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Rock My Face Off Yoga, New Shoes and a Lovely AM Run

5 Apr

As you may have already read, I’ve only recently started yoga. I’ve loved my few practices, but as a noob I underestimated the sort of experience I could have. Walking into the Full Circle Yoga studio last night, I had no idea what was coming.

In short, our Hatha instructor, Suzie, worked us last night. I twisted and turned and balanced and held and breathed like no other. And then at the end I was so relaxed during savasana that I think I dosed off! When I left that studio, I felt like I needed a cigarette. WHEW!

I came home last night, ate some fried chicken (I know, I know… poor life decision), showered and went right to bed. A few hours later I awoke in a startle and grabbed my phone to see what time it was… it was 4:30 AM and for some reason my alarm was turned off. Props to my internal alarm clock for getting the job done!

Tuesday night I came home to find that these babies had been delivered:

My new shoes: New Balance 20 Minimus Trail

I had tried the Minimus trail running shoes when I bought my New Balance 10 Minimus Road running shoes and thought they were the most comfy shoes in the world. However, I was transitioning from Nike Free Run+ shoes to these and was training for my first marathon, so I figured I should play it safe with the road version of the shoe. I ended up loving these shoes, and have had two pairs already:

My first and second pair of New Balance 10 Minimus Road running Shoes

I had forgotten about the trail versions of the shoe until recently when I came across the New Balance 20 Minimus Trail shoe at a store and stopped to admire them once again. And then suddenly I get an email from Amazon offering these shoes for 40% off. I jumped at the offer!

I only ran 4 miles this morning and the shoes felt great! I even think I might be able to go sans socks in them (for shorter runs). I’ll post more thoughts when I’ve had the chance to get a few short runs and a long run in. I’ll also work on a post about my slow transition from ‘more supportive’ running shoes to these more minimal shoes too. They’re not for everyone, but definitely worth some research and testing if you suffer from shin splints like I did!

Back to the run this morning. It was hot and muggy, and my body was a little tired from the yoga. But considering all that, I felt pretty good this morning. I don’t have official stats because I failed to charge my borrowed Garmin yet again. That reminds me, I need to charge my Garmin. 😉

Here’s the guestimate version:

  • Distance: 4 miles
  • Time: fifty or so minutes?
While I don’t have official stats, I do have a photo of the Rice Krispy Treats that my group mate Rachelle brought in:

I promise we don’t usually have this many snacks. 😉

What kind of shoes do you run in?

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Will Run For Cupcakes

4 Apr

Yesterday’s 6.6 mile morning run featured a yummy treat at the end:  yummy cupcakes from one of my group mates!

Yummy lemon cupcake

The day before our running group received the following email from Lauren:

 I made 24 lemon cupcakes last night (lemon cupcake w/lemon cream frosting). 20 of which have not yet been eaten by me as of this moment but will be if I leave them in my house. A hypothesis I am trying not to test. Would anyone be interested in such a thing first thing in the morning? Perhaps a post-6 miler treat? They will be in my car tomorrow morning 😉

Immediately the replies started coming:

“We have been known to eat such delicious treats following a run.” – Sue

“That’s the whole reason we run!!!” – Rachelle

“Is this a trick question? I believe I am available to assist with this… ” – Beth

“I have never been known to turn down a cupcake…” – Me

“I see shirts…’We never met a cupcake we didn’t like.'” – Sue

The replies continued and I couldn’t help but smile and be thankful.

Surely you can see why I absolutely love these ladies. Three times a week we get together and run. We are women (and our token one man) of all different ages, sizes and income brackets. We fare from all over our country (and some from abroad) and can’t seem to agree on our favorite breakfast joint. But for all the differences, we share our love for laughter… and most certainly our love for cupcakes.

As for loving running, that’s only on the good days. I’m pretty sure it’s the laughter and cupcakes that gets us out of bed in the morning.

Here’s to the ladies of Sue and Emily’s 5:00 pace group… the fairest ladies of them all!

Now off to yoga!

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I Quit

1 Apr

Today, I officially quit running. I’ve made this decision based on several reasons. For the sake of full disclosure, I will list these reasons below.

  • I want to sleep in. I no longer want to go to bed before my mom does and wake up before my little sister goes to bed.
  • I want to take my coffee with disheveled hair and in my PJs. I want to roll out of bed, brush my teeth, shuffle slowly down the hallway and find the coffee brewing. I want to drink said coffee on the couch, on my front porch or in the Florida room…
  • I no longer want to be awoken from my wondrous slumber with the numerous alarms required to get me to my early morning runs on time, I do not want to tear my kitchen apart looking for my water bottle and wish to forget about having to charge my borrowed Garmin forever.
  • I want to spend my money on real clothes that I can wear to work and social engagements. I no longer wish to continue to spend said money on replacing sports bras that lose their elasticity, the pursuit of the perfect running tights or new replacement running shoes.
  • I wish to no longer spend more time with the foam roller than I do visiting with my little sister.
  • I want to be able to join in Friday night Happy Hour excursions.
  • I want to be able to stay up past 9 PM Saturday nights.
  • I miss waking up and having zero aches in my body. Currently I lay in bed without moving, playing my favorite game “I wonder what’s going to hurt when I stand up.” (No one is ever the winner in this game.)
  • I want to be able to eat dinner without wondering just how it will (ahem) affect me in the AM.
  • I’m tired of stepping over my sleeping dogs in the wee hours of the morning and having them shoot me a dirty look because I had the gall to wake them up.

