="281" src="http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/12/06/18/s_1438.jpg" style="margin: 5px;" width="210" /></a><br />Going into this race I was unsure of how I would do. I was hoping to get a PR. After the first 3K I knew a PR was not in my future. Leading up to this race things were tough for me. After a fall on a trail run, asthma that was flaring up from all the pollen and an increase in my abdominal pain leaving me with very little to eat that didn't hurt, I probably wasn't in the best shape for this race. Looking back my last long run before this race was actually my last Half Marathon in May a whole month ago. <br />This race was a major head game for me. It was hard. You know how when you're running after a certain distance or time you really hit your stride? You feel like you're flying and get into the groove. Well there was no flying for me this race. Every step felt hard and my head was telling me to stop. Ugh! On top of that I was trying a new water system. I bought a fuel belt camelback to carry my water. With the increase in my abdominal pain my normal fuel belt that goes around my waist was way too painful to use. Well like they say don't do anything new on race day. Well I learned my lesson. My hose was kinked so I could only get very tiny sips of water. Ugh! I don't normally use aid stations because I am super nervous about what I eat/drink. So many things make me so sick that I avoid unknown drinks and food. After not getting any water for the first half of the race I decided that I really needed to start drinking at the aid stations. The first one I stopped at I swear I could have gulped down 3 or 4 cups of water. I didn't though because I knew that I'd probably throw up with too much in my stomach. Really there isn't much else to report. I finished in 2:03:xx. <a href="http://runkeeper.com/user/robbielynn/activity/95579113?&mobile=false">Runkeeper race info</a>. Not bad at all but not a PR for me. My first Half in finished in 2:02:xx. Granted my first half I was a heel striking cushy shoe runner with bad form. <br />So the good from this race? Well I learned that I can do hard things. I finished even when things weren't going well. I finished in a pretty good time even with way too little training. I also learned something new about myself. I am not a quitter. See I always thought of myself as a quitter. When things got hard I would quit. I didn't finished University but switched to Bible College, I didn't finish Bible College and instead got married. I started and didn't finished Midwifery school, trying to do internship with five young children didn't make sense to me. I always had a good reason to quit or maybe a good excuse, but I always told myself that I was just a quitter. Saturday's race was probably one of the hardest things I have done both mentally and physically, and I didn't quit. I could have. I could have turned around 3K in like I wanted to. I could have slowed way down, even walked a lot more but I didn't I pushed as hard as I could in the condition I was in. When I crossed the finish line I was spent. I really left everything I had out on the course. Sure I'd be happier if I could have PRed, but I am very happy with how I did. I couldn't have run any harder, I gave it all. Really that is all I can do. <br />Here's the video of my finish thanks to speedy Kyle.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/3t9e65cuhzk?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br /><br />Going forward I am hoping to do some things differently<br />-- train more regularly<br />-- find out how to fuel enough to build up a good glycogen base<br />-- figure out my camelback<br />-- ditch my shoes and concentrate more on building my barefoot base<br />-- stop worrying about times and PRs and focus on how much I love to run<br />So there's my plan. My goal it to run my next Half Marathon barefoot. It is at the end of September and I think I can get there. So here's to running more free, free from my shoes, free from my ego that says I have to be faster, and free from pressure that I put on myself to be the best. I am going to run like I love it because I do.<br />Robbie<br />- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad<br />Robbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12788242660040874176noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3499041410735103265.post-68763577376686204812012-06-10T22:18:00.001-06:002012-06-10T22:18:52.983-06:00Splashing through puddlesWell we are less than a week away from our next half marathon, our next half being the Millarville Half Marathon. Information on it can be found at http://www.millarvillehalfmarathon.com/ . This half is a point to point from Black Diamond to the Millarville's Farmer's Market. This is the first year that they are doing it and it looks like it's going to be a fantastic race, although I must say that we have not been training enough for it.<br /><br />I find though that I am definitely not a competitive runner. I mostly just want to run for fun. I'm sure I will improve as I run, but I'm not doing it for PRs or anything. Not that if I manage to PR that I'll be upset. No, I'll gladly take it. ;)<br /><br />Anyways so back to running. Last week on Wednesday I believe, I went out running at lunch time. It has kinda been rainy and dreary all week, and that day was no exception. In fact I was kinda thinking that it was going to rain during my lunch run so I was getting myself mentally prepared for it. Thankfully though the rain stopped just before lunch and it was nice and warm out. I took full advantage of it.<br /><br />I was trying out my wife's pair of Invisible Shoes Huaraches that she won off of Jeff's blog at <a target="_blank" href="http://barefootinclined.blogspot.ca/">Barefoot Inclined</a>. Robbie tried the shoes and didn't really like huaraches, so I figured why not give them a try and see if I like them. Now these shoes were custom made for B's feet so I knew that they wouldn't fit exactly right but thankfully our feet are quite similar so they worked just fine. Oh and did I mention that they have bright pink laces? Super sexy for me to wear. <br /><br /><br /><center><a href='https://picasaweb.google.com/112976647050168596146/RunFasterTheKidsAreCatchingUp?authkey=Gv1sRgCPeq2sTRjdbK2wE#5752629061191718162'><img src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrfVTza3c26Wi1S7Snu2P1Keb2yrxLDHnEl4ZNxiL8c5hy1kKcvwnQlxEk7AfcbI1RFvmEvbpK-eJhKIyybQoTru6UylNJOvdUQrMv-cT7MGO4IXqUcFhQFODmahb0EhrSJyf3roxRXypO/s288/1.jpg' border='0' width='400' height='400' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br />Anyways I was wearing huaraches with lots of puddles out and I was having a blast. All the other runners were running around the puddles, or even scaling small walls to avoid getting wet but I, with a big grin on my face, plowed straight through the middle. The joys of running barefoot or in minimal shoes. <br /><br />Short review of the Invisible Shoes, keeping in mind they're not custom fit for me. <br />Pro: I love the feeling of being almost barefoot. My feet felt nice and free while protected at the same time. I loved the feeling and I'm definitely interested in trying it out more. Kinda trying to decide if I should adjust the shoes and run the half in them. Really interested in trying out other huaraches as well. I'm liking the look of Unshoes. <br />Con: The noise. I'm used to being super stealthy. The shoes slapped the ground with every step. Everyone heard me coming and I was much noisier than any other runner. Anyone else experience this or is my form just weird in huaraches? Another con was that I got blisters from wearing them. Not on my feet where the straps were, but on the bottom of my feet. I'm chalking that up to them not being the right fit for me. I could feel that they had a little too much wiggle room to them.<br /><br />Anyways, cut to today. I had a long run planned today heading home from church. It ended up being about 11.7 miles and I fought the wind the entire way. Felt tougher than it needed to be, but I got it done. Because the pathway we run on to get home runs right next to the river, any time there is enough rain it floods. Today this was the case just past the zoo. <br /><br /><center><a href='https://picasaweb.google.com/112976647050168596146/RunFasterTheKidsAreCatchingUp?authkey=Gv1sRgCPeq2sTRjdbK2wE#5752629074626180754'><img src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyG0LP932QgrK0VWlwgA_duf_cACyNKK9_wFrjHClMFAgE4p36reS0HNM2iq_mSEBqH_vDR5_ybAucU37Bdbtm4DepWaiMFbFJxSQvQ6b-pYsGaf2ALH7iSAZ8ng7jYkWbop51WHiKPlGh/s288/0.jpg' border='0' width='210' height='281' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br /><br />The river had flooded the banks and was spilling out onto the pathway. It was only for about 20 feet, but fairly deep, probably up to mid calf on me. No problem though as I just took off my shoes and ran through it barefoot. Fun times. So glad to be able to kick off my shoes and get a little wet. Everyone should feel the freedom to do so, but sadly I have seen enough uptight people who would never do that. Ah well. Their loss. :)<br /><br />Are you a puddle splasher or do you purposely avoid them?<br /><br /><br />Kyle<br />Kylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11186831665942452603noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3499041410735103265.post-81592988702377058472012-06-10T09:22:00.001-06:002012-06-10T09:27:59.490-06:00Back in the game!Friday morning Kyle was working from home. He was encouraging me to get out and run. I haven't run all week because my knee and my lungs were not cooperating. I agreed to get our Friday morning. The only problem was that this beauty wanted to come too. <br /><br /><br /><center><a href='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/show_photo.php?p=12/06/10/1340.jpg'><img src='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/12/06/10/s_1340.jpg' border='0' width='210' height='281' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br /><br />Now she was going to bike and I was going to run. I thought it would be ok. Well very quickly into our 'run', like .01 of a mile, I realized that she cannot bike as fast as I run. I needed an attitude change quick because I was getting frustrated that she was messing up my run. A quick text to Kyle and an encouragement from him to remember that this was special time with my lovely girl, and I was able to relax and help her have the best bike ride ever. She rode 1.5 miles and then we raced the rain home.<br /><br /><br /><center><a href='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/show_photo.php?p=12/06/10/1341.jpg'><img src='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/12/06/10/s_1341.jpg' border='0' width='210' height='281' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br /><br />She was so proud of herself.<br />Once I dropped her off I grabbed my jacket and my fuel belt and headed out for a solo run. Turns out that I am still a runner. I tell you I was having major doubts about that. I haven't been running, I have been gaining weight, and feeling just awful. After Friday's run I felt great. I had to stop to take my rescue inhaler twice but felt great over all. I finished just under 5 miles at a 9min/mi pace. It was awesome and really pumped up my self confidence. <br /><br /><br /><center><a href='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/show_photo.php?p=12/06/10/1342.jpg'><img src='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/12/06/10/s_1342.jpg' border='0' width='210' height='281' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br /><br />Look at those clouds behind me. There was a pretty major storm coming in. Thankfully I got home before I got drenched. <br />Last point to make is that somehow I am much faster after taking a break. Maybe it's the steroids in my inhaler (joking!!) Friday's run was quicker than normal and then I ran on Saturday as well. Kyle once again encouraged me to get out for a run. I must be cranky or something. I ran just under 5 miles at an average pace of 8:41min/mi. Oh my goodness!! Not that it was easy but I have never run so quick. I kept under 9 except on the bigger hills. My quickest pace was in the 6s. I came home after my run, stretched on the lawn for awhile, showered and then headed off to sing at a memorial service. I finished off the day having vietnamese food with my sister. Overall it was a great day. Kyle is heading out for a long run today in the wind and rain and rather yucky weather. I'll try to get him to post afterwards. <br />Have a great Sunday!!<br />Robbie<br />- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad<br /><br />Robbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12788242660040874176noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3499041410735103265.post-64370170676866066742012-06-06T07:52:00.001-06:002012-06-06T07:52:31.204-06:00Barefoot running for kids.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih80VJ9IRs4EB4AFm_iskMdZz0ggHj_bP9MzxzmhfEWw_0lR7Ojd18RjENNqSeEl2YiQyO0L-P3ULeZNgljl0DgdIKo6mLIea0JwdqG2iPPK_sJMUCNlgJWaKMrZVvkUzLGaiGLShfgus/s1600/kids+pic+together.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih80VJ9IRs4EB4AFm_iskMdZz0ggHj_bP9MzxzmhfEWw_0lR7Ojd18RjENNqSeEl2YiQyO0L-P3ULeZNgljl0DgdIKo6mLIea0JwdqG2iPPK_sJMUCNlgJWaKMrZVvkUzLGaiGLShfgus/s320/kids+pic+together.jpg" width="320" /></a>As most of you know Kyle and I have a rather large herd of children. 7 to be exact. There are only 6 in the picture because we can't post pictures of our foster baby until we adopt her. As we have gotten healthier our children have too. They are now starting to show an interest in running. Often they practice their running and ask us to check their 'form'. It is so cute to hear a 4 year old yell "look at my form" as they run past you. Seeing as we run barefoot or minimalist we had a hard time allowing our children to wear the traditional boxy cushioning shoes that are "good" for kids. So far our kids much prefer to be barefoot than anything else. A couple of weeks ago Kyle and I were out for a walk with all of the kids. It was a mile there and a mile back. Our oldest son Matthew (8) was dragging his feet and whining about how tired he was. Now this poor kid has shoes that his grandma bought him, they are clunky and 2 sizes too big and really looked like his skinny ankles couldn't lift them. We told him to ditch his shoes. The results were amazing. He was running and happy. He had tons of energy and actually ran the mile home. Because of this Kyle went out and bought the older 3 kids each a pair of Vibram KSOs. Rebekah our oldest and Matthew our second oldest love them. Rebekah even wears them to church. Sam doesn't love them because they gave him a blister. Because the Vibrams only came in bigger sizes we couldn't buy them for the younger kids, that and the high price tag. Instead of Vibrams we bought them all water shoes, we were thinking that they were what we ran in all winter long so they should work well for the kids. They all love them. I am so happy to watch my kids run and play knowing that they aren't ruining their feet by getting used to shoe coffins.<br />
