The best compliment.

There's a woman in my neighborhood who walks a lot. I've seen her around and we usually chat a bit when we pass each other. Unless I'm running a specific workout, I like the break of chatting with her, mostly, I imagine, because there is rarely anyone to chat with in my neighborhood. There are only a handful of people who walk regularly and maybe one or two other runners but that's about it.

So anyway, I see this woman out and about a lot -- sometimes with one or both of her sons, sometimes alone. Two weeks or so ago when I was out for a run, I saw her and her younger (10-ish?) son and noticed something different. They weren't walking. They were running. Running! We crossed paths on one of the hills and gave each other a happy, hearty, "Hi!" Well, the son didn't. He was focused. But the woman and I did.

The other day I saw her again, alone. Again running. Again we crossed paths and again we said, "Hi." I also gave her two thumbs-up because I'm dorky like that. A little later in the run, we crossed paths again and this time we stopped to chat. I said something really deep like, "Hey, you're running today!" And she proceeded to give me the best compliment. She said something about how she kept seeing me out running and enjoying it, even when I was running up all the big hills and she just thought she should give it a shot. So she did!

Really? I inspired you to run? Holy cannoli!

She's doing a walk/run combination now and liking it. At some point, she said, she hopes to be able to run all the way up the hills like I do. She also said how she wished she had gone to the Freihofer's Run for Women last month (the big all-women 5k in Albany) and I went on and on (probably for too long) about how awesome the race is, how amazing it is to run with all women, blah, blah, blah. We chuckled together like old pals. She asked a question or two and I shared some advice. Then we each set off on our own way, in opposite directions.

I ran home with a buoyancy in my step uncharacteristic of the end of a run. I was just so happy that I had maybe had a little something to do with this woman starting to run. I think that's the coolest. Absolutely the coolest.

Happy Monday, everyone!

~ Felice

Gear giveaway winner!

Phew! Lots of entries for the awesome running gear giveaway!

Using random.org, I picked one winner this morning and the winner is . . . Oz Runner! Lucky guy.

Oz (do people call you that?), send me an email with your info: The running shoes you'd like, shoe size, shirt size and your address. I'll get it right over to Strands so you can get your gear.

Now, with that, I'm off to enjoy the day. Have a great weekend, everyone! And good luck to all the racers!!

~ Felice

Rolling two times.

You know what I did? I shook things up completely.

In my last post, I wrote about rolling with it. After I pressed "publish post" though, I started to think a little more. Danger! Danger! And while doing that thinking, I wondered why I couldn't be 15 minutes late or why I couldn't forgo blow-drying and straightening my hair. I mean, sometimes, shouldn't running come first?

Well, yeah, it should. I'm the queen of flexibility when it comes to running -- I run around my life and that more-or-less works. But, yesterday, after thinking for a while, I decided that I was going to roll with it in a different way.

As soon as Owen got home from work, I headed out for a second run. Second run! Twice in one day! I don't know -- I just felt the need to shake off the cruddy run right away. I didn't want to wait until today, so I didn't.

It was a short, quick run and it worked. I felt TERRIFIC! Granted, after the run I was rushed and I didn't get a chance to do anything with my annoyingly frizzy locks other than pull them back in a ponytail and I was 15 minutes late to my 7pm event. But none of that mattered, it was all OK. The best part was that I had made an opportunity to run where I hadn't thought one existed.

And today's run didn't disappoint, either. An hour before I started my run there was a crazy hard downpour for about 15 minutes. When I was running, it was sunny and muggy but not bad at all. The wild thing about my run was that when I looked at the sky just east of my house, I could see a thick patch of gray clouds, surrounded by sparkling blue, sunny skies and from that patch of gray clouds, I could see sheets of rain pouring down. It was really, really wild. Sunny, blue skies all around, except for a clump of rainy gray.

Take what you want from that: Me, running under sunny skies, after the rain had past, watching it pour down someplace else.

~ Felice

Just roll with it.

Sometimes you head out for a run and just feel like you could keep going forever. You get the whole Dean Karnazes thing (as much as one can really get such a thing); it makes sense why he would want to run and run and run some more. Then, other days, you labor through your entire planned route and want to curl up and die by the time you are done, never to run again.

But, you do. You run again and the next run is fine -- maybe even great. Who knows? It doesn't really matter because with running you learn to roll with it. You roll with the weather, roll with last minute schedule changes, roll with injuries. You roll with it, whatever it happens to be.

