Bliss

Yesterday I did my normal roll out of bed about 4 am and start getting ready for a run routine, but with my first glance outside I saw the sky light up.  I am a little crazy sometimes about getting in my run, but not crazy enough to run with lightning.  I went to my morning staff meeting at work and then took the kids up to my Grandma's house.

The weather was AMAZING.  Late July and at the time I started my run from my Grandma's house it was 60 degrees, with a slight breeze and an overcast sky.  Heavenly.

I was so excited to do this run.  Not only was the weather divine, but I haven't done a run above my Grandma's house since I strained my quad.  Nothing but wide open spaces up there.  There was a risk of running into some combines, and grain trucks but since it had rained the night before they were taking a break.  Heavenly.

I left the road to avoid two bulls who were waiting at a gate right in my path. This added a considerable amount of hills, but I wrote it off as great Ragnar Colorado training.

Love that it is nearly August and the hills still have so much green in them.
The run was pretty slow considering the off trail/hilly nature and I didn't want to stress my quad out.  It did start to feel a little tired so I didn't go back the way I came.
Amber waves of grain, these ones looked like they were next to go.
Just guessing by the combines lined up waiting for things to dry out a little.
Do you suppose I stuck out like a sore thumb out there?  All this bright pink doesn't exactly blend into my surrounding.  I bought this tank to match my shoes.  Tell me you do that too sometimes.
This grass was so tall it beat the crap out of my thighs as I ran through it.  The cows looked pretty happy in it though.  I could have stayed on the road, but this was the way back and where the bulls were, still on the road so I made a wide path around them.
One more picture.. I really only include this one because of the story that goes with it.

  I ran through this field for over a mile and kept hearing a faint snap crackle kind of sound.  So I finally stopped and just listened.  It was like sitting surrounded by a field full of rice crispies with milk.  It must have been the cut stalks of wheat brushing against each other in the breeze or something.  It was really cool to listen to. 

That was 9.75 miles of heaven.  I was going to go for an even ten, but decided all the hills I did justified not doing another quarter of a mile, besides my daughter ran out to meet me.  She was so excited to see me.  While I was out running she learned to ride a bike with no training wheels and couldn't wait to show me. Love that girl.

Anyone else have a great run yesterday?  I think I am still on an endorphin high looking at these pictures.

Sleep won

I have been so good for the last ??  at least 6 weeks about hauling my butt out of bed super early and getting my run started before the sun is up.  This morning I broke that streak.  I really have no excuse other than my body wanted to sleep.  I woke up at the normal 4 am ish time that I normally do and thought for a brief second about getting up, well I did get up and make a trip to the bathroom.  Instead of heading out to the kitchen to make a pot of coffee, I headed back to bed and slept in until quarter to six.

Then I went back to bed at 830 and slept for another hour! Whew!

I think I could have slept in even longer.  Sometimes the crazy desire to run wins, but this time sleep was the big winner.  I didn't even stay up late, I was in bed by 9.  We had a pajama party with the kids last night.  There was singing, dancing, football, UNO, and finally popcorn and a movie. Fun times.  Apparently it wore me out.

Also..last year on this day my husband found a small small cat outside by my car with his placenta cleaned off, but still attached at the umbilicus.  Rocky Ballerina Windshield One-Dot aka Puddy is the big ONE today! Happy birthday Puddy!  

What is so great about today?

It is Happy National Day of the Cowboy (and girl!)  Here is a Christmas picture from when I was much younger.  Can you guess which one I am?

Third from the left, on my horse Streak!  We were moving the cows closer to home for the winter and it was cold and snowy! This was a three day event if I remember right.  This is what we did for family "vacations".  I recall wishing we could have gone to Disney Land instead, but now I wouldn't trade these memories for anything.

 Blueberry pancakes will forever taste burnt and my little sister won't let us forget how we scared her out of sleeping in the camper when she had been rubbing it in our face that she was the only one that got too.  We might have made up a story about hantavirus and mouse droppings sighted in the camper.


I always knew growing up that I couldn't marry anyone who was not a cowboy.  I tried to date a few non-cowboys, but they never compared. So lucky to have found mine :)

and I love that I am raising a little cowboy

and cowgirl

I love this life. 

