Tough times

It's been tough the past couple of weeks to get out the door for a run with school coming to a rapid close. Tomorrow is my reset day and I'm determined to pick up my training where I left off.

Busy Times

For those of you who have not heard, we are expecting a child in June. We apologize for our lack of posts recently but this will be the trend until Josh has finished school for the semester. We'll try and post small things here and there if we can. We hope everyone enjoyed the thanksgiving holiday. Here's a picture to sum up what we feel like doing most days around here.

The Barefoot Professor

While an informative post of our new footwear, Soft Star Shoes, will be coming at a later date, the below you will find a nicely put together video on the philosophy, and physics, behind forefoot/barefoot running.

Day to day

Well, training has been hit and miss with injuries and illness in the Springfield Morris household. We've been limited to 2-3 runs a week for the past 2 weeks. The good news is that the little tweaks that come with beginning a new running program have calmed down. The bad news is that we haven't really improved our fitness. Staying healthy, meaning uninjured, is the key to long term success in any exercise regime so we'll chalk the past two weeks as a success.

Run on.

Rain Run

Hey everyone!

This is Jessica Lynn with an update on my running schedule. While I have been student teaching it has been tough keeping up with running daily. However, I usually succeed to running at least a couple times a week. Sometimes I run with Kate Rapp or sometimes I run slow just through the park and cemetery. I need to start lengthening my distance but it's hard to get the motivation to do that.

Today I had a nice run in the rain. It was actually very enjoyable even though it was cold. It was pretty peaceful and kept my mind off of feeling tired. No one was really out walking around since it was raining, so it was kind of just me and the scenery which is always nice.

I'm looking forward to the race and hope I continue to get back into shape and build my endurance. I'd love to eventually run a half marathon. One of the teachers at Wyman Elementary in Rolla just ran a full marathon in St. Louis on Sunday and was talking about it yesterday. I can't believe she was up and walking around after that! That would be an amazing accomplishment.

Well, happy running.

Jessica Lynn

Balance is key

Everyone who thinks their life is boring raise your hand...  Nobody?  The past 2-3 weeks have been above and beyond busy.  While we all have these periods of time, it's easy to start putting things on the chopping block.  Yard work, homework, housework, exercise, and sleep are some of the first responsibilities to be cut in our household.  While the latter two may not seem like responsibilities they are the last two things that should be put on the chopping block.  Finding the proper balance is the greatest difficulty in life.  A lack of sleep and exercise led our family into a dark hole this past week.  In that hole we found a lovely virus that is relentless.  As we claw our way out of the hole the light is near.

 I, Josh, began running last week after a short break due to a shoe mishap and the mother of all scheduling conflicts.  I eased myself back into running as to not injure myself, but was unsuccessful.  While my injuries are minor (a sore patellar ligament and a contusion on one of my tarsal bones), they have required attention to ensure they stay minor. I've cut my mileage in half, am icing on demand, and have begun strengthening exercises for my sore knee.

Let us know how your preparations are going by posting to this blog.  If don't know how, give us a call and we'll help. We hope that everyone has put 3-31-12 on their calendars and is enjoying their preparations for race day.

Come One, Come All

We have decided to attempt our first family race at the annual Run to the Rocker in Cuba, MO.  We're making this task public for two reasons.

#1 - You, our family, will hold us accountable to our goal of preparing for and completing this race.

#2 - Since this is a family run we'd like to invite you to join us.

The race is on March 31st,. 2012 and is 4 miles in length.  This gives us plenty of time to prepare for this race.  While we are not all runners, we can assure you that this will be fun if we make it that way.  The event is held for runners AND walkers if there are some apprehensive of the distance.  For those wanting help in safely preparing for the race Josh would be ecstatic to help you.  This is meant to be a fun experience for our family to share.  The shared experience will come from our preparations as well as the race itself.  We will be posting how our preparations are progressing from time to time and we invite you to do the same. We've invited everyone within driving distance of Cuba to be an author of this blog.  What that means is,  if you choose, you can let the rest of us know how your preparation for our race is/is not going.  If you would like to complete the race and abstain from the blog that's great too.  People are drawn closer to one another through shared experiences and this is exactly what we wish to gain from this-closeness as a family.

Here are a few links for those interested in participating/cheering us on.

Race to the Rocker website

Course Map