It’s almost July, people, how??? I mean, seriously? It’s almost fair time. Give me a funnel cake! Well, in a month. But in reality I am in denial that the fair is almost here… and that the year is half over.
I did it again. I committed to a race out of town on the same day there will a local half in me hometown sponsored by my work. Oops.
Speaking of work, I will be traveling for work at the end of next week. Not gonna lie, I’ve never driven that far by myself so shout some podcast options to keep me alert on the long drive.
Summer heat has officially, fully arrived. Which also brings fire season. Can it rain at night?
Something angered the Instagram PTB and I’ve been shadow banned. Me? I’m boring- what the heck did I do??? Grrr.
I finally had my CT scan on Monday for my ever present side pain and I was glad to finally get that completed. Scheduling it for the afternoon wasn’t too bright but I made it work.
Later in the week I felt like I was run over by the tired truck. I was so damn tired from Wednesday on and I couldn’t figure out why. I fell asleep on my lunch Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and took a nap on Saturday. Everyone around me seems to sick with something so maybe I was fighting a bug or something? I don’t know.
Then there was my foot but more on that below.
Monday- 3.41 miles Maybe heading out for a run after a day of fasting and drinking a ton of barium wasn’t a good idea. Combine that with 95* weather and while this run started out ok, things turned south on me at the halfway point and my stomach let me know that I needed to to back at my car sooner rather than later but could I please not run to get there? 😂
Tuesday- Rest
Wednesday- Rest I was planning on running but then the brother offered to take the family to dinner so food won out.
Thursday- 2 miles This was not the plan for this run. However a little over a mile in, I landed wrong on my left foot and felt a shooting pain. I stopped, walked but it felt ok so I adjusted my shoelaces and my shoe and ran on. Only to pull up short less than 1/2 mile later by the same stabbing pain in my foot. And this time it didn’t go away. I turned around and hobbled back to my car.
Friday- Rest I never run on Friday’s but I really wanted to make sure to take it easy on my foot. The odd thing was that it didn’t feel horrible when I woke up or throughout the day.
Saturday- Rest Once again, I was resting the foot but it really did feel ok. I actually spent the morning helping my brother buy a new truck. When you’ve bought as many cars as I have, you get called in for reinforcement. Well that and your resting bitch face. 😛 However it’s hard to be as helpful as possible when the Toyota dealership gets a shipment in the night before and one of those trucks happens to be the exact truck your brother was eyeing on the Toyota website right down to the color. They were literally pulling the plastic off and he looked like a kid in a candy shop. Poker face! Poker face!
Sunday- 3.1 miles Not the long run that I hoped for. As soon as I put on running shoes, I knew my foot wasn’t happy. What gives?! My foot had felt fine until then. Grrr. I still headed out for a run hoping that it would ease up. I tried to run nice and easy and just focus on my form and sometimes it worked. Mostly, not so much and then I landed in a pothole. I kept the run short and on the slower side so as not to aggravate the foot any more.
8.56 milesfor the week. I didn’t think I could run less than last week but I did. Boo to landing wrong.
This week has been special- I’ve put my pajamas on inside out twice, reversed which eye my contacts go in (again) and had a rock chip my windshield.
I also realized or remembered that I am still claustrophobic when it comes to medical devices. 😂 I finally had my CT for my abdominal/ flank pain and was surprised how far into the machine you had to go. I damn near freaked out. One second I’m fine then I’m trying not to hyperventilate. 😂 Oops.
The last local school graduates today and is it sad that I am excited that that means my commute should be a little shorter now?? For a few months I don’t have to drive through active school zones in the 3 towns. It’s the little things.
We were given permission to wear jeans all summer for work but in my office, we were all like- nah. We’re such oddballs but hey we can be oddballs together. 😀I’ll stick to my dresses Monday through Thursday.😀
My summer guilty pleasure Is back- American Ninja Warrior. I just can’t help myself- I love it.
I do not have a race in the immediate future and y’all, I am so good with that. I need a break. Even though the marathon and San Diego were a month apart I think they were too close. My body kind of rebelled during May, maybe it was trying to tell me something?
Currently, my next scheduled race is October. I won’t last that long, I am already looking at race or two in July but a little break will do me good. Which my body reinforced last week.
I took all of last week off work and that was so nice. I caught up on a few things, ran- err attempted- a few miles and slept. A lot. I mean a lot. I also ate way too much but let’s not go there.
Oh and the puppy got to go to the beach!!
Monday- Rest I didn’t get home from San Diego on Sunday night until after 8. I woke up on Monday tired and sore. So I didn’t do a whole lot- it was glorious.
