Michelle — Page 47

2018 Runners Holiday Gift Guide

December 7, 2018 by Michelle 24 Comments

How are you doing with your holiday shopping?

I’m hoping to make a real dent in my shopping list this weekend. And, in that spirit, now seems like the perfect time to share my annual gift guide for the runner in your life.

(While this post contains affiliate links, all opinions expressed are, as always, strictly my own)

Rockay Accelerate Socks – I am very picky about the socks I wear and tend to not venture outside my comfort zone once I find a brand/style I like. However, I was recently sent a pair of Rockay socks and decided to give them a shot – it was love at first run! These socks are made of merino wool and offer a comfortable fit with no bulk, great breathability, and serious moisture-wicking. The design includes nice compression in the arch and padding in both the toe and heel.

Resistance Bands — After spending a good bit of my summer working with the physical therapist, I’ve come to appreciate the importance of owning a good set of resistance bands. I think every runner can benefit from having a set! I use these PhantomFit bands – they’re durable and reasonably priced.

Headsweats Hats/Visors/Buffs – If you’ve been around here for a while then you know how much I love my Headsweats gear. Safe to say that 9 times out of 10 if I have headgear on, it’s Headsweats. In my opinion, they offer some of the best products out there, which is why I was so happy to be a 2018 ambassador. Use code ATTITUDE25 to save 25% on the Headsweats website.

Magnesium Oil – I discovered Magnum Solace magnesium oil earlier this year and just love how it soothes my sore legs. I have also found that I sleep better when I use it before bed.

Oofos Slides or Flip Flops – These sandals provide a great combination of foam cushion and arch support – perfect for post-run recovery or everyday wear. I live in my Oofos Sport Slides after a run and have been eyeing a pair of the Oolala Flip Flops to add to my collection.

Sharing some gift ideas for the runners in your life! #running #runchat #giftguide Share on X

I’m linking up with Lacey & Meranda for the Friday with Fairytales and Fitness link-up!

Happy Shopping!

Filed Under: #TeamHeadsweats, fave things, Friday Five, Gifts for runners

Runfessions Over Coffee

November 30, 2018 by Michelle 28 Comments

Well hello, Friday!

Maybe it’s playing catch-up after the holiday, but this was one crazy busy week and it went by in a flash. I am so ready for this weekend to begin! So let’s get things started with a little catch up over coffee…and a few runfessions thrown in for good measure 😉

Over coffee, I’d tell you that I’m wrapping up my third week of FASTer Way to Fat Loss. I won’t get on a scale until the end of the program, but I do feel like my clothes are fitting better – so that’s a win! While the FWFL program definitely has helped me to be more mindful of what I’m eating, I do runfess that there are days where constantly tracking my macros is making me a little crazy.

Over coffee, I’d tell you that I’m pretty excited to have made a return to acupuncture this past week! I have used acupuncture on and off over the years for a variety of things including migraines, blood pressure, and yes running injuries. When I started wrestling with my nagging hamstring/hip issue earlier this year, I started hunting for a new acupuncturist since my previous practitioner is no longer in the area. I’m psyched to have finally found one I like and am planning to go for another session this weekend!

Over coffee, I’d tell you that despite my love of kickboxing as a workout, I runfess that I realized the other day that I haven’t made it to a class in almost two months! Whoops! Between work and family schedules, getting to the studio for a class has been tough – I clearly need the flexibility to work out when it fits my schedule and not the other way around.

Over coffee, I’d tell you that I recently had my first experience of riding in the car with my son driving with his permit. Yeah, well I runfess that I’m either going to have to learn to seriously chill out or make my husband do all of the driving hours.

I’m linking up with Coco and Deborah for the Ultimate Coffee Date;

and with Marcia for Runfessions;

and with Meranda & Lacey for the Fairytales and Fitness link-up

Any runfessions to share? What would you tell me over coffee? Do you regularly attend fitness classes?

Filed Under: Friday Five, Runfessions, Ultimate coffee date

Wrapping Up Thanksgiving Week

November 25, 2018 by Michelle 26 Comments

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

For the first time in a long time, we weren’t on the road for the holiday. We stayed local and my brother hosted an awesome meal! My oldest son was home from school for the week, and it was nice to have a few days to just kick back and chill with the family.

