Fun With Music !

It's Tuesday ! I've never been a fan of Tuesday's because they always seem boring to me.  Meh, it's a good excuse to tell yourself you're still a rockstar. Hell, it gets me through the day.

Details from last night's run:
Time: 32:40.4
Distance: 3.09 mi
Avg. Pace: 10:34/mi

I started out doing 2:1 and towards the last 3/4 of a mile, my right IT band went "NOPE !" so I took it back to 1:1.  I would like to thank ice and Rock Tape for keeping me functional last night and today.  Overall not bad when it felt like a thousand degrees. This really makes me hopeful for the future and my training if I can do a 10:34 pace in this heat/humidity INCLUDING walking. Yay !

For today's post, I wanted to share my running playlist with everyone.  It really has no rhyme or reason other than they are all songs that keep me putting one foot in front of the other. After using this for about 2 weeks now, I've learned what songs are good for what part of my run and what songs I should avoid sometimes.  I'll let you in on a few of my secrets ;)

• If anyone has problems with pacing themselves right off the bat, might I suggest a little Lana for you ? It's melodic enough to get me moving but slow enough to keep me in check. 
• The band Smallpools is my current favorite band to listen to while running. They have a total of 4 songs (so far) but they're good for hills and maintaining a faster pace (2 things I definitely always need help with) or just cruising along. Two thumbs way up for these guys. 
• William Control, Misfits, The Ataris, The Cure, The Clash, Ramones, and The Romantics: These are my personal favorites for maintaining a good pace. All of these have a very prominent beat for me so it's easy for me to fall in line and keep one foot in front of the other.
• Everyone loves hills ! My go to songs for hills:
•  "She is Beautiful" by Andrew W.K.
• "Never Wanted to Dance" by Mindless Self Indulgence
• "This Is The New Shit" by Marilyn Manson 
• "Shipping up to Boston" by Dropkick Murphys.
• [Contrary to what I originally thought "The Beautiful People" by Manson does NOT fall in this category. I found this out the hard way when trying to push up a hill while this song was playing.  Amazing for downhill - not up. Remember that kids.]
• I have a few in here that I consider my "pump me back up" songs. These songs come in handy when I need to start running again after I took a walk break, or I feel like I can't push myself anymore. They're my "You Go Girl !" songs:
• "Sissy That Walk" by RuPaul
• "Burn" by Ellie Goulding
• "Shatter Me" by Lindsey Stirling (Ft. Lzzy Hale)
• "Can't Hold Us" by Pentatonix
• "The Monster" by Eminem & Rhianna
• The rest of the songs on the list are ones that fall into one of these categories but usually are just in there because the beat works and it keeps me moving. I don't love them any less !

What are some of your favorite songs to run to ?! This is an absolutely judge free zone so share away in the comments ! And so you don't have to go track down each song on youtube:





Thanks for reading !

Feelin' hot, hot, HOT !

My apologies for getting this up later in the day than normal, but this morning was just NOT my morning. There was a lot of sitting and staring when I got to work due to lack of caffeine.

After a quick trip to the coffee shop on lunch, I'm slightly more human now and ready to update away !

Details from the run last night:

Distance: 3.1 Miles
Time: 32:34.8
Avg Pace: 10:31/mi

I'm actually thrilled about that time for that distance because in case you've been oblivious to the weather or don't know what the weather's like in NC: IT'S HOT !  Please don't get me wrong, I love the hot weather and will always take summer over winter.  But I think because I did most of my running in the cooler temps and basically just awful weather (my first long run ever was 2 days after it snowed and there was slush and ice and it was raining the whole time) my body doesn't know what to do.

I digress.  Before I went out, Brian suggested that I do 5:1 - five minutes running to one minute walking. That was probably the best idea I've heard in my life. It really helped me focus on my breathing because I was able to recoup for a minute in case anything got out of whack.  At times it was a battle between what I knew I could push my body to do versus what it wanted to do.

