Cow Crossing

I ran 5 miles today after school (because I couldn't get my lazy butt to do it before school) and I felt great! After running 20 miles everything else feels like a piece of cake. Well, I saw the most *amazing* thing that my eyes have ever laid their sights on in all of Lancaster County. No, not a lot of Amish (for some reason the Amish were not out this afternoon during my CV cornfield run, perhaps they were too busy), but there was one Amish man in particular on Horseshoe Rd holding back 30 restless cows from crossing the street. Here I am running fast when ahead of me I see a little Amish boy "herding" a bunch of cows forward and another Amish man holding them with with a wire from crossing the street to where their farm was. There were a lot of cars on the road and they were looking for a good opening to cross. One was quickly approaching, however I was, of course, going to be running right in front of the cows when the opening occured. So I sprinted as fast as I could past the cows. They were restless. The man had to fight to hold them back with his "wire thingy" The only thing holding me back from a cow stampede and becoming a road pancake was this Amish man and his lil wire thingy. I swear those cows were glaring at me. Well, don't you worry cause I made it through. And as soon as I did there was an opening in the road and they released the cows. The man was dancing in the street signaling the cows to run across. Oh, and they did! I ran backwards to watch the whole thing -- totally worth it. It took about a minute for them to cross so cars had to stop. I saw people in their driver's seats laughing. I was laughing too. It was quite a funny sight that I had never seen before, even in all my time in Lancaster County. Just goes to show you get to see the neatest things on these runs that you would never get a chance to see otherwise. Oh thank you marathon training.

-Jilly

hallucinations

I hesitate to post this as it may involve a little too much information for some people concerning my toenails. But this is our blog and this is a big deal to me so I must write about it.

20 miles today. It was heart wrenching, in the rain and humidity and I did it! There were many ups and downs. The only ups being the completion and finally obtaining my beloved water bottle. A few of the downs included dropping my Gatorade on the trail 15 miles in and taking 5 painful minutes of attempting to bend down and pick it up. And then there were the hallucinations.

Apparently some marathon runners loose toenails. Your feet take a huge beating every time you take a step. I can assume the science of how it happens but this is not the place to discuss that. I had a pedicure done a few weeks ago. My toes are always painted. Always. The girl took of the polish to reapply and I noticed a small black area on my fourth toe, right foot. This cannot happen to me. I just cannot accept this! I had a fit about this and finally the girl politely told me that the only way for that to stop was to stop running. Well, we all know that can't happen.

So that brings us to today. About 3 hours into this run my toes started to bother me. "Hmmm" I thought. "This isn't good. I cannot loose my toenails today. Not any day for that matter!". The more I ran the more I felt that my nails were being ripped from my toes. I actually looked down and thought I would for sure see blood on my shoes from this. I knew that when I took off my shoes my bare toes would be underneath my socks. I had to continue on with the run, I had no choice but to soldier on and mourn the sure loss of my toenails.

I am happy to report this afternoon that I still am the owner of 10 toenails, on my toes. My vivid hallucinations of my toenail loss is still disturbing to me but again I will soldier on.

Lets save our toenails and begin to taper!!!

jms

done and done

It was a magnanimous moment when i completed my 20 miles in the rain. The feeling of accomplishing it was great. But an even greater feeling is that i don't need to run that much ever again (well at least until the marathon) I can begin tapering. Awesome. Sweetest word i've ever heard: tapering. But for now, i can't walk or stand for the rest of my life. In fact i'm so tired I can't type anymore.

-Jilly

I can't compete!

I was going to write a fun entry about my adventures using porter-potties on my long runs. But honestly, I can't top the story of Jill wearing two different running shoes. So I'm just going to stop there.

5 weeks to go!

-Jilly

i Heart Motrin

5 hours post 18 mile long run.
Enough said.

jms

Asics v Addidas

This morning I held an unoffical, unintentional shoe test of two different running shoes.
Asic gels, gt-2130: teal and navy blue
vs
Addidas w/ adiPRENE: baby blue

I showed up at 6:45 this morning to meet with a group to run. I left the house in my flip flops and put the running shoes on in the car before I met the rest of the crew. It was just as I was about to head off for a mild 18 mile run that I noticed I was doing this comparison test.

On my right foot was the baby blue Addidas, on my left foot was the teal and navy Asic gel.

Needless to say, since the apropriate pairs for each shoe were back at home I continued with the expiriement. The teal and navy Asics won today. While both feet are exhausted and tired, my left foot was happily pain free after the run. My right foot with the baby blue Addidas began to rub in places I did not appreciate and I noted that the shoe was not cut out for me and 18 miles.

