I sent this email to a few of my runner friends yesterday to gauge their opinions, and I thought I'd post it here so you could all share your collective wisdom with me.

Back story: In July, I signed up to run the Shamrock half marathon with friends. At the time I thought all my foot woes would be behind me. In reality, we know that hasn't been the case. We're about three weeks out from the race, my foot is starting to feel better and I'm starting to get the burning desire to toe the starting line again.

And that brings us to the email:

So on a scale of one to I would be a complete and total moron, where do you think me still trying to run Shamrock falls?

I haven't been able to run much the last month+ as you all know. But I've been spinning regularly 2-4 times per week and last weekend I did 2 hours of spin followed by a 4.5 mile run without any problems....so endurance-wise I'm OK.

Foot-wise...it's doing kind of better...but still has moments of hurting like a B.

If I don't run to race....and just you know try to finish...would it still be really stupid?

Share your insights and wisdom!

So my wonderful Internet runner friends, what say you? Would I be a stupid fool for trying to do this?

When I joined the gym, I quickly realized, I didn't really have any way to listen to my music while I was lifting.

On runs, I would shove my phone into my fuel belt with my key and ID, but I wasn't going to wear the belt at the gym, I'd look like a complete goon.

So I experimented with shoving my phone down my sports bra, sticking it in the waistband of my capris, etc. Obviously none of these methods worked very well because as soon as I moved the phone would go crashing to the floor of the weight room.

Not ideal.

Conveniently as I was going through my "how the heck am I going to listen to music while lifting" crisis, the folks at Fitletic reached out to me to see if I wanted to test out one of their phone-holder armbands.



Perfect timing friends!

The armband is great because it keeps my phone safe and out of my way. Plus it's not bulky so it doesn't get in the way of my movements.

But what's really made the whole listening to music while lifting thing more ideal is the new Sol Republic Relay headphones I've been testing out.



These headphones are probably the best I've ever used. The sound quality is amazing and they do a great job blocking out the sounds of grunting men and weights being slammed to the floor at the gym.

But my favorite feature of the headphones is a little clip they have near the earbuds. It's such a simple feature, but I love that I can clip the cord to my top so it stays out of the way while I'm lifting.



Whoever designed that is a genius. The cord doesn't dangle in my face every time I bend to pick up a weight. I don't get all tangled in it every time I change the way I move. It is seriously the best.

Plus I love the awesome blue color.

The headphone are available to be ordered from Verizon. They're $79.99, which is normally a lot more than I'd ever pay for headphones.



I'm usually the $10-cheapest I can find headphone purchaser, but I guess headphones are a you get what you pay for kind of thing. My other headphones have been crap in terms of sound quality, their ability to stay in my ears, etc.

These Relays have been amazing and a huge upgrade.

Between the new headphones and the armband, I've been able to listen to my jams without a problem at the gym. It's nice to listen to what I want and not some of the other rather unpleasant gym sounds.

I think this weekend was the first time I really embraced the idea of being a weekend warrior -- you know, one of those people who spends a really long time working out on the weekends to make up for all the time they didn't spend in the gym during the week.

Like I said earlier, my schedule was a little out of control last week and I knew the gym just wasn't going to happen.

By Saturday morning I was antsy to spend some quality time working out, and luckily (? or perhaps maybe unluckily?) I have a few friends at the gym who are in the middle of Ironman training.

That means they have some seriously killer workouts on the books for the weekends.

And on Saturday, I joined in the "fun." On the schedule was two hours of spin, followed by a 45-minute run.

I got to the gym by 8 a.m. for two back-to-back spin classes. This week I remembered to wear my tri shorts, so my butt was much, much less sore afterward than last week. #winning.

I also wore my heart rate monitor so I could keep an eye on how I hard I was working. I knew I'd need to keep my heart rate at a pretty low level during the spin classes if I wanted to have anything left in the tank on the run.


Garmin with total workout time and total running distance

Let's also remember that this was the first time I was attempting to run in close to four weeks. My plantar fasciitis still bothers me sometimes, but for whatever reason, on Saturday morning it was really cooperating, and I was eager to try a run.