A few fun facts about cattle

Cattle outnumber humans in 9 states: Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Oklahoma, and Wyoming.
CyberspaceAg.com                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               
More than 100 medicines, including insulin and estrogen, come from cattle.
CyberspaceAg.com        
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       
Cattle consume less than 2/10ths of 1% of all water used in the United States.
CyberspaceAg.com

Beef fat, called tallow, is an ingredient in soaps, cosmetics, candles, shortenings, and chewing gum.
Watersheds.org

Bones are used to make glue and fertilizers. Blood meal, a fertilizer, is made from blood.
Watersheds.org

Gelatin, made from bones and horns, is used in making candies, marshmallows, ice cream and photographic film.
Watersheds.org

Other products besides beef are made from the beef carcass. Leather, made from the hide, is used to make a variety of items, from clothing to basketballs. Eight pairs of cowboy boots can be made from one cowhide.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           
Watersheds.org                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
My heroes have always been cowboys. 

Old school blogging 5 Favorites x6

I saw this over at Living the Dream yesterday so I decided it would be fun to do for today. 

5 things I have a passion for

1. my family
2. running
3. family farmers and ranchers
4. fitness in general/ healthy living
5. being an operating room nurse

5 Things I would like to do before I die

1. run a BQ qualifying marathon
2. have a yellow house with a wraparound porch
3. learn to scuba dive
4. enjoy retirement
5. of course..see my children grow up and have happy healthy lives, and be a grandma :)

5 things I say a lot

1. "You good if I go for a run?" to my husband
2. "I love you a million bazillion times infinity squared" to my kids
3. "I'm such a lucky mama" to my kids
4. "turn off the bathroom lights" to my kids
5. "time out" at work since we have to have a "time out" at the start of every case and the circulating nurse (that's me) is in charge of doing it.

5 books or magazines I have read recently

1. Runners World
2. Women's Running
3. Fancy Nancy Too Many Tutus (I read it to my daughter over and over and over so I am going to count it)
4. Hank the Cowdog (what my son and I are currently reading, so funny)!
5. Pioneer Doctor

5 favorite movies

1. Braveheart
2. Lord of the Rings Trilogy
3. Lonesome Dove
4. Seabiscuit
5. Band of Brothers

5 Places I would love to travel to

1. Ireland.  Always wanted to go there
2. Washington DC, I want to see the nations capital and all the landmarks, the Smithsonian, Arlington National Cemetery, the Vietnam and World War II Memorials and on and on.
3. Australia and or New Zealand.  I have just always wanted to visit down under.
4. Maine.  No specific reason, it just always looks so beautiful.
5. Italy, again.  I loved it so much the first time.

5 people I invite to do this too!  anyone who wants too, feel free

Moving Forward

It has been 12 weeks since my last race.  12 weeks since I ran Peaks to Prairie and 11 weeks since I did the run that was the final straw for my right quad.   Not really that long in the scope of life, but it sure has felt like a long time!  I haven't updated my DailyMile account since then and don't know that I will.  It is fun to see the stats and everyone on there, but I get a little caught up in the numbers game and I don't need to be stressing about how many miles I am or am not running compared to last year, last month, etc.

My plan from here isn't too complicated. 

I have a Ragnar Relay in Colorado Sept 6-7

I plan to

• keep building up my long runs
• do hill repeats once a week
• run a hilly route at least once a week
• keep strength training my legs (squats, lunges, etc)
• strength training in general (core, arms, legs)

What I haven't been doing

• yoga
• cycling

they both pretty much fell off the radar about two weeks ago I noticed.  I just have a hard time getting into them.

I am doing ZWOWs for my strength training and making up my own.

Speaking of Zuzanna, there has been a little drama in the Bodyrock, DailyHiit, Zuzkalight communities lately and apparently if you hadn't already taken a side it is a lot harder to stay neutral now. Freddy's side and Zuzanna's reply and Freddy's latest retort kind of makes me want to write them all off. so much drama!

I personally miss the old Bodyrock days and am glad the workouts are still available or were last I checked.  DailyHiit uses so much equipment, it kind of annoys me since I don't have most of it. 

Do you find your cross training goes by the wayside once your injury heals?
mine appears to.

Squeaking it in

I set out on Saturday with no big goals in mind only the vague notion of doing 7 miles in under an hour, but then I decided I had better get some hill running in.  I do have a Ragnar Relay coming up in about 7 weeks in Colorado that has some CRAZY elevation and lots of hills.  I did 8 or 9 hill repeats of first running down the hill half a mile and then running up two or three telephone poles and one down until I got to the top. Once I finished that I still had about three miles to go to hit seven and I didn't really figure I was going to get it done in under an hour at that point but...

