May Recap/Stats

Miles Ran: 61 M - Down from last month. Boo.

Miles Biked: 11.70 M - (Leela was out on loan all month and the gym bike just didn't seem appealing at all!)

Miles Elliptical'd: 6 M

Miles Walked: 11.75 M - It's officially evening stroll season!

Rest Days: 11

Races: Fifth Third River Bank Run 10k - 3.25 Min PR!

Favorite Run: The gorgeous 8 miler around Kensington Lake w/ Spike

Favorite Wedding Related Activity: It's a toss up between the menu planning/tasting at our reception venue and getting our engagement photo's taken.

We have so much fun together.

Paintings Completed: None. :( I was just way too busy this month.

Current Reads: (Reading) Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier; struggling to finish this one, hoping it'll pick up some more now that I'm past the half way point.

(Finished) 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami; I found it to be very strange, definitely not my normal read, but fascinating enough to keep me wanting to find out what on earth would happen next.

Current Shame-Inducing Guilty Pleasure: American Ninja Warrior

Current Obsession: Being outside!

Current Song: I got nothing. Been enjoying the sounds of the great outdoors far too much to listen to tunes.

Current Wish-List: For a money tree to sprout in our flower box! LOL!

Current Need: A girls night out, but that will have to wait until August.

Current Triumph: Destroying my old 10k PR!

Current Bane of my Existence: My stupid legs. Why does one of them always have to be wonky?!?!

Current Goal: To start tackling all the DIY projects we have in mind for the wedding. I will start them, I WILL!

Current Indulgence: Confetti cake blizzard from Dairy Queen. You need to get one. Now.

Current Blessings: I am one blessed redhead these days and so thankful for all the happiness and joy I have in my life!

Current Excitement:  That June is going to be much quieter in terms of plans than April and May were. We sooo need the down time after a whirlwind past couple of months! Also, that I'm finally hitting the double digits this weekend!

How'd your May shape up?!?!

Running is what you make of it, make it an Adventure!™

3 Things Thursday

1. Malware... If you came here recently and got the evil red malware screen of warning, I apologize! Apparently the site I was previously using to generate my pretty little background was compromised; I made some necessary changes and hopefully that won't happen again!
   
   
2. Double Digits... This weekend I will run my first double digit run in over a year! It's been six months since I was first cleared to return to running and at long last I am finally ready to tackle my once beloved ten mile distance. Double digit bad-assery, here I come!
   
   
3. Dos Anos... Two years ago today, after having traversed 1,231 miles cross country, Rixy and I rolled in to East Lansing from Orlando and I began the next chapter of my life. I can't believe it's already been that long since I took a chance and believed in a little thing called love. So many things have happened since that fateful trip, but I can assure you that while I'll always miss my Florida peeps, I've never regretted that decision. (Alright fine, I've occasionally questioned it from time to time, especially during snow storms... And below freezing weather...) What's the craziest thing you've ever done for love?

Has it really already been two years since this happened?!?!

Of Long Weekends and Long Runs

Can I just say that I love long weekends and the short week that follows! Tuesday starts have me already thinking about the weekend to come and man do I need it after how busy we were this weekend! I keep saying we're going to stop packing our weekends to the brim but then something comes up and BAM we're going, going, going all weekend long!

Saturday we headed to Grand Rapids to meet with the Father and go over the wedding ceremony details followed by an appointment with our reception venue to do the menu planning/tasting. OMG it was a total foodgasm of the mouth! We were absolutely stuffed and quickly slipped into a food coma after arriving back home. Needless to say, we are even happier with our choice of reception venue for the big day!

Sunday morning we woke up bright and early to head over to Kensington Metropark; Spike had taken me there last year when I was injured and ever since I had been dying to go when I was able to run again. You see there is a mostly wooded running/biking trail that loops around Kent Lake, which is just over 8 miles and absolutely gorgeous. It took us a little over an hour to make our way around the lake and I loved every minute of it! (Especially having Spike by my side every step of the way) It was a serious confidence booster considering how tough running has been lately due to the heat/humidity and my wonky right leg/ankle issue. I finished the run totally spent but incredibly happy and after Spike wrapped up the last of his miles we enjoyed a few minutes soaking up the view of the lake.

