A Call To Action!

On Sept. 24, 2013, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will conduct the Narcolepsy Patient Focused Meeting to better understand the patient perspective on narcolepsy. This is a unique opportunity for people with narcolepsy and their caregivers to help shape the future of narcolepsy treatment, with FDA decision-makers eagerly listening!

Unite Narcolepsy is conducting an anonymous survey to make sure everyone’s experience with narcolepsy is represented. There will also be weekly webinars leading up to the meeting - the first will be on Aug. 29. Details & registration here. 

Narcolepsy affects each of us differently, so we need many voices to capture our community’s full experience. So please,  reach out to anyone you know who has any form of Narcolepsy or loves a Person With Narcolepsy (PWN) and ask them to please give their input by completing the survey. 

Curious about more details on the meetings and how you or a loved one can participate? Visit Julie Flygare's website info here (http://julieflygare.com/fda-narcolepsy-survey/)

Speaking of Julie, she is a wonderful Narcolepsy advocate who has written an amazing book about her narcoleptic experience. It's one of those hard-to-put-down books and is a great account of what having narcolepsy is like and how elusive diagnosis can be. I invite you to check it out here. You'll enjoy it! 

Third Times The Charm!

Well, I'm deep into training for my third marathon. Too busy to blog! But of course I am running for a charity again. I'll let you try to guess which one! :) www.gojillgo.org.

Felt good tonight. Even after 12 on Sat with no ice bath or massage.http://runmeter.com/d39d755f4ef7413c/Run-20130805-1824?r=d.

Season 2 of Zombies, Run! Now Available for iPhone and Android

Season two of Zombies, Run! is out! Let the fun begin!!!

Zumba Class. I want to be this lady when I grow up!

Bookended with Zombies

I had a really good run Saturday afternoon.

We had a packed day (as usual for a weekend). I was looking forward to a dinner date with hubby at my favorite place! I was worried about finding time to get my run in. I asked Kris if he would mind if I ran home from the last store our errands would take us to. He said 'sure. '

So I got in my running gear and we headed off to knock off our errand list. Our last stop was Target. So I prepared to run 2.5 miles on a busy road home. That'll get a run on the books. But my sweet husband asked if I'd rather be dropped off at our local park.

It was out of his way, but "I'd rather you run from the park than down Betteravia with all the cars."

Sweet! So that was a great start to my run. I turned on my Zombies, Run! app and after Sam briefed me on the mission my first song started. It was "More Human Than Human" by Rob......Zombie!

How appropriate.

I started running knowing as soon as I got home I'd clean up and enjoy a great dinner date with my husband. Needless to say, I had one of my fastest times!

And the last song to play as I came in from my run? "Cherry Devil" by ......Rob ZOMBIE!

My Zombie mission was bookended by Zombie! Ha! Ha!

My First "Bad" Zombies, Run! Mission

This was my first run back to the regular missions in the first season of the “Zombies, Run!” smart phone game. I took a couple months off to ‘play’ the “Zombies, Run! 5k” game. I had come off a marathon season fraught with injuries. So while I was already a long distance runner, I thought it’d be a good idea to step back, start over, and re-build strength and speed by completing a 5k training cycle. Besides, I heard the 5k program was written to take place between Mission 1 and 2 of the regular mission game and had additional content to the regular story. Well I didn’t want to miss any content! :) 

So I took my time completing the 5k program and felt great! I definitely feel like I am stronger, faster and ready to resume the regular missions. And tonight was the first run. 

I choose mission 3 for my re-entry to the regular game as I wanted to run the earlier missions over as a reminder of all the details of the story. And the first thing that was a bummer, was that I confirmed that a ‘friend’ I made during the 5k training didn’t survive long after my last 5k run. I suspected that during my last run of the 5k program, and it was confirmed in mission 3. 

Shortly after that bit of bad news, I got chased by Zombs. During which, I had to stop and fix Kenai’s pack. We weren’t stopped for long, but I heard the zombies getting louder and louder as the started to overtake me during the game. 

I started running again as soon as I had Kenai’s pack situated and ran hard. I heard the narrator call “15 meters”, then “5 meters” as usual. Then the narrator said something I couldn’t quite hear because the sound of the Zombs were so loud! In fact, they were loud and sounded like they were in a feasting frenzy!

What was this? I know the app was updated a couple times while I was playing the 5k version. Was this new? Did I evade the Zombs? I didn’t hear the narrator say, “Zombies evaded.” as I was used to. 

Soon, we were in chase mode again. I had both dogs tethered to a belt at my waist. I noticed Heather was ahead of me but Kenai was dragging behind. Neither of my dogs drag. Ever. So I turned around to check on Kenai. She wasn’t limping or looked distressed. But she was running so slow she was actually a drag on me. 

Meanwhile, I hear the zombs getting louder and louder in my headphones. So I call to the dogs, “Come on!” and ran. Again I heard the narrator say something about zombies but I didn’t hear “Evaded”. 

