Chickamauga Battlefield Marathon: Week 4

Wow, it's hard to believe training for Chickamauga is 25% done! (And I'm totally making myself forget this means I still have 75% of my training plan left....)

I mentioned last week that my energy felt a lot lower during my step-back week, and, just as I hoped, I bounced right back when I upped my training again. I could definitely feel some fatigue towards the end of my long run, but otherwise I felt great! I am eating like a horse and sleeping like the dead. After overtraining horribly on Hanson's last year, I'm keeping a really careful eye on my body this cycle, and so far, so good. My main problem on RLRF was chronic tendinitis, but my frequent foam-rolling seems to keep that cleared up as well!

Sunday, August 16
rest

Once again, I have no idea what I did this day. Probably just totally relaxed!

Monday, August 17
AM - 3 mi easy (11:11 min/mile)
PM - 10 min WU spin, NROLFW Stage 2A-4

I did some heavy duty foam rolling Sunday night, and my legs had a weird achy feeling on my run Monday morning. (Does this happen to anyone else?) But otherwise, I felt fresh and ready to go.

Tuesday, August 18
PM - 5 mi easy (11:11 min/mile)

Ok, I think my secret superpower is running the exact same pace Mondays and Tuesdays. It was still really humid out, but cooler, and Michael and I both agreed we had really comfortable runs.

Wednesday, August 19
AM - 2.8 mi hills
PM - 10 min WU spin, NROLFW Stage 2B-4

This was a very exciting day because I officially finished stage 2 of NROLFW! I'm not sure how I did the same exercises for two months on stage 1, because after one month of stage 2, I am totally ready to try something new.

Thursday, August 20
rest

Faramir had an emergency vet visit this day. I had huge cat mom guilt because I couldn't go with Michael because I needed my allergy shot, but I really appreciate Michael taking him. We were super worried Faramir had a UTI, but it turns out he was dehydrated (we provide him with plenty of clean water, so we're not sure why he just decided to take a break from drinking). They ended up giving him a subcutaneous injection of water - the kitty equivalent of an IV - and it was so funny! When I first saw Faramir when Michael got home, he looked like a camel, with this giant hump of water on his back. But he clearly felt 100% better and was back to his old self, so we were so glad to see that.

Friday, August 21
PM - 1 mi WU, 4 mi @ 9:54 min/mile, 1 mi CD

I waited until it cooled off to head out, and I had a great run. I took on a hilly route for the tempo section, and while I definitely need more practice pacing on hills, I felt in control and strong the whole time. I think my elevation gain for the run was 1/3 of the Chickamauga course (and over a shorter distance), so this really built my confidence for race day.

Saturday, August 22
PM - 13 mi long (11:27 min/mile)

I experimented with taking a salt tablet every three miles, instead of every four, this run, and it was not something I will be doing again! By about mile 9, I felt so bloated and had some pretty uncomfortable stomach pains. I must have been retaining too much water! I also had some cramps throughout the run in my lower abdomen, and I'm not sure why. The cramping actually persisted on Sunday, so I took an iron pill to see if that helps.

I had rented a movie Friday night since Michael went out with some friends, so I carried it to RedBox to return it on my run. This was supposed to be a quick minute break, tops, until I got stuck behind the slowest people ever! Every time they found a movie candidate, the mom seriously read the entire blurb on it, word...by...word. It also took her three times to figure out how to get through the pay bill sequence. I just don't get some people!

Run Miles: 29.8 mi (so close to 30!)

Bike Miles: 4.8 mi

Lifting Time: 1:12

Total Time: 7:02 (but I finally broke 7 hours!)

I'm really excited for this coming week because my best friend is visiting! I'm leaving work early Thursday and taking Friday off to have an extended weekend with her. I still need to plan a few things for a us to do, but I'm hoping my HOA gets Michael and I our pool passes in the next few days so that we can lounge at the pool!

But I'm very lucky that she's super supportive of my training, so I'm not worried about fitting my runs in. I will try to get up early Friday and Saturday to get them done - which is something I always want to do, and then get lazy about when it comes down to it. 

We're also supposed to have highs in the low to mid-70s, and I'm looking forward to having some more comfortable weather!

