June 30, 2016

Welcome Back!


After a near-year hiatus, I have decided to rejoin the blogging world. If you notice, I have a brand new web address and a new blog title! Times are changing, people. Instead of giving you the one million reasons I haven't blogged in so long, I'll take this time to reacquaint myself with you. If you have a billion years, feel free to go back and read about my life over the past decade. It's been an amazing journey, for sure! To kick off my reentry, I'll follow Sam's lead with a running survey.

What is your favorite kind of cross training? 
Um, what now? I guess chasing my toddler around. LOL, ain't nobody here got time to cross train!

What is your favorite song to run to?
In college, our coach gave us mandatory quiet time on the bus before meets. I listened to my theme song by Cake, Going the Distance. I would seriously listen to it on repeat for an hour or so. That was a billion years ago, and I'm not really into that kind of racing anymore; so I don't know. If I'm running alone, I listen to contemporary Christian music.

What brand of shoes do you wear?
I've been sponsored by Brooks since 2009, and I wear nothing but them! <3

Do you wear a hat when you run? 
If the sun is out, I wear a hat or visor every time. I had basal cell carcinoma (skin cancer) on my face two years ago. I don't play around with that anymore.

Do you run solo or with a buddy? 
I do both. I really love running with friends. It's hard during the school year to make my schedule fit my friends' schedules; so I run a lot alone then.

Are you a morning, noon, or evening runner?
I'm mostly a morning runner. If I run in the evening, it's usually my 2nd run of the day and much shorter, often a stroller run.

Do you have any big races coming up?
Why, yes! One of the reasons I chose to continue my blogging is to document my newest journey- training for my first 50 miler!!!! I will be doing the JFK 50 in November. MUCH more on that later, though! Throughout the summer and fall, I'll be doing races as training runs, but the main goal is in Nov.

What is your favorite distance?
My favorite training distance is 10 miles. Short enough not to worry about fueling, but long enough to get those endorphins going. Racing? I'm a sucker for the marathon. 38 completed so far!

What is your favorite race?
This one is really tough b/c my races are categorized in my head. I like a lot of races for very different reasons. One of my absolute favorites is the Wineglass Marathon. Scenery, town, course, swag- I just love it!

Do you wear a Garmin? If not, how do you track your distance?
If you have a hundred years on your hands, you can go back and read about my burnout about 4-ish years ago. Basically, I was obsessed with all numbers associated with running. After I hit rock bottom with that, I have been nearly Garmin-free. I do wear it for workouts now. I find the data very useful, and seeing your pace on tempo runs can help you gauge your efforts. I also don't run on the track anymore, but I set up the "workout intervals" mode on my Garmin. For long runs, I wear a Timex. That way, if I want to calculate the average pace later, I can. I run the same routes nearly every week. I've put all of these into Map My Run; so I already know the distance.  If I'm doing a new LR route, I use Map My Run ahead of time or I'm often running with friends that have Garmins. My favorite thing to do is ask Sam 100 times how far we've been when we're in the last mile of our long runs. HA!

What is your least favorite race?
McGuire's St. Patrick's Day Run- ICK! You can also read about that in my history, if you're super bored.

Who is your running idol?
<3 MEB <3 I mean, how can you not love him? "Winning isn't always coming in first or a time on the clock. Winning is getting the best out of yourself." YESSSSS!!!!!!

I'm also a huge fan of Deena Kastor. I met her during and after the 2012 Trials, and she was so down to earth and humble. I love a gracious competitor.

How long have you been running? 
Holy cow- 30+ years!!!!! (Since I was a kid.)

What is your favorite type of run?
Usually I would say long runs. However, I'm basically living in Satan's Armpit right now (stole that from a FB meme); so LRs aren't the most fun.

What do you drink to stay hydrated? 
Coffee? Ugh, I'm terrible. I try to drink water, occasionally with Nuun.

Where is your favorite place to run?
I love running in Fairhope, AL, but I think only b/c my friends are there!

What do you take on your runs?
Ruger Pepper Spray Ultra is a pepper spray, strobe light, and screamer in one. I sometimes run with iPod, and water for a long run.

YOUR TURN!!!!! I'll be back in a few days for a training recap.
Run Happy, friends! :)

No comments:

Post a Comment