National Running Day

Happy National Running Day! Did you get a run in today?

As a side note: Friday is National Doughnut Day - I just thought you should know. ;)

I had a tempo run on the schedule for the day and I put it off for so long it almost didn't happen. I finally made it down to the treadmill for some Gilmore Girls and 7 miles. 5 were at 8:49 pace. I probably could have stuck with a faster pace, but I opted to enjoy feeling strong instead.

I spent some time relaxing with my legs up the wall after my run. Buddy wanted to stay close, but he found it pretty boring.

We stopped by Home Depot and picked up some packing paper and foam padding for dishes today. That's almost like packing.

I also packed up some clothes that I'm definitely not going to be wearing in the next two weeks. Baby steps.

And it's a good thing this guy is cute, because he's been underfoot all day.

He's going to be really confused when we finally get serious about packing.

Running in the Rain

I have still not started packing. I did, however, make brownies, which is really more important in the short term if you ask me.

Yesterday I was determined to run outside. And then it was raining and I got lazy and ran inside. Today I was determined to run outside again. And then it was raining again. But this time I sucked it up and dragged myself out the door to hit the trails.

Very few people thought it was a good day for visiting the park.

But you know what? Once I just accepted the inevitable (getting completely drenched), I had a lot of fun! There was only one other crazy person out running the trails, so it was like having the place to myself.

I ran a little over 5 miles in 47:07 - I'm pretty happy with that considering the puddle dodging, mud, and hills.

Luckily I had the presence of mind to bring a towel with me to keep my car seat dry for the drive home.

This wussy dog was shivering after his last walk, so I brought out his blanket and he's much happier now, regardless of the look on his face.

You would think it was the middle of winter the way he's burrowing.

Do you like running in the rain? What's your favorite running weather?

I Should be Packing...

I haven't talked much about house things in a bit. We've been in a sort of holding pattern for a while now - under contract on the townhouse we are currently in, and on the house we are buying. Now things are finally happening, and happening quickly.

Basically, we'll be in the new house in two weeks. Guess how much packing we've done.

That's right! We haven't started!

We did pick up some boxes from someone on Craigslist over the weekend, so that's a start.

My training has continued to be all over the place. Maybe haphazard is a good training plan for me. That seems possible, right?

I was going to run on the trails today, but the rain would. not. stop. so I hit the treadmill for 5 miles this afternoon. It was a good run, one of those nice ones where you feel strong and nothing hurts.

This guy has no idea what exciting things are coming his way. In a couple of weeks he will have a yard to roam!

You know, after we pack...and move...

Long Island Adventure Race

I was up extra early this morning to meet up with a couple of my usual Saturday running buddies. They were putting in some extra miles before the group run, and since I was going to otherwise miss my group run for the week, I decided to join them.

We ran about 4 miles at around a 9:00 pace, in lots of humidity and sunshine. It was really hot for 7:30 in the morning.

The reason I didn't make it to the group run was because Tom signed up to run an adventure race on Long Island. It was SO different than the races I'm used to.

The course was just under 4 miles, and there were over 20 obstacles. There were big groups, teams, families and individuals running. Tom ended up running with a 19 and a 22 year old who were very impressed that he was keeping up with them.

There was a lot of running through the woods, so I missed a lot of obstacles, but I took pictures of the ones I could get to.

These were dumpsters filled with ice water. The one on the right had boards across it so people had to get completely under the water.

I would have looked more like the girl on the right if I had tried to run this race. Tom landed safely on the other side.

There was some rope climbing.

 

Some tire flipping.

And a crazy plank walk.

Then some monkey bars over a mud pit, naturally.

And a giant bubble and water pit at the bottom of a ramp/wall. I have no idea how I managed to not get any bubbles in the picture because they were everywhere! This is where having a group was helpful. Part of the time there were race volunteers at the top to help people up. All the obstacles were optional, so if things got too tricky, people could go around.