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Last weekend we participated in the <a href="http://hopeclassic.ca/en/">Hope Classic</a> it was a 1, 5, 8K run and a family run. It was very low key but very well organized. Kyle and the older kids signed up for the 1K run. It was an out and back on park paths with 3 different turn around points. The park was beautiful and the weather was holding out, there was rain forecasted. Kyle, Sam and Abi all ran barefoot and Matthew and Rebekah wore their vibrams. It was great. As Rebekah came speeding in for 2nd place a guy commented that she was super fast and that she really didn't have much on her feet. She said that her Dad and siblings were barefoot.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Kyle, Abi (5), Rebekah (9), Matthew (8), and Sam (6)</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Getting started.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFdv9PvfmRpEROi57sB90dus9B0qMoFNm6lcgwvYYMzrw0VJqh7_5L84WY0Hk-b6NT-WIzEylbYPBcePNDRgeUrTcXhUm6xs_rqiquOllv1_QUFHmTbaB4LNvyhIuDZEEYg1BL0QSj_ec/s640/blogger-image--2117091566.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFdv9PvfmRpEROi57sB90dus9B0qMoFNm6lcgwvYYMzrw0VJqh7_5L84WY0Hk-b6NT-WIzEylbYPBcePNDRgeUrTcXhUm6xs_rqiquOllv1_QUFHmTbaB4LNvyhIuDZEEYg1BL0QSj_ec/s640/blogger-image--2117091566.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Sarah didn't officially run the race but she ran about 200m and crossed the finish line.<br />You can see her water shoes here.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3WpofTz6Oi-IETQGVvDMNORmXRcICVm4Nd-oSm1s5tPBk9LtRWkyMBVelDS8Bw4H-5v-ahRMa9JqNWUHe2ALp9-r6XrS0U8yB6jcB0GJvr-0WZ6Def-eYVjOrIhIOxYPkGRBSA_taIMI/s640/blogger-image-1575103271.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3WpofTz6Oi-IETQGVvDMNORmXRcICVm4Nd-oSm1s5tPBk9LtRWkyMBVelDS8Bw4H-5v-ahRMa9JqNWUHe2ALp9-r6XrS0U8yB6jcB0GJvr-0WZ6Def-eYVjOrIhIOxYPkGRBSA_taIMI/s640/blogger-image-1575103271.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Joseph (2) needed to run across the finish line too.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq7mqakrmVvWHUNOUimuXXFXzDyH7qLsUPyiOIAAX9eW9hq0qeCLC69MuqVHEF4UKNKhc-MJAHC88A7fEsaFG2u0n8tyZ9VzQlk-fcZ2Plz9gwDyzbfSc431bSEymbi2xDTDW6eWASXls/s640/blogger-image--286160910.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq7mqakrmVvWHUNOUimuXXFXzDyH7qLsUPyiOIAAX9eW9hq0qeCLC69MuqVHEF4UKNKhc-MJAHC88A7fEsaFG2u0n8tyZ9VzQlk-fcZ2Plz9gwDyzbfSc431bSEymbi2xDTDW6eWASXls/s640/blogger-image--286160910.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Here is Rebekah she finished 2nd with a time of 5:05. Not bad for her first 1K</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb7jWb7N86obFCtLHqRnjuCOpO4dakGjNnYZRMAqwkwYIANPbNQ9C_USJ41kDb88a3cyInQTtGCF5R_Thju_hd37ufiVuBOiMX5TTeyjDt6xxftLCWjn-na-Aj_-vIoJnqKahXuEy-aNo/s640/blogger-image--1400475956.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb7jWb7N86obFCtLHqRnjuCOpO4dakGjNnYZRMAqwkwYIANPbNQ9C_USJ41kDb88a3cyInQTtGCF5R_Thju_hd37ufiVuBOiMX5TTeyjDt6xxftLCWjn-na-Aj_-vIoJnqKahXuEy-aNo/s640/blogger-image--1400475956.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Matthew finished 3rd with a time of 5:55</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Abi came in 4th with at time of 6:07</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Sam and Kyle came in 5th and 6th. Sam ran the entire way. </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir3_7evMtRZtHOeEcUdWxs73oEB5PcX2Fg9tbDOKW_RYB4q1x2B2pTFBqBgnf0JJhTjL3TmHVEr19mGZxWA-IkArKXWROZ2NExQNuQYwppUbqB7wKJ8UltByJXy-mgKhW4f_ddq6PUMDY/s640/blogger-image--1434182767.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir3_7evMtRZtHOeEcUdWxs73oEB5PcX2Fg9tbDOKW_RYB4q1x2B2pTFBqBgnf0JJhTjL3TmHVEr19mGZxWA-IkArKXWROZ2NExQNuQYwppUbqB7wKJ8UltByJXy-mgKhW4f_ddq6PUMDY/s640/blogger-image--1434182767.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Kids with their finishing medals and faces painted. </span></td></tr>
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Overall for our kids first race this was amazing. I really don't think it could have gone better. They have all caught the racing bug now. Matthew was asking when they can race again. Rebekah and Abigail and I are running in the <a href="http://www.events.runningroom.com/site/?raceId=7750&contentId=22684&vrindex=0">Starbucks Run for Women </a>at the end of the month. Now I just need to find more races for the boys. If you are in calgary and you know of races with 1Ks or even 5Ks that are on a Saturday let me know please. We are all infected with the racing bug.</div>Robbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12788242660040874176noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3499041410735103265.post-12402717295572591492012-06-04T09:05:00.002-06:002012-06-04T09:25:50.905-06:00UpdatesIt has been so long since I last posted. So many things have been happening. The kids are finished their school for the year so we have had a lot more free time. They have filled it with lots of computer time, board game time and outside time. With all of that I have been distracted from posting. Amazing how hard it can be to find time to blog with 7 kids demanding your attention. <br />
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In the last 2 months I have been running way less than ever before. It has been a mix of sickness, pain from my ongoing issues and a new trail injury to my knee. Even with less running I was able to complete my third half marathon in May. I guess that's where I'll start. <br />
I ran the <a href="http://www.rmswomensrun.com/main.php?p=704">Rocky Mountain Soap Co. Women's Half Marathon</a> on May 12th. I knew this was going to be a tough race and wanted to make sure I didn't take it too seriously. I ran in a <a href="http://glam-runner.com/">Glamrunner tutu</a> to make it more fun and keep my attitude fun and playful. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Finished!!</td></tr>
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What a great plan. It was silly and fun and crazy hard. The elevation gain overall was over 1100ft. I finished with a time of 2:08 a full 6 minutes slower than my first half. <a href="http://runkeeper.com/user/robbielynn/activity/87628665">Runkeeper entry for the race. </a>Considering the elevation, I feel like I did great. I feel like I am getting stronger and running stronger all the time. Right after the race my asthma started rearing its ugly head again. I have had no trouble in 6 months but now with all of the pollen in the air I am dying. My Dr added another preventative medication and double my other meds. It feels awful to be so full of drugs, but without them I can't breath at all. Right now every run is much harder than it needs to be, partly why I haven't been running as much. I am hoping the pollen goes away soon. <br />
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2 weeks after the half I went to visit my parents in Sundre with my kids. We had a great time. I found a sweet trail to run right in town and I was excited to run on trails all week instead of the road. Unfortunately on my first run I was foggy from being glutened and I tripped and fell. I fell so hard I bounced off the river rocks. I hit my knee hard! <br />
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I seriously considered going to have my knee x-rayed it was all bumped out weirdly. The photos really didn't catch how bad it was. I could barely walk and couldn't do stairs at all. I was pretty worried that I wouldn't be able to run my next race at all. As of Friday my knee was still hurting and running just hurt too much. Today it feels better and I am going to try a run tonight if my lungs cooperate. If I still can't run I am going to make an appointment with my sports med dr. My next race is the <a href="http://www.millarvillehalfmarathon.com/">Millarville Half</a> on June 16th. <br />
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There are so many other things to tell you that I will have to write another post right away.<br />
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--- Kyle and I ran the trails in Sundre again and came in-between 2 young moose calves. Scary!!!<br />
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--- The 4 oldest kids all ran their first race, 2 wore vibrams and 2 went barefoot <br />
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--- more updates on how living gluten free is going, including the part where I was glutened at a restaurant when they place a noodle under my veggies just because. <br />
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Things have been exciting and boring around here. Lots of days of doing the same things mixed with moments of chaos and fun. <br />
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Thanks for reading if you're still here. It feels great to be blogging again. I have to give a shout out to my lovely daughter for entertaining the babies and younger kids so that I could write this. Thank Rebekah you are a rock star!!<br />
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Robbie<br />
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- Posted using BlogPress from my iPadRobbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12788242660040874176noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3499041410735103265.post-33189652730579504842012-04-05T09:50:00.001-06:002012-04-05T10:05:53.568-06:00Running is more fun barefoot.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I did this post before but never got around to actually posting it. So this is from March 16th.<br />
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Today was crazy beautiful out. It was 10ºC and the sun was shining when I left for my run. This is my first long run in training for my first full marathon. Kyle and I have our sights set on the <a href="http://www.events.runningroom.com/site/?raceId=7259&contentId=21838&vrindex=0">Edmonton Derby Maratho</a>n in August. It should be fun. We are hoping to make a weekend of it and leave the kids with my parents. Looking forward to the Expo and watching my cousin run the 5K.<br />
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This will be a short post because I left it way to long and now I forget a lot of the details, having 7 kids does bad things to your memory.<br />
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Anyways first off I dressed like <a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/c/cb/Rainbow_Brite_and_Color_Kids.jpg/250px-Rainbow_Brite_and_Color_Kids.jpg">Rainbow Bright</a>. Super colourful and happy to run. I love that it was so warm that I could wear my shorts and that I could wear my Lemings (Stems) without socks. I ran my favourite bike path run, that goes along two man made lakes and through some natural areas. It is super sweet to have such nice paths right out my back door. Kyle and I have looked at moving a number of times and now that we run, running paths have a big sway in where we go. We are super blessed to have lots of options to run around our neighbourhood, even if every run is a hill run.<br />
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Sunny face and weird smile. Pictures of the sweet path. The path here was bare and dry and super smooth so I couldn't resist taking my shoes off and running bare. Sweet! The only downside to my Lemings is that they don't fit well in my fuel belt, so I had to carry them in my hands. Super weird look I am sure. There were lots of people around the lakes and a number of elderly ladies shook their heads at me as I ran past. There was water to run in and mud to muck it. So much fun. At one point I had to hop off of the path on to the grass beside because there was a huge puddle of toxic looking water full of who knows what, that I didn't want to run through. The result ...<br />
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Super muddy legs. Actually the mud from the wet grass splashed up and even got my shirt muddy. This picture was after I had tried to clean the mud off with some snow. I decided to put my shoes back on because this side of the path was in the shade and covered with slush and snow. Finished my<a href="http://runkeeper.com/user/robbielynn/activity/75836289"> run</a>, 8 miles total and 2 barefoot. It was great. I got home and hopped into the bath with some warm tea. The tub was covered in mud after my bath. I am so happy to run. I felt like a kid running through puddles and mud. It was great. I am hoping for lots more warm weather and many more mile run barefoot.<br />
