Keep Moving Forward : May 2020

Saturday, May 30, 2020

Limitless Challenge!!!

May 25-29, 2020

Some pictures and calculations from the Limitless Challenge!! Double Mt. Everest!!! 😁😁

The race swag came in the mail on the final day of my challenge, which was AWESOME! The belt buckle that Harry made also came in the mail on the final day of my challenge. Thank you, Kim Levinsky! ❤

Limitless Challenge complete!! 😁

DOUBLE MT. EVEREST!!! 58,058 FEET up!!

I took on the Limitless Virtual Challenge from Aravaipa Running/Run Steep Get High. Thank you, Jamil Coury for putting on such a fantastic virtual challenge. I did some epic climbing for 5 days!!! WOW!!! THIS was SO MUCH FUN!!! Harry joined me on the adventure too while we homeschooled. We made up games, obstacle courses, and more! I also added a long run in each day to rack up the miles, because why not?! I did sleep each night and take breaks, which definitely helped.

What was used for elevation gain? ⬇️⬇️

My staircase, 12 feet high per flight

Hills on trails/hill repeats

Sand dunes

Tree climbing

Plyometrics with a 1 foot step stool

**The main things I used for elevation gain were my staircase and step stool!**

Total flights of stairs- 3,440 flights of stairs! (41,280 feet)

Total flights of plyometrics w/a step stool- 15,000 flights! (15,000 feet)

Total elevation w/hills, sand dunes, and tree climbing- 1,949 feet!

Total elevation gain- 58,229 FEET of elevation gain!!!! 😱😱

Total miles- 120 miles!!! 😁😁

**See pictures for calculations and measurements.**

Soooooo, sometimes I get these crazy ideas to do these crazy running challenges. I may or may not be totally prepared for them, but why not. I go for it anyway! I have some very interesting ideas... It is a lot of fun and totally weird, but I have been having so much fun with my running challenges.

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Limitless Challenge details: ⬇️⬇️

Day #1- 50 flights of stairs- 600 feet of elevation gain and 6 miles at home.

Day #2- 6 miles and 700 feet of elevation gain at Robinette's, 1,102 flights of stairs- 13,215 feet of elevation gain, and 30 miles at home.

Day #3- 4 miles with sand dune repeats and tree climbing and 1,096 feet of elevation gain at Provin Trails, 1,210 flights of stairs- 14,515 feet of elevation gain, and 30 miles at home.

Day #4- Plyometrics with a step stool and steps- 9,000 feet of elevation gain, 500 flights of stairs- 6,000 feet of elevation gain, and 25 miles at home.

Day #5- 7 miles and 153 feet of elevation gain at Reeds Lake Trail and Hodenpyl Woods, plyometrics with a step stool and steps- 6,000 feet of elevation gain, 578 flights of stairs- 6,932 feet of elevation gain, and 12 miles at home.

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Miles at home information: ⬇️⬇️

Same format as the other at home running challenges. Monday thru Friday, I alternated between doing laps in my living room or upstairs.

Monday- 6 miles upstairs

Tuesday- 30 miles living room

Wednesday-30 miles upstairs

Thursday- 25 miles living room

Friday- 12 miles upstairs

Total mileage at home and on trails- 120 miles!

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Lap measurements: ⬇️⬇️

Inside Living Room Laps: ⬇️⬇️

I measured the distance around my living room with a tape measure. It is about 16 feet long and 9 feet wide. That is 50 feet is perimeter, which means 106 laps per miles!! 😜😜

(Math problems-

Perimeter, 16+16+9+9= 50 feet. 5,280 feet in a mile. 5,280÷50= 105.6, round up to make sure, 106! 106 laps for a mile!! 😜😜)

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Inside Upstairs Laps: ⬇️⬇️

It is 0.02 miles and 106 feet in perimeter in my upstairs hallway and spare bedroom.. I measured the distance around the upstairs of my house with a tape measure and watch, hallway x2 and spare bedroom. The hallway is 16 feet long and 3 feet wide. The spare bedroom is 5 feet long and 7 feet wide. Two times up and down the hallway plus an extra width and one time in the spare room equals a perimeter of 106 feet. 50 laps for 1 mile

(Math problems-

Perimeter, two times up and down the hallway plus an extra width and the spare bedroom- 3+3+16+16+5+5+7+7+3+3+16+16+3+3= 106 feet. 5,280 feet in a mile. 5,280÷106= 49.8. Round up to makes sure, 50 laps for a mile. 🙂)

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Calculations: ⬇️⬇️

Same format as my previous backyard and indoor 100s and my other at home running challenges.

