Friend Making Monday & Hello September

OMG!  It’s September!  Where did January thru August go?!?!?!  This has been a year of ups and downs for me, for sure.  Let’s talk goals.  A couple times this year I have flirted with setting monthly goals and, in the instance of July, I actually set a goal.  I completely failed at it, but I set a goal of running at least 50 miles.  I only ran 19.  But I’d really like to start setting some monthly goals.  I think it would be a great idea to help me stay on track with what I ultimately want for myself in regards to my health and my fitness.  So, here we go.  My goals for September are as follows:

• run at least 100 miles (as long as I stick to my marathon training, this won’t be a problem)
• keep junk and processed foods to a bare minimum
• make an effort to do one day of non-running exercise each week

I think 3 goals for one month is good, don’t you?  I encourage you to set your own goal(s).  My plan for keeping the junk and processed foods to a minimum mainly just need to be for me to do my best to completely cut out eating out, or only eat out when absolutely necessary and not eat out just because I can…like I’ve been doing lately. 

So, I’ve mentioned that I don’t really like carrying a water bottle when I run.  It hurts my elbow and makes my shoulder and neck muscles cramp up.  I think I said that I wanted to start training with my hydration pack (wear it like a backpack).  Well, I started that with this morning’s run.  When I set out, it bounced a little and I was convinced that I was going to chafe over the tops of my shoulders where it was bouncing.  But I didn’t!  It worked great!  I’m not going back to the bottle!  This is fantastic because as my long runs get longer and longer, being able to effectively carry more water with me will be so nice.  It will make everything so much easier for me.  My hands will be free and unencumbered.  I will just wear 2 of my Hippie Runner gear belts: 1 for my cellphone and 1 for my gels.  Easy peasy.

This morning, I had 5.7 miles scheduled for myself.  That’s my “park loop” route.  What did I do?  I started the wrong route and I didn’t realize it until I was almost a mile in.  Oops.  So, I improvised.  I continued along the route I was going and added to it and came up with my scheduled total.  YAY!  Tomorrow is just 5 miles.  Then, I’ll rest on Wednesday, run my 9 mile long run on Thursday, rest again on Friday and then the Frozen Hot Chocolate 10K on Saturday!  Woohoo!  I need to come up with my run schedule for next week in the next couple days. 

Also, check out the weather stats for this morning's run according to my Garmin:

check out that humidity!!!

And now it’s time for this week’s Friend Making Monday questions…this week’s topic is More Randomness…enjoy!

1. Would you rather visit the doctor or the dentist?
probably the doctor.  I’m not afraid of the dentist or anything, but up until this year I’d never had a cavity and then bam! I had to have 2 cavities filled at the beginning of the year.  And then, there’s the scraping on my teeth when I get them cleaned…just like fingernails on a chalkboard.  <shudder>

2. Would you rather eat broccoli or carrots?
broccoli.

3. Would you rather listen to music or watch TV?
depends on my mood and what I’m doing.  But, really, if I’m at home doing nothing, I’d rather watch tv.  I do try to watch educational stuff, but not always.

4. Would you rather own a lizard or a snake?
I’ve owned a snake before and they can be unpredictable and it bite me a few times.  And I’ve always wanted a lizard, like an iguana.  That would be super cool!

5. Would you rather have a beach holiday or a mountain holiday?
to me, there’s only so much you can do at the beach, so I’d much rather have a vacation in the mountains.  So much more to do there.  Hiking, trail running, camping, etc.

6. Would you rather BE an apple or a banana?
I agree with SarahLou, this is a strange question.  I also have to agree with her as I’d rather be an apple.  I like bananas, but I like apples more.

7. Would you rather be invisible or be able to read minds?
funny enough, just yesterday at work we were discussing that Mel Gibson movie where he can read women’s minds.  I’d have to say that reading minds would get highly annoying and would seriously encroach on my mental privacy.  So yes, I’d rather be invisible.

8. Would you rather be hairy all over or completely bald?
completely bald.  While shaving isn’t hard or super time consuming, it is annoying.  And if I was completely bald I could just buy a bunch of fun wigs to wear.

9. Would you rather be the most popular or the smartest person you know?
hands down, I’d rather be the smartest.  Popular people, while they always have something to do and someone to do it with…they don’t really have any alone or “me” time.  I treasure my me/alone time.  I’m not antisocial, but I definitely hold intelligence in higher regard than popularity.

10. Would you rather make headlines for saving somebody's life or winning a Nobel Prize?
nobel prize.