After a few decades on this planet, I have come to accept that life happens. There is only so much that we can control and for the rest, we must go with the flow and roll with the punches. On one of the many cold, dark nights of this past January, I stepped off the edge of the path while running and rolled my ankle. Rolled it so well that I broke my fibula in addition to producing one of the most colorful sprains I have ever seen. Just over five weeks later, I am still sporting tinges of yellow, blue and purple. But the details don't matter. What matters is that my ankle gets stronger every day and I am excited to begin to plan my first running steps again.

I would like to share with you how I have survived these weeks without running. Truthfully I have survived precisely because I am a runner. Navigating the healing process is similar to training for an event. You take each day at a time and appreciate the milestones. You do it with a smile because each day brings you closer to running down that route you have in your mind's eye. Of course there are good and bad days and running friends to help you through. Sound familiar?

Dealing with injury is no one's idea of fun. But it can be very creative and open new worlds. Legs don't work right? How many strengthening exercises can you do lying down? Been neglecting your core? Guess how many different core & ab exercises you can do without using your legs? Can't walk down stairs? Walking up is better for you anyway. No ankle action permitted? Jump in the pool with a leg float and see how far your arms will take you. The bottom line is I have been forced to try new and different exercises. Some of them I hate and will never do again. Some of them are actually kind of cool and will make their way into my ongoing workout plans.

All in all I would have to say the experience is a good one. You learn that you can survive without running and you also appreciate how much you truly love running. You do your best to be patient and your body lends a helping hand - refusing to do too much too soon and complaining mightily when you do. Another good lesson learned. Above all else it is a challenge. And isn't that one of things we love most about running? C'est la vie - that's life.

Greetings! Well now you have a number of core exercises to add to your routine! You can do core exercises everyday unlike regular weight training! So if you can't always get a good workout in, you can usually get a little core work in!

We will continue to build our core this month with a move called the Criss-Cross, sometimes I hear it called the Bicycle. Give it a try!

Here you go:

1. Begin by laying on your back. Bring you legs to 90 degrees and lift your upper body off the floor so your shoulder blades are just off the ground. Hands are just behind your ears or at your temples. Abdominal muscles are strong, pull navel to spine and keep a fist between your chin and chest. Breathe.
2. As you extend your left leg twist your upper body toward the knee still bent at 90 degrees. Basically opposite elbow to opposite knee. Your focus is to lift your shoulder blade off the floor, don't worry about how close your elbow comes to your knee. Switch to the other side, extend your right leg and twist toward the 90 degree bent knee still in place. Keep your core nice and strong by pulling navel to spine or suck it in. Remember to breathe, it is the most important part of any exercise!
3. You will do 6 sets of 12 repetitions. (Each set is 24 total, 1 on each side)
4. Rest between sets about 20 seconds.
5. Relax and lay down on the mat, reach your arms over your head and legs out as long as you can, stretch out those abdominal and low back muscles.

Beet Sorbet
Leah will be back soon, but not soon enough! This month Mitch brings you a recipe that will blow your mind! Maybe even in a good way!

Ingredients:

Sorbet:
3 cans (14 ounces each) beets or 2 pounds fresh cooked beets
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon tarragon vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
Dash cayenne
1 cup plain yogurt
Fresh dill sprigs

Yogurt Sauce:
Peel of 1 lemon
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/4 cup sour cream

Directions:
Drain beets. In a blender, puree until smooth. Add lemon juice, vinegar, salt, and cayenne. Pour into a 9 x 9 inch pan and fold in yogurt. Place in freezer for 30 minutes. Stir to break up ice crystals, freeze an additional 30 minutes and stir again. Cover and refreeze for several hours or overnight.

Remove from freezer 15 minutes before serving. Portion into chilled dishes, garnish with dill sprigs and serve with yogurt sauce.

Yogurt Sauce:
Cut peel of lemon into juienne strips. Mix sour cream and yogurt together, garnish with lemon peel.

Recipe courtesy of Sandi's Recipe Corner

Peter Worth/Winter Carnival Photography

You're heading out for a 5 mile run when your significant other shouts out: "How long are you going to be gone?" Quickly you reply, "About 45 minutes." Got a 15 miler on Saturday, starting at 7:30, you know you'll be to breakfast at 10:15 without even thinking about it. Someone asks how you think you'll do in the 5k this weekend and you think about a second before giving your answer, knowing that it'll most likely be within a 2 minute range. How do you describe this phenomenon?

Sure you've been doing it for years now so you pretty much have the answers engraved on your grey matter. However, even when competing in your first 8-miler you can give a pretty accurate prediction. It comes down to a fundamental human trait, estimation, not to be confused with its older, uglier cousin assumption.

If you think about it, it's easy to guess how long it'll take to drive from point A to point B, even if you've never driven it before. Of course you drive all the time so you have many references. When it turns out to take longer than you estimated you'll probably get aggravated and, like running, pick up the pace. The further over your expectation, the tougher it becomes to complete the run, whereas the more you're under your estimation (or the more you over-estimated) the better you will feel.

When training for the Race Up the Place last month, we had access to 20 floors of stairs to train on. Shivering from fear on ground zero before our first attempt, we pondered how long it would take us to complete. Our estimate was about 8 or 9 minutes. Obviously we've had plenty of experience walking up at least a couple flights of stairs at a time. Well, it turns out we were way off. Afterwards I asked multiple people how long they thought it would take and I received guesses anywhere from 8 minutes to 40 minutes. Oddly enough, the closest approximation came from a, dare I say, non-runner!

Reaching the top of 20 flights left us gasping for air and our quads burning; it was pretty tough. But when the stopwatch read 2 minutes 30 seconds, it sure made it seem a lot easier, and we gladly descended without any nervousness for the 2nd set. Once we established that baseline, we were able more accurately assess a goal time for the race.

This article may not necessarily be about math, but realistically, math is usually estimation anyways. And estimation is a big part of running. The point is in the importance of effects it can have on your running. Perhaps a crucial part to becoming a "better" runner is in the role of the deception of effort. Ignorantly over-estimating will leave you with the surprising feeling of exhaustion yet accomplishment with the absence of dreadful pain. That alone can save the day after a hard run or race.

March Birthdays

Jeff Salzbrun - March 3
Sally Ganglittle - March 16
Mandi Tauferner - March 18
Josie Brinda - March 19
Meg Comstock - March 19
Kate Morrison Townes - March 21
Kelli Barthlolow - March 25
Susan Flynn - March 25
Randy Lasota - March 27
Barb Leininger - March 30

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