Chickamauga Battlefield Marathon: Week Three

I had been really looking forward to this week, the first of my step-back weeks. I was surprised at first that my overall energy level was lower, but I think I've seen around blogs that other people experience the same effect, so I'm going to assume I will bounce back tomorrow morning.

I really gave it my all the first two weeks of training, and I enjoyed only having easy runs on the schedule this week. I stuck to my subdivision for a lot of it, since it is much less hilly than the surrounding country roads, and that built in some extra recovery. I also spent most nights catching up on sleep, which led to my next decision - I am going to cut my planned swimming out of my schedule.

Swimming is really fun cross-training for me, but I knew I needed to re-evaluate my plan when I got excited when I saw the pool would be closed at for two weeks for cleaning. I wrestled with this for a few days, feeling lazy, but I eventually recognized getting up early to swim an extra two days a week was really cutting into my sleep. And, after all, gains are made during recovery, not during the workouts! I think part of the struggle is I trained for my first marathon in college when I had a much more flexible schedule and, let's be real, a lot more free time. There's nothing wrong with recognizing I'm under different constraints now with a full-time job and a long commute.

And speaking of the commute - my office just moved about three blocks away, but it seriously saves me 15 minutes each way. That's an extra 30 minutes I've gotten back each day! It was like amazing magic on Friday (our first day in the new building), and I can't wait to experience the thrill of leaving at 5 and getting home before 6 every day this week.

This intro is getting wordy, but I guess I had a lot happen this week! I got my first round of allergy injections (yay for finally finding a great allergist!!). I've been discovering that my last allergist sort of did some shady things (but I didn't have a choice before, so I can't be blamed!). The old allergist always gave me one injection, but the new one said I'm allergic to so many things, they have to give me two a time. That's one way to make a girl feel special. (And this new allergist confirmed my suspicion was correct - despite the MI allergist saying I had a severe cat allergy, I don't have and have never had one. I gave Faramir some extra snuggles to celebrate.)

If you've napped your way through to this point, on to my actual training:

Sunday, August 9
rest

My friend from Germany and I finally made time to catch-up, and it was great getting to talk to her again. I was also relieved that after a bit of a shaky start, my German came back pretty well! I definitely need to be better about practicing regularly.

Monday, August 10
AM - 3 mi easy (11:36 min/mile)
PM - 10 min spin WU, NROLFW Stage 2A-3

My legs felt so, so heavy on my run, so I focused on going as slow as I needed to. My last mile was a little too fast, but it was so humid out, that I just wanted to stop being covered in sweat.

Tuesday, August 11
PM - 6 mi easy (11:36 min/mile)

Apparently 11:36 min/miles were my jam this week! My legs were a little achy, but again I focused on going super slow and found the run very enjoyable.

Wednesday, August 12
AM - 3 mi easy (11:28 min/mile)
PM - 10 min spin WU, NROLFW Stage 2B-3

I felt pretty tired when I got up in the morning to run, but I was totally fine when I was out the door. I got really excited when it felt cool, but then it quickly got humid. I'm basically over summer at this point - I am ready for college football and crisp weather.

Thursday, August 13
rest

Friday, August 14
PM - 6 mi easy (11:21 min/mile)

This was our move day at work, and it was giving me a lot of anxiety. I know it was totally silly, because all I had to do was drive to a different building, but change is hard for me. This meant I opted to sleep in and run after work. I headed out around my house and really enjoyed a change of scenery.

Saturday, August 15
PM - 8 mi long (11:22 min/mile)

I followed my fueling/salt plan from prior weeks and again noticed the salt making a big difference. However, I think if it is very humid for my next long run, I might try taking a tablet every three miles instead of four. I really enjoyed having a "shorter" long run this week.

Run Miles: 26 mi

Bike Miles: 4.7 mi

Lifting Time: 1:15

Total Time: 6:33

I thoroughly enjoyed my rest week, and I feel refreshed for the next two weeks of harder training. Having all my workouts back-loaded in the week means I can ride this feeling for a couple more days. I'm also hoping spending a lot less time in my car will give me an extra energy boost too. 

I'm just a little worried this summer weather is going to melt me first!

