Lincoln Half Marathon training W11, D6. Long 10. I switched tomorrow’s long 10 and today’s easy 5 because it’s supposed to be crazy windy tomorrow and I just don’t need another failed long run.

My quads and hamstrings are so tight it’s not even funny. I just tortured myself with my foam roller. It made me scream, it hurt so bad. I’m glad no one else is home! Pain is gain, I suppose

I’m currently grilling Turkey burgers and then tonight some friends and I are going to a bar to see one of our favorite bands play for my birthday celebration! It’s a pretty perfect start to my birthday weekend!

Have a great Saturday guys!

I had a crap day. So I took it out on the pavement.

Lincoln half marathon training W11, D5 easy 5. Please note the appearance of my new shoes! They felt AMAZING!

I nearly got hit by a car and then about a mile and a half later some random dude whistled at me as I ran past him. So win-win?

Time for a quiet evening at home. It’s been a very long week.

Have a great night friends!

Wednesday Weirdness

First of all, look at my gorgeous new shoes! My old pair of Brooks Ghost 7′s had over 550 miles on them and I could feel it. So I hit up the Lincoln Running Company (my locally-owned store) for these beauties! They were on sale and I had a gift card. $87 later, they were mine. I was in and out in less than 5 minutes. Total win in my book.
Are you wondering why I’m wearing my winter coat when it’s 70+ degrees here? (That’s about 21 Degrees Celsius). Well, as usual, there’s a story behind that!
I took my shoes on a little jaunt around the block, but, as I was only about 3 houses away from my house, a man’s voice called out to me and said, “Excuse me, but do you own a red pea coat?” I stopped walking and told him that I did, and asked why he wanted to know. The man and his wife walked up to me and said that they see me in the mornings and evenings out by my car, wearing that red coat and they think that I “look stunning in it.” I blushed and told them thank you. They went on to say that with my long dark hair and pale skin, it’s a really striking combination with the bright red of the coat. Ok. Now this conversation got weird. I mean, are they going to kidnap me and keep me in their basement now or something? Also, thanks for pointing out how pale I am!!
While this weird conversation about my coat was happening this woman came up to us. She’s running for school board and wanted to put her signs in our yards. I told her it was fine after I googled her and realized I supported her. As we were walking and talking I found out she works for an organization that gives money to educational non-profits.
WHAT A COINCIDENCE!!! I WORK FOR ONE OF THOSE!! I told her I’d be calling her about sponsorship for our conference this fall! Random networking on a Wednesday night!
Today was a rest day. Tempo miles tomorrow. I’m already tired thinking about it.

Have a great one, friends!

Well, that sucked

Lincoln Half Marathon Training W11, D2. Strength 6X1M with 400 recovery.

The wheels completely fell off on this run. I don’t even know what happened to me. It was quite warm today, (72 degrees!) sunny, and a bit windy, and my quads were killing me. I know the treadmill hasn’t done me any favors in terms of strengthening my quads. Ugh. But this run was absolute crap. I’m glad tomorrow is a rest day.

I am happy to report that I did not feel scared on today’s run! Thanks for all of your concern. I really appreciate it!

Other than today’s crappy run, things are actually pretty great around here! 🙂

Hope they are for you all as well friends!!

Monday-Runday!

Easy 5 and I ran outside after work! A much better run than yesterday!
Hey two-o-nine, I finally connected my Garmin to my computer!! I’m still trying to figure out how to build my workouts in there…baby steps!
However! Please note my NEGATIVE SPLITS from my run tonight!!!
I love, love, love this running shirt. I do run this body.
This forecast is PERFECTION. I’m in my happy place. Sunshine and warm temperatures put me in such a good mood.
As I was walking home for my cool-down, I was texting Brooke and walking. I managed to a). run into a low-hanging tree branch with my ponytail, and b). barely avoided a large puddle that formed from melting snow piles. Way to go, Mel, way to go. Sheesh. I’m a klutz.
A scary moment tonight: I like to run along major streets as I’ve done too many stories on women who have gotten assaulted on Lincoln’s trails. Call me paranoid, I say I’m just being careful and going where the people are. Anyway–this truck drove next to me, quite slowly. The 2 men inside whistled at me, and made kissey noises. Normally that wouldn’t freak me out, but it felt almost aggressive. They were quite close to me (less than 5 feet away!) and were going slow enough that I could see their faces very well. My instincts kicked in and I turned the corner away from them and started running again. Not cool, dudes. Not cool at all.

Have a great week Friends!

