In Every Run That Must Be Done; There is an Element of Fun (comments welcome)

[Naomeri]

18 Days Until: Springtime Surprise

11.99 miles on the stationary bike in 45m 13s today. I also ran errands with my grandma and we went to a show tonight. Waitress was hilarious!! In other news, I hate time changes!! It’s always confusing and weird, and it’s so pointless!


2022 workout data to date: 73h 8m 10s of exercise; 30,997 active calories burned; 38,009 total calories burned

 

[Naomeri]

17 Days Until: Springtime Surprise

Just an easy 30 minute run in the treadmill today. It snowed this morning; even though it all melted by the time I got off work, I didn’t feel like going out in the wet for such a short run. Tomorrow, it should be about 50°F when I get off work, so I’m definitely running outside, probably in short sleeves, if the wind isn’t too cool.



I was really happy to see the course maps today, I can’t wait for Springtime Surprise!!

2022 workout data to date: 73h 38m 15s of exercise; 31,236 active calories burned; 38,300 total calories burned

 

[Naomeri]

16 Days Until: Springtime Surprise

I got another new fastest mile. I wasn’t trying to go that fast. In fact, I was trying to maintain a more reasonable pace to keep the pacing more even throughout the run. But I (mostly) successfully did the full 45 minutes with the 60/30 intervals. I had to slow down a little early once or twice, but I didn’t skip any run intervals.



Can runDisney hurry up and announce the Summer Virtual Series theme already?! And release the Springtime Surprise event guide (yeah, we got the sneak peek at the maps, but I want ALL the details)


2022 workout data to date: 74h 25m 0s of exercise; 31,670 active calories burned; 38,814 total calories burned

 

[Naomeri]

15 Days Until: Springtime Surprise

I did my dumbbell workout on my lunch break today. After work, we went to dinner and to see Hadestown. Omg, it was so freaking good!!

I have to go to bed early tonight so I can get up early tomorrow and work. I need time to take a longer lunch break so I can do my run, and then I need to get off a bit early to be able to shoe shop before my haircut.


2022 workout data to date: 74h 57m 0s of exercise; 31,945 active calories burned; 39,122 total calories burned

 

[Naomeri]

14 Days Until: Springtime Surprise

Today’s scheduled 45 minute run was cut to 30 minutes due to a time crunch. I wanted to make sure I had time for a shower before I sat in my office chair again, and while a 45 minute run and a 10 minute shower fits within the limits of a 1 hour lunch break on paper, reality never functions that well.

But, my decision to go right, instead of left, out of my cul-de-sac successfully slowed down my first mile to help even out my pacing. I mean, you can’t get more even than exactly the same pace for the 2 completed miles This also allows me to do the more challenging part of the route on fresh legs.



After work, I went out shopping to exchange my ASICS Gel Venture 8s in size 8.5 for something that fit better on my foot. I figured out why the Venture 8s I bought a couple weeks ago felt so weird! I need to learn to read! That particular color is only sold in the “wide” width in stores (which is weird). So I got a different color of Venture 8s, and they seem perfectly fine. Because I was there, I looked at other shoes, and tried a pair of ASICS Scout 2s, and they felt good too, so I went ahead and picked them up. Through a 15% off coupon and some kind of cashier wizardry that I didn’t quite understand, I ended up only owing $34 today. For everyone keeping track at home, that makes 3 new pair of running shoes this month for a grand total of $54 out of pocket.





I had to run to Target to pick up some stuff for my Grandma, and I found some more boring black leggings for running, and a pretty dusky lavender tie-dye tank and matching (not tie-dyed) leggings. I was having the worst trouble finding leggings with decent pockets in my size today!

Tomorrow night is the Full Worm Moon Hike out at the Arb. It’s always cool to explore after dark, I just hope no one shines a bright light in my eyes like last time!


2022 workout data to date: 75h 27m 35s of exercise; 32,215 active calories burned; 39,443 total calories burned

 

[GollyGadget]

After work, we went to dinner and to see Hadestown. Omg, it was so freaking good!!

