Go! Pack! Go!

Let's start with Friday. My husband couldn't sleep Thursday night, so I didn't really sleep. Friday morning, my glasses broke....I mean broke broke where they can't repaired. I had to wear my old ones with a prescription that is a billion years old so I had a headache all day. I was cranky. Really cranky.

But I came home and went to sleep and woke up stupid early to drive to Baltimore for a run with my new favorite running crew--Cancer to 5k/Team Fight. It was humid but there was a breeze and it was cooler than it has been. I love running on the water.

Nice and overcast

And because I am still a Wear Blue runner through and through, I was in blue for my miles.

Running on the water is great

Cara and I ran together again this week. My Garmin died right at the beginning and Mapmyrun mapped me running across the water so that was of no use. But our running coach said we went somewhere around 3.3 miles and it felt a little faster than last week so I am guessing somewhere around a 13.45 min/mi pace. So it was a nice run. I didn't come home and run more because I was still feeling the 5 miles from Thursday.

When I got home, I didn't do much of anything. But this morning Kieran was hungry and had to have me feed him at 7am. Since I was up, I tackled our bedroom. Since we moved in, I have had about 8 big boxes in our room still needing to be unpacked. In order to unpack them I needed to go through all our clothes to get rid of the huge accumulation of stuff we just don't wear. So I spent all morning sorting through and putting away clothes. With a total of 4 bags of clothes and 1 bag of shoes leaving our room I am happy and done for the day.

Now I am relaxing and enjoying the kick off of football season. I am a huge Packers fan so I am just waiting for 4pm tonight. Until then we are watching the Dolphins play as that is Gil's team.

Go! Pack! Go!

I made new friend!

I love living in different areas. In the past 10 years I have lived in....

Upstate New York (Thanks Dad for the pic)

Pennsylvania (my first college-Cedar Crest College)

Northern Arizona (nearby ruins)

Western New York (Right down the road from Buffalo State)

SouthernArizona (hiking in Tucson)

Washington State (Vashon Island)

And now Maryland 

And I have met LOTS of friends. I still talk to at least one person from every place I have lived. Making friends is not something that happens all on it's own and I feel like sometimes when you first move somewhere you miss all the people from the last place you have lived that you over look the new people right in front of you.

As I have previously expressed, finding a running partner in this area has been hard for me. But I run on a trail and always see runners out. Today when I was running I saw another woman running and walking and decided at 2.5 miles I would stop and talk to her. So what was supposed to be 3 miles of running quickly turned into 5.5 miles of chatting. I am looking forward to running into her (pun fully intended) on the trail again. Maybe we can be running buddies someday :)

Today's run was 2.5 miles and then walking and talking for another 2.2 miles and then I ran back home when my new friend went on her own way for another 0.8 miles....for a grand total of 5.5 miles. It felt cooler tonight and a little less humid cause it rained all day today so it was the perfect night to spend sometime with a new friend. And despite it being cooler I was a hot schweaty mess when I got home.

My "long" run on Saturday is 4 miles. But compared to today's 5.5 miles I am wondering if I should just do 5 miles again like last week. We will see how I feel on Saturday I guess.

Where have you lived?

Do you find making friends easy or hard?

What was your run like?

Any long runs planned for this weekend?

Hug a pole

I have set my fitness goal for this month to start running in the morning. So far evening run-1, Laura-0. Yep. I laid out my clothes had everything charged and ready to go, and went to bed with the mind set of getting up at 6am (I know not early for everyone but for someone who hates mornings it's awful). I didn't. I hit snooze 3 times and then reset my alarm clock for 715am. 

(Link)

So that didn't happen but I came home and ran instead. It was a wonderful, happy, dripping in sweat, running in the rain run. Gil revamped my running playlist yesterday and the songs totally rocked my run. It also started raining about 2 miles into the run. It felt amazing. I forgot how wonderful it feels to run in the rain. It makes me feel like a kid again. 

(Source)

I ran a total of 3 miles and only walked about 3 times. Then I stretched. Michelle, the running coach from Cancer to 5k, showed us a calf stretch that really helps.

No I am not hugging the pole...I'm stretching. She said that instead of just putting your toes up on something and leaning forward, that if you pull yourself up on something (like I a light pole) it really helps. And she is soooooo right. This stretch just felt so much deeper than what I generally do. Of course it would have been better with my shoes still on but my feet were hot and I wanted out of my shoes. 

I want to run!!

I'm back finally. After moving and starting work things all hit at once and I really needed to escape from my mind for a bit. 

