August Recap

Hey-o! August is *almost* in the books. Of course that means that it is time to recap another month of running and randomness. We are (slowly) making our way closer to fall!

Month Recap: August 2017

The Running

Let’s just put it out there, running in August is ROUGH. I think we all feel like we should be acclimated to the heat at this point, but even if you are in great shape and are as acclimated as you can be, that likely still doesn’t mean that you will miraculously be able to run the same paces that you would in cooler, drier conditions. I know it will get better. It might take it another month or so, but it will.

Workouts: I planned my summer training schedule to end the second week of August and then I planned a couple of “down weeks,” which basically meant that I ran when I wanted to (or not!), without being tied to a training plan. In fact, my only workout of the month was this week (the last week of August).

10 miles: 5 easy (8:31) + 5 brisk (6:50)

Favorite workout: I reckon this goes to the [uncontested] 10 miler with the first 5 easy followed by the next 5 at a brisk pace. I really did enjoy this workout though (especially after 4 weeks without any workouts). We found a great 10 mile route for this run that (for the most part) allowed us to get the hills out of the way during the easy miles and that was nice and flat for the brisk miles. The Daniels (husband Daniel and Young Daniel) joined me for this workout, which made it so. much. better. I am very needy when it comes to workouts and I always prefer to have friends.

Races: I did a 5K and a 2 mile race in August. You can check out those recaps below if you feel so inclined.

Race Recap: Crime Prevention 5K

Race Recap: Chickasabogue Park 2 Miler

Favorite Race: I enjoyed both of the races, but I’m going to go with the Chickasabogue Park 2 miler as my favorite. I do lots of 5Ks each year, but usually only one 2 miler. I’m digging the “odd” (not literally) distances lately.

Paces: My paces ranged from 5:44 (during the 2 mile race) to 11:21 (with Brooks).

Total miles: 274

Distances: My shortest run was 3 miles (done one day on my lunch break (I really just wanted to see if that was possible)) and my longest run was 18 miles (as part 1 of the birthday run).

Strength work: I’m officially committing myself to 10 to 20 minutes of a combination of strength work and stretching per day. I said it on the internet, so surely it will happen.

The Other Stuff

This portion of the post is just your typical A to Z list of random thing I am currently …

Anticipating: I want to say fall, but I know that is just a pat answer and let’s face it, we will not be seeing any glimpses of fall here in Lower Alabama for quite some time. I’m definitely looking forward to an extra day off work with the Labor Day holiday next week, so let’s go with that.

Buying: pop sockets. Random, but I had really been wanting a pop socket for my phone and while you can likely pick one of those up pretty much anywhere, I decided to make my purchase on Amazon. I did the purchase on my phone and I guess wasn’t paying as much attention to the actual details of what I was doing. Turns out that I purchased a pack of 9 pop sockets (for $9.99) AND it shipped from China, so my order that was placed August 7th has still not been delivered. I hate to say it, but this is not the fist time that I have unknowingly placed an Amazon order from overseas. Sad. Patience is not my virtue and the waiting kills me.

Considering: that the whole pop socket debacle would’ve been better placed under the anticipating category.

Discovering: Oprah’s podcast, SuperSoul Conversations. Very insightful.

Enjoying: a cup of hot lemon water. I’ve replaced one of my morning cups of coffee with hot lemon water (I know) and I’m really enjoying it. I love all things lemon.

Feeling: very content.

Going: to hop on the treadmill here in a few minutes because it is storming big time outside.

Hoping: that this rain stops soon! At least the rain seems to have cleared out of Texas. I can’t imagine what they are going through. Definitely thinking about and praying for everyone affected by Harvey.

Inhaling: all the guacamole. If it was possible to turn into an avocado, I would’ve definitely done it by now. Oh look!

Loving: the Bitmoji app! There is seriously a Bitmoji for every emotion you could possibly experience. I could go for entire days without using words in texts.

Missing: a time when I could walk outside and not get eaten alive my mosquitoes.

Noticing: joy in the little moments. I know that I mentioned Oprah’s podcast already, but I would highly recommend checking out her episode with Sheryl Sandberg. She talks about keeping a “joy journal” and jotting down random things each day that make you happy or bring you joy. I started doing this and it’s amazing. If you are focused on finding positive things throughout the day … you find positive things throughout the day. In a world with so much negativity, we can all use a reminder to focus on the positive!

I want to share one of my joy journal moments … one morning last week I was out running with Brooks (he’s doing a mile or so a couple of days a week and I’m thinking about maybe working him up to a 5K). We were out trotting along and we passed a man out walking his dog. The guy told me that he had never seen a happier dog and that it looked like Brooks was grinning from ear to ear as we ran. Y’all. I think my heart exploded a little bit. His comment meant so much to me (and yes, I am a little obsessed with my dog).

Obsessing: perfect segue! I’m obsessed with Brooks. He has his own Instagram account now (@instabrookser). If you like puppies, you need to follow it. I’m planning to document his training. It will partially be a parody of your typical “insta runner” training and partially just serious because I am obsessed with my dog and because I take tons of pictures of him anyway.

Isn’t he the CUTEST?!

Planning: some fall races! Woo hoo! I’ve got my eye on several local races.

Questioning: when (if ever) it will actually start to feel like fall. Perhaps by mid-October? We shall see.

Reading: lots of continuing professional education materials. I managed to wait until the last week of August to even start on my CPE hours. I have to get 40 hours by September 30th, so yeah … some major procrastination went down this year. I honestly thought to myself, well maybe I should just let my license expire and then I’ll have to find a new job in a different line of work. Ha. It was a fleeting thought. I’d kick myself if I did that (and Daniel would likely kick me out of the house).

Saving: the date for the First Light Marathon!

Thinking: that this is a good time to go for it and run another marathon. I’m giving myself until October to *fully* commit to the marathon. I know that if I do it, I need to be ALL IN (in order to reach my goals).

Using: too many brain cells to finish up this list.

Visiting: Augusta for Daniel’s HALF IRONMAN RACE in just a few short weeks.

Watching: Friends for like the hundredth time. We are having the hardest time finding a show to get into!

Xeroxing: I can not think of one thing that I need to make a copy of or that I made a copy of last month. Boo.

Yearning: to make a difference.

Zeroing: Same as last month, it’s really hard to come up with an Z word, so … zeroing means “closing out” for purposes of this post and with that, we are dunzo. Whew.

Alright … your turn! Tell me something you are anticipating or planning for the month of September.