running

Just a short run

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Yesterday afternoon, as the holiday stand down was coming to an end, and the new week loomed, we needed to do some chores.  I was short tempered with the kids and snapping at everything because I felt we had not accomplished as much as I hoped and the kids were not moving fast enough.  Anna looked at me and suggested I take Mack for a short run.  I snapped back that there was no time for running, we had things to do!  So I grabbed my coat and went out to the barnyard to get things done.

In the evening, I realized, it had been a week since I had worked out.  It wasn’t that I didn’t have time, it was that I didn’t make time. This morning, after getting up at 5:30 as I scrolled through FB, I noted a friend who posted about a workout and I scoffed, thinking, that doesn’t even really qualify as a workout.  But then I realized, I had done nothing.  Who was I to judge another for what challenged them, when I was doing nothing.  So after working on some chores around the farm, I grabbed my gym bag and tossed in my running shoes, some shorts, and a top appropriate for the 50F weather that had surprised me during chores.  Off to work I went.

When lunch came, I was hesitant to go to the gym.  Maybe I should skip the workout and work on a project over lunch?  No.  I left the office and headed to the gym.  Before I arrived, a massive rain storm started.  I was planning to run outside (I hate running on a treadmill).  Oh well, no workout today.  But then, it stopped.  Ok, no more excuses – I picked up my bag and headed in.  Once at my locker, I realized, I forgot to grab socks this morning.  Oops.  Guess I will have to just hit the pool instead.  No.  My shoes were designed to run without socks, and I had run without socks almost as much as with socks.  So, I changed into my running clothes and went outside.

It was clear from the humidity and clouds in the sky, the odds were not in my favor of making it through the run without getting overtaken by another rain squall.  I started out at a steady pace.  About a quarter of a mile into the run, I encountered a puddle on the gravel path.  As I started to weave around the puddle, I discovered the grass was a mushy, muddy mess.  So, I went through the puddle in my sockless, minimalist trail shoe.  And I resolved, that no matter what I encountered on my path, I would go through it, not around it. I was hit with spray from the water as waves pounded into the rocky shoreline.  But I ran on.  It started to rain.  But I ran on, through every puddle I came to.  In fact, I went straight into a puddle that was slush mixed with ice, water, and snow over my ankles (my feet were not really cold until that one).  And I ran on, hoping to regain the feeling in my feet lost from the ice bath.  Then it was over.

This wasn’t a huge run.  It was 3 miles that took a little under 30 minutes.  But this run was significant.  On this run, I got back what I had been missing since my concussion, nearly a year before.  I have had very few headaches over the past 2 weeks.  And today, I found the mental release I was missing that lets me ponder everything, and nothing.  The clarity to analyze my life and recognize what I’m doing wrong.  And when it was over, I had the feeling that I’ve missed.  I can’t describe it, but if you run, you probably know what I mean. Somewhere between accomplishment, calmness, zen, and the urge to run some more.

Tomorrow it will be in the teens, so maybe I’ll just ride my bike on the indoor trainer.  But maybe I’ll take some running clothes to work, just in case I stop making excuses.  Just a short run makes a big difference.

horse

A Christmas Eve Trail Ride

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DSC_0731Instead of a stressful afternoon of cooking and worrying about special dishes, we decided to saddle up the herd and go for a trail ride.  It was a nice 35F outside and the weather was clear.  Our neighbor was nice enough to come snap a photo before we left on the short ride in the woods.  From left to right: Alex on Dakota, Vicki on Devil, Amanda on Huey, Rob on Calli, and Anna on King.

Merry Christmas everyone!

kids

The lack of education at school

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I am not against public schools.  Our kids attend public schools.  However, I am concerned that the country feels the problem with schools can be fixed by simple standardizing the testing, and therefore, standardizing the curriculum.  Maybe, the problem with school is the system is not educating students.  Allow me to explain.

Alex is 10 years old and attends 5th grade at Griswold Middle School.  We are very pleased with the Griswold system compared to some we have been in previously.  I sat down with Alex to analyze his schedule and figure out how much time he actually spends learning at school (I’m not saying Alex was 100% accurate in the relaying of the time usage, but you will understand the point).  Alex gets on the bus around 6:30.  Class starts at 7:30, but teaching doesn’t begin until 8.  The first half hour is to help with homework from the previous night – Alex reads at his desk.  Throughout the day, he spends time in Language Arts, Math, Science, History, etc, but not every subject is covered every day due to the rotational nature of the schedule at the school.  He also has lunch, band, PE, art (or other rotating “specials”) and recess.  School is over just after 2 and Alex gets home at 3.  So, for 8.5 hours of time invested every day, how much education is involved?  When we talked through the details of the day, I added up the time Alex is actually sitting in a desk for a standard class.  Then I applied a 75% effectiveness to the time (which basically assumes 75% of the time in a desk is spent learning – maybe generous, but I knew it wasn’t 100%).  I found out one of his class periods is actually divided by the lunch/recess time.  So he spends about 8 minutes before lunch and then another 24 minutes after lunch on a subject.  32 minutes split in 2 sessions.  Looks good on paper when you add up the time spent on the subject, but I question the value of the time for teaching a group of 5th graders.  Bottom line, less than 3 hours a day.  Less than 3 hours of learning for an 8.5 hour investment.