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Oh yeah I forgot that this was the anniversary of when I first started running. I started the Couch 2 5K program on March 16th 2011. <a href="http://runkeeper.com/user/robbielynn/activity/33860042">My first run</a>. I am amazed at how far I've come in a year. Comparing stats: last year I weighed 210lbs, I was 5 months into losing weight and had lost 50lbs already. I was dead scared to run outside incase anyone saw me. I stuck to my treadmill. I thought that the 30 second intervals of running were torture and couldn't imagine ever running for a full 30 mins. Now in 2012 I am down to 140lbs, I have run 2 half marathons and I run 5K easily without even really thinking about it. I run outside without shoes, in bright colours, covered in mud basically demanding that people look at me. I am no longer scared to be seen running. Even though I am still not the fastest lady around I am getting faster and I am loving every second of my runs. (maybe not every second but most) I am so grateful and blessed to have found this new life. It has given me the energy and drive that I have need to get through the other hard things in my life. I am thankful to God that He has given me a body that can bounce back after 6 pregnancies and a decade of unhealthy living, not without some reminders of where I've been but with a sense that I have been to the other side and this life is so much sweeter.<br />
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Robbie-Lynn<br />
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<br /></div>Robbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12788242660040874176noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3499041410735103265.post-68400750535036622332012-04-05T08:49:00.001-06:002012-04-05T08:57:56.259-06:00Long run in the sun<br />
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We have been having the best weather ever. Saturday was warm, like shorts and t-shirt warm, which in Calgary is really anything over 10°C. The kids had choir in the morning so I had planned to run home from church on Sunday, but the weather was calling my name. It was too beautiful. I couldn't waste the day. I packed up my things and I was heading out the door the second Kyle got home. I decided to run along the river towards downtown. I have longed since last summer to run from Edworthy park to downtown.<br />
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I decided that I was going to try and get in some barefoot miles but I wanted a light backup shoe to put on in the places where the path is very rough. I packed my invisible shoes, and Kyle's KSOs. I was going to hook the shoes into my fuel belt. At the last moment I decided to ditch the KSOs because they were weighing my belt down and I didn't want to be that heavy. I tucked my invisible shoes into my belt and headed off barefoot and feeling very light.<br />
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I ran towards Edworthy Park first and encountered lovely smooth pavement for the first while. It was great fun, there were so many people out enjoying the beautiful weather. The paths were quite packed and at times I had to run along the grass you get around large groups. My feet felt great, I am amazed at how much more I love to run without shoes, even minimalist shoes. The downside to beautiful weather this early in the year is that the paths aren't cleared of the tiny painful rocks that the city uses as traction during the winter. I encountered small sections of these tiny rocks (pea gravel I think) again and again. At first I thought about stopping and putting on my invisible shoes but then my pride overruled me and I ran on. I didn't want to have everyone see that I had to use shoes just to get past some silly rocks. The first section was intense. I told myself to relax and let my foot spread out so that I had the most surface area spread out. With each section I felt less pain and I really started to get a hang of the technique of running over the sharp little rocks. I got to the park and had to turn around to head back towards downtown. I ran over the sharp rocks and felt like a stinking rock star. <br />
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2 miles barefoot <br />
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I continued towards downtown and the path changed. It went from smooth new pavement to old worn down broken up chip seal. I haven't run on this kind of path yet without my shoes. I didn't think that today was the day to do so. I grabbed out my invisible shoes and slipped them on. I had pre-tied them so it was simple and easy to get them on. Automatically I felt the protection for my feet but I also noticed that they felt floppy. It almost felt like I had to scrunch my toes to keep the shoes on. I had them tied on quite tight and the strap was bugging me a bit. Not much at the start of the run but by the time I was done running oh man my feet felt that strap. I ran another 2 miles felling great. I saw lots of different runners and noticed that most looked in pain, like they were training really hard. Now I don't train hard, in my opinion. I run for fun and don't like to be uncomfortable while I do it. I think that is something that drew me to barefoot running. I was smiling from ear to ear just taking in the beautiful day and feeling so grateful to be running. I took my shoes off again as I got closer to downtown and the path changed to smooth new pavement again. I ran across the new peace bridge. It was so crowded that running on the sidewalk was nearly impossible. I had to run in the bike lane. The sidewalk was super smooth and felt amazing to my bare feet and the bike path was rough but not unpleasant. I ran across and just past and then I turned around and headed back to my car. As I ran back a group of teen boys were skateboarding on the path and they high fived me and asked where my shoe were. I pointed to my invisible shoe tucked into my belt and kept running.<br />
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2 miles barefoot again. <br />
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I put my invisible shoes back on and started running down the beat up path again. Nothing really interesting to tell except that I really wanted to take my shoes off. The toe strap was starting to hurt and the tops of my second and third toes were hurting from scrunching my toes to keep my shoes on. By the end of my run my feet were sore and I wondered what I was thinking. I ended up with some pretty intense blisters right where the toe strap is on the bottom of the shoe. I also ended my run with the bottom of my foot covered in blood. The strap had dug into the space between my toes and cut it open. Ouch!! So now I am on the look out for a very light pair of shoes to pack with me when I run barefoot. I picked up a pair of Vibram Seeyas earlier this week but I haven't run in them yet. They are definitely light enough and they feel good on so I am hopeful that they may work.<br />
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Here's a lovely picture of my feet post run. The first foot had no problems, the second is my bloodied foot. Yikes. <br />
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So there you have. I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed this run. I am hopeful that I may be able to run the Harvest Half barefoot. I would love to do it barefoot. I am going to make sure to be careful and not over do it because I really really love running barefoot. <br />
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Robbie-Lynn<br />
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Posted using BlogPress from my iPadRobbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12788242660040874176noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3499041410735103265.post-50884311900645266402012-03-09T20:46:00.002-07:002012-03-09T22:18:50.152-07:00Enjoying the warm weather while it lastsToday was another nice warm day here in Calgary. I believe at lunch time it was 10ºC out and so I decided to make the best of it. I put on a t-shirt (wicking of course as I'm a sweaty beast), shorts, compression sleeves. I grabbed my Stems and out the door I went. Very quickly after I started I decided that the shoes should come off, and so they did. It was beautiful weather for going barefoot. A couple of cool puddles of water here and there, but almost no snow on the pathway. There was one small section by the zoo that was snowy (and had lots of gravel on the pathway) and so my shoes went back on for that. It's so nice to have the freedom to slip shoes on and off whenever I felt like it and I'm certainly not complaining about the weather.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This was the path by the zoo on Monday. Today there was almost no snow. Woot!</td></tr>
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I managed to get just under 5 miles in. My feet were doing pretty good. The old areas that were blistered basically had that old dead skin scraped off from the wet pathways. That was totally cool by me except the new skin underneath was still a little sensitive. I managed to get another small blood blister on the pad of my foot where the new skin was but otherwise my feet came out fantastic.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Small blister (underneath old big blister). Small price to pay.</td></tr>
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I can tell you about one really interesting thing that I saw on my run. I was heading back to work and while I was running I saw two guys running towards me holding hands. This seemed very strange to me. I have never seen anyone running while holding hands with someone else. At first I thought it was two 'very proud' guys if you know what I mean. However as I got closer I realized that I had seen one of the guys before. I have taken the bus with him and he usually needs help from people to know what stop it is and he walks tapping a cane in front of him. This was a blind gentlemen who either had a friend or an aide who was helping him to run. How cool is that!!! I have never really thought about that before and so I thought that it was really awesome to see that blindness doesn't have to mean that this guy couldn't run.<br />
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<br />Kylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11186831665942452603noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3499041410735103265.post-92151257281015347552012-03-08T14:28:00.000-07:002012-03-08T14:28:43.795-07:00Yes, I'm still aliveWow. It has been far too long since I last posted. We have been busy with so many thing and unfortunately I just never made time to write. So while I'm currently waiting for a bus to arrive I thought I would start a blog post. <br />
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Since I last posted my knee has gotten much better. It no longer hurts when I run!!! Woot!! Loving that. Getting into a good groove running has been hard though. With our DNS of the Hypothermic Half there was really no huge momentum in training. Combine that with cold snowy weather and I just wasn't feeling it. However we now have a couple races in mind for the year including the Edmonton marathon in 23 weeks. Which means marathon training starts now. Looking forward to getting back into the swing of things for that. <br />
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Other things of note since I last wrote.... Let's see. Oh yeah. There was the one time that I was running in my water shoes around the neighborhood. It was a little icy out and I was running in the dark. Going along at a good clip when all of a sudden I kicked something with my foot and almost went down. Turns out there was a huge chunk of ice on the ground that was frozen to the sidewalk. When I kicked it, it didn't move. Ouch. Pretty sure that I broke my toe with that one. Thankfully it wasn't hurt bad enough to stop running. Laff<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nice big hard ice chunk. My water shoes offered me no protection.</td></tr>
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Another warm day I went for a barefoot run and overdid it a little. Managed to get in 8 miles barefoot. Felt fantastic. However it was still a little cold out and so my feet were a little more numb than they should have been. This led to a little sloppy form and a huge blood blister across my right foot. Silly me, however I had so much fun going barefoot. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mmmmm, blisters.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Had them for a little bit. Ah well</td></tr>
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Other than that in terms of new shoes there hasn't been too much change. I got my pair of Neo Trails that I was lusting after but then returned them after realizing that I wouldn't really use them enough to justify having them. Instead I got a pair of Stem Footwear (now Leming Footwear). My Lemings are now my absolutely favorite pair of shoes ever. Great casual shoe, fun running shoe. I will post a review of them shortly. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My new favorite shoes. Sooo nice.</td></tr>
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So there is a mini update on what is going on. Getting back on a running training plan and hopefully with it getting back into blogging more.Kylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11186831665942452603noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3499041410735103265.post-21012230422947017542012-03-07T14:06:00.000-07:002012-03-07T15:12:43.248-07:00I am back in the game after 4 weeks of no running.<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPdeN9uoBJ5dVj54MWwDwxS9sKvIVBRUsd17XDRgstWvAbwSkjc-3TFbIzg7NZx8vbIpatCs9pFEao4RWUedIYW7gQEB2NrGBW1vLrpFZLcbciDYclExEvqa7XAXGPg3Dr_noAoMooJEc/s1600/IMG_1822.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPdeN9uoBJ5dVj54MWwDwxS9sKvIVBRUsd17XDRgstWvAbwSkjc-3TFbIzg7NZx8vbIpatCs9pFEao4RWUedIYW7gQEB2NrGBW1vLrpFZLcbciDYclExEvqa7XAXGPg3Dr_noAoMooJEc/s320/IMG_1822.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Right before my stress test. So excited to run.</td></tr>
