I'm not one to stay up super late on NYE, but ironically, last night I was up late thanks to insomnia. Thank you 2020 for one last kick in the teeth. So, I'm up a bit later than normal and sucking down caffeine like it's my job. Seems appropriate to hook up with Deb and Coco for a coffee date. If we were having coffee, I'd tell you that normally I spend December wrapping things up here on the blog and setting up my goals for the next year. Last year was so weird that I just couldn't seem to wrap (ha!) my head around it. I'm pretty sure I didn't run a single in person race. I ran a ridiculous number of virtual races, but I never got more than 4 miles from my house in any of those races. I even ran a 50K in 2 mile loops near my … [Read more...]
October Visit to the Runfessional: Exhaustion
It's that time of the month again - time to confess all of our running/fitness sins with Marcia over at Marcia's Healthy Slice. I must runfess that I have been meaning to write more than twice a month for a while now, but I'm finding that I'm definitely suffering from pandemic brain. I only have so much focus in any given day and I'm pretty much done by the time I actually have time to write a post... I must runfess that I ran both a 50K and a marathon this month and still only barely managed to break 100 miles. I was horribly undertrained, so "ran" might be an exaggeration. I will post an actual recap soon, but let's just say I'm happy to be done and hella surprised that I was not sore after either race. I did, however, manage to … [Read more...]
September Runfessions: Getting Ready to Run ALL the Miles
September is usually one of my favorite months (October is my #1 favorite), and this year that holds true, sort of. The weather in Virginia has been awesome, but so many other things have been challenging, that it's hard to appreciate the weather. I'm joining up with Marcia for a few runfessions (and maybe a few "lifefessions" as well.) I must runfess that I've been struggling to increase my mileage. Some of it is physical - I've never completely gotten rid of the upper hamstring issue that started last summer. Some of it is mental - even though I have "races" coming up, they are virtual and I can't get myself to care enough to really stick to a training plan. I even downloaded Hal Higdon's "training for geezers" to at least get sort … [Read more...]
Give me ALL the coffee, please!
I can't believe it's September already. In some ways, it feels like it's been years since life was "normal", but in others, it feels like the year is just flying by! I also can't believe I haven't posted since the last time we had coffee. Gone are the days when I posted 5 days a week. I'm hoping to get back into a rhythm of posting once a week, but we'll see if that actually happens. Anyways, I'm raising a coffee cup with Deb and Coco to kick off September. If we were having coffee, I'd tell you that I'm super thankful that the run across Tennessee is over and that I decided to do a multi-sport team for the Circumpolar Race Around the World (CRAW). I moved my exercise bike into our living room because the kid now has my workout room … [Read more...]
It’s too hot for coffee…
But I'm drinking it anyways. I don't mind iced coffee, but I much prefer the hot stuff. I definitely need a coffee date though, so I'm combining the monthly coffee date with Deb and Coco and weekly run down this week. If we were having coffee, I'd tell you that my hip suddenly decided it was done with all this running. My hips are often cranky, but the severity of this issue came on out of the blue. One day I was running and my hip was having its usually need for post run rolling. The next day I couldn't run with a normal gait. Oh well, I had already decided that I was going to end my run streak soon as a birthday present to myself, so I just ended it a bit early. Two days and a lot of stretching, exercises, and rolling later and I … [Read more...]
July Runfessions: Surviving the Humidity
How on earth are we at the end of another month? I mean, I'm never a fan of Virginia in July, but I can't believe it's already over. It was a busy month, but in a totally different way than normal. I'm joining Marcia for a few runfessions to close out July. I must runfess that I have been in hot pursuit of the 1000 mile pin for the Great Virtual Race Across Tennessee. While I'm generally not a "virtual race" kind of girl, this one has been hugely motivational for me. I get up every day and cover at least 8 miles. Pretty much every single day. Since I don't run 8 miles a day (pretty much ever right now), I've become a walker. I've always only been a walker if I was going to a destination. Now I wander around my neighborhood for miles … [Read more...]
