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

[avondale]

I agree with Herding_Cats about current pace - I don't like it because it's too changeable to instantaneous movements. I usually use "lap pace", with my laps being 1 mile segments. But I can see that that wouldn't work for run/walk. An option might be "lap pace" and then set up your run/walk intervals as a workout. My Garmin counts all segments of a workout as a lap even if they aren't a mile.

But, if you like "current pace", then go with it.

 

[Naomeri]

53 Days Until: TC Loony Challenge

Well, switching from “rolling pace” to “current pace” on my Apple Watch certainly didn’t help me get even splits today. I started out way too fast and had a hard time getting my speed under control. I did find it interesting to see my actual running and walking speeds, rather than just the combined pace. I think I’ll be able to get the pacing figured out with some more practice, this is really only the second week I’ve been trying to maintain specific pacing. One weird thing today: I found an extra tenth of a mile in my neighborhood today




Before my run today, I zipped over to City Hall, which is only a 5 minute drive from my house, to vote in the MN Primary. I kept my sticker on during my run (this is a terrible post-run selfie, but it was the best I could do )



After work, my grandma and I went to Famous Footwear because she got coupons because her birthday is in August. She found a pair of shoes, and since one of her coupons was BOGO 1/2 Off, I got to get a pair of shoes too. Instead of getting yet another pair of ASICS Gel Ventures, I decided to try out a pair of Saucony Excursions.



2022 workout data to date: 199h 44m 5s of exercise; 85,440 active calories burned; 104,002 total calories burned

 

[avondale]

You have a great smile! I hope that doesn't sound too creepy. Or that it sounds like a grandma..."well, dearie, you have such a great smile!" I couldn't find an Instagram Live session today, so I am feeling grandma-aged even if I am not!

 

[Naomeri]

You have a great smile! I hope that doesn't sound too creepy. Or that it sounds like a grandma..."well, dearie, you have such a great smile!" I couldn't find an Instagram Live session today, so I am feeling grandma-aged even if I am not!

John Leguizamo told me that once!

 

[Cabius]

You have a great smile! I hope that doesn't sound too creepy. Or that it sounds like a grandma..."well, dearie, you have such a great smile!" I couldn't find an Instagram Live session today, so I am feeling grandma-aged even if I am not!

John Leguizamo told me that once!
View attachment 692511

Wait, did he tell you that you have a great smile? Or that he feels grandma-aged. (I assume the former!)

 

[Naomeri]

Wait, did he tell you that you have a great smile? Or that he feels grandma-aged. (I assume the former!)

You assume correctly Although, since he’d just finished a 2 hour one-man show, plus an hour of autograph signing/photo-ops, the latter may have been true too

 

[Naomeri]

51 Days Until: TC Loony Challenge

Well, my new shoes are going to be returned. Like halfway through my run, my little toes were going numb. I powered through on sheer stubbornness, and the fact that it didn’t really hurt, I just couldn’t feel the shoe under those toes.

Despite the shoe issues, my pace was still faster than it was supposed to be. But my heart rate wasn’t bad, so I’m going to call it “good enough.”




I’m so happy we finally got the themes for Springtime Surprise! While it wasn’t the “Disney Afternoon Cartoons” theme I was wishing for, Pixar certainly gives a wide range of costume choices. I’ve already decided on one of my costumes.

I’m out of chipmunk food until tomorrow, so the only picture I have to share is a little dawn that came to visit our yard yesterday.



2022 workout data to date: 201h 1m 6s of exercise; 86,023 active calories burned; 104,689 total calories burned

 

[Naomeri]

49 Days Until: TC Loony Challenge

My run today was a really nice break in the middle of my 8 hour overtime day, because I couldn’t get myself going early enough to do it beforehand.

I headed out to the Luce Line and decided to go east for a change. It only took about 3 minutes to figure out that the 60/60 intervals I’ve been using for my long runs was not going to work today. My legs were like “NO!” so I switched to the 30/45 I’ve been using for easy runs and that worked just fine. I was pretty consistently too fast again, but not horribly so.




After my run, I got to feed a few of my furry friends on the patio. In order (top-bottom): Albert, Hazel, and Duchess.





2022 workout data to date: 202h 46m 42s of exercise; 86,797 active calories burned; 105,602 total calories burned

 

[Naomeri]

47 Days Until: TC Loony Challenge

I swear, the weather has it in for me lately! It was gloriously cloudy all day long, until I got off work and was ready to go for my run, then the stupid sun came out. It wasn’t particularly hot or anything, just brighter, and slightly warmer, than I would have preferred.



I had decided earlier in the day to go run on the paved rail trail because I needed to stop at a grocery store afterward, and the place I park for that trail is actually in a town, instead of the middle of nowhere. The run itself was fine, though I failed to go quite slow enough once again. Apple and Strava seem to be having a disagreement on how fast I ran the first mile, but since Apple is actually what tracks me, and Strava just gets the imported data, I’m going to believe Apple.