The two spin classes went well. I managed to keep my heart rate between 120-135 bpm for most of the workout.

After a quick change in the locker room, I headed outside to run. In shorts and a t-shirt! In February!


Clearly questioning my own sanity for deciding to do this run

I flipped my Garmin to the run screen and tried not to think about how much the run would suck.

And suck it did. My foot held up just fine. In fact it didn't bother me at all.

But my legs felt like dead weight after the bike, and even when that loosened itself up I still felt like I was moving so, so slowly.

It's probably a good thing I couldn't really see the number for my heart rate while the run, because it was spiking into the 180s. So I was working really, really hard to maintain a really not fast pace. Oh running fitness, you have left me completely.


Running stats

When we were finished with the run, and I was looking at the numbers, my gym buddy gave me a hard time about how high my heart rate spiked. He told me I should have told him so we slowed down. But we averaged 9:34 per mile on the run. If we were to have slowed down so that my heart rate dropped into the 140s I think we would have been looking at like 13 minute miles.

I actually didn't feel too dreadful after the workout except for the massive blister I got on my right foot.


Emergency blister supplies

This morning though the DOMS has officially set in. I'm rocking my compression sleeves because the tightness in my calves is out of control.

But, it was a fun workout and I'm glad I managed to stick it out through the whole thing.

Remember how I said in my last post that I was trying to find a routine at the gym.

I had fallen in to a nice pattern of spinning on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and lifting on Tuesday and Thursday, with flexibility on the weekends depending on my schedule.

I was happy to be shifting back to morning workouts as my schedule got busier and more of my free time in the evenings was either spent teaching my class or grading papers.

But this week has derailed my beautiful schedule a little bit.

My work schedule has been a bit out of the norm and I've been slammed with in-person meetings that have eaten in to my gym time. (You can't be smelly and sweaty when meeting with senior executive.)

I also have something on my calendar after work every night of the week, so it's not like I could easily shift my workouts to after work either.

I haven't stepped foot in the gym since Sunday, and this far in the week, I'm definitely starting to notice all the extra energy and anxiety I'm carrying around as a result.

Last night I got home around 9:30 p.m. and was seriously considering trying to jam in a workout just because I felt on edge and I knew it would calm me down. But at the same time, I knew I had a really important meeting at work today that I needed to be alert for. Going to bed really late wasn't an option.

I know this week is sort of an abnormality. Sometimes busy weeks happen and something in my schedule has to give. This week it's been my workouts. I don't love it, but I keep trying to tell myself it's temporary.

Realistically, I think Friday is the earliest I'll be able to make a gym appearance this week. I'm trying to be OK with that, but I do miss the feel-good endorphins that follow a workout.

How do you handle super busy weeks when the gym just isn't happening?

My foot is still being a giant pain, and I'm really starting to question this plantar fasciitis diagnosis I got. I might try to get an appointment with a podiatrist for a second opinion.

But in the meantime, I've been trying to keep active as best as I can.

I'm getting in to a semi-regular schedule at the gym, spinning a few times a week for my cardio and then following my strength training plan the other days of the week.


Gym locker-room selfie

On Saturday, I met up with my new gym buddy (the one training for Ironman Texas) to get in a nice long spin. His plan called for four hours in the saddle, which sounds pretty dreadful if you ask me, but I decided to join him for the first two hours.

My gym has back-to-back spin classes on Saturday morning, so I showed up at 8 for the first class -- which I have to say was a terrible class. I really don't like the instructor, her attitude, her music or really anything about her at all. Her classes are just not fun.

I took it pretty easy through that first class, using it mainly as a warm-up for the second hour.

The second class was taught by my favorite spin instructor -- the one with awesome music, excellent drills and an all-around happy and encouraging attitude.

My legs were feeling good after the first hour, so I pushed it hard in the second hour of class.