Like today. Today, I rolled with it.

It's a beautiful day. Sunny. Warm. Just perfect. We've had a bunch of not-so-great days so this one is quite welcome. I would relish an early summer run this evening but I have someplace to be at 7 so I decided to run on the treadmill this afternoon while my son napped.

Good plan, except that, well, . . . my run sucked. Totally cruddy. But, that's what happens. Sometimes you feel great, sometimes you feel cruddy. Tomorrow's another day. Another chance.

And, lucky for me, I have running on my schedule for tomorrow. And the next day. And, I hope, for many days, many months, many years to come!

~ Felice

A contest. And a giveaway!

On Friday, I mentioned that I would be announcing a super cool giveaway today. I didn't lie! I have it for you today. And, I have info about a contest. Just all kinds of good stuff going on around here.

First, let me give you the background. Some nice folks from Strands contacted me to let me know about their site and give me some info to share with you about a contest they are running. Running! Heh, heh. Strands is a free online training log, along the lines of Daily Mile, Running Ahead, Map My Run, etc., with a dash of social networking. Users set up accounts and can track their workouts, add running routes, join groups, share information with other runners and do all the typical things you would expect to do on a running site. I signed up for an account last week and have just started setting it up so I'm not well-versed in all the features but it seems like a good site.

OK, so that's the deal with that. Now on to the contest!

The Strands Contest

Strands is giving away 12 all-expense paid trips (airfare, hotel, meals) to Oregon to run in the Nike Hood to Coast Relay at the end of August. According to the promotional material, it's the largest relay in the world!

There are two ways that you can enter to win. First, you can participate in the store contest, which is for running stores that have profiles on Strands. Visit your favorite running store to see if they are on Strands (or check them out on the site -- the list should be posted today) and request a promo kit by sending an email to: HTC@strands.com. Check out the detailed info on the store contest here.

You can also enter the individual contest for a chance to win an all-expense paid trip to run with Team Strands! All you have to do is create a video, essay, poem, blog entry or other creative work on the subject of “Why I Run” and publish the work on Strands. The top "Why I Run" entry wins! You can read all about the individual contest here. The contests end on July 20th.

Pretty cool, huh? Check it out!

The Happy Runner Giveaway

So . . . I said this was going to be the coolest giveaway ever and I really think it is! Thanks to the generous folks at Strands, here's what one lucky reader will win:

• One pair of running shoes -- winner's choice! The shoes just need to be available to the public in stores or online.
• One Puma tech shirt
• One Puma t-shirt

Yes! I love that the winner will get to pick the shoes!

Here's how to enter:

• One entry (required -- you need to work for this one!): Set up an account on Strands and then leave me a comment with your username (do NOT leave your password or anything else related to your account!).
• For one additional entry: Link to this giveaway from your blog.
• For another additional entry: Tweet about the giveaway on Twitter.

The contest will run through midnight (EST) on Thursday, June 25. The winner will be picked at random and announced on Friday.

Good luck! And happy Monday. How about no rain today, huh? That would be nice . . .

~ Felice

In Defense of Food mini-review.

Recently, I read the book In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan. Today, I'd like to highly recommend it to anyone that hasn't read it. Go pick up a copy! Library, book store, book swap, whatever!

The book is quite interesting and Pollan has a terrific writing style. He can actually write about legislation, food science and the agriculture industry and make it all sorta funny. That's talent. In the book, Pollan makes the case (in many different ways) for people to get back to basics with food. His essential advice is to, "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." (As opposed to eating food-like stuff -- high fructose corn syrup, anyone? --, way too much of it, and way too much beef, corn and soy.)

This simple advice has resonated with thousands (millions?) and certainly with me. Even before reading the book, I was attempting to clean up my diet and base it more on whole foods. Since finishing the book, I've been more charged up to do that than ever. So far, so good. We're eating more whole foods, less processed junk and more vegetables here at Chez Happy Runner. Fortunately, now is the perfect time for veggies.

Which brings me to the next thing I wanted to tell you about. This year, I bought a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) farm share. Actually, I split a share with a friend because it was the first year for both of us. Our first pickup was last night and ooooooh, was I excited! The bounty did not disappointment. Our bag this week contained beets, a turnip, strawberries, mint, basil, mustard greens, arugula, lettuce, bok choy, scallions and garlic scapes. I made a stir fry with the bok choy, scallions and scapes and it was tasty. I think I'm going to enjoy getting all of these fresh veggies, and I know that it will help in my pursuit to eat more local, whole foods.