Chickamauga Battlefield Marathon Training: Week Two

I was surprised last week just how hard truly putting in the work to train for a marathon is, and I was honestly a little concerned about the following 15 weeks. However, I think my body remembered much more than I gave it credit for, and this week was 100 times easier, even though it had slightly higher mileage and intensity than week 1. I'm still really excited to train, and that slightly "off" feeling I had last week is gone.

My main takeaway from this week is I really need to be serious about doing my foam rolling and stretching every single day. I slacked off here and there when I wanted to sit on my butt instead, but I found the next day would leave me achy and craving a good roll all day at work, to the point it got a little distracting. (You know you're a runner when....) I have no excuse not to spend 15 minutes every night doing those little extras.

Sunday, August 9

rest

I honestly don't remember what I did this day, but it involved a lot of sitting around, which made for the perfect rest day.

Monday, August 10

AM - 3 mi easy (11:24 min/mile)

PM - 10 min spin WU, NROLFW Stage 2A-2

We finally had some rain overnight Sunday, so it was very pleasant out Monday morning! I even saw a hummingbird zipping by when I was in the wetland protection area.

Tuesday, August 11

AM - 320 yd swim

PM - 6 mi easy (10:55 min/mile)

I'm really surprised and pleased how fast this easy run was. When I saw my splits creeping to sub-11s, I stopped looking at my watch and focused on really going easy. The fact that this truly was a sub-11 pace was a great confidence booster!

Wednesday, August 12

AM - 2.8 miles hills

PM - 10 min spin WU, NROLFW Stage 2B-2

Last week, my hill workout felt really hard and I was discouraged about if I would ever improve, considering in two weeks I'm supposed to go from two sets of hills to four, but this time I felt great! Obviously the workout was still hard and my heart rate really got up there, but I didn't lose my form and didn't feel like I wanted to die.

Thursday, August 13

AM - 320 yd swim

Friday, August 14

AM - 5 mi tempo (1 mi WU, 3 mi @ 9:53, 1 mi CD)

I'm not sure if the heat and/or humidity were down from last week, or if I was just better rested, but this tempo run felt a million times easier than last week's! It was still uncomfortable, but I was able to just zone out to my podcasts and enjoy it, rather than counting down the seconds.

Saturday, August 15

PM - 11 mi long w/ FF (8 mi @ 11:22, 3 mi @ 9:53)

I had an allergist appointment Saturday morning and didn't feel like getting up early enough to get my long run in before then. I do really enjoy running in the evening, so it didn't bother me all that much. In the reverse of most days this week, this Saturday was much more humid than the past Saturday, and I could really feel it! 

I have started taking a salt capsule every 45 minutes on my long runs, and this time I noticed a huge difference in my energy levels and mental state. I really notice it when I get back and, while I am still sweaty and gross, I am not the abomination I once was.

I was also pretty nervous to try the fast finish Hal Higdon recommends in his plans for non-beginners. Since it was so humid and because I had had three vials of blood taken at the allergist (to confirm some things my skin test was showing), I gave myself permission to back off if necessary. I spent the whole first segment counting down until I had to speed up, which actually made those eight miles fly by.

It turns out all the worry was for nothing - I held slightly under my goal marathon pace for the last three miles without too much of a struggle. The first mile was really hard, but I found by the third my heart rate and breathing had settled back down - my body was plenty capable of what I was asking it to do. I'm only going to incorporate these every three weeks, but I think they're going to give me a ton of mental fuel for the last 10K of the race.

Run Miles: 27.8 mi

Bike Miles: 5.1 mi

Swim Miles: .4 mi

Lifting Time: 1:14

Total Time: 6:56

I'm so delighted with how this week went, but I am pretty fatigued from increasing the training load. This coming week will be my first cutback week of the training cycle - no speedwork and a shorter long run (only eight miles). This break was a great motivator in giving it my all the last two weeks. I know some people only cut back every fourth week, but I find three works much better for my body.

I also finally(!!) had luck in finding a great allergist. He needs the results from my bloodwork to determine the final make-up of my serum, but hopefully I will be starting back up on my shots in the next week or two. This fall will not be the best, because the shots won't have had much time to get into my system, but he gave me a few new things to try to help mitigate the symptoms in the mean time. They all rely on steroids, which I've found give me bad side cramps while running in the past, so it will be an interesting challenge to balance everything.

