Month: May 2013

Surprise! Morning run! I got out the door at 5:27 a.m.

Not all 9:00+ miles, but the average was nice ‘n easy, so I’ll take it.

A cloudy morning at the lake is still beautiful. I love the clouds reflected in the water.

A good thinking bench, for those who do their thinking while sitting rather than running.

Oh, and I’m definitely wearing my Ghosts for the race. They felt great today — like old friends. So happy to have that decision made!

Time to rest my legs today and tomorrow. Packet pickup tomorrow night. Race Saturday morning.

I can’t wait. It’s my favorite race distance and a fabulous course, and I’m so excited to smoke my time from two years ago!!

Tuesday night, I lifted weights and did the Oiselle Dirty Dozen core workout.

I’ve never done core work consistently, but I know it’ll make me stronger and faster, so I’m now officially trying. That workout is intense! I’m definitely feeling the burn today.

For tonight’s run, I wore my most subtle running gear.

Because I simply hate standing out in a crowd.

My goal was five easy miles, so what I wound up doing was frustrating.

Can’t. Slow. Down.

This was the second run in my new shoes, and this time I really focused on how they felt. The toebox is roomier than I’m used to, and I went up a half-size from my usual 8.5 based on the salesgirl’s recommendation; I just don’t know if I’ve got too much room for my toes to flop around. I definitely feel like I’m running differently, but I’m not sure it’s in a good way.

I got too hung up thinking about the shoes to relax, so my shoulders and upper back felt really tight just a few miles in. I kept trying to breathe, relax, and slow down.

Yeah, didn’t work. I was too anxious about the shoe situation and my 15K on Saturday. Which shoes will I wear?

I think the safe route is to go with my Ghosts, but the new shoes are definitely helping me run fast even when I try to slow down. I’ll do one last easy run in the Ghosts tomorrow and then decide.

Cross my heart, hope to die, I’ll be good and run 9:00+ miles tomorrow!

I’m officially awful at slowing down for recovery runs.

I met up with Megan, who works for Nuun and is organizing all the Hood to Coast goodness, for an “easy” run around Green Lake tonight. She’s still recovering from running (and PRing!) the Tacoma City Marathon a few weekends ago, and I just did my long run yesterday, so we agreed to take it slow-ish.

But then… just… nope.

I’m kind of a running loner (roner?) and usually run by myself, so I’ve forgotten how the miles can fly by when you run and chat with a friend! It’s seriously weird how I can remember everything Megan and I talked about, but I can’t recall covering various parts of the trail, even though we ran all the way around the lake, plus some more. Where did the miles go?

Oh, they must’ve gotten chewed up and spit out by my awesome new shoes.

I’ve never had fun, bright shoes before, so I’m a little obsessed.

The Asics Cumulus 15s have some serious cushioning. I removed the Asics inserts, which have even more foamy cushioning, and used my custom inserts (high arches, yo) to firm them up a bit. I felt a bit like I was running bouncing on pogo sticks (in a good way).

One run isn’t enough to be able to give a firm yea or nay on these shoes, but so far, I’m feeling good about them. They were a little stiff, which is to be expected, and don’t quite have that fits-like-a-glove feel that I’m so used to with the Ghosts, but maybe we’ll get there in a few miles.

Yup, I said we — my bright-ass shoes and me. Aaron should watch out; this could be the beginning of a beautiful relationship.

I kicked off this Mother’s Day with a little half-marathon for a long run.

NEWS FLASH: Running 13 miles is way, wayyyyyy more fun than running 18 miles!

I started out cautiously to make sure my knees felt OK, and then sped up a bit when I felt assured they weren’t going to make trouble. I wound up with an average pace that’s right on target for my long runs — I’m trying to hit 9:00 to 9:10 (a 9:10 average pace equals a 3:59:59 marathon).

My next long run includes a RACE! I’ll run Seattle’s Best 15K this Saturday, then run 10 miles afterward to bring the mileage to 19. It should be… fun…?

I’m excited for tomorrow’s run because I’ll get to test out my new shoes!

I walked into Road Runner Sports wanting to try the the Saucony Triumph based on a recommendation, but they felt really stiff and awkward on my feet. I didn’t even like walking in them, let alone running in them.

So the salesgirl brought me other neutral options similar to my beloved Brooks Ghost 4, and I wound up liking the brand-new Asics Cumulus 15. I have 90 days (!) to run in these and return them if I don’t like them, so yay!

Aaron and I had a great day spending time with both of our moms. We had lunch with his mom and stepdad, then headed over to my mom’s house for dinner and a movie. We brought our favorite cupcakes to share!

I had the cookies ‘n’ cream one (middle of the front row), and just polished off a red velvet one (back right) as I’m typing this. Yummmm. Can’t wait to enjoy these at our wedding!!

I can’t remember the last time I gave an update on my mom’s health on the blog, and it seems that everyone (in real life) has been asking me lately, so the update is: She is now three months out from her surgery, back to work, and halfway through her treatment!

I couldn’t believe it today when she said it had been three months since the surgery; it felt like just yesterday that I was back home helping her in those first few days of recovery. In a way, time feels like it’s gone quickly, but I remember that the month of February felt as long as an entire year. Each day just felt much heavier than a normal day, if that makes sense…

I was going to write more, but I’ve just gone and made myself really emotional, and I need to get some sleep.

Happy Mother’s Day, Mom. I love you so much. Here’s to lighter days ahead.