I pulled off to the side to check on Kenai. She’s never drags behind like that and I wanted to check her feet and pack to make sure nothing was amiss. Everything was fine. I usually put two pounds of weight in her pack to even things out between her and Heather. Maybe she was just too tired tonight for the weight? 

Before I took the weights out, I looked at my phone. The app builds a run log during your run. So you can look back and see what was going on, (what songs have played and what bit of story was told.) Well, it also logs zombie chases. On both chases, it showed I had to dump supplies to distract the zombies. (If you don’t run fast enough you have to dump supplies to distract them so you can get away.) I had never had to dump supplies before. So that made me mad. But not only that, on my phone, was the notice “Zombies Caught You”. 

What? What!?

When I had played the regular mission games before that had NEVER happened and I felt like I was running better tonight than ever. I was NOT happy. I figured something must be wrong or they updated the app to be more challenging. 

At any rate, I still had to finish my run. So I took the weights out of Kenai’s pack and carried them for her. That meant I ran with a one pound weight in each hand. Yeah, that’ll make me slower for the next zombie chase. Great. 

There were two more chases. Both of which I was able to evade the zombies. It just didn’t make sense. 

When I got home, I checked the settings on both my phone and my profile on the Zombies, Run! website. I figured there must be a place where you can set your chase pace or something or find out that my GPS was intermittent and that’s why it thought I wasn’t faster than the zombs. 

But no. There was no place to adjust chase paces and according to the run map, my GPS had been working just fine the whole run. 

I turned my attention to the chase graphs on my zombies profile. For each zombie chase there is a graph that shows a flat red line representing the speed at which the zombies chase you and a blue line that shows Runner 5’s pace. That line is usually not flat. 

In the first chase, I saw my blue line was lower than the zombie’s red line for the first 20 seconds of the chase. That corresponds to when I was fixing Kenai’s pack. But I was well above the zombies’ pace for the rest of the chase. So it didn’t make sense they would ‘catch’ me. 

I checked the other three chase graphs and my blue line showed a faster pace than the zombs the whole time. So why did one of them show I was caught? I have no idea. Is there something wrong with the app? I don’t think they did this by design. And I couldn’t find any information on the site about what’s the criteria for evading zombies. 

So I trolled the internet for answers. I found a great post from Mur Lafferty of Escapist Magazine that indicated you must increase your speed by roughly 10% for about a minute to evade the zombs. This made sense. 

I don’t really have more than one speed I run at. Unless you count “Slow” and “Slightly less slow” as two different speeds. So while three of the four chases showed that I was above the zombies’ speed, I may not have sped up more than 10% and that’s why I was caught. 

Good thing the zombies don’t eat you when they catch you. Rather, they take all the supplies you gathered and you arrive back at base empty handed. Not good! 

Which is the other thing that surprised me this time out. When I got back, I visited my base online to allocate the supplies I gathered. But there were no supplies to allocate. I thought the site didn’t sync with my app like it does automatically when I end a mission. So I did a manual sync. Still no supplies showed. I figure the site was having issues. 

Nope, when the zombies get you, they take ALL your supplies. Even the ones you pick up AFTER you’re chased. Damn zombies!

So, there are a few changes in the regular game since I’ve been gone. Much more challenging. But I like a challenge. Now that I know the deal, those zombies had better watch out! I’ll be back, and I’m bringing my cricket bat with me!

Narcolepsy Notes #2 - The Trouble With Mornings

"You were born tired!"

I'll never forget my mom's words to me when I was still a grade-schooler. I had been complaining of being tired all the time. I think she may have just been annoyed with my frequent complaints or it might have been that she herself was always tired. She was a working mom after all. And maybe she just had the 'welcome to my world' attitude. But I took her literally. I thought that I was just a person who was always tired. 

Also, when my mom would come to wake me up for school in the morning, it was incredibly hard for me to wake up. My mom would get so frustrated! We had a schedule to keep after all and she would come in to wake me up only to walk past my room five minutes later to find me back asleep.

"Get up!" she'd admonish as she pulled on my arm to get me out of bed. 

"Mommy, my heads hurts." 

"You're a kid. You don't get head aches. Now get up! You can't be late for school and your father and I have to get to work!"

Waking up with a heavy head happened every morning of my life and still does. I never knew anything different. My poor mom thought I was just lazy and didn't want to go to school. Besides, my dad was the same way. He was terrible waking up in the morning. 

I remember him often running around the house in the morning trying to scramble to make it out the door on time because he often slept past his alarm. My mom probably thought I had just inherited my dad's "night owl" tendencies. 

Through high school my trouble in the mornings continued and I too always scrambled to make it to school on time. Like father like daughter. My first period teacher asked me to please do my make up at home rather than sit in her class and do it. Like I had time to do my make up at home? I'm sure!