Sunday Scenes

My Long 12 turned into a long 10.37. The wind was soul-crushing and even though I tried to do this run in 2 parts, it was still awful and cut short. Whatever, dude. I’ll get ‘em next time. The 2nd picture shows a bit of how windy it was–those flags were pretty much standing straight out the entire time.
My big brother fixed my bumper! Shaniqua (that’s my car’s name; she’s a Ford Escort) no longer looks like a Dinosaur took a bite out of her booty.
My 3 nephews decided it would be fun to all pile on Emmie (that’s me!) Those kids are the best. Combined they weigh less than I’ve lost, weight-wise, but they felt incredibly heavy. Weird how that works out, huh?
Tomorrow we are celebrating my co-worker’s 50th birthday and we’re bringing treats, so I made my famous Banana Bread.
Fun Melissa Fact: Whenever I bake, I wear an apron. I’m awesome at spilling things on myself while I’m baking. I should probably wear it while cooking too! My mom got me this apron for Christmas. It’s from Hawaii and has a cute, flouncy little skirt. I dig it.

I hope you all have a fantastic week ahead friends!!

Lincoln Half Marathon training W10, D6 easy 5. Target 12:05-12:55, actual 11:40.

It’s really hard to run slow when it is this gorgeous outside! Fantastic run, great day, happy Melissa.

I’m home for the weekend so my brother can fix the bumper on my car. There’s a lot of puppy snuggles, nephew cuddles, and family time. I need this.

Have a great weekend friends!

Stuff and fluff

I’m in week 10 of the Hanson’s Half Plan. 4 Tempo miles were run before work this morning. Nothing too exciting to report about this week’s runs except that I’m at 18/40 miles for the week.
I got a call from another sponsor this morning and they committed to $3,500, up $1k from last year. I was pretty excited, and then about 30 minutes later, the phone rang again. It was a brand new sponsor, who told me he was so excited to talk about sponsorship that he couldn’t wait to call me! He committed to at least $5000, but would like to leave his options open to adjusting that level to $10,000 as the year goes on. Um, yes please!?
So then I totaled my committed levels and I’m at $35,500/$50,000. BOOM. Feels good. Feels real good.

I’m having dinner with a college girl friend tonight. We lived next door to each other our freshman year and have been friends ever since. She has lacked some direction in her life and next month she will join the Air Force. I’m proud of her, but don’t think I could do that!
In other news, I made an effort with my appearance today and couldn’t quite put a finger on who I reminded myself of:

And then it hit me:

Minnie Freakin’ Mouse! (Minus the yellow shoes and hair bow!)

Halloween Costume ideas?!?!

Happy Friday Eve everyone!

Left: 2008, 90ish Lbs heavier. Right: Today

Sometimes, you just need a little perspective. I found some today via the photo on the left. I’m doing just fine on this whole weight-loss journey I do believe.
Evidently I just needed the Nutrition Store guy to make me feel bad about myself a few weeks ago, because as of today, I’m down 8 Pounds! I don’t think I really don’t need to lose the 20 pounds he said I do, but as I’ve documented here, I’ve been trying to lose about 10 pounds for awhile now. I’m so close to my goal, it’s awesome.
I found out on Friday that my work travel has doubled this summer! So far I’m going to Arizona in May. I hope to meet this-incredible-journey too! Then Seattle in June for 4 days, and 10 days after that I’ll head to Orlando, FL for a work conference for another 4 days. After that, it looks like I’m going to Sequoia National Park for a trip with some of the members in August for a week. I’m so freakin’ excited!

I have to run 40 miles this week. Ooof. That hurts. Oh Hanson’s and your cumulative fatigue.
I’m getting another sports massage on Wednesday. I’m hoping that this one does not put me down for the count like the one I got last month did.
My weekends are beginning to fill up again…baby showers, bridal showers, and my birthday is 2 weeks from today!!!
The time change is this weekend! I like that extra hour of sunlight in the evenings! It makes it so much easier to get outside and run.

That’s all I have for you today…Have a great day friends!

Sunday-Runday-Funday

Long 10 miler on the treadmill. This run was awesome! I was in the zone and had such a good run. I needed this to be a decent run–the past 8 or so had pretty much been crap. 10 miles on the treadmill messes with your head, but it was good today.
Walk the Moon’s “Shut up and Dance” was put on repeat for much of the last 2 miles. I know this-incredible-journey knows how perfect that song is to run to! 🙂
I love that shirt I’m wearing. That’s the outline of the state of Nebraska for those who may not know. I got it at the Lincoln Marathon Expo last year.
Then I went shopping and found the above dress on sale, regularly $75, on sale with another 60% off. I got it for $26!!! It fit so perfectly I HAD to buy it. For our conference this year, we’re having a Golden Anniversary Gala with Formal attire/black tie invited. I think this will fit the bill?
I got mail today! I am impressed with the United States Postal Service. Sunday Delivery is a thing? That’s cool. I ordered a new phone case on Friday via Amazon Prime and it arrived this afternoon. I’m a fan.
Look at those steps, baby! I earned a “Trail Badge” for my efforts of hitting 30k steps in one day.

I’m currently planted on the couch, soaking up the last moments of the weekend. Here’s to a great week ahead friends!!