J&J Running

Here's the latest running buzz from Waukesha: Joy & Joe continue to get better! It's been over three years since we transformed ourselves into runner's. I've been running injury-free, with no lapses in training, for nearly 2 years, and Joe has been running strong since January - the lengthiest bit of time he has been able to consistently train - ever! The results are encouraging.

For me, I continue to shave minutes off my finishing times. It seems, on average, I'm getting about 1 minute per mile faster each year, which is a huge improvement. Joe is gaining speed even quicker than that (apparently his DNA is more gifted with fast twitch muscle fibers than mine!). During speed training on the treadmill, Joe is cranking out 7:30 minute miles, while I'm hitting an 8:50 pace. On our outdoor long runs (translation = harder running because you are propelling yourself forward instead of the belt of a treadmill, you're in the elements, and on varied terrain), I'm consistently coming in well under a 10:30 pace, while Joe is usually at 8:00 or less. Last week I finished 7 miles on a hilly route with a 10:12 pace, and this week's 8-miler was completed at a 10:13 pace. As our speed increases, the heart rates are not, which is even more rewarding, as it means our lactate threshold is growing, allowing us to use less energy to run harder, faster and longer. With this progress in mind, we have set our goals for next weekend's Lake to Lake 10K - Joe is aiming to finish around the 48 minute mark, while I'm seeking the 60 minute mark.

My running has also been bolstered by the addition of Wednesday morning runs with Rosanna. We meet at the gym at 5:15a.m., and hit the rolling hills of the neighborhood surrounding the club. Rosanna is a faster runner than me, but less motivated to push herself. The result is that she isn't terribly slowed down by me, but at the same time, without intending to, she pushes me to run a bit harder. She's especially helpful to me on all the hills. She is a firecracker and I am not. Uphills are my weakness, so having Rosanna there taps into my competitive spirit and ego - I don't want to be too far behind, so I give it my all. This will make me stronger, and help me prepare to run over the Hoan Bridge (twice) in July's Summerfest 10k. It also won't hurt that we're officially adding hill repeats into our runs in another week - there's this intimidating dead end street that seems to rise to the sky!

And lastly, I have to share my latest pair of Vibram Five Finger shoes with y'all. This would be pair #4 (4 pairs, 4 different models for different purposes) - they're as addictive as tattoos, you can't stop at one. These are the TrekSport, ideally suited for trail running with their thicker toe grips, and for hiking. I plan to use them for both.

What now?

The dust has settled after the whirlwind the first half of May presented - The Boy's birthday's, our Door County race weekend, our anniversary, my job interview and my job let down. So now what's on the docket in the life of Joy?

For starters, I'm making a concerted effort to take back some of my time at work. After busting my ass for more than a year, especially in the past three months that we have been short staffed, I feel I can let up a bit for the following reasons: 1) Two new full time staff will start within the next few weeks. In theory this means I will be able to reduce my case load and redistribute some of my current responsibilities. 2) Though I didn't give my extra time and energy for the purposes of getting the clinical therapist position, I can't help but feel it was not recognized or appreciated enough. I guess you could say I feel taken for granted a bit and don't want to set a precedent that becomes expected or the new normal. 3) I'm tired and need more time in life to take care of the rest of my life. When there's never time to take a true lunch break, a lot of the little tidbits that normally get done for your personal life while on that break, accumulate for home, leaving me only 30-60 minutes of true down time per night before I go to bed. That is no good. So, twice this week, I took time back. Monday was a 9.5 hour day, so though I had a ton of work on Tuesday, I kicked myself out the door an hour early, so I could have time to use my 30% Kohl's coupon before it expired. Booyah! And today, I took a full 50 minutes out of a 9.5 hour day to write checks, scan the web for vacation related info and search for scenic race locations. Booyah!

Speaking of races, I am feeling in tiptop form 2 weeks post Door County. I'm revving up now for the Lake 2 Lake Trail 10k on June 5th. This is run in the Northern Kettle Moraine Unit from Long Lake to Mauthe Lake. Joe & I will run this with Heather - her first race distance beyond a 5k! And as far as my scenic race search went today, I found this beautiful one in Canyonlands National Park in Utah - running on a road paralleling a river with the red sandstone monoliths surrounding you. The race ends in Moab, an ultra cool outdoor adventure mecca. The race is so popular that you only get in if you're lucky in their lottery system. It takes place in March and I'm thinking this would be a cool little jaunt to get away from the winter doldrums. The question is, can I convince Joe to do it? :)

