Adventures of Steeple Creeper

Growing a new human

2013-03-19T22:15:00.001-04:00

Today I went for my first run since being sidelined with mono. I can honestly say it was harder than the first run back after any of my injuries, and possibly one of the most difficult runs I've ever completed. There was nothing glamorous about this run. It wasn't crazy fast or super long. In fact, I only ran 2 miles at 8:11/mi pace. Exactly 9 months ago, I moved to Boulder. On June 19th, I bet

Dial "M" for...

2013-03-11T13:12:00.002-04:00

Mono. I have it. I was in denial and tried to train through it until last Tuesday, when my throat was too swollen to swallow food or drink and my fever hovered around 102. In the preceding three weeks, I had been to Urgent Care twice. Both times, they tested me for strep. And both times, it was negative. The second time, they also tested me for mono. That also came back negative. I was told

The Hardest Part of Love

2013-02-24T17:08:00.000-05:00

The song I've embedded below has been popping into my head frequently over the past few days. Most of the lyrics don't really fit my situation, but I'm including the whole song just because it's a good one. The part that does fit? "The hardest part of love is the letting go." For about the past year and a half, I've been very blessed to be a member of the Oiselle Team. The support

Oiselle CO Meetup Week!

2013-01-15T21:20:00.000-05:00

Sarah and I in front of Boulder Running Co before our run Last week, I was really disappointed to have to cancel my vacation to Boston. But, I believe in silver linings... Because I stayed in Boulder, I had the pleasure of experiencing the wonders of a Oiselle meet-up week! One of our sales reps, Sarah, was visiting Colorado to promote the Fall 2013 line at local running stores. I first met up

Freebird

2012-12-12T23:13:00.003-05:00

Perhaps you heard about all the controversy surrounding USATF logo rules at national championships and the Olympic Trials over the past year. But you probably aren't aware of just how hard it was for some companies to comply with the policies. Below is a video that was created by the wonderful women at Oiselle to show the ridiculous process they went through in order to create an "

The Future

2012-12-12T22:54:00.004-05:00

The future's so unclear now. What's left of your career now? I feel like I should be a lot more anxious about the fact that I quit my job without a new one lined up. At least, everyone else seems pretty concerned about it. At this point, everything's kind of up in the air. I have no idea what is going to happen. I have no paycheck coming in anymore. And I'm just trying to get some consistent,

2012 Christmas Gift Ideas

2012-12-04T12:51:00.005-05:00

Every blog I read has been releasing their Christmas Gift Guide, so I suppose it's time for me to put one together as well. Some of my items will probably only appeal to runners or other athletes, but some of the items would make good gifts for anyone.... Pretty much ANYTHING from Oiselle is a good bet for a gift. But, here are some personal cold-weather favorites: Runfinity scarf: I HATE

I'm still here...

2012-12-03T14:50:00.003-05:00

The 3 months since I last wrote have been pretty crazy. I started out on a high - feeling very fit and ready to start off a strong season of racing with my new team, Hudson Training Systems. First on my schedule was the Corporate Cup 10k in Nebraska. The goal was to run smart and get an idea of where we were starting with my fitness. Coming down from altitude, I got a little too excited and went

Oiselle Fall '12: Stripey Sensation

2012-08-25T11:42:00.001-04:00

I'm in love... with stripes! Anyone who knows me knows that I'm not a huge fan of patterns, especially stripes. But, Oiselle has (unsurprisingly) changed my mind. Those ladies really have a gift for making cute, comfy, and functional apparel. The moment I saw the Stripey (longsleeve) Tee, I was smitten. When it finally became available to order, I didn't even hesitate in ordering all three colors

Heart & Sole Half Marathon

2012-08-24T01:07:00.000-04:00

Every now and then, I get the urge to sign up for a race at the last minute. Sometimes, I have the intention of racing, and other times I just want to get in a good effort with some support and company. I had been toying with the idea of running either the Heart & Sole half marathon or 10k at the Boulder Reservoir for a while, but I had for some reason put it out of my mind until the last few

"Weddings Your Way"

2012-08-18T23:21:00.000-04:00

I've been doing a lot of my running on pavement lately, so this afternoon I drove up into the mountains for a nice little trail run. Last time I ran at Betasso, the higher elevation and hills kicked my butt AND I got lost. This time around, things went much better! I ran both of the beautiful trail loops and encountered a curious sight upon finishing: a group of people all dressed. It was strange

Busy Living!