But the best part is this coming week has multiple days of rain in the forecast! Here's to hoping for some nice cool weather.

Chickamauga Battlefield Marathon: Week One

Week one of training is in the books! 

I guess I didn't realize how half-hearted my previous training cycles have been, because I forgot how much time and energy goes into truly preparing myself to race 26.2 miles. I also forgot how crazy runger is - I've been mowing down food at a record pace. 

There were some setbacks this week, as there always will be, but I didn't let them derail me. We ended up having to make a noise complaint this weekend when our neighbors left their dogs outside for a second night in a row and they barked and barked and barked. I guess the silver lining is that the police here don't have much to do, so they actually respond to and resolve problems! I am a little low on sleep after being up late with that issue last night, so I foresee a nap in my future this afternoon.

Monday, July 27

AM - 3 mi easy (11:25 min/mile)

PM - 10 min spin WU, NROLFW Stage 2A-1

I'm glad I got up early to get my run in, as I got pretty sweaty and gross, even at 7 AM. I also got stuck behind a garbage truck, which was even grosser. It was also exciting to start a new stage of NROLFW in the evening. This stage incorporates lots of lunge variations, so I think the added strength in a few weeks will make a difference in my running!

Tuesday, July 28

AM - 640 yd swim

PM - 5 mi easy (11:37 min/mile)

My normal commute home from work takes about one hour. Tuesday it took over two hours due to two disabled semis right at my exit. The last thing I wanted to do after I finally got home at 7:15 (after leaving my desk at 4:50!) was run, but I got it done. 

An important aside about our community pool - it is actually only 40 yards to a lap, instead of 50. I've decided to just count laps for each set as if it were 50 yards, but then adjust my total to the real number of yards. Fortunately, we'll be voting in November to expand and renovate the community center, which would include a completely new natatorium with a real lap pool. I figure since I just swim for fun, there's no reason to lose sleep about doing fewer yards for now.

Wednesday, July 29

PM - 2.8 mi hills, NROLFW Stage 1-B

This hill workout was tough! It involved two sets of running on various inclines at MP. I focused really hard on keeping my form as I fatigued, rather than letting my limbs just flail around all over the place. I think this extra speedwork is really going to build my mental strength, not just my physical strength.

Thursday, July 30

AM - 600 yd swim

I had to try splitting a lane this morning, which was hard considering there are no lane lines down. I did fairly well keeping my line straight. I only got nicked by my neighbor's fins once, so I'll call that a win.

Friday, July 31

AM - 5 mi tempo (1 mi WU, 3 mi @ 9:54 min/mile, 1 mi CD)

I had to be at work by 8 for a doctor's appointment at 8:30, which meant a wake-up call at 5 to get my tempo run in. It was incredibly painful to drag myself out of bed that early, but I sweated out a few pounds of water and was drenched by the end, so I'm glad I didn't wait until later to do it. Other than the heat and humidity, the pace felt fairly comfortable.

Saturday, August 1

PM - 10 mi long (11:23 min/mile)

My intention was to get up in the morning to get this done, but I desperately needed to catch up on sleep. We had an appointment to see a wedding venue in the early afternoon (and we picked it! Check that off the list.), and I didn't have enough time to run and shower beforehand when I finally woke up. 

I waited until about 7 PM to set out. The humidity was way down, and I was in shade for most of the run - truly beautiful weather. I had quite a few wildlife sightings too - a red-tailed hawk, a muskrat, and a bunch of bats. This was a perfect long run to kick off the training cycle with.

Run Miles: 25.8 mi

Bike Miles: 2.5 mi

Swim Miles: .7 mi

Lifting Time: 1:14

Total Time: 6:49

Overall, I'm very happy with how this week went. I hit all my workouts and all my paces. We're finally supposed to have some cooler weather this week, so I'm hoping it won't be quite as tiring as last week. And unlike like last week, I don't have any days I have to be at work early, and the barking dog problem should be sorted now, so I'm hoping I will be much better on the sleep front this week. I'm very excited to keep working towards my goal!

