Summertime

It is August and summer is in full swing here in the Pacific northwest. I love to be in town during August - we have the best weather! Running has to happen early but that leaves lots of time for reading on the deck, working in the garden, and enjoying these last days before the inevitable - going back to work.
It was fun to see how the miles have added up this summer. Just 14 miles until I reach the purple - oops - that should have read blue level on Nike+!

it's not about the numbers, but . . .

I love to look at them anyway.
This is a screen shot of my dailymile page. ** It shows the last 12 months and how many miles I have logged. Riding my bicycle has made a big difference between this year and last.  I think I have 68 running miles for July but almost 60 miles of bicycling too.
Today we did a 10 mile run and it was great!  I woke up to a bit of rain and skies that threatened to put a damper on our running plans but we headed out, ready to turn around if it got too wet.  We were able to take off our rain jackets for parts of the run and most of the puddles were small enough to go over or around.  I am so happy we got this run in today.  This puts us in a great position to finish our training strong and be fully prepared for the half marathon.

**I use Nike+ to log my miles then sync them to the Nike+ site.  Once that is done, I can also sync those miles to Daily Mile.  What I like about daily mile is the ability to add all sorts of workouts from running, to cycling, to cross training.  It feels more user friendly. **

by the numbers

I was listening to the April - Move More Eat Well podcast today (or video log or I don't know what to call it) and it was like she had crawled inside my head.  The last few weeks, I have been a bit down in the dumps about fitness and have found my hand in a bag of chips more often than I would like to admit. 
Then I heard Cathy suggest a looking at what IS working and if the numbers on the scale aren't what you want, look at what is good about your numbers.
So I pulled up a review for the last 4 weeks and it really does look pretty good.  There are 6 days without a run or workout but with all the rain and snow we have had in the last 4 weeks, I think this is pretty good.
So, back to the plan, start, restart, as many times as necessary. 
Here is one number that is amazing - # of jelly beans consumed = ZERO!

another tracking tool

Here is another tool for tracking your runs, walks, and many more exercises.  Daily Mile will sync with your Nike+ or Garmin but you can also add your workouts manually.  I have begun using this tool more frequently because I can sync my runs and add my cross training.  And they send you a great weekly report with distance, number of hours, and other tracking information. 
This visual read out is very motivating for me :)

eleven on eleven

Here it is - the 11th day of the 11th month of the 11th year and I am:
1.  reading Incendiary by Chris Cleve
2.  stitching a little wall hanging
3.  practicing jazz and rock drum patterns
4.  exercising with Jillian Michaels
5.  running errands in the rain
6.  cooking salmon tacos
7.  planning a little Christmas project
8.  choosing goals for Lori's 10 pound challenge
9.  writing down some mom memories before they fade
10.  listening to knitting podcasts
11.  enjoying a day at home