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It has been way too long. Seriously I have been super busy and not running so I didn't have much to say. Things have been going ok in the health department. I had an echo cardiogram on my heart and everything came back normal. You see my EKG right after I reached my goal weight came back abnormal and so I had to have extra testing. So the echo was great, I didn't even have a mitral valve prolapse like my daughter does and so many in my family do. Great news. Then last friday I had my stress test. The idea is to get you on a treadmill and try to get your heart to it's max heart rate. For my age we were aiming for 189. (The Dr told me that the calculation is 220 - your age) So I go in and I have to tell you that I was worried. I hadn't run at all in 4 weeks. I have been doing my stationary bike a a spin class, that almost killed me, that stuff is intense, and some body weight exercises but no running because my knee was still hurting. So I get there and I get changed into my running skirt and a running room t-shirt. The Dr comes out sees my shirt and says this is going to take a long time. Laugh. I had warned them that I was a runner and that I run long distances. The test was pretty easy, you start off barely walking at a fairly steep incline and the speed and incline increase every 3 minutes. Really the speed wasn't the problem the max was only 5.5mph but the incline was crazy. For my final 3 minutes I was at 5.5mph but at an incline of 20%. It was hard work but it felt so good. I noticed that my knee wasn't hurting at all, especially as the incline increased my knee actually started to feel better. Hmm. I only reached 175 bpm because there is a max of 15 mins for the test. The Dr said that it would have taken a lot longer to get my heart rate to my max. I got the results that day and I am very happy to announce that I have a very healthy heart and that I am in great shape. So says my internal medicine/cardiologist Doctor. Woohoo! I cannot tell you how happy that makes me. Looking back it was just under a year ago that Kyle and I started running and a year and a half since we started our weight loss journey. I am sure that a year ago I would have maxed my heart rate just walking. I am so thankful that I have come so far, thankful everyday that God gave me a body that can bounce back, with a lot of work, from 6 pregnancies, nursing 6 children, and a decade of being obese. I am reminded often that this is a gift, yes I worked hard and still work hard to stay here, but it is a gift to have good health and I want to treasure it.<br />
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Anyways the stress test showed me that my knee wasn't broken. It is very strange it really only hurts when I am sitting, especially cross legged, or at night when I lay down in bed. Weird knee. I am going to see a sports med Dr about my knee to be sure it isn't a tear in my meniscus but for now I am trying a bit more running. What I have changed so far is that I have dropped my pace a lot. Where I used to run 9-9:30 min/mile I am back to running 10-10:45 min/mile. I have run twice now since my stress test both times without pain. Woot. I ran on Monday outside, just a 3.5 mile loop. It was all great except that I bailed off a curb and flew into the intersection. Thankfully it is a very quiet intersection and there were no cars. I was able to finish my run though and really I'm no worse for the wear except for a bruised elbow and hip. Last nights run was run number 1 of my first marathon training plan. More about that in a later post though. I did 5 miles of hills on the treadmill last night. It was a mile easy then .25 at 6% incline and .25 at 1% repeat until mile 4 then 1 mile easy. It was great. I found my knee really liked being at an incline and I enjoyed myself a lot even for a treadmill run. I am super excited to be back in the game. I am hoping to run 3 times a week and keep cross training in between. I am also looking into adding more strength training so that I can be ripped. LOL Not really I just want to keep running until I am old and grey and strength training should help with that.<br />
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So here I am back in the game and looking forward to more races and more fun coming soon.<br />
Robbie-LynnRobbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12788242660040874176noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3499041410735103265.post-36085754328498016102012-02-12T18:05:00.001-07:002012-02-12T18:05:21.045-07:00DNS ... ughWell I have my very first DNS. I was supposed to run in the Hypothermic Half yesterday. Unfortunately my knee is still acting up so I decided not to run it. Kyle and I sold our bibs and just hung out for the day. Seriously I wasn't too concerned about missing the race because I had heard that they had oversold the first wave and I wasn't thrilled to be running an out and back on crowded paths. Anyways I am not feeling too great, I am off of gluten now and have been since wednesday afternoon. I had my celiac blood test on wednesday and I am still waiting for the results. For now I am feeling heavy, (gained 11 pounds during glutenfest), sick and exhausted. I am hoping for results soon and relief from all of the symptoms. I am waiting another week I think to run, I will stick to going on my bike until I can walk without pain. I'll let you know how it goes soon.<br />
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If you have gone off of gluten, how long did it take until you started to feel a difference?<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is me on gluten. Notice the slightly drugged look. I couldn't open my eyes wider even if I tried.</td></tr>
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Robbie-Lynn<br />
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<br />Robbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12788242660040874176noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3499041410735103265.post-90389159071504155012012-01-28T19:27:00.003-07:002012-01-28T19:27:56.641-07:00We were taggedJeff at <a href="http://barefootinclined.blogspot.com/">Barefoot Inclined</a> tagged us. How exciting, this is our first blogging tag. This should be fun.<br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">1. Post these rules.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">2. You must post 11 random things about yourself.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">3. Answer the questions set for you in your tagger's post.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">4. Create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">5. Go to their blogs and tell them you’ve tagged them</span></div>
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6. No stuff in the tagging section about "you are tagged if you are reading this." You legitimately have to tag 11 people! (I left it at 5...)</div>
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11 random things about us</div>
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1. We have 7 children under the age of 10 </div>
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2. We currently homeschool 4 of them, Grade 4, 2, 1 and K (we'll homeschool the others when they are old enough)</div>
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3. We met at youth group at our church, I thought Kyle was a dork. (still do) (Kyle: I've made her into one too. Dorks FTW!!)</div>
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4. We love Dr. Who</div>
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5. We are slightly addicted to Apple products</div>
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6. Robbie is the lead singer at our church</div>
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7. Kyle play the bagpipes, complete with Kilt, sporran, skean dhu, tall wool socks and ghillie brogues.</div>
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8. We drive a massively messy 15 passenger van complete with 4 carseats and 3 booster seats</div>
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9. We have a Bearded dragon, Crocodile Gekco, and Dwarf hamster. We have had 5 dogs, a Guinea pig, cannibal mice and a handful of hamsters in the past, they have all found better homes except the mice who ate each other.</div>
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10. Kyle bought me a Roomba for my birthday, it is my favourite gift ever!</div>
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11. We are not sure if we are done adding kids to our family yet. Waiting to see what God has planned.</div>
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Jeff's Questions:</div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-size: small;">1. What is the most physically motivating song on your playlist? </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Robbie: I listen to audio books </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Kyle: Move by Mercy Me </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-size: small;">2. Do you have a bucket or "life" list?</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Robbie: No</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Kyle: No</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-size: small;">3. If yes, how many have you checked off? If no, why not?</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Robbie+Kyle: too busy living life to write one</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-size: small;">4. Why do you blog?</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">We blog so that we can talk about barefoot running, no one will listen to us otherwise, and this way we can't be interrupted by 7 demanding kids</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-size: small;">5. First foolish thing you would spend money on after winning the lottery?</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Robbie: tummy tuck and a servant</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Kyle: ipad 2, iphone 4s and a 17in macbook pro (see I told you we have an Apple problem)</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-size: small;">6. Best Christmas memory?</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Robbie: the year my youngest son was born, I had 3 babies under 2 that Christmas and it was crazy fun</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Kyle: Our oldest daughter's first Christmas, we all woke up at 4am to let her open presents</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-size: small;">7. Favorite part of the day?</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Robbie: workout time, it is my 'me' time I look forward to it all day</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Kyle: bedtime!!!!!</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-size: small;">8. What was the last movie you saw?</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Robbie: Pride and Prejudice </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Kyle: Real Steel</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-size: small;">9. Last book read?</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Robbie: Choosing to see by Mary Beth Chapman</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Kyle: The Monster in the Hollows by Andrew Peterson</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-size: small;">10. What country would you most like to visit and why?</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Robbie: Where ever Kyle wants to go because I like to be with him (I don't really want to travel)</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Kyle: Scotland because it would be awesome to see the castles</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-size: small;">11. What was for breakfast today?</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Robbie: full fat honey greek yogurt (mmm it is like yogurt crack)</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Kyle: strawberry smoothie with a gluten free banana muffin</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-size: small;">Okay so that was fun but we aren't going to tag anyone because we are lame and have no friends.</span></div>
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</div>Robbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12788242660040874176noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3499041410735103265.post-14659188004442214082012-01-26T08:41:00.001-07:002012-01-26T08:51:15.415-07:00Off topic post.Well it has been a long time since I have sat down to blog. I finally got my coaching post up, but I haven't been doing much blogging lately. Things around our home have been crazy!!! First off Kyle and I are foster parents. We have had a very special little girl with us since Dec. 2010. She came to live with us straight from the hospital. She is now 1 and should be going up for adoption soon. We are in the process of trying to adopt her. This process is hard and much like a roller coaster. Some days we are hopeful and others we are sure that the workers are crazy and have no idea what they are doing. It is also a very long process. I believe that trial won't be set until some time in the fall of this year, and that is only to terminate parental rights The trial to finalize the adoption probably won't happen until sometime next year. Anyways with all of this there is a lot of stress. Thank God I am running. I think that I would have lost my mind if I couldn't run to relieve the stress. I am amazed at how much better I feel when I run.<br />