My workouts for this week were pretty low-key too – here’s a quick recap of how things went down:

Monday: Yoga
Tuesday: T25 Cardio
Wednesday: Run evaluation with Coach Marc, followed by a 3-mile run
Thursday: 3-mile run

14 degrees with a feel like of 3 – Brrrr!

Friday: 1.25 power walk
Saturday: 4.5-mile run
Sunday: 1-mile walk plus yoga

Runner’s Revamp

The highlight of my workout week was meeting up with Coach Marc for a run evaluation. For these sessions, Marc works in partnership with a chiropractor Dr. Kelly for what they call “Holistic Injury Prevention & Runner’s Revamp” (HIPRR). After a warm-up run with Marc, they filmed and observed me running at various paces and then we spent quite a bit of time breaking down the film. Let me just say that watching yourself run in slow-motion is an eye-opening experience! Having each of them providing input from their different perspectives was so helpful, and I could have easily sat around talking about running all morning with them. My head was spinning by the end and thankfully they’ll be sending me all of their evaluations, along with next steps as Marc starts to build my new training plan.

Taking on the Holiday Challenge

For a little added motivation, I signed up for Race Cancer’s Holiday Challenge – the goal is to run or walk at least 1 mile each day from Thanksgiving to New Year’s Eve (outdoors mileage gets you Winter Warrior status). It’s the first leg of the Charity Challenge Trifecta, which includes the Winter Challenge (January 1 – 31) and Winter Challenge Overtime (Feb 1 – March 31). I did the Winter Challenge last January as part of the Black Girls Run! Boston team. I love that they added the Holiday and Overtime components for this year – I don’t know if I’ll end up doing all 3 components, but it is a great way to keep moving during the winter months. I also love that the challenge has a “3 strikes, you’re out” rule, so you can miss 2 days and still remain in the challenge – cause well…life happens, right? Holiday Challenge registration is open until 11:59 p.m on Monday if you want to join me 😉

So tell me, how was your week? Did you travel for Thanksgiving?

I’m joining Holly and Wendy for the Weekly Wrap.

Filed Under: #HolidayChallenge, Weekly Wrap

Shaking Things Up

November 12, 2018 by Michelle 22 Comments

Happy Monday!

I missed last week’s Weekly Wrap because I was just coming off a week of dealing with a stomach bug, so needless to say there wasn’t much to recap. Thankfully, by Sunday, I was finally back to running and this past week was a decent mix of running, some yoga, and cross training in the form of leaf raking.

Time to Shake Things Up

While being sick is never fun, laying low did give me some time to step back and start to think about goals for the upcoming year. One thing I know for sure is that it’s time to get out of the cycle of injury; pseudo-recovery; pushing too hard; then back to injury – it’s been a frustrating cycle which has impeded the way I have wanted to train and race, along with impacting my joy of running. Time to shake things up…

So I think the first big step in the right direction is that I’ve hired a new coach. I first met Coach Marc when I attended his ChiRunning workshop last year. I really enjoyed the clinic and his style and have been thinking for a while that he would be someone I’d be interested in working with. I’ve occasionally been in touch with Marc since the clinic, but when I got an email from him a couple of weeks ago, it came at just the right time. We had a great conversation and by the end of our call, I knew this was a great step in the right direction.

I’ll be sharing more about my work with Coach Marc in future posts as we work together to build a year-long plan to get me to a fall marathon, with some fun races along the way!

I’m joining Holly and Wendy for the Weekly Wrap.

And, with Erika, Marcia, and Patty for Tuesdays on the Run.

Filed Under: running coach, Tuesdays on the Run, Weekly Wrap

5 things over November coffee

November 2, 2018 by Michelle 30 Comments

Happy Friday! And, hello November!

It’s time once again for one of my favorite link-ups – a time to dish a little about life happenings over a cup of coffee. So grab a mug of your favorite beverage and let’s join Coffee hosts Coco and Deborah and chat.

Over coffee, I’d tell you that we went out to visit my son at school for Fall Family Weekend last weekend, and had a great time! I continue to enjoy seeing him settling in and happy – does a momma’s heart a lot of good!

