All I Needed

Greetings from the north woods! I'm enjoying a too-short getaway to one of my favorite places in the world, Door County, Wisconsin. I've been coming here since I was a little girl and it's always great to return to all the beauty, traditions, and memories. Even though the weather has been cool and we haven't been able to get out on the water, the sun has been shining. Sometimes sunshine and nature are all you need.

Orange Rhubarb Anti-inflammatory Smoothie

Another rhubarb smoothie recipe? We are almost at the end of rhubarb season and I wanted to use up the rhubarb remaining in the garden. I loved my Strawberry Rhubarb Smoothie recipe so much that I wanted to try something different. I searched for other fruits that might be good with rhubarb and found a lot of recipes using the natural sweetness of oranges to complement the tartness of the rhubarb.

And so my Orange Rhubarb Anti-Inflammatory Smoothie was born.

9 Self-Defense Weapons for Runners

Disclaimer: By discussing self-defense weapons here, I am in no way endorsing the use of any of these. This post is purely informational. Products listed are affiliate links. 

On Saturday, I took my long run to the forest preserve where so many local runners train. My running club is based there, but as I so often do, I took my time in the morning, sipping my coffee and catching up on emails and I missed the start of the group run. In the preserve is a 7.3 mile loop, which is popular with runners. I decided to run there because there are so many runners and cyclists on that loop on the weekends. I thought I'd be fine running by myself.

I finished my run feeling very strong and very happy. I had a lot of company on the path and very few stretches where I was alone. When I got in the car, I posted on Instagram and then opened up Facebook, where I saw a post from the president of our running club. He shared an incident from the morning on the very loop I had just finished running. A runner on the path was grabbed by 2 men, dragged into the woods, beat up, and robbed. He crawled out of the woods to the path where he was found by one of my fellow All Community Events ambassadors and the group she was running with. They stayed with him while they waited for first responders to help him.

It's All Good

I think whatever was plaguing my body for the past couple of months has finally left the building. Yes, I'm feeling like myself again!

If you've been following me, you know that I've been struggling with fatigue and general malaise since February. While my rheumatologist tells me it's not RA, my internist and I believe differently. I received the new shingles vaccine in February and probably what happened is that the vaccine triggered a flare. I'm certainly not anti-vaccine but I do have an autoimmune disease and it makes sense to think that this could have flared my RA.

Regardless, it was frustrating for me.

The past couple of weeks, I've had more energy and this week, I've felt pretty much "normal" again. I had 3 good runs totaling 19 miles, which is the most I've run in several months. Bootcamp and strength training went well too.

It's all good!

8 Reasons to Love Running in the Rain

This rainy spring has made it challenging to be an outdoor runner. We've had so much rain that I've had to make the tough decision of heading out into the rain, skipping my run, or taking it to the treadmill. On a cold, windy day, the decision is somewhat easier because running in the cold rain is really unpleasant. I've run in all conditions and a cold, rainy run is probably tops of my list of uncomfortable things I try to avoid.

Several times this month, I've been caught in a warm rain shower while running. Running in a warm rain is a completely different experience than a cold rain. As long as it's not pouring, which can be downright painful, running in the rain on a warm day can be wonderful.

Not so sure? Here are 8 reasons to love running in the rain.

Why You Need to Run With Heart Zones

Disclaimer: I received a Heart Zones Blink 3.0 monitor in exchange for my honest review. 

I've whined for a while now about my sudden loss of endurance. It's been the weirdest thing. In January, I ran a half marathon, followed by an indoor marathon relay. While over time, I had been slowing down, I was happy with my performances at both races. A month after those 2 races, I had a rapid decline in my ability to run anything of distance, much less with speed. Frustrated, I began looking at heart rate training. I pulled out my old Polar chest strap, bought new batteries, and prepared to start running with it.

At that very time, in an interesting twist of serendipity, I received an offer from Heart Zones Blink 3.0 to trial their monitor and join their ambassador program. While I'd never really done heart rate training in the past, the timing of this offer was perfect. I've been running with my new Heart Zones monitor for the past couple of weeks and am excited to share what I've learned.

Too Much

Disclaimer: I received a pair of My Soxy Feet socks in exchange for my honest review. 

The theme for this week was too much. As in, everything in excess. Except for my mileage. I had hoped to hit the 20 mile mark for the week, or at least 15 miles, for god's sake. Spoiler alert: that didn't happen. But a lot of things happened this week and most of them good. Even if it was...too much!