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On top of this stress I have been having multiple health problems. It seems so weird to me that now that I am a healthy weight I am falling apart. When I was morbidly obese I never darkened the door of my Dr's office and now it seems I am making an appearance there weekly. Back in July I had my gallbladder removed by emergency surgery. I knew that I had problems a year before that but I was able to keep the attacks away because of my diet change, but all it took was a piece of pizza and I was in extreme pain. The surgeon found too many stones to count and so my gallbladder had to go. Fast forward to now and I have had nothing but trouble with my stomach since. I have had pain everyday since the surgery and I have had a lot of trouble eating most foods. Seriously I think I eat 10 different foods and that's it. I finally went in to see my Dr earlier this month and we got ultrasounds and blood tests and tried to see if there were stones in my bile duct. Nope, no stones. The symptoms were even getting worse landing me in the ER again. The ER Dr believes that I have a blockage somewhere between my stomach and my small intestine. I am also not digesting the foods that I eat. They took x-rays of my GI tract and found that I was full (blush). No wonder I was in so much pain. After a week of killer laxatives and other drugs I was actually feeling worse. My stomach has been swelling when I eat since my surgery but now the swelling made me look 8 months pregnant. I still wasn't moving anything and I was in pain. I went back to my Dr and he suggested that I was probably suffering from Celiac disease. <a href="http://surefoodsliving.com/2009/03/ask-the-doc-celiac-triggered-by-abdominal-surgery/">Celiac can be triggered by abdominal surgery.</a> The idea is that I had latent Celiac disease that was triggered, or turned on, by my gallbladder surgery. So for now until I can get in for testing, I am gluten free. I have had a good experience so far, the swelling is coming down and the pain is better. I am still very constipated (TMI sorry) but I am hoping that this is the answer. It hasn't been as hard as I thought to avoid gluten. I didn't eat many grains before this so I am not missing anything too terribly yet. I am sure that it will be going out to eat that is the worst. I will need to eat gluten again for 2 weeks before my test so I am saving all of my cravings for those two weeks. I figure if I am going to be in pain from the gluten I might as well eat what I want.<br />
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On top of all of this craziness I have also had heart issues. Way back last fall I had a bunch of tests, blood tests, EKG, urine test all to check what my new normal was now that I am half my prior size. Everything was great except my EKG, there was an abnormality. My Dr was sure it was nothing and just a fluke of the test, so he had me repeat it. Well I didn't get around to repeating it until I went in for my blood work a couple weeks ago. Any guess what, it wasn't a fluke. I have a non-specific abnormality on my EKG. I have no idea what that means. I am going to see a cardiologist on Tuesday. My Dr wants an echo cardiogram (fancy ultrasound of the heart) and a stress test to make sure my heart is ok. So far I am allowed to run. I am supposed to wear my heart rate monitor and be sure that my heart rate isn't jumping around and I am to stop if I feel faint or unwell. Fun times. I figured I would update you all about the craziness going on around here. I am so thankful that I have an outlet to get rid of this stress. I am not sure what will happen if I have to stop.<br />
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Anyone else gluten free? What are your favourite meals?Robbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12788242660040874176noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3499041410735103265.post-32326072397327469762012-01-26T07:58:00.002-07:002012-01-26T08:07:04.212-07:00Natural Running CoachingI am sure by now if you are following the barefoot movement, you have heard the debate and commentary for and against barefoot running coaching. There are those who say that to run barefoot without injury all you need to do is ditch the shoes and listen to your body. Others say that while ditching your shoes can be good, it is more important to learn to run with proper form with a coach. Both schools believe that form is important. Trust me if you have ever heel striked in bare feet you know that form is important. Ouch! When I first began to run without shoes I really felt like all I ever needed was me and my feet and the information that the ground gave me to help me run injury free. Unfortunately I live in a climate that really only allows for complete barefoot running about 5 months of the year. At least for me this is true. I know there are some hardcore barefooters out there who would run all through our nasty winters without shoes, but I just don't see me doing this. So after a few weeks of blissful barefoot running I had to put on some shoes to keep my feet warm and safe. For me keeping my feet warm is crucial as I have <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raynaud's_phenomenon">Raynaud's phenomenon</a> so when my fingers and toes get cold I experience a lot of pain. Not so good for running without shoes in Canada. So I started running in minimalist shoes, first vibrams then in water shoes. The difference in my running form was slight but significant. I began to experience tightness in my calfs and running became less fun. If you look back <a href="http://runfasterthekidsarecatchingup.blogspot.com/2011/11/my-thoughts-on-women-and-barefoot.html">here</a> you can see that I was less than thrilled about running. It seemed like so much work, trying to get my form right and dealing with pain when I couldn't. This is when Kyle and I decided that a <a href="http://www.livingbarefoot.info/coaching/">Natural Running Coaching</a> session could really help. See it is quite hard to get the feedback from your feet when your feet are covered by thick wool socks and shoes, no matter how thin those shoes are.<br />
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So after that long introduction about why we chose to get coaching, let me tell you about my experience with it. Tina sent us a video of the basic mechanics of running. It detailed that there are 3 main running forms. Heel striking over strider, Forefoot striking over strider, and the elusive Natural running form.</div>
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The heel striking over-strider is the form most shod runners, and some minimalist runners use. The heel hits the ground first way out in front of the body and then the trail leg follows. There is a large distance between the front and back leg. </div>
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The forefoot striking over-strider is where most barefoot and minimalist newbies fall. This is where I was. basically I was landing on my forefoot but reaching to far forward with my feet thus not landing under my body. As you can see in my video I was leaning way back. I was my way of being sure I was leaning forward but like with many things I took it too far. The coaching helped fix somethings immediately but I was very disconnected with my body and I had a hard time adjusting and doing the things Tina told me. I couldn't for the life of me tip my hips in the right direction. I was disappointed after the session, not with Tina or the coaching but with my inability to 'fix' my running form. I may or may not have a problem with not being perfect at the things I do. I wanted to be a natural runner without needing to change anything.<br />
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Thankfully, Tina sent me home with so exercises to do and some ideas about how I can get my hips and feet under me. In the next weeks I practiced and practiced and I noticed my running form was getting better. I could figure out where my hips should be and I was able to shorten my stride. I still have to work on my cadence, I am a little slow. Every time I up my cadence it feels like hard work and I stop doing it. I really love running but I don't like running to feel like hard work.<br />
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Kyle and I met up with Tina at Martin Parnell's Right to Play run in Cochrane on Dec 31st. She offered to tape us running again. I was so surprised at how much better my form was.<br />
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My feet were under my body, I wasn't leaning and my cadence was getting better. I am so thrilled!!!<br />
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I now understand that Natural Running Coaching isn't a one stop fix it. It is a lesson, a tool to use in this journey to natural and barefoot running. I would do it again and probably I will check in with Tina every now and then to tune up any sloppiness that I am sure will come. I recommend getting a coaching session at some point in your journey. It is amazing how great running feels now. I am injury free and I feel like I am flying again when I run. An added bonus, I am faster now too, without really any added effort. How cool is that?<br />
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I highly recommend Tina and her coaching. She is offering coaching in person right now and I have heard a rumour that she may be adding some online coaching as well. Check her out, you will love her, I know that I am thrilled and so happy that we jumped in and had our coaching session. If you have had natural running coaching, did you like it? Did your form change? If you get a hold of Tina for coaching I'd love to hear how it went for you.<br />
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Take care,<br />
Robbie<br />
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<br /></div>Robbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12788242660040874176noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3499041410735103265.post-77927009769321692772012-01-10T11:54:00.000-07:002012-01-24T09:16:36.055-07:00Almost Barefoot Running in January<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNKWgyFqfWye7dgA9rvCjrP2Sb1NoENq4q3m62yXmV2ATGUrByVGSXCbhV3N8hTV6P8xLnT9iBZ8km1JDKd6r5S2ei-WIvjhLLaZKvdjMMc57d-ThYV4Q9aEMCXKyBb1pCS0RewOFV-rI/s640/blogger-image-1749995558.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNKWgyFqfWye7dgA9rvCjrP2Sb1NoENq4q3m62yXmV2ATGUrByVGSXCbhV3N8hTV6P8xLnT9iBZ8km1JDKd6r5S2ei-WIvjhLLaZKvdjMMc57d-ThYV4Q9aEMCXKyBb1pCS0RewOFV-rI/s200/blogger-image-1749995558.jpg" width="149" /></a></div>
Well the snow finally hit again this morning. I am so thankful that we have had such a dry and mild winter so far. When I first started running barefoot I was sure that my time was limited with the winter approaching but I have been pleasantly surprised.<br />
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I wanted to comment on my run last night. <a href="http://runkeeper.com/user/robbielynn/activity/65727151">Run Here</a> I started out for a 5 miles run. I cannot believe that my next race is just over a month away. I began in my water shoes and felt good. I was being sure to pull myself back and keep my pace slow and easy. I have been working on my form (I'll post soon about my coaching session with <a href="http://toegirltina.blogspot.com/">Tina</a>) and as my form has been improving I have been getting faster. It is quite hard to go slow now but I know that it important for my health that I have some easy runs. A mile in I was feeling quite warm and I saw that there was very minimal ice on the sidewalks, so I took off my shoe and ran the rest of my run in my wool socks. Ah Freedom. It was wonderful. Of course the ground feel in just my socks was great, I even noticed that I could run over the tiny rocks that they use to sand our streets, without feeling pain. I felt them and knew that I was running on rocks but somehow it didn't register as pain. I ran over some ice and it wasn't a big deal, I slipped a little once but I didn't fall or even really have to catch myself. I did run on what I thought was ice but it turned out to be a small puddle my toes were immediately wet but somehow dried very fast and I was never cold. My only complaint of the whole run had nothing to do with my shoes or socks. The Running Room has a run clinic on Monday evenings in my neighbourhood. I have often seen them out running and have run past them on a number of occasions. Last night I ran past the group twice in the opposite direction (face to face). I was annoyed. Twice as I ran past these women they were running 3 wide and THEY DIDN'T MOVE! Yes I am yelling. Both times I had to jump into the grass and run (somewhat dangerous in my socks and in the dark, there could have been anything in the grass and I wouldn't have seen it). Seriously it seems like they think that because they pay for this run and are running with the Running Room that they own the sidewalk. This isn't even the first time I have noticed this with Running Room groups. In the past I have encountered groups that run 2-3 across the sidewalk, groups that run on the wrong side of the path, and every time they DON'T MOVE. Not sure what they teach in those clinics but I would think that basic running etiquette would be nice. Seriously, who does that? Next time it happens I am going to stand still and let them smack into me if they decide not to move. Really it's so maddening. (sorry vent over)<br />
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When I got home from my run, I checked out my socks and my feet and I am super happy that my wear patterns were right where they should be. Between my first and second toe and on my heel (from when you put your heel down after the initial contact with your forefoot).<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">See the darker spots between my 1st and 2nd toes.</td></tr>
