Friday Mailbox and Other Random Stuff

Disclaimers: I received a Relief Box from Chil Wellness in exchange for my honest opinion. I received Feetures socks in exchange for my honest opinion. 

Good morning! I'm home today, chipping away at the 80 hours continuing education activities required for my APRN license. Because the learning never stops, right? No worries, I also squeezed in a run before the seminar started. I mean, what's really important here?

Before I settle in to my Zoom classroom for the day, I've got some fun stuff to share with you. There's just  been too much goodness to share in my Weekly Rundown posts, so I bring you the Friday Mailbox!

Why Runners Need to Take Rest Days from Running

Much like politics, there are a few subjects about which runners disagree widely. Fueling, training, and rest days are probably the three topics where you can ask a group of runners their opinions and you'll get an earful. While preparing this post, I went to the running boards on Reddit to see what the community had to say about running and rest days. I found the discourse fascinating and opinions were mixed, but the overall consensus was that if you are a recreational runner, you should take regularly scheduled rest days. 

Kinda Felt Like Flying

This week was all about recovery for me after my race last weekend. Running continues to be the best way to work through life these days. Right now,  I'm not following any specific training and it's been fun to just wing it. While I do have a live 5k and a virtual half next month, they aren't goal races. Instead, my strength coach and I are shifting focus to a heavy lifting cycle. 

Race Recap: Prairie State Half Marathon

Disclaimer: As an ambassador for All Community Events, my entries to their events are comped. All my opinions are my own.

Live from Long Grove....it's the Prairie State Half Marathon! 

When I signed up for this race last summer, I was really skeptical that it would actually take place. But Illinois continues to maintain strict guidelines with regards to openings and gatherings, much to many people's dismay. With a continued low COVID positivity rate of 3-4%, the race was given the green light!

After my disappointing virtual half marathon a couple of weeks ago, I hoped that a live race atmosphere would be what I needed to redeem myself. After all, I've been running strong this fall. I tried not to get myself worked up about it, though. Would I have to suck it up and accept that I was really slowing down? Or was my poor performance on that last half just due to me having a really bad day? 

Running in A Bubble

Optimistically, I start these recaps on Thursday afternoons, while I've got my feet up on the couch and time to sum up the week thus far. The funny thing is, for the past couple of months, I've had to change my title or my introductory paragraph prior to publication on Sunday. Things just change so fast that it's almost impossible for me to set a theme even a few days in advance!

This week so far has been so tumultuous and stressful that really, will there be any reason to scratch this post and start over? I sure hope not. Even the weather can't make up it's mind. For the past week, almost every day, we've had sun and rain on the same day, even at the same time. 

As always, I've found solace in my running shoes. Running has been the one thing that remains constant for me. The trails feel like a safety bubble and I just don't want to leave. When I run in the woods, I leave the world behind. September was another 100+ mile month for me and as of today, I am at almost 900 miles for the year. The last time I ran over 1000 miles for the year was 2017. I did not plan to run this much, but my body is letting me do it. 

Running is such a gift, isn't it? I feel so fortunate to be having such a good year on my feet. I am hoping that this continues. 

Coffee Talk

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links.

Let's catch up over coffee! It's amazing that in spite of feeling like every day is groundhog day, I have things to share with you. What are you drinking? I'm excited to have some Starbucks Komodo Dragon in my cup. With a splash of half and half and a scoop of GLG Collagen, of course. My hubs gifted me with 2 bags of Starbucks for my birthday. I know, Mr Excitement, right? I'm actually good with it. Keep reading and you'll see why. 

5 Things Runners Can Do in 2020 for Breast Cancer Awareness Month

October is the month of pumpkin everything, falling leaves, and cozy sweaters. October is also Breast Cancer Awareness Month. You'd have to be living under a rock not to know about this, but with all the focus on COVID-19 this year, people aren't talking much about anything else. Breast cancer is the second most common cancer in women, after skin cancer. Early detection is the key to survival. Breast cancer can also happen in men.

Breast cancer has affected many of my friends and relatives. I've lost several people I've loved to the disease. Spreading awareness is especially important to me. Without the big events that usually happen in October, I wanted to share some things that runners and walkers--heck, anyone can do to spread the word about breast cancer.