The Firewood Workout

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The downside of the cooler weather (that I was just so excited about) is that we go through a lot of firewood. Our wood stove is pretty awesome and most of the time that's all we use to heat the house. Tom and I usually move firewood together because it goes much faster with two people, but he's been busy with work the last few days.

This morning I spent a few minutes trying to get the Polaris to start (it doesn't like the cold), and made a few trips from the wood pile to the front porch. I hardly ever drive the Polaris, so I had fun once I got the hang of it.

I started with this:

And stopped when it looked like this:

It took me three trips and almost an hour to fill the thing, but at least now we're set for a while. My arms are tired, so I think it totally counts as a workout. ;)

Buddy and I took my new shoes (Mizuno Wave Rider 18s) our for a quick couple of miles this afternoon. I didn't want to do too much since I ran 13+ miles in the last two days, and am getting ready to jump back into training mode tomorrow.

My shoes match my hat. I didn't even notice until after I got home.

After our run I hit the mat for day 2 of Yoga Camp. It was a longer video than usual, but it was just the right combination of relaxing and challenging for me today.

If you're doing yoga camp, don't freak out when you see how long the video is (51 minutes). It sounds like it is the longest of the entire month, do what you can, accept where you are. I still fall out of balancing poses all the time. Enjoy the time you're taking for yourself and remember that you're not supposed to be an expert - it's day 2!

Are you a matchy-matchy person when it comes to workout clothes? I am not, it sometimes happens, and sometimes I clash terribly. 

17 Miles and A New Hydration Pack

Did you know that there is nothing on tv at 5 am? It's all infomercials. I was up early this morning to get my long run in before it got too hot out and had very limited tv options.

I started watching The Walking Dead until I realized that watching zombies before I went for a run outside in the mostly dark was probably not the best life choice. I found some I Love Lucy episodes to watch while I drank my coffee instead. It was super dark out, and I didn't want to start out in the total darkness. I had to look up when sunrise was going to be, and the sky had lightened up a bit by the time I was out the door.

I know I say this after every long run, but 17 miles is far you guys! I took my new hydration pack (it's a TETON Sports Trailrunner 2.0) for a spin, and I like it way better than my fuel belt that I have been running with. It's easier to take sips of water, and I don't feel the weight of the water as much as I do with the belt. The best part is that it was less than $24 from Amazon (depending on color choice).

I've given up on worrying about the pace of my long runs. I can't seem to find anywhere near the house that isn't insanely hilly. This week was even worse than last week - over 1700 feet of elevation. I can't help but walk on some of the steeper sections - it's usually faster to walk than to try to run up them, and walking is not good for my long run morale. I like to be able to keep my legs moving.

Every once in a while I get caught up in all the blogs and social media and start to feel like it's no big thing to wake up at 5am to run 17 miles. Doesn't everyone do that, and don't they do it faster than me?

No, they don't. And even if I'm not the fastest (I'm not), it's still a really cool and very hard thing I'm doing, no matter how run of the mill social media makes it seem.

I ran 17 miles today, and that's the most I've ever run at one time - how cool is that? :)


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Seen On My Run

I thought of you today. No, really, I did! I was about to head out for my run and decided to throw my phone into my fuel belt (I almost never bring it with me) so I could take some pictures for you guys.

Most of these were taken while running, so kudos to my phone for making them not look like I took them while running.

This tree has problems.

There are usually a bunch of cows by the lake, too. It's a pretty place to run if you don't mind the hills.

I also got fun mail today - new shoes! I have a couple of pairs that either already need to be retired, or are almost there, so these were definitely necessary.

I'm already excited to run tomorrow!

Some Randomness and a Movie Night

I've gotten really bad about blogging lately. Between work, random house projects, and marathon training, blogging seems to be the thing that gets dropped first. So today you get a super random update. Aren't you excited?

We got this big (10'x20') canopy for the patio area. Since the grill is pretty much our only way of cooking right now (other than the toaster and the waffle iron), we needed to make sure the weather wouldn't stop us from having dinner.

My Wave Sayonara 2s should really be retired at this point, but I had a super great run in them this week, so today is not that day.

Buddy likes to lay in the narrowest spot in the house. That way you can't go anywhere without him knowing. Don't you love our kitchen floor? It's getting replaced. For sure. And the cabinets...and the counters...most of the kitchen really.