Chickamauga Battlefield Marathon: Week 0

Today marks the start of my training for the Chickamauga Battlefield Marathon. I am really, really excited. Like, I haven't been this excited to start a training cycle since probably the one before my first marathon excited.

For Sleeping Bear, I used a Hal Higdon plan and focused solely on getting the miles in. I did one "tempo" run a week (in quotes because I didn't know to warm-up or how to shoot for a given pace). I went out way too fast at the actual race, but I showed up to the start line uninjured, energetic, and well-trained.

I got away from this the last few training cycles because I had to get faster faster faster now now now. As much as I try not to admit it, I definitely have some hang-ups about being a "slower" runner, and I let myself lose sight of good training practices to try to improve my times. A couple of injuries and illnesses later, I think I've hopefully learned my lesson. (And if not, I think there's no helping me at this point.)

So, this training cycle, I am going back to basics and using a Hal Higdon plan. I went back to the data from my first cycle (that was a scary blast from the past, let me tell you...), and when I first started my easy pace was around 12 min/mile and, by the end, it had dropped to about 11 min/mile. My easy pace now seems to be about 10:45 - 11 min/mile, and I'm curious to see how much I can improve by the end of this cycle!

That being said - I am modifying the plan a bit based on what I've learned during my less than stellar training cycles. I really liked incorporating strength training and swimming when I did RLRF. I also found hill workouts to be fun and not as body/soul/mind-destroying as track workouts when I added some Blue Ridge-specific prep to my training this spring. I also am aiming for a time goal, so I will be following Higdon's speed recommendations, rather than just adhering to the distance prescribed.

A typical week will look like this:

M - easy run AM/NROLFW workout PM
T - swim AM/easy run PM
W - hill workout AM/NROLFW workout PM
R - swim AM
F - tempo run AM (@ MP)
Sa - long run AM (@ MP+90)
Su - rest

Yes, there are a lot of AMs there for someone who tries to run in the evening, but I know workouts in the morning are inevitable when doing two-a-days, and they're something I genuinely want to do. I paid attention the last few weeks and realized my biggest barrier to getting up on time is that I get sucked into social media in bed. (Yes, that's very shameful to admit!) But to combat this I downloaded one of those blocking apps - so that I don't have anything fun to look at when my alarm goes off instead of getting it into gear. (I did leave Instagram unblocked, so that I can get my small fix and not feel like everything I love is being ripped away at once.)

Every third week will be a cutback week, which I think will be my key to successfully completing this training cycle. On these weeks, I will switch the hill workout and tempo run with easy runs, and the long run will be cut back from the previous week by 3-4 miles. I was a little nervous about building my own plan until I made these modifications. I know myself, and I will be much more willing and able to hit the workouts when I know these regular rest periods are coming my way.

I'm also ready to get the little (and not so little) things in line this cycle! I normally fail pretty hard when it comes to nutrition, but Michael and I loaded up on healthy stuff at the grocery store this week and have committed to having quality dinners. I also picked up some iron supplements to combat the anemia I struggle with, and I've started a hip flexor stretching routine every night, since I think most of my injuries stem from them being incredibly tight! I also plan to foam roll religiously every night to combat any other imbalances.

Michael cooks dinner for us because he is awesome, so I know my giant lazy butt won't lead me back to eating junk for dinner after a day at work. I realized I usually watch one episode of some fun TV show a night, so I plan to do my stretching and rolling during that time, so it doesn't feel like a horrible "extra" burden.

I think that covers just about everything (and has probably bored you to tears by now), except for what my actual goal is. It's pretty scary, but I am going for a 4:20. (Ok, a 4:19:59, but who's counting?) This translates to a 9:55 min/mile pace.

Based on recent times from shorter races, this should be a reasonable goal for me. It's pretty scary to see a goal marathon pace that starts with a single digit, but I need to stop letting my mental game hold me back. Hal Higdon worked for me before, and I know it will again.

I just need to trust my training.

Guilt

I feel a little strange writing a negative post when there's so much positive stuff going on right now, but I've been struggling with these feelings for awhile, and that's what my blog is for. So here we go.