After getting cleaned up from the run, we met up with Jamoosh and Lady J for a burger and brew in downtown Brighton; it was great to spend some quality time with Jamoosh's better half. (Though we've met before in passing, this was the first time we got to sit down and really chat.) After lunch we took them over to our favorite little running shop in town, Elite Feet. We love visiting this store, even if just for a chat, the guys who run it are great (and incredibly fast!), although, I do hold them partially responsible for encouraging Spike's crazy ultra plans. After Elite Feet we parted ways with our Texan friends and headed to Bed, Bath & Beyond to do some wedding registering. Despite what everyone has told us, we didn't really find this particular wedding related activity very fun. It's SO overwhelming and we quickly tired of making decisions and scanning stuff. (I know, I know #firstworldproblems.) 

Monday was spent hitting up the local Memorial Day parade followed by helping friends do some remodeling at their house. All in all it was a great weekend, but like I said above, it was just really, really busy. What about you guys? What did you get in to over the long weekend?

Caught this sunset yesterday, isn't it eerily beautiful over this swamp? 

3 Things Thursday

1. The Angry Sun... This past weekend while bargaining with myself to run "just one more mile" while melting in the relentless heat I seriously wondered how on earth I used to live and train in Florida?!?! Because of my injury last year I haven't run in the heat since the summer of 2010, which is why it's laughable to recall that I trained for a freaking marathon in worse than this!
2. SYTYCD... This evening, after yet another brutally hot run, I kicked off this season's So You Think You Can Dance over at Sun Runner's; I'm fairly certain we just started a new weekly tradition. Please tell me I still have some SYTYCD fans out there reading who'd enjoy nerding out about this from time to time?!?!?
3. No Model Here... Despite how great our engagement photo's turned out, I need only consult race photo's to confirm I'm no model. (Thanks for all your comments, it seems the track ones stole the show, even if y'all are biased! :) LOL!) River Bank Run finally sent out a link to race photo's and out of a dozen, this is the only one that I don't look like death. Running fast does not pretty pictures make.

Busted heel striking.

Have a fantabulous holiday weekend everyone! I'll catch you on the flipside with stories of long runs, Jamoosh sightings, and maybe even a recap of our menu planning/tasting session at the reception venue...

Engaging Photo's

The Soon-To-Be Mr. & Mrs.

Many moons ago after we first got engaged, we selected a photographer that was local to the Grand Rapids area where we are getting married; and part of the package we selected included a complimentary engagement session. This weekend we finally got around to making it happen and lucked out with sunny blue skies, warm weather, and our awesome photographers, Davyn Photography, were nice enough to drive over and snap us in our hometown. I could not be any happier with our photo's if I tried, they turned out absolutely perfect and they loved all our quirky ideas and locations. Here's just a few of my favorites, though they took so many that it was hard to narrow it down to just a few! (Click on any to enlarge.)

In my favorite little "secret alley"

Same alley, different spot

My love.

My absolute favorite of them all.

Queue dramatic running!

I love him.

Did any of you have engagement photo's taken? What did you do with them afterwards? For a minute there I kinda felt like getting them taken would be pointless with all the wedding photo's we're sure to have taken, but then Spike pointed out that we could show off our personalities and why we are "us." He definitely had a point and after seeing them I can't wait to frame a couple.

Hopefully this wasn't too barf-tastic for you, and I promise next post will be more running and less schmooping! :)

Random Facts Friday

1. The audio book I’m not quite done listening to yet has been overdue since Monday. I feel like a criminal.
2. Sometimes when I say striped, I say strip-ped. 
3. Ever since my brother moved closer we have been talking on the phone every day. I love this.
4. My hair has gotten to that ridiculously long length that I just don’t know what to do with it.
5. No Spike, I am not cutting it short!
6. This weekend we have our engagement photo’s. I’m wearing heels. GASP!



Outfit Tease!

7. I am thankful for technology as it lets me send picture texts of me trying on 5,000 dresses to my friends to help me decide which one to buy.
8. My run this morning was absolutely refreshing! 
9. I can’t decide whether or not I want to sign up for a race I’ve been eying. I have a baby shower later that day and just don’t know if I want to rush from another race without showering, again.
10. While I love my flashy (for me) Saucony Mirage’s, I HATE their tongues. For some reason I cannot get them to stay in one place. Anybody else have this problem?



11. We have the last of our church appointed marriage prep classes this weekend. T-minus 5 months!
12. Hey BoB, has McBaby arrived yet?
13. I’m slightly jealous of all the people running the Reach the Beach relay.
14. I could go for a Raspberry Mojito right about now.
15. I just answered my personal cell phone “{Insert Company Name Here}, this is Jen.”
16. What, didn't you know my first name is Jen? It is. Morgan is my last name.
17. My company just upgraded all its computers and let us buy the old ones ridiculously cheap, I am in love with my new $100 laptop.
18. I have a hard time sitting on a couch and not having a blanket to curl up under. Even in the summer.
    
