August Recap

Miles ran: 54.7--almost double my July miles!
# runs: 14

Highest mileage week: 13.7
Long runs: 1
Pace workouts: 1
XT days:  5 days of yoga. I'm sooo sad my Groupon is over. I may do some drop-in classes at the yoga studio I've been going to. The classes are great.
Tempo or interval runs: 0
Favorite run: either my 5.6 mile "long" run, for the thrill of upping my miles, or my run this Monday. My pace was faster than it's been in weeks and I was just having a blast.

Current goal: finish out this week between 15 and 20 miles. Right where I want my base to be. 
Current obsession: don't laugh, but Christmas shopping. Yeah, I know. It's August. I can't help it. I've always done this. Oh, and Florence + the Machine.

Current need: really, there is nothing I need right now. Life is good!  
Current excitement: Balega Extra Comfort socks, and getting to be part of my friend's foray into the running world! But you guys knew that already. :)

Current bane of my existence: the chronic periformis pain seems to be coming back. I'm stretching, stretching, and stretching some more and trying to ignore it and hope it goes away. 

Current wish list: yep, still haven't finished the Master bedroom. But I've made progress!  

Current indulgence: lime sherbet with chocolate syrup. OK, ok, I had NO idea this was weird until I served it to our neighbors the other night. I turned the weird-factor over to the judgment of the Facebook and it turns out that a few people think it's weird, most have never heard of it but think it sounds fabulous, and a few have actually tried it. So that's my challenge to you for the coming month--get out there and try some sherbet. With chocolate syrup. You can thank me later. :)

Otherwise, my park. I just absolutely love running there. 

Mondays on Notice: Everything that isn't these socks

In my last post I mentioned that I was trying out a pair of extra-cushion socks and that I liked them. Since then two things happened:

1. One of my TNT buddies from Central Illinois asked for the deets about the socks. (everything you need to know is in the picture)
2. I wore them again and fell even more in love. 

So today's Monday on Notice is brought to you out of the sheer LOVE I have for these socks. All other socks, on notice!

So why do I love them so much? Consider this a totally unsolicited review. And, I'm over-worked right now, so you're getting not one, but two lists in this post. 

1. The tops are vented (a thinner layer)
2. The bottoms are cushioned. The Brooks Adrenaline is not a cushy shoe. This helps. 
3. They are low cut, but have a tab on the back to protect from heel rub. 
4. They don't bunch up.

Go! Buy! LOVE!

Apparently I cannot contain my runner enthusiasm

Instead of a weekly wrap-up this week I'm going to give you some of the highlights of my very stellar week.

Highlight #1: Friends rock. On Tuesday I had dinner with a bunch of other newish faculty that I've gotten to know. Good times. On Wednesday we hosted one of my college friends (Frank, who I ran the US Half with) and her family as they trek from DC to California for military relocation. On Thursday I had a fabulous girls' night with my neighbor and friend Kayla, which brings me to...

Highlight #2: Taking Kayla to buy her first pair of grown-up running shoes. Earlier in the week she texted me from a Sports Authority asking for input. I told her to leave and that we would go to a real running store together so she could get properly fitted. I had a *really* hard time containing my enthusiasm about bringing her into the fold. She intended to just buy shoes, but ended up leaving with shoes, body glide, socks, and some runner food. And then we had dinner at a chocolate bar. Because we can. Here we are afterward with our plunder. My plunder included new shoes, which brings me to...

Highlight #3: I have narrow feet. This means I wear a weirdo size of running shoe: 10-2A. After all your wonderful input about extra-cushion shoes (huge shout out here to Sarah--thank you so much!), I'd decided that it was a smart thing for me to experiment with. So when I got to Big River Running (LOVE that place) I asked for the Brooks Trance in 10-2A. Not manufactured in that size. Damn! So let the record show that I came home with my 400th pair of Brooks Adrenalines (8/26).

To sort of compensate, I decided to try some extra cushion socks. At $11/pair, I just bought one to try them out, and I'm officially a fan. I will be going back to get more. How have I not discovered them already? I'm hopeful that I have a good combo of stuff on the feet now.

Highlight #4: As if life could get any better, this weekend is one of my absolute faves in StL--the Festival of Nations. A little less than half of my neighborhood park is taken over by 42 booths selling foods from 34 nationalities (we got a list), plus a world bazaar where mostly the same set of nationalities sells goods, and live music plays basically all weekend. After my run I met my boys there so we could chow down. I'm not even going to tell you what I ate. You'd just hate me for it. Nom nom nom.

What did you have going on this week? Are you any more successful than I was at containing runner enthusiasm with newer runners? Yeah, I didn't think so. :)

Mondays on Notice: The Death of The Burger King

This week's Mondays on Notice has nothing to do with running. It's about my total lack of patience for most TV commercials. More often than not, I feel like the product is completely unnecessary (does anyone need air freshener that touts its new found ability to combine two tropical island scents into one jar??) or the style of the ad borders on being offensively trite. When commercials break the mold, I cherish them just a little bit. Yesterday I learned of the death of one such trendsetter--The King. As in, BK's King.

This mascot that has been cracking me up for years. I'm not sure if they ever even ran this ad, but it makes me laugh every single time I see it. I understand that some of their more recent commercials have been more contentious. I guess I haven't seen those so I can't really judge. But creepy? Really? Not even a little bit.

I'm gonna miss that guy. One thing I've had to distract me from my tears though has been a new commercial from Black Hawk Casino. Apparently some people find this distasteful toward cyclists, and I suppose if I had my pants bunched up far enough I might agree, but I still think it's hilarious.