I'm going to see Hadestown on Wednesday! I honestly don't even know what it's about but your double exclamation points have me excited for it

 

[Naomeri]

I'm going to see Hadestown on Wednesday! I honestly don't even know what it's about but your double exclamation points have me excited for it

I’ve been obsessed with the cast album since 2018, so finally getting to see it person was the best thing ever. If I had time and money, I’d go see it again before it leaves Minneapolis

 

[Naomeri]

13 Days Until: Springtime Surprise

Well, I did not get my wish about the Full Moon hike at the Arb. There were many bright lights shined in my eyes and it was not particularly enjoyable. Last year, they put all sorts of colored spotlights in the woods and lit up the trees all pretty, and had a nice, meandering path around and through them. This year, it was an out and back path with occasional tea lights to show where the path was. It was very crowded (think of the path between HS and Epcot, but with 2-way traffic and possible slippery spots).

I managed to walk 2.63 miles, and saw the moonrise, and then I gave up and left. My phone managed to make the moonrise look like a sunrise, but I kinda like it.



2022 workout data to date: 76h 20m 31s of exercise; 32,445 active calories burned; 39,762 total calories burned

 

[Naomeri]

12 Days Until: Springtime Surprise

I set a new 10K PR today: 1h 22m 10s

Two thirds of my run was on the hilliest areas around my neighborhood, so I was shocked at the PR. I was also exhausted. I should have run a bit earlier in the day, but the snow was mostly gone, but the ground was still frozen in the morning, so I was able to go out and pick up a winter’s worth of branches for my grandparents. But that did involve walking up and down the hill in our backyard a bunch of times.





It was a lot of branches!! There’s still a ton of little sticks to be picked up, but my grandma can’t see them from the house, so they can wait. She’s said at least 5 times today how much nicer it looks without all the branches



In other news, the chipmunks are starting to come out! I saw 2 today, but neither was ready to take peanuts directly from me (though one was happy enough to take them off the ground while I stood nearby)


2022 workout data to date: 77h 42m 41s of exercise; 33,260 active calories burned; 40,717 total calories burned

 

[Naomeri]

11 Days Until: Springtime Surprise

Today was…not a great day. I got my 45 minutes on the bike done, and a little stretching and yoga just to close my rings, but otherwise it was just not a great day.


2022 workout data to date: 78h 40m 32s of exercise; 33,544 active calories burned; 41,099 total calories burned

 

[Naomeri]

10 Days Until: Springtime Surprise

Today was better!! Some of my chipmunks are out of hibernation, and they remember me!!

This is Cherry. She (I don’t actually know that this chipmunk is female, but I can’t come up with all gender neutral names, and the first food this one ate from me last year was a chunk of cherry, so there it is)





This is Gus. Gus is greedy and, like his Disney namesake, tries to take more food than he can actually carry at one time. He had 3 peanuts in his mouth already, and still tried to take a fourth.





This is Ace. Ace is a brat and is the first chipmunk to draw blood this year (I screwed up and didn’t have a third peanut in my hand for him, so he nipped me right after this picture)





This little one doesn’t have a name because he’s new this year. He picked up on the way this works right away though. It looks like he’s got either a healing wound or a growth on his back. We’ll see which as the year goes on.





I didn’t just play with chipmunks all day, I did go out and do my run. And it was a great run! 50/30 run/walk, and I went ahead and really let my legs stretch out. Normally, I’d save the high effort run for Tuesday, but it’s going to be rainy and cold (40°F) tomorrow, so I’ll be stuck with an easy treadmill run. I got a new fastest pace, and my miles were really consistent! I didn’t quite get the full 45 minutes scheduled, but I made 2 full laps of the neighborhood, and I didn’t feel like running down and then back up my cul-de-sac just to get 2 more minutes.






2022 workout data to date: 79h 23m 35s of exercise; 33,944 active calories burned; 41,572 total calories burned

 

[Naomeri]

Also—
There was half a sun dog around the sun this afternoon! There was a storm coming up from the south, so there was no rainbow on that side.

