Rocks and New Shoes

The days have really been sneaking by lately!

I haven't been reading my usual blogs, and I haven't been posting. I don't really know what has been keeping me away, but I just haven't been spending too much time on my computer this week.

A few highlights (and lowlights) for you:

I ran my long run solo on Saturday. I have been running with people for long runs lately, and let me tell you, 11 miles go a lot faster with friends. My watch randomly had a GPS glitch that it mostly corrected. At about 7 miles it said 5.8, a couple of minutes later it jumped up to 7.3. One of my mile splits was under two minutes. Yeah, that seems right...

We ran out of oil for the furnace on Saturday. I discovered this fact when I went to take a shower after my run. We were having dinner with our neighbor so I couldn't not shower. I took the coldest shower ever and tried to keep most of my body away from the water while I washed my hair.

On Sunday I was randomly possessed by a yard work maniac and spent at least 5 hours digging up rocks and cleaning random bits of glass and other trash out of one of the giant rock piles in the yard. Now it's a smaller giant rock pile and it isn't full of garbage.

It was a nice night, so we had a little fire in the fire pit.

Buddy has been loving the warmer weather we've been having, because it means we hang out in the yard when I get home from running.

I got new shoes today. I ordered them the other day and I was delaying my run until the mailman came. They're Brooks Launch 2s - the 3s are out now, so the 2s are on sale - they were really comfortable right out of the box and I didn't have to adjust them at all on my run today. We'll see how they do on some longer runs.

What are your favorite shoes right now?

Trail Race Recap

Saturday morning I was up bright and early to head to the Blue Mountain Reservation for a trail race.

 I rode up with one of my weekend running buddies and we got there with more than enough time to check in and pick up our bibs. The race was so small, we probably would have been fine showing up about 15 minutes before the start.

I don't know the official number of runners, but there was a 5k and a 10k that were capped at 150 between them. I would guess the actual number was somewhere closer to 75 or 80 runners.

We spent a good 10 minutes watching a guy try to fix the start/finish line banner after the wind snapped one of the zip ties that was holding it up. It was a very complicated fix that involved a picnic table, two sticks and some rope. It was pretty entertaining.

The race started a few minutes late to allow some stragglers to get their bibs, and then we were off through the muddy start line. The trails were really beautiful, but definitely more trail-like than most of us are used to. There were loose rocks, tree roots, a couple of very steep climbs (and descents), and lots of mud and water. The man in charge declared that it was "the cheapest mud run you'll ever find."

The course was a 5k loop, so those of us running the 10k ran the loop twice. I'm not a huge fan of running the same hills more than once, but it was generally a fun course.

There were plenty of post-race snacks and drinks, though the promised REI branded swag turned out to be a pair of shoe laces and some lip balm. I don't know that I would call that swag, but with a registration fee of $15, I guess I can't complain.

I started my watch at our official "everyone count down from 10" start and stopped it a few yards after the finish line. It came up with 5.85 miles in 58:00. The clock at the finish was right about at 1:00:00, so I'm not really sure what time to claim. It wasn't chip timed, and who knows how accurate their course measurement was (and there weren't mile markers).

It's ok though, the point was to run a fun race someplace new. You can't really compare trail race times to normal race times anyway, we were all running a minute and a half to two minutes slower than our usual pace.

My shoes may be dry by now, but they could definitely use a run through the rain to clean up a bit.

I spent Saturday night babysitting. The three year old I was watching told me I was bad at puzzles. Thanks kid.

Today was amazing weather. It was sunny and warm! We finally brought the cushions up for the patio furniture, and Buddy and I had a nice morning lounging on the back deck.

I just finished reading Wild. It was pretty good, though I never had a hard time putting it down. I want to see how the movie turned out, I've heard mixed reviews.

------
The above post contains affiliate links.

Muddy Buddy

Buddy and I had to be out of the house for 2 hours today for more house selling shenanigans. Lucky for us, the weather has gotten better, and it was in the upper 40s this afternoon.