Ok ok, one more. I freaking love this. And yes, there are a lot of casinos near me. 

So today, I want to put the prim and trite ads On Notice. I want to mourn the loss of The King (or at least his less offensive moments). And I want to say a great big THANK YOU to the ads that continue to make me laugh.

Weekly Wrap-Up

Week Three of Rebuilding the Base: Complete. My theme here is slow and steady wins the race (well, not really. I don't think Meb's going to adopt that phrase or anything, but you know what I mean).
My WIN this week: I did build mileage on my "long" run this weekend...but I also cut out my Friday run to keep from increasing mileage too much at once.
My PLAN for next week: keep the long run distance and add the Friday run back in. That will finally get me back to the mileage I'm after.

Monday: easy 4.1 through the park

Tuesday: rest day

Wednesday: easy 4.1 through the park

Thursday: yoga. And easily a highlight of my week, I finally nailed the side plank. As a runner, I tend to neglect my abs and related muscles, and that became blatantly obvious when I started this yoga routine a few weeks ago. I couldn't even do the side plank with my arm bent at the elbow and resting on the forearm. Total no-go. Until this week. That felt like a huge victory.

Friday: Not entirely intentional but strategic enough rest day.

Saturday: 5.6 mile long run success and NO pain. It was dark and rainy this morning, so I waited for a break in the clouds and headed out while it was still on the cool side. Gorgeous day, and I loved seeing so much going on in the park--an adult league softball tournament, a wedding being set up for later in the day, tents being set up for some sort of festival, a family reunion, a church group picnic. It is so fun to see people loving on the park and having a great time.

And, and this is beyond exciting for me, my love got a bike! He's been talking about it for a while (it was to be my anniversary gift to him, and that was back in June!) and looked unsuccessfully for a used one that would fit him. Last night he went to a local bike shop and brought one home. I am thrilled that he's getting back into a hobby that he enjoys and that will let him love our park and neighborhood like I do.

Total miles: 13.7
Total XT: 60 minutes

Mondays on Notice: Dwindling Days of Summer

Dear Dwindling Days of Summer,

Please don't go. Please stay around for another month or so. While at first I was just relieved that the heat let up a little, and I'm still really enjoying these temps, I can't help but notice that fall is quickly approaching. Can't you please just stick around a little while longer?

See, while summer has been crazy and chaotic at work, the fall brings a different kind (no more, no less, just different kind) of crazy to my world of academia. People around me are starting to freak out. And by "around me" I don't mean physically around me (my family couldn't care less), I mean everyone I know in this industry nationally. Freaking out, thanks to you. Can I guilt you into staying?

We've had so much fun together, summer. I rediscovered my youth via a Dukes of Hazzard hat resurrected from my MIL's basement. 

I overcame my horrific fear of my sewing machine and made progress on the curtain situation in my house (true story--no two windows in my house are the same size. Intimacy with a sewing machine is absolutely necessary if window coverings are going to look reasonable).

My family and I frolicked in the sunshine.

I had my first brush with the city's judicial system. 

Sorry to get your hopes up about JoannaRuns on the Run 2011--it was just jury duty. 

Summer, it's been great, and I'd love it if you could stay around a while. So I'm putting your departure On Notice, officially. I'm watching you. 

Love,

Joanna

Weekly Wrap-Up

Welcome to the weekly wrap-up for my second week of re-building my base. I am so flipping excited about a piece of running news that I can hardly contain myself. Seriously, I am SO excited to share. (if you are hell bent on skimming and want to get to the exciting running stuff, scroll to the bottom of this post) Here goes.

Monday
My traditional 4-miler through the park.

Tuesday
Another yoga class. This time we focused on inversions, which I now know is a fancy word for headstands. And I think I learned a bit, because it was the first time I've tried it where it hasn't hurt my neck. It definitely takes some getting used to and some learning to trust that the wall is actually behind you and won't let you fall. :) I'm kind of hoping we do this again next week so I can try it again.

Wednesday
My OAR of 4-mile perfection. MAN have I been loving this weather! Definitely still summer weather, but luscious.

Thursday
Rest day

Friday
Time to increase mileage a teeny tiny bit. I added part of a loop onto my run for an extra 0.9 miles and had zero problems with it. That means...wait for it...I'm officially clearing myself for a 6-miler this week if I continue with no periformis pain. YAY!


Weekend
Some of our good friends from our town back in Illinois came for a weekend visit and a Cardinals game. It was the first time my husband, our son, their younger son, or I had ever been to a Cards game. We had such a good time. Couldn't have asked for better weather. One thing I love about this stadium is that they let you bring in outside food and drink (with some restrictions). It's so family friendly, easy to get to--just a totally lovely night out. My friends are the best!

AND THEN...(this is the really exciting runner-related part)
We took the kiddos to the park to play this morning. While we were sitting there I met a mom from just down the street from me. She was wearing athletic clothing so I asked if she was a runner. Turns out that not only does she run, she is a retired professional triple jumper. As in, did Olympic trials, calls runnings' elite her personal friends, lived in an Olympic training village. She is the real deal. I was definitely a little star struck. And as icing on the cake, she is so nice. We talked for a while and she asked if I'd like to run with her sometime, which of course I said yes! Oh my goodness, I am beyond excited about having another mommy friend on our street and a totally awesome potential running buddy. I am sure she will run my ass off, but I don't even care. Putting today in the WIN category!

Weekly mileage: 12.9
Weekly XT minutes: 60