fFall is my favorite time of year. I love the colored leaves on the trees and the cooler weather on my runs. But I always struggle when the temps first start getting cold. You know, that temp where you think "oh, I need a long sleeve shirt" and then less than a mile into the run, you are regretting your clothing choice. Yeah, that weather. For me, that temp range is the 50s. Below that, I can wear a long sleeve half zip and be comfortable with just unzipping. Above that, I just wear a tank top with my skirts. But I've found an new answer to the problem. (The answers used to be 1) arm sleeves, 2) freeze when I first start out, or 3) overheat by the end of the run. Anyways, the new answer is the Skirt Sports Bolero. (affiliate link). I … [Read more...]
If I wasn’t a runner, I would be…
... an overweight alcoholic. (afflilate link) I mostly jest, but running is my stress release, my anti-depressant, my coping mechanism, my "me time". I am also a huge stress eater. Running both keeps my stress levels down so I don't feel the need to eat an entire box of cookies (or a whole container of frosting or ice cream), but when I do, running helps burn off the calories. As far as the alcohol, despite my love of craft beer, I've never actually leaned on it to help me survive a stressful situation. (In fact, I often choose to have dessert instead of a beer if there aren't any good beers available. Yes, I'm a beer snob but I'll eat sugar in just about any form.) So, I run. Right now I'm a third of the way through my … [Read more...]
I’m giving myself an A+ for the month
No, I didn't have a perfect running month (and the month is not over and I'm sure I won't follow my plan exactly.) But I did have a smart running month. Before I get into *my* month of running, how was yours? Join us for Tuesdays on the Run and rate your September. So, why exactly am I rating my month an A+ when I haven't followed my training perfectly and probably won't this week either? Well, I did have one week where I *almost* followed my training to a T, but that was just one week. I'm giving myself an A+ because I listened to my body when I got sick and scaled my running way back for a few days. I have enough experience training for long distances that I knew it was smarter to miss or shorten some runs than to push through … [Read more...]
Kicking off the fall race season
I love fall. It's my favorite time of year. The mornings and evenings are cool, it's still light out for lots of hours, and the race scene picks up again (as does my pace.) Every fall I think "I don't have many races, just Marine Corps Marathon", so I sign up for a race and then I remember that "oh, yeah, I signed up for Ragnar and a local half marathon and the Clarendon Day Double and..." Suddenly I realize my race card is full. So here's what I have going on... September 17 - Navy Air Force Half Marathon (already done!) September 22-23 - Ragnar DC. I'm runner 4 for Mad Fox 12 Pack. Give me a shout out if you see me. September 24 - Clarendon Day Double. 5K, run back up the hill, and then a 10K. October 1 - … [Read more...]
First day of school means fall training has begun
Here we go! Another school year is about to begin. I'm kind of in denial that I no longer have a kid in elementary school, but the big change this brings is that everyone is out of the house before 7:30am now. We'll see if that means I get out the door to run earlier or not. Fall is my favorite time of year. It's also prime marathon training time. My training plan calls for multiple double digit runs per week, starting this week. Gulp! Thankfully, the weather tends to start cooling down and the return to school gets me back on a running schedule. Know what else changes about my training? Races! I've got a lot coming up and will talk about that soon. I don't race a lot during the summer. Between vacations and the weather and the … [Read more...]
August running by the numbers
It's that time of month again - the last Tuesday of the month. It's the one where we evaluate how our running/training went for the month. Join Marcia and Patty and me as we talk about the ups and downs of running through August. I'm going to take a little different approach this month. What do the numbers show this month? Number of states I ran in: 3 (Wisconsin, Virginia, and South Carolina. I just missed running in 4 as I ran in Colorado on July 30. Maybe I should make sure to hit DC in the next few days...) Number of total miles: 131 and counting. I have 3 more runs yet this month. This is the highest mileage I've run since May 2016 when I ran 7 half marathons in 7 days. In fact, I haven't run more than 110 miles in any … [Read more...]
