Plural Marriage and Fame

I'm just going to be honest. I didn't run yesterday and I don't really have too much to say today. But continue to read my random ramblings if you wish...

I saw this quote in the Runner's World article "The Newbie Chronicles" by Marc Parent. I don't actually have a Garmin (Christmas...?) but I think a lot of runners can relate.

"I love my Garmin so much I would marry it if I hadn't already married my shoes"

On a completely different note, my shoes had a full page ad in Runner's World. I know I shouldn't be so excited, but I am. I so proud of them and the fame they are receiving. They deserve every minute. 

Because I have sold it so well, you can see most of the articles from this month's Runner's World here: Runner's World (and it'll probably make more sense than my ramblings)

Anyway, going to try to run this afternoon and possibly do some strength training. Then it's food prep for tomorrow! I will be volunteering at the Music City Thanksgiving Day 8/4 Miler by handing out water in the cold! I'll probably post pictures and such to make y'all think I actually ran it. 

Happy Thanksgiving to y'all if I don't post tomorrow. I might be a little busy ;)

Cars, Weights, and Ouch!

This was my "long run" this week:

It was a fairly smooth run! Weather was perfect and I took the day off work to get other things done, so I did my run in the middle of the day on Friday. I'm still not going to worry about pace for a while, because I'm still getting back into it. But I was very excited I still had 4 miles in my legs!

Until Saturday morning and I realized that I was extremely sore. So in summary, I could run 4 miles mentally, easy. But running 4 miles physically was a different story. Ouch! (Still a little sore).

We went to the Nashville International Auto Show this weekend. Here's my hubby in some fancy car (I can't remember what it was)

Even though I don't really "get" cars, it was fun to see all the different ones. However, I still don't understand the super expensive ones. Oh well, Brad liked it:)

Saturday morning (I'm not going in order at all) we had a personal training session. Our trainer set up a new schedule for us which I am going to try out today. It focuses on hip stability and glute strength because that is what I feel I am lacking. My legs might be even more sore tomorrow!

If you could get any car absolutely free, which car would you want?

What is the one Thanksgiving food that you couldn't live without?

Winter in TN

Here are my philosophical tidbits for today:

I have several observations about winter in TN versus IL (I moved here in the summer of 2013 from Chicago).

If there is any amount of snow in TN, it's a blizzard. School will close if there is a threat of snow (any amount). Everyone will stay inside, cancel appointments, and storm grocery stores just in case they can't get out for the next week. However, as much as they over-react to snow...

They absolutely love snow! Everyone hopes that it'll snow so they can go sledding and play in the snow and bake cookies and open their mouths and catch snowflakes on their tongues! (I'm being dramatic). While people who have grown up in the North realize that this isn't the case. Snow=ice=falling all over the place. When snow has been piled up all winter, it gets dirt all over it and then it just looks like toxic sludge. Next on the list...

Southerners cannot, I repeat CANNOT, drive in the winter. I purposely didn't say snow, because it really is any time it is considered winter and there is anything on the road or coming from the sky. That's not to say that there aren't extenuating circumstances. There are less salt/sand trucks here (if any) to help clear the roads. People have much less experience in these driving conditions. It is not worth it to winterize your vehicle, so no one does. I guess that's fair. Best part of winter in the South...

This is what my city looks like the vast majority of the year. And I think it's gorgeous :)

PS: This is how I feel about winter 

Marathon Beware

I did it! I ran post-dead ankle! Even in 30 degree weather! Ok I'm done with exclamation points (I think)

I got everything I'd need set out in the morning so that when I'd come home from work, I wouldn't have any excuses or anything lost. Plus planning ahead makes me look like I tried to match my outfit (it still looked ridiculous)

Here are the results. It felt pretty darn good! My ankle gave me a little trouble at the beginning, but I slowed up and ran through it. By the first half mile all my little pains were gone and I was running! I purposely did not go fast at all because I want to ease my muscles back into it, especially in the cold. It'll take a good long while before I take running for granted again :) 

Reunited with my Blue Beauties and it felt so good just to put them on! (Disclaimer: this picture was taken a long time after my run. I do not look anywhere near that good after a run)

I forgot to document most of my food choices. Oops. But they weren't real healthy anyway. I had more of the office Thanksgiving leftovers for lunch (including an amazing fruit compote). For dinner I only had time for a cup of tea and a Larabar. Gotta love the wonderful backdrop of bowling alley tables!