I still eat plenty of crap -- I'm not going to lie. But, I eat less crap than I used to. And that feels good! Less crap = more energy. More energy = happier me. It works!

* * *

The sun is finally shining after a rainy yesterday and rain this morning. Yahoo!

I hope everyone has a great weekend! Be sure to stop by on Monday when I will have THE coolest giveaway contest starting. Seriously awesome. No lie!

~ Felice

One hill of a workout.

Yesterday's run was tough but very satisfying. I ran hill repeats. Since most of my routes are hilly on their own, I rarely run repeats. Instead, when I want a little extra I'll run hill fartleks. Yesterday, though, I went for repeats.

I decided, against my better judgment, to tackle the most tiring hill on my route and to try to keep the repeats at an 8:00/mi pace. Here's what I ran:

Warm-up, 1.51m: 14:18

Hills (.17m):

1. 1:24
2. 1:20
3. 1:22
4. 1:22

Jogged for .20m between repeats.

Cool-down, 1.61m: 14:53

Overall: 4.4 in 40:57

So, I managed to keep my uphill pace at right around 8:00/mile but after the fourth time up, I was done. I had grand plans of running six repeats but it didn't happen. Although, both my warm-up and my cool-down included two hills so maybe I should count them! Ha! The one thing I was pleased with, though, was my consistency. I felt that my speed did not fall off much as I got to the top of the hill, so even though I didn't run as many repeats as I would have liked, I ran them well.

In my quest to run a sub-23 5k, I'm going to incorporate this workout into my routine probably 2-3 times a month. Maybe, if I'm feeling crazy, I'll do it once a week. Watch out!

~ Felice

PS: Amanda at Run to Finish is hosting a giveaway for two E-cloth prize packs. Check it out!

Well, it's Tuesday.

I don't know what that means. It just came out. It's the truth, though, so that's got to count for something, yes? I don't know. I guess I don't have much to write about for some reason.

This is a running blog, sweetheart. Write about running . . .

Running. Yes. OK. Running. I had a super-duper run on Sunday. Why super-duper? Well, it was a recovery run and I ran it at a slow pace that was tough to maintain. I wanted to speed up but didn't let myself. Instead, I kept it slow and that made all the difference. Over the last two miles I felt like I was gliding and then, yesterday, my legs felt terrific. All light and full of energy.

So then I wore them out with some Jillian Michaels-style shredding. Today, I'll run. Well, I'll run this evening. Right back on track.

* * *

I have some giveaway-type stuff to share, if you are interested:

Denise at Run DMT is giving away what I think is just about the coolest t-shirt ever. Check it out here.

The Whooga sheepskin boots people have a special offer for readers of The Happy Runner: A $30 gift card. Just visit their site and enter the code THEHAPPYRU at check out to receive your $30 discount. The offer run through the beginning of August.

Have a great day!

~ Felice

Run with the Trojans 4-miler race report.

In true non-committal style, I had been more-or-less planning to run the Run with the Trojans race but had not signed up. I figured I would run it if the weather was nice, my legs were feeling good, the pollen count was low, my favorite racing gear was clean and I was able to wake up on time. Alas, all of those things happened so I found myself in the middle of the road across from an apartment complex and the vocational-technical school in Troy, NY at 9-something yesterday morning.

There were a few dozen of us gathered at the scenic asphalt-all-around spot, although I later learned that only 25 or so were racing in the 4-miler. See, the Run with the Trojans is a bit of a racing festival -- with an 800-meter kids run, and both a 2-mile and a 4-mile race. Three-in-one! You can't beat it . . .

Anyway, I headed to the registration table to sign up, get my bib (#186 -- how many people were in the race?), t-shirt and goody bag. Highlighter -- yes! I strolled around, waiting for the crowd of runners to appear but they never did. I warmed up. I chatted with some fellow runners and then, when the race director yelled that the race was going to start in a few minutes so we should head to the starting line, I lined up.