I did learn that in the hotter months, I'm bringing a water bottle no matter how long I'm running.  After about 2.5 miles, breathing got really difficult and when I got back to Hibernian I felt really dizzy.  Nothing too extreme thankfully and after 2 glasses of water, I was fine.  Yay for not dying ! Even though I felt like I was moving so slowly the whole time, to see that I averaged 10:31 (that included walking) AND in that heat/humidity, I'm chalking up last night's run to a big win.

Unfortunately I don't have a review of the Ascis shoes because I didn't get to run in them.  I put them on when I got back from the run and jogged around the parking lot (once I recovered obviously) and I just wasn't really feeling them.  I did score a free pair of socks so that was a major bonus ! I don't have nearly enough socks. It's a problem.

This morning I hung out with these guys:

My IT band on both legs are giving me some sass today but some stretching and rolling and they're behaving a little bit better for me thankfully.

The plan is to head to the track tonight.  I'm a little nervous because I've never been and I have no idea what to expect.  I've been avoiding it for a really long time because I've never done a track workout before and I have no idea what to expect and REALLY don't want to look stupid. But friends have been telling me it will help and I need to trust them.  It's an interesting mix of emotions.

Here's to trying new things :)

Thanks for reading !

OMG Shoes.

Contrary to the title of this post, I'm not obsessed with shoes. I live in flip flops or my boots and honestly prefer to be barefoot if I can help it. I'm also NOT a running shoe connoisseur, so this is not a highly scientific or fact based review post.  However, amazing people like Meghan really know their stuff !  Go say hi and check out her really in-depth shoe comparison post here !

I've owned 2 pairs of running shoes: Mizuno Sayonara and currently Saucony Guide 7's.  I've ran a few miles in a pair of hot pink Brooks Transcend which were great, although a little heavy.  Even with my Guide 7's, I had to run a few miles in them before I got used to the weight.  My next purchase was going to be the Mizuno Inspire because the upper was similar to my Sayonara's; I could have that light and airy feeling, while still getting the support I needed. I had almost resigned myself to the idea that being a stability/support shoe (what's the "correct" terminology now ?) meant that I was going to end up with a heavier shoe.  Thank you Adidas for proving me wrong.

I mentioned in yesterday's post that Amy from Adidas would be coming out for a wear test.  She did NOT disappoint ! She brought the Boost Sequence (men's and women's), Energy Boost (women's), and Glide Boost (men's). 

Very rarely do I ever get to try shoes out on wear test nights because my itty bitty weeble nugget feet at a 6/6.5 don't get much love. So I was very excited last night when Amy remembered and handed me a pair of 6's.

I got to try out the new boost sequence:

We did a quick out and back down Longstreet Dr. and ended up on the greenway for a little bit, 2 miles total.  Originally I had planned on posting stats from my run and talking about the run itself but this turned out to be an awesome fun run which is just what the doctor ordered.  I especially loved catching up with Amy about her puppies and on her recommendation will probably be trying hot yoga (anyone want to join me ?!)

I can report that I have a new favorite pair of shoes.  They were super light and I didn't have to "break them in" at all.  When all was said and done, everything was awesome and nothing hurt ! Which means I have only one thing to say to Adidas:

Today will be probably be an off day for me. Which mostly means grabbing my book and reading at the coffee shop tonight.

To those of you that have come over from other blogs (Alyssa's in particular) WELCOME ! Thank you for your comments and for reading and you make my heart happy ! Feel free to leave advice, questions, or just straight up love in my comments. I love you all (even if we just met).

Thanks for reading !

Thoughts While Running

My brain never really shuts off. It's always going, going, going, and running has helped tremendously.  I have the option of really being alone with my thoughts without any interruptions OR I can use the time to really focus on my running so that I can at least quiet the shouting in my head momentarily.  I came across this list today on Buzzfeed and couldn't stop laughing.  This is verbatim, a conversation I've had with myself at least once in the past month (including tonight because I read it before Hibernian). If I could add one thing to the list though, it would be this:

Because at one point or another we've all thought it.

The results of tonight's run are *drumroll*:

Distance: 3.1 mi
Time: 32:36
Avg. Pace: 10:31/mi

I'll post details tomorrow. Now I'm going to enjoy some dinner at Hibernian. An extra special thanks to Brian for running with me tonight !