August in Review + I Heart 3 Day Weekends

August In Review

Total Miles: 143 up from 77.7 last month.  Doing, werkk!  (85.5 last August.  Also did some looking for previous Augusts, since I'm freaking about over what I'm capable of running in next Saturday's half, and this is my highest August EVER.  Which is stellar because August is always miserable weather.  WHOOP!) 

Total Time: 27:06:33 up from 14:35:30 last month.  So. Many. LSD runs.  #basebuilding

Total Runs: 18 for an average of 7.94/run.

Highest weekly mileage:  8/19-8/25 46.0 miles 8:49:40

Favorite run: I did my first tempo run in a REALLY REALLY long time on the treadmill this week.  I was scheduled for a midweek LR of 11, and I set out to do it before work.  It was 96% humidity, and I ran so slowly, and felt so crappy that I had to cut it to 8 miles in order to get home in time to get ready and go to work.  I hit the treadmill after work to make up my mileage, and decided to attempt my tempo miles.  I did 5 total, with 4 at tempo, and ALERT!  I'm not as slow as I thought I was!  (although I'm still pretty slow).  It made me excited to start the next phase of my Pfitz training that focuses more on speed now that I have a pretty solid base built up.

Most hardcore run:  I had an 18 miler last Sunday.  I got started at 6:30am to "beat the heat" and it was a "feels like 90+" for the whole last hour of the run.  This 18 miler took me longer than it takes most people to run a marathon (this may or may not be an exaggeration).  But I didn't give up or throw in the towel, so I gave myself 5 B.A. gold stars.

Favorite race: NA
Bike Miles: I intended on riding it a couple of times....
Favorite Jam:  Still rocked out to Miley quite a few times, but after the VMAs I can't listen without a visual image.  

________________

Today is day #1 of my three day weekend, and so far it has been magical.  Ollie and I have had plenty of time to snuggle.  I finished season 2 of Modern Family.  (Who has season 3 and 4 for me to borrow, plzzzz???)  I started Orange is the New Black and I'm OBSESSED.  Already 1/3 of the way done.  Big day, I KNOW.  Pug and I took a nap, since we'd had such a STRESSFUL day already.  And now we're watching the Crimson Tide ROLL all over Virginia Tech.

And I have this giant stack o' books to attend to before Tuesday.  (Ok, I clearly won't finish all of these by Tuesday, what with the binge watching of OITNB that I plan to do, but a girl can dream, right??)

Have I mentioned how much I LOVE not being in school???  ZOMG.

Spring Race Plans

Every time I get in the thick of my race training, I always start to think about "what's next."  I had tentatively planned for the Eugene Marathon next spring, but after it got switched to the summer, I was no longer interested.  I obviously don't have to decide any time soon, but I'm a big planner, so it's nice to think in advance.

Here are some of my options:

1. Oz/Garmin Marathon in Olathe, KS.  I think I have Dominique on board for doing it if I decide to, plus it's a short drive from Kyle's bestie, so I think we'd have a place to stay, plus a super fun celebratory weekend.  The drive is about 5 hours which isn't terrible.  It's the end of April so it should still be cool, but being 5 hours south of here, it could be warm, and likely humid.  Possibly windy....
2. Lincoln Marathon in Lincoln, NE.  Niki is trying to twist my arm on this one.  I could hang out and stay with her, meet her adorable TWINS, and enjoy a fairly flat marathon course.  It's the first weekend in May, so again it could be warm, humid, windy or all of the above.
3. Brookings Marathon in Brookings, SD.  Meh.  My parents, Kyle's parents, and friends could spectate which would be awesome.  Kyle (or Megan, if she's not running the full/half) could probably bike sherpa for me if I asked really sweetly.  The downside:  it's always windy.  It's a pretty small race, so parts would probably be me running alone.  And I kind of like marathons to be destination-esque, because they're still a pretty big deal to me.
4. Fargo Marathon in Fargo, ND.  The race was moved up a weekend which actually appeals to me.  The course is crazy flat, and the spectators are out of this world.  It was super fun in 2011 (despite a shitty race) because SO MANY of my runner friends did it, that I'm afraid it wouldn't be that great if no one else did it.  Perhaps I'll start campaigning now....
5. Brookings half.  Maybe I'll go the spring half marathon route?  Attempt a few halfs in the spring, but keep the higher mileage to see if that helps me knock some time off my PR?  I did really enjoy the half course in 2012.  If I went this route, I'd probably try to do a half in Mpls in March, and another in St. Cloud in April.