Now, when I was driving to the race, I noticed that there was a monster hill in what would turn out to be the second and fourth miles (the course was a 2-mile loop). A 3/4 of a mile hill, to be exact. A steep, monster hill (said, by the girl who loves hills). This, combined with the lack of racers, made me think I should adjust my expectations (not that they were high). I decided I'd shoot for 8-minute miles, and run the race as a tempo run.

Good idea.

You see, here's the thing about small races when you're a mid-packer: You end up running alone. For most of the race, I couldn't see anyone in front of me or behind me. Weird. In my last race, there were 3700 runners so I was never out of a crowd. This race was entirely different.

The course was fine. The hill was tough and long and having to run it twice just made it tougher. I managed to keep my pace around 8:30 on the uphill, which felt strong so I was pleased.

I ended up finishing in 32:42, a little over my tempo pace goal of 32. But, I'm OK with that. It felt like a really good workout. The official results haven't been posted but when the times were listed on the cardboard box-turned-tabletop-display after the race, it looked like I finished right in the middle.

Wow . . . what a long report for a not very interesting race!

* * *

Two other things: I used my Garmin in the race and LOVED IT. Done. I am officially a gadgety runner.

And, the hot water heater. There was no salvaging it so we had to get a new one. Luckily, my dad volunteered to help Owen install it so we only had to shell out for the heater itself. The difference between having it installed and not was about $1000. Crazy.

Hope everyone is enjoying the weekend!

~ Felice

Birthday winner.

This will be a quick post because things are topsy-turvy here at Chez Happy Runner. Our hot water heater is leaking. The basement's a wet mess. It's just all . . . ugh.

But, hey! I just celebrated some birthdays. Speaking of which, thanks for all the comments and wishes on my blog birthday post!

And since my giveaway contest ended at midnight, I have a winner to announce:

Jenny from See Jenny Go. Go, Jenny, Go! Yahoo-arini! Jenny, email me (felicehalf [at] yahoo [dot] com) with your address and I'll get the birthday box right out to you.

Have a great weekend, everyone!
~ Felice

The Magic Foot Doctor!

Not only was yesterday my blog birthday but it was also the day of my big appointment with The Magic Foot Doctor, Curer of all Things Podiatry-ish.

I had, you could say, high hopes.

You know, like if the guy had opened a cabinet full of snake oil I would've taken it all, no matter the price. Desperate? Sure, I'll admit to being desperate. But it was more that I had finally decided to see a professional (as opposed to the self-diagnosing doctor that I pretend to be, late at night, alone with the Google search engine) that raised my hopes to ridiculous levels.

What, I now wonder, did I expect the guy to do? Hypnotize my toe? Not likely. My Magic Foot Doctor turned out to be a regular guy. Regular, tie-wearing, polite, business-like doctor guy.

He examined my feet. "You have bunions," he said. I agreed. "And it looks like you have only about 10 percent mobility in the right toe." Hmm... "And some bone spurs." Double hmm... "Maybe a little plantar fasciitis." Triple hmm... "And what we sometimes call a bunionette on the fifth metatarsal." OK, really, this is enough.

Diagnosis: Three bunions, bone spurs, plantar fasciitis. Of the three bunions, only the one on my right big toe is particularly bad because it affects both the top and side of the joint and has limited my toe's mobility considerably. But, Mr. Regular Foot Doctor Guy did say that the others would just get worse if left alone. He took a mold of my feet for orthotics and explained what would be involved in a bunionectomy. I don't even like typing that word, so I'm not going to go into the details. The bottom line is that I would be able to walk and drive after the surgery, but would not be able to run for two to three months.

Let's hope the orthotics work wonders.

I should get the orthotics in about a month and then I'll go back to Mr. Regular Foot Doctor Guy in three months. He expects that the orthotics will make a big difference. I can't wait!

So, that's that.

If you missed my last post, check it out and enter my birthday giveaway (the deadline is midnight tonight)!

~ Felice

Blog Birthday Bonanza!

I'm one! Or, I should say, this blog is one. I just turned ahem-cough-cough, my son turned two, and now the Happy Runner is one! It's birthday central around here.

Yessiree. One. I've been blogging here for a year. 254 posts. That's a lot of words.

And I love it. Man, oh man, do I love my blog. I love being able to think and write and read about running the way I'm able to as a blogger. I've met (virtually) so many cool people and been the beneficiary of advice, suggestions, tips and support from the online community and that just plain rocks. Rocks, I tell you!

So, since it rocks so much, I have no plans to stop. I'm going to keep on keepin' on with this running blogging thing.