I used my watch for tracking mileage and step count. Harry and I also kept track with tally marks on paper. We counted the laps, and then we put a tally mark down for each mile.

(Ex.- If it was 50 laps for 1 mile, we would count to 50. 1 for 1 lap, 2 for 2 laps, etc... When I got to 50, I would put a tally mark down to indicate a mile.)

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Elevation Tracking: ⬇️⬇️

Staircase: ⬇️⬇️

I used a number chart and tracking sheet. I colored in a box for each flight of stairs I did.

Note:

1 flight of stairs = 12 feet of elevation gain

I measured my staircase with a tape measure and barometer.

To measure a staircase, you must also calculate the rise and run. See pictures for details. This was a trigonometry lesson for Harry!

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Plyometrics with the step stool and steps: ⬇️⬇️

I recorded a tally mark after each 100 flights on the step stool and steps.

Note: 1 flight of the step stool is about 1 foot of elevation gain. Each tally mark represented 100 feet of elevation gain.

I measured the step stool and steps with a ruler and tape measure. It was a little over 1 foot. For counting purposes, I rounded down to 1 foot.

To measure the step stool, you must also calculate the rise and run. See pictures for details.

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Hills, sand dunes, and tree climbing: ⬇️⬇️

I used the GPS on my watch and a barometer to calculate the elevation.

***I will say... And, this is just my opinion. I think climbing is somewhat easier with a staircase and a step stool. You feel it more in your calf muscles, but it is somewhat easier. If you think about it, you are not constantly going up. You get a break, a lot. Well, you get A LOT of breaks. With my staircase, I go up 12 feet and then go back down 12 feet. With the step stool, I go up 1 foot and back down 1 foot. Climbing in Colorado is MUCH HARDER. Then again, you are several thousand feet above sea level, and you go a few thousand feet up. ***

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Stressful times and situations: ⬇️⬇️

How do I deal with stress?! I stay busy. I stay active. I run, A LOT. I hang out with my family. I do what I can to take my mind off things. Everyone deals with stress differently, and that's okay. This is a stressful situation for everyone, and I don't deal with abrupt change that well. Then again, no one really does... Everyone's lives drastically changed, and it's just different. I'm navigating my new normal and settling into a routine/groove.

I finally have time to achieve some personal running goals that I have been wanting to do, so I am doing that. I have the extra time, so why put off my goals?! I feel very thankful that I do have this extra time to achieve my personal running goals. I am thankful for the extra time with my family too. I am proud of my goals and accomplishments. I don't claim to be awesome, but I am proud of myself. I've come a long way. (You should have seen me 10 years ago, 15 years ago. I was lost.) In fact, you SHOULD be proud of yourself and every step you take!!!! You ARE good enough.

(I would never take anyone's accomplishments away from them. I would never discredit anyone's accomplishments. This is NOT who I am. I'm cheering for you all. I do weird and unique running challenges for me. I like to spread joy to others too. I like to make people smile. But seriously, I believe in you all. I believe you can achieve anything.)

I'm only going to post the things we do, my runs, fun stuff, the positive, etc... I won't post the doom and gloom articles. I can be very hard on myself too.

I've dealt with enough negativity directed at me during this pandemic, and it has been really hard at times. Seriously, BE KIND. Please, before you go pick on someone or bully someone, think again. I don't care who the person is either. Think again before you pick on someone or bully someone. Choose kindness instead. Bullying is NEVER acceptable. BE KIND.

