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It’s not a problem, it’s a preference.

I just bought a third pair of pure flows. My first pair of (mostly) black running shoes. It’s just one step closer to fulfilling my dream of being a ninja. 

I’m torn between a few models of Altras, so my solution was more Brooks. Oh, well. They’ll be put to good use regardless.

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I don’t really like plotting a route before I run, but for safety’s sake I pick a general direction and tell Husband before I leave. On Sunday I picked east. The freeway is a little over a mile east of us and crossing options are limited so I don’t often go that way. Husband jokingly asked if I was going to a town 145 miles away, on the other side of the Cascades. 

Damned if I didn’t spend my entire run trying to plot a route there, that wouldn’t involve me running on the shoulder of I-90. Mentally made it about half way until my knowledge of trails is exhausted. There are snakes on the other side of the mountains, so I’m not sure I would care to try it anyway. 

in today’s episode of slight oversharing…

Spring is here, but in a weird way. Spring like the TV version of it. Spring in Seattle usually means rain: sideways rain, diagonal rain, and if you’re really lucky, upside down rain. Also wind. From a minimum of two directions simultaneously, but usually it’s like walking around in a miniature hurricane, where the eye has a slightly smaller diameter than you. 

This year, we have Storybook Spring. 

Which is cool and everything, but I just got back from a run and my elbowpits are dripping sweat. That’s late July weather at the earliest and it’s barely April. 

In other news, I washed all my running clothes this morning and I air dry them, so surprise I had nothing to wear for this run. Scrounging around, I came up with a pair of shorts that I never wear because I’m not entirely comfortable with the lower curvature of my glutes being exposed to the world. And a tank that has a mysterious coffee ring stain on it (apparently I needed a coaster or something?). 

Anyway, I wore the shorts in public and since I survived to tell the tale and you’re here reading about it, clearly the world continues to turn. 

foodie pen pal exchange

This is my first time participating in the foodie pen pal exchange hosted by Lindsay of The Lean Green Bean. (gist of the exchange: sign up; get paired on the 5th; you send to and receive from different people; spending cap of $15; mail by the 15th; enjoy goodies; blog about it; post at the end of the month)

I had a great experience! 

I was received my box of goodies from Taegan

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the whole haul

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cruncha ma me: freeze dried edamame snack

I’ve been using this as a salad enhancer and liking it. Definitely not something I would pick out for myself, but that’s sort of the point isn’t it?

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nib mor: mint drinking chocolate

Mint and chocolate belong together. That is a scientific fact. While I haven’t gotten around to trying this, for no particular reason, I know I will enjoy it when I do!

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endangered species: dark chocolate with cacao nibs

There might or might not have been a time in my life where I was eating an Endangered Species bar a day. This was one of my top three flavors; the other two being sea turtle and grizzly bear (dark chocolate with blueberries and raspberries respectively). Hooray for self-control and not inhaling the whole thing the minute I saw it! It was just as delicious as I remember. 

Confession: I’d already opened this bad boy up and was munching on it while taking pictures. A little self control is better than none, right?

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super seedz: ‘somewhat spicy’ pumpkin seeds

SO.GOOD.

No scratch that. They are terrible, horrible, no good, very bad pumpkin seeds. Now go scour all the stores in your area and send them to me for convenient disposal. I’ll take one for the team and deal with them myself. ;)

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somersaults: cinnamon crunchy nuggets baked with sunflower seeds and toasted grains

Totally weird in a yummy way! They are crunchy, but not chip-a-tooth crunchy like I expected at first bite. Sweet/salty texture on the outside. I’ve seen these around but never picked them- now I’m curious to try the other flavors!

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Danielle Market: roasted coconut chips

Background: I am not a coconut person. At all. I surprised myself because on opening the box, this was the product that I was most excited to try! And they were really good. Big ol’ shreds of coconut that were crispy. Not too sweet and while the company website says it would make a great ice cream topper, mine never made it that far. I went for the convenience of bag to hand to mouth. I might not ever be a coconut person, but I’m definitely a Danielle Market roasted coconut chips person (okay, I’m also a Samoas person, but that hardly counts). 

All in all, I had fun doing this and am looking forward to participating again! 

I’m hitting the point where my training is more mentally draining than physically. I’m bored with my routes, I’m bored of the music I’ve got, I’m bored with the mental tricks I play to keep myself present. 

Doesn’t it just figure that the week I’m mentally dragging is the week our schedule gets tossed in the air? (imagine a passive aggressive rant about Husband’s work here)

Trying to squeeze runs I don’t want to do into a schedule even more hectic… Yesterday’s midweek longish run was pushed back to today, and even then I have to split it up.

I’m dreading my long run, and I think I have been since 3/4 of the way through last weekend’s long run. 

I sure know how to set myself up for success, huh?

New plan: I’m going to shake things up. I’m going back to my favorite hill tonight for the second half of my run; nothing boosts my running self-esteem like a good hill workout. I’ll do something about mixing up my playlist before Saturday. 

And Saturday? All sorts of new things. For starters, I plan on refueling on the run (this is not a new concept, but last weekend I didn’t and it made for a crappy run). I’m going point-to-point, and then I’m getting fish and chips. The thought of malt vinegar is already making Saturday seem like a less daunting task. 

I’ve been bummed about my runs this week. Not at the pace I’d like them to be, not feeling as comfortable as I want them to be, just generally not as shiny as last Saturday’s race. 

Here’s my reality check:

every.single.last.one of my regular runs involve some degree of a hill. The closest thing the race had to a hill were a few speed bumps in the soul-crushing parking lot laps in the last mile. 

My long run today was exactly on my goal pace. My race last weekend was a full minute per mile faster than what I was expecting it to be, and what I did today.

It’s no wonder that my midweek miles were slower than expected/wanted. It’s clear that I could be pushing harder on my training runs so that’s the new game plan.

 Moving forward. 

Race pictures have been posted. 

Another melodramatic sigh on my part. 

The first two I’m in are Sharla-as-background so automatically boring since they aren’t about ME. 

The one. Of me. Right near the end of the race. 

Never mind the look on my face (running into the sun does not produce flattering facial expressions). I’m 87% sure that both my feet were off the ground, but the photo is cropped so I can’t tell. 

Next time. 

Maybe.

Oh, did you want a race report?

  • Weather went from foggy to sunny and I wasn’t dressed for either
  • Kept telling myself to slow down so I didn’t burn out, but nothing doing 
  • Negative splits
  • PR 
  • 8 minutes faster than this race last year (previous PR; pancake flat course so it’s a great place to set em)
  • Rodger remains my favorite RD of all RDs

Many thanks to Woodinville Photos for the free race pictures! 

race day

this whole getting up at 4:45 would be so much more tolerable if this house didn’t turn into an outpost on antarctica every night

i’m just gonna have to go get in a subarctic car that might or might not decide to produce heat by the time i get to the start and then stand around in the outside which is currently a balmy 32 degrees and doesn’t actually sound like fun

and i’m paying someone to let me do all of this

(i’m fine you’re fine we’re all fine i’m just not a morning person and i’m disproportionately stressing because it’s a point to point race and it’s going the opposite way it went last year and that’s enough to stress me out- aren’t you glad you don’t live with me?)