I was a really good kid. But I was often in detention. But never for anything other than being late to home room. I wonder how many hours I spent in detention over the years. It had to be in the hundreds! The ironic thing is that detention occurred before school. How I made it to detention on time I don't remember.. But I'm pretty sure I used it to put on my makeup.

My last couple years in high school I was on the color guard and we practiced everyday before school. Every day I was late to practice. I tried everything to get out of the house on time. Going to bed early. Laying out my clothes the night before. Setting more than one alarm. Setting alarm clocks in other rooms so I’d have to physically get up and walk to them to turn them off. Have friends call me in the morning to wake me up. 

But even with these tactics, I would still fail. I would sleep through the alarms or wake up late to find that I had gotten up, walked in the next room to turn the alarm off only to return to bed with no memory of getting up in the first place. It was maddening! 

I did not want to sleep late everyday; trust me. It sucked!

One time in junior high, I had a friend sleep over. It was the middle of winter in Iowa. So we used electric blankets. My friend was sleeping in a sleeping bag on the floor with an electric blanket over it and I was in my bed. When I woke up in the morning my friend said, “Finally!” 

“What?”

“You’re finally awake. I’ve been awake for hours! I turned your electric blanket off hoping to freeze you awake. When that didn’t work, I turned it all the way up hoping the heat would wake you up. But you just kept sleeping!” 

I found out decades later, this is a symptom of Narcolepsy. Many people with narcolepsy (PWN) have a really hard time waking up. Some, like me, wake up feeling exhausted, head achy, heavy-headed, or (like on my worse days) sedated. Somedays I wake up and I feel like I’ve been shot with a heavy sedative. The extreme grogginess and foggy head takes hours to go away if not all day. It’s horrible! 

Part of the problem with narcolepsy is that the brain is messed up on when to make you tired or alert. So while you fight like hell to stay awake during the day, you may have insomnia at night. Yeah. That’s fun. Spouses love it too! :) 

Besides, having trouble waking up, I also fought most days to stay awake during the day. But that’s a story for the next post. 

Below is a link to a really good article about Narcolepsy if you’d like more information on the disorder itself

http://www.narcolepsydiaries.com/about/ 

Good Bye Zombies, Run! 5k Training...

Tonight was my final 5k run in the Zombies, Run! 5k training program. As I expected, it was a great run! Oh, and I thought it'd be cool if I got a 5k PR (personal record) on this run.

****Minor Spoiler Alert****

I knew before the run that my mission would be to run a very important package to Bert Airfield. So I thought it would be fun to do the run at our local airport. It's just down the street from my house. So it was a common running spot for me. Also, they have a museum of flight at one end of the property with old retired planes, etc. So I thought it'd lend itself well to the 'stage' of the story. (You know, because my imagination alone isn't enough). HA HA!

As I ran some of the characters from previous runs popped up. And I started to make connections between these characters and the characters in the regular game that I had been playing before I stopped to play the 5k version. I realized I knew the future stories of these characters and not all of them were happy. Then I was sad.

But I had to keep running. Sam was counting on me!

I assumed the 5k would entail running out to the air field and back to the base. So I routed the run so that I'd reach the air museum half way through the 5k. I reached the air museum half way through the run.  I was wrong. It took the whole 5k to get to the base. So I was nowhere near the air museum by the time I reached it in the story. Oh well.

Of course, the end of the mission was dramatic and very very satisfying. The guys at Bert Airfield had an especially great surprise for me. I won't tell what it is because it'd be a MAJOR spoiler for those who will be doing the training runs. (And you all should because they are just so fun!) :)

So after the official mission I was so excited to see if I had PR'ed on my 5k. So I pull my phone out to check and  I touched the screen where I shouldn't touch the screen and LOST MY RUN!!!!!!!!

Oh crap!!! Is the mission finished? I didn't hear the "Mission Completed" announcement. Oh no!! Is it going to show I finished?? Am I going to have to do the whole thing again? Can I recover it? Oh man! What a horrible end to what was supposed to be THE run of the series. I can't believe this!

So I started to frantically touch the screen on my phone hoping to recover it. I found an option to "Restart?" Yes! Restart! Phew!

But the time/distance started over. I had no idea if I would be able to find the first run on the site when I  got home and if it would show I finished the last run.

So I just kept going hoping for the best. There was quite a bit more commentary after making it to the drop site. I was happy I kept going and I did hear the "Mission Completed" announcement.

I loaded the girls and myself in the car to head home. After giving my husband a blow by blow of the run, (he's a very patient man) I checked the web-site to see if both parts would show on the site or just the last 12 minute run. They were both there! Phew!

But I missed my 5k PR by ....one minute.

I'll be starting the regular Zombies, Run! game again. I think I'll start back on Mission #2 as I want to refresh my memory of all the little details of the story. Because as I remember when I switched to the 5k game... there were some pretty fishy things going on at Able Township. .........

The Narcolepsy Notes #1

Just over a year ago I was diagnosed with Idiosyncratic Primary Hypersolmulance. Sounds impressive eh? It's a type of Narcolepsy. A sleep disorder where the brain puts a person to sleep at inappropriate times.