A more esoteric change I'm working on is releasing my poker face. What this means is I'm going to try to break a 40 year old habit of playing it cool. I was born a sensitive and emotional (some would say moody) child. I had many insecurities and vulnerabilities that I masked behind a nonchalant exterior. If I didn't react to anything, I couldn't be embarrassed, teased, made to feel bad about myself. This served me well in school - especially in high school where one must channel coolness. And then this facade served me well in my training to be a therapist, because a good therapist does not outwardly react to the amazing and awful things a client shares. Of course my poker face will stay on at work, but I'd like loosen it up in the rest of my life and this is the reason why: To begin showing my true reactions will reflect confidence and comfortableness in myself to be okay regardless of how others respond to my reactions, and it will make me more accessible to others. Does this make sense? It seems like an important step for me to take for personal growth. But please don't confuse this with a change in personality. I am not a warm fuzzy lovey huggy kind of gal - never will be (and don't wanna be!). I will merely attempt to reveal who I really am in any given moment.

Didn't Get The Job, Again.

Shock, deflation, disappointment, acceptance.

After an awesome race weekend in Door County, with an extra day off to celebrate our anniversary, I returned to work Tuesday to find an email from my supervisor saying, "I hope you are available to interview on May 10th at 2:00p.m.". I was excited that an interview was at long last scheduled, and then I realized, "Crap! That's TODAY!" My equally skilled & qualified co-worker, Elizabeth, said she had an interview at 3:00p.m., and had heard that there were three other interviews - one more internal candidate, but not someone from our unit, and two outsiders (non-County employees). Everyone, myself included, felt it would be a slam dunk for me to secure this Clinical Therapist position - a no brainer really. I have the experience, the credentials, leadership skills, and complete knowledge of the 4 complicated programs we operate in our unit.

The interview left me pumped on adrenaline - you know how you constantly replay the questions and your responses, obsessing on what else you coulda, shoulda added? And the adrenaline continued into Wednesday, with the anticipation that my supervisor would make a decision by the end of the day before her vacation started ... And she did. In the late afternoon, she comes to my cube, and asks me to come to her office - my heart starts pounding...this is it! I'm getting the job (at last!)...and then she calls over my cube to Elizabeth (she sits in the cube next to mine), and asks her to come too. That's when I knew it was over. She wasn't calling us both in to say yes to one, and no to the other (cause this isn't American Idol!).

Once in her office, after all the crap about us being so awesome, and how she wished there were 3 positions, she tells us that it's going to someone from a different unit who has her CSAC (Certified Substance Abuse Counselor) credential, which is going to be important for our programming needs down the line. Stunned, and needing time to process this news, Elizabeth and I could say nothing, bowing out of the office graciously.

As we had more time to think this through, and talk with others, it has become clear that this is a political decision within the County. We don't know if our supervisor was told to hire this person (there are a variety of reasons for this that are too complicated to explain here), or if she did so on her own volition, being the ultimate strategist that she is. What we know is that the person hired does not have much direct clinical experience. She may have credentials that we don't have, but what will her skill level be?

Elizabeth and I, both LCSW's (Licensed Clinical Social Workers), now wonder if an LCSW, once the cat's meow, is now a dinosaur credential without the almighty CSAC attached to it. Curious about what it would take to get a CSAC, I logged into the Department of Regulation & Licensing, and learned that it's way too much work. Get this. You need to complete 360 hours of classroom education (in approved classes by approved institutions) in substance use practices - 60 hours at a minimum in 6 different aspects of the AODA (Alcohol or Other Drug Addiction) world. Once that's done, you can complete a ton of paperwork to qualify to take 2 exams. After the exams you need 4,000 hours of supervised AODA experience with substance abusing clients. So, (big sigh), we're talking years, and time and money to be a CSAC, and frankly, I don't have the motivation or the desire to pursue that. My LCSW is still a great asset, it's just that a CSAC sweetens the pot. I suspect that younger people entering the workforce are more likely to have this, as they were likely directed to pursue it while in undergrad or grad school, while this was not a focal point in my era.

There will probably not be another Clinical Therapist position in a unit of interest to me opening up for many years. So I will need to hunker down with my current assignment, which I'm not unhappy with, and stop grasping for that elusive promotion.

Aniversario Dieciocho

Today Joe & I celebrate our 18th anniversary. Hard to believe it's been that long and that we're still so young :)

As I recall it, May 1993 was a beautiful spring in Milwaukee. I was 22 years old, in my 5th year of full-time undergrad at UWM, and working part-time at the Hallmark store in the Grand Avenue Mall. Joe, at 23, was finishing his first year of professional employment as an engineer in Milwaukee, having moved here for the job after his Purdue graduation. We were two peas in a pod from the get go. I firmly believe that relationships that share similar interests and personality traits are better suited than the opposites who attract.

