So I have blogged more in the last three days then I have in the last three months. We will see how long this lasts for; hopefully I blog once a week minimum anything more will be an accomplishment.

So before I go to bed I keep a note book beside my bed and if I have any thoughts I write them down. No matter how crazy or stupid they are I jot those bad boys down. Nights after running or before races I always write down motivational stuff or stuff that’s going on in my head. To me it seems like I’m pulling these thoughts out of my head throwing them on paper and in return, clears my head which, means sleep time.

Above, is a perfect example of crazy Teagan’s thoughts on paper. Staying motivated is really hard in life and really hard in sport, any sport. Running is not fun (sometimes). No matter which way you cut the cake or reasoning lots of runs, races, and practices suck. When racing ALL runners have thought “why don’t I just quit; drop out” racing is hard sometimes and when people pass you, or that cramp starts, or your muscles get weak. All one can think about is dropping out. DO NOT DROP OUT (unless you’re actually dying or hurt) finishing is the best feeling in the whole entire world if you’re first or last. I have been both and every race I have pushed through or walked out I am legitimately happy I made it to the end.

Sometimes when the body gives up and you can not go on people categorize you as Disqualified, didn’t finish or , failed. Well you obviously did not finish but you sure as hell did not fail. One of the best quotes I have heard is ” I’ve got failed attempts dialed” How do you know to get better if you don’t make it sometimes? I use to stress constantly at night (boarder line insomnia) about running, money, school, work, you name it. Then I realized everything will happen how it happens and you just have to stay motivated. Deep down inside you’re the only one who can keep yourself going; friends, families, teams, videos, and speeches help. But when it comes down to the line and gun goes off it’s you in your head getting through the race. I just chit chat up a storm in there to keep going.

These are some of my FAVORITE motivational sport videos EVER. God working in Nike’s marketing department would be the coolest thing ever!

I’ve got soul

Excuses

Game is on

So how do you stay motivated?

So the Frank Wednesday night races are all complete for fall series 2010. It was a fantastic series of races; I was hurt for some of them, not hurt for others and excited to run certain ones. Tonight I was SO sore from lifting practice on Monday I decided to take it easy, really easy. Until about the 3km mark I realized with the help of my coach yelling at me that I should race out the last 3.2km so I did just that I raced my ass off. Passed an ass load of people and passed 5 people 50 feet out of the finish line. On my way in I passed this old man who told me a) not to pass him by yelling “DON’T” and b) swore at me after I passed him. That was the ultimate flattery, he was swearing because I am a better runner, kicked his ass, and it was at the finish line. BOOM.

For these races we had chipped bibs we use for the whole series my first race number was 444 then I lost it, my replacement was 666 the number of the beast. I LOVE that bib! I want to frame it together we had a great series with lots of ups and downs. It is like a security blanket kids have they take everywhere but it’s just a bib that runs with you every Wednesday for 7 weeks.

Anyways it was really good! I’m excited for Spring series and provies on the 30th!

So obviously I am not very good at blogging on a regular basis. I have decided to try and get on this blogging business more; perhaps I am too busy running haha.

So running has been crazy busy lately like CRAZY busy. Wednesday is the last Franks race which is unreal the season goes by so dang fast; hell provincials are next week as well! October 30th is our big day for Ooks! We are all very excited and everyone is starting to improve.

Unfortunately I did not get to run the Fall Classic due to the fact our ACAC race got moved to Sunday so scouts could go to high school provincials. So I had to miss that 8km road race in support of Mustard Seed; however my “ghost” ran the race. My boyfriend and his friend ran the race. His friend ran under my bib apparently I ran approx 40 minutes which is not bad (haha). The ACAC race was awesome! Everyone ran very well on a hard course. The weather was great and we had a lot of fun. Post race we had a good team munch at Boston Pizza then headed home! I also ran in my old Nike victory zooms and totally blew out both sides of them. Ripped from laces to base, which sucks I loveeeeeees them. Perhaps it is time to purchase another pair of fancy runners which, would make 5 pairs and 1 pair of spikes.

Check it out Saucony Grid Type A4′s = LOVESTHEM!

So I am pretty sure these are the next runners I am going to purchase. The last thing I should do is buy them but rules and budgets are made to be broken (sometimes). Especially with some sexy runners like that and provincials coming up! I will be zooming around everywhere.

My life has been crazy busy with work, school, and running. Busy is good though, if I was not busy who knows what I would be doing? Learning to play Dungeons and Dragons?

This week of training……………………………is not really that exciting.

• Monday – Ooks prac weight training
• Tuesday – 15 spin 15 run 15 spin + abs
• Wednesday – 6.2 km race w/ Ooks team
• Thursday – 6-12-6
• Friday – 30 minute LSD
• Saturday – Ooks practice Goldstick = death
• Sunday – 30 minute LSD

Upcoming races;

1. ACAC Provincials Goldstick park [Oct 30]
2. Saucony XC race Goldstick park [Nov 13]
3. Santa Shuffle Hawrelak park [Dec 4]

BYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.

BOOM

So it’s coming close to registration for some races. Well not that close but close enough that I have been pricing things out for the 2011 race year. Holy god it will be expensive. I am use to paying 25 Texas dollars to run 5-8 XC races in the spring and fall. I GET PAID to run with the Ooks and the money I pay for other races is MAX $40 and it is for charity races like the Fall Classic coming up on October 17th to support the Mustard Seed church [EVERYONE GO REGISTER NOW] The most money I ever spend on competitions is triathlons they are usually approx $100 and lets get serious that is 3 sports in one. It’s worth the money to orchestrate those events.

