Great Scott!

I just got back from a family vacation in Phoenix, AZ. What a great time! We spent some time over in Scottsdale and I'm super excited that I get to go back and visit again when I run the Women's Half Marathon there in November. The greater Phoenix area is absolutely FULL of bike paths, trails, parks, a canal way and runner friendly streets with wide bike lanes and sidewalks. (Case in point, check out this trail run map...crazy!! Everything I saw seemed really clean and well-maintained. Aside from the fact the the insane heat would really stymie running during daylight hours, I loved the place. I saw a little of the route I'll be running in the Fall (when it's hopefully much cooler!!) and got to check out a local running store...Sole Sports. My family was very indulgent in taking a time-out from all our vacation activities to let me check out the local running scene a little and wander around the store. The gals in there were super helpful and got me all outfitted in a pair of brand new Brooks Glycerin 9's...oooooh, do I love them. (Thanks, hon!! I have the best husband in the world!!) They also gave me a few tips about the Women's Half and the hotel we'll be staying at. Sole Sports is one of the sponsors of the race, so I really hope to run into them again.

While I was in the store, I noticed they had single serve Nuun tabs, so I picked up one in a flavor I hadn't tried. Tri-Berry was not bad! I had planned to take it out on a run around the area near our hotel, but it turned out to be much too hot outside for my taste, so I sucked it up and had a treadmill run instead. (Which wasn't even too bad because I had my new Glycerins on!) I really can't wait to go again at a cooler time of year and check out more of the great running spots I saw. Scottsdale rocks! Has anyone else been there??

Find your inner Funkalicious.

I think I've posted about jog.fm (www.jog.fm) before. Oh. My. Goodness. How much fun is it? Or is it just me that's super obsessed with "crafting" playlists? With jog.fm, you can customize playlists based on your anticipated pace per mile. You can inject faster songs in the midst of slower ones to create interval workouts, blasting fast-paced stuff for tempo runs, driving rhythms for hill repeats, whatever tickles your fancy, you can build it. For a nerd like me, this is ultimate coolness. I'm such a dork that I try to make race day mixes that correspond mile by mile with the pace I'm shooting for, based on the course elevation, finish time I want, when I think I'll hit a wall and need a lift...it's definitely not the "mix-tape" of old. This is art!! Okay, maybe it is a little like mix-tapes, but so what?? (I admit to being a CRAZY mix-tape girl back in the day. I had them for every occasion. Surprised??)

That said, my latest creation had me happily clicking away the miles this morning. I'm planning to use it as a base for the upcoming relay I'm running in San Diego in which my team is called (drumroll goes here) "Forty and Funky." So here's a peek at my Funkalicious new playlist, along with my commentary as an awesome bonus. A little bit old school, a little bit alternative funk...kind of like me. Enjoy!

Funkalicious Playlist

Beautiful Day - U2

Rolling In the Deep - Adele

Rio - Duran Duran

Call Me - In This Moment (What a ROCKING version of this Blondie song!)

It's Still Rock and Roll to Me - Billy Joel

Any Way You Want It - Journey

Don't Stop Believin' - Journey

Blow - Ke$ha (I absolutely HATED this song until they played it in the "Chuck" episode where Alexi/Hadley's mom blew up her own house. Awesome!)

Vertigo - U2

Little Lion Man - Mumford & Sons (Warning: this one has a really bad word in the chorus, so they say it a lot. Do not dance around the kitchen to it when your kids are present. Sorry!!)

The Cave - Mumford & Sons

Firework - Katy Perry (I have a love/hate relationship with this song. Sometimes I DETEST it and skip it, sometimes I love it. Today it worked.)

Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride - Jump5 (Just because it's fun and is perfectly safe to dance around in the kitchen with your kids to.)

Barbra Streisand - Duck Sauce (The absolute stupidity and banality of this song make it completely hysterical to me. Plus it has a fun little groove.)

Paint It Black - The Rolling Stones

Woman - Wolfmother

Here in this Moment - Beckah Shae

Jump in the Line - Harry Belafonte (A strange addition? This song carried me through a nasty spot at mile 19 of a marathon when I thought I would NOT make it. I must've kept it on repeat for at least 3 miles...)