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I have been very guilty of not letting my heel touch the ground ever. This has lead to sore calves. After this run I was pain free and feeling good. IF only the snow hadn't come today. I was looking forward to getting out in just my socks again. I am noticing that after being in just my socks my watershoes feel tight. I have wide feet and even a bunion on my left foot and really need a super wide shoe. Kyle and I are looking into ordering <a href="http://www.stemfootwear.com/">Stems</a> soon. Oh and I won a pair of <a href="http://www.invisibleshoe.com/">Invisible shoes</a> from Jeff over at <a href="http://barefootinclined.blogspot.com/">http://barefootinclined.blogspot.com/</a>. Thanks again Jeff. I am crazy excited to get these, I never win anything so this is so sweet. I think I will be ordering a pair of custom shoes, I just have to decide what colour of laces I want.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My sweet wool socks from Marks Work Warehouse.</td></tr>
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So that is what I've been up to lately. I will be posting about my experience with Natural Running Coaching right away. It was so awesome. A little birdie told me that very soon Tina will be offering online coaching as well as in person coaching. I cannot express how wonderful and helpful the coaching session was. I recommend it to anyone and really everyone who wants to run naturally, it is like a fast forward button to learning how to run without shoes. But I'll save my full review for my next post.<br />
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Take care,<br />
Robbie<br />
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<br />Robbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12788242660040874176noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3499041410735103265.post-88367865480841045092012-01-02T23:15:00.000-07:002012-01-24T09:18:03.568-07:00Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!!Yeah, I know. It's been quite a while since we have posted. We have been a little busy with the holidays and not much in the mood for posting I guess. Ah well. Even though I haven't been posting it doesn't mean that we haven't been running. Thankfully we have still been doing a lot of that. My last post I talked about a run on the 20th of December where I was able to get out barefoot. Well I was able to do the same again on Christmas Eve.<br />
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Christmas Eve this year landed on a Saturday, which is my long run day. Since Robbie didn't want to add in a long run on Christmas as well as all the other stuff we had to do (Opening presents, going to Church, driving her sister to the airport, and then going to my parents house for Christmas) she had her long run on Christmas Eve too. Thankfully we were able to squeeze both in without too much trouble.<br />
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My long run was set for 12 miles and it was great. I started running in my water shoes. It wasn't too cold and thankfully the pathways were pretty clear. Oh wait, that reminded me of Robbie's run earlier in the day. She warned me that some of the less maintained pathways were really icy. She proved that by finding a nice downhill section while she was going pretty fast, being unable to find somewhere with traction and slipping on the ice trying to slow down. Down she went and she slammed her elbow and her head into the ground. Ouch. She phoned me at that point. I was all set to drive out and get where when she decided that she was okay and that she wanted to finish out her run. She's a Rockstar.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The pathway that took out my wife.</td></tr>
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Anyways after Robbie's warning I stuck to the well maintained pathways running along Deerfoot Trail. Got 6 miles down and then started to head back. At that point I decided that it was warm enough to barefoot it for a while. And so I did. Wonderful. I do love the sensations of it although I did get many stares at the weird guy running with no shoes on. So that was my Christmas Eve run. My runner's knee was bugging me off and on, which sucked, but it was okay.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The pathway I ran on. Nice and clear.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Water shoes?</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Off they go for 2 miles! Woot!</td></tr>
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One annual tradition that our Church does is to have a family Communion on Christmas Eve. It may not be the most convenient thing, but it is definitely one of the most special things that we as a family do. In what is such a busy time, with rushing here and there and the pressures and everything else that happens at Christmas, it's nice to have some time to just stop, relax, breath and meet with God as a family. The Church is always done up very nicely with candles everywhere (which freaks my mom out) and it's always a much needed time.<br />
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Then we had Christmas. The kids got spoiled like always, although Robbie and I did a lot better at not giving them too much. The kids didn't get too many presents but you know what? They didn't even seem to notice. So happy about that. For Christmas Robbie got me some CEP compression sleeves, which I love and have been so thankful to have. I got her a pretty purple running jacket from MEC.<br />
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After Christmas I had a couple shorter runs. 4 miles in my water shoes and 5.3 miles in my Neos. Not much to say about those runs except that my knee was bugging me. The second run was supposed to be 6 miles, but I had to cut it short because my knee was bugging me too much. It was at this point that I decided that after the half-marathon that Saturday that I was going to take a week off (at least) to try and get my knee to feel better. I hate feeling limited strictly by my knee and I need to get better. No sense in being stupid about this.<br />
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Next was the Martin Parnell race in Cochrane. This was an annual race to help fund-raise for Right to Play. It started at 9 for the marathon distance. Robbie and I both decided to do the half-marathon distance. It was a super casual race, well not really a race, more like a run. The course was just a 2.5 km out and back along a pathway (that was also an off-leash dog run. Almost stepped on a couple of little dogs. Fun times. Thankfully there were no aggressive dogs out). So we went back and forth about 11 times until my Garmin said we had run at least 13.1 miles. I decided to run in my Neos and Robbie chose her water shoes. Here is my <a href="http://runkeeper.com/user/kanichol/activity/64434781">Runkeeper link</a> for the run so you can see how exciting the
course was. ;) <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Martin Parnell run in Cochrane. </td></tr>
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This was a fun run. No pressure, just get out and run. The wind was pretty strong going one way. So I froze my bits off going one way and warmed them up going back. The difference between running the one direction and the other was quite startling. We managed though. :) The aid station had water, hot chocolate, coffee, shortbread cookies and fruit leathers. Not the typical aid station but you could stop whenever you felt like it for however long you felt like it. Martin Parnell was there as well as ultrarunner Ellie Greenwood. Kinda cool running with people you see on the cover of running magazines.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Robbie rocking it.</td></tr>
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Even better though was meeting up with the other barefoot runners we know. We ran with Toe-Girl Tina for a while and near the end ran into Paul and family and Barefoot Neil and family. It was a great time and we were glad to get out there. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Paul. He ran ~8k barefoot (after wearing his Kevlar socks for the first little bit)</td></tr>
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I hope everyone else had a wonderful Christmas holiday. Tomorrow I'm back to work, but the upside is that since it it now January I can go to Riva's Eco Store and buy my Neo Trails. Woot!!! So looking forward to that.Kylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11186831665942452603noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3499041410735103265.post-15665169935623603872011-12-22T15:00:00.001-07:002012-01-24T09:18:18.621-07:00Mid-December Barefoot RunI have to say that I am certainly loving the weather this year. Normally by this time we have tons of snow and -25° C cold snaps but this year it has been pretty mild. Weird considering how earlier this winter I heard a report that it was supposed to be a long and cold winter. I'll certainly be grateful for the weather we have so far either way.<br />
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Anyways so Monday comes along and I'm set to run outside. I have all my cold weather gear with me just like normal, however when lunch time comes I take a look an the temperature is a nice balmy 7-8°C outside. Lovely. I can shed a couple extra layers of clothing. So I head out wearing just my base layer top, base layer tights, bondiband and water shoes. No socks. Woot!!! I run for about a mile and I get a thought. It's pretty nice out, why not take off my shoes. Off come my shoes. The ground is a little cold but it felt so great to get out barefoot again. Even with the coldness my feet feel alive and loving every sensation. I'm running along the south side of the Bow River downtown and the pathway is clear of snow, just a couple of small icy patches. Absolutely lovely. Cross the river and discover that the City is much more deligent about putting gravel down on the pathway on the north side of the river. Silly city. I joked on facebook that they should be more considerate of all the people running barefoot along the pathways. In the middle of december. I guess we can't really expect that from them.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-a1zBl8Us3SU/TvOomTSImaI/AAAAAAAAAYo/e5i3X4xWaHY/s640/blogger-image-44078229.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-a1zBl8Us3SU/TvOomTSImaI/AAAAAAAAAYo/e5i3X4xWaHY/s640/blogger-image-44078229.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">So nice!!!</td></tr>
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I decided what the hey and ran along the gravel for a while. Uncomfortable but not really painful at first. Much better than what it used to be. Nice. I had to finally put on my water shoes again once it started getting painful. No need to be a hero, I like being able to walk without raw stinging feet. ;) All in all I got in about 6 miles total, with probably 4 miles of that barefoot. In the middle of December. Never thought I would be doing that before. I certainly envy other runners in much fairer climates who can run outside year round without fear of frostbite. Glad to have a nice day during the winter to enjoy. Here is to taking advantage of many more days like that.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-2VCFV9recAQ/TvOomqECC3I/AAAAAAAAAYw/JpPR0oizln8/s640/blogger-image--336173254.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-2VCFV9recAQ/TvOomqECC3I/AAAAAAAAAYw/JpPR0oizln8/s640/blogger-image--336173254.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Although I did manage to get a blood blister on my toe. Hazard of cold weather. Cold = less feeling and easier to hurt yourself without knowing.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Kylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11186831665942452603noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3499041410735103265.post-44526136117910475142011-12-20T08:07:00.002-07:002012-01-24T09:18:38.818-07:00It is almost ChristmasThings have been super busy around here. I cannot believe it has been 11 days since I have posted. I am slowly starting to get better after my awful sickness. I still have a cough but at least I can breath again and I am able to run.<br />
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I have been reflecting lately about how different this Christmas will be for me. Last year I had just begun my journey to get healthy and lose weight. I was doing well and actually managed to continue to lose weight over the holidays last year. This year is so different. I have reached my goal weight and I am a runner. Oh my, I can't believe I wrote that. I am a runner!!! If you had told me last year that I would call myself a runner or that others would see me as a fast runner (funny. I am pretty slow) I would have laughed. This year though, leading up to Christmas I am running. I am training for 2 half marathons and oh yeah, I am eating cookies!!! I am at a place now where I can indulge and not gain because of the miles I put in and because my body has settled in here. Now I need to learn how to indulge moderately, I still have a tendency to binge and eat nothing but cookies. It will come I am sure.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVdt8LhdjuFk2OmPR6I0bUm3JlmXCIT6-xUrhOJBFyGvZuOreWbP1VFAmk1t3f8hUnLxL4KQtQ0LdqHduI5zCaMJ_rtybs2V_qaUWVaw2vnuE6K1e9kE_hQLU_ltLLf8_AWCbT3wD7gpM/s640/blogger-image--2033337256.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVdt8LhdjuFk2OmPR6I0bUm3JlmXCIT6-xUrhOJBFyGvZuOreWbP1VFAmk1t3f8hUnLxL4KQtQ0LdqHduI5zCaMJ_rtybs2V_qaUWVaw2vnuE6K1e9kE_hQLU_ltLLf8_AWCbT3wD7gpM/s400/blogger-image--2033337256.jpg" width="298" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Goal weight. All dressed to preform at my Christmas Concert</td></tr>
