Polar Circle Half Marathon

 

HOLY SHIT!

Olympic Boyfriend

 I love you, Usain Bolt.

 Pictures.


PS. Here's a breakdown of my guy's races this week.

Radio Silence

So, we had a quick jaunt to Jersey for a family funeral. We got back last night and I'm slowly getting things back in business.


Update: Got dressed to go for a lunch break run, fell asleep instead. I'll try that one again tonight, hopefully.

Weekend YAY!

Well this was a wild week in terms of running. I haven't run since Saturday's race, and I feel it. Hopefully tonight I can bang out a few quick miles to try to get my body moving again. This weekend I'm hoping to actually do something with this "interval training," make a shit ton of popsicles, and do something nice for my boyfriend who still seems to like me, no matter how many nights I keep him up. If I'm an insomniac, you're an insomniac.

Also, I was googling to find a picture of that "I'm a bird, you're a bird" scene from The Notebook. Do you know that it's a thing for people to reenact that scene and take black and white pictures for the purposes of engagement photos or blogs? Not wild about that.

Some links from around the internet:

Well this shirt is remarkable. 

Mountain Berry is the best flavor.

Oh, crap. We're all screwed. No but seriously, go outside or do a pushup or drink some water or something. Also, sometimes I wear a sports bra under my real clothes. It's almost like working out.

Here's a great list of walks in the LA area. 

I am now on a mission to stay in every single one of these yurts.

It's been a Beyoncé type of week.

Weekly totals:
Runs: 1 (half marathon motherfuckers)
Total miles: 13.1

Image via.

Color Run

 

DOING THIS! It's in Fontana but whatever you're only young once and youth is the time to visit the Inland Empire.

 

Intervals

I've been hearing a lot about this "interval training" which sounds okay, if you're into that sort of thing. After spending three months training to cover medium distances at a glacial pace, I'm thinking maybe it's time to move in a swifter direction. I'm told that interval training results in improved performance, greater speed, and endurance.*

 

Okay except I don't know how. In theory I get that it's supposed to be sprinting mixed with recovery time, but that's pretty vague. I sort of see myself sprinting for about thirty seconds and then walking for thirty minutes.

Interval training has been used by athletes for years to build fitness. Interval training combines short, high intensity bursts of speed, with slow, recovery phases, repeated during one exercise session. An early form of interval training, "Fartlek" (a Swedish term meaning 'speed play') was casual and unstructured. A runner would simply increase and decrease his pace at will.

Somebody guess which part of that made me giggle. Also, how concerned should I be that the "related videos" for the article are both concerned with potty training? Is this targeted advertising? I have nothing to say.

I'm going to give this whole thing a try this week. We'll see.

*That's what she said.

Unrelated pictures of Yosemite.

Made By Nike

Like I mentioned on Friday, I'm really feeling this Made By Nike tumblr. It combines my three primary interests of running, active-wear, and using instagram filters to appear worldly.

But really I like their zany work out outfits. I don't think I would want to live in a world where you can't run in neon leggings and metallic shoes. Although for the most part I do tend to stick to all black or grey for my work out get ups, I definitely rock a neon pair of Lunarglides. Upcoming running goal: more neon. Also, the models looks vaguely athletic and only partly like starving refugees, which is always nice to see.

This is a picture of me running (this is not a picture of me running).

Wishlist

 1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5 // 6


Just some things I'm currently coveting, based mostly on the aesthetic appeal. I'm not known for researching "quality" or what have you, but these things are really pretty.

Half Marathon

DID IT.

I have lots of thoughts but mostly I am going to sleep for the next week.

Why Chub Run?

Well, it's pretty simple. I'm a runner, and I'm chubby.

For a long time I felt that you had to be 100 pounds to be an athlete. I knock that out of the park in breast size alone.

Today I'm running a half marathon. I love everything.

Bon Weekend!

Tomorrow is race day! I am in a full panic. We are driving up to northern California this afternoon, getting a good night's sleep, and relaxing for most of tomorrow until the race starts at 7:00pm. I'm hoping to watch movies, stretch for about six hours, eat carbs, and take a few slow walks around the neighborhood to keep my baby muscles from atrophying. This sounds like a decent plan, but what do I know? I've never done this before.

Here are some things I've been looking at this week:

I dare you not to spend two hours customizing your Nike Lunarglides.

Sorry to be such a bore but I'm on a Nike kick. This Made By Nike tumblr is some solid marketing.

Wanderlust.

More.

Spaghetti Squash pasta for the fall.

This completely enthralling article about marathon runners.

Weekly totals:
Runs: 3 (two of which failed around mile three due to menstrual situations)
Total miles: 8 (lolz)

Photo.

Oy, vey.

Hello, America.

Distance: 3 miles
Pace: 10:12

Tonight, the man and I did our last quick run before our first half marathon on Saturday. He was against us running at all this close to the race, but I really felt like mentally I needed this, so he humored me. I haven't run at all this week, which means I missed one six-mile run and one three-mile run because of lady problems, so I just wanted to be able to bang out one solid short run before the big event. I feel like now I can show up in two days feeling ever so slightly confident in my abilities, if not a little unsure about exposing my arms in my new running tank top.

I am basically terrified, but I keep trying to remember that no matter how slowly I do this, I literally could not run one mile three months ago.

Goals:
1. Just finish the damn thing
2. End of list

In my future half marathon experiences, I'd like to get my time down to a more respectable number and hopefully not vomit. This time, anything goes, vomit-wise.

I think that if I make it through this without requiring medical attention, I am going to officially stop thinking of myself as being out of shape, and start to accept that I might just possibly be a healthy person. Oy vey, indeed.