At first I was thrilled to have a diagnosis because I was living with symptoms for years and years and nobody could figure out what was causing them. In fact, most doctors didn't try too hard to find the cause when the 'usual suspects' had been ruled out. (But more about that later).

So I thought, now that we know what it is, let's get on with 'fixing' it. However, I found out there is no cure for Narcolepsy. Moreover, very little is known about it. Most sleep research is done on Insomnia and Apnea. Very little has been done to date regarding Narcolepsy. So medical treatment is limited.

Also, most general practitioners aren't familiar with Narcolepsy and miss the symptoms. Therefore, diagnosis of Narcolepsy is very rare. Which means, there are a lot of narcoleptics walking around out there who haven't been diagnosed.

It also means, newly diagnosed narcoleptics have a hell of a time finding other narcoleptics! We are quite isolated in that regard. I went on-line to find information and discussion groups and didn't come up with much. I was shocked! You can find anything on the internet today right?

Here's (in my opinion) the best of what I found on the internet:

Narcolepsy Information Site: www.narcolepsynetwork.org

Narcolepsy Research Funding & Awareness: www.wakeupnarcolepsy.org

Personal Blogs on Narcolepsy:

www. julieflygare.com (AKA the REM Runner)

www.stridesagainstnarcolepsy.com

So you would think my doctor would be able to connect me with other narcoleptic support resources, right? Not.

My sleep doctor didn't direct me to any resources. I went to a neurologist to get a second opinion and to see if she had any alternate recommendations for treatment. She did direct me to a site for rare diseases.

"Great!" I thought, "That's the resource I've been missing! Rare diseases. That's where I'll find my answers."

I went home and looked up the site right away. There was ...... nothing on narcolepsy.

Basically all the information I could find on narcolepsy said, "There is little known and most doctors miss the diagnosis." I think the fact that narcoleptics aren't getting diagnosed is why it's so hard to find other narcoleptics out there.

So I decided I would devote my blog to talking about narcolepsy and hopefully other narcoleptics can fine me and we can start connecting with others. I also want to share what works for me in managing symptoms and what ever information I find.

So here we go. I am officially starting to blog about my narcolepsy. (Don't worry. You know my running exploits will still be heavily featured here. Incidentally, the bloggers I featured above are both runners. Go figure.)

My first post will start at the beginning which actually is when I was in grade school. It's apparent to me I had narcolepsy as a kid. It seems that my symptoms got worse as an adult and finally prompted me to stop taking "We don't know." as an answer and finally find someone who was willing to help me.

I hope you'll follow along and help me raise awareness, reach out to other narcoleptics, and recognize the symptoms so others can get proper diagnosis. And I promise I'll try to make it entertaining! I would hate for you to fall asleep while learning about narcolepsy!!! Ha HA!

Before I end, I want to introduce a book my friend Julie Flygare wrote about her narcolepsy experience. It's the only book I know of that tells the story of a narcoleptic from the personal stand point. While Julie has a different type of narcolepsy than I do, it gives a great account of what it is like to live with narcolepsy. I highly recommend it!

Wide Awake and Dreaming: A Memoir of Narcolepsy 

Cool Things I Saw on My Run Tonight!

We had some really good rain storms today. I LOVE rain! I love running in the rain. However, today's rain was a little heavy for even me to go out. So of course, I waited until there was a break in the weather. Then I made a 'run' for it! :)

I was worried about the rain starting again while I was out only because I had to run with my glasses on. (I had liner tattooed on my eye lids. So contacts for at least a week).  Not only do glasses fog up in the rain, but they get wet. Try wiping them on a sweaty shirt. Gross. So I was hoping to get back in before the rain came back.

But it was a run of 'firsts'. It was the first time running with my new running tattoo. (Even though it was cold out today, I wore my capris just so I could 'show' it off).  It's on the back of my calf so when I race the runners can see it as they pass me. LOL! :)

I wore my Runner 5 shirt for the first time today too.

Speaking of the Zombies, Run! game, the story still is getting better and better. (We found out who was stealing from the base, I made a new running friend, and have a 'solid' in with the guys at Bert Airfield. Sweet).

Runner 7 came out to run with me today. Or as I call him "Mr. Sexy Voice". I may be developing a small virtual crush on that character!

I dug out my 'leash belt' today too. I haven't ran with it in a long time. I don't know why I stopped. It's just a one-inch webbed waist belt that you can clip the dogs' leashes to so the dog's are tethered to me. That way, I can run hands free without breaking the leash laws by having the dogs running loose. I found the dogs don't pull as much when tethered and my form is much better too!

Tethered running is actually a sport called Canicross. It's a form of urban mushing. I'll have to remember to do that from now on. I love running with the dogs and they love it too! A great way to spend quality time with them!

Then, when we were only about a mile out, we saw this:

Then as I turned back into our neighborhood, we saw this:

Yep, it was a great run tonight!