For the past couple weeks, I have been totally neglecting my training. I focused on getting all my weight sessions in (and I will recap Stage One of NROLFW soon, I promise!), but everything else sort of fell by the wayside.

I can't say I'm totally surprised this happened. There's a been a lot of life stuff happening like, you know, buying my first house and moving for the second time in three months. I love our house, but it's still an adjustment. (As someone at work said the other day: "I HATE CHANGE!!!")

Besides that, it's also been go, go, go, with races and other travel, like going back to our parents' for Father's Day and the 4th of July. All of this has been super fun, but it started to burn me out. Right now our only plans for August is for my best friend to come visit us (which will likely involve me taking time off work and chilling poolside!), and Michael and I can't wait to sit around on our butts for a few weekends.

We've also started wedding planning slightly more in earnest than before, in that we are actually looking at venues. The first was a total spectacular dud, but we have high hopes for the one we're seeing at the very beginning of August. When my best friend (and MOH) gets back stateside in July, it will be easier to have someone to bounce ideas off of.

So, with all of that detailed, from an objective point of view, I'm not surprised at all that I am feeling a bit burnt out. If someone else told me all that and asked for advice, I would tell them to take a few deep breaths and enjoy the time off.

However, I am the queen of imposing irrational and pointless pressure on myself. Which has led to some really intense guilt about skipping my workouts.

I tried to take a step back - I have no time goals for Missoula, I am in decent (for me) shape, and there is a generous cut-off. Taking some time to recharge isn't going to hurt me this Sunday. I'm guessing it might even help.

Even though that sounds super reasonable, I'm still struggling with the guilt. I've spent this week doing about 30 minutes of yoga a night, which has kept me from getting restless, but hasn't really eased the guilt.

I've been doing a lot of soul-searching trying to determine the cause of this guilt, and maybe have a few guesses. The job I took here when I moved is fine, but it's a lot less challenging than my prior one. I specifically wanted something a little less stressful, but I went too far down the spectrum. I think without some work stress, I'm feeling a little lost. I defined myself by academics for so long, and now that I can't replace that with work, it's a bit of a struggle. I guess I feel like I have to pressure myself somehow, so I'm finding a new outlet?

I've also lost a routine without a set workout schedule. Again, I specifically took a break from my plan to break that very routine, but structure really helps keep me centered. (I originally used the word calm here, but I don't think that's quite right.)

Trying to understand the cause isn't working out so well, so I'm hoping it passes soon. I'm unbelievably excited to run Missoula and then spend five whole days hiking all over Glacier National Park. I haven't done a big Park hiking trip in awhile, and I'm ready to hit the trails! I even treated myself to a new daypack and everything.

I plan to take an additional week off after the trip and plan to do whatever I feel like. If I want to go for a walk, I will. If I want to go for a trail run, I will. If I want to sit on my butt and share 1000 pictures of Glacier with you guys, I will.

This low-grade anxiety is really uncomfortable, but it helps to recognize that it's irrational and it too will pass. Training for Chickamauga will start two weeks after Missoula, and I'm really happy with the plan I created for myself, so I also have that to look forward to.

Other than at Christmas, I've never taken for than a couple of days off work at time. (And at Christmas, we switched locations every three days, so it wasn't very relaxing!) After tomorrow and Friday, I will have nine days straight off work, and I have no plans to check my work email or even check in with the office. After so many major changes in the last few months, running a great marathon and doing some amazing hiking might be just what I need to reset.

Has anyone else struggled with this? I could really use some advice.

Versatile Blogger Survey

I was nominated by EB from Running on E for the Versatile Blogger Award. She manages to run far and fast and make it seem easy! I love following along with her training and reading her race recaps. In fact, her reviews help sell Michael and I on doing Chickamauga this fall! Definitely check her blog out.

A little about this award/survey (which I stole from EB): The Versatile Blogger Award is for those blogs that bring something special to your life. In picking your nominees, you are to consider the quality of the writing, the uniqueness of the subjects covered, the level of love displayed in the words on the virtual page. Or, of course, the quality of the photographs and the level of love displayed in the taking of them.

