Digging out and running for Meg

19. January 2014 · Write a comment · Categories: helpful tips, running · Tags: , ,

Hi

Hope everyone is having a nice weekend. The painting is finally done! And now I’ve just got to keep plugging away and cleaning, putting back some things, tossing others and then tomorrow I’ll try and hit up Home Goods for some odds and ends. I cannot tell you how awesome it feels to have a fresh coat of paint on every single wall! It feels like a new home. YAY!

I ran 4 miles today and dedicated them to Meg Cross Menzies, the young mom/wife who was tragically killed recently after being struck by a drunk driver while she was out for a run. It’s really great when social media can help to make a unified circle of support and awareness during tragedies like this. #megsmiles #runnersagainstdrunkdrivers

megsmiles

I actually ran the boring 4 mile neighborhood route that I just told you in this post but today it wasn’t boring. I didn’t bring music. I just listened to my thoughts and prayed for Megs family. I also thought a lot about my own life. And I thought about how I can run a little safer on the streets. If there’s 2 things you can do when running outside it’s 1) Don’t wear both earbuds or even better run without music period. You should really be aware of the sounds around you. 2) Always run against traffic so you can see oncoming cars.

I’ve got 8 miles on tap for tomorrow and I’ll be spending the remainder of the day cleaning and organizing of course.

Question: Are you cozy at home or did you go out on the town tonight? I met my friends at a sports bar for a drink and some nachos but now it’s 10:40pm and I’m doing laundry and blogging. 

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Groundhogs Day

17. January 2014 · 2 comments · Categories: running, running gear, Uncategorized · Tags: , , ,

Well I’ve made it to day 4 of house painting week. It’s been fairly smooth except for things like planning to move my coat, duncan’s leash and my car keys out of the room that was being painted. I had to dig under some drop clothes and squeeze my fingers over my piano to retrieve the leash and keys and never did get access to my coat. It’s really starting to feel a lot like that movie Groundhogs Day. Ever see that movie? One of my favorites =)

Even my morning run felt a bit like the same old same old.

watch116

I ran 4 miles, same 4 mile route around the neighborhood. It was drizzling but not too cold. Felt good, but boring. I must try out some new routes soon. But…..I’m really getting comfortable in my Brooks Ghosts!

Brooks Ghost 6's

They’re keepers….I threw out the box. No turning back!

Speaking of Brooks, I found out from someone’s tweet (can’t remember who tweeted about it) that Brooks was having a clearance sale yesterday. I immediately jumped onto their site to order a couple of pairs of my favorite running capris, but I got distracted before completing the purchase and at the end of the day when I went back they didn’t have all black in medium so I bought these two that have some color accents. (my confirmation email seems to have disappeared so I hope I really ordered them!)

brookspants

I have lots of summer weather running tank tops in hot pink and my favorite columbia running jacket AND my sneakers match the other pair. For $42 a pair (regularly $65) and FREE shipping I am quite satisfied. I swear these are the best capris ever. =)

Speaking of Groundhogs Day, it’s only 17 days away. I’m so curious to see if the little bugger sees his shadow. Well I’m exhausted. One more day of house painting craziness and then I’ll be spending Saturday, Sunday and Monday cleaning and re-decorating each and every room…I’m tired just thinking about that. And soon I’ll share some before and after pics.

Hope y’all have a great weekend.

Question: What are your favorite running capris? Do you care if your running outfits match or not? Who else hates dusting?

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The frizziest 3 mile Fartlek ever and specimen success

14. January 2014 · 3 comments · Categories: labradoodle, running, Uncategorized · Tags: , , ,

frizz: to (cause hair to) form a mass of tight curls.
fart·lek An athletic training technique, used especially in running, in which periods of intense effort alternate with periods of less strenuous effort in a continuous workout.

Ok, now before i tell you all about the running let me pat myself on the back and share with you my success at collecting Duncan’s pee.

photo 1

TMI!

Well I didn’t necessarily rock it out of the park…the first attempt started out sensational, he lifted his leg and I slipped the jar under. I heard the sound of the stream hitting the bottom of the jar and thought it was gonna be smooth sailing from there on out but the little bugger kicked the jar out of my hand as he was done and the valuable pee spilled out! I know now to hold the jar tighter next time. Lesson learned. Mind you it was pouring rain out and all I could think was that the rain drops would taint the specimen anyway leaving this whole challenge for naught. Luckily the doodle had “more to give” and I spent the next 10 minutes catching a squirt here and a squirt there. Hopefully enough for the lab to do a complete work up.