Duchess hopped in my hand yesterday and let me get a good shot of her cute little face.



Here’s Fern looking all innocent and adorable, as if she didn’t just scare the pants off a grey squirrel who had the audacity to be looking for a nut from me. Fern ran out of nowhere from behind the squirrel and the poor squirrel jumped about 3 feet, up and laterally.



King sometimes really hates to leave his throne tree. Other times, he’ll follow my voice far and wide in pursuit of treats. Yesterday was the former



2022 workout data to date: 204h 44m 58s of exercise; 87,530 active calories burned; 106,533 total calories burned

 

[Naomeri]

46 Days Until: TC Loony Challenge

I should rent out this annoying skill I have; Do you need a sunny day for an event in west central MN? Just schedule it at the same time as my run and the sun is guaranteed to break through the clouds!!

I started out way too fast, but also the GPS tracking must’ve got wonky because I hit the 1 mile mark way early. My legs felt pretty tired, and you can see it in how much I slowed down as it went on. I pretty much expected this to start happening on the Tuesday tempo runs, since they come at the end of 4 days of leg-based workouts (Saturday and Monday running, and Sunday stationary biking). I figure it’s really good practice for running on tired legs during challenges.




I was also a little extra tired today because I set an alarm to wake up over an hour early so I could do a little “guerilla gifting” for my Grandma’s birthday. I got her a super adorable little owl planter with a flower arrangement, and wanted it to be there to surprise her when she got up for breakfast, but I couldn’t put it out last night because the cats might’ve messed it up. So I snuck upstairs at 6:45 and put it on the table in her spot.



2022 workout data to date: 205h 22m 21s of exercise; 87,840 active calories burned; 106,904 total calories burned

 

[HangWithMerida]

That trail looks like a great place for a run. Love the trees. Your guerilla gifting made me laugh because we have cats too and I have to do this same thing for my kid’s Easter baskets, santa Claus gifts, etc. If it’s anything a cat might find interesting, you have to hide it until morning.

 

[Naomeri]

45 Days Until: TC Loony Challenge

I actually got quite a lot of exercise today, despite it being a non-running day. I walked 20 minutes with my grandpa at lunch, and we almost got a mile in, missing it by just .02. Then I did a 35 minute dumbbell workout during my company’s half year infoshare (since I only needed to listen, and I really hate being forced to sit at my desk doing nothing for so long).

After work, I had to run an errand for my grandma, and noticed that someone just outside our neighborhood, who’s moving, had added some bikes to their “FREE” pile, so I walked over there after dinner to see if there was one that would fit me. I’m not 100% sure I’ll get a lot of use out of a non-stationary bike, so I don’t want to spend much, if any, money. The bike I grabbed had 2 flat tires, but it otherwise functioned fine for the 10-15 feet I rode it. And it’s got accessories, like the water bottle (which will obviously be cleaned and sanitized before use), the little zipper pocket with an Allen wrench in it (as if I’d know what to do ), and a little air pump (which I do know how to use). Once I rolled it home, I got the front tire pumped up, and it seems to be holding. The back tire is missing the cap, but my great-uncle picks up all sorts of discarded bikes, so I bet he’s got one that’ll fix me up. He’s probably got all sorts of parts, if I need them.



I also got to spend a little time with my chipmunks tonight. Hazel figured out where the door is, and heard me moving around.



Poor Albert got bit on the ear by that deer fly a split second after this picture was taken.



Kodak didn’t want to sit on my hand and eat, so he stayed on the rock and reached over my fingers.



2022 workout data to date: 206h 26m 36s of exercise; 88,237 active calories burned; 107,409 total calories burned

 

[Naomeri]

44 Days Until: TC Loony Challenge

It was a good run today! It rained all morning, then got sunny for a while in the early afternoon. It was getting cloudy again just before I got off work, and then it was suddenly sunny after I got changed into running gear, and I was really annoyed. But about 5 minutes after I started my run, it clouded up! The weather finally cooperated with me!

And then, at about the 2.6 mile mark, it got really dark, and the wind picked up, and the temp dropped about 10 degrees. I’ll admit, I halfway gave up on maintaining pace at that point because it suddenly felt so nice out I did get pelted by some leaves though. Just after I got back to my car, while I was switching my shoes and putting the beach towel on my seat, the first rain drops started falling. It started raining in earnest about 5 minutes after I got home.

I hit the segment button at the halfway mark, just because I wanted to compare the 2 halves of the run.




The storm clouds really were rolling in right as I got to my car.




2022 workout data to date: 207h 35m 50s of exercise; 88,830 active calories burned; 108,118 total calories burned

 

[Naomeri]

42 Days Until: TC Loony Challenge

It was a nice day for a run: reasonably low temps and humidity, and no sunshine until long after I got home. I decided to run on the Katrina Lake Loop.

