Christmas Music in the Summer?

Since I had a guest post yesterday instead of giving you my usual run-down (pun intended...I crack myself up), here's the scoop on the runs I did this weekend and a few other noteworthy activities.

Yesterday morning I ran 13 miles at an average 7:56 pace.  My fastest mile was 7:42 and slowest was 8:05.  The rest were all fairly consistent at right under 8 minute pace.  Since I've been doing my last couple long runs on my own, I decided to meet up with the Coach Brendan Running group at 6am.  It was still dark out when I woke up.  That shouldn't happen on the weekends.  I actually ended up running by myself the whole time instead of with anyone from the group, so I was glad I brought my iPod.

I made a new running mix that has quite the variety of songs.  Life is a little weird when you go from a rap song straight into a church song.  I'm a fan of everything.  Here were some of the songs I recall particularly enjoying on the run:

• You Make My Dreams - Daryl Hall - Thanks to Grace for sending me this song recently.  If you don't have Spotify, you need it.  And then you need to send me some of your favorite songs.
• Kanye's New Workout Plan - Kanye West
• Drunk Last Night - Eli Young Band - I think this is my favorite song right now.
• Wired to the T - Dorrough - If this song doesn't just get you pumped while running (or whenever), I don't know what would.
• Hell on the Heart - Eric Church
• You Are Holy - Michael W. Smith
• Red - Taylor Swift

I'd like to thank my friend Carly for inspiring me to listen to rap while running.  It really does work nicely.  Carly is also training for the Chicago Marathon and always posts on Facebook with her motivating running song of the day...and it's almost always rap, so I decided to go for it.

And since we are already talking about music, I have to disclose that I listened to Christmas music last week.  Catherine made me a CD for my birthday, which included some Christmas songs because she knows I love them.  I will say though that I only listened to a few songs one day because I don't want to get Christmas music burnout before the Christmas season and I obviously had to listen to the CD she made me.  It'd be rude not to.  It is fun to be driving down the highway and know that all the other drivers have no idea I'm listening to Christmas music right now in August.  But now that I got that little bit in, I'll wait another few weeks before listening again.

Also related to music, here's a little tidbit I got from a Dove chocolate yesterday:

I always am, Dove, I always am.

After yesterday's long run, I went to Jim and Christina's new apartment.  They have a pool at their building, so Christina and I laid out there for a few hours.  I wore sunscreen this time, but I had my head turned to the side the whole time as we talked, so half of my neck got a little red.  Jim was doing manly handyman tasks around the apartment, but he was kind enough to take a break and bring us some Lime-A-Ritas (and UD coozies).

This morning I met up with my friend Christopher who I had not seen since I left my old job in May, so it was great to catch up!  We had been talking for like a year about running on this dirt trail that goes through Wicker Park and we finally did it.  It was basically old train tracks that are no longer in use and have overgrown with dirt and grass...a little sketchy though, so probably not somewhere I'd run alone.  But in the middle of the day with a friend was a great time to try it!

What are some of your favorite running songs or genres?

Have you ever listened to Christmas music not during the Christmas season?

Do you like to go explore new places to run?

Long Run Wedding Weekend

This past weekend was Jim and Christina's wedding and it was a blast!  First of all, I need to tell you about my run on Friday evening before all the festivities, then I'll get to the fun stuff.

I wanted to do 14 miles on Friday, but I just can never get motivated enough to run after work.  First I met Angela at Starbucks for about half hour and then when I got home I knew I really need to just go run.  I set out towards Wicker Park and did a loop around that general area, then back into Old Town.  Since it was around 6:30pm when I started and a nice Friday evening, a lot of people were outside so it was difficult at times to weave in and out of people.  This first 4-ish mile loop was hard mentally to get going and I really thought I might just stop when I got back into Old Town.  But I knew I'd get back and be mad at myself and be in a bad mood still having like 3 hours to wait around.  So I kept going and headed north to Wrigleyville...the Cubs game was just ending so that again was more people to navigate through.  But after I got through that and headed south, I had my own space and just ran home, ending at what I mapped to be 11.8 miles in 1 hour 31 minutes.  I get kind of skeptical sometimes with how accurate mapping actually is and I know sometimes I'll walk across the street instead of run and even little things like that can add up.  So 11.8 in 1:31 would've been about 7:43 pace and I just didn't think I was going that fast, but who knows, maybe I was.  I logged it as 11.6 though which would be about 7:51 pace just to be a little more conservative.  I think maybe I will buy a Garmin; I imagine they'd be fairly accurate.

After the run, I was so worn out.  It was humid outside.  I got home and chugged 2 bottles of water before I even showered.  After my shower, I still had about 2 hours before Michael arrived and I didn't really want to eat since we were going to eat when he got here.  I had not ate the energy Gu I brought with on the run, so I figured I'd have that.  I personally like the taste of them.  Unfortunately, I think they are more for energy and not to fill you up.  It made my stomach hurt as I just watched TV.

The rest of the Friday night and Saturday were a lot of fun!  The wedding was beautiful and it was a very fun time to catch up with lots of friends.  And to dance.  The wedding meal was delicious.  Michael and I got bagels in the morning and then I thought I wouldn't be able to eat again until dinner.  But Glavin and Erika always come prepared with snacks, so I was able to snag a piece of bread with peanut butter...they even brought their own silverware.  One casualty of the weekend was a pair of flip flops.  On Sunday morning, I only had my heels, but luckily there was an Old Navy that we passed on the way to the pancake house where I could buy a new pair...actually 2 new pairs.  They were 2 for $5.  I can't not take a advantage of that.

What is your favorite Gu flavor?  My 2 favorites are Chocolate and Strawberry Banana.