headphones vs. no headphones

personally i am a no headphones girl.

here are my super scientific reasons as to why i don't run with music/headphones.

1. this morning i went to get the monster and take her on my run with me. we were coming to a stop light where another runner was standing idly taking up the ENTIRE corner. she was wearing headphones, there was traffic so having her actually hear me wasn't going to happen. i tried to get in her line of vision before i passed her so that i didn't scare the bejeesus out of her. #fail

i ran right next to her and scared the bejeesus out of her. as in she screamed. i apologized, but i mean i could hear her music....

when i run with the monster you can hear her collar jingle. so it's not exactly like we are sneaking up on you. it's basically like having a backup beeper attached to you. hard to miss us.

2. i have seen numerous people wearing headphones who almost get hit by a car. i know, i know that technically the runner has the right of way, but sometimes (in atlanta it's more likely than not) the driver isn't paying attention to you, they are paying attention to traffic. still there fault, but really who loses if you get hit by a car? not the car...

people who run in headphones seem to completely disregard the need to at least check the crosswalk before they go barreling through it. not saying i don't do it too, but i can at least hear a car coming to hit me.

3. i am a morning runner. which translates into i run before my person is fully awake. as in roll out of bed, brush teeth, tame mop (hahahahaha that never happens), lace shoes, and go. i'm sleepy enough as it is, i don't need anymore distractions.

i also am not a nervous runner, but morning running can be a bit scary. i like to have all my senses about me. or at least as many as i can muster in the early morning...breathing is difficult people. seesh.

4. the headphones hurt my ears. plain and simple. i've tried about a million kinds and without fail, about 30 minutes in (if that) i want to rip them out of my ears because they start to bug me.

5. i really like having that one song on continuous loop that i only know about 4 complete words too. okay, that's a lie...

so that's my story and i am sticking to it.

meaningful miles

i've mentioned this before, but somedays when i can get my butt out of bed i will go and run for a better cause with Back On My Feet. it's an amazing organization that empowers people through themselves. i am a big proponent of making yourself a better person.

this past saturday BOMF held their second annual Meaningful Miles 5k. my friend bari was in town and i suckered conned got her to join in running the race with me. a few of the girls that i am running the ragnar race with in october were also going to run the 5k and follow it up with a few miles. (did i mention i am running a ragnar...oh yea, i guess i should write about that).

matching tank tops and all. we do this a lot.

bari and i made the executive decision to eat some pizza and a salad the night before and then get up early in the morning and run before the race. running after the race sounded awesome, but we both knew we would rather be done once the 5k was over. so at 530 in the morning we awoke groggy, but ready to pound out some miles. bari doesn't do hills. she lives in savannah, there are no hills.  we started a loop out of my house - straight up hill - and around the the beltline - gradual uphill - to a downhill into O4W park for the start of the race. just over 4.5 miles.

the race was very well organized. we picked up our packet about 10 minutes before the start, because someone, ahem me, forgot to pick them up beforehand. i had no idea of the elevation of the course, but the website should have said run uphill, run a plateau, run a small downhill, run another uphill, then finish downhill, instead of putting the course map online. but the comradery throughout the race is amazing.

i told bari at the first hill that i wouldn't leave her since i roped her into running the race. but she so graciously let me sprint and finish the end of the race. i cheered her into the finish line and completing her second ever 5k. i was one proud friend!

we then hit up the bananas and apples. the apples. can we take a minute. holy. they were absolutely amazing. we also got some yogurt samples that are currently sitting in my fridge with about 20 other yogurts waiting to be consumed. soon my lovelies. soon.

we walked the mile back to my house and were home before 9 am. 7.65 miles before most people are up on a saturday.

we couldn't have asked for better weather for a really truly honorable race to be able to run.

the rest of saturday was spent wearing matching clothes, going to see a movie like the stars at phipps, eating popcorn for lunch, rice bowls for dinner, and a whole lot of people watching.

cuffed denim, chacos, white tank? you bet.

stairs.

since atlanta has forgotten that seattle is actually in washington and not in georgia by raining almost every single day, workouts sometimes have to get a little creative.

normally waking up in the morning the rain hasn't come yet and you can still get a sold run in. some mornings, as well all know, i tend to look more like this:

via

instead of this:

via

shocking. i know.

who am i kidding, i never look like that.

anyhowsies. it's been raining a crapton in atlanta. and as previously stated, i like my sleep. it's few and far between when i actually sleep, but that's neither here nor there.

today it's been threatening to monsoon outside. and it is a little more threatening than the images on shark week. which is terrifyingly fascinating. CAN'T. STOP. WATCHING.