This is the look I got when I made him sit in the snow.

We headed to Rockefeller for a while. The paths were either still snow-covered and slushy, or really muddy. We walked the slushy parts and ran the muddy parts. Buddy was having a blast!

Sometimes we run home from the mailbox or the dumpster and when I tell Buddy to "go, go, go!" he spins around and grabs the leash to drag me back to the house. I told him to "go, go, go!" during a particularly muddy part of the path today so he would go faster.

Instead I ended up standing in the mud cracking up at my crazy dog.

We were a little muddy by the time we got back to the car.

 And Buddy was a little tired.

We had a couple of bananas just begging to be turned into banana bread, and some mini chocolate chips may have made their way into the batter.

Don't mind if I do!

It was Beautiful

I didn't run with the group on Saturday, partially because I didn't think I would be able to do it, and partially because of this:

I'm not a fan of negative wind chills.

Saturday became a rest day, and we spent a decent amount of time shopping in the afternoon.  Tom was looking for a new coat, and I am on the hunt for some new yoga (pajama) pants. Turns out we're both pretty particular about both of those things. He was successful, I'm still looking.

This morning I geared up for my long run. I stretched. I foam rolled. I used the stick.

I found a knot in my calf (somehow related to the ankle pain?), and it hurt to roll it. I brought the stick down to the treadmill with me and stopped to roll my calf every couple of miles. Other than a bit of tightness (and the pain while I was rolling it out), my 11 miles was pain free.

It was beautiful.

Fingers crossed that I'm past this random injury - I missed running without pain!

We had a snack-a-thon (with beer) for dinner while we watched the Super Bowl. The first course was chips, salsa and guacamole. Round two was a veggie tray, and we finished up with some devil's food doughnut holes.

We planned on having burgers for dinner, but started snacking and quickly realized that we weren't going to be hungry enough for a full meal. Guess we know what's for dinner tomorrow!

Buddy did not care about the outcome of the Super Bowl.

We mostly were torn between which team we disliked more. It was a good game though!

Did you watch the Super Bowl?

Race Sign Up and Running Again!

I was amazingly lazy on Sunday. We had freezing rain pretty much all day long, and I spent most of my day researching races, reading blogs and watching tv.

Freezing rain is dumb.

Buddy was terrified while Tom cooked dinner, so I threw his blanket on him. He stayed like this for about an hour.

He has such a rough life.

The result of all my race research is that I'm now officially signed up for 3 half marathons!

West Point Half Marathon - March 29th
Rhinebeck Hudson Valley Half Marathon - May 16th
Walkway Half Marathon - June 13th

The Rhinebeck and Walkway races are new, it's the first year for both of them. I think I have run more races in their first year than I have run established races. I have never been signed up for more than one half marathon at a time, it's weird for me to be planning my entire year of racing at once.

I'm almost 100% decided on a marathon, but registration doesn't open up for most fall marathons until April, so we'll see if I'm still stuck on the same one come April.

I ran today!

I haven't run since my painful, aborted tempo run last Thursday. My ankle has been feeling a lot better, and I took it slow. I did a legitimate warmup (which I don't always do) and stopped to stretch (and do some mountain climbers for the #NoExcuses challenge) every mile. I ended up running 3.13 miles in 30 minutes. I'm just happy that I got to run!

And yes, I iced after I was finished.

Hopefully this means I can get back to my training plan this week.

Buddy did as much adventuring as his leash would allow this afternoon. I think he was just happy the temperature was above freezing.

Do you plan your race schedule for the year all at once or do you like to play it by ear?

A Big Chicken, Fun Mail, and Good Food

Buddy is officially afraid of the smoke detector/oven. He was home alone a few weeks ago when the low battery warning started going off...every 60 seconds the alarm would sound, and the voice (because it talks) would say "low battery." We don't know how long it was going off before I got home, but he's been afraid of it ever since.

