wednesday what?

What a windy run! It's sunny and in the upper 50's so but the 37 mph wind gusts were a bit of a challenge. I wanted to get something done before my nearly all day flight (layover in Dallas) to Shreveport today so I went for a short 4. It took me until halfway through the 2nd mile to get everything working the way it should. I decided to pick up the pack on 2 and 3 for a mini tempo run. The faster miles felt pretty darn good! Now it is time to throw some clothes in a bag and head to the airport again.

My countdown to vacation is on like donkey kong. Only 5 days - wahoo! In my view vacation is a time to get away from it all by reading the books I don't have time to read on a lounge chair by the pool/ocean while sipping on a fruity drink. I really don't want to do anything. I've never considered exercise much in my vacation plans. I do explore and sign up for fun activities but rarely decide to go for a run. It's not like I'm not up early. For some reason on vacation I become an early bird but I like the spend the extra time in the morning having a leisurely breakfast and walking the beach. This vacation I really should be getting some form of running done. I know I'm not going to follow my schedule as it dictates and the 12 miler may not happen but I'm hoping it won't hurt me too much when I'm back home in full training mode.

Do you follow your running schedule when on vacation? Or do you skip it off all together? How do you motivate yourself to get the miles in when all you want to do is relax?

Wednesday what?

Two weeks from now I will be sitting on a beach in Maui with a drink in hand. Yeah, I.can't.wait! It hasn't really sunk in that I will be in paradise in less than 2 weeks and on my first *real vacation since our honeymoon over 2 years ago (picture to the left our last trip). Maui has definitely been on the list of want to go especially before kids and now we are finally going! Our travel wants is long and includes some "never going to happen unless I somehow win the lottery" type destinations and a lot of them include a beach. One day maybe the Maldives, Seychelles, Tahiti, Italy, so on and so forth, trip may happen until then I'm enjoying where I can go.

If you could go anywhere on vacation where would you go and who would be your travel companion(s)?

*I consider real vacations one that last more than a long weekend. We tend to take a lot of 4 day trips.

wednesday what?

I may be old school in this but I record all my miles on paper. I found a handy dandy runners calendar on super discount at B&N after Christmas that I keep at my bedside to record my daily miles before end of the day. If I stored the calendar anywhere else I would forget to record my data because I'm kind of absentminded. Plus, it's portable and easy to take with me when I travel. Basic but exactly what I need. Previously I had recorded my miles on an Excel spreadsheet but I have 2 computers (work and personal) and it's not feasible to take 2 computers on every trip. (I don't like to keep personal stuff, even running related, on the work computer). I have thought about other ways to record the daily/weekly mileage, like Daily Mile, but keep coming back to my tried and true pen and paper.

What do you use to record your mileage? Daily Mile, a calendar, uploading your garmin data, a spreadsheet, something else? Why do you use what you do?

Wednesday What

When I run I rarely wear jewelry. With the exception of small earrings wearing any other jewelry while running becomes an annoyance. I can't stand anything around my neck when I'm running, I feel like I'm being choked so necklaces are a no go. I take the wedding rings off too. My hands swell to a ridiculous size especially in this heat so the rings are off too or I'm cutting off blood supply to my ring finger. No one wants a purple finger ;) Seriously it is so bad that after my 10K I couldn't get my rings back on for nearly an hour post race.

At races and out on runs I see that others wear wedding rings, some only a necklace or earrings, some in full jewelry get-up. I always wonder how wearing these items never bothers them. I would love to be able to wear my wedding rings but it is so not possible!

So if you typically wear jewelry day to day what kind of runner are you? If married do you only wear the wedding rings? Do you have a lucky necklace to wear? Does the jewelry bother you like it does me?