Over coffee, I’d tell you that I started a gratitude challenge on Instagram. I’ve been having a little bit of a pity party over the way my running’s been going (or not going) – combine that with work stress, election fatigue, etc. and I was just feeling the need for a bit of an attitude adjustment – And what better way than to focus on gratitude? So for the month of November, I’m doing a daily post on something I’m thankful for that day using #FocusingonGratitude. I’m hoping others will join in.

Over coffee, I’d tell you that I’m looking forward to taking on the FASTer Way to Fat Loss Program with Amy C. I’ve heard such good things about this program and have been curious for a while. And, I’ve known Amy for years, so when I learned that she had become a certified coach I knew I wanted to give it a try.

Over coffee, I’d tell you that in the ongoing world of house projects, I’m driving myself crazy trying to find the right shade of gray for our bedroom! Seriously, how could there possibly be so many!? But I have decided one of the most fun jobs would be naming the paint colors.

Over coffee, I’d tell you that I cannot believe that in less than 60 days 2018 will be history. Despite my desire for time to slow down just a little, I feel like the pace at which the days are moving is increasing. I was surprised by some of the posts showing up in my Facebook feed from friends who couldn’t wait to be done with Halloween so they could put up Christmas decorations – wait, what?! While I love the holiday season, I’d like to ease into it – not dive in full force without a parachute!

What would you tell me over coffee? Are you in a rush to get to the holidays?

I’m also joining Fairytales and Fitness for the Friday Five linkup!

Filed Under: Friday Five, Ultimate coffee date

Wrapping up October Madness

October 29, 2018 by Michelle 20 Comments

October Madness!

Is that a thing? It sure felt like it around here this month. Juggling long stints of single parenting, multiple work events, and lots of school activities left my head spinning and feeling a little discombobulated. And, while there was also some fun with family and friends mixed in, I am finishing October t-i-r-e-d!

On the fitness front, my schedule left me in a state of “do what you can when you can.” While there was some cross training on the Arc Trainer and a little time on the yoga mat, I stumbled on my consistency with my PT exercises as the month wore on, and my running success yo-yo’d. I seem to stall out around 4 miles, before the radiating pain in my right hammy flares. As such, my longest run of the month was just 6 miles – and, if you follow me on Instagram then you know that the wheels really came off the wagon on Sunday’s run and had me questioning my ability to return to 13.1 any time soon.

So, as we turn the page to November, the goal is pretty simple – be consistent! My schedule should be much quieter so that should help. I’ll also be spending some quality time with my massage therapist and checking in with the physical therapist. Will see if my mileage can be increased safely in time, but I’m determined to not let my lack of running cast a shadow over all I can do.

I’m joining Holly and Wendy for the Weekly Wrap.

And, with Erika, Marcia, and Patty for Tuesdays on the Run.

Filed Under: injuries, month in review, Tuesdays on the Run, Weekly Wrap

October runfessions

October 26, 2018 by Michelle 26 Comments

It’s the last Friday of the month (already?!) – which means Marcia has opened the Runfessional! This is always a fun link-up so be sure to check out what our host and others are coming clean about this month.

I’m happy to say that the long-awaited fall weather that I love so much has finally decided to settle in and stick around for a bit. So here’s the kicker, as much as I love fall running, I runfess that my mojo for anything that resembles training has gone into hiding.

I runfess that, even though I made peace with my decision to defer my entry into MCM so I could attend parents weekend festivities at my son’s school, I have felt a twinge or two of jealousy as my social media feeds have filled with excited runners’ posts counting down to the weekend.

With the way my schedule’s been going lately I’ve been hitting the gym again to get in some cross training on the Arc Trainer. Well maybe it’s the time I’ve been going but I don’t ever remember seeing so many teenagers – especially so many teenage girls in perfectly coordinated outfits, quaffed hair and makeup! I runfess that I’m starting to feel underdressed LOL!

I runfess that I purposely wait until the last minute to buy Halloween candy. The less time it’s in my house the better!

And, speaking of Halloween, while I get a kick out of seeing all of the little kids in their costumes, I runfess that I get seriously irked by the lazy teens who can’t bother to dress up, but then want to abscond with handfuls of candy! I don’t have a problem with teens trick or treating, I just want them to make an effort!