New Year's Day Run

New Year's Day Run. Kris, I and the dogs met the End Cancer Now! team for a NYD's run. Heather & I went with the walkers for a 5 miler. Kris & Kenai went for 10k trail run. 

Kris had joined an on-line challenge to run 50 miles in 9 days between Dec 24th and Jan 1st. This was his last run of the challenge. He ended up with 60 miles in only 9 days!!!!

Wide Awake & Dreaming

Julie has laid out the narcoleptic experience from beginning to end. From mysterious symptoms, diagnosis, meds management, lost hope for a 'fix' to finding a way to best live with such a little-known disorder, Julie shows what it is like to live with narcolepsy.

Narcolepsy is so under diagnosed, that narcoleptics have trouble finding others to learn from and share experiences and non-effected people know little to nothing about it. This book is a wonderful source to hear another's story as well as for non-effected persons to learn about such a fascinating disorder.

Julie writes a compelling story in plain language. A must read for sure!

I Guess a Girl Can't Live on Running Alone

Today I did my first yoga class. It was harder than it looks (as I expected). Through the whole class I kept thinking, this is going to be so good for my running!

Yep, I'll have to do another one! :)

Running With Rocks in My Shoes

So I came in from my run tonight and my shoes sounded like tap shoes on the floor. I looked and there was a big 'ol rock wedged in the heel of my shoe. Wonder how long that was there!

A Guest Post from My Friend Amy K.

This is my friend Amy and her "Goofy" husband Chris:

They are two of our friends who've kindly endured about three years of listening to me and Kris talk nothing but running, and racing and our addiction to endorphins. They are kind and patient people. Which is just one reason why we love them.

Amy is the person who introduced me to the Zombies, Run! game. Yeah, she's the one responsible for starting my obsession!  And now she is using the Zombies, Run! 5k training app to train for her first ever 5k! WOOT! (I have the honor of running the 5k with her).

I am so excited for my friend to join the world of racing and expect her to find the same excitement I do in training for and completing an event.  It's hard and sometimes often it hurts. But we love it and it's too hard to describe why. We just tell our friends they have to do it to understand it. Amy is the first of our friends to try it.  And she's starting to understand it. Read on!

While I was out running today, I think I had an epiphany.

For those of you who don't know, I'm training for my first 5K, which I plan on doing on December 9. I am doing a training program called Zombies, 5K, that is a "couch to 5K" training mixed with zombie chases and an interesting story.

My training today started with a 10 minute warmup, followed by interevals of one minute running, one minute walking, and knee lifts. I was in the middle of the first run, and really miserable. My head was down, I was staring at the ground, gasping for breath, counting the seconds until I could stop running. In fact, I could barely lift my feet up. All I could think was "there's no way I can do this -- there's no way I can go through 5 more weeks of training, and the thought of actually RUNNING a 5K is a joke." And then I started thinking about why I was doing this. Why was I putting myself through this misery?

It's a good question. I've had people assume I was doing this to lose weight. And, while that seems to be a side benefit (as evidenced by my jeans that won't stay on without help), that wasn't my goal. It's not for the physical fitness aspect, either, although that seems to be a prerequisite. At first, I thought I was just doing this because the app was kind of cool, and I figured it would be something to do, but the more I thought about it, that really wasn't it either. And then I realized the real reason I'm out there doing this. I dream about running. Not daydreams, but dreams at night. I regularly dream of running, effortlessly. And it feels GOOD in my dreams. It doesn't hurt, I'm not gasping for air, I'm just running. It feels so good in my dreams, I want that feeling in reality, while I'm awake.

All of this passed through my mind in the time it took me to finish the run, walk for a minute, and do my knee lifts. When it was time to run again, I didn't look down, I raised my head. I didn't count the seconds, I lip-synced to the music that was playing. I didn't grimace in pain and stress, I grinned with joy. And I RAN. At the end of the 60 seconds, yes, I was gasping for air (like always). My muscles screamed at me (like always). But the difference was, I felt good.

My pace was still slow, but I'm okay with that. Approaching it with joy made me realize why there are so many crazy people who do this. I am clearly not built for running. I'm seriously overweight. I've got asthma, and some gnarly arthritis in my knees, but, damn it, I'm going to run.

I'm still not getting those elusive endorphins, though.

Don't worry Amy, the endorphins will come later. :) Run on Girl! 

Spooky Halloween Run

First, this is Trooper our "Bat Cat". That was his costume for Halloween. It's too bad we weren't home for the trick or treaters this year because I think they would've really gotten a kick out of him. :)

We weren't home that night because we were out running. 

Kris took Kenai: 

I took Heather: 

Kris and I got a late start. It was good and dark except the moon was almost full. I didn't need a headlamp. But I did wish I had a flasher for Heather. 

So we all started at the same point. But Kris and Kenai took a southern route; Heather and I started running north. There's a bike trail that runs along the boundary of a park. I like running around the park at night. It's quiet and cool; and tonight, it was eerie. 

