Wednesday, July 21, 2010

I Fitness Belt Review/ Awesome Pace Run ETC.


This morning I had an awesome 8 mile pace run.   I ran an 8 mile race on Sunday plus 8 miles yesterday so I guess 8 is my number at the moment.  T came early (6:30) to run with me.  Usually we chat and catch up but when I am doing a pace run I need all my energy to try and make the pace.  I was going for  a 9:45 which is my dream marathon pace.  The temperature was 58 degrees when we started. Bliss!  I had originally told T I was going to run in Burlington today because I would be there anyways and the road has been closed this week.  But I haven't run with T in forever and we decided to take a chance on the road closure.  We came to signs within the first mile that clearly showed they would be back working on the road today.  I yelled to T to stop and we talked it over. We decided to still take a chance that we could get by the road work on the way back by going through the woods.  The other side was a drop to the river and not passable.  So we continued on.

The first mile was 9:46 which wasn't great because my first mile tends to be faster so I wasn't sure if this meant I wouldn't be able to hold my pace.  The first four miles are slightly to more than slightly up hill.  There is a downhill but it is the first thing I come to and I am so not ready to take advantage of a downhill yet!  The second mile was 9:43 which I was pleased with because I tend to slow down here. The next two miles were 9:56 and 9:58 which I would have liked to have been faster but they weren't terrible as these two miles have some hills.  I was thinking I could make up the difference on the way home.  T had been leading for the uphill portion but we changed for the way back.  I looked at my watch at each mile. I though I was putting in a very good effort for Miles 5 + 6 but my watch showed 9:44.  I decided I wouldn't make up the difference after all.  (When I got home and looked each of those miles were 8:44 in fact so I was doing a great job making up the earlier miles after all.)  Mile 7 was 8:50 so I finally thought I was gaining some ground.   My last mile is always a slow one for me from being tired and two hills at the end.  I did it in 9:43 so I was thrilled!  My overall pace was 9:26 which was a nice confidence booster for me!

BUT let me get back to the road closure. On our way back sure enough the road was closed but we continued on by the sign announcing this. Going another route would have been a lot farther on foot and we both had places to be.  When we came to the road work a culvert was being dug.  The men stopped the backhoe and told us to come through.  My question was where as we were staring at a deep ditch, the drop off to the river and the backhoe itself.  Well, they motioned us to walk along the edge of the backhoe and the rocks next to it.  I gingerly walked along as we both kept repeating thanks so much! I would have loved a picture of it but besides the fact that I didn't bring my camera that would have stretched their patience to a breaking point!  


"Yes we did stop our work to let you through our construction site even though it was clearly posted as closed and you want us to what as you cross through???!@#$%^&*"




Monday I ran 4 miles on the dirt road near my house somewhat back and forth to fit in my four miles since my main route was closed.  That worked out fine. Tuesday I also ran 8 miles and headed along the river section I don't often go by. When I got to the bottom of the road I turned right and ran along a state road. I never go this way. It is very flat and boring and there is heavy traffic with a very small shoulder.  I ran along it for about 2 1/2 miles and then turned around. At some point I noticed that both sides of the road I was running beside with basically no shoulder were heavily covered with poison parsnip.  My husband has been warning me about this plant all summer.  I realized that if I had to get off the road more it would not be good.


Wild parsnip is a nonnative, invasive plant that is rapidly increasing in many areas of

Vermont. This plant, native to Europe and Asia, is in the Umbelliferae family (also known as
the Apiaceae family or in common terms, the parsley or carrot family) and is believed to have
been introduced as a vegetable plant as the taproots are edible. As wild parsnip has spread
within Vermont, so has the realization that human exposure often leads to serious burns and
blisters on the arms and legs. Being able to readily identify wild parsnip will minimize
inadvertent and excessive exposure to this plant and the often painful results that follow.










I did manage to get home without any poison parsnip incidents but I will continue to be careful as this plant is nothing to mess around with.

I Fitness Belt Review


I received an I Fitness Belt to try out and review.  First let me say that I do tend to use a belt when I run to carry various items. I prefer the belt to an arm holder for my Ipod unless I am on a treadmill.  I have used a variety of belts with some satisfaction but none have stayed in place and NOT MOVED like this one. I had read this on other blogs but didn't quite believe me!  I love it.  I got the double pouch so I could carry my Ipod, camera, phone, sport beans...........whatever.  I must say I love it!