The Happy Runner "My Readers Rock!" Giveaway

In celebration of my bloggy birthday, and because I really do think you all rock, I'm saying, "Happy birthday!" to one reader. Yup. That's right. I have a box of birthday goodies to give away!

The box contains:

Two cans of Solixir
One tub of Oikos Greek yogurt (coupon)
Three bottles of Mix1
One three-tube set of slick, sparkly Sephora lip gloss (sorry, guys, you can give them away!)
One bar of chocolate (coupon)
Two single serving packs of Barney Butter almond butter


You in? Getting in is easy -- leave me a comment and I'll give you an entry. Link to the Happy Runner "My Readers Rock!" giveaway and you'll get two more entries (just let me know). It's that easy! The contest starts now and runs through midnight tomorrow (6/11). I'll announce the runner on Friday, so be sure to check back.

OK, now I might get a little sappy -- I'm so grateful to everyone who visits my site, especially those who take the time to comment and provide me with some (often much-needed) support. It means a lot. I loooooove running alone and will never be a social runner, I know that. But, I've learned that having the support of a running community is something I need. This online one has been great. It's made me a better runner, for sure!

Before I go too far down the sappy road, I'll sign off. Have a great day. Eat a cupcake for me. Or a handful of jelly beans. I'm not picky . . .

I'm looking forward to spending another year with you!

~ Felice

I may be a runner but I'd rather not have runner's knee, thanks.

Boo. Hiss.

Knee pain. Not too bad. Just slightly annoying.

Self-diagnosis: Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome a.k.a. Runner's Knee.

Boo. Hiss.

I felt the pain on Tuesday, about a mile into my run, and ran through it. No pain after the run until later that night when I felt a pinch at the top of my knee. A little ice and ibuprofen seemed to do the trick but when I ran on Wednesday, I felt it again.

Boo. Hiss.

I took Thursday and Friday off and did some Shred workouts instead. On Saturday, I had planned to run a 5K but skipped it because I had Conal's party that afternoon and just way too much going on. So, another day off.

Yesterday, I decided to test it out on a 5-mile run. No problem. Today, though? I feel it. What gives?

I'll pull back a little this week and use some ice and Advil when necessary. Hopefully that will take care of it. It really isn't bad, just annoying.

Even with the knee thing, I had a great weekend! Two parties for my little two-year-old (toddler party on his birthday and then a family hoo-ha the next day). Fun. He loved it all. Especially the cupcakes. And I don't blame him because if there is one thing I can do, it's bake up a yummy cupcake and top it off with some butter-laden frosting goodness.

Now, the sun is shining and said toddler is napping. Happy Monday!

~ Felice

Mix1 review and a Pearl Izumi contest.

So my review didn't happen yesterday. Too much going on with the toddler birthday party in the morning and then preparation for a family party today. Life. It's always getting in the way of my blogging! Sheesh!

Today, though, I have a review of the Mix1 protein and antioxidant drinks. Mix1's PR person, Dina, sent me a huge box of the drinks and the first thing I thought when I opened it was that the packaging is fun! These bottles are just plain cute and colorful. But that's not what makes a drink so I decided that I would actually taste the different flavors in order to provide a thorough review.

And that's what I did. Before I give you my thoughts, let me share some information from the company. Mix1 calls itself an "all natural fast food" stating that "before or after your workout, mealtime, downtime, anytime -- mix1 provides sustained energy to get you through your busy day." The drinks are comprised of a 2:1 carb to protein ratio and contain antioxidants, fiber and the equivalent of 3 servings of fruits and veggies. There are also two new drinks -- the hi-antioxidant fiber drinks in dark-berry and orange-carrot -- that contain the equivalent of 9 servings of fruits and veggies. You can learn a lot more about the drinks at their web site here.

So how did they work for me? Well, pretty good. First, though, I have to confess that I have a weird thing with milk. I don't like it. It's the texture of milk that I don't go for and I just can't drink it. What does this have to do with Mix1 drinks? Not much, except that the "tangy and creamy" drinks have a texture that is somewhat close to, but not entirely the same as, milk. Once I got that in my head, I couldn't get it out!

I'm a wackadoodle, I know. This would not be a problem for anyone other than me and I wish I hadn't let the milk thing creep into my mind! But it did. I forged ahead, though, for the benefit of all of you out there in the internets and kept trying the drinks. Slightly creamy though they were.

