Friday Mishmash

Thank you for all the great comments on Monday's post - my head is so big from the compliments that it barely fits in this blog! Couple of funny notes: I had lunch with my former trainer, Linda, on Wednesday, and right away she said "we go to the same dentist - I recognized the description!" - and she was right! It's a small, small town. Oh, and I had no cavities, but that tooth that has been hurting on occasion when I bite on something hard? Yeah, it's cracked. So apparently I will become royalty soon - Miss Cracked Molar #19 - complete with a crown. Not the title I was looking for, but oh well.

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Remember a couple of Fridays ago, when I posted this picture of Kip Mae Mobley sleeping in the backyard:
Well, after the rains of Hermine, the same spot was a lovely birdbath for a few days:
I still marvel at how my backyard can change so drastically...but that's Texas weather for you!

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I may have whined mentioned on here a few dozen times how hard it is for me to run by myself. This week I did a 30-minute run solo, and then Jenny and I did a 35-minute run together, but I still had one more 30-minute run to get in...so on a whim I asked my California running buddy, Matt, if he wanted to run "with" me - and he agreed! It was a lot easier on me, as we ran at 8:15 a.m. MY time...which meant 6:15 a.m. for him, or as he texted, "what the hell am I doing? It's still dark!" - but we got Ricky Bobby and Danica set up, texted "OK let's go" - and we were off and running. It was a cool 68 degrees here which made for a much nicer run, but about 23 minutes in, my legs were ready to walk...however, I couldn't stop since I knew Matt was still running. Peer pressure - gotta love it - and it worked, because apparently he was ready to quit but didn't want to tell me that he walked - so we both got a 30 minute run in! Below are our Garmin pictures:

Ricky Bobby - my average pace was 11:31! I can tell that the weather was cooler; obviously helped with my energy level.Danica - Matt's average pace was 9:41...and he ran a 5K! Nice job, Matt!

By the way, I got the easy end of this deal - I just had to get up, get dressed and run. Matt had to get up, get dressed, wake his five children up, go run, come back and make lunches for everyone and then do a couple of school drop offs...while I was relaxing at home with a bottle of Gatorade and a leisurely cup of coffee. One of these days, Matt, your time will come!

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OK, speaking of running, what is up with my hunger these days? I'm not eating a ton, but I go from fine to STARVING in what seems like a matter of seconds! Every two-to-three hours, I find myself NEEDING to eat. And what's even stranger is that I'm eating things like a glass of skim milk (I'm really not much of a plain milk drinker - add it to cereal, sure, but by itself? Not so much), or a banana, or natural peanut butter on a whole wheat English muffin...healthy stuff! I'm not counting calories, and since I'm eating decent foods (it's not like I'm running to Taco Bell for a combo meal), I'm not really worried about gaining weight. But this extreme hunger seems a bit, well, extreme considering that I'm not running all that much yet. More than I have been, sure, but still, there will be many more miles in the coming weeks. I guess this is why they say you really don't lose weight when you train for a marathon or a half marathon?

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I finally took Miss Heliotrope out this week:

Of course, her first place HAD to be Red Mango! She liked it. Found her (internet) connection right away...I think she may be spending a lot of time there!

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For Fashion Friday, I was going to dress up in some of my running outfits and show you how much fun I have at color-coordinating and matching everything. But then I got lazy. It's a lot of work to put on those clothes (ok, I was mainly thinking about the sports bra, which, in retrospect, I guess I didn't have to wear for a photo shoot...doh!). And I couldn't really take a picture when I'm actually wearing them, as my normal look is to roll out of bed, throw clothes on (that I've laid out the night before because I am not awake enough to remember everything that morning), brush teeth and hair (different brushes - I'm not THAT sleepy), wipe old makeup off face (now you know my dirty little secret - I don't wash my face before going to bed. Gross, I know. And I have no room to complain about my teenage acne that I am mysteriously STILL plagued with), throw my hair into a pony tail, jam a hat on head (or sometimes a Bondi Band) and stumble out the door before I change my mind about this whole running thing.

So...you get the one picture of me that I made Jenny take before our run on Tuesday. The other pictures are just clothes - but you know what I look like, so use your imagination and you'll see how I look in the outfits. Just give me less lumpy thighs, please.

I admit, I run under the "I may not be fast, but my clothes are cute" guise. Plus I'm making up for decades of not buying/being able to fit into cute workout clothes. This outfit is a Zensah running skirt (thanks, MizFit, for the review!), paired with a Tek Gear v-neck top. Black Thorlo Experia socks and a turquoise hat complete the matchiness. Paired with my trusty compadre, Ricky Bobby (my Garmin) and my "Run Happy" necklace from Lift Your Sole.

Here's the outfit, close up:

I had to throw in the matching pony tail band for this picture - yes, I really am that crazy. Can you tell I never got this out of my system as a teenybopper? Ah well...no harm done, right?

Mostly you will find me running in shorts - but they have to be longer shorts and sadly, I've only found Adidas Pacers and the BCG brand that is sold at my local Academy to be long enough for me. I would love to wear the cute Nike Tempo shorts, but every time I try a pair on, it's a no-go. Just tooooo short for my comfort level.

Here's an example of what I've run in all summer:

Adidas Pacer shorts, sleeveless BCG shirt, cap or Bondi Band, shoes and socks. Sometimes I wear the cap, sometimes the colorful Bondi Band - just depends on how crazy my hair looks in the morning.

In the "What's Wrong With This Picture?" you will notice ORANGE socks. While I love the color, they should be yellow. However, every time I've made a special effort to go buy a pair of yellow Thorlos, I haven't been able to find my size. In fact, a few days ago I made a trip to the one store in town that sells these socks (and where I get a 10% discount because of my running club - woohoo!) - they only had size large. The girl there offered to special order my size, but said they come in packs of six - did I want six pairs of yellow socks? Well, no. So my search continues - oh I know I could order them online, and I may end up doing that, but the hunt is part of the fun!

My brightest top - just found this last week at TJ Ross:

Adidas fluorescent green sleeveless top (as I'm running while it's pretty dark still, I'd like to be seen by drivers), BCG shorts. Now I know you are thinking "those socks don't exactly match the shirt" but when I'm wearing them, there is enough distance from the shirt that they look fine. The Bondi Band? I've actually never worn it - was one of the first ones I purchased, and it's a bit bright for me. But now that I have this top, hey...I might actually be brave and wear it!

Here is the perfect matching outfit:

Although sometimes I spice it up and wear a hot pink cap instead of the white one.

Speaking of pink:

Again, my sock choices are not perfect. Either the pale pink the right or the black on the left - I like for my socks to match my shirt, not the shorts, but so far Thorlo hasn't come out with hot pink in their Experias. I keep hoping, though. This shirt is a C9 brand from Target - I wore it all spring and really love it. As it has sleeves, it hasn't come out of my closet, save for the trip to California, all summer. Couple more months, pink shirt, and we will be reunited!

Ooh, update! Look what my mom just sent me...now these socks will definitely go with my pink shirt!

There you have it...my summer running outfits. Call me crazy, but I get a huge kick out of seeing these fun, colorful things in my closet and knowing that I actually wear them to do sporty things!

Have a great weekend, and come back Monday for a giveaway...hint hint - it's running jewelry!!!