Happy Trails....or not

The other day I was up bright and early to do my  run on the rail trail. I had my ipod and Garmin ready and was excited to do my run.  As I approached the trail I noticed a swarm of students running my way.  It was the local High School/Middle School cross country team.

I don't know how long these kiddos had been out on the trail but boy they looked beat. Either that or it was just way too early for them. As to not intrude on their run I decided to run the opposite direction on the trail.  I ended up running towards even more kids running up the trail. I noticed not one of them looked happy and none of them were wearing any tech type clothing. They all had cotton t-shirts on. What are these coaches teaching them? Why aren't they wearing breathable fabric?  No wonder they all looked so miserable.

Okay, back to my run.  I was feeling good and thought I was having a pretty good run.  After the first mile I looked down at my Garmin and noticed my time and thought,  Gee, that kind of stinks. I had to remember that I was going for good solid mileage and not time. I also had to remember that I was listening to the radio on my ipod. EVERY time I listen to the radio instead of my running playlist my time is slower. It must be because I don't have control over the upbeat music that I usually run to and also listening to people talk does not make me run fast. This is one reason I don't think I could ever listen to a podcast while I run.

In the end I did complete 5 miles and was pleased.  I mentioned last week about how I had pain in my knee after the run. I iced it as soon as I got home and hadn't had a problem since.

How was your last run? Do you ever listen to the radio on your run?  -M

Our Fall Race Calendar




If you've been following our blog then you know that there are some races that we do plan way in advance (like Disney races) and then there are others we ended up doing at the last moment because we like to play it by feel.  Although I love Disney races, I kind of like when I can sign up for a race during that same month.



Weekly Wrap.....What Junk?




This is how my week wrapped up.  I was surprised that even with my busy schedule I was still able to get my workouts in through either running or teaching class.

Sun- I was able to get off work early so I did 6 hot and sweaty miles at 8 pm and it was still in the 90's with real feel being 100. 

Mon- Still really hot and humid, I still managed to complete three miles.   

Tues- 4 miles 

Wed- Taught Body Pump then had to work, no run. 

Thursday- Ran 6 miles in the morning with my running buddy, then another 5 in the evening with each other. 

Friday- It rained the majority of the day, but when it did stop I was able to get another three miles in. 

Saturday- Ran 11 miles in the morning. That was one of my longest runs in a while. Wasn’t the easiest run for me, but I did complete it.

This week has been one of my higher mileage weeks in quite a while. It made me thinking about when runners talk about junk miles. What constitutes a junk mile? Is it a short run, a run that doesn’t feel good, but you're still out there getting it done? Or one that is not on the schedule, but you end up doing it anyway? To me, I think all miles are created equal, and you never come back from a run and say, “I wish I would not have done that.” Regardless of your pace or distance, a mile is a mile. At least you are out there doing it. 

So tell me, what do people (or you) mean when they talk about "junk miles"? L

                       We will be linking up with HoHo and MissSippiPiddlin for the weekly wrap.

Summer Runfessions



1. I runfess that I actually worry that I may drop my things in the potty at the trail. When I use the facilities there after my run, I am in my full gear (visor on, running pouch on (I've been using the Roo lately), sun glasses on, Ipod on) and I'm worried that something is going to fall off and go ALL the WAY DOWN!

This happened to me before at Princess half marathon last year.  Because Disney races start at O Dark Thirty, it's dark in the port o potties. I decided to bring a key chain flashlight for our little group to use. Yup, I was the one who dropped it in the potty and down it went. Thank goodness i was the last one in our group to use it.

2. I noticed my clothes were getting a little tight so I wanted to lose 5-6 lbs this summer. I tried to cut back on sugar and am proud to say that I did not eat any Sour Patch kids this summer!  Because I do not own a scale I didn't really monitor my progress or lack there of so I just bought new clothes in a larger size..lol

3. I put my gym member ship on hiatus for the month of August.  Since it didn't look like I was increasing my mileage like I wanted, I thought perhaps I could do some of the same strength training at home.  Turns out I hadn't been keeping up with it so I will return to the gym in September!

4. At this point in the summer my highest mileage has only been 5 miles....womp, womp. (Hence why I didn't think I needed to go to the gym)

5. Carrying my hand held water bottle is starting to bother me. Because of the heat and humidity I've been carrying it on all my runs this summer. I figured I should get use to it because I'll want to carry it during my half marathon this fall. The problem is it is starting to hurt my shoulder.  This never happened before so I don't know what's up.  Hopefully I can convince my sister to wear her hydration belt during the half and hold my water in there.

What do you have to Runfess this month?  -M

We will be linking up with the gals from the Friday 5.