In my opinion, these very valid reasons strongly outweigh the benefits of good health and stress release. I retire my running shoes today.

However, on Tuesday I will come out of retirement and rejoin my group for a nice 6-mile run.

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Shorty

9 Mar

I stand about 5’3″, weight 155 pounds and have really great birthing hips. I overpronate and it takes me almost two steps to Donnie’s one to keep up with him. I, by no means, have a traditional runner’s body, I will never win a race (unless it’s against a crawling baby) and I make all running outfit decisions based on whether my thighs will rub together.

Everything about my body tells me to go find another form of exercise, but I don’t want to. I want to run.

And at least I have a tall man in my house to reach the highest shelves.

Thanks Runner’s World for the chuckle:

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Hills, Groundhogs and the Most Inspiring Video

2 Feb

In the efforts of working on both my speed and strength, I’ve decided to rejoin the Marathonfest Thursday morning training sessions. I’ve been running with the ladies Tuesdays and Thursdays, but decided I could benefit from the Thursday hill and tempo workouts. The good news is, I can still join them for coffee afterwards (which I did this morning).

My goal for this morning was to run the 3.4-mile loop with hill repeats without taking any walk intervals. I was able to accomplish this goal. Since I remembered to bring my borrowed Garmin this morning, I actually have stats:

  • Distance: 3.34 miles
  • Time: 37:15.71
  • Avg Pace: 11:09/mi

Back when I trained for my half marathons, I would average around a 10:45/mi pace for shorter runs and 11:18/mi for the half marathon. My Disney Marathon pace was 13:22/mi and I hope to get that down to at least 12:00/mi for Flying Pig.

Going up hills you can usually find me muttering to myself. I tend say things like “dig deep” and “you can do this” and my favorite: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” This was one of the bible verses my mom had us say before bed every night growing up and it’s always stuck with me. This morning was no exception. Unfortunately, you can usually also hear curse words flying out of my mouth during tough runs. I tend to have the mouth of a sailor. I try my hardest not to curse around the bible verse.

When I got home this morning I saw that a friend had posted this video. Watch it and tell me you don’t get the chills watching it. Tell me your whole being didn’t get excited at the end. Tell me you weren’t inspired. I think I actually clapped at the end and shouted. My dogs must think I’m weird (thought they have no room to judge).

And today’s Groundhog Day. For those of you in the colder regions, I hope the groundhog doesn’t see his shadow!

How did you feel when you watched the video I link to above?

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10 Reasons Running Doesn’t Suck As Much As You Think

25 Jan

Yeah, I pretty much love this list of 10 Reasons Running Doesn’t Suck As Much As You Think that’s over on HelloGiggles.com.

My favorite reason is #10, mainly because I want to know that I used up this ol’ body of mine. I want to use it so much that my body begs for mercy. And when the day comes that it doesn’t move like it used to, I don’t want to regret that I didn’t take advantage when I could.

And it’s no secret that I run so I can eat peanut M&Ms, which is addressed by #2. But if you’ve ever seen my playlist, then you know that I’m fond of #3 too.

Which are your favorite reasons?

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Shit Runners Say

24 Jan

I’ve been enjoying the the original Shit Girls Say videos and all of the spin-offs that have developed. Most recently, I came across the Sh!t Runners Say version above, which had me chuckling in agreement.

It got me to thinking about some of the more random things said over our morning runs during the last six months. Here are some of the ones that come to mind:

  • “Hey, your sweat on your back looks like a heart!”
  • “That’s right. I sweat pretty.”
  • “Let’s get this hell train moving.”
  • “Do you think running up these hills will make my ass look like Kim Kardashian’s?”
  • “My buns, they don’t feel nothing like steel.”
  • “Can we walk to that light?”
  • “No, not this light. I meant that light down there.”
  • “Can we run Dinky Donk again?”
  • “How long until our next walk interval?”
  • “Does you have any new shark stories?”
  • “Try that berry on that bush and tell us if it’s any good.”
  • “Okay, we just have two stop signs, a left and then some more running and then we’ll be done.”
  • “If I was attacked by zombies running through the cemetery, would you stay and help me?”
  • “Uh oh. Did you you have potato soup for dinner  again last night?”
  • “Where’s the nearest bathroom?”
  • “I think that guy down the road has his pants down. Yeah, he definitely has his pants down.”
  • “If I get hit by a car, that means I get to stop running, right?”
  • “Yeah! There’s purple Gatorade!”
  • “Sorry we’re late. We got lost over in Mr. Roger’s neighborhood.”

During this morning’s run, we tried to pick up the pace during a 3.5-mile run. I forgot to charge my borrowed Garmin yet again, so I don’t know how fast (or slow) we ran. But it felt good to incorporate some hills. I usually hate hills, so I think this cool air must be affecting my brain.

On the way home from my run the sky looked like a work of art. If I was a painter, I would totally paint this (minus the power lines, of course).

Back to the video, which of the Shit ____ Say videos is your favorite?

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