Its good I had on my new cute running skirt to go with the shoe expiriement. Otherwise people would have thought I was crazy with the two different shoes.

jms

Trash Day

Note to self: Do NOT run on trash pick-up day. For starters, it's like an obstacle running through Lancaster city on Wednesday mornings. Leaping over trash lids and dodging trash cans that are in the middle of the sidewalk makes for an extra hard work out. They come one after the other since houses in the city are so close together. Not to mention the smell...UGGGHHH. Not only does all the trash stink, but so does the truck when it comes by. I can barely breathe let alone run!

Newsflash

Somebody please notify MCM personel that there will be not one but two
Jill Stoltzfoos' running in the MCM. They may need to increase the amount of marines present to control the crowds and at a minimum will need to provide extra refreshment stops (because it is understood that the two Jill Stoltzfoos' definately need their fluids and energy Jelly Beans).

jms

$14

I read an article about a woman who, to motivate herself in training for a marathon, paid herself $1 per mile she trained. Then after the marathon she went on a shopping trip. Not a bad idea. I made $14 dollars on Saturday! Look out Pentagon City Mall, I'll be spending some big bucks soon! If I stay on track with my training, counting from last Saturday through the marathon I will have a total of $169 to spend after October 26 (+$26.20 since naturally I should add the marathon milage).

One problem with this plan is my hourly wage. It took me about 2 hours and 20 mins to run 14 miles. This means I made about $6.36/hr. Minimum wage is currently $6.55. This is not ideal. So either I need to pick up my pace to at least be on track with minimum wage or find another way to increase my spending power at Pentagon City Mall. Hmmm, maybe I should stick with Real Estate for my income and just run for the joy of it.

jms

MCM Here I Come!

It's official!!! I'm now registered for the 33rd Annual Marine Corps Marathon!!!!!!! I was planning on running the Harrisburg Marathon 2 weeks later but a spot opened up -- one of Jill's co-workers was able to transfer her spot to me. Yay! I registered, altered my training schedule and I'm ready to do it! So now that means everyone gets 2 Jills: 1 Marathon. See ya there!

I heart the Amish

Now that school is back in session it's impossible for me to do any runs longer than 5 miles before school. So I sometimes run right after work among the cornfields of Conestoga Valley (praying that none of my students will see me). When i was a highschool senior in New Jersey my friends often made fun of me for choosing a college in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. They would tease me and say I'm going to major in butter churning and marry an amish man named Jebediah (ironically, I did marry a townie). However, I made it about 3.5 years at F&M without seeing any amish. This week I realized it's because the amish don't live in Lancaster City, they all live among the cornfields of Conestoga Valley. They were everywhere. Small ones, big ones, male, female, old, young. There was even this adorable baby going for a buggy ride! And I almost got ran over by a horse. You may think the amish are out-dated and technologically behind, however they can still move faster than me on their scooters and in their bare feet. I'm not really much of a "chipper" runner you could say, but when a horse & buggy comes by with a little amish boy in the back with his ridiculous bowl-cut hair style you can't help but wave & smile.

-Jilly

Rain Delay

Rain delay today on my long run because of Tropical Storm Hanna visiting the Northern VA area. While I was saddended that I couldn't go out and run 16 miles I entertained myself with some TV and icecream along with a few hours of work.

When the sky stopped falling I decided to head out. The humdity was at 99% and Hanna still had some serious wind gusts but I made it a solid 7 miles. Now I have a sick stomach because of the pre-run icecream but hey- at least I was out there!

jms

Singing in the Rain

Ok, so there wasn't any singing going on today, but I needed a good headline. There was an iPod with music, but no singing. There was a little grunting, a little whining, and a lot of me talking to myself (it helps me get up those hills apparently) but still no singing.

Oh there was rain though! I actually haven't had to run in the rain at all during the past few months of my training. Today it was coming down. I made it all the way to mile 6 rain-free. But then it started raining harder and harder. It was really humid this morning so the rain was actually nice and refreshing but my cute running outfit & I did not look so hot after the run was finished. I resembled my dog after she gets out of a bath.

But the good news is that it's over with. 15 miles down. less than 2 months to go.

-Jilly

Flashing Red Lights

There has been some concern in my house about running in the predawn hour. The concern comes from my husband, the predawn running is where I come in. I admit, it is a little dark but the street lights help a lot. Regardless, Jeff bought me a present in the likes of a flashing red light that I can conveniently attach to my body. This flashing red light accomplishes two things.

1. It shows ALL of Alexandria City that I am slowly moving along the streets in the predawn hour.
2. It hopefully demonstrates to vehicles on the road that I am slowly moving along the streets in the predawn hour.

See you in the morning!

jms