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Also... May is Mental Health Awareness Month. I recently joined the National Alliance on Mental Illness in my county in Michigan. I plan to help out in any way I can and raise awareness to this topic, beat the stigma, etc..

Please help out in any way you can too:

https://namikent.org

Almost 14 years ago, I lost my dad to suicide. My dad didn't always see himself as a good person and struggled with alcoholism. My dad was amazing, I knew this, but he didn't. Mental health is so important. Part of my running journey is to show people that they are good enough. I want people to see their worth in themselves. I want to inspire people to believe in themselves. I also run to share my dad's story with others, to tell people that they are good enough. (Maybe he needed me to do this?!) People are capable of so much more. I believe in you all. You are possible. I am running to raise awareness to this topic.

Everyone is fighting a battle that you know nothing about, so BE KIND. Check on your family, friends, etc. A little kindness goes a long way. Mental illness is "invisible." You can't see it, but it is there. You may not even know that someone is struggling, be kind. You may see "all the signs" and still not know someone is struggling, be kind. Believe me, I saw "all the signs" with my dad and still didn't know how bad he truly struggled. Just be kind to each other.

And, here's why I'm making it a mission to spread kindness...

So, a rumor was recently started about me, and it mocked me... People shamed me and mocked me. To be honest, I didn't do anything wrong at all. The rumor was so very wrong about me. So wrong. NONE of what was said in the rumor is true. There's proof to back up the/my truth too! I hope and pray that a lesson was learned: it's not okay to hurt, bully, or mock someone else. Build people up instead of tearing them down. There's no reason to be mean. BE KIND, instead. Bullying is wrong. Stop bullying.

(I'm going to keep shouting this and sharing my story too!)

I've been bullied in the past, in school and at a job, but for some reason this most recent incident really hurt me, more than before. I will never understand why it has become acceptable to shame and destroy other people. BE KIND, instead.

Just know, I CAN and WILL continue to succeed. I got this.

To ANYONE who thinks it's okay to start rumors, shame others, bully others, etc., it is NOT okay. IT IS NEVER OKAY TO HURT SOMEONE. Bullying someone is wrong. Build people up instead of tearing them down. BE KIND, instead.

Mental Illness is REAL. BE KIND to each other, you never know what someone else is going through. The person next to you could be falling apart, and you might not know it. BE KIND. Just because someone else's struggles are different than yours, doesn't mean they are wrong. Just be kind.

MENTAL HEALTH MATTERS!!!! Times are tough right now. This pandemic is extremely stressful for everyone. I don't care who you are, it is stressful. It is difficult. BE KIND to everyone... BE RESPECTFUL to everyone. Take care of yourself, too.

Let's root for each other. Let's cheer for each other. Let's believe in each other. Let's respect each other! Let's be kind to each other.

You are good enough. Keep moving forward. You got this. ❤

Keep moving forward... Just keep moving forward.

In case you forgot too:

YOU MATTER.

You are good enough.

You are important.

You are a good person.

You can do anything.

You can achieve anything.

YOU CAN.

YOU WILL.

MENTAL HEALTH MATTERS.

Friday, May 29, 2020

Head Goat 50k

May 21st, 2020

Continuing with the at home and backyard theme for my running challenges... It was the Head Goat 50k, 31 miles, a virtual race from Running Fit.. Ultra marathon #138 is now complete too! (You have the entire month to do the Head Goat 50k, but I did it all at once, of course. Ha ha!) 😁😁

Also, today is Throwback Thursday. I wore a race shirt from 2001, my cross country days. Throwback Thursday again, this is also a typical running outfit that I would wear back in my early running days, early 2000s. Long baggy shirt, long baggy shorts, and cotton socks! Yes, I wore cotton socks for today's 50k. Old times sake! Oh, the memories of running in cotton socks. I needed to know what that was like again. HA HA! Nowadays, I've transitioned back to my early running day outfits, minus cotton socks. Ha! I like my early running day style. It is comfortable. :)

So this 50k was the typical at home and backyard format. I'm honestly loving these runs... I enjoy small loops, so what?! I love running in my house and backyard. The first 10k (6.2 miles) was done inside my living room. The next 25 miles were completed in the backyard! Harry made a CRAZY obstacle course for us too! WOW!! My poor legs. Ha! I definitely did not do the obstacle course the entire time though. (Watch the video of the obstacle course!) 😮 We played soccer and tag during my run too. It was a fantastic day!!! :) :)

Here's the information about the laps again: ⬇️⬇️

Inside Living Room Laps: ⬇️⬇️

I measured the distance around my living room with a tape measure. It is about 16 feet long and 9 feet wide. That is 50 feet is perimeter, which means 106 laps per mile!!