24 comments:

Emz said...

parsnip ?? OMGosh. That arm picture is making me squirm. It looks so beautiful in the photo. CRAZY!

Way to go on the 9:26!!!

Relentless Forward Commotion said...

WOAH! Glad I moved out of Vermont, haha! That looks like a horrible painful rash! (do you even call it a rash??!)

Jon (was) in Michigan said...

AAACCKK!! Those are horrible pictures!

We have it growing near where I work and they posted signs near it to warn people. Oddly, the signs were placed in the middle of the poison ivy.

Katie A. said...

Just getting all caught up!
OMG! That man's arms are horrid! Glad you stayed away!
AND I LOVE my iFitness belt - I don't know what I did before it! :)

TMB @ RACING WITH BABES said...

Great job on the pace run!

Seriously though, I could have done without those pictures ... eww!

Suzy said...

I'm just downright jealous of your iFitness belts! I want one.

I'm glad you stayed away from the plants...no one needs blisters like those! ewww

misszippy said...

Oh man--never heard of that before--who knew Vermont was so dangerous?! Glad you found some kind construction workers today to make your run all the nicer!

Unknown said...

nice pictures! the scary thing for me about that wild parsnip is that it looks just like Queen Anne's Lace, but the flowers are yellow instead of white.
Nasty, nasty.

Julie said...

Oh my gosh, who knew the wild parsnip could cause blisters like those! Ouch! I will never forget this...thanks for posting. You can bet that I will be paying close attention to different flowers and plants if I am out running the trails.

Nice work on your 8 miler! Your training is coming along nicely!

Monica said...

Great 8 miler....the unexpected picture made me GASP!!!

Lisa said...

Awesome pace there! Congrats.

Horrible pics of the blisters. Glad they weren't your arms.

Thanks for the review of the ifitness belt. I want one for my half in October and have been hesitant about the no riding up reviews. I guess I will give it a try.

Teamarcia said...

Holy oozing blisters Batman!

I've always wanted to try an iFitness belt--glad you liked it!

Anne said...

Yay! 9:26 is awesome!

Those blisters are awful...yuck.

The ifitness belt looks very practical :)

Anonymous said...

I didn't know there was poisonous parsinp. Ew! and Ouch! Glad you were spared!

MCM Mama said...

Great job on the run - so glad those weren't your actual arms! I'd love to try and iFitness belt. I think I may be addicted to various ways to carry/strap stuff to me when I run LOL.

Pahla said...

I love coming to your blog and learning something new - I had no idea wild parsnip was so dangerous (or, umm, even that it existed, to be honest...)
Great job on the pace run and all those eights!!

LookingUpAgain said...

Umm.....wow. Pretty sure I played with that plant as a child. Didn't know it could cause such a reaction. Crazy!

HappyTrails said...

Ok, I am SO GLAD those weren't photos of YOUR arms as a result of "playing" with the wild parsnip - whew! BTW, I forgot to compliment you on your skirt photo in the previous post. Don't "forget" to wear it - it looks so nice!!! :-) BTW #2 - I got a couple of skirts from Title 9 last Fall. I almost cried when I paid for them but have gotten every penny's worth out of them as I LOVE them and have worn them tons. Worth it, definitely!
K

LMC said...

Great job on your 8 mile run! I am so glad that you have not gotten into any poison parsnip. You know I just went through that with poison ivy and I never want to go through it again or want anyone else to go through it either! Please, please be careful!!

Johann said...

That’s a super run you did. Luckily you could get past the road works without any problems. Those blisters look terrible! Enjoy your training!

Marlene said...

I love my iFitness Belt!! (I have the one-pocket version with gel elastic slots around the band).

Awesome job on your pace run!!!

Darlene said...

I hope that plant is only in VT not NY!! Great job on your run. You'll have to wait for me at the finish line on Sat if you run like that!!! That belt looks great!!

Molly said...

yikes, that photo is NASTY!!

I've been thinking of getting a pouch myself, I'm so high maitenance I think I need one.

Anonymous said...

That photo made me want to throw up! I might have nightmares- I hope that stuff doesn't grow in Jersey!

I love my fit belt...LOVE. Everyone calls it my fanny pack which cracks me up but i would not be the same in a race without it!