hazy, lazy days of summer

Two days in a row, you say...what gives?  Mostly I was looking at these shots I took with my iphone right at wheat harvest time, and this one made me think a lot about these kansas summer days.  This is what we see here in middle america most days in the summer: blue skies that linger forever, with a golden yellow cut wheat field below.  Time stretches on like the horizon, and every few days, the wind kicks up a giant thunderstorm; exactly what happened yesterday.

I left the house for a run at 8pm last night, determined to finish the 4 miles + 2 hills this time without walking due to the oppressive heat.  The sky was full with navy blue and grey clouds, and I knew it would rain eventually.  As I kicked it up the hills, I could feel the front line passing above me.  The temperature dropped 10+ degrees, and the wind switched to the west.  It was heavenly.  I could have run forever.  By the time I rounded the corner to my street, big, fat drops of rain were falling, and the smell of hot, wet concrete was everywhere. 

I finished my run with energy to spare, and we got 1.5 inches of rain.  Now, that is a good way to end a day.

this body

this body of mine has done me well

I ask a lot from it, and it continues to respond

I work hard to keep it strong and toned

I abuse it at times too...

tomorrow I will ask it again to work for me in a race

I am running in the KC marathon

not the whole thing, but in a relay

5 of us have been working hard and training for each of our segments

the route is a hilly one so we have added hill repeats to our weekly runs

they're really hard...but rewarding

we are all ready

we will have a blast

we will ask our bodies to again work hard for us

and for the first time in a long time, I am happy

I am happy with this body of mine

(two)milestone

Last night we reached a milestone.  Carson came with me and we ran 2 miles together.  I did have to beg him a little to go (and promise that next time he could ride his bike while I ran), but we did it...together.

He is definitely a faster runner than me (come on, he has 29 years on me) but he was sweet and waited for his mom.  His basketball coaches passed by us in their car, as well as his papo, and I could see the delight and surprise on all of their faces.  I was beaming the whole way.

I think this could be the start of something really great for us!

ps, can you tell I finally found a sunflower field to shoot?

A letter of thanks to the running gods

1. See above photo.  Thanks for the beautiful lilac blooms, and more thanks for the scent that follows me on my long runs through residential areas.
2. Thanks for introducing me to Bondi Bands.  They've saved my life...fashionably. (If you don't know about them, you hafta get over to the website and get some!)
3. Thanks for Saucony.  I've put on a lot of miles in this most recent pair of Saucony shoes.  No injuries or complaints by my feet to date.  Thanks for that!
4. See below photo.  Thanks for these hooligans.  They try hard not to complain and really cheer me on when I am putting on so many miles at the end of this training.

xo,
Amanda

runner's high

It happened again tonight...that rare event known to some as runner's high. I knew it was going to be a good run within the first few steps, but wow, it turned out to be great! The giant 1/3 mile hill early in my route didn't slow me a bit. I had to slow myself down on the downhills. My breathing was regular, not labored, and my legs were strong. I could have gone forever, but alas, it was a 3-mile night and I didn't get started until 9pm.

When I started to slow a bit, I remembered my technique (I follow Chi Running techniques) and drew my shoulders back and hips forward, and right back to speed I went. My core muscles carried my weight and and absorbed the pounding, and the music was just right tonight.

Since I haven't started formal training for THE triathlon, I have been running some and resting some and biking a little. Last week I did a 10-mile ride at the club and then got on the treadmill. My legs felt like jelly, but I ran 1/2 mile after the ride. I have to work up to 10 miles on the bike then a 2.6 mile run. Then there is the swimming...oh the swimming!

Soon you will see a new tracker on the side of the blog, when I start the official training for September's triathlon.

>>high runners, rather than runner's high, from Martinjones Flickr photostream.

Country Music on my ipod???

I am here to admit to you and all of the world that I have just finished creating a counrty music playlist on my ipod. I know, you can't even believe I would admit to something like that, but there it is! I feel better!