By the time my two hours in the saddle were done, I was a sweaty mess and my butt hurt big time because I hadn't worn my tri shorts. That was a poor decision on my part when I knew I was going to be on a bike for that long.


The shorts I should have worn.

The class was a good workout though and a reminder that somewhere deep down I still have some endurance left. It might not be on the running front, but at least it exists.

I felt bad for my gym buddy, who still had two more hours of biking and 30 minutes of running to go when I was leaving for the day. Ironman training just sounds brutal.

What workouts did you fit in this weekend?

Happy Valentine's Day from my favorite munchkins.


Don't they look handsome?

I went to visit my cousin Laura and the babies the other day because my dad -- known in the family as the "baby whisperer" for his uncanny ability to calm down a crying baby no matter how upset it is -- was in town to meet them.


Me, dad and the babies

We spent the day having some serious play time.





And perhaps some serious party time?


Rock on little buddy!

Which was then followed with some very serious snoozing.





Man I could snuggle with these guys all day. And perhaps I should more often since holding a cute baby does wonders for my stress levels.

Happy Valentine's Day!

One of the things I've always loved about the running community is how dedicated people are to giving back.

It seems like every major race these days has several charity partners, and individual runners can sign up to train and run with groups for charity.

There are races that exist solely for the purpose of remembering or honoring someone who has died, where funds earned from the race are used to support that person's family or donated to research into their cause of death.

I've always thought that made the running community unique and something that I was proud to be a part of.

So when Dave, one of the co-founders of Janji, reached out to me to tell me a little bit about his company, I was definitely interested in learning more.

Janji is a running apparel company that provides food and water to those in need.

Runners require proper hydration and ample nutrition to train, run 5Ks and finish marathons. At the same time, millions of people around the world lack the basic necessities for survival.

We can change that.

Through each purchase of Janji’s distinctive running apparel, a portion of proceeds funds organizations that are alleviating the worst problems related to food and water. By funding solutions and raising awareness through our apparel, Janji wants to create a nation of runners that run for another and eliminate the global food and water crisis.

Janji offers all the basic apparel a runner would need -- a variety of tops and bottoms in different colors, cuts and styles.

Dave sent me a long sleeve top and a pair of shorts from the Rwanda collection to try out.



Each top or bottom that Janji offers is part of a collection based on the country the sale of that item supports.

The sale of my outfit would help fight malnutrition in Rwanada. For each piece of Rwanda apparel sold, a child receives three days of medical treatment for malnutrition.



Janji provides support to several other countries where people are struggling with access to food or water, including here at home in the United States.

Something about the mission of this company really struck a cord with me. I buy tons of workout gear every year, and will truthfully admit, I don't really think about where that money goes. It's nice to know that there's a company where I can buy high-quality running gear that does something positive with that money to help another person.

And as for my thoughts on the gear, I have to say, I love it. I can't believe how soft the fabric is. I could wear this stuff every day to knock around the house.



But it also performs really well in the gym. I love the wide waistband on the shorts, and the long-sleeve top has thumbs, which is my favorite feature in long-sleeve running tops.

Check out Janji and its mission and all the great gear they offer on the company's website.

Saturday was an awesome success at the gym.

First, I think I finally found the best spin instructor that teaches there. Her playlist absolutely rocked, and I found myself singing along to every song that came on. She yelled a lot, but in an encouraging, not mean way, which is the way I like my spin instructors.

They have to be loud and have a lot of energy or else I'm not going to push myself very hard in the class.

She also had a lot of variety in what we did. We were in and out of the saddle a lot doing a mix of sprints and hills. By the end of the class, I knew hands down that I had gotten the best spin workout yet since I joined the gym.

I keep meaning to wear my heart rate monitor to class so I can compare how hard one class is in relation to another, but I keep forgetting.

The other reason Saturday was such a great success at the gym was because I met a new training buddy!

A kid sitting a few bikes over from me had on a shirt from a tri I'm thinking about doing this summer, so after class I was asking him about it, and in the course of our conversation, I found out he's training for Ironman Texas and was always up for someone to swim, bike and run with.

