Friday Funday: Clean Car, Clean Dog, Clean Sheets

03. October 2014 · 3 comments · Categories: labradoodle, running, Uncategorized · Tags: , , , , , , ,

Why wait for Sunday Funday when you have Friday off and it’s the perfect sunny, 68 degree crisp day?!

This morning the doodle got groomed.

Happy October!

Happy October!

Then we went for a walk in the park. On the way home I used the last of my Dunkin Donuts gift card that I got last October to get an iced caramel latte. I love my Duncan and my Dunkin!

Duncan and Dunkin

Duncan and Dunkin

With Duncan clean and fresh, I decided to change my sheets and make my bed which is a big deal for me. I hate fitted sheets. I’m usually sweating profusely by the time I complete the task. #crosstraining I got a new Duvet at Target for $30. I’m loving it!

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And then, since I was on a cleaning roll, I cleaned my car inside AND out! #winning

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This microfiber mitt is the bomb for getting all the dust off the dashboard!

Forest's first bath

Forest’s first bath

Yesterday I set out to the beach running path for a run. I really didn’t know whether I wanted to shoot for a long run or not. So I just set out to do one complete out and back to start, knowing that would be 4.5 miles. I felt great as far as endurance and speed go. My legs were turning over without issue. No heavy legs. Score! It was so good to finally feel like a 10 minute pace was closer to easy than hard. But interestingly I started to feel some knee pain just as I was completing the 4.5 loop so I stopped.

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I walked over to my car to stretch and assess when I bumped into Duncan’s boxer friend Chance and his momma.

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So I walked for an hour with them. My knee seemed ok. The walk was helping. Later on in the day Duncan and I went out to meet up with Chance and his mom again and also Athena and Zeus and their momma for a 2 mile pack walk.

Duncan and Chance

Duncan and Chance

Athena and Zeus: the Dogues and Duncan

Athena and Zeus: the Dogues and Duncan

This time though I felt some knee pain. I even felt myself walking with a bit of a limp. I have never had knee issues. Apparently webmd diagnosed me with just runners knee. I guess now that my left ankle and leg are feeling perfect my right side has decided it’s time to be the punk.

I’m not worried yet. I think it could possibly be connected to the stair master workout from Tuesday. I’m icing it and stretching and I’ll shoot for a long run this weekend.

The rest of my night was awesome. It included a homemade apple crisp, tiramisu, a delicious meal cooked by my sister-in-law and the perfect company. That.is.all 😉

I sure hope you have fun things happening this weekend. I’m actually excited about cheering on my boyfriend at his half marathon on Sunday. Now that I have had practice being a spectator. He is going to return the favor next weekend at my half marathon. #teamwork

So tell me about your weekend plans.
Anyone ever have knee pain?

Related posts:

  1. a day in the life and another night with those fireflies
  2. testing out new shoes and a twisted knee in my sleep
  3. Meh

Ragnar Relay Napa Day 2 Recap

02. October 2014 · 2 comments · Categories: running, Uncategorized, vacation · Tags: , , , ,

So last we left off I was just wrapping up with Day 1. You can read that recap here.

Now for Day 2 and when the lack of sleep caused irritability and um….for me….stupidity.

It was now past midnight and we still had a good 100 miles to go. I was really disappointed in the exchange parking situation. It seemed that most exchanges were so crowded that parking was a bit of an issue. We ended up parking outside of the exchange wherever possible and walking a block or across the street to get there. I think perhaps the field of 500 teams was a bit too high. That really was my biggest issue with the event.

At one point in the middle of the night I waited in a long line for the Honey Bucket and just when it was my turn i realized my headlamp was not working. I didn’t want to lose my spot and have to wait on the line again so I went in to a pitch dark stall and guess what? I COULDN’T SEE SHIT! Literally. #TMILineCrosser

Right after that I went to get Valerie after her 9 mile leg. It had been raining and she had lots of malfunctioning gear.

TIP 5: Make sure you have fresh batteries in your night gear before setting out on your night leg, especially if it’s a long one. And try and remember a flashlight or headlamp when using a Honey Bucket in the dark. =)

As the sun rose and we were finally in Napa the views became so breathtaking.

slurpee in napa

during my 5th leg the team handed me this delicious slurpee! #winning

More »

Related posts:

  1. What I did Wednesday
  2. Running is my therapy—so long Robin
  3. Let the weekend begin

My favorite color is October

01. October 2014 · Write a comment · Categories: cross training, Uncategorized · Tags: , , , , ,

Hello.

Saw this posted on Facebook today. #absolutely

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I was planning on running yesterday morning but still have some soreness on the bottom of my foot. It’s almost gone but with a half marathon 12 days from now I decided to err on the side of caution and go to the gym at lunch for a short cross training session of the rowing machine and bike.

So I packed up my gym stuff in this handy dandy 2011 NYC marathon recovery bag. 🙂 swag in action.

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13 minutes on the rower followed by a killer 20 min on the stair master. I was drenched with sweat. And actually felt good about the decision to cross train.

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This morning I got up super early to take the doodle to our local park. With me being away for a week and then having a busy long weekend I hadn’t taken him in over 2 weeks. He was so happy to reclaim his territory. And I was happy to see the beginning signs of autumn.

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pretty soon the green will turn orange and red and yellow

On our way to my favorite place. Gonna lift my leg on everything!

On our way to my favorite place. Gonna lift my leg on everything!

Tomorrow if my foot is ok I am going to try for an 8-10 mile run. If it isn’t ok I’ll wait until the weekend. Last chance long run opportunity before the Staten Island half marathon. I’m not really worried about finishing. I just want to work on keeping a consistent effort for 2 hours or more. Lately I have been peetering out to quickly. Mostly because I am not accepting that my average pace has slowed since being injured and I start out too fast.

I told you that my favorite month is October because it’s my birthday month AND i love Autumn. But I forgot to share with you another reason it’s an important month to me. It’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month. First I wanted to give a shout out to my dear friend Nicole!

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She’s a survivor! Hard to believe that with a newborn she went through a double mastectomy, chemo and reconstruction all while continuing to work and care for her family. (She owns a pet-sitting company and I met her when Duncan was just a puppy and I was looking for a dog walker.) Her diagnosis really shook me. After my husband died so young from cancer I sort of went through this irrational notion that I paid my dues and nobody close to me would ever be sick again. So when my 36 year old friend was faced with cancer I was knocked back into reality and reminded that I’m not excused from from it. I also wanted to share this link. Meggan is a runner I met last year while on that photo shoot in Charleston, SC for the Dicks Sporting Goods Every Runner Has a Reason campaign. She has been battling breast cancer for 6 years. I didn’t even know it at first. She’s so amazingly strong and brave. I’m wearing my Power in Pink shirt today to kick off Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Power in Pink!

Power in Pink!

I’m almost done with my recap of day 2 of Ragnar Napa. It’ll probably be up tonight. Thanks for being patient. =)

 

I’m assuming most of my readership is female (well except for this guy). Are you up to date with your mammos? Do you do self-exams? 

Do you acknowledge any awareness months?

I make a big deal in May for Melanoma Awareness Month as well as this month’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

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