Tap, Tap, Tap – Is this thing on?
Apparently I was gone for the whole month of June. I'm not even sure what I did or where I went or why I didn't write. I think, like many right now, I'm still trying to find some semblance of "normal" in the current situation. So, I'm going Deb and Coco for a little bit of socially distanced coffee. If we were having coffee, I'd tell you that one of the reasons I've been out of touch is that I am constantly running or walking. I'm doing the Great Virtual Race Across Tennessee and have decided I'd really like to get the 1000 mile pin, not just the 1000k buckle. So, I have to average a little over 8 miles a day. I'm pretty sure my neighbors think I'm nuts - I run every morning and then walk the neighborhood at least 2-3 times a day. … [Read more...]
Runfessions of a Run from Home Runner
Here we are, a crazy number of days into Virginia's Stay at Home order. Today, the Northern Virginia area began Phase 1, which means more things will be open at reduced capacity and with masks required in establishments. To be honest, it's not really going to change my behavior (we are super careful), including that I will continue to run the majority of my runs right out my front door. But I do have some runfessions, so I'm linking up with my buddy Marcia to share them with you. I runfess that I never really got into Virtual Races. I always had enough real races on the calendar that I didn't need them. I still don't LOVE virtuals, but I've registered for a few. Everything I've registered for has had one thing in common: the money … [Read more...]
Tips for Running a Virtual Race
It's now been 2 months since races started getting canceled. Two months of not getting that motivation that races provide. Two months of missing the social interaction of running with (possibly 1000s) of your best runner friends. Naturally, runners are looking for something to fill that need. At the same time, organizations are trying to bring in income or fulfill the promise they made to provide a race or, unfortunately, take advantage of the situation. Yes, I've heard rumors of fake virtual races out there. So, here are my tips to have a successful virtual run. Choose a legit race. OK, maybe you didn't get a choice because the virtual is the option given to you for a canceled race. But if you are looking for a new race, there are … [Read more...]
Keeping my sanity during the Covid-19 / coronavirus pandemic
AKA how I'm only losing my shit occasionally during the coronavirus pandemic. I'm not going to pretend that I'm not stressed and that I haven't had moments of panic or that I haven't yelled at my kids, but for the most part, I'm doing ok. But it's not just "luck" that I'm doing ok. I had to institute some things to take care of myself and make this situation bearable for me. My number one rule: Cut myself (and my family) some slack. My kids are doing online learning now. I can still work for two of my jobs. My house needs a spring cleaning. Yada yada yada. Bottomline is that there's plenty for me and them to do. Some days we get shit done. Some days we don't. And that's ok. I've started a run streak. I realized late last week that … [Read more...]
Celebrate International Women’s Day with ZOOMA!
International Women's Day is March 8, 2020. It is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating women's equality. It has been celebrated for over a century and I hope that in my lifetime it becomes truly just a celebration of women, rather than a call to action. Unfortunately, we are not there yet. ZOOMA Women's Races supports and honors women every day, but for International Women's Day, we are hosting a virtual race to specifically support Women for Women International. Women for Women not only supports women in conflict areas directly by giving them support and tools that they need to overcome, but they also work to educate and … [Read more...]
ZOOMA Run Love Challenge, Hardywood Brewing, and Snow
This weekend was crazy busy. I crammed in two separate virtual races, a soccer game, an overnight visit to Richmond, and now it's snowing. I'm actually enjoying the snow because we had plans this morning, but canceled them when we saw the snow coming. This meant I slept in until 10 am (hence this late post) and the boys are still sleeping. I think we all needed the sleep more than the event we were going to attend. One of the big things on my calendar was the ZOOMA Run Love Challenge. I planned to run a 10K and I wanted to beat the time I ran my last 10k training run in: 1:02 and change. Spoiler: I did not run a 10k and my 5k was one of my slowest. It was a balmy 25 degrees yesterday with not much wind and a fair amount of sun, so it … [Read more...]
