2 Runs and a Saucony Surprise!

I'm a day behind on my blogging ... again. Oops. Even with my compulsive list-making and organizing, things still get left in the dust. Oh well. At least now I can cover both yesterday AND today's runs. Yep, you read that right. I ran 2 DAYS IN A ROW.

Yesterday's plan was a 4 mile run with 2 miles at "tempo". My stomach was doing much better, thank goodness, but my knee was aching when I woke up so I was a little concerned about that. I decided I was going to take the first 2 miles easy (somewhere in the low 12/ high 11 minute range) and see how everything felt. If my knee felt good at the end of mile 2, I was going to run my tempo miles in the mid- to high 10s. Well, once again, my knee felt better the longer I ran. Weird. Anyway, I knew I'd be turning a corner right around the end of the 2nd mile so I went for it once I made the turn. I didn't look at my Garmin once I kicked up the pace. I tried to use the third mile to let my body get used to the faster pace and then pushed it in the 4th mile. Considering I started slow to be nice to my knee, I was pleased with my pace.

I hadn't planned on running today. I usually don't run 2 days in a row because the last time I did, my shin splints got so gnarly I had to take a very painful week off completely just to be able to walk without pain (stupid treadmill). But, when my friend Liz called and said she wanted to go to Second Sole's group run tonight, I relented. But, in full disclosure, her husband (who I'm actually better friends with) called me about an hour before I would have to leave and practically begged me to go with her. Poor Mikey. *giggle*snort*giggle* He married someone who's just as active as him and now he can't get a day off. Just imagine me sitting here rolling off my chair laughing. No joke.

Anyway, I went. There's a great little 3 mile loop in Levis Commons (where Second Sole Toledo is located) that Second Sole uses for weekly group runs and the occasional race. It loops through the commercial, industrial, and residential parts of the development, which kept the run interesting. And there was JUST enough light between the occasional street lamp and the ambient glow from all the buildings that I never felt like I couldn't see. Like I expected as soon as she asked me to go, Liz took off and left me in the dust before we even reached the first mile marker (we both knew she was going to do this, so WHY couldn't she go on her own? Believe me, I thought about this while I was running). I didn't have my iPod with me, so I got to enjoy the quiet and focus on my form. A couple people had their dogs with them, too, so that was pretty entertaining.

The one thing I didn't mention so far is that Saucony and Second Sole were doing a raffle for 2 jackets tonight. Saucony is sponsoring this month's group runs so they have fun stuff going on every Thursday. Back to tonight, by the time I got back to the store, Liz was standing outside the doors with a $#itty grin on her face. When I asked her what the face was for, her only response was to giggle "You can thank me any time now" and drag me by the shirt sleeve to the back of the store where they had the jacket winners posted.

Saucony Nomad jacket

Want to guess who the winner of the Saucony Nomad jacket in ViZiPRO Orange was? THIS GIRL, RIGHT HERE. I was just a bit in shock and may or may not have told Liz I would slap the $#!@ out of her if she somehow was pranking me. The Saucony rep overheard the whole this and thought is was hilarious for some reason. He went over to the rack and grabbed a couple sizes and we got me fitted and happy in no time at all. I LOVE it. If I wasn't so strict about not running the day before a long run, I'd be jumping into my running shoes first thing in the morning and heading out to test this baby out. Lol. I very nearly smacked Liz as we were pulling out of Levis because she was still gloating over talking me into coming tonight. She even called Mikey and put him on speakerphone and told HIM all about it while I was driving. Yea, I'm never going to live this down. It's going to come up EVERY time she's in town and I say I don't want to go out and do something. Lol. If stuff like this happens every time I go out with Liz, then I'm ok with it.

A VERY excited Jess! :D

Something I just realized ... weird ... I have a habit of painting just ONE of my fingernails a fun color. It's a bit of an inside joke between myself and some of my former classmates. If you can't see it in the picture above, my left thumb nail is currently painted an awesome shade of orange. Here I was thinking I was just being clever covering up the fact that my nail was turning orange from peeling oranges the last 2 weeks (I always use that nail for peeling oranges for some reason). :)

Alright. I ran to the tv to turn on Vampire Diaries as soon as I got home (and then Grey's ... and then Private Practice) and now I'm STARVING. I don't want to cook anything since the parental units have already gone to bed, but there are some hard-boiled eggs, oranges (hehe), and Trix cereal calling my name. G'night. :)

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Today, I'm appreciating my friends. Mainly Mikey and Liz. Both are very good at pushing me into deciding if I really DON'T want to do something or if I'm just being lazy.

And I'm appreciating my mind and imagination. I could have been upset that Liz ran ahead of me, in the dark and sans-iPod, but I chose to keep positive and find other ways to keep myself entertained and engaged during the run. And it turned out to be a pretty great night.