There will be snow today, so the schools are closing early.  Alex still got on the bus around 6:30.  Class starts at 7:30, but teaching doesn’t begin until 8.  School will be out at 11 and Alex will get home around 12.  So, today, it is a 5.5 hour investment but he will only get about 1.5 hours of legitimate class time.

I’m not saying things like band, PE, and art are not important, but if you want to understand why kids in the US are falling behind, it is because the country continues to dilute the value of the time spent at school.  It is a widely known scam that half days used for teacher development and such are preferred because they still count towards the mandatory 180 day total required to complete the year.  Again, looks good on paper, but not really effective for teaching (in my opinion).  What if schools were about education instead of common core or legislative number of days?

 

fitness, running

What fixed my sciatic nerve pain

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At the Naval Academy in the late 90s, I ran a lot.   I ended up with a double Achilles injury at one point. I also ended up in PT (physical therapy) for sciatic nerve pain. Then I went to the fleet, gained weight, quit working out, etc. In 2009, I got into triathlons and lost 30 lbs. For about the first 2 years, everything was great. No real injuries or problems.
Then, in 2012 injuries started. Subtle at first. More tightness than normal. Then the sciatic nerve pain returned, in particular, after a fast run like a 5k race. I started stretching more and tried to get around the problem. By the fall of 2012, I was back in PT and completely off running trying to fix the now constant sciatic nerve pain. The PT didn’t really help. The stretching provided only a short duration of relief. After 3 months of no running, I was given the OK to return to training, SLOWLY. I did. But 1 month later, I suffered a serious concussion and running was put on hold again.

Fast forward to recently. While I am not over the concussion, I have decided to give up on waiting and just run anyways. The intelligence of that approach can be debated. However, I was still having sciatic pain, and I wasn’t even running. Then, one day in the gym, I was on a treadmill with a mirror in front of me. I noticed my right foot turned to the outside at about a 20 degree angle as I ran. For the next few minutes, I forced myself to twist my foot straight. When I got off the treadmill, I could feel how dramatic the difference was in the improvement of my sciatic nerve pain. So I started trying to understand what was going on. I was already in the process of listening to “Born to Run” on an audio book and then followed that with “Running with the Kenyans”.  The more I read about “barefoot” running, the more I thought I wanted to give it a try.

So, I went to a local store and found a pair of Merrill M Connect shoes, which are a minimalist shoe that encourages a forefoot strike instead of the heel first strike. I took them back to the gym and ran for a few minutes on the indoor track. It was amazing. I immediately transitioned to a forefoot strike. And it felt awesome. It felt easier and faster. I was careful not to overdo it, but over the next couple of weeks, I kept doing some easy runs of 20 minutes or less. However, the most amazing realization was, my sciatic nerve pain was gone. The first day I ran in the new shoes, I had NO sciatic nerve pain for 48 hours. Since then, I can actually feel the stretching in my right hip as my foot is realigning with the natural motion it had lost.

What fixed my sciatic nerve problem? Forefoot running.

horse, kids

Riding in the snow

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As is the tradition, the girls had to do some bareback riding in the snow.  Vicki loves to ride bareback in the winter because it keeps her warmer.  Vicki decided to try out Dakota, Alex’s new pony, while Amanda rode Huey.  This was Vicki’s first bareback ride on Dakota and it went well.  Both girls had a good time and no one fell off.

Alex and I will be doing a trail ride in the snow after lunch.

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hunting, kids

The range is open

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Last year, Alex and Vicki expressed some interest in shooting as part of Tetrathlon. Tetrathlon is a Pony Club competition that includes swimming, running, jumping (the only portion that involves a horse), and pellet pistol shooting. I introduced them to shooting, but we didn’t make much progress.
This year, I decided to build a target range in our basement since we had enough room.
I started by using some old dividers to create a lane down one area. Then I used some plywood to create a backer so the pellets and bb’s are not hitting the cement walls. Finally, I added a new light to illuminate the targets.
Alex and I  finished this evening and have it a test run. The plywood is bouncing the bb’s back towards the shooter. However, the pellets have enough force to embed in the wood. I am going to look for some high density foam to stop the bb’s from bouncing.

The table is adjustable in height which works well for the kids right now. We are currently spring at 20 feet, but have enough room to make it an actual 10m range, which is the competitive distance for tetrathlon.
Now, each evening after dinner, we can go downstairs for a few minutes of target practice!
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horse

Introducing Dakota

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On Friday, we took a trip to check out a couple of ponies. We have been looking for a new pony for Alex to replace Precious. We decided to bring home Dakota on a 2 week trial. He is a 6yo grade pony of uncertain breeding, but suspected Welsh/Arab cross. He is a little greener than we hoped, but we are going to try him out for a couple of weeks and then decide.
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The story of our lives with horses. And goats.