I squeaked it in!

Sunday I ran 8.6 miles or so my iPhone said, my Garmin died after 1.7 miles.  I had put it on the charger before I went to bed but apparently I didn't get the connection right.  Annoying.

This morning I ran 6.3 miles easy pace again, I used both my Garmin and the Map My Run app just to see how they compared.  I accidentally saved my activity on the Map My Run about half way through and had to start a new recording, but it seemed that the Map My Run app was about .3 miles ahead of my Garmin by the time I got done with my run.  Annoying.  So I wonder which one is more accurate?

I am going with my Garmin.

The last couple of runs have felt really good and I ended them feeling like I wanted to keep on running.  More, more, more! As tempting as it is to keep running I know it isn't the smart thing for my leg.  Boo.

I am so happy with my progress though.  Feels so good to end runs that way!

I also volunteered at the Big Sky State Games at the Track and Field events in the first aid station.  All I had to do was hand out two band aids and wash off a girls hands because they were sticky.

I had been VERY VERY tempted to do the 10k.  I just wasn't sure I could take it as an easy run.  I was a little afraid that the crazy competitor in me would push too hard and hurt my quad again.  Although after I saw the 10k times I could have run at a fairly easy pace and still won the gold medal for my age group.   oh well.

 Anyone else doing the Ragnar in Colorado in September?
Garmin or Map my Run app on iPhone more accurate?

Favorites, discount codes, sales, and ways to help, credit for new shoes

1.  PRO Compression socks are my favorites.  In case you never noticed, I wear them a lot.

 

 PRO Compression is having a having a huge summer sale and you can get 40% off everything on their site by using the coupon code JULY when you check out.  This includes free shipping.  Awesome deal really, and I see they still have some of their sock of the month left.

 

According to their sizing guides I am a S/M size, but I have found I prefer an extra small.  I like the tighter compression and the slightly shorter length.  I wear these socks at work too and have a few friends at work who now wear them too, thanks to me :) and with so many color choices you can find one to match every outfit.

 

2. Handful Bras are another favorite of mine.  I seriously have a whole drawer in my dresser devoted to Handful bras and tanks. Coincidentally, they are also having a great sale right now.  All existing inventory on the Handful website is marked 20% off to make way for their new made in the USA inventory that will be coming soon. Lots of sizes are already sold out in certain colors so seriously act fast!  These bras rarely go on sale.  Just saying.

Since I already have all of the existing colors, I am waiting with great anticipation for the two I ordered through Crowd Supply.  I should have them in the next couple of weeks. Beyond excited to add the green one to my collection.

 

3. Huma energy gel is currently working on a crowd funding drive right now.  If you want to participate you can check it out HERE. The video they have posted on there is worth watching as well as a laugh or two.

 

I reviewed Huma gel recently on my blog.  They are an all natural energy gel.  Love the all natural thing and the chia seeds too. 

 

4. Kindrunner.com is offering a $10 dollars of Kindness Cash Rewards Credit to anyone who registers at kindrunner.com before Friday (tomorrow) at 7pm EST (5pm my time).  YAY!  That is basically ten dollars towards your next pair of shoes or anything on their website! 

 

You can register here   www.kindrunner.com/customer/account/create

Easy, peasy really!

 

They also have a super awesome custom fit process and will even talk you through it.

 

Disclaimer.  Procompression is compensating me with a free pair of socks for this, Handful bras are just my favorites.  Huma gels rock my world, but are also not compensating me and I am a Kindrunner ambassador but do not get paid for ythat either ;) As always this is my blog and my opinions. 

 

 

Happy Girl Running

The weekend seemed to fly by, we had company here and lots of things planned. 
Saturday I ran 7 miles.  So happy to be back up to 7 miles.  7 miles is my standard run length.  It takes me about an hour and in my mind is my happy spot. 

Sunday I got up early and run the three miles to my garden.  I weeded for a bit and then ran back home.  The three miles to the garden are mostly downhill and were with the wind.  The way back of course was the opposite and kicked my butt.  I haven't run that route or that many hills since I hurt my quad.   So I stopped a few times to take some pictures.

Like this one


and this one.  You can see the grass is still pretty green here, which for the middle of July is pretty good.  The cheatgrass has all turned

and the wheat will be ready for harvest soon as you can see in the picture below taken on a different morning.