I'm going to continue to ease myself back into everything I was doing. Tonight I'm just going to do strength training and some cross training. That marathon in April had better beware: I'm back and more motivated than ever!

Something New

I'm going to try something new on the blog. I'm going to document what I eat all day so that maybe I can be somewhat accountable and eat healthier. I probably won't post breakfast, because it's never very exciting. I always have two eggs, toast, and either cinnamon sugar or peanut butter on the toast.

What I Ate 11/17/14:

Lunch was a Thanksgiving meal at work. It was fancy catering and everything!

I tried to keep portions pretty tame because I knew most of it was unhealthy. But I had (counterclockwise) turkey breast, squash casserole, mac & cheese, spinach souffle, and carrot souffle. It was all pretty good!

For dessert, I had the pumpkin part of a pumpkin pie.

Proof that I didn't eat the crust.

Chicken and Broccoli Casserole

This was my substitute for ice cream. It was sooooo good!

Then I needed to warm up because the Pumpkin Spice Coconut Milk was cold. PS- this tea tastes exactly like cherries to me. I love it.

This article is pretty cool! Knee problems run (pun intended) in my family and that is initially why I started running. I wanted to be able to do it while I was young before my knees went bad. Turns out I might be preventing bad knees! Good deal!

Will update you on my upcoming run (tonight!) tomorrow. I'm more than excited, but still a little worried about how everything will feel.

Is the food thing interesting or annoying?

What is y'all's Thanksgiving strategy for eating healthy?

Good News!

I'm no longer quite as gimpy!



 


Ok, but that's how I look walking everyday.

So by this past Saturday, I was feeling really good about my ankle, but was still too scared to push it. So when we went in for our training session on Saturday, I decided to do whatever the trainer asked and if it started hurting I would stop. AND IT DIDN'T HURT! (until the next day).

But now we're back to not hurting, so I'm deciding that it's better. I'm going to venture out on first post-dead ankle run and first real cold weather run. It's going to be very cold here all week and with the time change, I don't really get sunlight for runs. So it's gonna be coooollld. But I'm so excited to run that at least the first run will be good.
Thank you for all the prayers and good thoughts for healing, they are working! I'm still not going to push, but I'm excited to be back to mobile.

How do you deal with cold weather running/exercise?
-I'm trying to promise myself a nice warm cup of tea afterward!

New York City Marathon and Motivation

This was my Sunday morning:

Please disregard the mess. I'm injured and that's my excuse.

I lived vicariously through all the runners yesterday in the New York City Marathon. It is always very inspiring watching the elite runners and realizing that they worked to where they are. I have no delusions that I will ever be where they are, but I know I can improve. Watching all of those runners combat wind and cold for 26.2 miles reminded me how the most important muscle for running is your brain. So my New York City Marathon Epiphany was this: I can't run at all a marathon right now, but I will work for it, and when the time comes I will be able to run a marathon.

A couple of really cool things:



This came on during the televised portion of the marathon. I just thought it was really cool! The mechanics of an elite runner are nuts! Plus Meb is just awesome.

Second really cool thing:
I tried these new socks that I heard about called Bombas. Obviously I have not run in them, so that review will have to come later, but for simple wear, they are fantastic.




I am wearing them in the picture above. They are super soft and very comfortable. They fit like a running sock would, tighter around the arch. They use a "honeycomb" pattern in this fitted portion that is very unique and cute, but also very functional. They come in many cute colors as well. The best part is that for ever pair purchased, they donate a specially designed pair to someone in need. They are specially designed for the needs of these people.
I'm not sure how they will do when running because they are not the typical moisture-wicking material, but made of "Pima cotton". The creators do say that this type of cotton provides better temperature control and moisture wicking than typical cotton, but that has yet to be determined by me. I'm excited to test these in several different settings because if they deliver all that they promise, I will be one happy camper :)

Have a great Monday!

Has anyone ever tried Bombas for running? Any other unique sock brands that you swear by?

Who else watched the New York City Marathon? Favorite moment?
-When Kara Goucher finished and we got to see the raw emotion that every runner experiences.

Who wants to trade left ankles for several weeks so I can go running?