Controlling the chaos: a work in progress
Hi, I'm MCM Mama and I own way too much a lot just the right amount of skirts. And the perfect number of running shoes (if I were to run multiple times a day every day.) And medals? I have a few of those as well. I also live in a small house with closets big enough to hold about 3 outfits. Since today's topic on Tuesdays on the Run is how you organize your running related items, I'll share how I don't end up on the show "Hoarders". How exactly do I actually manage to keep things neat. Well, I organized my running shoes and clothes a couple of years ago and it's actually stuck! Then: Now: OK, maybe I needed to add another level of shoe storage... Despite a teeny tiny house, I have most of my running related items … [Read more...]
It is not a secret that I am not a fan of summer running
Give me a sunny 30* day and I can run forever. Or a spring day where 50* feels like tank top weather. Or my personal favorite - the first fall day where a long sleeve shirt is perfect. But summer? Summer is not my friend. Summer makes me feel sweaty and gross - before I even get out the door. Summer allows me to chafe in places I didn't even know could chafe. Summer makes me, a die hard night owl, get up at 4:30 am to run at 5:30. Summer makes me burn in places that should never have seen the light of day in the first place. Summer means shots of pickle juice and the addition of salty things to my diet. (OK, maybe that's not so bad.) Summer means a night on the couch (and a 3am visit from the cat) so that I … [Read more...]
Amazon Prime Day AKA Christmas in July
Today on Tuesdays on the Run, our topic is "Running items you use for non-running purposes". Since I wrote pretty much that exact post last spring, I figured it would be a bit redundant to do so again. And you all know that I haven't worn anything but Skirt Sports skirts since it warmed up enough to pack away the winter clothes. No surprises there. By the way, don't miss the last couple of days of the Skirt Sports end of season clearance. (affiliate link) There are some good deals there! So, what's a girl to write about? Well, conveniently, today is Amazon Prime Day! All links below are my Amazon affiliate links. If you purchase through them, I will get a small payment. I did a little "wish listing" on Amazon. Lately, I've … [Read more...]
Happy 4th of July and some random thoughts
Somehow it's Tuesday again! I swear the older I get the more time flies. I spent Monday flying home from Wisconsin and I'll confess that I didn't get a chance to write a post about 4th of July and running before I left, so you get some random thoughts about this summer so far. Hopefully you have some good races you can tell us about! First off, happy 4th! We haven't gone to see the National Fireworks in a few years. We once had the opportunity to watch them from the top of a building near the Mall. Needless to say, it's totally spoiled us and I'll never go watch them with the masses again. (Kind of like getting to be up on a balcony for Mardi Gras - I'll never be able to top that either LOL.) Running has been going pretty well … [Read more...]
Rating my year at the 6 month point
At the end of each month, we've been asking you to rate your running month as part of Tuesdays on the Run. As we close out June, I'm also going to check in on my annual goals too. As far as June goes, it started off strong and then flatlined. My body didn't bounce back as well after the Heartland race series as it has after other series. I really have no one to blame but myself. I did a lot of speedwork this spring, but I didn't do a lot of back to back runs. I also didn't do as many double digit runs as planned. Just this past week, I finally started feeling more like myself on the run. I no longer feel like I'm running through mud. I'm quite thankful for that as the I need all the energy I can find to start Hansons Marathon Method in the … [Read more...]
Stocking up to survive the summer
Have I mentioned before that I'm not a huge fan of summer? Give me a below freezing day over a sweltering hot day anytime. After all, I can put on more layers, but there are only so many things I can take off before someone calls the cops (or I end up with chafing in places no one deserves to chafe.) But I can't let the weather shut down my training plan, so I've been getting all of my favorites ready for the summer. Some links below are affiliate links, which means I make a small amount if you buy through that link. Affiliate links are labeled as such. Handheld water bottles. I have several. I've been a long time fan of the Amphipod bottles, but I've recently branched out to some of the Nathan handhelds . I'm very particular about … [Read more...]
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