    Sorry Katie, I still like calling it "Random Facts Friday" better than "Random Friday Facts"

River Bank Run 10k Race Recap

Fifth Third River Bank Run 10k: 46:55 - 3+ min 10k PR!!!

Pre-Race: Spike and I crashed in Grand Rapids with Kevin & Jennie race eve (will link their recaps when they go up); we greatly appreciated their hospitality, the pre-race breakfast, and Bailey's kisses. We set out for the race at the leisurely time of 7 am and arrived downtown avoiding all detours, road closures, and parking issues; strolling up on all the madness with plenty of time to spare. Thank you Kevin! The 10k started at 8 am so I quickly took my leave of the group to check my bag, hit the porta-potties, and line-up.

Our wonderful hosts

Start Corral: The staging area for the 10k start was further up from the official starting line for the 25k so I had to snake my way through a barrage of people; suddenly finding myself in this sparsely populated area between the 7 min pace group signs and the 8 min pace group signs. It was kinda weird. Kevin, Jennie, and a few other friends spotted me there and wished me good luck and just before I was about to start Spike appeared yelling for me to PR the crap out of the race.

The Race: With my leg wigging out on me the week before the race I wasn't entirely sure what to expect for this race. I had a secret goal to hit somewhere in the 45:xx and had looked up the pace required to hit such a goal: 7:24 or less. My plan, so long as my ankle/leg felt up for it, was to hit 7:20's and hold on for dear life. Instead I didn't look at my watch until the first mile beeped and found I had pulled a Spike and blew out the first mile. (6:43) At that point I thought, eh just run. So I did. I got excited running through the zoo in Mile 2, cracked up at the sign that said "No one ever died drowning in sweat!" somewhere before Mile 4, and then cursed every last hill heading in to the finish. There was definitely no negative splitting for this race, though I somehow managed to rally enough energy to sprint in to the finish seeing I might sneak in under 47 minutes.

Official Chip Time: 46:55 / 7:33 P - 3+ min PR!
268/4092 Overall
52/2492 Women Overall
12/483 AG

Post-Race: After catching my breath I made my way through the finish area madness, collected my bag from the gear check, and met up with Bari to cheer in my friend Nichole and await Spike's 25k finish. We passed the time shaking our fists at injury, chatting about returns to running, the incredible weather, and before long spotted that obnoxiously bright orange hat in the distance. He had ran the coveted sub-2 hour finish (and then some) for the 25k and I almost took out a grandma trying to snap a pic of him sprinting in. Whoops.

From top left: Bari hydrating for spectating, Nichole and I post-10k, Spike sprinting in to the finish, the 10k finisher pin

Post-Race Thoughts: We lucked out with perfect overcast skies, cool weather, and only a few sprinkles on race morning for the 35th running of the Fifth Third River Bank Run. RBR puts on a seamless series of events (5k run, 5k walk, 10k & 25k), the volunteers were great, there's a decent amount of spectators throughout the course, and the finish area was awesome. Janet Cherobon-Bawcom broke the American women's 25k record from 1983 by running a 1:24, beating Spike by almost 30 minutes! The 10k course was scenic and fast, until about Mile 4 when the hills come at you steep and one right after another. The humidity was in full affect race morning and the hills were rude, but those are the only complaints you'll get out of me about this race. My ankle/leg has been feeling pretty crotchety since, so I'll be taking a few days off and possibly hitting up the injury clinic just to be safe, but otherwise I'm absolutely stoked about my shiny-new 10k PR and cannot wait to tackle the 25k next year! 

3 Things Thursday

1. Injury Angst… Confession: My right ankle/lower leg (not previously injured) has been bothering me. At first I thought it was just the usual aches associated with training, but last week I noticed my ankle was swollen. I decided to take a few days off after my run on Thursday to be proactive; skipping my long run and trying not to jump around too much while spectating on Sunday. I went for a test run on Tuesday morning and things seemed to be in working order. This morning I set out for another test run and so far, so good. That said…
   
   
2. RBR Goals… Before I started getting concerned about this possible injury situation my goal for Saturday’s River Bank Run 10k was to PR the crap out of it. (Current 10k PR: 50:20 - 2009) Given recent developments I’m going to attempt to race, but if things aren't feeling right I’ll back down and focus on just finishing instead. Fingers crossed that won't be the case though...