MEGALODON

so i did what any good little runner would do (who skipped her run yesterday, and was at the shop this morning) and i ran stairs. now let me tell you stairs suck. BUT they are easy, quick, and nearest i can determine good for you. aside from that whole feeling incredibly out of shape.

one of my friends is out of town, and i went to his house to list things on ze ole craig's list for him. and whadaya know. he lives in a townhouse that has a majillion stairs. and by that i mean 54 from top to bottom.

blare some blurred lines and get your tail moving. 5 times up 54 stairs, 5 squats at the top, 5 times down 54 stairs. lay down die. repeat. change it up to spice girls (naturally). do 5 more. chug a glass of water, change up the jams, and get ready for you last set.

that's a crap ton of steps. it's kind of fun to see if you can get all the sets done before a song is over. but unless american pie is playing, odds are good to excellent me and my slow butt aren't going to make it. my best was 3.5.

so no excuses. get moving. besides it's shark week. and i can't be bothered to miss any of that. (please don't terrify me too much for nicaragua shark week. please).

laundry day.

you know how i know today was the day that i needed to do laundry?

well i will tell you it was actually one of two ways to be exact. i had precisely 3 sports bras left, and absolutely zero doorknobs left to hang sweaty running clothes to dry.

now i realize that the second one is easily fixable, because running clothes dry rather quickly, but i am however am too lazy to move them into the laundry bin. and by running out of doorknobs i, in actuality, am saying that i may have worn the same pair of shorts three days in a row. judge away. judge away.

oiselle shorts for.the.win.

when it's early in the morning, i'm not out to make social calls. i am out to run. and if i am running in an all gray ensemble well then so be it. and while we are on that topic, i wear the monotone gray look a lot because again, whatever. it's early. and as i did laundry today i realized that i own a lot of heathered gray (grey, i still don't know and i've typed it 3 times) clothing.

and the heathering does not stop at gray. if it's heathered, odds are good to excellent i am going to like it. blue, pink, black, greay (see what i did there) i want it. it's becoming a bit of a problem.

i think i had a point to this post but odds are good to excellent i don't.  i blame the fact that i've eaten yogurt for the majority of my meals the past couple of days. it.is.just.so.good.

oh and i got my passport back in the mail yesterday. can't wait until november. come on nicaragua!

oh. hey there.

sometimes i blog, and sometimes i think i am too cool to actually blog (because clearly i am) but mostly it's because i am forgetful. read: lazy.

no relevance, but i totally concur

 but if we are being honest it's because i haven't really felt inspired to write blog posts or to run for that matter. my days are spent trying to figure out how i can travel the globe and surf. yes surf. ever since i came back from costa rica, i've had a tough time trying to get back into the running zone.

not that there is anything that is keeping me from running.

my boss goes to the gym at 830. so work isn't until like 10. hello morning run opportunity. also hello hug my bed for a little longer opportunities.

i got into the nike women's marathon in san francisco. it's the 10th anniversary. but it's in sanfran. and i don't know if any of you know this but flights over to the other side of the country are bloody expensive. that one is on the back burner at the moment.  the way back burner.  mainly because for the cost of a flight there i am going to nicaragua for 6 days...yea no brainer on that one...

summer morning runs are my favorite. summer morning runs are ya know in the morning.

all of these are lame reasons. and i know this. sooooooooo i surprised myself and have been running. and not like 2 days a week and i now believe i am an olympian running.

like actually running. using a gps watch and hauling my ass out of bed in the morning (and sometimes afternooons) and i lace up my sneaks (nerd alert) and i go run.

this happened today. nbd

today i actually went and met a bunch of girls i don't know, aside from one, and we are going to do a ragnar relay race. AND I AM SILLY EXCITED.

this is the first time in a long time i have been really excited about a race. weeeeeee

maybe, just maybe i think i might be back into the whole blogging game. fingers crossed. or not. do whatever you want. i'm not your mom.

also, the monster and i have been running in the mornings. it works out well. except that i kid you not when i say that every. single. damn. time. she stops 200ft in and shits. EVERY.TIME. so that's always fun.

walking it out