I've done a few "year in review" posts so far this month and it appears that my year was pretty amazing. But I haven't looked back at my goals since June, so it's time to take a quick look and see which ones I met, which ones I missed, and which ones I completely forgot I had. … [Read more...]
The marathon training that wasn’t
I have a huge runfession to make. Huge. I really don't want to run any more long runs. I'm just over it. A month from now, I'll be lining up at the start line for the 40th running of the Marine Corps Marathon. When I decided to run it, I was riding high on my training for two marathons in one weekend. I was also enamored of the idea of running a "special" year. (Because, you know, years like 15, 20, 40, etc. are more important years to run than regular years. Or not.) So, yeah, my decision to run MCM again was nearly as poorly thought out as the first time I decided to run it. Of course, I knew I'd be running 6 half marathons in 6 days, so I knew I needed to train this summer anyways. Why not throw a marathon into the mix? … [Read more...]
Center of the Nation Series Half Marathon Day #5 – Nebraska
Center of the Nation Series Half Marathon - Nebraska September 18, 2015 2:43:32 Temp: low 40s, rainy, and windy What I wore: hat, tank top, Brooks jacket, Skirt Sports Happy Girl Skirt(this is an affiliate link), compression socks, and Altra Running One 2 (affiliate link). Sometimes you go into a race expecting the worst and end up having an awesome time. Sometimes the time on the clock bears no relation to how good the run was. This was that run. It was chilly and threatening rain and my stomach was feeling off, so I did not have high expectations for this run. When the race started and I realized that much of the course was on a trail, I dropped all time goals and just ran for fun. I ran the first lap with Beer Geek and … [Read more...]
Center of the Nation Series Half Marathon Day #4 – Wyoming
Today is Tuesdays on the Run, but due to crazy busy lives (or just plain lack of cell service for an entire week), April, Patty, and I decided to go with a "free topic" week. Feel free to link up any running related post! Center of the Nation Series Half Marathon - Wyoming September 17, 2015 2:33:32 Temp: Low 40s and windy What I wore: hat, short sleeve top, arm warmers, Brooks jacket, Skirt Sports Happy Girl Skirt(this is an affiliate link), compression socks, and Altra Running One 2.5 (affiliate link). This was my least favorite course of the race. I woke up feeling beaten down, the temps had dropped, it was windy, and much of the course was not very pretty. While I won't say that I mentally defeated myself on this one, I … [Read more...]
Center of the Nation Series Half Marathon Day #3 – South Dakota
Center of the Nation Series Half Marathon - South Dakota September 16, 2015 2:21:20 Temp: Low 50s-low 60s and sunny What I wore: hat, tank top, Skirt Sports Happy Girl Skirt(this is an affiliate link), PROCompression socks, and Altra Running One^2 (affiliate link). There was a lot to love about this day's course. It was only 6 laps, but it had a long out and back and a short out and back. For some reason, the short out and back seemed really easy, so it felt like I'd barely begun running and I was halfway. It was a lovely day out and I finished before the wind picked up. The course had a only one real hill on it and it was actually a nice break for my legs. But the course was all concrete! While I had my fastest race of the … [Read more...]
Center of the Nation Series Day 2 – North Dakota
Center of the Nation Series Half Marathon - North Dakota September 15, 2015 2:22:05 Temp: 57+ at the start, warm (82*) and sunny at the end What I wore: hat, tank top, Skirt Sports Gym Girl Ultra(this is an affiliate link), PROCompression socks, and Altra Running One^2 (affiliate link). This course was much better than the previous day's course! It was all on pavement with rolling hills. We did an out and back with half marathoners needing to complete 6 loops. I ran the first two loops with a new friend from the previous night's group dinner. Those two laps FLEW by and then I kept going when she needed to take a pit stop. I quickly hooked up with another runner and continued chatting. Next thing I knew, I was halfway done … [Read more...]