This is a really good, summertime beer. Grapefruit IPA, yes please!

I am a super lazy member of Influester, and somehow managed to get picked for their Sunshine VoxBox. I am pretty excited to try out the Vaseline spray moisturizer, and I have been looking for those sriracha almonds every time I go to the grocery store. I love getting to try out new things for free! (Who doesn't?)

Thursday night we decided to go to a drive in movie theater. Dogs are allowed, so Buddy got to come with us.

He was pretty happy to be invited.

We saw Minions and Jurassic World. Minions was really cute and funny and Jurassic World was way better than I had been led to believe.

There are actually a couple of drive ins near us, so there's a definite possibility that we'll be going again.

Have you gone to a drive in? 

Do you now have the "stranded at the drive in" song from Grease stuck in your head?

How about now?

Marathon Training Week 1

I am officially through my first week of marathon training! And I've already strayed from my training plan. Oops!

My summer running clothes somehow have no pockets, so I've had to get creative with my house key.

Monday: Monday was supposed to be a cross training day. I had grand plans to dig out my Piyo and, you know, actually cross train. But instead, I spent the entire afternoon at the laundromat, adding more and more quarters to the dryer that just didn't want to dry anything. It was fun.

Tuesday: 3 miles on the agenda, and I ran 3.14 @ 9:36 pace around the neighborhood in the 83 degree weather. It was humid, and I was not happy.

Wednesday: 5 miles. It was less humid than Tuesday, but still around 80 degrees out. I actually carried Nuun with me (I hate carrying things when I run) and finished my entire water bottle before I got home. 5.17 miles @ 9:48 pace.

Thursday: 3 miles. It was only in the upper 70s and it felt amazing after the heat of the last few days. 3.16 miles @ 8:58 pace.

Friday: Rest day! AKA yard work ALL day.

Saturday: 5 mile pace run. I wanted to keep my pace around 9:00, and the weather was on my side. It was in the mid-60s with a light rain - pretty close to my favorite running weather. 5.06 miles @ 8:59 - success!

Sunday: 6 mile "long" run. Ok, so here's where I messed with my training plan a bit. We're going to the lake house next weekend for the 4th, and while I don't mind getting out for some shorter runs while we're there, I'm not about to run the 11 miles that were planned for next Sunday. I swapped Sundays and mapped out a loop around the house for this afternoon.

It was more than a little rainy and much more than a little hilly (running in new areas I have no idea what to expect when it comes to hills).

The loop that I made ended up being 10.23 miles by the time I got back to the house, so I ran past the house (naturally) and ended up running too far before turning around (because math is hard after 10 miles). I ended up running 11.17 miles @ 9:53 pace.

As you can see, I am not good at deciding when to turn around, I always end up running more than I intend to. I'm feeling really positive about putting in my miles with the heat and the hills - watch out Steamtown, here I come!

Running Things

I'm glad I spent so much time outside on Monday, because yesterday was rainy and today was overcast. Spring is so all over the place weather-wise. At least we're (probably) done with snow for a while.

I had a super short run (2 miles) on the training plan for Tuesday, and ended up doing 2.5 easy miles in the basement.

Today was a tempo run. It took me forever to get motivated, and I couldn't run as fast as my tempos a few weeks before the race. I still have the tail end of a cold and when I get running too fast I start coughing, so I guess I shouldn't expect to be at my best.

6 miles total with 4 at 8:34, I'll take it.

I'm running a 10k trail race this weekend that is being put on by REI. I have no idea how the trails are (rough/groomed), so I'm going to play things by ear and just enjoy it. It sounds like a bunch of other people from Rivertown Runners (my weekend running people) are going to be there too, so it should be fun.

Enabler

Today was long run day. It was the last one before the race next weekend, and I ran it inside. Again. One day soon the trails will be free of snow and ice again (they're always in shade, so it takes forever) and I will actually run long outside.

I ran 13.1 miles in 2:06:09, which gives me some hope that I won't end up being ridiculously slow on race day. There are a lot of hills, so I'm not sure what a reasonable time goal is going to be. I will probably come up with something the morning of and adjust throughout the race.

I have another new pair of shoes, Tom is an enabler. :) They're Mizuno Wave Rider 17s, and I was bad and wore them for my long run today. I know you shouldn't run long in new shoes, and I planned on swapping shoes partway through, but then I didn't. Luckily, they're awesome shoes and were super comfy the whole run.