My son got to be in a parade with his 4-H club Saturday Little Cowgirl was just happy to ride the merry go round.
This morning I did a 6 mile run and my average pace was 8:23...YAY!! I feel like I am really progressing now.  Although running a sub 8 minute mile still really kicks my butt, BUT it is feeling okay on the right quad which is the most important thing right now.  I am really gaining confidence back in my ability to run and run fast again post injury.

19 miles in three days.  I will take it!

Randoms and a small survey.

My week has been crazy busy which really has meant something has to give and this week it has been the blog.  and reading blogs. I keep thinking of all kinds of posts to write and now that I am sitting here at the computer...  I got nothing.  I will just go with some randoms from the week instead.

I did take the kids to see Despicable Me 2 which is of course super cute, funny and not as good as the first one.  Spoiler alert.. the little girls get a mommy.  Gru gets married at the end and I may have shed a tear at a kids movie because the little girl was so happy to have a mommy. 

Wednesday I also managed to run a mile in under 8 minutes for the first time since April 28th.  and yes it felt so good!  It was at the end of a 5.5 mile run and the average pace for the whole run was 8:33.  Little victories!

My little sister dropped her phone and it started auto dialing me.  Everytime I answered no one was there, so I would call back and no one would answer.

I finally texted her and told her to quit being a psycho stalker.  She ended up having to turn off her phone to get it to quit.  Weird.

I was really hoping to get up early this morning and run, but alas my husband had to be out early this morning for a prank on a neighbor. so since I have to work today I will have to wait until tomorrow to run now. 

and how about a quick survey.  I am working on a route for a local half marathon,  we want it to end and hopefully also start at the place I work.  We also want to have the route go through a local park that is part of a Billings landmark type area, has beautiful views of the city, great trails, and is a lot higher than the start point.

My favorite route.. kind of has a scary elevation profile and my co chair is worried it will scare people off.  It does have some crazy climbs, but I think if you go into it knowing it will not be your fastest half marathon it shouldn't be that bad.  An alternate route has less elevation gain but also will have to run through an uglier part of town after you just ran three beautiful scenic miles.

Would either of the below elevation profiles deter you from signing up for a half marathon?
Which would you rather do?
A.  which is an out and back with awesome views and nasty hills or
B. which is a loop 3ish miles of scenic and some ugly. 

both go through a beautiful residential area for the last 4ish miles.  Yes, I know that doesn't add up to 13.1, I must be rounding down or something.  Sue me, I left out some non vital info. Seriously just answer the question.

Have you done a hilly half marathon?  if so would you do it again?

Running on Empty

I have mentioned before that I like to listen to podcasts while running.  Marathon Training Academy is one that I listen to quite a bit, and their latest podcast is about avoiding bonking and cramping during a marathon. Pretty interesting.  I listened pretty carefully to what they had to say since I major bonked on my first and so far only marathon.

One of the things they talk about is not eating before runs..very interesting and something I NEVER would have considered before this year.  I was always convinced I would have a crappy run if I didn't eat first.  Turns out I was so wrong. 

Your muscle glycogen (80% of total glycogen stores) remains intact even after a night of sleep. Even if your stomach is feeling hungry your muscles are fueled and ready to go. Just take a gel about 5 minutes before your race or long run and you’re primed for a successful race. If you feel the need to eat pre-race make sure that you do it at least 3 hours prior to the starting time.  source

I have been doing all of my early morning runs and bike rides lately on an empty stomach and a cup of coffee.  I haven't missed breakfast so far.

Sunday I did my long run of 6.5 miles and I can't even begin to describe how good it feels to be almost back up to 7 miles.  I thought about going for it. I was really only going to do 6 miles but when I got home I realized we hadn't picked up the mail Saturday and the mailbox is a quarter mile from our house so I ran down and got it.

Yesterday I threw in some burpees at my turn around point just for fun cause I am crazy like that I guess.  I love the way Cola is looking at me here, probably thinking I am crazy.

I also took the kids down to swim lessons and happened to stop by a store that had some small evergreens and shrubs on sale.  I have been wanting to buy some, but find that while I have no problem dropping $100 dollars on running shoes, $20 for a tree or $12 for a shrub is too pricey.

Luckily these were all marked 50% or more off.  I picked out 9 shrubs and 3 small trees.  After I checked out I discovered they were all marked down even further to 80% off.. SCORE!

