National Running Day!

National Running Day was yesterday!



I celebrated by going home after work, hemming and hawing for 30 minutes and then heading out for a run. I wore a wifebeater (yessss) and planned to do between five and six miles, but then I got lost and ended up doing 7.28. I love getting lost on runs, it's ridiculously fun and such a good distraction - you almost always end up going farther than planned but it never seems like it. All in all a great running day! :)

I should have posted this yesterday, but, you know, I didn't. I was very busy reuniting with my foam-roller boyfriend and eating cheese. It's a running questionnaire of sorts that I stole from sweaty Emily. I hope you will all reblog it so I can read all of your running stories!

1) What is your favorite distance to run?
As a former track and cross country runner, I have raced a lot of really random distances. In Wisconsin, female cross country runners race 4K instead of 5K (I don't know why. This was fun when I got to college though, because people would ask what my PR was and I would be all "16:55, no big deal" and they'd be SUPER IMPRESSED because everyone else in the world runs 5Ks). In track, I ran the 800, the mile and the two-mile, along with whatever other random distances my coach needed someone for (1,000 meters, and one disastrous attempt at the 400). In my grown-up life I’ve only run 5Ks and one half-marathon, so I’m not actually sure how to answer this question (I’ll have a better answer after this year for sure!). I guess right now I’d say 5K, just because it’s quick, it’s over fast and it’s very easy to pace and gauge how you’re doing. I’m running my first 10K in two weeks and my second half-marathon, with proper training and no tumor annoyances, in July, so stay tuned! :)


2) What’s the best race you’ve ever run?
Either the cross country state championships when I was 17, or the Charlottesville Half Marathon in 2009. The half marathon was with my dad, and even though it was physically horrible for me, the course was beautiful and amazing and racing with my dad was wonderful!

3) What is your favorite running attire?
If you’ve been reading my blog for any length of time you know by now that I am a low-brow runner. When it’s hot, I adore tiny shorts and a wifebeater; when it’s cold I like running tights with long-sleeved T-shirts and earmuffs. COTTON, BABY. It's the fabric of my life.


I just found this on zazzle.com and obviously will have to buy it to run in immediately, BOOYAH

4) What is your favorite running gear?
My running watch (it’s an old-school Ironman, no GPS for me) and my RoadID bracelet. And my shoes, because you can't do anything without the shoes. (Well I guess those barefoot people can, but I can't.)

5) Biggest running accomplishment ever?
Making it to the cross county state championships my junior year of high school. I had wanted to be a runner and run cross country for years, but I was too intimidated and never actually joined the team until my junior year. My high school’s team was amazing. Before I joined, they had won state two years in a row, and the individual state champion was the captain of our team. I never thought I’d make varsity, which was fine with me because I loved cross country, instantly, and was thrilled to just be doing it at all. But I did make varsity, pretty early in the season. When we went to sectionals, which in Wisconsin is the race that decides who heads to state, we were HEAVY underdogs. During the race, I ended up passing one of my teammates right before the finish line, and after I passed her, I passed a few other runners from other teams. We ended up going to state by one point, and that one point was one of the other runners I had passed at the very end (I was the fifth runner on varsity that year, so my score was the last one to be counted). After the race, my coach pulled me aside and said, “We’re going to state because of you.” This remains one of the best days of my entire life.

6) Favorite thing to eat after a run?
I don’t get hungry for awhile after a run, but I LOVE refueling with chocolate milk. It’s cold and creamy and a little sweet and delicious, and I don’t ever feel like I have to force it down the way I do when I have to eat right after I finish a run. I highly recommend it!

If you fill this out please let me know so I can come stalk your answers! And happy day-after running day; totally better than the real thing anyway, whatever.

Accessorizing

My browser (Firefox) saves descriptions of the recent pages I've used, so now every time I type in Blogger the "currently unavailable" shows up in the box and I'm all, "UGH AGAIN?!" And then I get here and it's fine. Thanks a lot, Firefox.

I finally had a good training run yesterday :) I did 5 miles in 43 minutes and felt fantastic, except for my hamstrings, which were still tight and sore from Saturday's race. I need to buy more ice packs so I can ice multiple areas of my person at one time rather than icing one, then throwing the pack back in the freezer so I can ice a different part later, only to forget about it because I am too busy watching Family Guy on Netflix.



I decided, though, that I really do need new shoes. I decided this after carefully examining the treads, or lack thereof, on the bottom of the soles, and also by the fact that my benign leg tumor is hurting all the time lately. I don't think new shoes will actually help the tumor pain - bitch just whines in protest whenever I start training for a long race, then stops hurting when I see a doctor about it - but maybe I am wrong. Who knows. Then to warm up for the trip to the running store I went online and bought a RoadID. This one:



But in yellow, because I prefer things in obnoxious colors if I have the option. I figured a RoadID was a good idea as I run alone 99 percent of the time and have a general tendency toward falling down and getting myself into ridiculous situations. It will also come in handy if I get lost on any other race courses and pass out from rage and hunger before authorities notice I am gone/find me. You will notice there is a space on the bottom to put an inspirational quote or saying. Here were the choices I considered:

"Don't move to Virginia" - helpful advice for the medical professionals who find me
"Little Kate is a star" - song lyric I love
"Vodka and cheese, stat" - easiest way for them to revive me

In the end I went with "Just one more mile!" Since I will be wearing this thing on every run and hopefully will not be dying/falling down on most of them, I thought it would make more sense to look at something optimistic and running-related rather than to, say, ponder my hatred of the Commonwealth or get a relatively slow song stuck in my head.

I was prompted to order my RoadID by an email from Active.com with a coupon in it. The discount code is pcLevi5 and will save you 10 percent on your purchase. It's good through June 5, and every $20 you spend on the site gets you an entry to win a trip to the Tour de France. So go shop and win a trip to Paris and feel free to invite me, I hear they like cheese and wine there. And if you get one, please tell me what you put in your "motivational saying" line. (And no, RoadID didn't pay me anything to plug them, I'm just liking the bracelets. Like running jewelry! Only not.)