What are you runfessing?

Do you ever have race FOMO? Any lazy teen trick or treaters in your neighborhood?

I’m also joining Fairytales and Fitness for the Friday Five linkup!

Filed Under: Friday Five, Runfessions

PT Update and Swapping Races

October 15, 2018 by Michelle 28 Comments

Happy Monday!

Well, I swear I blinked and the weekend went by! After last week where Mother Nature seemed confused over what season it was (80 degrees at one point then crashing back to the 40s at another), I’m hoping for some consistency this week in that fall weather that I love.

Between the crazy temperature roller coaster ride, a fair amount of rain, and a hectic work schedule, it was a little hard to find a rhythm last week. Somehow I managed to eek out 3 runs, 2 days of strength training, and a nice power walk catching up with a friend — I’ll take it!

PT Update & Swapping Races

I also managed to catch up with my PT Abby. It’s the first time I’ve had a chance to see her since the Ocean Road 10K so it was good to be able to fill her in and talk about next steps. While I have definitely made progress, the suspect hammy can still make running a challenge, especially once I hit the 4 – 4 ½ mile window – the fact that I got to 5 ½ miles yesterday was a big win in my book!

Of course, time waits for no one and as I watch the days tick by I’ve started to question whether running the Harborside Half makes sense. My fall goal is to get a half marathon in before the year’s done and luckily, I’ve been keeping an alternative race on the back burner – the Half Merrython. It will be held on December 2 which would buy me 3 more weeks over Harborside, and, based on the revamped training plan I’ve sketched out, the extra time should allow me to comfortably get to double-digit running before race day (barring a major hammy flare up). Abby was on board with this idea and gave me a new routine to follow daily to help get me to the starting line.

So it looks the Harborside Half will have to wait for another year. Thankfully, I had held off on registration, so it looks like it’s bye bye Harborside and hello Half Merrython – now it’s time to register!

Have you ever swapped out one race for another? Has fall weather consistently arrived where you are?

I’m linking up with Holly and Wendy for the Weekly Wrap.

And, with Erika, Marcia, and Patty for Tuesdays on the Run.

Filed Under: race calendar, Tuesdays on the Run, Weekly Wrap

Ocean Road 10K Race Recap

October 9, 2018 by Michelle 22 Comments

Last Sunday my husband J and I took on the Ocean Road 10K, and today I’m finally getting around to sharing some of the highlights.

Ocean Road 10K Race Recap

I have had my eye on the Ocean Road 10K since last year, but the race has a limited field and by the time I was sure I could make it work in my schedule the race had sold out. Determined to not repeat the same mistake, once I caught the first notification on Facebook I jumped at signing up.

This is a Rhode Island-based race, so there were no local packet pick-up options, leaving me to have to make the trek down to Narragansett the day before. (There was an option to pick up your bib on race morning, but most of the race communications tried to dissuade you from going that route). While I didn’t love the extra driving time down and back, the packet pick-up itself was a breeze. I especially appreciated that they let you pick up bibs for others as long as you had a copy of a photo ID, so I could pick up J’s bib while he was off picking up our oldest son from his cross country meet.

Since this was a point-to-point race, all runners were assigned to a shuttle based on when you registered – and since J slid in on registration literally moments before it sold out, we were assigned to the first wave of shuttles at 6:30 a.m. Factoring in the hour plus drive, we were up and moving by 4:30 to make sure we were out the door by 5 – oy! Though in hindsight, I will say that given how fast the parking lot was filling up when we arrived at 6:15, I’m glad we didn’t plan to arrive later.

The school buses were all lined up and ready to head out, and we were both a little surprised that given all of the repeated reminders in the pre-race communications about taking your assigned shuttle, we didn’t see any race staff on hand to make sure people were getting on the right shuttles. Being on the first shuttles had its advantages of first dibs on the Porta Potties and getting in line to rent a locker (The locker situation turned out to be a hot mess, but more on that later).

The race didn’t start until 8 so we enjoyed the sunrise, watched the handful of surfers on the water, and tried to stretch and stay warm. As the start time neared and they made the first call for the “fast runners” we realized there were no posted markers to help runners self-seed. No Bueno. We shuffled in where we could as the race went off in “waves” – and soon we were off.