The Love Run

My friend and I planned to do the Love Run 5K since earlier this summer. This was one of the 5K races that I had on my radar and running it would complete my goal of doing a 5K race each month this summer!  I did Relay for Life 5K in June and the 4th of July 5K in July so it would be only natural that I run this one in August. EXCEPT.....this race did not start till 9 am!!!  In AUGUST! By this time I've been pretty consistent with getting my runs in early and even at 8 am it's so stinkin hot. I just didn't think there was any way I wanted to put myself through this race.  Another downfall was that I knew it was all a trail run  which would definitely impeded my time. So for about a week and a half before, I told my friend I wasn't going to run but I'll come spectate.



Well, Saturday morning came and I was up and out the door by 7:30 am (for my 2 minute drive to the park).  I was having knee pain the day before so I thought I would go do a lap around the park to see how I felt.  I felt great. They had race day registration right there, so I decided to sign up. Because I did same day registration I did not receive a race shirt, but that's okay.


The race took place at Island Park where I often run and walk Baylee, except the race course was not actually in the park at all. It was an ALL cross country terrain course and went all through the woods.  It was a mix of  dirt path and grassy area.  I go to this park all the time so I should have been practicing running this route, but I didn't.

As in any local race around here, it is flooded with students from the cross country and track teams.  These kiddos go out SO fast and I have to remind myself that they are not setting the pace. I need to run my own race!  I did go out a bit too fast in the first mile. My breathing was WAY off and I sounded like one of those little dogs with the pushed in faces that has breathing problems...lol.  It seemed I was the only one wearing headphones so I felt bad for the runners around me who had to listen to me breath!

I shortly settled into a comfortable pace.  I ran the entire time with the exception of a couple steps at the half way point (because running through grass is hard).

By the way, as I was approaching the third mile (that went by the finish line) I saw the first runner come in. He was a high school kid and his time was 19 something!

As I crossed the finish line myself, wouldn't you know that I forgot to stop my Garmin!  Uggh I hate when that happens. I didn't even realize it until I was walking back to my car. Therefore I don't have my official Garmin stats but I did win second place in my age group! So at that point, my time really didn't matter. I was just excited to have placed!



This was my first time placing in any race and I have to say I was glad that they gave out medals instead of a trinket or gift certificate. For a local race, the medals are pretty nice. They are even engraved on the back.  Overall I was really impressed with the organization of this race and they actually had some of the best post race goodies. They had bagels, Nutrigrain bars, bananas. grapes, oranges, baked goods, etc, etc. I had a small bag of grapes and that was it.  When I got home Scott had french toast waiting for me but as usually after a race I can't think of eating too much. I ate it later  that evening.

This weekend is the Color Run at the same park.  I'm not sure if it will be the same course as this race or not. I wasn't planning on running it but I will definitely go to spectate. Who knows, I might end up registering last minute like I did at this race!   -M

Runners Caught In The Act!

I think you would all agree that in this day in age of smart phones and social media, we as a society are taking more pictures than we ever have before.  What a great way to preserve our memories!



Weekly Wrap....Aug 21

It's the weekly wrap again with HoHoRuns and MisSippipiddlin!



So, I feel like over the past few weeks I've finally gotten on a good running schedule. Right now I'm doing Mondays, Wednesday, and Fridays.  I run in the mornings so to beat the heat and humidity ( which on some days it really doesn't matter because it's still so stinking hot by 7am).

What I learned at Pet Safety Class

Last Saturday I decided to go to a Pet Safety Class that was being offered at my local  Wellness Education Center.  The cost was $25, but I thought it would be well worth it if I could learn some tips that could save my dog's life.  This class was for dog and cat owners alike.

Is it Mental, Physical, or Something else?

When you have a good workout, do you say it was all mental?  All Physical?  Or was it something else?  I recently had an opportunity to try something that would aid me in my runs ( which I admit hadn't been going very well for various reasons).

Do You Collect These Things From Every Race?

Do you race a lot?  If you do, chances are you've acquired a lot of STUFF.   At a typical medium to large size race you can expect to walk away with the following items......


Weekly Wrap...Nothing Bundt Cakes



Remember last month when I ran the 4th of July 8k race?  Well I placed in overall women and my friend placed in his age group. One of the things we received for placing was

Should I be Impressed with Blue Apron?


As you may know, Blue Apron is another one of those Subscription Meal Service, like Hello Fresh.

My Friend Rebecca sent me a coupon so I could try the service for a week, so I did.

Racing: Respect the Experience


Many years ago during my first Rock n Roll VA Beach experience, my mom and I encountered a group of female runners.  My mother got talking to them and they told her how they all got their hair and nails done for the occasion and that they were even wearing false eyelashes.  I should mention they were wearing full make up as well. I thought this was all a little much for a race where you were going to get all sweated up anyway, but hey, to each their own.

Race Day Mishap

What are the things you worry about before a race? Now that we both have done quite a few races there are very few things that make us worry.

