How are we nearing the end of March already? I feel like we have been in the middle of winter all month and now suddenly April is days away. Of course the fact that it has felt like winter for much of March this year might have something to do with it. As we roll into April, I've suddenly realized I have a big deal race coming up in mid-June - my first ultra Ragnar. My horrible lack of running this winter has me a bit panicked and played a part in my runfessions this month. I runfess that I'm running my first timed race. And it's a trail run. That will probably be muddy. Why yes, I am going out of my comfort zone. I signed up for the three hour option of the Rise Run Shine race. If I run more than 13.1 miles, it will count as another … [Read more...]
It’s too hot for a February Runfession
I think that Mother Nature is suffering from hot flashes this winter. I'm used to a few random "I can wear a skirt and maybe a tank top" days, but it seems like we've had more than normal. And even when it's "cold", it's late fall cold, not winter cold. We haven't even had a real snow yet. (Watch, now March is going to be a mess.) Because the weather has been so iffy, I runfess that I shifted my runs around and made a rookie mistake. I moved my long run to Wednesday to avoid the rain on Thursday and Friday. I was supposed to do 10 miles, but completely crashed and burned at 6.5. Why? Because it was 80*. Homey don't play dat in February. Hell, Homey don't play dat in June! Because that run sucked so much, I runfess that I have … [Read more...]
Once again I find myself runfessing…
How on earth is it nearly the end of January? This month just flew by and I'm not even sure that I accomplished anything. OK, that's a lie. I managed to spend way too much money on car repairs - in part thanks to rodents. Know what they told me at the dealership yesterday??? That the manufacturers use peanut oil on the wires in the cars. And I wonder why I'm constantly having to remove acorns and nests and repair things. Yay for environmentally responsible choices but it's awful for urban living. I joke that I don't take my Pilot in for oil changes, I take it in for rodent removal. Sadly, it's not a joke. Despite the automotive hit to my pocket book, I managed to convince Beer Geek that I should head to the Skirt Sports retreat this … [Read more...]
Final Runfessions for 2017
Here we are with three days left in 2017. It's the final Friday Five of the year and the final Runfessions. And I have to admit that I do have a few runfessions to share... As I write this, I'm 4.8 miles from 1400 for the year and 7.1 miles from 100 from December. I must runfess that it's kind of killing me that I can't make both work out to a nice number for the total. Obviously, I'll be running at least the 7.1 to reach my 100 mile goal for every month in 2017. I have to runfess that I haven't run a whole lot this month and most of it has been on the treadmill. I'm really enjoying the Faster Way to Fat Loss workouts (affiliate link), but they aren't conducive to getting an outside run in most days. I've been doing warmups and … [Read more...]
Post Thanksgiving Runfessions
Happy Black Friday to all of you who celebrate! OK, I know it's not a holiday and you won't catch me in any stores. So far, I haven't even bought anything online. I'm sure I'll breakdown and take advantage of a race discount at some point. After all, I don't actually have any races on the calendar after December 10! Crazy! November has been a bit of a crazy month, so here are my Black Friday Five Runfessions. Wednesday I got a personal email from a charity offering me a bib for the Chicago Marathon. I runfess that I seriously considered it for a short time. It's a group I have supported in the past and the amount was reasonable and, unlike Boston, I'd be happy to run it as a charity runner. But then reality set in and I turned it … [Read more...]
Time for some marathon runfessions
It's the last Friday of the month, so it's time to runfess the sins of October. Since the Marine Corps Marathon is fresh in my mind, all of my runfessions are related to that (or at least to the marathon distance). I runfess that within hours of finishing the marathon, I was considering running another one as a redemption race. I know I can do better than that under different conditions. Luckily, I very quickly realized that "Nah, I'm good" and signed up for Rehoboth Beach as a half marathon. I runfess that at the end of the race, I realized I'd done the whole thing on about half a gu, multiple half cups of Gatorade, and a mini Coke. No wonder I was dragging from about the halfway point. I run most of my half marathons without … [Read more...]