(Math problems-

Perimeter, 16+16+9+9= 50 feet. 5,280 feet in a mile. 5,280÷50= 105.6, round up to make sure, 106! 106 laps for a mile!! 106×6.2= 657.2, round up to make sure, 658 laps for 6.2 miles. Or 658 laps for a 10k.)

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Backyard Laps: ⬇️⬇️

It is 0.032 miles and 172 feet in perimeter around my driveway. I measured the driveway out with a tape measure and watch. 75 feet long and 11 feet wide, 172 feet in perimeter.. That's 31 laps for a mile.

(Math problems-

Perimeter- 75+75+11+11= 172 feet. 5,280 feet in a mile. 5,280÷172= 30.7. Round up to make sure, 31 laps per mile. 31×25= 775. 775 laps for 25 miles.)

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Calculations: ⬇️⬇️

Same format as my previous backyard and indoor 100s...

I used my watch for tracking mileage and step count. Harry and I also kept track with tally marks on paper. We counted the laps, and then we put a tally mark down for each mile.

Total laps between my living room and backyard: ⬇️⬇️

1,433 laps!!

Total mileage: ⬇️⬇️

31.5 miles

Pandemic shutdown challenges:

Week #1: 5 marathons

Week #2: 7 marathons in 7 days

Week #3: 100 mile run in my backyard/house

Week #4: Harry's Lightning Race, 100 mile run in my backyard/house

Week #5: Staircase Mt. Everest climb and 50 miles

Week #6: Aravaipa Strong, 100 mile run inside my house

Week #7: Covid-19 mile run inside my house

Week #8: Mother's Day Backyard Ultra, 50 miles

Week #9: Roll the Dice Race, 131.53 mile run in my backyard/house

Week #10: Head Goat 50k in my backyard/house

Tuesday, May 19, 2020

Roll the Dice Race, 131.53 MILES!!

Here's my dad and I from 1994, just 12 years before he died.

Roll the Dice Race is complete!!! 131.53 miles for my dad!!!!

It was 3 days of running, walking, and cool games with Harry... 🙂🙂

Rolling dice to determine how and where you run is CRAZY FUN! 😁

131.53 MILES complete!!!

(This was the specific mileage I set out to complete over 3 days. Read why.)

Let me explain the mileage and why. This run is dedicated to my dad. May is Mental Health Awareness Month. This run was to raise awareness for mental health. Almost 14 years ago on September 14th, 2006, my dad's long battle with mental illness and alcoholism came to an end, and he died by suicide. He died at 1:31pm at the age of 53 years old. So, I did 131.53 miles for him, his life. 131 miles for the time of death, the very, very long battle he had with mental illness. 0.53 miles for the short 53 years he lived. See, he cut his life short. He had a lot of life left. My dad didn't always see himself as a good person and struggled with alcoholism. My dad was amazing, I knew this, but he didn't. Mental health is so important. Part of my running journey is to show people that they are good enough. I want people to see their worth in themselves. I want to inspire people to believe in themselves. I also run to share my dad's story with others, to tell people that they are good enough, to tell people that they can overcome their doubts. (Maybe he needed me to do this?! I don't know, but I feel his story should be told.) I have always wanted to do something like this for him but never had the "time." I have time now, so why not?! People are capable of so much more. I believe in you all. You are possible. I am running to raise awareness to this topic. I am running for YOU. Again, I believe in YOU. I want YOU to achieve your goals and know that you are good enough, too. ❤

I truly believe that you CAN do anything. I believe you can achieve your goals. I want to inspire people to believe in themselves too... YOU are possible. Your goals (however big or small they might be) ARE possible. You got this!