 

Of course then I had to go home and dig 12 holes in the 85 degree heat, I was sweating like crazy when I got done and ready to go in and put my feet up.  Then I remembered the 24 pounds of peaches that needed to be processed.  That pretty much consumed the rest of my afternoon. 14 pints and 3 quarts later I was done. I think I probably ate at least 4 peaches during the process, talk about yummy!

 

Do you ever run on empty in the mornings or do you feel like you need to fuel first?

Friday Favorites

I can't get enough of running at sunrise right now.  I am a little sad the days are getting shorter and that means sunrise is later and it gets harder for me to fit in a run before my husband gets out the door for work.  That means I have to wait until later to run when normal people are awake so they can watch my kids.

I am loving the Mizuno Sayonaras.  Those shoes are so light.  I think they were made with my foot in mind.  Fit like a glove, and they match my flowers.  Today is the day they are available in stores too!

Speaking of running, which is always a favorite.  15 miles this week.  In 3 different 5 mile runs.  5 mile runs.  I have done 4 of them now and my quad is feeling so good.  I can tell it is nearly healed because

• I can cross my legs with my left on top with only the slightest twinge of pressure in my right quad. 
•  I can sleep on my side again, both sides!  Yay I have been having to sleep on my back and I do not sleep good on my back.
• I don't find myself rubbing my quad muscles throughout the day anymore.
• I did some burpees and actually followed through with the jump part and it felt good.

4th of July.  Always a great holiday.  We took the kids up to the Home of Champions Rodeo in Red Lodge on the 3rd and.  Good fun.  On the 4th we got stuff done around the house and then went to a family potluck at my parents house.  The kids played on a large inflatable water slide and we all visited. Nothing says the 4th of July in Montana to me like tons of patriotism, cowboys, rodeo, and being with family.   Note I didn't say fireworks.

We could have gone to several shows in the area but I really hate crowds.  Fireworks are awesome but aren't a 4th of July necessity to me.  Growing up on a ranch where wildfires are a threat we rarely lit off fireworks on the 4th, preferring instead to do it on New Years when the fire danger is less.

Speaking of crowds... when the rodeo got over Wednesday night we hurried out of the stands to our car with the kids to try to get out of the parking lot before it got congested and were moving along at a nice jog when we had to stop to try and remember where we had parked.

A couple was standing there and heard us comment to each about where we had parked, they said to us "Hopefully you aren't parked like us"  They had been blocked in with a car in front of and behind them.  That was when I saw we were in front on them! Whew, were they happy to see us.  We all hopped in our vehicles and got out of there right before the rush. For the record we were not the ones that blocked them.  We were the first ones to park in that row and people were filled in behind us.

Final Friday Favorite. Hay.  Everywhere around me are hay fields being cut and baled.  It makes the air smell so sweet in the mornings. 

Have a great Friday!  Hope you all had a great 4th of July as well!

Searching for that word.

I have to admit there have been times during this injury recovery process that I have been very discouraged and frustrated and a little depressed with how slowly it is inching by.  Most runners get injured at some point so I am sure that most so you know what that feels like.   I would drive to work and see other people out running and hate them just a little bit.  Why couldn't that be me. 

There were runs I went out and attempted and got no farther than the end of my driveway and could tell it wouldn't be worth it to attempt to run.  My quad would feel crampy and mad.  I hated that three miles of run walking was the most I could do for about a month.

I cursed all those inspirational words like limitless and unbreakable.  Clearly I both had limits and was indeed breakable.  Who doesn't have limits.  What stupid words for inspiration. 

What does a runner do when they can't run?  Even biking irritated my quad and since I neither have pool access nor can swim much beyond the doggie paddle, I knew I needed to figure out a plan B.

I knew I would become an crazy angry mama bear if I let myself indulge in self pity and sit on the couch watching reruns eating ice cream.  Plan B became run/walk as allowed, yoga, upper body and core strengthening and trying to eat relatively clean. Add in biking and the elliptical as my leg allowed.

I can't go all out clean eating, it backfires on me every time.  I like sugar. I like carbs.  I like fat.

Then one morning I got up early and started running before sunrise.  At the start of mile 2 I realized I still felt good.  I didn't need to walk yet.  Those words limitless and unbreakable came rebounding back into my head.  Yes I have limits on what my body can do, which is why I have to listen to it better so I can go further. 