This was the same trail Heather and I was on when we ran into a skunk! I kept my eyes peeled. As we ran down the path, I noticed the baseball field lights were off. No games tonight. No one else on the path, no one in the park. It was Halloween after all. Everyone was giving candy or getting candy. It was so peaceful. But I was starting to wish I had brought my pepper spray and stun gun. (Yes, usually, when I run at night I run armed).

Now those of you who know me, know I've been playing this running game Zombies, Run! It's a role playing game you play while you are out running. There are character actors and realistic sound effects. And for imaginative people like me, you can just get lost in the game. Oh yeah, and zombies chase you. 

So here I am running in the peace and quiet with my dog. And I start thinking about the zombies. And I remember it's Halloween. And my imagination starts to get active. 

I kept an eye on Heather because she can spot things before I do. She was absolutely unbothered. 

Soon we had to turn off the path and run through some woods to get into the park. This was the spookiest part. The trees make weird shadows and I felt like Heather and I were the only ones around for miles. And like I said, my imagination was having fun!

You know, the only way the zombies get you is either by cornering you some place where there is no exit, or hiding somewhere and surprising you. Otherwise, you can always out run them. 

As I'm mulling this over in my head, we make the turn off into the woods and Heather is still calm as a cucumber. We run through the trees and immediately I see a shadow of a zombie behind a tree to my left! I quickly turn to confront it and... nothing there. I turn back to the trail and I see several shadows to my right. I spin, and... I just see trees. 

It is creepy! But I laugh to myself because there is nothing I'd rather do than run in the peace and quiet with my dog and have my own little "Haunted Run". Besides, the weather was wonderful! Cool and misty with light fog hanging on everything. 

At another point, we run back out of the park and onto a road that runs along the outskirts of a neighborhood. As we ran by I looked down one of the side streets and see the trick or treaters crossing the street back and forth in their cute little costumes. 

We kept running. 

As we were circling back toward our starting point, I realized I needed more mileage. So we made a detour to the airport. There are more trees and a big empty field on the south side. We ran up to the runway fence where we took a break and watch the runway lights while I caught my breath. I let Heather off the leash and let her explore. 

She ran down into a nearby ditch and my imagination saw her running back up with a zombie arm in her mouth. I shook my head and called her. She trotted right up out of the ditch without anything in her mouth and started running right at my side. We ran through the big empty field on our way back to the car, both of us free spirits. Halloween spirits perhaps. :)

We made it back to the car just before Kris and Kenai came running in from the trail we started on. Kris had had just as nice of run as I did. Though he report no zombies on his route. 

The time changed this weekend. I'll be doing most my runs at night. I'll be running with my Zombies, Run! game. I have a feeling I'll be running faster than my average pace though. You know; to keep ahead of the zombies! :) 

My new shoes were in at GH Sports and the day before I was going up there to pick them up, my Garmin died. It served me (pretty well) for five years.

Now that I have GPS on my phone, I only needed a watch to do my intervals.

I got an Timex Ironman 50. It is so much smaller than my Garmin and a fraction of the weight! So weird.

But the weirdest thing of all? It actually tells time! Strange.

Common Misconceptions About Running

Below is a guest post from my running enthusiast husband Kris. You can see more of his thoughts and many of his amazing photos at: kmadaus.org. Enjoy!

Running is a funny sport. It almost feels odd to call it a sport because it is so simple. You just put one foot in front of the other. Many, many times. There’s not really a lot of skill involved. I have been a runner for a little less than five years. When I started, I never in my life suspected I would ever be a runner. Now, in less than five years, I am running almost daily, I have run in four marathons, I have run thousands of miles, and I am more surprised than anyone about it.

I have seen my own misconceptions about running dissolve slowly over time, and it becomes so obvious any time I am talking to a non-runner. Many of these misconceptions are so embedded in people’s minds. It almost makes me sad because they have shut themselves out of a sport that has brought me so much happiness. Here are a handful of them to ponder.

“I can’t run. My body is not built for running.”

This is usually incorrect, no matter what size or shape you are. I realize there is a stereotype that runners are tall and slender. I realize that I fit that stereotype. But I know many runners that do not. It doesn’t matter. Unless you have some major physical limitation, you are built to be a runner. All human are. There is evidence to suggest that early humans were persistence hunters. Humans were not as fast as a deer, for example. They would follow that for miles until the deer got too tired to continue. The humans persisted until they caught the deer or else they would not have had food to eat. If you were not a runner, you did not survive. We all evolved as runners. Read the book “Born to Run” by Christopher McDougall to learn more. It is a very entertaining book.

“I can’t run. The last time I ran, I didn’t even make it one mile.”