Weekly Wrap at the Lake House....Aug 7

Hello friends! I was a little absent on social media this past week because I was having a fabulous time at the Lake House.

                 What made it so fabulous is that this is a vacation where Baylee can come too!

Stuff my Dad says during The Bachelorette

We are vacationing at the Lake this week. My parent's came down to visit for a few days so that meant they were with us on Monday night as we watched the season finale of The Bachelorette.

Is Your Refrigerator Running?

Mine is, and it even has the race magnets to prove it..... Okay, that was a lame joke I know.

This post was inspired by my friend Megan who is a running blogger but often writes about the most random stuff yet it is both funny and intriguing.

Day in the Life

As much as I love reading other blogger's Day in the Life posts, I've never actually done one because really, there isn't any one typical day for me as things are different each day, especially in  the summer.

With that being said, I thought I would document one day where nothing particular is going on. This was just a Monday. Might be a little boring but this is what I do when I stay home and not jetting off in 15 different directions!

I have my alarm set for 6 am so I can get out and run before the miserable heat sets in. Number of times I've actually got up at 6 am.....ZERO!  I usually press snooze and get up later. BUT this particular day I did not press snooze, I pressed Dismiss!  Holy Cow! It was 7:55 when I got up!  I looked at the weather app at 8 am and the real feel was already 92 degrees!!!  I decided that I already missed my opportunity to run so figured I'd just call it a swim day instead.  I him hawled around a little, texted some friends, read some blogs, foam rolled a bit, and made a massage appointment before I actually decided to go to the island for a run. I figured I'd just keep cool by running through the woods for a mile or two. At least it would be something.
2 out of the 4 Goldens I walked with
When I got there it was SO hot! I saw my friends the Golden Retrievers ( Addy, Emma, Harper, and Callie) Little side story: I've been seeing these Goldens and their owner for several years now and we seem to be on the path at the same time. We often stop and talk to each other but this day I actually got to walk one of the dogs!  We did a mile loop.

Afterwards I still felt the need to run so after heading to my car to grab my water and my pepper spray ( I never run in the woods without it) I headed in the woods for 2 miles.

After every run I do, I always take a few moments to relax on my blanket and stretch, ( and scroll through Instagram), and just enjoy the peacefulness of the park.  Some days I could just relax here for ever ( and there have been days I stayed for about an hour!), but today was NOT one of those days. I checked the weather app again and it said the Real Feel was 113!!! Holy Cow!


Normally after I run I will go home and shower before going to the gym, but today I felt like I was already running behind schedule.   I went to the gym and did my normal routine. While there I saw on TV that we were in a warning for severe thunderstorms till 8 pm.   I figured I better get home so I could be with Baylee during the storm. Also by this time the "real feel" was 113 degrees !!!!

I ran to the bank quick to cash a check I've had for a month, and grabbed a Chicken sandwich at a local drive thru before heading home.

When I got home it was still sunny and bright so figured I'd let Baylee swim with me before it started to rain.  Yup, she sits right in that raft and lets me pull her around. Since it's so hot here I only let Baylee swim for no more than 20 minutes. She's an old girl now and I don't want her to get to wore out.

After drying her off and putting her in the house to rest,  I went back out by the pool and read my book for another hour.  Still no storm.

I came in and finally showered and then started to get to work. Even though it's summer, I still write my column for the newspaper and do work for the magazine. I still have interviews to do , and deadlines to meet.  I needed to go outside and take some photos but guess what, about that time we got some severe wind and then it rained a little. That lasted all but maybe 6 or 7 minutes and then it was over. Just enough to get things wet and prevent me from getting my pictures!

 I continued to work on the computer and I admit that I TOTALLY get side tracked when I am doing research online.  It led me to reading a few blogs, checking twitter, and planning a getaway for next spring.  I ate a salad for dinner while I worked. 3 hours later, I decided to shut it down!

It was now about ten of 8 ( boy how time flies when you're online). The sun was still out and since our passing shower cooled things down a bit I decided to take Baylee for a little walk around the neighborhood.

During this time Scott called me to see if I was watching the Bachelorette.  Admittedly, that is something we do together when he is home ( I don't watch much TV so I secretly think it's more his thing than it is mine, but shh, don't tell anyone).   It was so nice outside so I just wanted to sit out on the porch with Baylee and continue to read my book.  I did start watching the Bachelorette much later because I assumed he would call later that night and we would discuss it...lol

When Baylee wants to go to bed she starts nudging me with her head. She doesn't do it often, but sometimes when we are up late. Well, it was now 1:30 ( which is very late for me) and she was ready for bed so we went up and called it a night.

So this is how I spend my day when I'm at home and its just Baylee and I.  It's pretty low key and I don't mind.   -M      How do you spend your time when you are alone?