Runfessions for November

It's the day after Thanksgiving and I'm recovering from my food coma. Actually, I'm recovering from my workout with the rugby team. Oh, I'll share more of that on my Sunday post.

Did you overdo it yesterday? Did you get into any heated discussions with family members? Or worse? Well, if you have anything to share, you're in luck. Today is the last Friday of the month which means it's Runfessions! Go ahead, share it all with us. We understand and we don't judge. Come on in. You'll feel so much better. I always do...

I'm Grateful for Running Bargains!

While for most of the country, Thanksgiving is time for families to get together and break bread, for runners, Thanksgiving means only one thing.

Turkey Trots!

Are you running one? This year, I'm not. I'm traveling to Florida next week for the Panama City Beach Half Marathon, and I don't want to risk aggravating my PF or that Baker's cyst or who knows what else! I will run Thanksgiving morning, though. I normally run on Thursdays, plus I want to fire up the old calorie burner so I can eat all the food!

Thanksgiving also marks the start of the holiday shopping season. I've already seen Christmas decorations up around the 'hood and stores have had their holiday displays up since Halloween. But I just can't get excited about holiday shopping until the day after Thanksgiving!

In the spirit of the holiday season, and with Black Friday looming large, I wanted to share a few deals with you for the runner in your life! I've got a couple of discount codes and bargains. Enjoy!

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

As I reflect back on the week, a few quotes seem fitting:

"You can run away from your problems, but you're just gonna find new ones that pop up." -Zoey Deschanel (New Girl)

"Run away, run away..." -Monty Python and the Holy Grail

"When I was a kid, I wanted to be older. This shit is not what I expected. " -unknown

Book Review: The Inner Runner by Jason Karp

Ask any seasoned runner and they will tell you that running is more than putting one foot in front of the other. I've heard many runners say that running is mostly mental. And if you've followed me for any length of time, you know that I've chronicled my struggle with mental toughness here on the blog.

When I saw Jason Karp's newest book, The Inner Runner, I knew I had to read it. The subtitle alone: Running to a More Succesful, Confident, and Creative You--it spoke to me. Who couldn't use more confidence and success? We runners all know that running is good for more than our body. Karp does a nice job putting what we all know into words.

What's All the Fuss About?

This week's Wednesday Word is hullabaloo and I promised myself not to go for the obvious. It's as if Debbie looked into her crystal ball and knew we needed this word for this particular point in time. Sorry. Nope, I'm not going to even mention any current events. It would have made for an easy blog post, but we all are sooooo tired of it.

Ok, I'll go there, briefly...

The Rock was named "Sexiest Man Alive" by People Magazine. He's sweet! He exfoliates! But does he run?

Really, why all the hullabaloo? Hullabaloo is a million dollar word, worthy of something big. Hullabaloo is an onomatopoeia! Which means I don't even have to define it. What's worthy of a hullabaloo from the running perspective? What do runners like to make a fuss about? How's that for a segue? You tell me what you think...

Keep Calm and Run On!

After the events of last week we all need a mantra. Once the election was over, I thought that things would be more civilized but the opposite has occurred. Protests, petitions, and nastiness has prevailed this week. I'm moving on. It's not that I don't care. It's that I can't expend any more mental energy on the election results. And so I run on. Namaste.

If I Didn't Run...

This week has really sucked the joy out of a lot of us. While this is not even remotely a political blog, I was stunned and saddened by the election results. To me, it felt like a bad dream. But what's done is done, and life goes on. The sun came up the next morning. I felt grateful for all that is good in my life. My family, my friends, my coworkers, and my dog.

I also felt grateful for running. No matter how busy I am, no matter how tired I am, I always make sure I get outside and run. Running is my therapy, my muse, my love--I can't imagine getting through life without running. Today's Friday Five 2.0 prompt asks: what activities would you do besides running? What would make me happy if I didn't run?

Not run? Now that's a bad dream! Not really. In all seriousness, there are other things in my life that could fulfill me. And none of them have to do with work.