Now, I do a fair bit of travel by auto, and I like to listen to a variety of things while in my car. My favorite thing is a book-on-tape. About 3/4 of the time you can find me listening to something in my car that either I just can't get myself to read in print, or I am too embarassed to admit to the public that I am reading.


The other 1/4 of the time, I am listening to the radio. Yes, I do have a CD player in my car, but I've never been one to listen to whole entire CDs. AS much as I might love a certain artist, I usually only like 1 or 2 songs on the whole CD, so it is stupid for me to buy a whole CD.


I love to listen to NPR as I travel, but that often times proves difficult as my 6 and 7 year olds are always talking to me, or asking me to explain what they are talking about on the radio, and I can't concentrate, and that pisses me off, so I usually reserve that for alone time in the car.


I have a fondness in my heart for top-40 music as well. As a 30-something, I feel a need to keep up with what is going on in the world, and I think pop music often reflects what is happening "on the scene." I have many top-40 playlists on my ipod, and love them. I especialy love those that have "explicit" lyrics. For some reason hearing someone "sing" the word fuck puts a smile on my face and makes my run a little bit better.


So, here we get to the country part. You know, when you are in the car and there is just nothing good on the radio? That's when I usually turn to the country stations. In my neck of the woods, there are many, many country stations to choose from, so it is not usually a problem to tune one in. I have just recently realized something about country music: It is funny. Now, I know the old cliche' about drinking and breaking up is the typical theme in counrty music, but some of the songs out now are downright funny. I implore you to take a spin on the dial and listen for: Some Beach (a play on the son-of-a-bitch/sonbeech comment), or how about Shift Work (which is sung to make you believe he is going to say shit work)? I mean these guys are pretty funny.


So, I admit that I compiled a whole playlist of my favorite country songs of the moment. As much as I like to run, I usually want it to be over quickly, so a little country music that makes me smile and forget about the pain in my hammies for a few minutes can't be all bad, can it?

A Pleasant Surprise

So as I said earlier, I was on a work trip this past week to southeast GA. I flew into JAX and then drove up to where my work was. However, I had done a little research before I left town on where the Sephora store was in Jacksonville. I was pleased to see that they had one, but knew that it was about 1/2 hour's drive from the airport, and since I was landing Tuesday night at 7pm, I knew I would only have about 1 hour to shop.

As planned, I arrived at the St. John's Town Center around 8pm. I was in HEAVEN! First I saw the Sephora store, then the Urban Outfitters, then Anthropology. Next I spied the PF Chang's and knew what was for dinner after my 1 hour shopping spree was up. (If you are wondering why all of these things excited me so, I live in the middle of nowhere, and don't get to visit such places often). After making several purchases, including what I was looking for at Sephora, I was preparing to drive over to PF Chang's for dinner, and what did I see but a lululemon athletica store.

Now, I have heard of the gems in these stores, but I have never had the opportunity to frequent one. I was practically drooling at all of the possible purchases I could make. Now, I have to admit I am a total cheapskate. I almost never buy anything unless it is on sale, but much to my surprise, there were many items on sale from which I could choose. Here is what I purchased:

The rose colored was a whopping $14 and the other one (which I actually purchased in a kind-of maroon color) was $29. I could have spent $600 there!

The best part of all of this (and who whole reason for this post) was that as I put on the rose colored one this morning, I discovered that there are thumbholes! For any of you who are runners, you know what joy this brought me. For those of you who aren't, there are these little holes in the wrist of the shirt to pull over your thumbs to keep the sleeves from riding up under your jacket sleeves, or better yet, for me they provide just enough covering in cold weather that I don't need to wear gloves while I run.

So, I will be wearing my lululemon shirt all day today (and hoping to get a run in as well) and every time I look down at the sleeves, I will be smiling! :)

So, please, dear readers, seek out the nearest lululemon athletica store and buy away!

EDIT:

After the comment by anonymous, I have corrected my capitalization errors...thanks, anon!