Interval Run

Miles today: 6.75

Miles this week: 15.95

Miles in 2010: 232.5

Today my parents came into town, partly to celebrate my belated birthday, so after work, Gregg and I both went on a run at 5:00.

Gregg met up with Brian, Danny, and Matt and I ran by myself from the Greek Church. Gregg had me do mile intervals with a mile warm-up, a fast mile, a rest mile, a fast mile, and a mile cool-down. The goal was to try to run 10 minute slow miles and 8 minute fast miles.

I started at the Greek Church, ran down the paved path through the tunnel (note: the Garmin does lose signal in the tunnel) toward downtown, and then across the bridge near Point of Honor, up to Hollins Mill and back up the hill and around to the Greek Church. My splits were 9:45/7:45/10:20/8:20/10ish. I ended up running almost 7 miles, so my last couple I just kept between a 9 and 10-minute pace. It was a really good run and I felt good even during my fast miles. It's definitely interesting feeling how my body has changed in the past two months. I feel lighter and stronger and therefore it's easier to run faster. I'm pretty psyched about what that means for this spring/summer!

After I finished up, Gregg came Usain Bolting in. He ran a fast last mile and I thought I was seeing an Olympian in person.

Afterwards, we headed to my sister's house to hang out with my parents and fam.

I love birthdays and was bummed the weekend of my actual birthday when it snowed and my parents couldn't make it to Lynchburg, so I was kind of super looking forward to their visit.

Much to my surprise, when we arrived, I had a present waiting for me...a new Chi straigtening iron! I was pretty pumped because my straightener has been on the fritz for awhile...what a super gift! Thanks mom and dad!

We ate ice cream cake leftover from my brother-in-laws birthday (yeah, I know...the sweets things didn't work so well, but I am eating less!) and hung out with my niece.

Note: My mom brought homemade spaghetti for dinner tomorrow. I can't wait!

Happy 28th Birthday to me!

Miles today: 1.1

Miles this week: 1.1

Miles in 2010: 170.8

Today was seriously the best day I've had in a long time. Here's why:

1. I woke up and went for a (short) birthday run.
2. I dried and straightened my hair for the first time in a long time.
3. I got to work and was followed by Jeff with a birthday balloon and cupcakes from Magnolia Foods (my fave)!
4. Dave, from Mizuno, came to show Jeff and I the fall 2010 footwear line. We also took a look at some apparel...and after we were done, since it was my birthday, Dave gave me a jacket and some Breath Thermo tights!
5. I had my birthday lunch at Phila Deli.
6. While eating my lunch, I checked my email on my phone and was super surprised to see an email from Saucony...telling me that I won last week's contest for my choice of a Garmin 310XT or an iPod Nano. You can guess which one I picked.
7. I went home after work and Gregg told me to get ready quickly because we were going to dinner.
8. When we pulled into La Carretta's parking lot, I was a little surprised because I thought we were going somewhere fancy and we just had Mexican last night.
9. But...to my surprise...as we walked in, I saw my good friends Sarah and Ryan, who surprised me by coming. Then, when we went to sit down, more people kept popping in...Jesse, Stacey and Drew (all the way from Roanoke!), Jeff, Tom, my sister, Meghan, my brother-in-law, Ed, and my niece, Ella...I was so surprised!
10. We ate dinner, and then I was surprised again with a big sparkly sombrero on my head and a yummy cake...and everyone sang to me.
11. Since I had such a lucky day, I wanted to play the lottery. We stopped at the Shell station on the way home, and the lotto machine was down, so I just bought a few scratch-offs...and won $20!
12. When we got home after dinner Gregg gave me a sweet birthday card and a gift certificate for a massage! Yipee!

Thank you to all my friends who made my day so special, and to Gregg, my lovey, who surprised me and cares about me so much!

Valentine's Day!

Miles today: 7.0

Miles this week: 23.2

Miles in 2010: 169.7

Today is Valentine's Day and that makes me feel pretty romantical.

I got up early to meet Austin to run from the Boonsboro Shopping Center parking lot...and I was right, the spicy chicken was haunting me once we started running.

Gregg, Brian, John, Gary, Jonathan, and Len all ran, too. Austin and I ran with them up Old Boonsboro and down Boonsboro to Peakland and then slowed down there. I still love keeping up with Gregg's guys...even if it's only for like half a mile. I always feel like a super star.

Austin and I ran down Peakland and then Rivermont to Riverside Runners and back the way we came. It took 30 minutes to get to the store and 32 minutes to get back to the parking lot where we started...so we didn't negative split, but the wind was in our faces on the way back, so I think that accounts for the two minute difference.

Anyway, we ran a total of 7 miles and it was a really good run. When I run with Austin, I'm always feeling like I have to push harder to keep up with her--it's good for me because she's a way faster runner, but I wonder why I don't push myself harder when I'm running by myself. I'll have to work on that.

After our run, Gregg made me breakfast, and then we got ready for church. While I was in the shower, he put out roses for me, and when I went downstairs to leave for church, I saw them. He's funny because he's really good at surprising me. The roses were yellow minis. So pretty!

After church, we came home and vegged out for awhile. Gregg was sleepy because he ran 17 miles yesterday. We Skyped Gregg's mom and David and then just did nothing all evening. I needed that.

My sister invited us over for funfetti cupcakes, so we grabbed some dinner at Mi Patron and then headed over there. My niece was so cute because she loves to blow out the candles, but she wanted me to do it, but then after I blew them out, she wanted a chance too, so she asked us to sing happy birthday to her too. She's so silly.

Funfetti cupcakes are delish! Gregg is my Valentine, and tomorrow is my birthday!

The Rest Day

Miles today: 1.1

Miles this week: 11.9

Miles in 2010: 158.4

I was right...I knew I'd be sore today, but I actually think it's more from the yoga than anything else. I woke up early and went for a short mile run around the block and rested my weary legs. It was supa cold and windy out this morning. Ugh. The mile around my block is not an easy one...so it's not actually an easy mile to run, but I enjoy doing it about once a week or so because I like to see how I improve on the same course...doesn't everybody?

I had a lucky day at work because we had hardly any special orders (only 4 pairs of shoes from two companies!), so that made my morning easier since I was at the store by myself for the first hour.

I also received a lovely, lovely pair of Saucony shoes in the mail from my main squeeze at Saucony, Mark Johnson, and will soon be revealing my love affair with the new shoes (unfortunately, they are not the amazing Jazz shoes above...but maybe even a little bit better!). I can't wait to share them with my readers! Woo-hoo and a big thank you to Mark and Saucony for my early birthday present...did you know I'll be TWENTY-EIGHT big ones on Monday?! WOW.

til tomorrow...