   

   Ready or not, here I come G.R.!!!

   
   
3. Raced Out... Despite all of this, I'm still really excited for the race. This is a huge event in our area and marking it's 35th year of existence. Kevin has graciously agreed to let us crash at his place, and we get to meet up with lots of other friends. We're also excited that it's our last week of racing for awhile; one or both of us have raced every week for the last four weekends straight and we're feeling a bit raced out!
   
   Have you ever had race burn-out? 

Kalamazoo Spectating Recap

This weekend my beloved Florida frenemy Harold, his girlfriend Cate, Spike, and I all headed down to Kalamazoo for them to run the Borgess Half Marathon. On the way we stopped over in Lansing so they could experience the amazing cupcakes I always rave about from the Sugar Shack and also to stock up on gu at the running mecca of Mid-Michigan, Playmakers. 

We arrived in Kalamazoo mid-afternoon and hit the expo for packet pick-up; we also finally got to meet Jordan, though he tried to throw us off by shaving his beard. (How do you expect to be the bald and bearded runner if you lack a beard?!?!? I'm thinking Spike should hijack your blog name until you've earned it back! LOL!) After a turn of the expo, we grabbed a bite to eat to tide us over before heading back to the hotel to relax until dinner. Kalamazoo is the home of Western Michigan University where my cousin attends school so he met us for carb-loading later that evening and kept us entertained with stories of drunken debauchory and bad decisions.

Harold and Cate were stoked to "sleep in" for this race, as most races in Florida start hella early to avoid the hot angry sun. They were also excited about the cool morning temps, a mere 50*, which is down right chilly to my thin-blooded friends. We all got a good laugh at how overdressed they were in their throwaways in comparison to the local running population when we arrived at the race; and they were excited to learn that there were seat warmers in the Spike-mobile.

Butt warmers FTW!

Soon enough it was time for them to line-up; I wished them all good luck and hustled out to the course so I could cheer them heading out. They were all smiles and so was I because Harold let me use his fancy-schmancy camera to play paparazzi!

My trio of runnerds all waves and smiles!

With the halfers gone, I finished making my way out onto the course so I could be in place to cheer them in; once there I spent the next two hours or so ringing a cowbell like it was my job (it was) and cracking all the 5k and half finishers up with my sign:

I got a lot of, "I knew I was good at something!" responses. LOL!

I swear time flew by and before long I saw Jordan speeding his way in to a top 25 half finish! Not too long after that I spotted my trio thanks to Spike's orange hat bobbing in the distance; a quick glance at my watch told me the boys had done an excellent job pacing Cate in to a HUGE PR and sub 2-hour finish! After they raced by I was also able to spot a few other friends as I headed back towards to the finish to find them. Man what an after party K-zoo puts on! The finish area was crazy, I eventually found them, and we snapped some post-race pics with their medals in front of an awesome backdrop provided by the race. What a great idea! I'm definitely putting this race on my radar for next year.

Unfortunately we weren't able to stick around very long because we had to get them back to the hotel and showered so we could drive straight to the airport. Boo! (With a quick detour for Sweetwater donuts, of course) The weekend went by way too fast and we were sad to see them go so soon. I swear every time I get a visit from my Florida peeps it makes me miss them all that much more! 

Congrats to all those that raced the various events at Kalamazoo on Sunday; near perfect weather and a beautiful course, what more can you ask for!? 

3 Things Thursday

1. Winner, Winner... First things first, the random(.org) winner of the copy of "Dead Running," and who will also be entered in to the big fitness giveaway, is Laurel!!! Laurel please message me your mailing information!
   
   
2. Run, Fatboy, Run... Finally netflixed this movie last night, what a riot. "You need to sweat more." And what was up with the jean shorts?!?! I can't even imagine running a 5k in a pair of jorts!
   
   
3. K-zoo... Sunday is the Kalamazoo Marathon, Borgess Half & 5k and my Florida frenemy Harold and his lovely gf are flying in tomorrow to run the Half with Spike on Sunday. I was sooooo tempted to do the 5k but with River Bank Run 10k next weekend I decided that I'll be rocking my spectating pants instead. (I'm also looking forward to finally meeting he of the bald and bearded, Jordan!) Good luck to all those racing the K-zoo this weekend!!!
   
   

   

   via