Tomorrow is Opening Day aka our first race of the 2017 season!

Tomorrow is our first official race of the season. I was able to run twice this week and give my legs a rest for a couple of days. On my most recent run, I was able to run sub-11:00 minute miles, which has been my fastest pace since last summer. The Old Girl was once again my best mate for running.

 Let's see if I can keep it up under race conditions tomorrow! I did meet some friends for a beer last night (Lansing's Ozone Krypton Ale--will it help?) which I don't normally do, but I figured it was 36 hours pre-race and it should be okay...

I stopped at my favorite running store to pick up our packets. I was drooling over the new Saucony shoes as well as the Mizunos. I have no idea what shoes I should actually be wearing but I sure love looking at the flashy ones!

Here's the race gear (H is running the Kids One Mile with his BFF Emma):

Mother Nature didn't like my taunting last week. Here is our Mitten weather today (freezing rain, snow, sleet, ice pellet-y mix!):

I seriously hope the weather takes a turn for the better in the AM. Nothing like slick roads to blow an Achilles!

And finally, in the spirit of the holiday, here we are.

Happy St. Patrick's Day 2017! And may the luck of the Irish be with us and all the runners in tomorrow's Run for the (Ronald McDonald) House!

Marching in like a lion for sure...what a run today!

Snowing, blowing, cold. That sums up what we woke up to today after hitting 60 degrees last week. After hardly a winter at all here in the Mitten, I shouldn't complain. But outside runs are great, if and when breaking an ankle is not a distinct possibility.

I really was not going to risk it with our race coming up soon... but... my Old Girl looked at me with those eyes when she saw me throwing my New Balances on. Next thing I know, I am rigging up her harness and pulling on my Puma running hat and gloves. And she is dancing around in her own doggy glory.

I really didn't have time for more than 20 minutes before work but I figured if I could get 20 minutes in without face planting on the icy streets or blowing an Achilles, I would be happy.

Low and behold, once I couldn't feel my hamstrings from the cold I felt pretty good. I surprised myself by finishing a full two miles with a pace of 11:31. Considering the conditions, I consider this a big win for the week. Ice crystal mascara is really attractive, isn't it?!??
Come on, Mother Nature, you can do better than that!!

Mitten Love Mondays vol. 1

I have decided that I need to share my favorite Michigan products with the world... now let's hope that shouting from the rooftops how much I love all things Mitten doesn't mean a shortage for me when I'm low on my favorite products!

This week, in honor of St. Patrick's Day, I am featuring one of  my favorite Michigan-made treats. Wooden Crate Popcorn Company makes the BEST gourmet popcorn. Ever. Seriously.

This weekend, we got our hands on two bags; one is Irish Stout, featuring beer from one of Hubs' all time favorite Michigan breweries, Shorts in Bellaire, Michigan. I have never, ever witness him try one of their beers and NOT rave about it. Ever. He loves all of their beers that much. He's visited the brewery as well and has declared it is a must-stop on the Michigan Hops Trail. Back to the popcorn! We tried to just have a tiny sample and save the rest for later, but alas, half a bag was gone in the blink of an eye. They actually poured bottles of Uncle Steve's Irish Style Stout into the caramel coating as it was cooking. Oh my GOODNESS. We did manage to save a few pieces more than 24 hours after opening the bag, but not much.

The other bag I was gifted with was their Peanut Butter & Jealous, which is peanut butter and chocolate covered caramel corn. Those who know me know my #1 food obsession is peanut butter in any and all forms. This popcorn is amazing. That's all I'm going to say for fear that next time I want a bag, my friends that make this confectionery delight will tell me they've run out.

Check out their Etsy store here:
https://www.etsy.com/shop/WoodenCratePopcornCo

You will not be sorry. They ship anywhere, but if you're in the mid-Michigan area, you can stop by Appletree Lane in Owosso and pick some up for yourself (and even sample their other flavors if you are lucky enough!). Pure Michigan deliciousness!!

Training time! Let's do this.

So. My husband has been complaining incessantly that he needs to get back into shape, that he needs to start eating well again. I agreed with the getting back into shape part; it felt like we took the winter off from running, and it showed. It's so hard to get motivated to run outside when the weather clearly suffers from psychotic episodes frequently here in the Mitten. It can't decide if it's winter, spring, summer, or all three during any given week. He hates the "dread"mill even more than I do so he's done nothing over the course of the last few months.

But what's more motivating than knowing you've signed up for a race that almost 1000 people will be at?!

Not much.

We are registered for a race that benefits our local Ronald McDonald house in just a few short weeks. Knowing this, I've been running about 2 to 2.5 miles every other day over the course of the last few weeks. My lungs aren't very forgiving yet but I'll get there. I am amazed at what foam rolling does for post-run relief. I so wish I would've had my foam roller a year ago! It definitely speeds recovery time and helps to alleviate soreness.

Here's my beloved orange friend:

The TriggerPoint Performance "The Grid" model is fabulous for legs, calves, hip flexors, glutes, even shins. If you don't have one, run (ha!) to your local sports gear store and get one. Really.

{I've also added new compression socks to my routine; more on those and my opinion on whether they are worth it next week.}

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<---Not me, but a perfect example of how I use it.

This is me, and how happy I am after rolling the crap out of my post-run sore muscles!--->





I also REALLY made him frustrated when I announced that I had also sort of kind of maybe definitely registered us for our first 10K in June.

"YOU WHAT!!!!"

"It'll be ok and we have 15 weeks to train and the route is beautiful compared to their 5K route and we can work together to up our mileage and we can start tomorrow and take H with us and it will be fun and...."

I lost him at "it'll be ok"; I'm quite sure he didn't hear much after that. I am convinced he will thank me later. Stay tuned!