2012-08-16T23:44:00.000-04:00

I guess it's been a while since I've written... quite a while, actually. I had planned to be writing new entries regularly, but sometimes life just gets in the way. And I've been doing a lot of living since I moved to Boulder. I've been kept really busy at work (working close to 40 hours per week) and obviously with my training. I've finally gotten back to logging pretty consistent mileage and

Meltdown

2012-06-20T00:12:00.000-04:00

I had a bit of a meltdown on Sunday when I was moving into my apartment in downtown Boulder. It's not what you're thinking... I didn't lose my mind already. I'm insanely happy here, not insane. This was an entirely different kind of meltdown. It's been pretty darn toasty here the past few days. And, as you're all aware, the temperature inside a parked car on a hot day gets really high. The plan

Beginning

2012-06-17T08:56:00.000-04:00

This is the moment of embarking. All auspicious signs are in place.Today, I'm starting over. I'll explain everything that went into this decision at some point, but today is my first full day as a resident of Boulder, CO. The day is starting with a short run (God willing!) and morning Mass, and then my dad and I will start moving my stuff into my new apartment downtown. I think this is going to

Goldilocks

2012-06-17T00:30:00.000-04:00

I'm sure everyone remembers the story of Goldilocks, who snuck into the home of the three bears. They had three of each item (chairs, bowls of porridge, beds, etc.) and she tested each one, declaring two of them to lie at the extremes and the third to be "just right." In training, it can be pretty tricky to find the balance between beig under and overtrained. This season I really struggled with

The Sycamore

2012-06-08T18:04:00.000-04:00

How high does the sycamore grow? If you cut it down, then you'll never know.I'm on a Disney kick lately, so I'm just warning you all now that I'll probably be writing several posts tying my life into Disney songs. It will either be really fun or really dumb. And, honestly, I'm okay with either. After reading that wonderful blog comment from Samantha, I've been doing a lot of thinking. Reflecting

"I Conquered The Hill!"

2012-06-02T14:49:00.003-04:00

That's what it said on the back of the race t-shirt. I found it strange that so many people wore them in the race when they obviously hadn't conquered it YET, but I know a lot of people do wear their race shirt during the race. Anyway... Here's how our 24 hours in Kansas City went. After we checked into the hotel, we all went for a shakeout run on part of the course. On paper, the hills hadn't

Headed for the hills...

2012-05-31T11:12:00.001-04:00

In less than 24 hours, I will be racing 13 miles - the Hospital Hill Half Marathon in Kansas City, MO. You're probably wondering why on Earth I would be trying to race a (very hilly) half marathon right now, when I've been dealing with a series of injuries and illnesses and have been feeling so weak. Well, I'm kind of wondering the same thing. But the reason I initially signed on for this race

Strength

2012-05-30T11:29:00.000-04:00

When I was in Flagstaff, rather than doing any traditional weight training, I got all my strength work from running up mountains and going rock climbing several times per week. In the two months since I've been home, I haven't been able to do any of that. I knew I needed to be doing some kind of strength work, but I didn't really know exactly what I should be doing. In high school, I participated

Hope

2012-05-30T10:56:00.000-04:00

I've gotten really terrible about posting to my blog in the past few months, and there are reasons for that but I'm going to save them for another time. I have several half-written blog posts circulating in my head, and I'm hoping to get at least a few typed up in the next week or so. ------------ At church last Sunday, the priest gave a homily that really got me thinking. I can't recreate it

A string of mediocre/bad races...

2012-05-14T01:13:00.001-04:00

... almost long enough to make a necklace (definitely enough for a bracelet). Things have been up and down since the time trial at NW Missouri. I'd have a bunch of terrible training day, followed by an outstanding workout, and then right back to feeling awful again. Over the past month I've run a handful of races, and I haven't really been happy with any of them. • Sioux City Relays 5k - I was

NW Missouri State Open

2012-04-16T14:58:00.001-04:00

After I realized my track season doesn't have to be scrapped, we decided it would be a good idea to toss me into a steeple race for a 2k time trial just to see where my fitness was at. I did some quick searching and found a meet at Northwest Missouri State, not terribly far from Lincoln. As luck would have it, one of my new Team Nebraska teammates, Megan, wanted to go there for steeple and 5k as

"The Good Life"

2012-04-16T13:09:00.000-04:00

Okay, so maybe I wasn't completely honest when I said that I only moped about the ASU race momentarily and then moved on. Many people say that your 3200 time and your steeple time are roughly equivalent, so a 10:54 made me feel like I'm moving backward and that my 9 months in Flagstaff were a complete waste. I felt embarrassed and defeated. I had been considering leaving Flagstaff in a few months

ASU Baldy Castillo Invite

2012-04-08T23:55:00.000-04:00

I've been meaning to write this race report since the race (3 weeks ago). Unfortunately, a lot of crazy things have happened since then, but I'll go into that in another blog post. Originally, the plan was to run a 2k steeple at ASU, but I panicked about my lack of hurdle preparation, so Shayla let me switch to the 3200. Why a college meet was running the 3200 instead of the 3000, I have no idea,

Oiselle Sale!

2012-03-30T14:19:00.000-04:00

Today and tomorrow only, Oiselle is offering an extra 20% off on items in the sale section of the website. You better hurry on over there, before all the good stuff (and it's ALL good stuff) is gone! Tip: get the Roga shorts. They were designed to "defrump your rump." You'll love them. I guarantee it. And if you don't, you can just send them to me. ;-) CLICK HERE to go to the sale section and