The races that I am looking into doing are

1. Sylvan Lake Duathlon $70 plus renewal of ATA fees ~$35
2. Sinister 7 Ultra marathon $200 plus $$ to stay and eat in Blairmore AB
3. Canadian Death Race $350 + GST plus $$ to stay and eat in Grand Cache AB
4. Edmonton Intact Marathon $100
5. Another Triathlon (undecided until schedule comes out)

This comes to a grand total of $755.00 not including accommodation and another tri! It is craziness how much money we spend to compete. That is a trip to Mexico! Lets get serious here I am still a student and will be until April 2011 this will be tough no matter which way you cut it!

Also, so far my DR and Sinister teams is made up of 2 “for sures” myself and my boyfriend. I think it will be hard to get people on board to run DR with us when they find out they have to pay $350 to run. Lets hope people see the benefit and good times they will get out of it!

Bis dann

SOOO
On Saturday us Ooks got their run on in Red Deer. It was an all around below average race for an above average team. The woman’s course was not marked properly and a bunch of us went the wrong direction. One of our women fell into barbwire fencing and our top male runner passed out while running. Like running……black out….fall. It was brutal however; the only way we can go is up!

The Red Deer run is long and the hills have tree roots sticking all up everywhere causing mass accidents. Not my favorite course to run on but now it is out of the way! Here are some of my favorite pictures from the day!

After the wrong turn incident we all kind of gave up. Our coach always talks to us about the mental game of running. When you are running and you go the wrong way, fall, pass somebody you start to give up and slow down. Training yourself to keep going at your normal pace and getting back in to the groove takes a lot of work and mental “toughness” When you are running and pass somebody you win a little bit. If you maintain that pace for even 200 M the person behind you might slow down a bit giving you the advantage. This is how you over take people in races and get ahead. Personally when someone passes me I feel like crap and slow down and I know my team does the same. This is our main thing we need to work on.

This week of training looks like this;

Monday – Ooks praccy hill training gold stick park

Tuesday – Fast Trax 6 x 5 min intervals

Wednesday – Race George Smith Special 6.44 km

Thursday – Fast Trax 24 x 15 sec intervals

Friday – Moksha Yoga

Saturday – Ooks race day Goldstick park

Shall be a good week and looking forward to racing  on Saturday smushing everyone we can. Fall is here indefinitely the leaves are falling off and it smells like rotting poop BUT it’s really pretty out; and muddy aka dirty = FUN aka see below.

Also, I’m big on running/fitness advertisements. I am in marketing as well so I look up ads often and I think this one and this whole series was done really well!

Peas Out

Last night at run club I decided to pick up my first pair of barefoot trainers. They are the silliest looking things I have EVER seen however, they are suppose to work wonders.

http://www.vibramfivefingers.com/indexNA.htm

There they are my barefoot trainers; just got lucky that they are pink as well. I debated purchasing these for a very long time. I understood the benefits and have trained in bare feet before but never thought of it as a tool for my running. Last night I tried on a few pairs first a pair that were purple leather with no strap but they were too small and then I tried a bigger size that were red and a little different and they were huge! Then I finally tried on these ones and they fit perfect who would have thought! haha

I didn’t want the trainers that look like little moon booties! Those are too hardcore and weird looking even for me. But who knows one day I might be busting out the full foot booties. Below are the styling moon boot type business. These fancy shoes also come in an array of colors, patterns and styles; everyone can add their own personal flare and make them their own.

If you break it down the genius behind these shoes it is there. We were born with feet for a reason and for many years there were no shoes; everyone was gallivanting around in bare feet or light leather moccasin shoes. These shoes work the core stabilizers in your feets and improves ankle strength. Strong feet and ankle muscles can help improve your balance, stability and reduce the risk of injury.

Since having these and trying them out I can vouch for them and will continue to wear them. I will prance around in my silly shoes and get all the strange looks from people! If you’re a runner, yogi, fitness junkie and or any other type of athlete invest!

Running week looks like……..

• M 6min – 18min – 6min
• T 14 x 90sec w/ 90sec recovery ~ start @ 3min
• W 6min – 18min – 6min
• T 16 x 1min w/ 1min recovery ~ start @ 2min
• F 24min – 6min
• S 18 x 45sec w/ 1:15min recovery ~ start @ 2min
• S – 45 min AR

Had a fantastic and relaxing weekend out at the cabin; however the weekend is over and it is back to fitness time! 3 more weeks until XC starts up again which is very exciting and mildly nerve racking. The first week of September may be the equivalent to hell but I will survive.

Fall is right around the corner; I feel it in air when I come to work in the mornings. Fall weather is the perfect setting for runs. There is nothing more relaxing then running through the river valley when the seasons are changing. We also get to bust out our fancy pants running gear we buy to make it through our winters. Spandex pants pretty much rock my world and fall means I get to wear them again. Oh and cooler weather means when I get home from my run it doesn’t look like I jumped in a lake.

I am in LOVE with my new-ish Asics GEL-Speedstar® 4 they are amazing. They’re also PINK not the gross baby pink color running companies use. Real Pink. Very stylish if you ask me.

I love buying runners I have 4 pairs and 1 pair of spikes = 5 overall. It’s like Paris Hilton buys stripper shoes and I buy running shoes. Loves it!