([Car Chase * Explosions] on TV) + (Running on Treadmill) = ?
Hmmm…no, probably not that…but…
If you’ve ever wondered about this quintessential equation, wonder no further! The answer is a topsy turvy run, packed with excitement, lots of grabbing onto the hand rails and the occasional bout of falling off the treadmill
I had a very nice time running on the treadmill this evening! I think car chases may beat infomercials in keeping me from paying attention to the fact that I am mindlessly running in place. Two thumbs up!
My Holiday time back home in Wisconsin is about to come to an end. I fly back on the 31st and will arrive back in SF around noon. I am heading straight to the bay-area running-blogger meet up once I arrive. Can’t wait to meet all you guys! Sweet dreams everyone!
I’ve been making use of return policies a lot lately. First it was running shoes (7 pairs at once…holy embarrassing), now it’s marathons.
Yep, I decided to make an exchange of my marathon. When I picked Napa Valley, I wasn’t figuring in how little training I’d get done over the holidays. I knew I was cutting it short with training time, but I figured I could pull it off. I just got done looking up some training schedules, and it looks like I’d be pushing my luck. I hadn’t paid for Napa Valley yet, but the price goes up after New Years, so I figured I’d better make a decision quickly.
The marathon I was originally most excited about was Avenue of the Giants Marathon up in Northern Cali. That one is on May 3rd…giving me a whole 2 more months to train, and, it is $40 cheaper!!! Yippie for that! Plus I’d be doing my long runs in the spring instead of the winter, flowers blooming instead of thunder booming? I’ll take that! I just registered officially for Avenue of the Giants.
In other return policy news, I really did return 7/8 of the shoes I bought from one store, all at once - I did keep one pair, so they wouldn’t feel too ripped off. Today I bought 4 more pairs (from a different store). I think today’s purchase will be my last in Wisconsin. I have 4 more pairs waiting for me to try out in SF, so the total shoe reviews for this challenge will be 24…less than my intended 40, but a girl’s gotta have some fun too, right?
It is the 26th, time for a shoe drawing…but, the running shoe Santa is, ahem, running a little behind…well, the truth is, I left all the paper review sheets with names and email addresses back in San Francisco. So, the drawing for the winner won’t happen until I return, probably on January 1st. However, today is the cutoff, so any reviews after today will be entered for the drawing that will happen on January 26th.
Sorry dudes!
My running shoe reviewing challenge has gone well so far. I’ve done 3 days so far of 4-mile runs with different shoes every mile. It’s been a fun and silly project to keep me occupied over the Holidays I’ve also gotten a lot of insight into what a difference there is between different shoes.
Happy Holidays everyone! Go run off all those cookies I know I need to!
I’m back in Wisconsin! And guess what it did…it snowed - 10 inches! I have completely given up on running outside…it is too dang cold, and while there can be something magical about running in a snowy winter wonderland, I think I’ll pass when the snow is up to my knees.
So, I have taken to running on the treadmill.
And, I’m adding a challenge for myself: Run 4 miles per day, each mile in a different pair of shoes. Then I’ll review each pair I wear.
I’ll be running a mile in someone else’s shoes…4 times per day, for 10 days, for a grand total of 40 shoes reviewed! Yahoo! I’m pretty excited. Today was my kickoff.
I watched infomercials for the following products during my treadmill run:
~ “Hip Hop Abs” - a Hip Hop dance video that is supposed to give you perfect abs.
~ Another ab-perfecting gizmo that you strap around your stomach and it jiggles your tummy around.
~ A blanket with sleeves and a hood.
~ A best of Carol Burnett video.
My favorite was the hip hop video…there’s nothing like watching super fit people jump around to get me motivated!
And I’ll leave you with this: Imagine the look on a clerks face when you come to the counter with arms stacked with boxes of shoes you want to buy…he he!
Sleep tight bloggies…I’ll catch up on comments tomorrow!
I did my 13! It was grueling, took me 2.5 hours and I was shuffl’n along like a 90 year old man at the end - but it was also a beautiful route, the ocean looked like heaven and the trails were magical…and I really think you guys got me through it!
It suprised me how much I thought of my bloggie buddies and how it was both a comfort that ya’ll had been there, and a kick in the butt to not let ya’ll down
My other recent run of note: Saturday, 4am, drunk as a skunk. Not to mention cute little girly shoes with a little bit of a heel. 3ish miles.
Ouch!
All because me & my BF are too cheap to get a cab. And we were probably a bit irrational.
My fear that I’d write: If running 13 mile make me feel this awful, I’m afraid that I’ll DIE if I try running 26.