I started with a 1.2 mile warmup walk with my grandparents, and then they went home and I did my run. I misjudged how far I needed to double-up on the route, so I was just a teensy bit short, but it’s not really a big deal since I did all that walking beforehand. I did the first 2.5 miles with 60/60 intervals, but I was getting too tired doing that, so I switched to 30/45. I felt like I was fading a bit in the middle, but then recovered and got a little fast toward the end.




After I entered my mileage for today into my Challenge in Motion tracker, I thought the YTD total was a pretty awesome coincidence.



I don’t know what all the purple flowers are, but they made it really pretty.



I’m not sure why this little sumac tree thinks it’s fall already



After I got home, I went out to visit with chipmunks and caught Hazel with a goofy look on his face while he was eating.



2022 workout data to date: 210h 29m 25s of exercise; 89,951 active calories burned; 109,516 total calories burned

 

[Naomeri]

40 Days Until: TC Loony Challenge

It was a very sunny run today, but that was my own stupid fault for going east on the Luce Line instead of west. But I had run west last Thursday, so east seemed like the logical choice for today. I tried to maintain my easy pace, but it just seemed so much easier to go faster Strava seems to think I went faster than Apple does, which is weird. Once again, I hit the segment button (ok, there isn’t a segment button, I just have to double tap the watch screen) at the turnaround point.




My chipmunks were being very crazy yesterday (and a bit today, but not as bad). Roo decided to chomp my left hand, right in the meaty part at the base of my thumb, but didn’t really break the skin. Then, after I left the woods and went to the patio because of Roo’s bad behavior, Albert was really mad about Hazel also wanting food (I had food in both hands, so they should have been fine) and caught my finger in a nasty nip. So that was the end of feeding chipmunks for a while—they were getting overexcited. Chipmunk teeth are very sharp! But everything got well-cleaned and smeared with Neosporin, so it’s fine today.

In addition to being a bit crazy, Albert was also having a goofy hair day yesterday.



Roo doesn’t look at all like a critter that might randomly chomp anyone, does he?



Kodak was being a polite and reasonably calm chipmunk.



Albert fixed his hair today, and found his patience.



King mostly stayed out of all the craziness, and waited for me in his tree tonight.



Duchess was also being a (mostly) polite chipmunk today, and avoided all the swarms.



2022 workout data to date: 213h 12m 9s of exercise; 90,876 active calories burned; 110,663 total calories burned

 

[Cabius]

Once again, I hit the segment button (ok, there isn’t a segment button, I just have to double tap the watch screen) at the turnaround point.

Are you using the Apple Workout app to do this, then syncing the data to Strava afterwards?

 

[Naomeri]

Are you using the Apple Workout app to do this, then syncing the data to Strava afterwards?

Yes

 

[Naomeri]

39 Days Until: TC Loony Challenge

It was a fairly unremarkable run this afternoon. But you can totally tell which mile was on the shady part of the path




I’m glad the Springtime Surprise registration went smoothly this morning. But I’m equally glad that I won’t have to worry about it for the next race season with my CrD membership. I just signed up for the challenge initially, but a few hours later, and after looking at my travel schedule for the trip, I decided to add the Sunrise Yoga. I have a terrible time going to sleep early, especially before the first race of a weekend, but if I get up super early Thursday for yoga, I might be able to go to bed early before the 5K.

I don’t have any new chipmunk pictures today because they just swarmed me every time I went out and I didn’t have a hand for the camera. I didn’t even have enough hands for all the chipmunks!

One other exciting thing: I got a UPS notification that I’m getting a package from Disney tomorrow—it must be my Summer Series medals!


2022 workout data to date: 213h 56m 55s of exercise; 91,247 active calories burned; 111,108 total calories burned

 

[Naomeri]

37 Days Until: TC Loony Challenge

It was really nice tonight for my run! I decided to do the loop route and just have a walking warmup and cooldown on either side of my 5 mile run. For the warm up, I decided to do a little sprinting to get my heart rate up, so I set my intervals to 10 seconds/60 seconds. I was also hoping this would take a little of the “we’re out for a run, let’s go fast!” out of my legs before the actual run started. I guess it kind of worked, because I managed to be really consistent across all 5 miles. However, the consistent speed I achieved was faster than I was supposed to be going. Oh well, it was still a really nice run.





In runDisney related news, I finally decided on an outfit for the Wine & Dine half. I found a dress in the same style as the one I got for my Lilo costume that kind of hits the Soul theme. I thought the colors really matched the colors of the souls, and obviously music notes work with the jazz. And it’s just pretty, with pockets!



Yesterday, I took some “chipmunk eye view” pictures of Hazel and Gus. I don’t know how Hazel always manages to look goofy in his pictures, but Gus looks normal, despite having his face just as full.




Today, we had a hawk land on the patio! Luckily, none of my furry friends were out and about at the time.



2022 workout data to date: 216h 36m 53s of exercise; 92,284 active calories burned; 112,397 total calories burned

 

[azrivest]

That looks like a great dress for the Soul race!