 

[Naomeri]

9 Days Until: Springtime Surprise

It was raining all day long, so I didn’t get to play with my chipmunks

I got all registered for the Wine & Dine Challenge and 5K, so that was really exciting. Another exciting thing was that I was able to make a couple simple and non-permanent adjustments to one of my favorite Disney dresses that I had shrunk out of with my weight loss of the last year, so now I can wear it on my trip next week

It also meant that I had to do my run on the treadmill, which I had planned for. I tried out one of the pairs of shoes I bought last week, and they seem like they’ll work out. For the first mile, my interval speeds were 3.8mph and 5.5mph, and on the second mile, I bumped the runs up to 6mph. It’s still slower than I run outside, but this treadmill is just too hard for me to run faster on.



2022 workout data to date: 79h 53m 51s of exercise; 34,179 active calories burned; 41,859 total calories burned

 

[Naomeri]

8 Days Until: Springtime Surprise

Just a dumbbell workout today to close my rings. I woke up to snow covering everything this morning! It was over 60 degrees just 2 days ago!! But I still got out for a few minutes to see if my chipmunks were out. The only one who was paying attention was Cherry, but she refused to come out of her tree, so I had to hand her peanuts through the hole.


2022 workout data to date: 80h 25m 51s of exercise; 34,454 active calories burned; 42,153 total calories burned

 

[Naomeri]

7 Days Until: Springtime Surprise

Exciting chipmunk news!! My little friend Patch has reappeared!! We though for sure he’d gotten eaten last year, because we stopped seeing him very early in the fall. He only has 1 eye, so he’s more vulnerable to predators (like the neighbor’s stupid cats).





Also in chipmunk news, Rocky has emerged, though he’s lost 3/4 of his tail (probably living up to his name fighting with someone)





And I saw the chipmunk with the thing on its back again, and it looks much better today, so it was definitely a matted-up injury, not a growth of some sort.

Other than chipmunks, I don’t have a lot to report. Although the return of the chipmunks is very relevant to my exercise program—my daily activity level has risen noticeably since I’ve been able to go out feeding them. I just did an easy 30 minutes on the treadmill.



2022 workout data to date: 80h 56m 7s of exercise; 34,681 active calories burned; 42,431 total calories burned

 

[Naomeri]

5 Days Until: Springtime Surprise

I forgot to write up a journal entry last night after I did my yoga. In my defense, it was late because I had to watch a movie with my grandparents because their usual Friday night shows were preempted by basketball and one of my many roles in the household is “entertainment director.” We watched Tombstone, if anyone is curious.

Due to high winds out of the north, and a desire to avoid the treadmill, I traded my weekend workouts and did the bike today. I got 9.35 miles in 33 minutes, which is faster than usual. Despite the awful wind, I did manage to go out and visit what few chipmunks were out and about, and fulfill another of my roles “stick/branch collector.” This is only half of what I picked up today (other than the really long one that I picked up earlier this week)



I think I’m going to name the injured chipmunk “Sweetie” because he’s very friendly and runs right up my leg and into my hand for food. His back is looking much better.



2022 workout data to date: 82h 5m 37s of exercise; 35,131 active calories burned; 42,980 total calories burned

 

[Naomeri]

4 Days Until: Springtime Surprise

I wasn’t sure if I was going to get out and run today because the north wind was still pretty biting when I went out to see my chipmunks. But my grandpa went out for a walk and said it wasn’t too bad, so I went ahead got out there about 3:30. I did 2 full laps of the neighborhood (plus a couple little out-and-back extra bits) so I ended up close to 5 miles in total. I tried really hard not to go too fast.






2022 workout data to date: 83h 7m 5s of exercise; 35,647 active calories burned; 43,600 total calories burned

 

[Run4Bacon17]

I love the chipmunk updates! We saw Hadestown back in January with the touring cast and I loved it! I am hoping to see it again this summer when we go home back east. If we do that means my one daughter will have seen it in Seoul, Dallas, and NYC.
Only a couple more days until SpringTime!

 

[Naomeri]

3 Days Until: Springtime Surprise

I’m all packed, and I should be sleeping right now, since I have to wake up in 3 hours to go to the airport

Anyway, I did my last run before the races, and it was fine.



2022 workout data to date: 83h 36m 25s of exercise; 35,903 active calories burned; 43,905 total calories burned

 

[SheHulk]

Have a great time!