Incorrect. True, you may not have made it even one mile the last time you tried, but you were doing it wrong. I guarantee it because I was doing it wrong too. You don’t start off by running one mile. You start off my running for maybe one minute then walking one or two minutes. You build up from there. I was a pretty fit person five years ago before I started running. I could run one mile, but I was in pain. So I started of very, very slow. Everybody has to start off slow. You need a plan when you start running.

In addition to a plan, you need to learn about pace. Proper pace is critical in running, whether you are a beginner or an expert. Most people start off by running way too fast. When somebody can’t make it one mile without feeling like they are dying from suffocation, it is always due to improper pace. The rule of thumb is you should be able to hold a conversation with somebody while you are running. If you can’t do that because you are breathing too hard, you are running too fast. In the beginning, that usually means you have to do a bit of walking. But don’t worry! That will change if you continue with your plan.

“I can’t run. My knees can’t take the pounding.”

Incorrect. Once again, this probably has to do with improper form. You should never be “pounding” your knees when you are running.

When I started running, I was under the impression that I had weak knees. What I found over the years is that I never took the time to exercise the muscles that support the knees. Instead, I would go out to climb a Sierra peak, literally pounding my knees for 10–15 miles when I did not properly strengthen the proper muscles. The plan I used when I started running was specifically geared toward injury prevention. (Check out “The Beginning Runners Handbook” for more details.) What I found during my first year is that running actually eliminated my knee problems as long as I followed the plan. I was able to climb Sierra peaks without any knee pain at all – the first time ever.

Essentially, this means you need to increase your mileage gradually – about 10% per week – and build rest weeks into your plan. This allows for the leg muscles to be pushed hard and then spend some time recovering. It is a tried and true plan for strength training. It will not only save your knees, but it will make you stronger all around. If you go from running five miles one week to running ten miles the next week, you will have problems. Once again, it is best to pick a goal and follow a plan to get there.

“I can’t run. It’s just too boring.”

Untrue. I have only heard this comment from people who spend most of their time indoors. The best part about running is that you can get outside and experience the world. I would never recommend anyone run on a treadmill because that is boring. When you get outside, you get to meet new people, breathe fresh air, see wild animals, play in the rain, watch the sunrise, listen to music, explore new places, smell the world you live in, and many other things. It is great!

Just in the last three days of running, I ran a trail through a historic mission, saw a bobcat, climbed an unnamed peak, spent time with my dogs, ran barefoot, saw a huge owl, took some photos, ran in the dark under a (almost) full moon, listened to a couple of good podcasts, and watched a beautiful sunset. If I had stayed at home and watched TV, I would have missed out on life. You gain more appreciation for the world you live in when you run. You see and feel things that you would never see driving in a car, and you can stop to get a better look any time you want. It is anything but boring!

“I can’t run. I don’t have the time.”

Not true. Everybody has the same amount of time. You choose how you use it. If you are really honest with yourself, you will probably find that much of your time goes toward disposable things like checking your Facebook status, watching TV, oversleeping on a weekend, playing video games, or taking on projects for other people. Before you know it, these low priority items end up feeling like an obligation when they are not. The truth is that you can choose how you want to spend your time. You just have to find out what is most important to you and sacrifice the rest.

Some people have certain preconceptions in their mind about time and running. Here are some:

• I get home after dark, so I can’t run.
• I have kids to take care of, so I can’t run.
• It’s raining outside, so I can’t run.
• I made plans with so-and-so, and I can’t break that commitment.
• Running takes a lot of time that I don’t have.

The list could go on and on, but none of these things are true. Here’s why:

• It’s easy and fun to run in the dark. You could always get a headlamp if you need one. They are inexpensive.
• Kids can take part in your running. They can ride bikes next to you as you run. You spouse can take the kids on your run days. Many options are out there for those that really want to find them.
• Running in the rain is one of the most rewarding experiences. You get to throw away all of society’s limitations and just get wet! Shoes will dry. Run free! Enjoy!
• Commitments with people are fine, but you have to make a commitment to yourself. If you are following a plan to reach your first 10k, marathon, or half marathon, is that important to you? If your friends are true friends, they will understand and support you in your training. If not, screw them. You can probably meet them after your run anyway, and who knows? You might even be able to talk them into joining you.
• Running doesn’t have to take a lot of time. You can spend 30 minutes a day three days a week running. That’s better than nothing. Can you spare three 30 minute intervals per week? You should be able to. If not, look honestly at how you spend your time. You are sure to find places to cut.

Running is not for everyone, but it fits most people better than they think. It might fit you. If you are not interested in running, try biking, swimming, hiking, kayaking, or anything else that gets you outside. There is a long list of the benefits of an active lifestyle. Just don’t let these common misconceptions hold you back. Running can change your life. Literally.

Working Out on the Road

So I was away from home on business and I HATE being away from home because it always wreaks havoc with my workouts. 

You see, I CAN NOT work out in the morning. I have tried and tried to run in the morning  and I have crappy work outs and just hate it. Ok, I LOVE the quietness of the morning and running when things are cool and there is no one else out there except a couple other runners. But other than that, I HATE it. 