Now he acts weird when we turn the oven on and looks anxiously up at the smoke alarm. Apparently he's made the connection between the oven being on and the smoke alarm going off. When it goes off (it's sensitive, we don't just burn things all the time), he jumps on the couch, or runs upstairs to hide.

We have an 80lb chicken for a dog.

This is Buddy keeping an eye on the smoke alarm - he doesn't understand why we are not concerned by the woman in the ceiling.

I wore my Transcends to run today to (hopefully) give my foot/ankle a little more support - and then I complained about how heavy they are compared to my usual Mizunos. I think they helped though.

It was a fun mail day today.

I was a little disappointed that my Pro Compression grab bag ended up being two colors I already have and a pair of Ragnar socks (I guess now I should run a Ragnar relay?). It will still be nice to have new socks, a couple of my old ones are getting stretched out.

I got new Nuun to try out - Tangerine Ginger! And they threw in a fun holiday glass! :)

Dinner tonight was Egg Roll in a Bowl. It doesn't photograph well, but it's delicious! We make it pretty often, and switch up what veggies we throw in (I say we, but Tom cooks it).

I made more Eggnog cookies tonight too - my running group polished off most of the last batch, so we needed more to have for Christmas.

Are you ready for the holidays or do you still have tons of things to do?

Back at it

I haven't had an alarm set for a while. 6:45 was really early this morning.

Cold and early.

And whiny.

Mostly, I was whiny.

But then I got my butt out the door and met up with the group. It was a smaller group than usual with the Marine Corps Marathon this weekend and the NYC Marathon next weekend. A lot of people are doing one or the other, so we only had about 8 runners today.

It wasn't an amazing run. I felt slow and got a stitch in my side, but I did it. Sometimes I have a hard time getting back to working out after big races.

I also sort of put together a workout plan for the week. We'll see if I stick to it and I'll let you know how it goes.

Buddy will lay/stand in some of the weirdest ways just so he can be in the sunshine.

Now that my Mom vacation is over it's time to start thinking about work again. I hate being between jobs, but I definitely needed a change. Decisions are not my strong suit.

Last Long Run Before Race Day

Saturday turned into a rest day. I was up pretty late Friday, and when my alarm went off at 6:45 I decided that rest was more important than meeting up with the group. My legs have been really tired the last couple of runs and the last thing I want is to show up on race day with tired legs.

I have been making baby steps in getting the house less messy ready for my mom's visit - she will be here ON FRIDAY!! :)

My training plan had another 13 miler on the schedule for today. I really don't think it's a good idea for me to run 13 miles the week before the race, so my long run was a shorter 9 miles today. I even went out with a set time so I wouldn't be tempted to run it faster than I should.

My Transcends made a rare appearance on the trails today. They're just so much heavier than my other shoes.

The guys went walking while I ran. An hour and a half is enough to knock Buddy out for pretty much the rest of the day.

He only moves to follow the patch of sun on the floor.

This afternoon we're watching football, though the pesky East Coast channels aren't going to let me watch the 49ers game later. :(

If you're on Facebook and want updates about the blog - check out my page HERE.

Sometimes it's just about getting the miles in

Happy Friday!

I got up at a much more reasonable hour this morning - not my 10+ hours of sleep from the other night.

This was for breakfast.

It was pretty tasty. Not too sweet (which is a danger of caramel apple flavored things) and I really liked the thick slices!

We took some measurements of our bigger furniture to take with us on a second look at the cute house from last weekend.

There is an offer in on the house already, but they haven't accepted it yet. I don't know all the ins and outs of buying houses, but this fact doesn't seem to concern Tom too much since they are still considering the offer.

I took a few outside pictures since the inside obviously hasn't changed.

Later on, Buddy and I took a quick trip to the dog park.

And then we hit the basement for a few easy miles. Today was one of those runs where it just becomes about getting the miles in. It was not awesome. But I got it done.

I had a little help from Pro Compression - my legs were tired today!

In case you were wondering, Buddy still hates the basement.

I hope you're having a good Friday!

Any exciting plans for the weekend?