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Onto running. Things have been going so well. I am finding my form much more easily and running has become a joy again. Thanks <a href="http://toegirltina.blogspot.com/">Tina</a>. I am even getting some more speed. I think that once all of the snow is gone and I can run in fewer layers I may actually be faster than before I switched to minimalist shoes. I am continuing to run in my beach walkers. They feel so good and I am amazed at how waterproof they are. On my run last night it was a mix of slush, puddles, ice, snow, and some dry spots. I ran through at least 2 ankle deep puddles last night and didn't notice any water getting into my shoes. Amazing! </div>
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My last long run was on Saturday. It was good but I was definitely bonking at the end. <a href="http://runkeeper.com/user/robbielynn/activity/63143906">Run here</a>. I had been indulging in a great number of cookies and chocolates for most of Friday and Saturday, but I have a much smaller stomach now so I didn't eat much else. I guess all that sugar wasn't what my body needed to go out and run for a couple of hours. Overall the run was great. The weather was amazing. 5ºC with a pretty strong westerly wind. I love chinooks!! It made me look forward to spring and running again when there is no snow and ice on the ground and I don't need a bazillion layers to keep me from freezing. The bonking came at the end of my run. By mile 8 I couldn't eat anymore of my fuel. My stomach was uneasy and I couldn't imagine putting anything else in there. I was running in an area that is newish to me. I had run out that way but never back. I had to stop and check my map on my phone because I was disoriented and didn't know where I was going. I did finally get going in the right direction and made it home. I was beat. I guzzled a chocolate milk and a large glass of water. Stretched out my IT bands then fell into the bath. I am not normally tired after a long run and I really wondered how on earth I was going to run a half marathon in 2 weeks. Pictures from my long run.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghBeRRzI_1YW5tPNoQ4e3rKo1uEfY-mxJ6JI8HHSo709gNyLXUqxkPH2KZ4VCN0ex7s_FaELf7X8-K2M7vdEREI6qxxHDyKhlTezhlzHKmK1C9bb4dBIPpRFyjv3pgSnmmHXBEfYhznRk/s640/blogger-image--475272661.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghBeRRzI_1YW5tPNoQ4e3rKo1uEfY-mxJ6JI8HHSo709gNyLXUqxkPH2KZ4VCN0ex7s_FaELf7X8-K2M7vdEREI6qxxHDyKhlTezhlzHKmK1C9bb4dBIPpRFyjv3pgSnmmHXBEfYhznRk/s320/blogger-image--475272661.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="240" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh016x1-AlRprFyu70GjEORh7Tgv3ekO_Zsz2M6lZYXiu2LsFS5Y2OS-rawBfOR27zdOYylfA9n1eg9Fpy9k_dqW0YxWlWRO3Wgo45PzMTnKFGB3mq2Tttwu4-pnqqO-u6JLJRxDgQdAwc/s640/blogger-image-1806421724.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh016x1-AlRprFyu70GjEORh7Tgv3ekO_Zsz2M6lZYXiu2LsFS5Y2OS-rawBfOR27zdOYylfA9n1eg9Fpy9k_dqW0YxWlWRO3Wgo45PzMTnKFGB3mq2Tttwu4-pnqqO-u6JLJRxDgQdAwc/s320/blogger-image-1806421724.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="239" /></a></div>
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Fast forward to last night. <a href="http://runkeeper.com/user/robbielynn/activity/63320829">Run Here</a>.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGtx6gPy8nwodAW8ruC21wKEJ-mzb0iLRX77ihKlamLECXcq2OyTWYDMIzvIwo61whWB13-N6B1Casow8agEsiPSfnkUqGlabpHe9xOof5jy5mhfNKXPHmWFMvAbp5VVa7NxrzjEdHEC8/s640/blogger-image-467123776.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGtx6gPy8nwodAW8ruC21wKEJ-mzb0iLRX77ihKlamLECXcq2OyTWYDMIzvIwo61whWB13-N6B1Casow8agEsiPSfnkUqGlabpHe9xOof5jy5mhfNKXPHmWFMvAbp5VVa7NxrzjEdHEC8/s320/blogger-image-467123776.jpg" width="239" /></a>It was warm again last night and I was feeling great. I ate supper with the family and then quickly put on my gear. The noise and busy-ness of my kids was getting to me so I needed to get out!!! I set out without any set distance or time that I wanted to accomplish. I was going to do at least 4 miles. I ended up doing 7 miles and ran progressively faster as the run went on. It felt amazing to be running <strike>fast</strike> more quickly than normal. I got home feeling like I could have run for a lot longer. I guess I can do the half next weekend, as long as I eat real food along with my cookies. I passed this house while running, it was so lit up the whole street seemed to glow.</div>
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And just because it is always a nut house here I thought I would share some of the pictures I took yesterday during the day.</div>
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First up Joey (2) helping to make scrambled eggs. Surprisingly we only found one shell while we were eating.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSSlpl4e35UUMsad19Zym9N7M6IFO7Owk_4juJt-Ii0bJlOq6-DOFvZBpRiGBQZHJIKhtml2P993Cgq0aw5ud2h86cow4-HU6nuQaMopHZ4pFecDl_dYDJn1SCLbg1KZD2_RFvhJY247c/s640/blogger-image-2084025323.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSSlpl4e35UUMsad19Zym9N7M6IFO7Owk_4juJt-Ii0bJlOq6-DOFvZBpRiGBQZHJIKhtml2P993Cgq0aw5ud2h86cow4-HU6nuQaMopHZ4pFecDl_dYDJn1SCLbg1KZD2_RFvhJY247c/s320/blogger-image-2084025323.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="239" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOCwpcglUeYJ5eQoryG6rltr1qXrjNkyXMMRSnH2A-ZMYn3RbKE4NV-3TswaLxe2z6nLPL40bqIJ8vFjGzaychRvMn-krUtnNzf92xdefdnUBlj7OxXdOq-QRvszvrNOgYldL_ruoyRNM/s640/blogger-image-413085820.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOCwpcglUeYJ5eQoryG6rltr1qXrjNkyXMMRSnH2A-ZMYn3RbKE4NV-3TswaLxe2z6nLPL40bqIJ8vFjGzaychRvMn-krUtnNzf92xdefdnUBlj7OxXdOq-QRvszvrNOgYldL_ruoyRNM/s320/blogger-image-413085820.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="239" /></a></div>
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Goofy Pictures and a sweet picture of 2 of my girls. We are super excited for Christmas here. It is all sorts of crazy!! </div>
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<br /></div>Robbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12788242660040874176noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3499041410735103265.post-59222902146776359332011-12-09T07:48:00.001-07:002012-01-24T09:18:54.144-07:00Being Sick Sucks!Well this has been a very uneventful week for running. I last ran on Monday but had to cut the run short because my lungs were hurting. I managed to catch a chest cold Sunday and it has had be out all well. 5 of the 7 kids all have it as well and it has been a LONG week. I am hoping to get out tonight to run 5 miles with a friend. I am getting better but not 100% yet. Just hoping that my lungs will cooperate. My body feels stiff from all of the sitting around I have been doing. My plan for the rest of the week is 5 miles today, some weights and maybe a spin on my stationary bike on Saturday and a 9 mile run home from church on Sunday. Here's hoping I'll feel up to it.<br />
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I thought I would add some pictures of what our week has been like.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4WAUd9QPuf0TWFHc7ZvHLfQvO_XfKFL435_fskQUzu5pgxzrcVZTksNZz4DlBBVldsJSJ3pS_VYJl2oaY3JrMTYqjE65bJBqc8WW6eDQE3ZQ6XcUEmq8MA6f7n09YhKlOnbOSpiKaAKg/s1600/IMG_1375.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4WAUd9QPuf0TWFHc7ZvHLfQvO_XfKFL435_fskQUzu5pgxzrcVZTksNZz4DlBBVldsJSJ3pS_VYJl2oaY3JrMTYqjE65bJBqc8WW6eDQE3ZQ6XcUEmq8MA6f7n09YhKlOnbOSpiKaAKg/s320/IMG_1375.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Science Games for School</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Monopoly for Math Class</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Baking counts as Home Ec, Math and Science</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Outdoor Education and Gym Class</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgcdy0vRTQ1TB-DwQPfLsvH-iGnSlZl6V9z4XaHhpLLDEmmKeicdT5NH0YspwfwYFbfUHEOZWesIN7wXwsuqNU7uGmWyrzmW0ZvKr2aqb5xffBSm8jRBE4472GzFbiXFLFOVvKQCBZyJ8/s1600/IMG_1383.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgcdy0vRTQ1TB-DwQPfLsvH-iGnSlZl6V9z4XaHhpLLDEmmKeicdT5NH0YspwfwYFbfUHEOZWesIN7wXwsuqNU7uGmWyrzmW0ZvKr2aqb5xffBSm8jRBE4472GzFbiXFLFOVvKQCBZyJ8/s320/IMG_1383.jpg" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A mountain of cookies my by the kids. Even gluten free for Daddy.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqs6hN8QNTgLrqeUEtSAD4RtZ4zUwswBzlpHw8v69wgaFdQJ63K6fUu8xSiIMRuzh0XR4g2QgL3T1M2pAOqGjiGIr3rQOIqqwZb99OEyeUqKacZa24_xQ2Ygi7L3HV2gXv0vEymwWyGoQ/s1600/IMG_2083.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqs6hN8QNTgLrqeUEtSAD4RtZ4zUwswBzlpHw8v69wgaFdQJ63K6fUu8xSiIMRuzh0XR4g2QgL3T1M2pAOqGjiGIr3rQOIqqwZb99OEyeUqKacZa24_xQ2Ygi7L3HV2gXv0vEymwWyGoQ/s320/IMG_2083.jpg" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This little guys turns 2 tomorrow. He has a great party last Sunday. </td></tr>
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<br />Robbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12788242660040874176noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3499041410735103265.post-37043583575682155692011-12-08T21:47:00.001-07:002012-01-24T09:19:20.214-07:00VIVOBAREFOOT Neo reviewI've been meaning to getting around and doing a review of my Vivobarefoot Neos. We got them on Nov 21st and I have been running in them where I can as well as wearing them just for walking around. I found my pair of Neos on the website TheClymb.com . I was able to find it for about $60, which is a fantastic deal.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-SOFLn0uNGBQ/TuGdw23gU2I/AAAAAAAAAYQ/gevhqjzJWYo/s640/blogger-image--1096058717.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-SOFLn0uNGBQ/TuGdw23gU2I/AAAAAAAAAYQ/gevhqjzJWYo/s640/blogger-image--1096058717.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">So very nice.</td></tr>
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<a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-enLMze5KYIA/TuGdvq1mewI/AAAAAAAAAXg/4BzVgGjVOM4/s640/blogger-image-1168590859.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-enLMze5KYIA/TuGdvq1mewI/AAAAAAAAAXg/4BzVgGjVOM4/s640/blogger-image-1168590859.jpg" /></a></div>
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So first about the styling and materials. I love, love, love the look of these. They have been described as a more retro look and I certainly agree. I dig the look of these they have now become my go to casual shoe just because I love how they look so much.<br />
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The upper is super flexible. Suede around the edges with the white parts of the shoes being a breathable mesh. The insides of the shoe are nice and soft. Very luxurious. I can go barefoot in these and it feels great. I do have one complaint about it though. Due to the stitching by the heel of the grey suede and the, umm green fabric there is a small portion of stitching right at the heel that sticks out just a little bit more. At the end of the first day of wearing my Neos I had a new blister formed on my heel.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-08Gn3Va6plI/TuGdwkXyGiI/AAAAAAAAAYI/6vNkyYpZ07o/s640/blogger-image--1841624241.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-08Gn3Va6plI/TuGdwkXyGiI/AAAAAAAAAYI/6vNkyYpZ07o/s640/blogger-image--1841624241.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My blister. Actually just kidding. This was more recent due to running over my own heel with a shopping cart.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-FUTSwFra0Mg/TuGdwEo_KlI/AAAAAAAAAXw/RQEK7AH2v8U/s640/blogger-image-1155885881.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-FUTSwFra0Mg/TuGdwEo_KlI/AAAAAAAAAXw/RQEK7AH2v8U/s640/blogger-image-1155885881.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is the blister that I got. Still hurt though.</td></tr>
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The first blister I've gotten from minimalist shoes. Like I said, this was due to doubling back on the stiching so it stuck out just a little bit more. Not sure if this is a common problem, but it was present in my shoes. I'm mostly wearing them with socks right now so it's not much of a problem at the moment. Hopefully in the summer it will have sorted itself out but we shall see.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-cB4FlqZdRc4/TuGdwcphiiI/AAAAAAAAAYA/zuD7Dc-2wQk/s640/blogger-image-744049147.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-cB4FlqZdRc4/TuGdwcphiiI/AAAAAAAAAYA/zuD7Dc-2wQk/s640/blogger-image-744049147.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You may be able to make out the stitches just to the left and right of the heel. </td></tr>
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The Neos have a removeable footbed in them. You can either wear them with or without the footbed depending on if you want to feel the ground a little bit more or not. I found the ground feel was really good. I could feel individual rocks while wearing it, but those rocks no longer hurt. The sole is nice and flexible with the honeycomb tread giving pretty good traction. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nice and flexible</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-NP6Jn3mYHgg/TuGdxBKBGCI/AAAAAAAAAYY/w0D2tL0A5A8/s640/blogger-image-730548007.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-NP6Jn3mYHgg/TuGdxBKBGCI/AAAAAAAAAYY/w0D2tL0A5A8/s640/blogger-image-730548007.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Honeycomb tread, good traction.</td></tr>
