Green Mountain Runner

As a runner and apart of the running community words cannot express my feelings towards the events that transpired today. Like September 11, 2001 will forever be etched in my mind and heart April 15, 2013 will too. Praying for those in Boston right now. Cannot watch anymore news coverage. It’s all just too sad.

I was talking to a friend earlier today about how we rotate our old running shoes out for our new pair. I tend to buy a pair, run in them for at least 100 miles and then I buy another pair of a differnet version but the same brand. I switch between the Mizuno wave riders and the Mizuno Elixers – these shoes are nothing a like and the people at the running store think I ridiculous.

These were my first Wave Elixers. I loved them.

Then I moved onto the Mizuno Wave Riders after the Elixers. These also worked for me. Sad to retire these bad boys. We had some great times!

Now onto these, the Elixer 7s. The 25 miles I have on them felt amazing

These will be my next shoes, the Wave Rider 16s. Super pumped to try out a run in these as they are a re-design

I will wear the new pair for short runs, less than 4 miles a few times a month, until my old pair reaches the mature age of 250-300+ miles and are ready for retirement. I then, start to wear my new ones solely, that are already perfectly broken in so I dont’ have to scale back on mileage ever. I think its a genius plan. I guess some people just buy shoes when they need them and only wear the one pair until they retire them? Is this common? How do you buy your running shoes? Am I insane? Like, more so then we already know?

So I think it is safe to say that my love for running is back and better than ever. This month I have already gone over 100 miles and the month isn’t over yet. The last time that happened was May and I had trained for the marathon and 26.2 of those miles were the marathon.

I am killing it in March!

I think the most important part of finding my running groove is running some amazing miles with some amazing people. I have run numerous times with both Danielle and Chris. I have also met up with a couple of girls from high school and have reconnected over running. I also have been logging some miles by myself. Well, not really by myself entirely. I have been running with my favorite partner in crime, Sirius Wiki.

Like any newly acquired love, or reconnected love, I want to make sure it isn’t scared away by me being too much, too soon. So all the races I have lined up for this spring/summer I am putting no time cap on any of them. I am running the miles to run. I feel like putting so much pressure on myself to race, and ultimately feeling defeated, turns my passion into some really dark. I just am not ready to do that again. I am getting older and wiser! However, I do love to lace up, and put my Oiselle singlet on so I did sign up for several races.

Here is what my spring and summer are looking like:

April 13th – Unplugged 1/2
May 26th – Key Bank City Marathon (2 person relay)
July 7th – Mad Marathon (1/2)
July 14th – Stowe 8 Miler
July 28th – Essex 1/2
August 17th – Vermont 100 on 100 Relay (will be running with Danielle and Chris on team J’adore Hardcore)

So that’s where I am at. I am sure I will sign up for some more races, I am itching to do a Rock ‘n’ Roll 1/2 and there is one in Montreal and Providence, RI so I am sure one of those will make an appearance on my racing schedule.

This week was a better week to weigh in:
Total weight – Down 1.4lbs
BF weight – Down 1.2lbs
BF % – Down -.7%

I’ll take it!

I also still on point for the running everyday in March Challenge. I ended this weekend with 27 miles. Which is a high for me in a LONG time! I feel as though my love affair with running is back in full speed (pun totally intended). I am really enjoying the outdoor running even if it is still winter (projected to get 6-18″ starting tonight) Late winter running is my favorite time to ramp up the mileage and get me ready for spring and summer races. Also having some great groups of people to run with helps to get out of bed and going in the morning!

Don’t worry, I am not all of a sudden a college basketball nut. However, I am having my own sort of March Madness going on here. With the run at least 1 mile every day in March challenge, and the 15b430 challenge I have been going balls to the wall fat to the…you get what I’m trying to say. I’ve been busy!

This weekend I did two longer runs. One seven miler with Chris and then on Sunday I did a 10 mile run with Danielle and two girls that I went to High School with. It was a lot of fun to have two group runs, get miles in and have two days where I knew I got the miles I needed in for not only the challenge but for the Unplugged 1/2 that is coming up April 13th.

Tomorrow is my weigh in for my 15b430 and I am a little nervous. I have eaten much healthier than usual, stayed away from sweets (cadbury mini eggs, you need to stay screaming at me through the fridge. It is RUDE) and have amped up my workouts. I am hoping for some good BF% drop but I am not going to psych myself up too much. I don’t want to feel defeated and get into a bad place mentally. This is a fun challenge that I need to keep fun. I earned $7.00 for the challenge last week by hitting goals so that is what counts and this is a marathon, not a sprint. Let’s see if I remember all that tomorrow morning when I weigh in. Side Note: I now know what the Biggest Loser contestants feel like! NERVOUS

Hope everyone had a great weekend. It was absolutely beautiful this past weekend in Vermont. I fear I may have gotten slightly spoiled with the sunshine and amazing weather. Spring is definitely in the air and around the corner. I am ready! I love fall and spring sooo much. Definitely my favorite times to run.