Thursday, August 30, 2012

3 Things Thursday

1.  The Brooks PURE Candence shoes are not working for me.  I am used to a twinge
 of pain in my shin or ankle at times, but I ran a track workout in them this morning and it felt like crap on my shins, knees, and ankle. SADLY & FRUSTRATINGLY I am on the search for a new shoe....some options I have before me:

Saucony Pro Grid Guide 5

Asics GT-2170
New Balance 870 V2
AHHHHHHH!!!  Too many choices!!!

2. My mom sent me a little hat for Frankie, he's so small it didn't really fit, but he was a trooper and let me get some pics.....

Never thought I would like/love a Chihuahua!!

3.  Every day this week felt like it should have been Friday...I so want this work week to be over!!!!

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Hood to Coast Controversy

I guess there was some controversy about how the Nuun Hood to Coast team was picked this year.  I personally didn't apply, but I saw a lot of video applications across the blog world.  I think it would be an amazing experience, and I wouldn't really care who was picked or why if I got picked myself, or if I submitted an application and wasn't picked.

I did see this video on a blog this morning, and it was quite funny!

Disclaimer: I don't have any interest in the whole controversy...and I don't have anything against anyone who ran the in the Nuun hood to coast team.  In fact I follow a few blogs of ladies who ran it, and I am happy they got picked, and look forward to reading their recaps. I think this is good video editing and a funny take on making light of a situation that has quite a few people fired up.



Monday, August 27, 2012

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Out with Old in with the New?

So yesterday I got a new pair of shoes.  The Brooks PURECadence.

I ran 3 miles in them today.  I don't have much of a review yet, as I have only run in them once.  They feel very light!  I wore them in the first part of my track workout this morning and then switched in to my trusty Brooks Adrenaline

 
I could feel the weight difference when I switched...The Adrenaline's felt like bricks!  It took me half a lap to feel normal running in them again!

I am a little worried about running in a more minimalist shoe only because I have been so injury prone lately.  I think I will keep switching shoes for awhile to see if that works better than just jumping in to a new shoe for all my runs.  I did read some reviews where people felt some achilles and calf soreness in the Cadence shoes at first, and that's the last thing I need as I have enough tightness in my calves as it is!

Also it's official!


Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Craigslist, Shows, and some other Randomness

*I saw this on our local craigslist the other day...


*Burpees are hard, they suck and I hate them.  But what I hate worse is Burpee manmakers.
You take a burpee:

and you add a man maker in the middle push up part:

photo courtesy of crossfit Miami

Torture I tell you....pure torture.
What was more irritating about them was that those 15lb weights were snatched up right away every time and I ended up with either 20lbs or 25lbs...guess what doesn't kill you makes you stronger?!  At least that was my mantra.

*I joined the RUNGT group yesterday morning for a great workout. About 15 minutes in to the run the north wind whipped up and brought us a nice COOL rain storm.  It feels like ages since I have run in cool weather.  I LOVED it!  Plus getting in 7.6 miles on a weekday, well that's always a plus!  Note to self that even if I run slow I need to get to group once a week. 

*Anyone else have nothing to watch on TV lately?  Summer programming has been crap!  I can't wait for the fall.  A few shows I am looking forward to....

 Elena is a vampire now so this could be interesting....


And my guilty pleasure is back for the 2nd season!

That's all I have.....hope you all have a great Wednesday!


Monday, August 20, 2012

Brains, Brawn, and a Trail Run

Saturday morning found me down at Dane's Body Shop for the BRAINS & BRAWN CHALLENGE!
It was tons of fun, and we had a great team!!  Basically we got a riddle right away, that led us to what workout we were going to do.  It was something like 100 push ups, 150 burpees, and 120 sit ups.  And we could split the numbers between the 4 of us.  After that it was a 1/2 mile run to the next challenge which was at a nearby park.  We had to identify the artwork of an artist we were given , and then we had to scavenger hunt style find a bag that was designated to us and bring it back to the shop.  Once back at the shop we got to open our bag and puzzle piece together a riddle.  For some reason our riddle was missing some pieces, so we got to look at a neighbors once they had it together, and Terryl got it right away, and we were done.  (Don't ask me what the riddle was, or the answer...I have no clue!)
After the challenge it was time for Mimosas and food!

And we WON!


Sunday I joined Luke's Locker for their monthly Roadkill Trail Run on the Greenbelt.
The Green belt looks like this, minus the bikes....

photo courtesy of Austin 360

This was really my first ever trail run.  We ran about 22 minutes out and 22 minutes back for about 4.5 total miles.  I brought Lexie and she did awesome!  I was back and forth on the trail avoiding rocks and water and she didn't miss a beat!  We kept a steady 10 minute mile pace which felt comfortable.  It was different from running on the road for sure, but I really liked it!  And I got to chat with a few people from Luke's and meet a few new people...all in all a great run and I will definitely join them again next month!

The rest of Sunday was spent hanging out at home, doing some housework, and playing with Phene.


Workout plans for this week:
Monday - Dane's Lower Body Fusion (done)
Tuesday - Georgetown Run Group 6 (?) miles
Wednesday - Dane's Core Fusion
Thursday - 4 mile run
Friday - Dane's Upper Body Fusion
Saturday - 6 miles
Sunday - Yoga

I hope everyone has a great week!