Center of the Nation Series Half Marathon – Montana
Center of the Nation Series Half Marathon - Montana September 14, 2015 2:27:30 Temp: 57+ at the start, not much warmer, super windy, and cloudy at the end What I wore: hat, tank top, Skirt Sports Happy Girl skirt(this is an affiliate link), PROCompression socks, and Altra Running One^2 (affiliate link). I was really excited to get to this race. I've sung my praises for Mainly Marathons for a long time and was so happy to see everyone again. It's really like one big family out on the course. We were in the small town of Baker, Montana on their lake front. The course was an out and back on a mix of concrete, pavement, and gravel, with half marathoners doing 7 loops. I started the race with long sleeves, but ditched it after … [Read more...]
Skirt Sports visit, big sky country, and reader’s choice giveaway
We are here! Today I am running the first of 6 half marathons that are part of the Mainly Marathons' Center of the Nations series, starting in beautiful Baker, Montana. We've had a busy but fun trip so far. We got up at stupid early on Saturday morning and got to the airport by 5:30am. YAWN! We got through security with no issues and took off right on time. I planned to do work on the plane, but we were on the only plane I've been on in a while that did not have internet. What??? Frontier passed up a chance to charge us for one more thing??? Shocking! Oh, well, I enjoyed reading for the whole flight. Funny thing is that I chose to read a book I was previewing for Jones and ended up totally sucked into the story! We ended up … [Read more...]
Five Flat Mamas Friday
With a little bonus Wonder Woman. T-24 hours until it's go time and I have a to do list longer than the astronauts check list. I know I'll have a great time once I'm on vacation, but getting from here to there is a bit daunting. Thankfully, I have a packing list. I created one for my first series, tweaked it for Ragnar and now have it about perfect for these series races. I just copy it into a new file, change the numbers based on races and days gone, and BOOM, I'm ready. Google sheets are my BFF LOL. The only problem is that my list does not tell me which skirt, which shirt, and what the weather is going to be. Get on that, Google. OK? Add in a little Russian roulette going on with Amazon - one set of packages arrived a day late, … [Read more...]
Thinking Out Loud Thursday : Overscheduled
How is it only Thursday? I feel like I've been through two weeks at least in the last two days since school started. I thought I was supposed to have free time once the kids went back to school? Ha! Anyways, it's Thursday and I'm doing a bit of a mind dump AKA Thinking Out Loud with Running with Spoons. Last night was the first running of the Mad Fox Brewpub's Run Club. This has been an idea that we've been tossing around for quite a while since the wife of the owner is also a runner. We had a nice turnout! I ran 3 miles with some lovely ladies, a few other people ran 5, and Beer Geek acted as sherpa and sweeper on his bike. Of course, for me, the best part was the beer and conversation afterwards. Mad Fox will be hosting the run … [Read more...]
The week I forgot to run
OK, maybe I didn't forget to run. Maybe it was more that life and my body wanted me to taper. Remember last Monday when I ran 9 miles and hit 200 miles for the month of August? Well, as of today, I've run 9.5 miles in September. I do plan to run today and tomorrow is a 16 mile run and Wednesday I will probably run twice, but yeah, last week was a washout when it comes to training. I could give lots of excuses (heat, Beer Geek traveling, busy schedule), but really it boils down to just not feeling the run love. So let's just skip past last week and talk about this coming week. source Here are my goals for the week: Get in my 8 mile run today and my 16 tomorrow and another 6 on Wednesday AKA the first of my 16 mile long … [Read more...]
Ultimate Coffee Date – Labor Day edition
Happy Saturday! Hope you have some fun plans this Labor Day weekend! We are busy busy getting ready for school (finally)! I'm joining up with my friends Deborah, Coco, and Lynda for a virtual coffee date. If we were having coffee, I'd tell you I hardly ran at all last week. We had a huge return to summer weather, Beer Geek was traveling for work, and my allergies were kicking my butt. All those added up to me not only NOT running much, but also not caring that I ran much. It's supposed to be cooler starting today, so hopefully that will help my bad attitude. … [Read more...]