Where are you racing this spring?  Would you like my company??  Now's your time to campaign!! :D

Weekly Reads: First Affair

The First Affair is the most recent book written by The Nanny Diaries' authors Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Krauss.  Their books are always very light and fluffy "feel good" reads and I'm sure this one won't be any different.  This book was just released yesterday, so pick it up asap.  But let's synchronize our reading of it, so we can discuss after, mmmk?

Summary from goodreads:

Jamie McAlister has resigned herself to the fact that in this job market, her painfully expensive degree might only get her a position at Starbucks, when she suddenly lands a prestigious internship at the White House. Although she doesn’t hit it off with the other interns—lockjaws who come from so much money that ten weeks without a paycheck doesn’t faze them—she is eager to work hard and make the best of the opportunity while it lasts.

An unexpected encounter late one evening with the charismatic President Gregory Rutland seems like just a fleeting flirtation, but when he orchestrates clandestine meetings and late-night phone calls, their relationship quickly escalates. Jamie knows what she is doing is wrong: he’s married, he has kids, he’s the President. Yet each time she tries to extricate herself, Greg pulls her back in.

With the conflicted desires of the most powerful man in the world driving her to her breaking point, Jamie can’t help but divulge intimate details to those closest to her. But she must have confided in the wrong person, because she soon finds herself, and everyone she cares about, facing calculated public destruction at the hands of Greg’s political enemies, and—perhaps no matter how much he cares about her—at the hands of Greg himself.

Cabin Weekend

After work on Saturday, I finally made it out to Kyle's parents' lake cabin with the pugbear in tow to finish celebrating Kyle's birthday.  We had dinner and then it was time to go out in the pontoon for a ride.  

Kyle had to kayak out to the pontoon because something wasn't working right.  And while his dad was charging the battery, he decided to take Ollie out for a stroll.  She's wearing her Packers coat because there was a pre-season game on Saturday.  Also she looks adorable in it.  So there's that.

Ollie has been out to the cabin more than I have (dang you school), so she has a "spot" on the pontoon and it's in the driver's seat with her Grandpa!  Captain Ollie, at your service!

LOLZ U GUYZ I'M NOT EVEN WATCHING WHERE I'M GOING!!

The night wouldn't be complete without a fire pit and s'mores.   Mmmm.  I <3 smores.

Sunday morning was spent with a cup of coffee overlooking the lake.  And GORGEOUS summer weather.  Bliss.

Which segued into mid-morning book reading in the same chair overlooking the lake.  

And then Kyle coerced me in to taking the kayaks out with him for a spin.  At the last minute he decided Ollie would come with him again because I was too big of a wuss to have her in mine.  But after she kept trying to jump ship out of his kayak, we finally switched her, mid-lake.  Oy Pug.  She loved it though.

Once we got back to land, I figured we might as well find out if she could swim, so I took her for a little swimming lesson.  She can swim for about 8 seconds before she starts to sink like a brick.  Then we had the bright idea of finding an old school life jacket for her to wear since we don't have a doggie one yet.

Genius.

Cabin weekends are the best.

Current Obsessions + My Running Doesn't Suck Anymore

I think I've mentioned this before, but I have a fairly obsessive personality, as I'm guessing most endurance runners/athletes do.  I've been working with my new co-workers for about a month now, and one gal already caught on that I eat essentially the same 3-5 lunches everyday.  I'm so predictable.  Anyway, I thought it'd be fun to share some of my current obsessions.

1.  Compression socks.  Extra points if they have argyle.  Since "fixing" my running form, my calves are tight ALLOFTHETIME.  I'm foam rolling like a mother, but the compression socks help while I'm lounging around, or even the first couple of hours at work before we open to the public.

2.  Pug kisses.  This will probably never change.  Bad breath and all, I love em!

3.  Fat Tire beer.  I was obsessed with this beer when it first came to South Dakota a few years back, and have been craving it non-stop the last month or so.  I know some consider it a "bad" good beer, but I love it.

4.  5 or 6am runs.  Who would've thought this one was coming??  This summer has been pretty brutal weather wise, save for a few nice weeks, so the early morning runs were a must.  However, after getting in to an early bedtime routine, it's pretty easy to wake up before the sun, and get my miles knocked out before work.  I'm also finding I have way less tummy issues first thing in the morning, so that's a huge plus.

5.  Breyer's Heath ice cream.  I had one half gallon in my freezer on Friday.  I no longer have that half gallon in my freezer on Sunday afternoon.  You do the math.