Not that I will be doing anything near his volume of training, but it will be nice to have someone to bike with when the weather gets nice and someone to convince me to get back in the pool.

Plus, when it's early in the morning and it's cold and you told someone you'd meet them at the gym at a certain time, it'd be a really dick move to not show up. So, three cheers for motivation by way of guilt.

The rest of the weekend wasn't so bad either. I watched the Opening Ceremonies, the Terps actually won their basketball game on Saturday and I managed to get all my students' papers graded without too much extra stress.

How was your weekend?

It's Thursday, which means we're thisclose to having survived another week, and I know for sure I will be glad when the weekend gets here.

Work and my techie meetings:
Work is kicking my butt every which way. I feel like I write that a lot these days, but this re-org that we're going through is seriously killing me. It's all going to be better when we come out the other side, but in the meantime it means lots of long hours, lots of stress and very little sleep.



For example, Monday I woke up at 2 a.m. and couldn't fall back to sleep. All I was doing was thinking about the mountain of things I had to do at work, the problems I needed to solve and the fires that need to be put out. I tossed and turned until about 4:30 a.m. and finally dozed off for another hour until my alarm went off at 5:30 a.m.

I'm not sure how I functioned in the office on Tuesday, but somehow I managed to power through all my meetings. But when I got home from work I passed out at 8 p.m. Not even kidding. My plan was to take a little nap and wake up and do some more work, when I could function at a slightly higher cognitive level. Clearly that didn't happen.

All that to say, I'm not complaining about my job. In fact, I love it, perhaps now more than ever. There are some really cool projects going on that I'm excited about and new opportunities are dropping in my lap almost daily.

Like for example, this week I get to go to Google's DC HQ to work some some stuff with the folks over there, and on Tuesday, I got to meet with Tumblr's government liaison. So yea, my job is awesome, but I will be glad when my plate is a little less full and I can sleep normally again.

Working Out:
Spin class is my new workout addiction. I've been experimenting with different instructors and different class times, and I'm starting to figure out who my favorites are. My gym offers classes every morning at 5:45 a.m., which is the perfect time for me on the days I work from home. I can work out, walk back home and feel energized to dive into work.



The gym also offers evening classes that I've experimented with too. I haven't found one instructor I totally loved like I had back in York many moons ago. But the instructor yesterday played a good mix of music -- some country, some Backstreet Boys, some Katy Perry -- so he's creeping up on my favorites list.

For me, spin is all about the music. I can do anything as long as there are some good jams playing in the background for me to rock out to.

Class:
I'm teaching at the University of Maryland again this semester, and I'm really excited to be back in the classroom. We just wrapped up the second week of class, and I can already tell I have a great group of kids this year. They're interested and engaged and always come to class with good things to discuss.



The class I teach is a lot of hard work. We're in the classroom 4 hours each week, and then the kids have multiple writing assignments on top of that. It's a journalism class after all and the best way to learn how to write like a journalist is to practice writing like a journalist. Of course, that means a ton of grading for me, but it hasn't gotten too bad yet this semester.

I'm trying to keep a better handle on the work load this year. I know last year, I let myself get really overwhelmed and bogged down with assignments, and this year I'm determined to not let that happen, especially with everything else I've got going on.

All work and no play makes me a very sad girl.

So that's what's been going on with me lately. It's a lot, but I function best when I'm busy. The more I've got on my plate, the more driven I become (though inversely, the less I sleep, which is probably bad.)

One more day til the weekend, when I can kick back and do some relaxing!

I'm starting to think I should change the name of this blog to "Jess Does Everything Other Than Run."

My plantar fasciitis is still being a pain in the butt (or more realistically in the foot) so running has been tabled for other activities -- mainly lifting and cycling.

All the cross-training I've been doing has been getting me kind of excited about the idea of tackling another triathlon this summer. I've been researching some sprint distance tris in the area, because I figure by this summer, my foot might be OK to run about 3 miles at the end of a swim and bike.

Nothing's set in stone yet, but I'm definitely kicking it around.

