Tag Archives: Runchat

Do I Get Presents on Runner’s Day?

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Today is National Runner’s Day.  Hooray! Does this mean we get presents?

UPDATE: Apparently it is National RUNNING Day, not RUNNER’S day.  So I guess we’re all supposed to run?

Actually, I have no idea what we’re supposed to do to celebrate this occasion, but there are some great things going on!

Like the $20 off of any Rock n’ Roll race discount when you register today.  This is part of their Runners Day promotion.  Aaron and I are registering for the RnR Arizona half in January 2013.  Today, we are only paying $70, which is about HALF what we paid last year.  If you are wanting to do any of the Rock n Roll races, today is the day to register (except for Vegas. Sorry, Whitney). I ran a PR half marathon at Arizona last year so I feel like I should pay homage to the race that did so much (like convince me that I could qualify for Boston), plus Phoenix is a mere 6 hour drive from here AND I have college friends there.

Other exciting news includes winning the May #runchat challenge! You may remember that I won a medi-dyne range roller from participating in runchat a couple of months ago.  I kind of figured that meant my days as a winner were over. But the May challenge was to run someplace new, so I entered my Durango Trail run into the mix, and I was randomly selected as the grand prize winner of some Pearl Izumi gear.  I’ve never bought anything Pearl Izumi, so I’m excited to try it out! I’ve only ever heard good things.

Turns out getting involved with #runchat has not only provided me with valuable knowledge and great twitter/blog friends, but I’ve also scored some great swag! Thanks to the #runchat peeps for hosting such a great twitter chat AND some awesome contests!

Even MORE excitement comes from knowing that while Aaron and I are training for our first marathon, Rachel (NOT Raquel as I have been calling her), Hyedi, and Dominick will all be training for their first marathon at the same time! Marathon training is more fun when you have friends running along with you!

So, HAPPY RUNNER’S DAY my run-tastic friends!  

Question: has anyone seen any good gluten free food blogs?  Aaron thinks he might be allergic to gluten, so we are thinking of trying out the gluten free lifestyle for a couple of weeks to see if his stomach issues go away. Thanks!

Trail Running in Colorado

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I’m always surprised with the little ways that running has changed my life.

For example, a couple of years ago, I never would have thought to bring running clothes along on a trip.  It’s vacation…from everything.  Including working out. Why would I spend valuable nothing time running around?

These days we always bring workout clothes, and I kind of even look forward to our morning runs around a new place.  Something about exploring a city on foot without the usual distractions of a map or a bulky camera is just so exhilarating, provided you don’t accidentally take a wrong turn into the Tenderloin…

So it goes without saying that when we were in Durango this weekend, we took some time on Sunday morning to explore one of the trails for a trail run.

I will be the first to raise a big hand in the air and say that I’m not a huge trail running fan.  For one, I’m deathly terrified of rattlesnakes, and I’m always convinced one will slither right in front of me.  I’m also afraid of twisting my ankle on a rock or tree root.  I’ve seen Aaron go down hard twice while trail running, and the last thing I want is to break my ankle in the middle of a mountainous area with rattlesnakes slithering nearby  (but without easy access for emergency personnel).

And typically I go really slow.  Like, 15-20 minute miles slow because I am spending so much time avoiding rocks and rattlesnakes.  And enjoying the scenery. And, you know, stopping to take pictures for the blog.

But Aaron LOVES trail running.  And I will admit that the constant switch up of muscle groups makes for a great workout, and it is a lot less boring than running around the golf course. Again.

So we get out on the trails every couple of weeks.

Aaron randomly chose a trail through google while we were in Durango, and it turned out to be a great one that ended up taking us on an aerial tour of the valley.

My Garmin died at about mile 1.8 (I swear I charged it!), so I don’t have a good picture of the elevation climb, but our legs were both pretty tired from running uphill.

Everyone was so friendly on the trail as well! Every single person smiled and said hello to us as we made our way around. Nice people, those Coloradoans.

It was beautiful!  Aaron, who is obviously much faster, hid behind bushes and took pictures of me running down.  He was probably trying to catch me walking, under the guise of being a nice husband helping take pictures for his wife’s blog.

{Don’t trip on that rock!}

If you participate in #runchat, you may know that May’s challenge was to run someplace new.  Running in Durango was a new experience for both of us, and if we had spent that time sleeping in, I never would have enjoyed these views! And hey, we didn’t even run into any rattlesnakes!

Easter Was My Lucky Day

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Happy Monday!

(I wrote everything below this morning, before the day started.  I will say that the day took kind of a weird turn, not for me specifically except for spilling an entire 32 ounce glass of water on my lap at work and having very wet pants all morning, but the day wasn’t so good at all for other people I know, and I was in a funky mood all day. Seriously, Monday.  You win yet again).

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I don’t know about you, but I am STILL pretty full off of the Easter feast.  We started off Easter right at a buffet brunch with my family and we ate A LOT. Like, pancakes, prime rib, eggs Benedict, 3 little mini pies, and 3 trips through the line a lot.  Obviously I am unconcerned about Operation Anti-Jiggle.  And obviously Coach Aaron will make me regret trips 2 and 3 through the buffet this week.

Then, just a few hours later, we went to dinner at Aaron’s aunt’s house, and more food was eaten (though considerably less).  The food was wonderful!  But feeling like Violet Beauregard, the girl turned blueberry from Willy Wonka who has to be rolled around, made me realize why I can’t eat like that all the time.  Yucky doesn’t even begin to describe it.  I actually woke up today excited to eat a boring amount of healthy food.  WEIRD.

I also had a rather lucky Easter, and I’m not just talking about my Easter Basket winnings including chocolate and a bottle of mimosa (THANKS, MOM!)

Yesterday, we took Giuseppe to my parents’ house for a Puppy Easter Egg Hunt! (my mom hid doggy treats around the backyard for the puppies to find).

Both dogs knew that they were searching for something, and they played along, even if they had no idea why.

While they were running around looking for treats, I was looking through the grass, and happened upon a patch of clovers.  In my childhood, I used to find 4 leaf clovers in my parent’s yard pretty often.  I haven’t found one in years, so I figured my luck had pretty much run out.

But then yesterday, in a tiny little clover patch in the middle of the lawn, I found…a FOUR LEAF CLOVER!

If that had been the only thing to happen yesterday, it would have been a good Easter.

But better things were in store.

Last night, after rolling myself back home from my second feast of the day, I participated in #runchat, an hour long Twitter Q & A that takes place every other Sunday.  I’ve actually found a lot of new Twitter runner friends on #runchat.

Each bi-weekly #runchat has a different giveaway sponsor, and 1-3 lucky participants win a prize just for twittering along.

I NEVER win stuff like this.  Sometimes I win at the “everybody wins” drawings, but not always.

Well, thanks to the powers of Easter and my clover, I WON last night! I was selected as the winner of a Medi-Dyne RangeRoller.  I don’t know too much about the stick or Medi-Dyne.  It looks a little different than my massage stick.  We’ll have to see how it works when it arrives in the mail! But regardless, I’m just so excited that I won!

Anyway, I hope your Easter was wonderful.  It is possible that we are all in need of some serious boot camp (or maybe I was the only one who thought trying every dessert was a good idea?).  And I hope your Monday went ok.  I’ve always thought the Monday after Easter should be a holiday.   Then we could have ALL day to work off the Easter feast.  Or, you know, party like a puppy.