Unbreakable, sure my body is, but my spirit isn't.  I am not where I wanted to be with my running certainly, but I didn't let it derail me completely.  The words still didn't feel right

Then I saw this on Facebook this morning and I knew at once "unrelenting" was the word I have been searching for.

#IWILL be unrelenting while respecting my body's limits, because I cannot change yesterday, but I can affect tomorrow. I will be unrelenting in my lifelong journey towards a fit and healthy life.  Just because I can't run doesn't mean there aren't other things I can do to stay fit.

Do inspirational words ever make you mad?

June Recap

June was not really the month I was hoping for, but it was better than May!  It started with not running more than half a mile without having to walk and ended with a 5 mile long run with one walk break. 

I will take starting on a sour note and ending on a happy one!  My quad still doesn't feel 100% but it doesn't bother me when I run and it so much better than it was.  I am hoping another month of taking it easy will do the trick. 

I also did a lot more biking in June, I didn't do any in May as it bothered my quad.  The elliptical was also my friend.  I worked a lot of core and upper body strength and worked in yoga at least once a week.

I got to try out the new not even released yet Mizuno Wave Sayonaras.  They have been my go to shoe since I got them.  They are wonderfully light and just enough support.  Prett excited to try these out in a race and with some speed, which means I better not wear them all them time in the next couple months or they will be worn out before I get a chance!

Races ran in June...a big fat zero.  I DNSd one race.

The cotton trees are shedding cotton right now, check out my garden, so pretty. 

 I am also glad I am not allergic to it.

yes that is a  lot of tomato plants, I share them with my grandma.

Is it just me or does it take twice as long to heal from an injury as you think it should?

Motivation Monday

The weekend really seemed to fly by, but I guess they all really do.  So what is motivating me this fine hot Monday?  Progress.  I really feel like the last two weeks I have made huge progress in returning to running.  Makes me so happy! 

Before I tell you more, meet the newest member of our animal family, Shorty.  We were in need of a new kid horse and my Dad found this guy for us.  Thanks Dad!  The kids both rode him Saturday and Sunday and did great riding by themselves.  Soon they will be ready for some cow chasing action!

I rode Shorty a little bit too, he is pretty short so he is pretty easy to jump up onto if you get him in a low spot.  Super nice horse

So let's talk progress, Saturday I got up and biked 14 miles.  Am I supposed to say biked or cycled? Bicycled?  I wanted to run, but figured it would be good to throw in a cross training day.  It felt good. 

I think my bike has a bunch of gears, but they never have shifted very smooth for me so I usually just leave it in the same gear for the whole ride.  I had to mess around a little but I found one that works pretty good. I have no plans to do a triathlon or biathlon so I am not worried about it.  Works great for me!

Sunday I decided to do something a little crazy.  I decided to try for 5 miles. Used to be such a short distance for me, but I hadn't run more than four miles since the beginning of May when this whole quad strain thing went down.

 I made the run so that if I wanted/needed to quit at 4 miles I would be close to my house.  I am not going to lie, I am a little afraid of restraining it right now.  I ran the whole 5 miles. I did take a couple of short walking breaks, but still longest run of June! Talk about a happy girl.

I started July out the same way I ended June..5 more miles this morning and it felt even better than it did yesterday.  I have to admit.. this makes me ecstatically happy!

Have I ever mentioned how much I love getting to run before the sun comes up.  A perfect way to start a day.

If you squint, you can maybe see a little tiny pin point of light on the far far hills in the middle of the picture.  Even if you can't, trust that I could at 5 this morning.  Pretty sure it was my Dad out putting up bales of hay.  The air smells so sweet right now with all the hay being cut and baled all around us.  Love it.

Ahh yep there it is..5 miles!  This one was from yesterday. I actually did more like 5.15 miles today.

I threw in a speedy last mile today to test it out a little.  well semi speedy for me, but considering my
super slow plod along pace lately an 8:20 mile was pretty good.  I would normally hate how much the 5 miles kicked my butt, however, right in this moment I am just thrilled to be running.  I am on my way back.

My plan for July is just to continue building my base. 

No races. 

No serious speed work. 

More strength training. 

 Listen to my body.

 

So when do I plan to start racing again?  I don't know yet.  The only thing I have on my calendar is a Ragnar in Colorado in the beginning of September.  I won't be doing my legs speedy, just enjoying the fun.  There is a half marathon here at the end of October, that I am tempted to train for.  It would be no PR attempt, but a sort of "Hello I am back!" kind of run.

 

What is motivating your workouts today?