Showing posts with label audiobooks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label audiobooks. Show all posts

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

the reading runner

You may have noticed the new widget I've added over to the side. I've always been a big reader, *nerd alert* it is honestly one of my favorite hobbies. I love it so much that, as you know, I listen to audio books while I'm running!

I know that I typically read a lot of books in a year, but I've never kept track of the number. This year, I'm using Shelfari to list and rate the books I read in 2009. I think it'll be really interesting to look back at the end of the year and see what I read. If you have any suggestions for my reading list, please let me know!

Thursday, July 10, 2008

a little vacation

I know, I know, I haven't updated lately. But it's not because I haven't been running - I have! I went out of town for the 4th of July and kind of got off track with my blogging. But now I'm back and ready to report.

I ran 3 miles last Thursday evening and quite honestly did not have the best time. I think part of that was due to my crappy attitude. I was just in a bad mood. I told myself when I left the house that I was going to have a good run and be in a good mood, but once I finished and saw my not so great pace..........my bad mood came back. Oh well, at least I did it.

Next up was my 4 mile run on Sunday. I didn't go in the morning as planned because I had a splitting headache. I ended up going out at about 8:15 that evening. The humidity, even at that time of day, was unbelievable. The air was so thick and heavy. In spite of that, I had a really good run. My pace was not the best, I think it was about 10:45, but I felt great the whole time. I never felt tired or out of breath. I really felt like I could've kept going. I ran at my parents' house so the change of scenery was nice. I need to find more places around here to go running.

Funny thing - I really should have put on bug spray before I went out. The gnats were so freaking annoying out there. Actually, instead of bug spray, I needed a bug deflector. I came in and went upstairs to take a shower - when I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror, I realized that I had bugs all over my chest! That's right, ladies and gents, I am a human bug deflector. GROSS.

OK -seriously - last update: my 3 mile run on Tuesday SUCKED. I was starving the entire time. I was planning to eat a snack of yogurt and granola before I went out. Unfortunately a storm started heading our way, so I had to move my run up an hour. I have never felt more like stopping on a run before. I powered through it though and unbelievably my pace was 10:35. WTF????? How can I feel great on a run (Sunday) and have a slower pace than when I feel like I am going to collapse? I.just.don't.get.it. I'm relatively new to this whole running thing though, so I guess I'll figure it out eventually.

I've decided that I'm going to post a "things I've learned" section at the end of each post. I learned this week that I *can* eat before I go on a run. I've been so afraid to eat within hours before running because I tend to get stomach cramps very easily. But on Sunday my mom and I had been shopping all day and didn't exactly eat lunch. I was starving so I ended up eating around 5:30ish and was fine in my run later. I was actually already hungry again, but I didn't want to eat too close to my run.

I didn't run yesterday as scheduled because we had another storm roll through. I did my ballet workout instead and I plan to go out and do 3 miles tonight. I'll report on that in a timely fashion and I'll let you know how my new audiobook is!

Thursday, July 3, 2008

i'm kind of a nerd

YEAH!! Last night's run was great! It was only 2 miles, but my pace was 10:08. I've been stuck between 10:30-10:45 for so many weeks now, so it was great to finally break that cycle. As I commented a couple of posts back, my stride feels "bouncier" lately. I know that sounds silly, but that's the only way I can think of to describe it. I am attributing this change to the stretching that I've been doing lately. I really feel like it is making a difference.

So, the reason I'm a nerd. I love to read. A lot. So much that I have downloaded audiobooks onto my ipod to listen to while I run. It really is good motivation to go out and run because you want to hear more of the story. Maybe I'll change the name of this blog to the reading runner - lol. Anyway, I finished my first audiobook last night. Well, not my first ever because Dick Francis got me through a lot of 10 hour drives back and forth to middle Tennessee. But, I digress. I finished listening to "The Friday Night Knitting Club" by Kate Jacobs. I originally chose the book because it is about 15 hours long so I figured that I would get the most for my money that way! It turned out to be a really good book and if I have enough time, I plan to review it on here later.

Today I have a 3 mile run planned and I'll also be starting my newest audiobook: "Second Glance" by Jodi Picoult. How exciting!! Told you I'm a nerd.