Running Librarian

A new personal best at the half marathon yesterday! 2:14:53. Epic snacking and napping ensued afterwards for the rest of the day. Success!

Sunday’s run was a struggle. Total exhaustion. Mile 3 - passed my boyfriend, who began before me, on his first stretch back… we waved. How sweet. Mile six - wow, I still feel great! *sips water* Mile 9 - when will it end!?! *chugs water* Mile 10 - I plopped my butt on the ground and ate a chocolate chip cookie which i wisely packed in my camelback. *Chugs water* Total time down maybe 2.5 mins. Mile 10.25 - really glad I had started running again as I passed the BF… didn’t want him to see me slacking nor get ideas about my cookie. Mile 13.1 - sat down again but this time took my shoes off and propped my feet up on a bridge ledge. Total time down maybe 5 mins. Mile 13-16 - run/walk to the finish where I downed a Mike’s lemonade at a conveniently located establishment right off the trail. The BF was already there looking as wrecked as I felt. I don’t usually stop on runs nor do the run/walk thing but today it’s what I needed. I wanted to go 16 miles but I also wanted to have fun and not be hurting afterwards. Mission accomplished. But was I ever wiped.

Inspiration from an unlikely source on my long run.

Ran 13.1 miles before run/walking to 16 miles. Nap in the car definitely needed.

I could salt my own fries after today's run.

Six miles last night and a lot of sweat and lightning.

Shooting for 5 days of running. Last night's run makes 3 in a row.

Well hello there new shoes.

Squeaked one more run in for the month of April last night for a total of 23.69 miles for the month. I'm definitely feeling stronger now than at the end of March. My back/hip issues from last fall are steady. It's there but not getting worse with running and is way better overall. Its a busy weekend. Farmer's Market begins (a big to-do around here), play this evening, dancing tonight, market in the morning, concert at night, dog race/ fundraiser Sunday morning. And I volunteered to make the BF dinner on Sunday. My car needs TLC. Laundry Mountain grows angrily. Hopefully I'll find time to run. And sleep cuz I like sleep a lot. It's a good thing I own a cat.

Post 8 mile run selfie from yesterday. At 74 degrees and full sun I was struggling out there. But I thought to myself, there is no satisfaction without first some struggle.

Not a whole lot of running so far this month. But they've been purposeful runs and I'm happy with my progress building my strength back up. And the point of this running thing is for me to be happy so I've got that going for me. :)

I have a cold and have been sleeping massive amounts of hours. I wake up and just want to roll back over into my feather pillow. I've also been craving a real meal. Good solid food. So this is what I concocted: -red onion and mushrooms sautéed in olive oil -pork chop pan seared w olive oil, salt and pepper. This is so simple but so yummy. - a few pieces of french bread lightly pan toasted -potato wedges... only the 2nd time I can ever remember buying frozen potatoes of any sort. Yeah, they were good. -avocados and cilantro for guac. -bagel ships -OJ -blue moon So delicious. I may still have a cold but I'm not hungry.

I'm just an average person who took it into her head the idea to do something above average and so far this trait has generally served me well. Des Moines Marathon 2016: I'm training for you.

My last run (4 miles) was Dec. 28th. It was fun. But i can't shake this pain in my lower back/hip/butt area. It's not intense at any given moment but every time I run it gets aggravated. So, no running for me during the long dark cold of January. I miss it already. Running is my stress reliever. If I'm tense, I run. If I'm feeling down, I run. And now I've no excuse to listen to music for hours. It makes me sad. On the up swing, I've finished 4 books this year.

It was a good day. :)

Yesterday's run at a comfy 36 deg F. Feeling a little sore today in the hip/butt area but not bad. Book club in the afternoon covering half The Night Circus. Dinner date in the evening w yummy pizza and a nice man. Full day. :)

After yesterday's COLD run I did a bit of stretching. Haven't done the splits since I was 17... and that's been well over a decade. (Yes, I look young for my age.) And I've never been able to do it in this position... always one leg in front and back.