Monday, March 03, 2008

Fillin' my bucket

Saturday we had a great team spin at the shop (Gear West). It was about an hour long, but what made it fun was that we interrupted Troy Jacobson a few times to do squat-jumps - you know squat down like a frog, touching the ground, then leap up and reach for the sky... sets of 15 or 10, followed by 5 pushups. We already have a rule that, if you don't like the background music on the iPod, you can change it, but if you do, then you have to drop and do 5 pushups for each song you skip over. So the hour went by really fast because we were getting out of our saddles and doing stuff we don't do a lot (not since 6th gym class, anyway).


Yesterday I ran 14.2 miles outside (temps were in the 20's!!! woo-hoo!!) and I took a steady 2:24 to complete it. I felt comfortable the whole way, no soreness the next day, taking the time to keep hydrated at the water stops - my bucket is getting filled back up, no doubt... and thank goodness. Bensen and Pischka ran, too - I love that dog!!! She is so good that she doesn't even have to be on a leash -- she just loves being with us. Then Laura and I went to church afterward, so it was a great day.



I am shopping today for trail shoes - my friend Kami, an experienced ultra marathoner, told me to get two pair - two different brands. I should alternate wearing both during training, and I'll want to change them halfway through the 50 mile race. She says that after 75% of the run, your feet will start to break down, and two different kinds of shoes will have slightly different pressure points on your feet, which will feel great. That makes perfect sense to me, and I agree that my feet do feel great up to a certain point even in a marathon, and then they do start breaking down, and I'll end up getting a blister or losing a toenail. So I will take that advice and change shoes at the 25 mile mark.



Lastly, Saturday night Bob and I and two other couples took all our kids to the Target Center to see the Matthew West, Jeremy Camp, and TobyMac concert. It was long (three bands may be one band too many!), but they loved it. Bobby stayed totally plugged in through the last song. He loves seeing these amazingly talented, "cool" rock star types, up on stage rocking out their music and being so totally filled with God's love... so much so that they want to sing about it, not be ashamed about it. TobyMac is a hip-hop rapper and even has a team of dancers on stage with him, so they really connected with all the high school and college kids in the audience. (But the lyrics are not about bitches, ho's, killing people or gang-love; it's about loving Jesus and being a good person and knowing you are completely loved even when life is hard). Throughout the night, though, these rock stars share their faith, talk about the charities that mean a lot to them, and what role God has played in their lives and it's really beautiful. It is neat to be in a room filled with thousands of other young people who are not afraid to have everyone else know that they love Jesus. The kids got to meet Matthew West afterward, and got an autograph.

The next day Bobby was up practicing his guitar. He'd love to be in a Christian band, and if that inspires him, that's great with me!

Meeting Matthew West:




11 comments:

Kickstand Pam said...

Sounds like a great week-end. Way to go with the 14+ miles in the cold.

I'm going to take your advise on the shoes. I haven't heard that one but it certainly makes sense - Thanks!

TriBoomer a.k.a. Brian said...

Sounds like a wonderful weekend, Jenny.

Happy to read the running is coming along well.

Stay tuned...

Fe-lady said...

OK you just made me feel super wimpy...I bagged this morning's run (only 4 miles) because of several reasons, but one of them was it's "cold" out- probably 40 degrees.

I think I need to buck the "f" up...ha!
(You are my role model!)

TJ said...

50 mile race!?!?! WOW!
That sounds awesome..in a crazy kinda masochistic way.

Iron Krista, "The Dog Mom" said...

Seriously, frog jumps durring spin? I think i would fall over!! Impressive!

Nat said...

Great job on the run. Glad to here you are doing so great! I've heard really good things about Gear West and am really impressed with them myself!

Bigun said...

Iron Jenny - the insane one! 3 bands in one night...that's an endourance event for sure, especially with all those screaming kids around! At least if things got dicy, you knew you could "take them"....

Taconite Boy said...

Looks like a sweet time

Hypen girl got to meet NeedtoBreathe a few months back. I think she was shaking the whole time!

lol

brendaj said...

I was just reading Benson's blog wondering if his dog gets to run off leash, and then I saw your post! Sounds like a great run.

My Life said...

Wow.. what a fun experience for those kids! I haven't heard anything from Jeremy Camp, but loved the link - off to go listen to more! Have you all heard of Shawn McDonald? His "Take My Hand" always gets me through a tough spot in a workout! ;)

monica said...

switching shoes!! what a great idea!!!

is this your first ultra?? how exciting!!