The June issue of Runner's World has an awesome article with my name written all over it.  The article "Don't Even Start" is about runners that do not like racing nor feel the need to.  And this is definitely me.  I do not like racing nor the crowds at the races.  I run because it is my happy place and where I find myself.  Good read.  Check it out! 

 

I am a music lover with a very ecclectic taste judging by my iPhone content.  But for the past week I have been loving the music from Blackbird Blackbird.  This band combined elements of electronica with folsky music creating one interesting combination.  It is relaxed but energizing, and it has been my go-to music this week when I go running.  I can't help feeling like I am running on a beach when I am listening to it.

 

Not sure how the cycle goes: are my legs feeling stronger when I run because of the leg workouts I have been doing, or am I able to kill my leg workouts because of my running.  The important thing is that I am getting stronger.  And right now I am loving legs but especially glutes, which are so important for running.  And the leg press machine is my favorite machine this week.  I have increased the weight I can press and I get an awesome workout.  Plus I feel very bad***.  Now, if only it wasn't so scary to get into it!

 

It is surprising to my fellow Army colleagues that in 16 years I have never ran the Army Ten Miler-- probably because of the top item on this post.  But this year is the 30th anniversary of the race and I decided to register for it.  This will also coincide with the last long run I have to do before the half marathon the following weekend in Pennsylvania.  I'm totally excited about experiencing this great Army running tradition.

Now can we talk about the registration process?  Registration should never be more painful than actually running a race.  In the first 10 minutes 14K people registered and the race sold out in two hours.  Here is the thing: the website crashed the first 10 minutes and people had to wait between 45 to an hour to register.  I was pretty lucky because my Type A personality pulled up the site to have it at the ready 15 minutes earlier than the registration time and the registration button was live!  So I jumped all over that and had no problems registering. :-)

This weekend I am heading up to Minnesota to spend the week with my handsome fiance and his family.  This trip was not supposed to happen until later in the summer but my future father-in-law is having aortic aneurysm surgery and I am heading up to help anyway I can since it is planting season plus I love my future mother-in-law and I know she'll be on pins and needles during this time.  So please keep my future FIL in your prayers.  And I know that it is odd to include this trip as a favorite but anytime I get to spend with this awesome bunch of Norwegians, it is a favorite of mine.

What about you guys?  What are some of your favorite things this week?