• The new school year doesn’t start till August 26 but is it too early to start shopping for pencils? You know these are the BEST ones, right? 🤣
• It isn’t that often that my name is spelled correctly. I realized later that I didn’t give the barista my name when I ordered my drink. My name must have automatically shown up when I paid with the app. One time in California I ordered a coffee and I told the barista my name was “Maria”. She asked me to spell it for her. 🤷🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️
• This is my kind of show!
• Saw this on my run. So cute to be young and have a crush. 🙂
Maybe summer will be here soon or maybe it won’t. In one day we can have 3 different seasons which is absolutely crazy. Regardless of whether it is cold, rainy, or hot, I have a couple of races planned for this year.
• Missoula Half Marathon, June 30 – I signed up for this race on December 16. That same day I also made my hotel reservation. I’ve been training for this race since then. At the end of May I realized that I didn’t have a flight reservation. I looked and it was too expensive. The cheapest from Midway was $619 (and it would take me 8 hours to get there) while the most expensive one was $1,060. I almost decided not to run the race because I didn’t want to pay that much money. Finally one day I found the shortest and cheapest flight. I paid $557 for the flight to Missoula. <<< In my opinion it is still too expensive. Holy frijoles! I am excited about it since many people have said it is a GREAT race. It will also be state #41 for me.
• Elmhurst 4 on the 4th, July 4 – This is a race I’ve been doing since 2013. I love the distance and the location. I would really, really like to get a PR. I am done and in my house with plenty of time to participate in the holiday festivities.
• Human Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicago, July 21 – I’ve run the half marathon before but every year the weather is iffy. Last year it rained throughout the entire race (I was spectating) and it was scorching HOT in 2013. Thanks to BibRave I have the chance to run either the 5k, 10k, or half marathon. I asked my coach for her 2 cents. She told me that if I don’t run 13 miles that day, I would still need to do a long run. I guess the half marathon it is. Isn’t the medal pretty cool?
• Center of the Nation|Mainly Marathons, August 21-August 23 – I have not signed up but I will as soon as I can. The registration fee is $115 per race till August 1. I just realized that $115 is a lot of money for a half marathon. I don’t want to wait too long either because of the flight reservation. My first race is in Wyoming and Southwest doesn’t fly there so I would need to fly to Salt Lake City, Denver, or Boise and then take another flight or rent a car to Sundance, WY. The next races are in South Dakota and then North Dakota. I hope I can find someone to travel with me. I don’t mind traveling alone for one race but this is 3 races. I could use the company. Want to join me?
• Detroit Free Press, TCF Bank Half Marathon, October 20 – I am registered for the race, have airline and hotel reservation. Whew! If I end up doing the 3 races in August, this race will be state #45 for me. I’ve never been to Detroit but am more excited to travel to both downtown Detroit and Windsor, Ontario and crossing the border at both the Ambassador Bridge and Detroit-Windsor Tunnel.
I might add to my schedule the Santa Fe Thunder in New Mexico on September 15. Not sure how I would feel running another half marathon after running 3 of them 3 weeks before. Someone did warn me about the elevation but she also told me that it is a fun and well organized race. The race is point-to-point but with a 1,000 foot net downhill. This race will be #46 and then a race in South Carolina in December (#47) will leave me with 4 half marathons in 2020. Yes or no to the race in New Mexico?
This week’s Tuesday Topic: What are your Summer running plans and/or race schedule? You can write about this topic, or feel free to post any running related blog post. Remember to Link-up with Kim and Zenaida! Visit at least two of the other linked posts – the more the merrier! Remember to come back for later linkers!
What a week! It was my first week of summer school and it went by fast. I like the schedule. I start at 8am and get off at 12:15pm. My last day is Wednesday, July 3rd. Not bad huh? Currently I have 12 students and hope I don’t get more. I have 3 that are so well behaved and pleasant. However, I have 6 that cannot read. How is that possible? Very sad and depressing. My students will be going to 2nd grade in August.
Monday was 3 miles in the morning. Great but sweaty run! After school I did laundry and then and took a nap with Lola. 🙂
Tuesday was 5 miles and it was also a sweaty one. Great weather for a run! My sister and nephew flew in from San Antonio and they will be here for a week. They’re both here to see my mom and other family members and to celebrate his HS graduation.
I was supposed to do a speed workout on Thursday but could not get up in the morning. I was so tired. Then I thought maybe I could do it Friday morning. Nope. After school on Friday I met a friend for lunch and then came home and took a nap.
Again with the crazy weather. While it has been warm in the afternoon, it is a little chilly in the morning and evening. During the winter I use a blanket to sleep and during the summer a sheet. Now I get cold at night and need a blanket. All day Thursday I felt cold and like I was getting sick. I emailed my coach about missing my Thursday workout and not being up for running 13 miles on Saturday. She told me to do my best, rest up, and get better. I felt better on Friday and went to bed that night with the intention of running 13 miles (being positive).
