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

[Naomeri]

9 Days Until: TC Loony Challenge

My run was cut short today because the Brooks shoes were a major failure. I was getting pain in the arch of my foot, and changing the lace tightness did not solve it. I’ll be returning the shoes to DSG this weekend, and maybe trying to find something else, but the in-store selection is crap, so then I have to order online, and wait for them to ship before I can even find out how they feel

After the run, I went to see Don’t Worry Darling, which was very good.



My chipmunks were happy that it was less windy today.

King decided to eat in his tree today.



This is my newest friend, who hasn’t been named yet; but now that he eats out of my hand, he’s earned the right to a name.



2022 workout data to date: 253h 51m 24s of exercise; 106,981 active calories burned; 130,591 total calories burned

 

[avondale]

I have running shoes that I'm happy with, so I just keep buying the next version. But for non-running shoes, especially nicer-looking shoes, I have a horrible time finding ones that fit because I have wide feet, high arches, and high insteps. I have found that Zappos is wonderful for this. I will look through likely candidate shoes, order many pairs, try them on, and ship back the ones that don't fit. They have pretty quick shipping to you and free shipping on returns. If you haven't tried them, you might look into them. They have athletic shoes, but I am not sure about their selection. Amazon Prime "wardrobe" or whatever it is is also getting better about doing this sort of thing.

I hate to go to stores to try on shoes because they almost never have a lot of wide-width selections. Online shopping, especially with Zappos, has been wonderful for this.

One thing...I am not sure about Zappos' exact policy on wearing the shoes before returning them. I obviously try them on and walk around the house and that's no issue. I don't know about going for a run and then returning them. You could get away with a treadmill run, I'm sure.

 

[lookingforsunshine]

After the run, I went to see Don’t Worry Darling, which was very good.

Yay! I can’t wait to see it. Are there a lot of jump scares?

 

[Naomeri]

Yay! I can’t wait to see it. Are there a lot of jump scares?

No, it’s really not that kind of horror movie.

 

[JAMIESMITH]

I really like your costumes, especially Maleficent!

 

[Naomeri]

7 Days Until: TC Loony Challenge

I managed to find another pair of shoes to try out next week (2 pairs actually, but one is on order, so it probably won’t be here until the following week). But for today’s run, I wore old shoes. It was pretty a pretty good run, and I feel ready to race my 10K next weekend, and complete the 5K and 10 Miler too, but those can be walked, if need be.




I wasn’t able to get any chipmunk pictures today because they were swarming, but I did get this little video of Roo. I was trying to get a video of him chirping, but he had other ideas

2022 workout data to date: 255h 40m 44s of exercise; 107,802 active calories burned; 131,570 total calories burned

 

[Naomeri]

5 Days Until: TC Loony Challenge

I tried out my Saucony Canyons tonight, and I think they’re going to work out. The run was good, but I had to work hard to slow down and try to keep my heart rate down.




I think I’m finally one of you crazy runner people: I had a running-related nightmare last night: I ran a race (I think it was a half) and then went home and fell asleep, and when I woke up (in the nightmare) and looked at my watch, I realized that I never stopped it at the end of the race and it read 11h 11m This stupid nightmare screwed up my sleep so bad that I fell asleep again after my alarms went off and I was late getting to my desk for work.

The Disney Princess magic is getting stronger—now the deer are getting less skittish when I’m out there. When they came to the edge of the park, I sat down on the rock wall and they decided that was okay and continued coming closer. Then they went out in the wetlands, and I went down in the park to the edge of the wetlands and they didn’t run away immediately.




Also in woodland creature news, I’ve decided that the new chipmunk will be named “Flit” after Pocahontas’ hummingbird, because this chipmunk has an attitude bigger than its size, and is slow to trust.



2022 workout data to date: 257h 9m 23s of exercise; 108,356 active calories burned; 132,271 total calories burned

 

[Naomeri]

4 Days Until: TC Loony Challenge

I tried out my last pair of new shoes today: Saucony Guide 15s. They felt pretty good, and I went so fast that my watch got confused and had me going off-roading in the neighborhood, so basically all of the following numbers are lies, except for the total time and the heart rate. I can estimate that my actual pace was ~12:25, so I was right where I was supposed to be. Since my watch wasn’t telling where I was, I decided to just stop at 1 full circuit of the neighborhood so I’d know about how far I actually went.