Here are the details of this crazy adventure race!!! ⬇️⬇️

First.. Thank you, Michael Ortiz, for the crazy inspiration and cool idea. Much appreciated. This was awesome. 😎

Second... Thank you, Kim Levinsky, for the amazing medal!!!! (and belt buckle coming soon, HA) I can't wait!! 😎

Third.... Thank you, Robert Keith Cartwright, for the inspiration during our podcast. Much appreciated. 😎

Roll the dice race... Details below! ⬇️⬇️

Roll the dice to determine how many miles, then determine how and where you will do these miles for each segment. The red dice is the amount of miles. The green dice determines where you will do the miles, and the purple dice determines how you will do the miles. Once your segment is complete, roll the dice again for the next challenge.

Red dice-

1- 1×1= 1 mile

2- 2×2= 4 miles

3- 3×3= 9 miles

4- 4×4= 16 miles

5- 5×5= 25 miles

6- 6×6= 36 miles

Green dice-

1- laps inside, upstairs

2- laps in the backyard

3- laps in backyard IN roller blades!!

4- laps on porch

5- laps inside, living room

6- laps in the backyard

Purple dice-

1- hop scotch

2- obstacle course

3- walking

4- running

5- 5 flights of stairs per mile

6- dance while running

(Example- My first segment started at 6:15am on Wednesday. I rolled a 3 on red, 5 on green, and 3 on purple. [ R3, G5, and P3 ] This means that I did 9 miles in my living room while walking.)

WOW!!! So, letting dice determine how and where you run is quite interesting. HA HA. I ran in the living room, upstairs, on the porch, and in the backyard. I ran in the rain. I ran in roller blades too. HA! I danced, played hop scotch, had an obstacle course, and played soccer with Harry. Harry ran in the rain with me too.. It was quite eventful. Ha ha.

Seriously, GET CREATIVE!!! This was SO MUCH FUN for us!!! It was a run to raise awareness for mental health and to honor my dad, but it was also a great adventure with Harry. It was a great math lesson for Harry too.

This run had a total of 21 segments too! (22 rolls though. We rolled for the last segment twice to get the correct mileage of 131.53.)

Here are the segments: ⬇️⬇️

1. R3, G5, P3- 9 miles in the living room while walking

2. R1, G5, P4- 1 mile in the living room while running

3. R1, G5, P1- 1 mile in the living room while playing hop scotch

4. R1, G2, P4- 1 mile in the backyard while running

5. R1, G1, P3- 1 mile upstairs while walking

6. R2, G1, P4- 4 miles upstairs while running

7. R6, G6, P1- 36 miles in the backyard while playing hop scotch

8. R2, G3, P4- 4 miles in the backyard IN roller blades!

9. R2, G5, P5- 4 miles in the living room with 5 flights of stairs per mile

10. R1, G6, P4- 1 mile in the backyard while running

11. R1, G2, P3- 1 mile in the backyard while walking

12. R1, G4, P6- 1 mile on the porch while dancing

13. R2, G2, P5- 4 miles in the backyard with 5 flights of stairs per mile

14. R4, G1, P2- 16 miles upstairs while doing an obstacle course

15. R4, G2, P4- 16 miles in the backyard while running

16. R2, G1, P6- 4 miles upstairs while dancing

17. R3, G5, P4- 9 miles in the living room while running

18. R1, G5, P1- 1 mile in the living room while playing hop scotch

19. R1, G5, P1- 1 mile in the living room while playing hop scotch

20. R1, G1, P5- 1 mile upstairs with 5 flights of stairs

21. R4, G2, P4- 15.53 miles in the backyard while running

Lap measurements: ⬇️⬇️

Inside Living Room Laps: ⬇️⬇️

I measured the distance around my living room with a tape measure. It is about 16 feet long and 9 feet wide. That is 50 feet is perimeter, which means 106 laps per mile!! 😜😜

(Math problems-

Perimeter, 16+16+9+9= 50 feet. 5,280 feet in a mile. 5,280÷50= 105.6, round up to make sure, 106! 106 laps for a mile!! 😜😜)

Inside Upstairs Laps: ⬇️⬇️

(Math problems-

Porch laps: ⬇️⬇️

The porch is 10.5 feet long and 5 feet wide. I measured with a ruler and tape measure.