On Saturday I went to the lake instead of The Arboretum. My sister was having a graduation party for my nephew and she wanted me to be home as early as possible. Well, I wanted to be home early too for a nap. 🙂
I drank Generation UCAN in the morning and also made my own gel to use on my run. Elizabeth uses UCAN on her runs and gave me the idea to make a gel. I used a reusable food pouch to store the gel. While I like the cranberry raspberry in the liquid format, I was not a big fan of it in the gel format. It tasted funny. I also have chocolate and will try that next in a gel (I like it mixed with water).
The weather was perfect! Marathon training has begun and there were so many people out there. The last time I ran on the lakefront was 3 weeks ago. I was surprised to see some parts of the path flooded. The ducks were enjoying it!
I don’t think I’ve ever run 13 miles while training for a half marathon. I felt good at the beginning and then slowly got tired. I was supposed to run 7 miles as a warmup, 4 at marathon pace (10:43) and 2 as a cooldown. I did not hit the marathon pace. I tried. However, I am proud for running 13 miles and felt better at the end than when I ran 10 miles last week. I had some UCAN gel at 6.5 miles and then again 3 miles later. The food pouch was so easy to use and I am planning to use it again for future long runs.
I wore a new Oiselle tank and goodness sake but that thing chafed the heck out of me. It was painful and so uncomfortable. There was even some blood on the tank. I love the look of it and the material but definitely not made for a long and sweaty run.
There was a Color Run Race going on and for some reason I have never been interested in them. You? They do look fun though!
Linking up with Kim and Deborah for the Weekly Run Down.
• I am usually a good driver. I don’t speed and tend to follow the rules of the road. Somehow I must have not been paying attention because I received two tickets for a red light violation. Yes, TWO violations. Yes, that was $200 I had to pay and it hurt me to pay those tickets.
• I saw The Secret Life of Pets 2. Such a funny movie. I laughed throughout the entire movie. I could definitely see it again. Have you watched it?
• My mother spent 3 weeks in a nursing facility. We received a bill for her and I was afraid to open it. Happy to see that number in the bill. 🙂
• I have a checkbook and write a check once a month for my rent. The other transactions in my checking account are Target charges, deposits from work, and ATM withdrawals. I went to my bank to get more check registers. Apparently they don’t have them anymore. Chase doesn’t make too many of them anymore because customers don’t use them like before. This girl does. I added my name to a waitlist and was told it would be about 7 weeks before I can get one. In the meantime I can use a small notebook to record my transactions. Do you still have a register for your checkbook?
• Say what? I know periods suck but why would anyone do this?
Well, Mother Nature hasn’t made up her mind because the weather has been crazy these past couple of weeks. Or has it been months? It was a long and cold winter. Then Spring came along and it was still cold. Then it rained almost every single day in May. Now we occasionally have a warm/hot day but then sometimes it rains the next day. Will Summer be here soon?
You know I enjoy running in the morning. It is tough waking up early but I like to have my run done and then have the rest of the day to do other things that I need to do. Now I am loving that it isn’t as dark at 5 am. I don’t have to wear my reflective vest (which I still love) nor my headlamp.
Maybe Summer will be here soon or maybe it won’t. Who knows? However, here are some Summer running tips that work for me.
• Run when it isn’t hot.I know, pretty obvious whether it is running early in the morning or in the evening once it has cooled down. I used to run in the evening and loved feeling the cooler weather and seeing the sunset. I remember during marathon training in the summer our runs would start at 6:30 am in order to be done before it got too hot. If you cannot make it in the morning or in the evening, then run on the treadmill. I’ve done numerous runs on the treadmill because I would wake up “late” and by then it would be too hot to run outside.
• Hydrate. Normally I don’t carry water with me on a run less than 5-6 miles unless it is very hot or I am thirsty. Two weeks ago I did a 6 mile run and took a water bottle with me because it was warm and I drank the whole thing! I have a Nathan Hydration Pack and for my runs at The Arboretum, I fill half the hydration bladder with water and leave it overnight in the freezer. The next morning I add more water to it. Throughout my run the ice melts and I always have cold water to drink.
• Listen to your body.Running in the heat will make you run slower. Nothing wrong with that. If you start to feel awful and need to stop then do so. If you need to walk then walk. I remember one run in which I was shivering (despite the heat) and was feeling a bit delusional. I took a long break and drank water with Nuun. Eventually I felt better and ended up walking back to my car (about 2 miles away).
• Wear a visor or hat. I have a couple from Headsweats and love them. They block the sun from your eyes while at the same time allow the heat to rise from your head (visors).
• The less you wear the better. I love running in shorts and always look forward to when it is warm enough (after winter) to wear them. I also wear a tank or short sleeve top. My favorites are the Oiselle flyout tops. They’re light, comfortable and sweat wicking – perfect for the hot summer days! The best part is that they don’t stink with all of the sweat.
This week’s Tuesday Topic: What are your Summer running tips? You can write about this topic, or feel free to post any running related blog post. Remember to Link-up with Kim and Zenaida! Visit at least two of the other linked posts – the more the merrier! Remember to come back for later linkers!