So now that i’ve shared too much info I’ll tell you all about my 3 mile treadmill workout.

I actually only ran 2.99 miles. But that was the least of my worries today.

I actually only ran 2.99 miles. But that was the least of my worries today.

I completed a Fartlek workout. Fartlek is Swedish for “speed play”. I walked for the first minute to warm up and then changed the speed every quarter mile from 5.5 mph (11 min per mile pace) to 7.5 (8:34 min per mile pace). My average pace netted out at 9:50 (min per mile). But it’s nice to know I could hold out on those sub 9 quarter miles. The biggest issue with today’s workout was me forgetting some critical items at the gym. A) a pony tail holder! Holy frizz-fro batman! I sweat so much and the hair went AWOL! B) my nice little iPod shuffle and sport ear buds. I ended up using my iPhone and those sub-par white ear buds that come with the phone and of course the phone took a spill and slid down the moving belt. I didn’t even stop running to get it because I knew i’d not want to get back on to run the last 1/2 mile. A nice gentleman kindly picked it up for me and put it in the little cubby on the treadmill for me. God bless him.

Total time was just 29:33 (clock counted backward from 60 minutes which is why the photo says 31:27) but I felt EXHAUSTED! Sweaty but happy. It is a great feeling to go out of the comfort zone and hit those 8:xx paces….even for just 1/4 mile chunks.

I don’t know if you’ve all read this yet but sadly a beautiful young woman/mother/wife named Meg was struck and killed while running yesterday. You can read more here. Please run on Saturday if you can. Take a moment to realize that this could be any one of us, say a prayer for her family and then enjoy your run.

Okie doke. I’m off to bed. 2 down 3 to go!!!

Question: What have you ever forgotten when going to the gym? Sneakers? Pants? 

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No power=no coffee and cadence is a nice sounding word but…

09. January 2014 · 1 comment · Categories: labradoodle, running, Uncategorized · Tags: , , ,

Yesterday, I woke up before my alarm (it was somewhere around 5am) and within a minute of me being awake my power went out. At first I wasn’t too alarmed, I didn’t have to worry about the alarm clock waking me up since I was up but then I realized that without power my Keurig coffee maker wouldn’t work!

no-coffee

 

It went from bad to worse. This also meant no heat! Yikes! The temperature: 5 measly degrees! I laid in bed for another 2 hours until finally it was time to figure out how I was going to deal with this crisis. I took the dog out and then rapid fired texts to some friends to see if anyone was up and would let me come take a hot shower at their house. I checked the thermostat in my house and it was 47 degrees by this point. As soon as I received a response that I had a friend nearby with power I did what I knew would calm me down….I went for a run.

photo 1

5 degrees outside….47 degrees inside….either way i was gonna have to bundle up.

I’m glad I went. It was cold and windy for sure but I came back calmer. I immediately grabbed the dog and a change of clothes and we drove to my friend’s house where Duncan milked the situation for a boatload of cookies and I showered and got ready for work.

froze

doodle milking face

I checked online at the power company’s website and it said power should be restored by noon. It was now almost 11am and I really needed to get to work. (My boss understood that I’d be late but appreciated that I didn’t come to work unshowered). I drove home to drop the dog off and low and behold the power was back! So I made a quick cup of joe in a travel mug, left the cookie monster and drove to the bus stop and eventually made it to work by 12:30pm.

I actually have to be thankful for the whole debacle because there was no way I was getting out of bed to run at 6:30am when I was supposed to go. So waiting to secure a friend with power allowed me to get that 3 miler in at 8:45 which is so much more humane =)

Today I ran another 3 miles only I wore one less shirt and one less pair of pants since it was a balmy 16 degrees! I took the day off since I had a doctor’s appointment, so I ran at 11:30am.

photo 2

there’s one less shirt and one less pair of pants on today due to the heat wave

I am always reading about running stride length and cadence (foot turnover). So I decided to see how many strides per minute I actually ran for my regular average pace (which was 10:30). I did the test 3 times and each time it was 174. Not sure what that means. I just like the way the word sounds. If I had a baby girl I think I’d name her Cadence. =) So that’s all I have to say about that. If you’ve got any insight to this whole foot turnover/stride length stuff do tell!

Question: Is it too soon to start thinking about the weekend? What’s your take on cadence?

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