I joined it! Thanks to an early X-mas gift from my ‘rents (thanks mom & dad!). I went for my first run today wearing it, and it definitely was a good kick in the butt to keep myself going as fast as I could…when the pace started to edge toward 10:00 minute miles, I got my butt in gear!
All in all, I did 3.8 miles in 36.07 minutes. So, 9:47 minute miles. For the first couple miles I was going more like 8:30 - 9:00 minute miles, but I got slower at the end. It really amazed me how much harder I was working! I was huffing and puffing like crazy, nothing like my usual leisurely 4 mile runs.
I’m happy because now I’m feeling inspired to improve my time. I have no idea what a reasonable goal is for improvement…I’m thinking I’ll try to get down to a 9:00 average pace for the same course within a month or so. Is that too much? It seems reasonable to me *shrugs*. If anyone has any advice, let me know!
I’ve been working hard at improving this site and making it more shoe-shopper friendly. Last night I re-worked a ton of the coding on the templates I’m using for the shoe review pages on this site. I’ve also been super busy getting price comparisons together…ugg! Sitting and comparing shoe brands in an excel spreadsheet for hours makes me dizzy .
I borrowed another three pairs of Nike shoes from Niketown when I took the Structured Triax and Vomero back. I got two versions of the Nike Free, and a pair of Nike Lunar Trainers. I went to the gym yesterday and tried ‘em out on the treadmill…at one point I was wearing the Free 5.0 on my right foot and the Free Everyday on my left foot. Ha ha! The girl on the treadmill next to me was looking at me like I was nuts! So, in a couple days I should hopefully have some in depth analysis of those three shoes finished.
I also mapped out a 13 mile run for myself to do on either Monday or Tuesday…yao! Longest run so far
Ahhhh!!! I feel so great! I just got back from what I thought was a 10 mile run (it was actually only a little over 8). It was so much better than my last 8 miler. My knees don’t hurt at all and I was going fast and feeling good by the end of the run. I am sad to find out (thanks to mapmyrun.com) that I didn’t go as far as I thought - especially since I totally felt like I could have kept going. Oh well, there’s always a chance for another long run!
It was such a beautiful day out. Sunny, warm and a little bit of mist in the air so I could see the beams of sunlight. The trees all looked so magical
My last run was fantastic as well. I did my stadium stairs workout, which is always so intense and makes me feel wonderful afterward. It was around 5pm by the time I finished and all the high-schoolers were doing their track workouts, looking adorable. The sky was all pink and purple and it was just cool enough that when I stopped to stretch, I was steaming a little. I thought that was really funny It was kind of like floating on a cloud!
Sadly the vacation didn’t involve hanging out with any 60 year old ladies on the beach with waves lapping our toes for hours. Instead it was snowing and 20 degrees . I honestly didn’t do a whole lot of running. Bummer!
Runs I did do:
Three 4-mile runs
2 hill runs (20 minutes)
Yep, that’s it!
Now I’m back in SF, where it is 60 degrees and sunny. When I went for an 8 mile run yesterday, it hurt!!! BAD! My knees are still killing me. Before I set out on said 8-miler, I was planning on it being a 12-miler….ha ha!! That was definitely not in the cards! My knees were dying by mile 6. It really amazed me how much fitness I lost in just 2 weeks…I guess it is better to learn that lesson now than right before my marathon.
I’m scheduling a 10-miler for next Tuesday and a 12-miler for the following Tuesday…hopefully I’ll be up to it!
The California International Marathon is this Sunday (Good luck Aron!!!), and I’m going to be there with clipboards and review forms, getting runners to give reviews of their running shoes…so hopefully there will be a ton more reviews on this site soon! Yay!
I’m excited to get back to reading everyone’s blogs
So, I thought it would be fun to start doing a drawing of runners up (I don’t know how to express “runners up” without a pun!). Surprise! I picked two runners up out of the hat, and both of them will receive a surprise package.
Get ready for another drumroll!!!
~Quadrathon you’re numero 2
~x-country2 you’re numero 3
I just got home from a 4 mile run! Running in 40 degree weather? Check! I can still do that, no problemo! I made a feeble attempt at running a couple days ago. I made it a whole 1.5 miles! Ha ha! It was 25 degrees and I was wearing my standard SF style capri running pants and just a shirt and a thin fleece. My lungs were really struggling to deal with the cold and I could feel them freezing up. I turned and came home once my lungs just couldn’t take it anymore. It felt a lot better today though, and I think my body will get used to it soon.
Getting used to running in the cold is a process, and I know I can get back to being good at it, I just have to work myself up to it. It’s all just conditioning
Don’t forget to review your running shoes guys! The next drawing is on November 26th!!! I just counted and so far there are 24 reviews this month. The chances of winning are high dudes! Yahooo!!! Free Shoes!