We planned to have today off as a rest day from the travel and race weekend. We had post-race massages scheduled for 11:00a.m., allowing us time to sleep in (in theory that is - the boys didn't go for that idea). While I was in the shower, Joe slinked out of the house to pickup the roses pictured above (of course he pre-ordered them some time ago, no way can you find these flowers on demand the day after Mother's Day) - 18 of them. Twelve in red, and six in white. The white are to acknowledge the years of legal marriage, though those of you who know us well, know that we've been married the full 18.

As often happens, our exchange of cards yielded the same train of thought. In years past, we have actually selected identical cards for each other. This year the cards focused on a lifetime of adventure - we've had many, and will have many more. While I wrote about our plethora of adventures in my card to Joe, as is tradition for him, he drew the concepts out in my card. Joe is a fantastic artist and has taken to drawing topical pictures in my cards over the years. You can't get more recent or topical than our Door County race, so Joe drew a race course with 18 miles (each mile marker noted on the course) in the formation of the number 18. Lying next to the race course, was a finishers medal with 18 emblazoned, and after that, a note reading: 18 down, 60 to go!

After unrelaxing, but effective sports massages, we dined on Volcano Tofu & Rama Tofu, and now we're home to unwind before the work week begins anew.

Door County Half Marathon

Yes! We killed it!!! Although at the time we didn't necessarily know we were killing it. It's only in hindsight that we see just how well we killed it :) But let me start from the beginning.

During our taper week we were both taking Zicam to fend off a cold. We were both feeling tired and a bit run down. We'd just PR'd at the Trailbreaker's Half Marathon 5 weeks earlier, and since then had been going non-stop with our continued training, insane work schedules and vacation planning activities, having little time for rest and relaxation. Weighing heavy on my mind was the knowledge that Door Co. is a hilly course. The Trailbreaker's was essentially flat - how would I perform on such a challenging course just weeks after giving so much to the Trailbreakers? The weather forecast did not instill enthusiasm either, as much of the week predicted rain and 40° temps.

The day before a race, the standard practice is to run an easy, loose 1-2 miles. My run Friday morning felt strong, no body parts ailed me, but that predicts nothing for race day performance, so my confidence was not bolstered. Driving to Door County, Joe asked what time I was aiming for. I realized I had avoided thinking about this, setting up a lack of expectation for myself - highly unusual for me. Joe was aiming for a PR - this was to be his 4th half marathon, but his 1st one run without injury and with full training completed - with a time under 1:53 (his Trailbreaker's PR, which included a little bit of walking). I considered my training runs, the nature of the course and decided that a time of 2:20 would be my dream time, 2:22 would be okay, and anything under 2:27 (my time for the hilly Madison course run in the heat & humidity of May 2010) would be acceptable. As it turns out, we both met our goals. But more on that in a moment.

Leaving Milwaukee in the sun, we arrived in Door County Friday afternoon as clouds began taking over the sky. We drove the course through Peninsula State Park, oohing and ahhing over the scenery and vistas we would have the next day. Aside from the large hill climb from mile 4.5-5.5, the rest seemed like quietly undulating hills that "wouldn't be too bad." My confidence was rising. We stopped at the Ephraim Village Hall for packet pick-up, and my confidence rose higher with superstition when I received bib #811 (8 being my favorite & lucky number), and when we arrived at the High Point Inn (HPI), I was downright excited for the weekend and the race.

The HPI was beautiful. Tasteful & elegant, we had a large bedroom replete with a whirlpool hot tub, a separate bathroom, a full kitchen (we brought our own viddles, including our typical pre-long run pasta dinner), a living room with a fireplace (and a nice HDTV flat screen) AND a patio. All the rooms had windows looking into trees, the patio was private and tree surrounded as well. The inn, hosting many runners, had Camelbak water bottles, granola bars and bananas waiting on the kitchen counter when we entered our suite. The race director had organized shuttle service to the race, with a trolley arranged to pick us up at the inn by 7:50a.m. Everything was set, no worries.

I usually have a poor, anxiety filled night of sleep before a major race, but Friday night I slept sound, accumulating close to 8 hours of restorative sleep. The morning dawned crisp, but sunny. Yes! Sun! Whatever happened to the forecast for rain? We had a two hour wait for the race to begin. We took a spot on a bench overlooking the bay, people watching, stretching and trying to quell the nerves. I wasn't drinking, but I went to the port-O-potty 4 times! That's anxiety for you.

