The Chase

My sister sent me this text this morning. I really couldn't agree more, and had to share.

She's biased as September is her birthday month... but I love the descriptor.

Onwards. I went to bed at 8:30 PM last night and it was beautiful. What was even more beautiful was getting up at 5:30 AM on a Monday without any hesitation or sadness. 8.5 hours of sleep night was exactly what I needed, and so I hopped out of bed cranked out the short little workout below:

5 rounds

-25 situps

-12 pushups

-15 jump squats

Short, sweet, and a little bit sweaty. Good way to start off a Monday.

So was this:

Commutes to work are way better when God decides to show off.

Something peculiar happened today. I got home from work and had to crank out a quick 9 miles before an event I had later this evening. So I shoved some raspberries and two semi-healthy cookies down my throat (what?) and called it fuel. Shot out the door with no pace in mind.

So I make my way along the harbor, right, my typical week day route. The brick isn't exactly forgiving on my feet, but I enjoy the people watching and the boat watching and the hustle and bustle of the city. My Garmin and I have had a love/hate relationship lately, but this particular evening I was watching it like a hawk, trying to sit in the 7:30's.

How do I say this without sounding like an A-hole? ... In my normal, healthy body, I'm not used to getting passed by other girls. I mean it happens obviously, I'm not the fastest grape on the vine. And when it does:

following my 17 this past Saturday..

So I'm uber competitive, sue me. 

Anyways long story short, mile 7 is coming in hot and I'm feeling decent. Holding in the mid-sevens, entering into the Fells Point neighborhood. I glance back as I'm crossing a street and literally did a double-take. Another girl is on my heels.

Like on my heels, hard. 

My instant reaction to run faster. I mean obviously, if she felt the need to keep a mere arms-length distance between us, she wanted me to know that she was there right? So my inner-athlete flared up and told me I better not even allow the concept of being passed by another girl cross my mind.

If I had to guess, it looked like a chase scene. For a solid mile or so, she was right on my butt all the way through Fells as we wove in and out of pedestrians. People were probably wondering if I had mugged her, or who was pissed at who over boy problems.

I'm not exaggerating; she never let more than 10 feet between us. And we were definitely moving compared to some of the other runners who were out for a leisurely post-work run. See mile 7 for proof:

She dropped off just outside of Canton to take a different route, hence why mile 8 and 9 slowed a bit. All-in-all, I got home feeling great, semi-thrilled that another fellow-female gave me a short run for my money. Fast runner girl in the pink: I like you, let's be friends.

You love the seflies.

And now ya'll think I'm a little unstable, but hey at least I'm being honest. Quite thrilling for a Monday run.

Bedtime for me. Keith Urban has a new album out tomorrow, so I'm forecasting this Tuesday to be well above the norm.

Keep it real, cheers - 

K

Memory Foam

Two things I want to talk about; two of my favorite things actually.

Running, and food.

Yes, I have a delicious recipe to share. I know, I've been slacking in that department.

I've been slacking at life in general, but hey May will do that to ya.

I did this on Sunday, and it was super encouraging:

My Garmin was pumped to be used again. Speaking of, I tied my ribbons on it from that Boston run that I did in Baltimore, to remind myself every time that I run never to take it for granted...

I like it.

I didn't think that I had sub-8's in me yet. I haven't been running many miles at all, and this past Sunday was the first time that I decided to push the pace a little bit. I'm happy to report that the run actually was actually semi-easy... and I definitely wanted to keep going.

It got me to thinking about out bodies, and how crazy they are. Once I found my stride everything kind of fell into place.. and my legs arms and lungs were all like, Oh Yeah I remember this, we used to do this all the time. Kind of like a memory-foam type effect.

On to the food? Thought so...

Trader Joe's did it again on Sunday. I grabbed a bag of red quinoa off the shelf and happened to glance at the back of the package.

Quinoa salad? Sounded simple enough. So I found the ingredients, mixed it all up, and literally fed myself for four days. Some days I added shrimp on top for a bit more substance.

Because I'm too lazy to type this all up:

It truly was delicious and I have enjoyed it for lunch every day this week. Quinoa is high in protein so it helped me to stay full.

One last thing. My coworker made me aware of this organization last week, and it seems like a pretty great cause. Athletes Serving Athletes is based in the Baltimore area, and all about serving athletes of all shapes and sizes... and helping them reach their goals no matter what they may be. Check out their link here if you're interested....

http://www.athletesservingathletes.org/

That's all folks. Cheers to some good eats!