6.  Modern Family.  #obsessed  I don't know why this didn't get added to my TV watching schedule a few years back, but I'm kind of glad that it didn't because I'm tearing through the seasons one after another.

7.  Ice cold showers.  There was a particularly steamy long run last week that ended in a freezing cold shower, and my pleasurable outbursts were so frequent that Kyle came in to the bathroom to make sure I was alone in there.  True story.

8.  Watermelon.  There have been runs that the only thing that has gotten me to put one foot in front of the other is the promise of super cold, juicy watermelon waiting for me.  God I love watermelon.

9.  Audiobooks.  Sometimes.  I enjoy listening to audiobooks while I'm driving because I feel like I'm accomplishing something other than just getting from point A to point B.  But man there are some terrible narrators out there.  So I've learned to not be afraid to give the audiobook the ol' heave-ho if necessary and pick up the book copy instead.

10.  Coffee mugs.  I haven't drank black coffee in months (insert tears here).  Oh wait!  I did have a few sips of it on Friday morning!  My poor tummy seems to revolt from black coffee, or perhaps it's drinking the black coffee on an empty stomach that is doing the trick.  Either way, my beautiful coffee mug collection has been sitting in the cupboard, sadly waiting for me to come back to it.  I do have some more mug designs to do as soon as I get my hands on some plain coffee mugs.

And now for what I'd like to call, "Stop trying to make ______ happen."

Stop trying to make pumpkin beer happin, Jerbear.

I love pumpkin.  I LOVE beer.  I keep trying every breweries take on the pumpbeer, and I just end up disappointed every time.  Just drink your PSLs, and your Fat Tires, and come to grip that these two items will not co-exist in one beverage for you.

(Ok, with that being said, if you DO have the magical pumpkin/beer combo that will cause me to retract this statement, I'd totally be on board.  My dream pumpkin beer would be a stout with a hint of pumpkin and spices, but I'm guessing that either a stout is too heavy for a light pumpkin flavor to show through, or pumpkin beers are marketed at girls who tend to like to drink light fruity beers, and I'm not a light fruity girl.  Le sigh.)

Oh and in other news, I knocked out 46 miles this week, my highest weekly mileage since February 2012.  Not bad for comeback Jerbear.

Weekly Reads: The 5th Wave

 The 5th Wave was recommended to me as "a YA book about aliens, but way way better than you'd imagine a YA book about aliens would be."  Luckily the rec was coming from a co-worker who has identical YA taste as I do, so I took her word for it, but unfortunately the hold list was a bazillion people long, so I've waited and WAITED to get my hands on the book, but am now finally diving in!

I'm about 40 pages in so far, and I'm already obsessed.  I'm not the hugest paranormal fan, but if a writer is capable of making me believe this *could* happen, you better believe I'm on board!  I wish I could take the day off to read this puppy non-stop.

The summary from goodreads:

The Passage meets Ender’s Game in an epic new series from award-winning author Rick Yancey.

After the 1st wave, only darkness remains. After the 2nd, only the lucky escape. And after the 3rd, only the unlucky survive. After the 4th wave, only one rule applies: trust no one.

Now, it’s the dawn of the 5th wave, and on a lonely stretch of highway, Cassie runs from Them. The beings who only look human, who roam the countryside killing anyone they see. Who have scattered Earth’s last survivors. To stay alone is to stay alive, Cassie believes, until she meets Evan Walker. Beguiling and mysterious, Evan Walker may be Cassie’s only hope for rescuing her brother—or even saving herself. But Cassie must choose: between trust and despair, between defiance and surrender, between life and death. To give up or to get up.

Happy Birthday KK!

As I was running this weekend, I was reminded that Kyle's birthday was coming up on the 16th.  I had to stop and think for a minute about how old he was turning.  28.  28!!  When did he get so old??  He still seems like he's 24-25 to me.  And then that reminded me how old I was, and I quickly moved on from that thought.  :)

Happy birthday to Ollie's second favorite person in the whole wide world.

Happy birthday to the best pug dad a person (and pug) could ever ask for (even if you were vehemently against owning a pug for the first year or so we were together).

Happy birthday to the strongest guy I've ever met.

Happy birthday to the best fisherman in the world (next to Big Jer, of course).

Happy birthday to my best friend, insanely goofy counterpart, loudly snoring, sleep walking, sleep talking, leg twitching, bear armed love, Kyle.

Hope you catch ALL of the feeshes and get ALL of the pug kisses in your 28th year.  :)

Love you,
JBL