Assassin - Muse

You've Got the Love - Florence + the Machine

Something Nuun.

I am not sure why it is that this happens to me, but it seems like everytime I start to LOVE something related to my running, the manufacturer either changes it or gets rid of it altogether. I've talked about this issue before. It's as if they test market something on me, discover that I like it, and immediately must get it off the market. Take Luna Splash, for instance. Luna, by Clif bar, came out with an electrolyte drink made especially for women. It had added calcium, iron and B-vitamins, was organic and had a fabulous pink grapefruit flavor that I loved. It was out about 5 minutes, long enough for me to declare it the ONLY thing I'd drink, and then it was gone. Just like that.

You see, I am notoriously picky about my electrolyte drink. I can't stand anything overly sweet and sticky. I get that I need carbs, but drinks with too much sugar make me feel like my throat is closing up on me. Besides, I like to deliver my carbs in the form of gel, so my sports drinks need to just back off. I also hate anything with TOO much flavor or that comes in an unnatural shade of neon. Sorry, but I don't want that much artificial color and flavor in my body when I'm pushing it to it's limits.

When Luna Splash went away, I started trying every electrolyte drink I could get my hands on in an effort to find a replacement. It's been almost a year and I've FINALLY found something I like, perhaps even better. Hold onto your hats people and get ready to buy it up in mass quantities in case they stop making it, too...it's Nuun! No sugar, just electrolytes, and the tabs pop right into your water bottle so there's no messy powder to mix.  The original Citrus Fruit is not bad, but I'm especially jazzed about the brand new Strawberry Lemonade. It rocks. The flavor is light and NOT overpowering, AND, since there's no added sugar, I can be in charge of what carbs I want to take (or not take) along.  Which means if I want to Roctane myself into orbit, I don't have to worry about upsetting my stomach with cross-carbtamination from my sports drink. Cool.

In case you're wondering, I am in no way affliated with Nuun or any other product manufacturer that I talk about on my Blog. Hardly anyone sends me free samples to review, so I'm not even swayed by freebie insanity. I just happen to like sharing when I find awesome stuff.

Oh, and PS, I am notoriously picky about my gels, too. If the GU people get wind of this post and decide to stop making Roctane since I mentioned it, I will freak out. So, shush! Keep that on the down low. 

Note added 5/25/11: For a short time, you can get 54% off Nuun at Schwaggle. It's a great deal and you can check out four different Nuun flavors. Look for it here: http://schwaggle.active.com/deal/1433/54-percent-off-special-nuun-electrolyte-hydration-package/national 



Life at light speed.

I totally WISH I could say that I have been running so fast that things are blurring by at light speed. Unfortunately, that is NOT the case. It has been so busy here between scouts and baseball games and school events, birthday parties and baseball practice, and oh, did I mention baseball? I feel like I get shot from a cannon most mornings and I don't stop until I collapse into bed at night. Still, I have been getting my runs in good and regular these days, and have even worked up to about 7 miles in long runs. My tendonitis still bothers me, but I've adjusted (slowly) to the pain as a regular part of getting older as a runner. I ice and take my NSAIDS, massage, and just keep going. It's all I can do and it's bearable. I have runs where it doesn't hurt at all and runs when it's quite uncomfortable, and I'm grateful for both. One reminds me that I'm still able and the other reminds me to be extra thankful I still have the ones where it doesn't hurt. Life goes on! Light speed or otherwise, it goes.

I went back to my "running roots", so to speak a few weeks ago and ran the very first race I ever participated in...the one where I got my first taste of the endorphine rush that made me want to do it again and again. The Run with the Panthers 5k is a local event, very low key and small, and it was the perfect place for me to make my debut in the "Masters" class. Masters, for those of you who don't know, is the nice way to refer to the group of runners that would otherwise be called, "Old Farts" or "So Old They Probably Ought to Give it Up Already But They're Too Stubborn." Wait, that's not entirely true. There are some incredible runners out there in the Masters category...Joan Benoit Samuleson, for example. She's still kicking butts.

Anyway, I am happy to say that even post hammy problems, I beat my inaugural time at that race by quite a lot. And I had a lot of fun with a lot of friends. It was a good run. Next up, is the San Diego Half Marathon Relay on June 5th! Can't wait! Off and running...