Ok, back to my business trip. Even though my knee isn’t 100% rehabbed yet, recent life events drive me to get back to running or crumble into deep depths of depression. I hate depression worse than running in the morning. So I started half-marathon training this week, the week I leave for a business trip. 

The problem with business trips is that, as previously established, I do not work out in the morning. Which only leaves after work to work out. However, my travel companions always want to go out to dinner soon after returning from work. Further, the dinner place is usually a sit-down that has big food. After drinks, dinner and conversation, we don’t get back from the hotel until late and we’re stuffed to the gills. No way I’m running after that. 

I could skip the dinner with the crew. But then you get tagged as “anti-social”. Besides, you miss the really important work ‘updates’ if you don’t go to those outings. And, trying local restaurants is a happy perk of business travel. Really, do I want to miss that? 

This week, I was traveling with our finance guy Chuck. I love traveling with Chuck. He’s a great travel companion. Thank goodness because the trips we’ve been on together usually involve a car ride lasting, at minimum, six hours! That’s a long time to be in a car with someone. 

But Chuck is easy going, plays old rock on the radio and sings to it sometimes. Carefree happy guy. Even after driving for seven hours with me in the car he’s still happy-go-lucky. Which proves he’s a good guy. Or on really good meds. Whatever. 

So as we left our meeting today I asked Chuck, “What’s the plan for dinner? Did you want to go early?” (I was hoping to get back to the hotel early and settle in for the night). 

He replied, “Well, I’d like to get a workout in first.” 

Yes!

Now everyone who’s stayed in a hotel even once knows most hotel gyms are pitiful! You’re lucky if there is one treadmill and a stationary bike. So I worried we’d both be in the gym staring at one treadmill wondering which method of combat to use to decide who gets to use it. 

I would just run outside except it was 101 degrees at 4pm and there were three wildfires in full force nearby making the air quality unhealthy. So I asked Chuck what kind of workout he wanted. “Do you need the treadmill?” 

“No. I’ll jump on the elliptical.” 

Sweet. 

So I changed into my workout clothes as fast as possible and hoped no one else was in the gym. I’d be bummed if someone else was on the treadmill because I wasn’t about to bogart the elliptical from Chuck and if a treadmill wasn’t available I wasn’t going to get a workout. 

When I made it to the gym, Chuck was already on the elliptical. No one was on the treadmill. Sweet! But it was being maintenanced. Damn! But then I saw there was a second treadmill. Sweet!

So I jumped on the empty treadmill and I did a good warm up. Just as I started picking up speed, the maintenance guy walked up to me and said, “Um excuse me. I need to check this next. It’ll just take a few minutes.” 

“Is that one up and running?” I asked looking at the one he was just working on.

“No. Sorry. It needs some more work. But it’ll just take a few minutes for me to look at this machine.”

My mother told me not to judge a book by its cover and I should have listened. The maintenance guy looked fit like he worked out regularly. And because he maintenances workout machines I assumed he used them too. I thought he’d understand endorphin addicted athlete humor.

“You’re a brave man. Interrupting a person mid-workout. We get cranky when our endorphins are interrupted.”

“Yeah well, my kids get cranky when I get home late.”

Oops! My funny joke wasn’t so funny was it? 

So I jumped off the treadmill and said, “No problem. I’ll just run the stairs for a bit.”

“Thanks. It’ll only be about 10 minutes.”

I quickly realized the stairwells were not air conditioned! OMG! It was like a sauna in there! The gym was on the first floor. So I ran up the four flights of stairs then power walked through the top floor to the stair well on the other side of the building. At least the hallways were cool. I only managed two sweeps before I couldn’t take the heat any more. I hoped ten minutes had passed already and headed back to the gym to finish my date with the treadmill. 

I had a terrible thought on my way back to the gym; what if someone else came in while I was gone and jumped on the treadmill before me!? I’d have to wait longer! Chuck would be done with his work out before me too. OH! So help me, if someone bogarts my machine there will be hell to pay! ARGH!

I burst into the gym and there is a NEW GUY standing there! The maintenance guy was still bent over one of the machines working on it. I looked at the new guy. I looked at the machines. One was not being used and the maintenance guy was working on the other. Were they both down now??

I looked at the new guy again. He looked at me. 

“He won’t let me get on the machine.”

“What?”

The new guy pointed at the maintenance guy, “He told me you were coming back and he wouldn’t let me get on the machine.”

I looked at the maintenance guy bent over a machine. He looked up, “Oh. You’re back.” He gestured to the other machine. “It’s ready to go. I told him not to get on it because you’d be right back.” 

“Oh thank you so much!” I said to the maintenance guy. I looked at the new guy, “Thank you. I only have 15 minutes left.”

I jumped on MY machine that the maintenance guy SAVED for me. Thanks to the maintenance guy, I had a great workout and road a great endorphin high for the rest of the night. 

I hope he got home on time and had a lovely night with his kids.