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Hottest Half (10K) Official Pics








The sun was coming up and this was Jessica's last mile, geeezzzz not such a good pic of either of us!  We do love running, we really do!!!

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

A Break, A Race, and Good News!

Sorry for the break in blogging these last few weeks!
Sorry if this is scattered, there is a lot to catch you all up on.

A few weeks back I had told you about the Hottest Half race that I planned on running.  Due to my back and hip pain I was feeling pretty nervous about it.  Coupled with the fact that my long runs were just not up anywhere near 13 miles.  A good friend (who obviously knows more about racing than I do, because this never even occurred to me) suggested I ask if I could switch to the 10K.  And I am SO glad she had this idea.  I emailed them right away and they replied back that it would be no problem!  It was such a relief!  I knew I could do a 10k easy! (well not easy, but easy and in I wouldn't be passed out on the side of the road somewhere midway)
Jessica and I planned to drive to Dallas, which is about 3.5 hours away the day before the race.  We got a hotel close by and went to a great dinner at Spaghetti Warehouse.  (Probably not the best pre race meal, but hey we like bread!)
I am so glad we planned it this way, because there was no rush race morning. We got there about 6:15 and picked up our packets. (and took some pics)


(yep, I wore a fuel belt for a 10K!  I like to drink water, but avoid the stops, so don't make fun!)

It was humid, but cool with some cloud cover.  LUCKILY it stayed this way almost the entire race!


Jessica still ran the 1/2 so she took off about 15 minutes before me.  Honestly I felt a little envy and wished I was up to running the 1/2 :(

7:45 and we were off......It was a really scenic flat route which I was thankful for.  I tried to really keep an even pace and just not push myself too much.  I would spot someone ahead of me and try to get up to them and look for the next person.
My splits:
7:50/7:41/7:41/7:43/7:35/7:37
Not bad, and definitely within my goal of under 8 minute miles.
48:13 was my chip time
I think most of the fast runners were running the 1/2 because I got first in my age group and 5th female overall.  Hey!  I am not complaining, but this isn't my best 10k time by far!

I had about an hour until Jessica would be coming in, so I ate a breakfast taco and rolled out.  Muscle Milk had a huge tent with mats and rollers, SO NICE!

I got kind of antsy waiting so I decided to jog back out on the course and see if I could pace Jessica for her last miles, I know those last miles in a race can be tough one's!  I ran about 1.5 miles out and found her.  She was struggling with some pain in her leg and barely moving forward, though she was still running!  She didn't walk!  It was nice to be able to encourage her in to the finish line!  She did awesome!

This was a REALLY well put together race!  Super SUPER organized and professional.  If you have a chance to run a Mellew race I would do it....great medals, tech shirts...perfectly put together!

So what else have I been up to, you ask?

Well this weekend is the Dane's Body Shop Brains & Brawn competition at the gym.  We have a team of 4 (maybe 5 if Jessica joins us).  They are going to have awards for the best team theme, costume, etc....my team is great, but mostly made up of people I don't know....and people who really didn't have any great ideas about how we should dress, team name, etc...

I came up with the idea to make shirts, but when I asked what they wanted to say on them the only suggestions was "Burpees make you look good naked"....and....honestly I just couldn't bring myself to use that one.  So, since no one had anything else, I asked Jessica to come up with something.... and she came up with "Burpees, I like it, I love it, I want more of it" I figured that was better than the Naked one and unfortunately I had already started the shirts and they all had burppees on the front, so whatever it was had to start with burpees.

I REALLY wanted to do a theme...like we all dress as zombies, or vampires, or maybe a swat team....but I don't have time to put something together like that...and my team just wasn't in to it.

So here is the finished product...not bad...but not great!  Our names will be on the back.

(remind me not to take on making team shirts by myself next time though, it's kind of a pain!)

I think it will be a fun event, and I will post some pics and a recap next week!

Now on to the good news....hopefully you are still reading :)

I went in to Luke's Locker yesterday here in Austin to get fitted with shoes.  I just recently bought a pair of Wave Inspires and they hurt my heel right away, so I knew I needed to find another shoe.  BUT there are so many options that I needed professional help!

A great guy named Jody had me try on a bunch of shoes, and I finally settled on the Brooks PureCadence.  Interesting for me because it's about as minimalist as I have been!  I get them in a few days, and will let you know what I think.

But that's not the good news.....as he was helping me I mentioned that I saw a few Luke's Locker runners at the Dallas race, and these racers that I saw weren't super fast.  (The last time I had seen some Luke's runners here in Austin they were SUPER fast, and more like elite runners)  He said that they like to have all skill levels on their teams as brand ambassdors, so that everyone could relate.  He asked me if I would be interested in becoming a team ambassador.  And of course I said yes!  He told me about the program and discounts, free races, etc... that are perks of running for Luke's....and said I should email him my blog and a little bit about me.  So, as soon as I got back to work I emailed him....and guess what!??
I am now a Luke's Locker Ambassador!!  How cool is that!
More to come on this later as I find out the details.  I am going to pick up my team pack this weekend.
I am beyond thrilled.

Ok, I hope I held your attention this long :)  Thanks for reading and I hope you all have a great week!