I got my bib numbers for the Loony Challenge, and my corral placement for the 10 Miler (Corral D, the last one, which is fine). I also pre-purchased parking for each day at nearby ramps so I don’t have to worry about them filling up before I get there and having to choose somewhere new on the fly, since pre-7am is not my best time of day, and I’m not super familiar with either of the Twin Cities’ downtowns.

It was still a bit windy today, so not many chipmunks were out, but I found Gus after my run.



2022 workout data to date: 257h 44m 57s of exercise; 108,661 active calories burned; 132,636 total calories burned

 

[GollyGadget]

Maybe it's because I've been stressed out about race nutrition or maybe it's because I didn't get enough sleep, but I had to read the chipmunk update twice to realize his name is Gus and not GUs

 

[Naomeri]

2 Days Until: TC Loony Challenge

Last run before race day is done. I was trying really hard to keep it easy.




The weather is looking great for the weekend. I took tomorrow off so I can go to the expo and get all my race stuff. I could’ve gone after work, but the traffic would’ve sucked and I would’ve been rushed.



My Saturday goals are:
A Goal: get a new 10K PR (current is 1:22:10); finish the 5K in under 40 minutes (current PR is 35:59, so I don’t foresee feeling up to beating that immediately after running a 10K)

B Goal: finish the 10K before the 5K starts (so, finish in under 90 minutes—should be easy); finish the 5K in under 40 minutes

C Goal: finish the 10K before the 5K start deadline (so, finish in under 105 minutes); finish the 5K

My goal for Sunday is just to finish the 10 Miler. I might decide to set actual goals, depending on how Saturday goes, but I just have to finish the 10 Miler before the slowest marathon runner finishes, so I could almost crawl and still do that.

I didn’t see a lot of chipmunks today because it was windy and we had window washers so I was kind of stuck in the house. But yesterday had amazing weather and I saw lots of them.

Rocky



Flit



Gus



Ace



And an as-yet-unnamed late summer baby who figured out the eating thing really fast



2022 workout data to date: 258h 49m 9s of exercise; 109,192 active calories burned; 133,261 total calories burned

 

[striker1064]

Are the chipmunks docile enough that they regularly approach you? I don't know a lot about them but I am endlessly fascinated by your pictures!

 

[GollyGadget]

Good luck with your races!

 

[RuntheMouse]

Good luck this weekend!

 

[Naomeri]

Are the chipmunks docile enough that they regularly approach you? I don't know a lot about them but I am endlessly fascinated by your pictures!

Yes, they’ve figured out that I’ve got the good food and they’ll run up to me, and some even climb up my legs to get to my hands. Some even know where the patio door is and will come and jump at it to “knock” and get my attention.

 

[NYC_MW]

Good luck this weekend!!!

 

[Naomeri]

1 Day Until: TC Loony Challenge

Well, I got in and out of the expo with no trouble today, and then ran a few errands to get snacks for my gear bag. After I got home, I got my clothes for Saturday and Sunday all figured out, and pinned my bibs onto my tanks. I also got both gear bags packed as much as possible (Sunday’s bag still needs post-race shoes and all my race miscellany, but those are obviously in Saturday’s bag at the moment)

Saturday’s outfit:



Sunday’s outfit:



Before heading to the expo, I spent a little time with the chipmunks.

Baby Chipmunk



Flit



2022 workout data to date: 259h 32m 4s of exercise; 109,444 active calories burned; 133,557 total calories burned

 

[Cabius]

Have a great time this weekend!

 

[lookingforsunshine]

Some even know where the patio door is and will come and jump at it to “knock” and get my attention.

Omg!!!

Sunday’s outfit:

I love that hat!!!

 

[azrivest]

Hope your races went well today. Good luck on the 10-miler tomorrow!

 

[Naomeri]

Omg!!!

I love that hat!!!

Gone for a Run had the best, most comfortable visor hats! They’re reversible and foldable