The goal for this race was simply to use 5:1 intervals and to try to hold a solid pace. And for the first 4 miles, we did just that. Shortly after the 4-mile marker, my hammy announced it was done…hmm yeah, well we’ve still got 2.2 miles to go. J suggested we switch to shorter run intervals and while it helped a little I could really feel my pace slowing. Thankfully, it was only a couple of miles of discomfort before we were heading down the home stretch and crossing the finish line.

We got our medals, water and did a quick peruse of the food before hitting the Kind Bar tent, and then headed to the beach where most of our fellow runners were gathering. It was such a gorgeous day that if we hadn’t had family plans for the day we could have easily hung out and enjoyed the beachfront.

Running just gets better with views like this!

Race pluses…

This race offers a stunning course – it starts at Point Judith Lighthouse and follows the RI coast up to the Narragansett Town Beach. Along the way, you’re treated to great coastal views and some beautiful beachfront property. (Having the picture-perfect weather we had, certainly didn’t hurt!)
While the course rolls a little, it’s fairly flat – the inclines that exist are gradual.
Free race photos!
The T-shirt is fun, and I think they hit a home run with the medal!

… and minuses

How do you ask runners to self-seed and not provide some kind of pace markers at the start?
The mobile lockers were advertised at $5 so to get to the front of the line and discover that the $5 locker was the size of a thimble and the woman managing the lockers was trying to get everyone to “upgrade” felt like a big bait and switch. On top of it, many runners (like us) only had exact change so you can imagine how well this worked out. We were able to jam my sweatshirt and the small bag we had into the locker but J ended up having to carry his sweatshirt the whole race.
Just a couple of extra volunteers positioned in the parking lot post-race would have gone a long way to making things run smoother when it was time to leave.

Final thoughts

I really enjoyed the vibe of this race and only wish my hamstring had allowed me to run the race I wanted. While the distance was doable, I had to significantly slow my pace to finish, so clearly, I still have some work to do on my rehab.

I would run this race again in a heartbeat and will be looking to return next year!

I’m linking up with Erika, Marcia, and Patty for Tuesdays on the Run.

Filed Under: Ocean Road 10K, race report

Time for a little October coffee

October 5, 2018 by Michelle 24 Comments

It’s time once again for one of my favorite link-ups – the Ultimate Coffee Date. A time to dish a little about life happenings over a cup of coffee. So grab a mug of your favorite beverage and let’s join Coffee hosts Coco and Deborah and chat.

Over coffee, I’d tell you that October is probably my favorite month. Fall is usually in full swing at this point but Mother Nature’s still playing her own little game of bait and switch with the weather. I am looking forward to doing all the fun fall things like apple picking, hiking and leaf peeping, evening fires on the patio, and afternoon football games. October is also my anniversary month – my husband and I will be celebrating 26 years!

Over coffee, I’d tell you that my oldest son was home last weekend from school. He had an “open” weekend, which means no classes on Monday so he came home Saturday after his cross country meet. To say it was wonderful having him home would be an understatement. Seeing him so settled and at ease made dropping him off Monday night a little easier…but just a little 🙂

Over coffee, I’d tell you that I would admit that having only one child at home has taken some getting used to. On the one hand, it’s nice to have the extra one-on-one time with my youngest – on the other hand, parenting a high schooler from afar can present its own set of challenges.

Over coffee, I’d tell you that those house projects I mentioned last month over coffee are still waiting for me to get started. September was just non-stop and when I did have downtime, truthfully, all I wanted to do was veg. But I’m feeling re-inspired to freshen things up around here before the holidays come. I spent far too much time on Pinterest this past week and am planning to pick up paint samples for our home office this weekend. I also think I have convinced my husband our family room couch needs to be replaced. We’ll see how much I get accomplished over the next couple of months.

And, speaking of house projects, over coffee, I’d tell you that we had an HVAC contractor out to the house the other day to give us estimates for a new furnace/heating system and possibly central air. After hearing the estimates I seriously wonder sometimes if I picked the wrong profession! Do you think it’s too late to go back to school?!