Buddy found the sunshine this afternoon and I got this cute shot.

He got so warm he was laying there panting. Silly dog.

 Dinner tonight was BLTs with guacamole, and chips and salsa.

Not a bad way to end the weekend. :)

Just me and the cows

Jillian Michaels is mean. I know I said it yesterday, but I just wanted to make that clear. 

All kinds of muscles are sore today. Holy cow. That workout yesterday was not a joke.

This afternoon I bundled up for a run in the snow.

It was pretty much just me and the cows.

I definitely picked the wrong shoes for running in the snow. My Mizunos have a circle in the heel that collected and packed snow into little elevated ice heels. It was a little annoying, but it didn't stop me from knocking out just under 6 miles.

It was really nice to have the trails to myself, just the quiet crunch of the snow and the occasional cow sounds. Pretty peaceful.

I turned taco leftovers into nachos when I got home. I'm a terrible example, don't be like me. 

I dropped one of those pickled jalapenos on the floor and Buddy got it before I could stop him. He's a weirdo, and he wanted more.

Dinner tonight was Eggroll in a Bowl again. We can't help it, it's a quick and easy meal - and it's delicious.

We found the original recipe HERE.

Ours usually consists of country sausage, onion, cabbage, ginger, garlic, carrots, bean sprouts, soy sauce and chili garlic paste. It does not photograph well. We usually use red cabbage, so the whole thing turns purple. We top it with green onions and sesame seeds. The leftovers are amazing with eggs the next day.

You should definitely try it.

Do you like running in the snow? 

An awesome run, mud and beer

I had an awesome run today. I felt great and my ankle didn't hurt at all...while I was running. It tightened up after I was done, but I didn't feel even the slightest pain while I was running.

6 miles at 8:09 pace thankyouverymuch. I'm still a little baffled by how much faster I am than earlier this year.

I realized that I didn't show you the mud yesterday, so here you go. This is what it looks like all wrapped up.

I iced a bit after my run and then got mudded up. My ankle is feeling better, but who knows what combination of stretching, foam rolling, ice and mud is doing the trick. All I care about is that it's starting to feel a little better.

This afternoon we headed to the Captain Lawrence Brewery to check out some of their new beers, because we like beer.

They have teeny tiny tasting glasses, but they're really cute. Plus we took a growler home.

Now I've got a heating pad on my ankle while we catch up on shows that we've dvr-ed. It's a wild night over here, though I guess that's ok, since it's only Wednesday.

Target Triumph and Wrapping Presents

I went to one of my favorite stores today.

I even managed to not spend an obscene amount of money! Winning!

I discovered the other day that our holiday wrapping paper from last year was down to scraps. I picked up a few rolls so I could start wrapping things. The tree looks better with things under it! :)

I also picked up a few things for my niece's birthday (she'll be 3 next week!) and Christmas cards, which I will maybe actually get sent off before Christmas. Maybe.

Oikos has weird new flavors of Greek yogurt. Naturally, I had to try one. It was not visually appealing, but it tasted pretty good!

Buddy pouted while I ran this afternoon. 6 miles at 8:22 pace with the last mile at 7:32!

When I was finished running, Buddy only let me take one shoe off before he decided he needed to sit with me.

Silly dog.

November running recap and house hunting news

I can't believe it's December already!

I hit 142.8 miles in November! It's safe to say I've never run that much in a month before, so I'm pretty psyched about it. I'm extra excited because I have managed my mileage/speed well and have been injury-free!

That also means I am 103.9 miles away from my goal of 1,000 miles for the year. Totally achievable!

The morning started in the usual fashion (coffee), made a bit more festive by the tree.

Did I tell you we have an offer accepted on the old white farmhouse? It's contingent on the sale of our townhouse, but they've accepted our offer! We've been watching a lot of DIY network shows and thinking about/planning all the things that need to get done once it's ours.

I ran 5 miles on the treadmill (I can't help it, if I'm running alone, I sort of prefer the treadmill) this morning.

Nothing terribly exciting, another episode of Gilmore Girls with Jess stirring up trouble. I actually really liked Jess before he turned all jerk-y, he mixed things up!

And actually, after my run this morning, I'm down to 98.9 miles. Double digits!

Buddy feels like he hasn't been on the blog enough lately.

We'll work on it.