Friday Reflections // The Direction of my Blog

After a particularly hot & humid 4 miler today 🔥

Hello friends! I hope you're all doing well. It's been a few weeks since I've updated you all on how I've been doing on here and I really do apologize for that. I'm finding it challenging to have the motivation to keep my blog up to date since I started working from home over two months ago (!!!). Over the last couple of weeks I've noticed that the majority of my blog posts that I've been writing lately are product reviews for my BibRave Pro ambassadorship. While I do enjoy writing those reviews for y'all, it was never my intention for that to become the sole function of this space. 

I've been struggling to figure out what to post here because - as I'm sure a lot of you can relate - my life is quite repetitive at the moment with not a whole lot to report back on. I've been weekly vlogging since April and that's been a really enjoyable way for me to document my life as of late, but at heart I've always primarily a blogger and I miss dedicating my time to writing posts about my life and my interests. In an effort to commit myself back to this space, I wanted to start writing a post every Friday to talk through my week and the topics that are at the forefront of my mind - Friday Reflections! 

This is particularly perfect because in the summer my job has Fridays off. Giving myself space and time to reflect at the end of each week will be the perfect way for me to kick off my weekend. I hope you all will enjoy this snapshot of my week each week, and that this will make my space a bit more personable again. 

Here's what's on my mind this week:

George Floyd

I don't think you can be living in the US and not know about this story, and I can only hope you are absolutely outraged and disgusted by it. This obviously has been plaguing my mind since I've heard the news and I've been paying close attention to the goings-on in Minneapolis. Sadly these incidents are all too common in our country and as a person who holds white privilege, it is my responsibility to stay educated so that I can work to be the best ally I can be. I strongly encourage you to take a moment to educate yourself as well. Here are some resources for you to check out:

Article: For Our White Friends Desiring to be Allies

Article: Why Are the Protesters Being Framed as the Problem? White Supremacy.

Instagram Post: Anti-racism Reading List

Birthday Month!

 

Birthday month gifts from days 28 & 29!

If you've been following along on my Instagram, Brett has been surprising me each day this month with a different gift to celebrate my 30th birthday! Because this year's birthday was a milestone and we couldn't really go out to celebrate, he's been bringing the celebration to me each day. It's honestly been such a great month and it's been so fun to see what each day brings. Tomorrow is the last day (30 days of 30!) and I'm excited to see how everything will be capped off. Either way, I appreciate everyone who has thought of me this month and I truly feel so loved!

Boston Marathon cancelling for the first time in its history

This breaks my heart beyond belief. I mean, we all saw it coming. It's just not realistic to expect an event of 30,000+ people (not even counting the crowds it will draw) to be permitted to occur. BUT my heart is broken for all of those runners who have work their tails off to BQ and are not even going to be permitted to defer to 2021. I can't imagine what they're thinking. This also makes me really think that Chicago - a race that is even bigger than Boston - will not happen. I'm not planning to defer yet but I just don't think it's likely that I'll be toeing the line in Chicago this October. 😕

Dog-sitting Miss Abby!

Our pal Cassie is out of town for a little while, so Brett and I are taking care of her pup, Abby! It's been so nice to have Abby around. She's a big time snuggler, loves to play, and keeps us extremely entertained! Just another reminder that Brett and I need to adopt a dog of our own ASAP. 😋

Feeling very reading slumpy

My reading during self-isolation has been all over the place. I feel like I just don't have the same reading stamina that I used to have and I just generally don't have the same motivation to pick up a book in my free time as I used to. It's such a huge bummer but I'm trying not to let it get to me too much. I know I'll get back into the groove eventually. It's just so frustrating while I'm experiencing the slump!

New BRP Gear! 🧡

I've been wanting to snag these shirts for myself essentially since I became a BibRave Pro, and for some reason (maybe it was more of a birthday treat yo' self move?), now felt like the best time to order them! I am so glad I did because both the t-shirt and sweatshirt are SO SOFT! Obviously with how humid it's been this week, now is not the most ideal time to be wearing the sweatshirt, but I can't wait to rock the tee all summer and cozy up with the sweatshirt once the temperatures drop again!

Sub-2 Half Training: Week 1 & 2 Update (May 4 - May 17)

What to do when you don't have a target race to train for at the moment? Pick up a random training program that will be challenging and scary AF but will ultimately make you a better runner of course! Once Rock n' Roll Seattle was cancelled for June, I found myself with many months stretching between myself and my next scheduled marathon (Chicago in October). I'm not someone who is great at just running for the sake of it, so in order to trick myself into continuing to get out on the road, I decided it was time to take on a training program that will (hopefully) make me a faster runner. It's been a long time since I PRed in the half marathon distance (2013!!!), so I thought it would be good to start focusing on shaving down my half time by taking on a really scary training program - a sub-2 half training program!

