running the day

Remember that time I humble bragged about my run gains? You know, those two whole minutes I knocked off my four mile runs. Feel free to call me supersonic.

Yeah, well. It turns out, you're not supposed to be racing every run you do. Who knew? Not me! 

Now, Ryan (who has been trying to convince me for months) has reiterated that I need to run slower if I want to be faster. And I want ALL the gains. It's just really hard for me. It feels like it adds hours to my runs when in truth it really doesn't. I just hate feeling slow and those 45-60 seconds I add to each mile make me feel like I'm losing my pace.

I did run slower this past week and I think I'm seeing some improvements. My average heart rate is down and I never really feel as out of breath as before. So I think I'm in the zone. The aerobic vs. anaerobic zone. I'm definitely sweating more, if that's any indication. But I know that the key to any good training is persistence. So, unfortunately, I'll keep sluggin' along.

My real motivator for running anyway is food. That and how it makes me feel, but mostly for food. And every Monday morning I get this amazing email from Smashrun. It tells me my distance total for the past week and how it compares to the week before. It shows a high level view of my runs and of course, my average pace. For now, I'm skipping right over those.

I go right for the food. Because for as much calories I burned this past week, I want to know what I could've eaten. And I don't know about you but bacon wrapped pineapple bites sound fabulous. Straight up FAB. Bacon wrapped tater tots?! TO DIE FOR.

Even better is that I can switch up the food theme. I'm leaning towards dessert but I'm sure it won't help my insatiable appetite (runger is real!). I should probably switch it to something healthy. Seafood, maybe? Vegetarian?

What would you pick? Are you on Smashrun? You can find me here. I've been using the site for about a year now and really like the whole system. It gives me highlights about my runs and puts it all in graph form. Which, naturally, makes my finance based heart go pitter patter.

On the site, I like that the badges. They keep me motivated to run. There's three different sets of them with 117 in total. So far I have 27 and I'm on track to earn another on Thursday.

Today though, today, I started a different challenge, which in a year's time will get me another badge. I'll give you a hint - I'm aiming for something of a streak...Crazy? Probably. Going to happen? I'm damn well going to try.

Until the next run, I'll see you out there.

- A. Rae

Please know that I am not sponsored by Smashrun. I pay for the pro membership out of pocket because I think it's super neat. It does have a free service, which is still really great, so if you're a runner, and not on Smashrun, you can check it out here.

what's in a mile or three thousand six hundred sixty-five

Tomorrow, the other half of me is jet setting back to the US. Heading back to start, what could very well be, his last year of grad school. He'll be an eight hour flight and six hour time difference away from me.

Home.

That magical place I'll eventually be again. The one that's just forty-nine more days away - not that I'm counting. But I will be counting down the hours until I hear his voice again. Because the radio silence when he's on the plane will be the worst part. Hours and hours of waiting, wondering, and worrying.

But I'm determined not to succumb to my very over active imagination with worse case scenarios. I'm going to keep myself busy. Starting with pictures of him.

I love you, cutie. Be safe.

- Me

adventures in beer

Trappist Beer.  Brewed by monks, playing second fiddle to a life of silence, and whose profits support the less fortunate. Taste testing along each stop, four of the elite eleven scattered in the world were our adventure for the weekend.

Until the next beerventure. Drink up, buttercup. 

-A. Rae

a pledge to the run

They say that third time's the charm. For me and running, I'd have to agree. I tried, twice before, to start running and on the third time it finally stuck.

Two years ago, that third time was just starting. I did a couch-to-5k and on my first race in November I finished with a 12:46 pace. It definitely wasn't fast but I did it. No walking, no stopping, just running.

More than a year after I started running, with over a hundred miles under my belt, I completed my first four mile run. I had been in Germany for two months and was just climbing out of my self-imposed pity party.

My pace? 12:43.

Nearly a year later, with nearly five hundred more miles in and back in Germany, I've finished yet another four mile run.

My pace? 10:43.

Now, two years into this, I couldn't be happier that I ran/walked that first mile. For each and every one of those steps, I've taken countless more. On and off the road.

So here's my pledge. To the run. No matter how far. No matter the time. I owe it to me.

Until the next runventure. Godspeed, apple seed.

- A. Rae