1500 runners left the start line at 10:00a.m. The course immediately offered rewards with picturesque views of bright blue waters, pine trees and birch. Watching my pace to insure I don't expend too much energy up front, I'm shocked that I'm clocking a 9:30 pace for much of the first 2 miles. I keep telling myself to slow down, but am comfortable at this speed. Near mile 4 we run past a charming, well kept cemetery. At 4.5 miles in we begin the infamous climb that won't end for close to a mile. I pass runners who begin walking. I am rejuvenated at mile 5 by the pirates (yes, I said pirates) manning the aide station near the top of the hill. I crest the hill. I begin flying down the other side of the hill, nearing mile 6. The bottom of the hill coincides with a bend in the road where spectators are gathered, and my gym friend, Jaime, is there cheering me on. She asks, "How do you feel?", thumbs pointing up, I reply, "I feel great!", and that was the truth. I was flying high, feeling strong. Literally 2 minutes later I was fighting the mental chatter of "I'm tired, I want to walk". That's how it goes with running, one minute is great, the next it sucks, so you keep with it, knowing all of those thoughts will change.

The next 4 miles take a toll, up, down, up, down. What looked like no big deal in the car, is becoming fatiguing. But I'm doing well. I'm appreciating the bright blue sky behind the white birch trees, the cool air keeping me from overheating and the sun beaming it's blessing onto this day. Mile 9, we crest another hill, and are rewarded with a panorama of the bay below. I know from the drive that it's downhill for the next 2 miles - a well deserved break.

Mile 12, I'm having the rumblings of cramps shimmying up my left Achilles. I will not allow it to happen. I direct my breath into my Achilles. I check my watch and see it's at 2:08. I'm running uphill, but know that even if I crawled, I will meet my first goal to finish in 2:20 (10:42 pace)!! I have 1.1 miles to go. What's one mile? That's only 10 more minutes. I can do this. Then begins the compulsive distance checking of my watch: 12.4 miles, 12.48 miles, 12.63 miles, etc. The last 1/2 mile dragged on and on. Where the hell is that damn finish line?! And then, there it is. I see the clock, I check my watch, the crowd is cheering, cow bells are ringing, and I cross the mat. The race director is shaking my hand, another person is putting the finisher's medal over my head, I'm looking for Joe and I'm proud. Proud that I killed it.

Joe finds me, tells me he killed it too with a PR at 1:50 (8:22 pace). As it turns out, Joe finishes 241st out of a field of 1235 runners, and out of 511 males, Joe is 171st. We spent the rest of the day, and much of the drive home today deconstructing the race. We're thrilled that all the hard work of training through the cold, icy snowy winter and spring has paid off. And we're even more thrilled to redirect our attention to the lesser 10k distance over the summer months.

You Say It's Your Birthday!

HAPPY 1 YEAR BIRTHDAY CHACO & DENALI !!!

The boys turn one today and are pictured above in the trundle bed Aunt Shirley just sent them. They came to live with us exactly six months ago, and in that time we've come to love a million things about them. First and foremost are their endearing personalities. Both are extremely sweet, docile, kindhearted fellas - not a mean bone in their bodies. Both are similar, and yet quite different with special quirks that make them individuals. Here are some things about each that are unique, and for which we love them.

CHACO

• He's quite the talker


• Loves to be upside down - lying on his back on us, on the floor, or while held in the air


• Comes galloping into a room and plops down on us with total abandon - sometimes while still air born


• He rivals Pele for soccer moves - he has a wicked back foot side swat when playing with his balls


• Balls are his favorite toys - he carries them around, bats them around, brings them to us to play fetch, drops them in Joe's shoes, drops them in his water bowl (nothing like a soggy wet ball), and loses them behind furniture


• Unrivaled athletic prowess - super strong, fast and agile AND he never tires


• He becomes amorous with us at 3a.m. - purring by our faces, and flopping down on his back, partly on us (often over my neck), to be pet.


• He gently taps our heads or faces when he wants something. He also gently taps Denali's head when he's interested in starting a wrestling match


• He's a big boy, weighing in at 11.5 pounds - not fat at all, just big & strong

DENALI

• Not a big talker, he has this adorable squeaky voice


• He likes to give loves bites to thighs when you're sitting on the toilet, and if you're Joy, he likes to jump in your lap during your morning constitutional!


• HUGE lap cat. He lives for you to finally sit down. Then he jumps into your lap, leaning against you, while craning his head back to look at you adoringly


• Gifted bug catcher - Denali spots Box Elder beetles a mile away and nimbly catches them


• He's our photogenic boy - Chaco is better in person


• He's comfortable on 2 legs, often standing tall to play with toy mice we dangle to him


• While Chaco is all about the balls, Denali is all about the toy mice, carrying them around by the tail, shaking them for the kill, batting them through the house


• He takes himself a little too seriously when wrestling - Chaco is mellow and gentle (and usually the instigator), while Denali gets a little cranky.


• Denali weighs in at 9.75 pounds at this time, so he could be irritated that he's smaller and less powerful in those wrestling matches, though he has agility on his side!