I find that physically copying down a program in a notebook helps me stick to it!

I took this program from Runner's World. It includes plenty of mid-distance and long runs which I'm used to doing during marathon training, but there's some really scary speed work in there including tempo runs and mile repeats which I don't typically incorporate in my training blocks. I know that in order to become a faster and more accomplished runner at any distance, I need to take on these really challenging work outs that I'm scared of. I'm happy to report that I'm currently two weeks into this plan, and I'm already seeing that pushing myself is already paying off! Here's how these first two weeks have gone:

Week One: May 4 - 10, 2020

Monday, 5/4 → 20 min. body weight workout

Tuesday, 5/5 → 4 miles easy, .11mi cool down walk
(10:18 pace)

Wednesday, 5/6 → Rest

Thursday, 5/7 → 5 mile tempo run: 1 mile easy, 3 miles with 8:54/mi target
(8:50, 8:44, 9:01), 1 mile easy (9:19 overall)

Friday, 5/8 → 4 miles easy + .11mi cool down walk
(2.23mi for Ahmaud Arbery @ 10:00 pace, 1.88 miles @ 10:03)

Saturday, 5/9 → Rest
Sunday, 5/10 → 7 mile long run @ 9:52 pace

Week One: May 11 - 17, 2020

Monday, 5/11 → Rest

Tuesday, 5/12 → 5 miles easy
(10:09 pace)

Wednesday, 5/13 → Rest

Thursday, 5/14 → 2x1 mile repeats @ target 8:25/mi
(8:23, 8:38)

Friday, 5/15 → Rest

Saturday, 5/16 → Rest
Sunday, 5/17 → 4 miles easy @ 11:32 pace

I've been really liking this program thus far and even though I've come into this program with the idea that these target paces might not necessarily be attainable or me I've been finding that I'm able to push myself hard to achieve them! I'm hopeful that my the end of this training ~experiment~ that I will be a stronger runner and will enter in training for Chicago feeling confident and excited to shoot for #Sub5orBust for a third time in October!

Product Review: Knockaround Fast Lanes 😎

Disclaimer: I received a pair of Knockaround Fast Lanes to review as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review, find, and write race reviews!

I'm a huge sunglasses-wearer when it comes to my outdoor runs. I find that if I'm running without shade on my eyes, I'm more likely to give myself a huge headache from straining my eyes for a long period of time. I usually reach for really inexpensive sunglasses because I'm notorious for breaking and/or losing sunglasses due to either my own carelessness or my own clumsiness. I can't tell you how many times I've broken/lost a pair of sunglasses because they've just fallen off the top of my head! 

Enter the Knockaround Fast Lanes:

I was sent a pair of Fast Lanes in the Neon Summer colorway. These shades are *totally* my style - both color and design - and as soon as I opened the package I knew I would be wearing these constantly. One thing that I tend to be concerned about when it comes to sunglasses is how they fit on my face, around my head, and on top of my ears. I wear eyeglasses regularly so I know that if glasses don't fit right, it's all you can think about while you're wearing them. I was thrilled with how comfortably these fit on my face without feeling too loose. They're super lightweight as well, so if I was wearing them on my face or on the top of my head, they felt great!

 

I went out on more than a dozen runs with my Fast Lanes over the last few weeks and it's become a habit for me to reach for these before heading out the door! Sometimes if you have the wrong type of shades for running, they can bounce around, slide off your nose, or fog up as you exercise, but I have to say that these were PERFECT every time I took them out. My runs were a variety of lengths of distance and time, and I can't think of one negative thing about the way they felt. I loved wearing my Fast Lanes so much that I...

...bought several more pairs for both Brett and myself!

Knockaround was having a killer sale on some designs so I decided that it was the perfect time to stock up for the sunnier months ahead! The prices for Knockaround shades is SO affordable that I did not feel bad at all about ordering some extra pairs, especially because I know I'll use them all the time! I have to say that Brett has been a big fan of his new Knockaround shades as well! 😉

Overall I would HIGHLY recommend Knockarounds. I am personally so excited about these shades and I can totally foresee myself investing in more pairs in the future. You gotta have a design for every occasion, amirite? 😉 If you're interested in checking out Knockarounds, go ahead and give them a try! You can see every product they have available over on their website - knockaround.com!

Want to read some other reviews before making a purchase?

Check out these reviews from my fellow BibRave Pros!