Since leaving Washington, my motivation for running tanked. First it was the move and being away from my friends and then I lost my job which created financial stress and a whirlwind job hunt, I just didn't want to run. It was hot and humid and I was out of it.

I love these brick sidewalks in town

But....I found my motivation on Saturday!!!!!! I am so excited to tell you all about this. After coming to terms with my lack of motivation, I decided to focus my energy on volunteering for something. I believe in volunteer work. I feel that no matter where you are in life, how much money you have (or don't have in my case), or how busy you are, volunteering should be something that everyone attempts to do. 

I found a group looking for volunteers to run once a week with cancer survivors as motivators and pace keepers. The program is called Cancer to 5k. Each fall and spring, a group of cancer survivors are coached through a 12 week running program to run a 5k race at the end. I went on Saturday morning and was partnered with a survivor and we did a little under 3 miles along the water in Baltimore. We ran at her pace and talked and laughed and the miles went by super fast. I had a blast. I cannot wait until next Saturday!!

I didn't have one from Baltimore so this is one from a different day, such
a pretty, sparkly mosaic

When I got home I needed to run a few more miles to complete 5 miles for the day. I did a slightly faster pace  than I did this morning because I was running a shorter distance. Again, it was great. I felt great. I felt relaxed. I felt happy for the first time in a long time. It didn't feel so much like work but more like something I was doing for fun. The best news. I switched back to my brooks and wrapped my ankle with an ace bandage and my ankle felt fine the whole time and even today everything feels great. 

5 miles done!

Today is a rest day to prevent injury but I want to run so stinking bad and it makes me happy that I have that desire back. 

As far the blog goes, I am going to try to update it 3 times a week for now, which is about how many times I run each week. 

Personal time

Sorry for the hiatus. We have been having lots of family issues and with the addition of me starting my new job, I really just need some time to get back on my feet. I am thinking another week or so before I can clear my mind enough to function.

Look what came in today and a baby!!

My day kicked off with a 630am run. Yes you read that right I ran, in the morning, while the sun rose, before work, and before it got hot and humid and muggy out. Generally morning runs make me feel awful with headaches for the rest of the day and I feel exhausted. But today was wonderful. I ran 3 miles along some trails. I passed bunches of runners so it must be the  thing to do at 630am in Maryland. And it was absolutely breath taking. 

When I got home somebody wanted to stretch with me but ran away as soon as I got the camera.

But mom--I don't want my picture taking plus you're gross

I made myself a smoothie with a banana, frozen strawberries, soy milk, and the new Silk fruit and protein mango flavored soy milk. Oh and for the first time I added some frozen spinach. I am not sure what made me so adventurous this morning but I gave it a go and I seriously could not taste it at all despite the weird color. 

And in case you are interested in a great coffee place near Seattle, like they are so hard to find, Whidbey Coffee is my favorite...especially the one near the entrance of Evergreen Hospital in Kirkland, WA.

Another great thing about today? I had a great hair day which is amazing considering the last time my hair was cut was the beginning of May. I am going to attribute the great hair to the morning run so I can motivate my butt out of bed when I don't want to.

Look! No ponytail or sweat.

When I got to work I found a very special item that I have been waiting for. Never mind it has only been 3 days but I was sooooo excited to finally get it. 

I feel so official!!!

It is almost as good as cotton candy ice cream with gummy bears and marshmallows! Ok 1--I said almost and 2--what do you mean you don't eat that combination and it is something only 5 year old's eat?! 

I know at least one other person out there who would beg to differ with #2....Janae! Which reminds me that everyone should head over to her blog and give her some love cause she just had a baby girl today like a day after moving to Cali!! She is amazing.

CONGRATS BILLY AND JANAE!! 

New Job Bliss

Today was the end of unemployment for me and the start of a new job. I seriously am so excited not just to work but to work at this practice with these people. I really enjoy the people I work for and the high emphasis on patient care that the practice places importance on.

This morning I could not make myself get out of bed early for a run so instead I threw everything into my gym bag and brought it with me.

As soon as work was over I changed out of my clothes and laced up for 2 miles. Remember that trail I talked about?

I was actually able to get a pic off my phone today

Well lucky me it crosses at the road that my work is on!! So today I headed down the road and ran down the trail for a mile and then turned around. I even was able to grab a shot of the back of this building that was painted really cool.

On tonight's agenda is icing my ankle, ironing my clothes and packing my gym clothes for tomorrow. All while watching my DVRed copy of the Olympic closing ceremonies.