News flash: women wear shoes that hurt!

"Some women love their shoes so much it hurts."...nah...really?

I only wear shoes that hurt at weddings, but even that's too much. I am sure in a few decades people will go to museums to stare at stilettos and think about them in the same way we think about corsets.

I remember my grandma cleaning the house in heels, and later in life, suffering of tremendous foot pain. To think that generations of women ruined (and continue to ruin) their later years just because they wanted that "sexy" look when younger. Not me. I'll continue to wear my "unfeminine" comfortable low to the ground and square toed shoes. Even with a skirt.

Vitamin D

NYT has an interesting article on vitamin D and performance.

A few interesting facts are mentioned. One that surprised me is that in a study, long-distance runners from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, had low levels of vitamin D. If they have low levels of vitaming D, then us Seattlelites have not hope :-)

Additionally, the articles says that athletes seem to be fittest in August, when ultraviolet light is strongest. So sign up for a race in August!

I am too worried about skin cancer to spend long hours exposed, but, just like in all things, it seems like a good balance of sunshine and protection is needed.

After a long time...

...of not blogging. I will give no excuses (like I changed jobs, trained, went to school, etc). Blogging can take only 10 minutes, right? So whom am I kidding. I just have not been disciplined about it, even though there have been plenty of topics and events to blog about.

Most recently (yesterday), Eric participated in the Grand Columbian Triathlon half Iron distance. He was very pleased with his performance (3rd in age group, 12th overall). His hardest event was the biking leg, since he didn't put in enough training miles on his bike. The run leg was a no brainer for him. And the swim, well, Eric is just good at swimming.

For the first time in 11 years Eric missed the Cle Elum Ridge 50K trail race. However, Iliana represented The Balanced Athlete by participating in the race and providing awards. The new race director (James Varner, a well known local ultra-marathoner and race organizer) changed the original course to a tougher and more scenic route. Most people added at least one hour to their previous time, mostly due to the additional elevation gain. Iliana finished 3rd woman, 1st in her age group, and 14th overall. Most importantly, she enjoyed the *whole run*, and for the first time, the last 6 miles of the 50K where not a suffer fest (probably due to actually eating solid food throughout instead of just gels: baked potatos + salt rock!).

Today we had a great recovery 8 mile run with the Sunday morning group at the store. Beautiful sunny morning, and tasty breakfast afterward. I am now ready to take a nap. Last night we were both so psyched about our races, that we chatted about our experiences until midnight, and then couldn't fall asleep (bodies still in race mode).