Pretty Little Mudder

Races & Places with azsungoddess

Run the World in 7 Days

Mike and his Miles

The Celiathlete

February, March, and April 2020 Reading Wrap Up + 2020 Reading Stats Update

It has definitely been a while since I've done a reading wrap up, and now that the academic year is over I thought it would be the perfect time to update you on what I've been reading these last three months! If you remember from my January wrap up (doesn't that feel like it was 5 years ago?), I've been wanting to report in on more of my reading stats month to month so I have a good idea of what the scope of my reading looked like at the conclusion of 2020. It took me a good long while to get all of my stats together, but I'm happy to report that everything is updated! I'm going to put all of these stats under a page break, so make sure you click "Read more" to see everything I've read since February. Hopefully I'll be more on top of these monthly wrap ups moving forward! 😋

Things I'm Enjoying While in Self-Isolation

Hi folks! It's been a while since I've posted here. Between moving and settling in and a somehow extremely busy few weeks at work (who knew things could be so demanding at work when no one is on campus?), I really haven't had a lot of motivation to record what's been going on here on this platform. I have been vlogging and will be posting a couple more weekly vlogs from April very soon (the first two weeks of April are up now!), but I'm hoping now that my work schedule is slowing down I can commit more time to updating the ol' blog. I do have quite a few updates for you, which I'll hop into now:

1. Rock n' Roll Seattle has officially announced that it will not move forward as planned. There isn't solid information if that means it's cancelled, postponed, or what, but that does mean that I won't be racing a marathon in June. As weeks went by, I knew this was going to happen and I'm slightly relieved that it has been made official as I was leaning more toward not travelling out there anyway and was hemming and hawing over cancelling my flights and deferring my entry, but now I no for sure that it won't happen and can have a clear sense of what my summer will look like. I'm still going to be running regularly, but now I won't have to focus on training for a race for a few months when Chicago training gets under way.

2. The students I advise won Organization of the Year! I am so so SO proud of them and this award is so deserved. The students I work with on AIA work around the clock as VOLUNTEERS to manage our university's student activity fee and are constantly trying to innovate their work to be better representatives of the student body, so I am over the moon that they are getting this recognition. 

3. I'm feeling like I'm back in a pretty good reading groove right now, and I just successfully wrapped up my third OWLs readathon! I managed to read 7 books through the month of April and I'm hoping that I can keep up this reading pace through May as well. I'm well on my way to becoming a Hogwarts Care of Magical Creatures Professor! I will hopefully be posting a reading wrap up soon for February, March, and April, so you'll be able to see how I rated each book. I drafted the below list a few weeks ago with the intention of publishing it in early April, but I guess I never got around to it! Obviously I've been trying out a lot of different forms of entertainment while practicing self-isolation, and I wanted to share some of my favorite things I've watched/read/done while I've been home. Hopefully you can enjoy some of these things as well! 
VIDEO: Out There: A Journey to the Barkley Marathons
I'm always a fan of anything that has to do with the Barkley Marathons and I'm always looking to check out the experiences of the amazing athletes who attempt this beast of a race. This 50-minute documentary follows Belgian ultra runner Karel Sabbe on his journey to running the 2019 Barkley Marathons. I really liked this documentary because it also highlights the importance of a runner's crew when they are taking on races of this magnitude. A crew plays such an integral role in a runner's success and I love that Sabbe's crew got some of the spotlight!

MOVIE: Parasite

Obviously Parasite won best picture this year, and I will say that I think that award was definitely deserved! This is a Korean thriller that had me so captivated the whole way through. It does get a bit scary about half way through so if you need to watch during the day, definitely do, but I totally think it is worth the watch. It's on Hulu now!

BOOK: Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

To be perfectly honest, I've had a bit of a "meh" reading year. A lot of the books that I've been picking up have been just okay. I guess statistically speaking, that's pretty likely to happen, but when I find a book that I love these days, I DEVOUR it! That's what happened with Daisy Jones & the Six. This interview-style book about a fictional 70's rock band was right up my alley and I could not put it down. The characters and relationships were EVERYTHING and this one will definitely be on my top reads of the year.

ARTICLE: Why You Should Ignore All That Coronavirus-Inspired Productivity Pressure
This is an article I *so* needed to read when it popped up on my timeline a few weeks ago. This is told from the perspective of a college professor, but I think the idea applies to everyone. There's a lot of pressure to be taking "full advantage" of the free time that we have while in self-isolation, but that is such an unfair thing to expect from someone. We're going through a global pandemic. There is so much uncertainty in the world right now. If you don't feel like being productive, then you don't need to feel bad about it. I love that this article gives you that permission.
TV: The Challenge: Total Madness
Obviously, Brett and I have been really enjoying the new season of our favorite show to watch together - The Challenge. This season has been so much fun to watch because all the players have to win an elimination in order to qualify for the final. No more skating by! We've been anxiously anticipating every new episode each Wednesday and we can't wait for the next one! What have you been enjoying while self-isolating?