Then there was some (more) mud.

And a little more mud.

They had finishers medals, bananas and water waiting at the finish line, and the fire department was there to help take care of the mud.

Tom had a great time and I managed to only get a little sunburned. A pretty fun day overall!

Have you run an obstacle course race? Would you want to?

I haven't, and I don't know that I would want to - I'm not big on rope climbing and dumpsters full of ice water :)

What Buddy is Made Of

Things are back to business as usual around here. I'm pretending there aren't dishes in the sink and ignoring the fact that we really need to start packing up the house...one of these days.

It was hot and humid out this afternoon, so my run was inside. The basement wasn't terribly cool either, but at least it wasn't humid. I'm a little bit off my training (since I skipped runs on both Monday and Tuesday), and I didn't feel like doing mile repeats today. Rather than repeats, I ended up doing something like a progression run, 6 miles at 8:39 pace.

Apparently, the flowers in the side yard went crazy while we were out of town - they're blooming away!

Buddy doesn't get to come with us when we go to the lake house, because they have breed specific legislation there that bans all pit bulls (which isn't really an official breed). The way the law is written, it even includes dogs that look like a pit bull. A few weeks ago we bought a dna kit from a company in Canada (that they would accept the results from) to find out just what our little mutt actually is.

We have always thought he was part Boxer, and possibly Lab. So we were more than a little surprised by the results we got yesterday.

Results for your dog Buddy 

Level 2 Level 4 Level 4 Level 4 Level 5

Staffordshire Bull Terrier Boston Terrier Bull Terrier Newfoundland American Staffordshire Terrier

The lower the level number, the higher percentage result (a purebred or a dog with a purebred parent would have a level 1 result). So, unless the ban gets reversed, it looks like Buddy won't be able to come play at the lake with us. Bummer. :(

It's still fun to know what breeds he's made up of, though how Newfoundland fits in, we're not quite sure!

Long Weekend Laziness

Oh hey! I hope you all had a good holiday weekend! Sorry for the major disappearing act, but we were out of town and I switched into total vacation mode.

We spent our weekend at Tom's family's lake house and had a nice, relaxing weekend. The weather was all over the place, but we had one good afternoon out on the jet boat. Tom likes driving super fast and doing crazy sharp turns/power slides - it takes me a little bit to get used to being on the boat, and then it's a lot of fun.

There's a spot on the lake with a rock that Tom likes to jump off of (he estimates it to be about 20 feet up, or a little less). It took a great deal of patience and insisting that I wouldn't die, but he convinced me to jump. The water was COLD, and that was with shortie wetsuits on (it didn't help that I'm not used to wetsuits and was pretty sure it was trying to suffocate me).

Most of the rest of the weekend was spent relaxing, eating, and visiting. It was excellent.

I did manage to convince myself to go for a run on Saturday, and took a very pretty (and very hilly) 5 mile run on the roads near the house. I don't feel too bad for slacking off a little since I didn't actually take any recovery time after my last race.

I'm back to business as usual starting tomorrow  - apparently my next race is in 18 days, so I should probably get a little more focused...

You're Welcome

I did another solo run around the neighborhood yesterday. It really is much nicer than the basement has been lately. Ever since it started getting warm out, the basement has been super hot, even with the fan. Now if only the neighborhood was a little less hilly...

I'm starting to develop a freckle line where my watch sits. I don't actually tan, so there are just lighter and darker freckles instead.

Today's run was a tempo. I did a 1 mile warm up, ran 5 miles @ 8:34 and a 1 mile cool down. The basement was ridiculously hot, but I got it done.

I am still doing the lunge matrix and leg swings before my runs, and I've done the myrtl routine after every run this week. After last week's race, I'm determined to finish faster at my next half. If a little strength/cross training helps, then I will absolutely do some.

In other news: here's a picture of a dog butt. You're welcome.

I hope you're having a great week!