Runfessions of a Marathon Runner
Here we are, two months out from the Marine Corps Marathon. As seems to happen every August, I'm a little bit fixated on my training. Unlike last year, I actually feel like I'm doing a decent job on following my training plan. I'm not 100% on it, but I'm closer than I've ever been. So, I'm joining Marcia for some marathon training runfessions... I runfess that today is my birthday and I don't plan to run 47 miles to commemorate it. I'm not even sure I'll hit 47 miles for the week (although it may be close.) Instead, I'll run my 10 planned miles, spend all my birthday money on new Skirt Sports items, and then head out for dinner and beer with Beer Geek. I runfess that I have fallen in love with the Altra Escalante. They have even … [Read more...]
Runfessions are good for the sole
Or good for the soul. Something like that. How have we reached the end of June already? It seems like just yesterday I was packing for the trip with Beer Geek. Since then both kids have survived finals, Shoo graduated from elementary school, and Jones took a visit to San Diego with his grandmother. Now the boys and I are enjoying a week in Wisconsin. I have a feeling this summer is going to fly by. But it's the last Friday of the month, so that means it is time to head to the Runfessional. Marine Corps Marathon training has begun. Somehow I missed the first week and then I jumped to the 5th week. I should probably actually put the plan on a calendar so I at least know what I'm supposed to be doing. Otherwise I may find myself … [Read more...]
Heading to the Runfessional before I head out of town
I'm not sure I'm actually ready to leave town, but we are heading out today for the Heartland Series. It's been a busy week all around, so I'm leaving a lot of things in a state of not quite done. Oh well, that seems to be my life lately. So, what do I have to runfess to this month? I ran an amazing 10 miler in April and followed that with 20 miles at Ragnar Richmond. My longest run since then was 6.7 miles for Chase the Moon. Somehow all of the long runs I planned just never happened. I had a goal of having ZOOMA Annapolis be my 70th half marathon. It was my 1st and I liked the round number. I blew it by not running the Frederick Half Marathon. Then, once I knew I wasn't hitting my goal, I decided to skip Michigan. So, I'm … [Read more...]
That time I had to runfess to…
How is it nearly the end of February? Or really, how is it only February? Why do I ask that? Because I haven't run in layers in weeks. In fact, yesterday I wore a Happy Girl and a tank top and was too hot. We shall rename 2017 the year without a winter. So, what do I have to runfess to this month? In theory, I'm in training for a 10 mile race at the end of April. In reality, I runfess that I haven't run a double digit run since Marine Corps Marathon at the end of October. I've been running 5-6 days per week and I've actually been doing a fair amount of speed work, but I can't be bothered to run for more than an hour. I can't run the Marine Corps 17.75 this year due to family conflicts. So, I'm getting a code from a friend who … [Read more...]
Black Friday Runfessions
Today is Friday, right? I've been so confused about the day all week because Jones was out of town until Monday night, Shoo did not have his usual soccer practice, and neither boy had school on Wednesday. Somehow it feels like it should be Monday, but I still have three days off. Sweet! Since it's the last Friday of the month, it's time for a little runfession. I'm linking up with Marcia over at Marcia's Healthy Slice and Friday Five 2.0 with Running on Happy and Fairytales and Fitness. I'm trying to meet a goal of 85 miles this month and it's coming down to the wire. I have 26.9 miles to go. Don't think it didn't cross my mind to just run a marathon and get most of it done. Beer Geek won his age group at the local turkey trot … [Read more...]
Runfession is good for the soul
TGIF. This has been a busy week and I'm tired. Thursday was my birthday and it was an ok day (not amazing, but acceptable), until the end of the day. Then I happened to notice that the bubbles from Shoo's bubble bath were coming out of our basement toilet. I'm pretty sure that's not a good sign. I'm hoping that when the plumber shows up it's not a big clog, but I'm mentally prepared for it to be a big deal. Sigh. So, let's get on with some runfessions... I've been using Hansons Marathon Method to train for Marine Corps Marathon. In theory, at least. I haven't hit a full week of training in over a month. And speed work? I don't even know what that is anymore. On Sunday, I finished my goal of 23 half marathons in 23 states in … [Read more...]
