Dashing Dani

I woke up this morning at 5:30am to go running. The sky was grey and blue clouds, and there was a cool breeze. I ran down to a neighborhood where I knew I would hit a one mile mark, and as I went to turn around, I saw a path to the woods and decided to take it. The trails were lovely and dark, and then I popped out on the other side and saw these awesome roads in the middle of the woods, with streetlights. The road just wove around with no houses or anything. As I kept running, I discovered huge, gorgeous homes and a bike path, and the sky started erupting in beautiful periwinkle and violet hues. I turned back because I had to get home to go to work, and I got back just in time to hop in the shower and make a protein shake for breakfast. I finished 3 miles and am just glad I got out there- I was having such a hard time getting out the door recently.

Next time, I will bring my phone so I can take a photo of the streets. So beautiful!

I have a book where I write down EVERY single run I do. I keep a log of my mileage for my shoes, and also keep a log of my ‘total miles since beginning running’. So far, I have ran 262 miles and 52 miles on these shoes. That is just crazy. I can’t believe I have ran that far, so far.

Ok you can go back to your awesome dashboards now :)

I went running last night. It was after the rain, so the ground was wet. After a while, there were puddles in my shoes, I swear you could hear me go “squeak-squeak-squeak” from miles away.

It was another perfect run. My legs hurt, my brain was like “why didn’t we just sit and watch tv or sleep or eat ice cream or go to vegas why are we even heeere” but the sky was beautiful because the rain made everything reflecting and glittery and hazy and yellow. And uh not to be creepy but I also randomly found a coworkers house because I recognize the ‘company car’ they drive (I am not a real-life stalker, I swear!). And running away from the sun was cool cause there was so much detail I could see every little glistening leaf on the trees. Of course, it also smelled like beautiful flowers and the temperature outside was just right (I am so lucky to not have allergies, I guess the pollen is at an all-time high…)

Maybe running makes me an optimist. Or maybe I have just missed running so much.

Signed up for warrior dash. If anyone hears about that zombie survival run coming to Michigan, LET ME KNOW. Zombie survival is an especially motivating reason to run fast :)

Oh eff. I just realized that I am so busy, my waking up early and cleaning isn’t going to happen. Instead, I have a four mile run scheduled. So that’s what I get to do this early instead.

Bah! How did I forget about those four miles?!

Ran today :)

i AM SO VERY PROUD OF MY RUN.

I couldn’t escape it. I have had a hard time getting myself out the door lately. I kept looking wistfully outside, thinking about how I would love to run, but there was always something holding me back. My garmin wasn’t charged, I was in the middle of a Criminal Minds episode, I needed to eat dinner, I needed a running playlist, I wouldn’t finish before the sun set…but then I got all of those things done and realized I still had time before the sun went down….

I went outside and it was so gorgeous I just had to run.

I ran on the dirt shoulder of a two lane road, instead of sticking to the parking lot of my apartment. Do you know how mentally challenging it is to run circles around a parking lot? It sucks.

But this run, I broke free. I ran through neighborhoods, with old men working on their cars, ladies bringing groceries in the house. Where windows and doors were open to let in the breeze, where lilacs bloomed and the sky exploded in bright oranges and sparkling teal. Millions of white, spore-laden dandelions filled a field of emerald green, and the blinking lights of a low flying commercial airliner breezed overhead. This run was epic. When my run was finished, I ran and jumped and danced along the sidewalk.

I am so glad I went outside.

was awesome. I ran a 10k on Saturday, and got to meet awesome internet people and scored an awesome poster and medal. Then, on Sunday, I ran the Spartan Splatter 5k in East Lansing and got to run through the beautiful campus with my bf. It was so super awesome because he got to see my college in the height of blooming flowers and trees and we also got splashed with paint as we ran.

I really wanted to run an extra .7 miles this weekend to brag to myself that I ran 10 miles in one weekend, but my right foot is telling me that I ran enough, thank-you-very-much, and I can feel the peroneal tendonitis creaking in my right foot (similar to that which I had on my left foot after my half marathon. Glad my Brooks Adrenalin 12 shoes have helped my PF though- not even a squeak from that left foot!)

In other news, I need to whittle down the races I will be running this year. I have lofty goals and want to run ALL of the following races:

Warrior Dash-Flint

Warrior Dash-Grand Rapids

Ferndale Rainbow Run (like the color run)

Hero Rush

Swampfoot 4 miler

MI Wine Trail Half Marathon

Panda Bear Night Half Marathon

Higgins Lake Sunrise Half Marathon

and any random run in october that gives out cider and donuts.

Help me choose? Vote for your fave or share a race recap of any of the above PLEASE!