The mix1 drinks are tasty! The dark-berry hi-antioxidant drink is really good. They were also the right amount of filling -- they seemed like they would make a perfect 4pm snack when I'm planning a 5:30 run. Oh, right! I actually tried that out and it worked. I had the mango drink around 4 one afternoon, when I normally have to eat a pre-run snack, and headed out for a run at 5:45. Worked like a charm.

As with most specialty drinks these days, they are a little pricey. I couldn't find actual store prices but I did see that they are for sale on Amazon here, 12 bottles for $25.

* * *

You know what else Dina told me about? A Pearl Izumi contest! This is pretty cool. Pearl Izumi is giving away $250 worth of gear in their Animal Encounters Contest. They are looking for stories from people who've had encounters with animals while out on a run. You can post a video, photo or story.

The contest runs through June 15th. And, hey, you're chances are super good right now so check it out! Who wouldn't like $250 worth of running gear? I would love it!

Have a great weekend, everyone!

~ Felice

Photo . . . Thursday?

I have a review on tap for tomorrow so no Photo Friday for me. Instead, today I bring you some photos from last Saturday's 5K:

Spectating is hard -- where are my cookies?

Nom, nom, nom, nom, nom. Post-race cookies rock!

I can so do this running thing.

Missed my goal. Wondering what's next.

* * *

Today is my last day with a one-year-old. Holy cannoli! My little guy turns 2 (eek!) tomorrow. Lot's to do!

~ Felice

Runners, grab your tennis balls!

In my post last Thursday, I mentioned that I sit on a tennis ball to help prevent and treat injuries. A few of you asked what in the world I was talking about and I realized that I should have gone into more detail so that a) you all wouldn't think I was one bizarre mama and b) you could enjoy the same (often painful) treatment!

The tennis ball thing is a self-massage technique (trigger point massage) that helps to break up the knots in your muscles that can cause pulling and injuries. I tend to get knots and related tightness in my right hip and butt and these can lead to pulling and soreness around my knee. When I feel any tightness creeping into my hip, I break out my tennis ball.

Here's what I do:

I sit on the floor with my legs extended, leaning on my right side (side of pain). Then, I place the tennis ball under my right hip, around the area where I'm experiencing the pain. I roll around until I feel the most painful area and then stop and allow my body to sink onto the tennis ball. This hurts! I try to stay on the painful area for as long as possible, but often have to release the area and move to another one before the pain has completely subsided. And it does subside. When you find a painful area to release, it will be painful at first and then the pain will gradually reduce. I usually have a few knots that need to be released and so I'll roll around for a bit, looking much like a wacko but knowing I'm saving myself from future injuries.

After I use the tennis ball, I stretch my legs and often give them a gentle rub-down with the foam roller.

Now, I am far from a doctor or specialist of any sort but I have read a bit on trigger points and lower body ailments common to runners and this technique is one that is often recommended. It works for me. I don't know all the science behind knots and trigger points and all that but I do know that since I started doing this I have had far fewer ITB and knee problems. And I'm all for that!

Good luck!

~ Felice

PS: It's National Running Day today. Get on out there!

Recovery and May wrap-up.

On Sunday, I took my tired legs out for a recovery 4-mile run and they felt lovely. My new Garmin felt lovely, too. I don't know all that it can do, yet, but I am learning. And quickly seeing that I am going become addicted to it. That's just the way I am.

I took today off from running and cross trained with Jillan Michaels' 30 Day Shred. Not bad. So, my race recovery has been fine and I think I'm in good shape to try another 5k this weekend. It's a fun race that I ran last year, too, so I'm looking forward to it. I'm not, however, going to pressure myself into gunning for sub-23 because it will only be a week between races. I'm just going to go out and run for fun. Novel idea, eh?

May stats:

Running (miles): 86.3
Cross training (sessions): 4

• 30 Day Shred, level 2: 2
  
• 30 Day Shred, level 3: 1
  
• No More Trouble Zones: 1
  

No much cross training this month but a little more running than in April (when I ran 81). I did many more speed workouts this month, which, for me, require extra rest. So, overall, I'm happy with my mileage because it is increasing in both quantity and quality.

May was also a very big month for me outside of my running life so I had less time to run than I expect to have in June. And with that I say, "Bring on June!"

~ Felice