It’s been a big week in the running and blogging world. I’m quite impressed with my dedication to training this week (I ran over 32 miles this week plus three cross-training sessions; second highest mileage week since I started officially training again):
- Monday – open barre class (P.S. I love Local Barre)
- Tuesday – Cat Hill repeats (Even my co-worker from California came with me)
- Wednesday – short run followed by spin class (I love Work It Out spin classes)
- Thursday – group run on bridle path in Central Park
- Friday – open barre class
- Saturday – short run with Josh
- Sunday – long training run from Central Park to Prospect Park
In the world of blogging, I was excited read a blog post that my teammate, Kate wrote about using social media to help with fundraising. I connected with her about how my blog was integrated into my fundraising for last year and this year’s marathon. As I thought more about why I started blogging last year, it was clear that I didn’t start the blog (not this one) with the intention of fundraising. I started the blog with the goal of capturing memories from training and of my grandmother for myself and to share with my family and friends. I definitely think the blog helped with fundraising, which certainly is an added benefit, however, that was not the intention. Since I enjoyed writing every week so much, and I never stopped signing up for races, my blogging just continued. It definitely has morphed into more of a random brain download each week related to running, eating, shopping, and occasionally traveling, though I wish I did more of that. Since I started getting more involved in the running blogosphere, I found that I really enjoy reading about my virtual (and some real-life) friends and their adventures. If I can touch just one additional person (real-life or virtual) then I’ll feel like I accomplished something.
With that in mind, about a month ago, I submitted some responses to a couple of questions about my blog to #RunChat hoping that I would be featured in their Celebrating Running Blogs month posts. Last night, my blog was featured on their site! It is absolutely incredible to read about everyone’s story and I am truly honored to be featured in such amazing company. While running may be a selfish sport (as some runners may agree), there are a lot of inspiring stories about there.
In the land of food, I promised I would share what my overnight, no-cook refrigerator oatmeal looked like. It didn’t look very good or appetizing, perhaps it’s because I didn’t use the mason jars? I’m pretty sure I somehow botched up the 3-step recipe! Anyway, I haven’t given up on trying to find creative ways to eat oatmeal for breakfast yet. I am going to try make Chocolate Oatmeal and Cookie Dough Baked Oatmeal this week; let’s see how well I do!
Also, my toes (one in particular) suffered a lot of pain after the long run last weekend (too much information?!?!). Let’s just say Josh had to run out and buy me rubbing alcohol, bandaids, and gauze when I was on my way home. I usually lather on the Vaseline or Aquaphor on my toes before putting on my running socks, but this time, no amount of Vaseline could have saved my toes. It could have been the shoes as well, even though I’ve run three marathons in the Asics Nimbus 14s, maybe the new model has a narrower or shorter footbed? I can’t seem to find any reviews that support that theory. Regardless, Coach Ali recommended using Anti Monkey Butt (yes, what a name, huh?) on my feet. So this morning, I carefully applied it on my toes and in my socks, put on my Brooks Glycerin 10 running shoes (I’m on the verge to converting to a Brooks enthusiast), and 16+ miles later, my toes survived. With any scientific experiment, there needs to be a control, so perhaps I should have worn the same pair of shoes, but there was no way I wanted to go through that pain again. Regardless, I am impressed by the combination of the Anti Monkey Butt powder and my Brooks running shoes.
Are there are any interesting products or recipes you’ve tried recently?