RRCA Certification

I'm so excited!

This May, I am signed up to nerd out for two full days for my RRCA Coaching Certification. I've been reading endurance running and training books for the last 11 years, so I'm excited to earn some official credentials! I'm also really interested to see what information melds with what I've already learned and what contradicts my current understandings and belief systems regarding training. EEEE!!!

Speaking of coaching, I still have 1-2 spots available for coaching if you are interested in chasing some big goals and dreams. Let me know if you're interested!

Weekly Reads: Crazy Rich Asians

According to my goodreads account, I originally started to read Crazy Rich Asians in September 2013, but I apparently didn't get very far. When it was optioned as a movie, I put it back on my radar, but not very high up. Then everyone was going on and on about the movie, and I knew I had to check it out before I caught the flick. Of course the hold list was super long at the library because of the success of the movie (yay books!). So I had to wait. And it was worth the wait! Mostly. I found myself devouring the book, and not being able to pick up the book. I think it would've been a good one to read on a vacation when you have long stretches of time to really get into the story, especially since there are so many characters to sort through. As it was, I had ~20-30 minutes of lunch breaks. I'm super excited to watch the movie! Pick up the book if you haven't yet.


My rating: 3.5 stars

Summary from goodreads:

When New Yorker Rachel Chu agrees to spend the summer in Singapore with her boyfriend, Nicholas Young, she envisions a humble family home and quality time with the man she hopes to marry. But Nick has failed to give his girlfriend a few key details. One, that his childhood home looks like a palace; two, that he grew up riding in more private planes than cars; and three, that he just happens to be the country’s most eligible bachelor. 

On Nick’s arm, Rachel may as well have a target on her back the second she steps off the plane, and soon, her relaxed vacation turns into an obstacle course of old money, new money, nosy relatives, and scheming social climbers.

Real Talk: Winter Running

I have been s-t-r-u-g-g-l-i-n-g through winter running so far this year. Right off the bat, I won't hit my 100 mile running goal for January. Uff. I feel like we've had a handful of nice running days, and about 27 days in which there was scary significantly below zero temps and/or terrible running conditions. I have been somewhat torn between being fine with less miles, as I gifted myself an "offseason" of sorts, and panicking about my fitness disappearing.

My plan going into this offseason the tail end of December and January was to take advantage of the nice days by running 8-10 miles, and not feeling bad about resting on terrible days. Well I've mostly held true to this (minus the night I was so excited to run 8 miles only to discover I forgot to pack a sports bra. UGH), but there have been so many atrocious days! I am hopeful that once I'm back on "the plan" I'll suck it up and not skip runs due to weather. I will also have the added benefit of likely nicer weather once February 4th rolls around (you hear that winter???). At the very least, it's easier to switch around a schedule when you have a handful of terrible winter that throws a wrench in the plan. It is significantly harder to deal with that wrench when it's a month long.

So February is just around the corner, and minus this upcoming week, (LOLZ -60, are you forking nuts?!) the few week forecast looks decent!

Weekly Reads: Check, Please

First of all, I am not a big fan of hockey. Granted I love watching the games, for free, and drinking a beer when our local team plays. Check Please! is on the list of books for consideration for the South Dakota Teen Book awards for next year. After hearing glowing reviews from my fellow librarians, I had to pick it up myself. It was so good. Originally a webcomic, the story is a good mix of hockey bro-ness, but also a sweet story of the challenging transition to college, and Bitty's coming out to his teammates, and falling for a friend. Must read!

My rating: 5 stars

Summary from Goodreads:

Helloooo, Internet Land. Bitty here!

Y’all... I might not be ready for this. I may be a former junior figure skating champion, vlogger extraordinaire, and very talented amateur pâtissier, but being a freshman on the Samwell University hockey team is a whole new challenge. It’s nothing like co-ed club hockey back in Georgia! First of all? There’s checking. And then, there is Jack—our very attractive but moody captain.

A collection of the first half of the megapopular webcomic series of the same name, Check, Please!: #Hockey is the first book of a hilarious and stirring two-volume coming-of-age story about hockey, bros, and trying to find yourself during the best four years of your life.

Weekly Reads: Hey, Kiddo

Jarrett Krosoczka's Hey, Kiddo kept popping up on my radar leading up to the Printz award. The Printz is awarded to the most outstanding book for teens published during the previous year. I don't read a lot of graphic novels, but I picked it up anyway! It was outstanding. It dealt with such tough subject matter. It is a memoir in graphic novel form, and it is a must-read!

My rating: 5 stars

Summary from goodreads:

Hey, Kiddo is the graphic memoir of author-illustrator Jarrett J. Krosoczka. Raised by his colorful grandparents, who adopted him because his mother was an incarcerated heroin addict, Krosoczka didn't know his father's name until he saw his birth certificate when registering for a school ski trip. Hey, Kiddotraces Krosoczka's search for his father, his difficult interactions with his mother, his day-to-day life with his grandparents, and his path to becoming an artist. 

To date, nearly one million people have viewed Krosoczka's TED Talk about his experience. Artwork from his childhood and teen years will be incorporated into the original illustrations for the book.

2019 Coaching Goal Accomplished

I'm super excited to be crossing off one of my 2019 goals already:

Coaching 5 runners toward their running goals.

I just added my 5th runner to my schedule and I'm so excited. The runners I'm coaching are all so vastly different and it has been such a joy to customize a training cycle specifically or them, to fit their daily lives and make them a stronger runner.

I've gotten in a nice pattern where I've been adding new runners about every 3-4 weeks. I seem to get into a nice rhythm with my new runners in about 3-4 weeks, figuring out what works well, laying out a communication strategy that works best, and just getting to work!

If you have spring goals races, or a big fall goal and want to talk about some base building to hit your goals, let me know!

For more information about coaching check out this page on the 605 Running Co. website.

Current Obsessions: The Bachelor

So I'm approximately 17 years late to the game, but I am watching my first season of The bachelor. I watched The Bachelorette this past summer for the first time. I had my BRF living with me for a few weeks and I thought it'd be such a blast to experience it together, as I think that's how these trashy reality shows are supposed to be watched. And then she moved away, so I was stuck watching it solo.

And I fell in love with Colton.

And then he was announced as the new bachelor. Yes please!

I was counting down to the new season. And then was super annoyed when it was the same night and time as the National Championship (#rolltide). I had to record The Bachelor to watch the game live, and once the game was very obviously over, sigh, I switched over to Colton.

Beefy football player with dimples?? College Jeri is in lust.

Who wants to come hang out on Mondays with me?!? I'll provide the wine. Or sparkling water. Something sparkling.