So the timing really couldn't have been better when MooMotion Sports reached out to me to see if I'd be interested in reviewing some tri gear.



MooMotion Sports is a sports apparel company created by Melissa Moo Harkins -- a marathoner, three-time Ironman finisher and a graduate of the Parsons School of Design. Melissa wanted to create triathlon gear that not only performed well in endurance events, but also flattered the women training and racing in the gear.

The company sent me two pieces to try out -- the Hudson Tri Jersey and the Revolution Short.


Front view

I've worn both the shorts and the jersey on a few of my rides on the trainer, and I have to say, Melissa definitely hit the mark with this gear. The shorts are the perfect length. Long enough to prevent chafing and awkward rubbing on the bike, but not so long that they touch my knee. The elastic around the leg openings holds them in place really well, and the seat cushion was comfy without being overly bulky.


Back view

The top performed equally well. When I first pulled it on, I thought it was going to be a little too short for my torso and start to ride up, but it stayed in place perfectly during the ride. There are pockets on the back to stash gels or other fuel, and the color-block style cut and fit definitely flattered.

I'm excited for the weather to get nicer so that I can try the gear in some open water, but so far, I've been pretty impressed. I also love a lot of the other designs and styles MooMotion Sports offers online -- I had a really hard time picking which pieces I wanted to try out.

Good morning and happy Monday! I promise I have a post today that's more enjoyable than last night's Super Bowl. My friend Jason -- you may remember him as the friend whose marathons I tend to spectate frequently -- decided it would be a fun experiment to try a juice fast.


Me and Jason icing our knees after MCM 2012

He asked me if he could write a guest post about the whole process, and I said that would be an awesome idea. So today, I've got the first part of his post. It's his rationalization for trying this whole thing and the beginning stages of the fast. Later this week, I'll post his recap of how the whole thing went, along with his takeaways from the process.

So on that note -- here's Jason:

When I decide to do something, I often approach it with an all or nothing mentality. The first race I ever tackled was the marathon and hit distances of 5k, 10k and “the half” only along the way. So, when my roommate asked me if I would consider doing a juice fast with her, there was no hesitation: I was in.


Jason running RnR USA a few years ago

I have friends who are vegetarians, pescatarians and vegans, so I know a lot about limiting your menu in the name of a healthier lifestyle. But the juice fast was going to require research, investment and most importantly, some guts.

Over the holiday break, I was out with some friends and got to talking about the juice fast. One friend, a clinical pharmacologist, shook her head in disapproval at the idea. She explained that the theory behind a juice fast: Namely, the idea of resting your body from the daily intake of toxins was absurd. She pointed to the kidneys and liver as proof that we can eat various whole foods and process them without needing to take a break.

Though she’s right about the function of our bodies, the real theory behind the juice fast is broader and takes an holistic approach to our health. By taking only fruits and vegetables and then juicing them the only thing going into our bodies is water and nutrients. We’re eliminating the gluten, whey, casein and various other proteins that we find in bread, milk, and meat. We’re eliminating all refined sugars and every gram of fat from our diet. In essence we’re fasting but allowing our bodies to remain fueled by a few essential components.


Mmmm juice...

Does our body get to “rest” because we’re avoiding the pasta, chicken, and steak? The truth is, I don’t know. The internet is full of contradictory information and there’s no consensus on the benefits or detriments of this fast.

So, why exactly am I doing this? To me, just like the marathon, it’s a chance to see how my body reacts to a new set of norms.

Consider your experiences while training for long distance races. While reaching new speeds, distances or other limits we feel our body react and learn a great deal about ourselves. We find out that we love running in the heat, or late at night, or on an empty stomach. We figure out the perfect ratio of miles to stretching only after a painful experience with IT band syndrome. We try new things, we push further and the results inspire our next moves to be faster and stronger.

Ultimately, I just want to see what happens. Will I get weak or push through? Will I sleep better or have headaches all night? Will my skin dry out or glow? And always the question on our minds: will I run faster?

Let’s find out!