5 Early Morning Miles and a NEW #1

Open Up Your Eyes -- Tonic
Shame on You -- Indigo Girls
Home Sweet Home -- Carrie Underwood
Don't Drink the Water -- Dave Matthews Band
Glamorous -- Fergie
Father Figure -- George Michael
What You Wish For -- Guster
Poker Face -- Lady Gaga
*Always be My Baby -- Mariah Carey
**See You Again -- Miley Cyrus
Just Like a Pill -- Pink
Old Enough -- The Raconteurs

This morning's lesson: I need to stop being so crazy-psycho regimented when it comes to my running.

My goal is to run a minimum of 20 miles per week. I only like to go on three runs per week, if possible, for two reasons: 1, My legs tend to get beaten up so I'd like to minimize the number of days I pound them into the pavement and 2, If I I work out longer and harder, I can work out fewer days. That leaves free nights for baking and watching Barefoot Contessa.What could be better than that?

So my mindset always tends to be that if I can't go big (6 miles or more), then I shouldn't bother, because then I'll have to make up for it later in the week, and blah blah blah, STOP THINKING AND GO.

I set my alarm early this morning to run a 6-8 miler. At 6:15 I snoozed. At 6:25 I re-set my alarm for 7:30. And then at 7:30 I woke up annoyed at myself.

But then, I thought....you know, you could throw on some clothes and run for 45 minutes and still make it to work (kind of) on time...Do it. Do it. Go. Do it. It's so absolutely better than nothing, you idiot. Do it, moron. Go.

And I did! And I feel fab. And I ran an extra 5 minutes, anyway.

I'm aware this reads very silly, but runners are crazy beasts and we tend to get caught up in the rhythms of our heads and our thoughts. Here's to more shorter runs and happier mornings.

*Oh Mariah. I've missed you! Welcome back to my runs.

**WHOOP! New #1! Pop perfection.

A 12-Mile Shuffled Weekend

I had all intentions of planning ahead for this past weekend, creating playlists in advance, but time passed and before I knew it we were on a bus to Northampton. Visiting Lindsay and Rob is superawesome for many reasons, one of them being they love food as much as we do. We were treated to a home cooked four-course meal that included cocktails and wine, a trio of international bruschetta, the prettiest cheese plate you ever did see, smoked ribs with mashed potatoes, string beans, quinoa  stuffed zucchini, and a homemade cake that doubled as a work of art. Goodness, it was fantastic.

The next morning I set off on my yearly 6-mile Northampton run, sans playlist. In honor of my location, I played all of the Indigo Girls I had on my Nano, and then the Dar Williams, and then just shuffled:

Shame on You -- Indigo Girls
It's Alright -- Indigo Girls
Rock and Roll Heaven's Gate -- Indigo Girls
Fill It Up Again -- Indigo Girls
As Cool as I Am -- Dar Williams
Sober -- Tool
Avril Lavigne -- Sk8rboi
Hand on My Heart -- Dan Wilson
E-Pro -- Beck
Waking Up in Vegas -- Katy Perry
It's Gonna Be Me -- N*SYNC
Bohemian Like You -- The Dandy Warhols
Drain You -- Nirvana
Love Will Never Do (Without You) -- Janet Jackson

Then I went on a breezy 6-miler at 9:30 last night. Too lazy to go upstairs, I just shuffled again. So, you know, no master planning behind this one, either. But it turned out well.

The Choice is Yours -- Black Sheep
L.S.F. -- Kasabian
Message in a Bottle -- The Police
Closer -- Nine Inch Nails
Not Big -- Lily Allen
Waiting for You -- Seal
Fly on the Wall -- Miley Cyrus
Dear Sons and Daughters of Hungry Ghosts -- Wolf Parade
Holiday -- Weezer
Easy Silence -- Dan Wilson
Maria -- Green Day
Baby Got Back - Sir Mix-a-Lot
What Are You Waiting For? -- Kathleen Edwards