“Rules” are as follows: Answer the questions you have been given, nominate 10 (ish) other bloggers and give them their own set of questions to answer.

I hope you enjoy!

1. What is something people might be surprised to learn about you?

Hmm...this is one of those "icebreaker" questions I always struggle with.... I guess I'm a fairly simple person! I'm going to half-steal EB's answer (that she knows Latin). I speak German with moderate fluency. I never considered this surprising because it was my second major in college, so I talked about it a lot, but I realized that now that I've graduated, very few people I regularly interact with know this about me.

2. When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?

Weirdest answer ever, but I really, really wanted to be an Amish person when I was little. I went through a huge "Felicity" phase (she was the American Girl from the Colonial period), and my grandma told me the Amish lived a Colonial times-ish lifestyle. I'm pretty sure she meant to mock me, but at that time, it sounded like the best thing ever. I had actually forgotten about this until I started my new job - my hospital does a lot of outreach to the Amish community, so members are around pretty often.

3. What is your favorite place you have visited?

Hands down, New Zealand! I went for two weeks as a pre-college program with a bunch of other incoming freshmen, and it was so amazing. We only stayed on the North Island, and I want to go back and explore some more, especially on the South Island. Michael and I thought about going for our honeymoon, but I want to do a whirlwind tour of all the LotR/Hobbit filming sites, so we decided to leave this for a stand-alone trip.

4. What is one place on your travel must-see bucket list?

I already blew New Zealand on the last question. Oops. Two other places I really want to see are Ireland and Quebec. I have ancestors from both these places (I did the math, and I think I have one relative from Quebec five generations back! but it counts!), and I'd love to see them. (I'm mostly German, but I've been fortunate enough to already have gone to Germany three times.) 

5. What's your current go-to workout song?

Bills by Lunchmoney Lewis. It's so catchy and fun. My favorite radio station usually plays this at 5 PM on Fridays, so it also reminds of the weekend. 

6. What is your favorite distance to run?

I had to think about this one. I obviously really like marathons (or I wouldn't be doing 50 of them!), but I think the 10K might still be my favorite distance. It requires speed, but also endurance, and I find it to be more tactical than the 5K. Pushing myself for a 5K hurts, but it's over pretty fast. A 10K requires a little more prolonged suffering.

7. What is your dream race/event?

I would love to run some international marathons! My best friend and I are hopefully going to go to Turkey sometime so I can run the Istanbul Marathon. (She is fluent in Turkish, so she can haul me around.)

8. What would you do with a $1000 gift card?

True story, I am horrible at spending money on fun stuff. I try to give myself permission to buy treats, and I just can't do it! I think I would put this towards travel and maybe stay in a nicer hotel than usual. I know, I really live on the wild side.

9. If you could go on a bicycle built for two ride with anyone, living or dead, who would it be?

Someone with strong quads! All kidding aside, probably JRR Tolkien. We could talk about Peter Jackson ruined Faramir and how Sam is the real hero. But I wouldn't tell him I named my cat after Faramir - apparently he was not a fan of people naming their pets after characters!

10. What is your favorite guilty pleasure snack food?

Gosh, so many choices! I think most German sweets are on this list. Rittersport is so good, but hard to find in the US. There's a flavor with a biscuit in the middle that is the bomb dot com. Once, on a study abroad, I bought a package and offered to share a piece with the people I was sitting with. They were almost appalled I was willing to share the best flavor of Rittersport I had bought for myself!

I nominate the following bloggers:

Sam @ See Sam Run

Emily @ My Healthyish Life

Liv @ Healthy Liv

Angela @ Love the Running

Here are my questions: (Ok, and if there's one thing I'm worse at than doing icebreakers, it's making icebreakers! I kept a lot of EB's questions because they were way better than what I could do.)

1. What is something people might be surprised to learn about you?
2. When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
3. Why did you decide to start a blog?
4. What is one place on your travel must-see bucket list?
5. What's your current go-to workout song?
6. What is your favorite distance to run?
7. What is your dream race/event?
8. What would you do with a $1000 gift card?
9. What's your favorite running related book? (I'm trying to find some summer reading, totally a selfish question.)
10. What's your favorite hobby outside of running? (Blasphemy!)