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The Neos were great during the fall with it being a little cold, however once we got more than just a dusting of snow I had to abandon using them in favor of my water shoes. At least until I get my Neo Trails. Sheesh, I'm incorrigible. Laff I might try these again with it being colder using the two layers of socks and see just how good they are with the cold.<br />
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I had never tried these on before so I had to guess about the right size when ordering them. I ended up with a size 41. I found the fit to be pretty good except I could stand to have a little more room in the toes. I don't feel like I have lots of room and find that when putting my feet in, my big toe and little toe are already touching the sides which doesn't leave much room for splaying. I ran on the treadmill today and stopped halfway through because I felt my first little toe and second little toe (the little piggy that stayed home and the little piggy that has roast beef) were squished and trying to bend under each other. Didn't feel very good so I switched into my Vibram Bikilas. Had I been able to try them on first I might have gone with a bigger size to make up for the smaller toe box, but a super great deal on them meant I couldn't do so.<br />
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I have worn these shoes running outside, running on the treadmill, walking around as well as playing floor hockey in them. Other than the stitching on the back and the slightly narrow toe box I love these shoes. They have now become my go to casual shoe and they work so well in so many situations. I highly recommend them.<br />
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</div>Kylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11186831665942452603noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3499041410735103265.post-21725884259725772482011-12-08T21:18:00.001-07:002012-01-24T09:19:49.950-07:00More winter training and Christmas drawingsIn preparation for our upcoming Half-marathons at the end of December and in February I have been trying to run outside as much as possible. Even when it is not very nice out. Chances are the half marathons won't feature great weather with snow free condition so I better get used to it. Especially since this is our first winter running. I have to say though I'm still quite enjoying it. Running in my water shoes (at least until I get my precious Neo Trails. I know, I know. I'm still going on about it, but it's my blog so there. I'm totally looking forward to new shoes in the new year). I'm really digging the water shoes. The grip isn't super great on ice, but that's also a good thing as it helps with form. :)<br />
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Anyways so I have been running outside lots. Long runs on the weekend and shorter runs downtown during the week. On Monday I had a 5 mile run outside and it was wonderful. Still having some issues with the knee, but stretching it out first seems to be helping a whole lot. Need to make sure that I'm doing it all the time and I think that would make things even better.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-SmrzGZWImbY/TuGPvfkdhmI/AAAAAAAAAXM/q-WRIbdKC58/s640/blogger-image-1539789695.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-SmrzGZWImbY/TuGPvfkdhmI/AAAAAAAAAXM/q-WRIbdKC58/s640/blogger-image-1539789695.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Snowy paths. Packed snow and ice can be challenging</td></tr>
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While I was running outside I was struck with a thought. It has seemed really hard lately. 5 miles seems like a whole lot more work than it did in the summer and fall. In the summer I was wearing just shorts and a t-shirt and maybe Vibrams. Now in the winter I'm wearing several full length layers. I'm not sure how much extra weight there is, but considering how much more work it feels like while wearing normal shoes, I can imagine the extra weight of base layers, track pants, extra shirt, jacket, two pairs of socks, etc, can be more draining. That said I still love it when on long runs that when you get past the first 5 miles I still feel that I can keep going on forever. Well I could go on forever except for my knee. Sigh. Stupid knee.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-kAPR2pjQ1dM/TuGPuVW5cbI/AAAAAAAAAWk/E0hIS27u-q8/s640/blogger-image--1261369169.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-kAPR2pjQ1dM/TuGPuVW5cbI/AAAAAAAAAWk/E0hIS27u-q8/s640/blogger-image--1261369169.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beautiful</td></tr>
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More things that Robbie and I have noticed. Running on packed snow and ice can be really challenging. The packed snow can be very bumpy and uneven. We find this to be much harder on the joints when your feet aren't landing flat every time. I can imagine it can be the same way with trail running, except with snow it can be hard to anticipate what angle the ground is going to be. <br />
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I ran another 4 miles today, but I couldn't do it outside. I forgot to wash my outside running clothes and I didn't want to kill everyone around me with the smell. I'm sure people appreciated that. I just ran 4 miles on a treadmill at work. 2 miles in my Neos, however my toes felt a little cramped today, so I changed into my Bikilas for the last 2 miles.<br />
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Our kids are getting super excited for Christmas. Come home today and my daughter Rebekah was so excited to show me the pictures that she drew. I thought they were really cool and inventive so I wanted to share them.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-cYWfTvYrTs0/TuGPtzGNWKI/AAAAAAAAAWc/nR6bk-1lpIY/s640/blogger-image-1882531579.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-cYWfTvYrTs0/TuGPtzGNWKI/AAAAAAAAAWc/nR6bk-1lpIY/s640/blogger-image-1882531579.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lucky me, I've been here before, only with Castle Lego for the boys</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-MxGxLVqPchc/TuGPuuir2JI/AAAAAAAAAWs/pV1DbNXfWe4/s640/blogger-image-178104306.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-MxGxLVqPchc/TuGPuuir2JI/AAAAAAAAAWs/pV1DbNXfWe4/s640/blogger-image-178104306.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gecky is our Crocodile Gecko</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-nInqE5ctQ-Y/TuGPuqfDESI/AAAAAAAAAW0/yb8XxvGbfdE/s640/blogger-image--1583004996.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-nInqE5ctQ-Y/TuGPuqfDESI/AAAAAAAAAW0/yb8XxvGbfdE/s640/blogger-image--1583004996.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Apparently the boys are not dreaming of sugar plums, but of presents.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-kYDF-bBqU8U/TuGPu9zOFlI/AAAAAAAAAW8/-7Qxh13Hw10/s640/blogger-image--1931348031.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-kYDF-bBqU8U/TuGPu9zOFlI/AAAAAAAAAW8/-7Qxh13Hw10/s640/blogger-image--1931348031.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I've informed them that this drawing will not be happening. ;)</td></tr>
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<a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-KdlMTrKr2g4/TuGPvByEbzI/AAAAAAAAAXE/mroYX5U2OZY/s640/blogger-image-418212804.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-KdlMTrKr2g4/TuGPvByEbzI/AAAAAAAAAXE/mroYX5U2OZY/s640/blogger-image-418212804.jpg" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-D1thQB_p1s0/TuGPvsW6LtI/AAAAAAAAAXU/j7-V64-j7Qo/s640/blogger-image-1807701636.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-D1thQB_p1s0/TuGPvsW6LtI/AAAAAAAAAXU/j7-V64-j7Qo/s640/blogger-image-1807701636.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Classic sisters teasing their brothers about the mistletoe</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Kylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11186831665942452603noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3499041410735103265.post-81107174918576313302011-12-03T10:03:00.001-07:002012-01-24T09:20:07.794-07:00Running recap Week 3 Half Marathon Training<br />
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<img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDYZfaRFFLIpC26evrzjlaK0RB0yB5vgRZ7nFvV-94ItSYI0E0B4qRlr2-F8ld5V4BIB-1h8fQ4xKg4IFbCBEj2BzQQm4aPxK0_igA_K-29O1xoverOaq6V0wkCi_vqHE2UrWl6gZOebg/s320/blogger-image--1760666822.jpg" width="239" /></div>
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Total miles run: 17.20 miles (27.8 km)<br />
Total miles biked: 30.51 miles (49.1 km)<br />
Weight training: 1 hour<br />
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I am really enjoying being really active again. I am hoping that by using more cross training and running less that I will still be prepared for the race but avoid the dreaded TMTS. So far so good.<br />
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My first run of the week was on Wednesday. We had a major snow storm the night before that dumped about 5-10 cm of soft fluffy snow. Piano lessons were cancelled for the kids because the roads were bad and cars were slipping off into the ditch everywhere. I figured that I could run while Kyle was working from home. I started out about 9:30am people were just starting to come out and shovel their walks. I ran along the bike path by my house. I was covered entirely with snow. For most of the run the snow was up past my ankle. It was almost like snowshoeing more than running. I wore my water shoes and they were perfect. I wasn't wet or cold at all. I took some pictures after my run. I wasn't about to take my mittens off to use my phone while I was running. It was amazing to be out running in the snow and sunshine. I normally suffer pretty badly from S.A.D. and I am hoping that running outside in the winter will help me to overcome it.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0BDxZFL2I636tNYXG2Z2_xPXSPuIi19Ut-SUZm9AZJtsdjGmxaB7Y1JQ5wEr2MZnuaMFI_wQDN2VNPqwaq_S9OoXB-8tJ4PqkKc8pqR5hyphenhyphenYTgieJm1I1gF0z4njbFVQspGjXQ55ea8nE/s640/blogger-image-1795079698.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0BDxZFL2I636tNYXG2Z2_xPXSPuIi19Ut-SUZm9AZJtsdjGmxaB7Y1JQ5wEr2MZnuaMFI_wQDN2VNPqwaq_S9OoXB-8tJ4PqkKc8pqR5hyphenhyphenYTgieJm1I1gF0z4njbFVQspGjXQ55ea8nE/s320/blogger-image-1795079698.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Warm and sweaty after my run.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My Winter Wonderland. That path between the trees is where I started my run.<br />
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My next run was on the treadmill because it was icy out and very windy. Opted to stay inside on the treadmill in the basement. It was a pretty good run. I upped the incline to 1% and that helped me to keep my form in check. I ran the first 3.5 miles in just my socks but I was developing some hot spots of the soft part of my foot below and to the outside of my big toe. I asked one of the kids to grab me my Bikilas and continued on for the last half mile. It was good and not as boring as I thought it would be. I have been listening to <a href="http://www.ultrarunnerpodcast.com/ultrarunnerpodcast.com/Welcome.html">Ultra Runner Podcasts</a> while I run and they are very entertaining. I aspire someday to run ultras, though it will probably have to wait until my children are older.<br />
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My last run this week was this morning. It was -2ºC and still pretty dark out when I left at 7:30am. I was looking forward to heading to the bike paths in the next community over for my run. I love running around these two man made lakes and natural areas as part of my long runs. The run as great. I was feeling good, watching my form, I still have to post about my training session with Tina. It was great, I am still processing all of the information. I think that I have so much more to learn. It was nice out and not too cold at all. The only real challenge with the run was that the slush from the last days had frozen into hard, sharp, sticky outy bits on the path that hurt like a bugger when you step on them. There is nothing like stepping on a sharp immovable piece of ice to keep you awake as you run. Over all though it was a good run, I am still having some tightness in my right calf and some achiness in my right ankle. I can feel the bones in my foot moving and changing as well in my left foot. I have a bunion on my left big toe and it is sore a lot of the time now. It was been shrinking, probably from wearing my vibrams, and my toe has been straightening out but it isn't without some soreness. I tried a new gel today, Accel gel and it went down well and seemed to work. I forgot the take my gel until mile 5.5. I normally take half a gel on the 3's. I will have to get back into the habit of taking gels and paying attention to what mile I am at. I also have to figure out how much, if any, water to take while running. In the summer when it was warm I carried a handheld water bottle and a single bottle on my back. I switched the bottle from my back into my handheld when the handheld was empty. For now I do not want to carry water in the handheld because it leaks and gets my mittens wet and that leads to very cold hands. So here is the question. How much water do you need on long runs in the winter? How about for races? My last race I carried my own water and ignored the water stations because that is what I was used to. For my next race in February I wondering if I can bring my own or if I should rely on the water stations?</div>
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<a href="http://runkeeper.com/user/robbielynn/activity/61889470">Today's Long Run</a></div>Robbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12788242660040874176noreply@blogger.com4