Tuesday- 3 miles Not good. Nope. I couldn’t even force myself to round it out to 5K. My legs felt ok but the rest of me felt exhausted. Exhausted like I sat on a bench partway through the run just to chill, I was abnormally tired. Grrr.
Wednesday- 3.1 miles Global Running Day! However the smart thing should have been to skip the run. I could feel that my hips/glutes were angry before I even started and I was still tired. But it was Global running Day- how could I miss it?? Stupid. Not my brightest move.
Thursday- Rest So this time I listened to my body and whining legs and rested.
Friday- 3.1 miles Sense a theme here? I headed out for a run in the afternoon but knew 1 mile in it wasn’t happening. Glutes said yah, no. So I walked it out. I tried to look on the bright side and think that at least I was able to finish a podcast that way.
Saturday/Sunday- Rest I took the whole weekend off! It didn’t start out that way, I was supposed to go on a hike with my mom on Saturday. However, it turned out she woke up sick and I was feeling an increase in my lovely side pain. Yay. So with that being said and still feeling off in my hips and glutes, I decided rest was best.
9.2 miles for the week. Could be worse for a chill week but I think I needed it.😀😀
Disclaimer: I received a pair of Brooks Levitate 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!
Shoes!!! I love shoes!
Even when they don’t love me. If you’ve been around the blog for a while then you might know that I’ve been having shoe issues for a few years now. My favorite shoe ever went through a massive overhaul back in late 2016/ early 2017 and I hated the changes. Ever since then I’ve bounced around from shoe to shoe and varying brand. Somebody help!
Brooks introduced the Levitate into it’s lineup in late 2017. It looked pretty and I was hearing good things but I was hesitant because it looked like more shoe than I was used to. Yet, I kept hearing good things. Then I started training for Big Sur and I was a mess when it came to my shoes. Where were these??? I really shouldn’t have been afraid to try them.
So when I had the chance to try them post Big Sur, I said Yes, Please! Then I waited impatiently for them to arrive. Once they did, I did a little happy jig and every mile run since has been in the Levitate’s.
Ok let’s get the technical stuff down-
Energized Cushioning-With the most energy return of leading performance running shoes, Levitate’s DNA AMP midsole technology gives energy nowhere to go but up, straight back to you.
Quick Transitions- A flexible, arrow-point pattern on the outsole helps you move from heel to toe quickly, without losing energy.
Intuitive Fit- The 3D Fit Print and FitKnit upper comfortably accommodates your foot as it moves and expands.
Quick Transitions-The Midfoot Transition Zone and Segmented Crash Pad provide quick heel-to-toe transitions.
Not gonna lie, the first few runs took some getting used to, it’s been a while since I ran in a “normal” running shoe- I went from a zero drop to these so I had an adjustment period. A couple of runs and a shoelace adjustment and things were feeling much better.
In fact the more I wore them, the better they felt. I was really liking the cushioned feel they offered. They made me want to keep running! I also threw down some of my fastest mile splits in over a year. Which might not have been the greatest idea as my back/glutes haven’t been 100% since Big Sur which I partially blame on my poor shoe choice there. By mile 20, I was considering running barefoot. I wish I had the Levitate’s then! But that also shouldn’t surprise me- my first marathon was run in Brooks.
Now- full disclosure- I’ve longest run I’ve run is 13 miles in the Levitate so far. However there were zero hot points or pressure spots so winning! I’m also don’t see another marathon in my near future so I doubt I’ll be going over 13 miles any time soon. 😛 I am notoriously hard on shoes but so far these still look fairly new other than some dirt and there’s nothing wrong with a little dirt. I wore significant amounts of tread off my last pair of new shoes (different brand) within 30 miles so right now that is a huge plus in the Levitate’s favor and I have almost double the miles on them. Some online reviews expressed thoughts that they felt heavy but they felt perfectly fine to me.
All right, slight down point- they are a little pricey. However, I think they are worth it- I’d rather pay a little more for a good shoe then buy something just because it’s on sale. That’s a quick way to end up hurting something that wasn’t hurting before. And yes, that’s the voice of experience talking- been there, done that, lesson learned.
I am loving the shoes so far and am looking forward to putting more miles on them, I think these and one pair of my zero’s will make the perfect shoe rotation. I will check back in if something changes in how I feel about the shoes but now I just want to #runallthemiles. When’s my next race?
What do you run in?
Want to hear more? Check out other Pro’s thoughts- Amanda–
Slacker Runner 