(Math problems-

Perimeter, 10.5+10.5+5+5= 31 feet. 5,280 feet in a mile. 5,280÷31= 170.3, round up to make sure, 171! 171 laps for a mile!! 😳😳😳)

Backyard Laps: ⬇️⬇️

(Math problems-

Perimeter- 75+75+11+11= 172 feet. 5,280 feet in a mile. 5,280÷172= 30.7. Round up to make sure, 31 laps per mile. 😜)

Calculations: ⬇️⬇️

Same format as my previous backyard and indoor 100s...

I used my watch for tracking mileage and step count. Harry and I also kept track with tally marks on paper. We counted the laps, and then we put a tally mark down for each mile.

Total laps: ⬇️⬇️

5,876 laps in the living room, upstairs, porch, and backyard!!!

Total miles: ⬇️⬇️

131.53 miles!!

Math lessons: ⬇️⬇️

Well, Harry learned SO MUCH math during this run!! We did perimeter and area, along with multiplication and division. Then we did probability and statistics lesson with dice rolling. We graphed our dice rolling results afterwards too, and Harry learned mean, median, mode, and range. 🙂🙂

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Saying this stuff again because it is SO IMPORTANT!!!

MENTAL HEALTH MATTERS!!!

Again... May is Mental Health Awareness Month. I recently joined the National Alliance on Mental Illness in my county in Michigan. I plan to help out in any way I can and raise awareness to this topic, beat the stigma, etc..

Please help out in any way you can too:

https://namikent.org

Saying this again too... Almost 14 years ago, I lost my dad to suicide. My dad didn't always see himself as a good person and struggled with alcoholism. My dad was amazing, I knew this, but he didn't. Mental health is so important. Part of my running journey is to show people that they are good enough. I want people to see their worth in themselves. I want to inspire people to believe in themselves. I also run to share my dad's story with others, to tell people that they are good enough. (Maybe he needed me to do this?!) People are capable of so much more. I believe in you all. You are possible. I am running to raise awareness to this topic.

And, here's why I'm making it a mission to spread kindness... So, a rumor was recently started about me, and it mocked me... People shamed me and mocked me. To be honest, I didn't do much wrong. ☹ The rumor was so very wrong about me. So wrong. NONE of what was said in the rumor is true. There's proof to back up the/my truth too! I hope and pray that a lesson was learned: it's not okay to hurt, bully, or mock someone else. Build people up instead of tearing them down. There's no reason to be mean. BE KIND, instead. Bullying is wrong. Stop bullying.

Just know, I CAN and WILL continue to succeed. I got this. ❤❤❤

Oh yeah,, PLEASE RESPECT other people. People ARE allowed to be different than you. It is okay. Just be kind. Be respectful. STOP shaming people. STOP bullying. People are allowed think differently than you, have different beliefs, whatever. It is okay. Be kind.. Be respectful. Just because someone thinks differently or has a different opinion than you, does not mean that they are wrong. It is okay to be different. Just because someone thinks differently or has a different opinion than you, does not mean that they should be bullied or shamed. Again, it is okay to be different. It is not okay to bully others. Respect. RESPECT OTHER PEOPLE. BE KIND. Simple. You can disagree with someone without shaming them... PLEASE, JUST BE KIND. Mental illness is REAL. Again, BE KIND. ❤

Let's root for each other. Let's cheer for each other. Let's believe in each other. Let's respect each other! Let's be kind to each other.

Keep moving forward... Just keep moving forward. ❤

In case you forgot too: ⬇️⬇️

YOU MATTER.

Your mental health matters.

You are good enough.

You are strong.

You are awesome.

You are important.

You are a good person.

You can do anything.

You can achieve anything.