Happiness quite unshared can scarcely be called happiness;
it has no taste.
― Charlotte Brontë
Random things making me happy this week.
The intense quality of the light, filtered through the yellowing leaves, as the sun gives its last gasp before disappearing over the horizon.
Gulping down hot soothing soup or lemon pomegranate tea as the evening air grows nippy.
Pumpkin everything.
The growing certainty that running is, in fact, helping my knees not creak so much on a daily basis.
My foam roller, for massaging out my crankier knee on the morning after a hard run.
Talking to my boys about something and having them end the conversation with, “well, that was a nice intellectual discussion.” They’re probably being sarcastic but I don’t care.
Taking my daughter to have her nails and hair did— I had a Groupon and I always feel guilty for maybe depriving her of “girly” things— and having her wanting her hair undone within the hour; nail polish peeled off with 24 hours. That’s my girl.
This picture.
Oh, and this one too.
Those are my sunglasses she has on. They’re Oakley— I think the Necessity— I’m so very super picky about my glasses (much like anything else that goes on my body) and these don’t pinch or give me a headache, they wrap around enough to fully block sun but don’t distort my vision, and they stay put when running or on top of my head. They’re pretty much the holy grail of sunglasses. Necessity indeed.
“If a spider turns to look at you, it is almost certainly a jumping spider,” Jakob said, adding that they respond to their own mirror images and watch videos showing insects.
I love Joe Biden and all his malarkey.
I love the Beasties app, which is sort of like a fortuneteller only using animal totems. It’s New Age naturalistic silliness, yes, but the first time I asked a question the Badger answered so I’m sold. Anyway, it’s pretty and I like taking a minute or two of my day to meditate on what the BIG QUESTION is for me today.
I love that my husband and I will sit and watch bug happenings on the porch and narrate them. Who needs TV?
I love this post about happiness and the tale of the happy shirt contained within. From Charlotte Anderson.
I love Big Bird.
I love how much my niece looks like me in this photo.
I love the way my Saint Bernard puppy feels the need to sit on the chair next to me several times a day, placing her big paw on my arm so I must cease clackity-clacking on the keyboard, to rest her heavy-ass head on my shoulder and give me hugs.
A woman’s dress should be like a barbed-wire fence:
serving its purpose without obstructing the view.
― Sophia Loren
I love that quote.
So, I’ve been sharing my run times and photos post-run on Facebook and everyone has been so lovely and supportive. I’m working to redeem myself after my pathetic run time at the West Chester 5k I ran a few weeks ago, and on my birthday I gave myself this:
That’s more than three minutes faster than I did on the West Chester run. (That’s the Run4Good app by Saucony, by the way. It tracks your miles and if everyone who has the app downloaded collectively runs 10,000 miles in a month, a charity dedicated to fighting childhood obesity receives a sizable donation.)
Tomorrow I’m running another timed 5K and we’ll see how it goes. I’ve been sneezing and congested all day so I’m trying not to get my hopes up, but under 31 minutes would be a real morale booster.
Since I post pics I’ve had a couple of questions about what I’m wearing, and since I LOVE my running clothes with a white hot passion I’ll tell you.
You may remember my go-to running outfit from this past spring:
That was purchased with my own dollars out of my tight little fist from Dick’s Sporting Goods. This tank top and running skirt was pretty much the first tech fabric stuff I had ever bought and I was blown away by how much more comfortable they were to run in (and how well they repelled water on my mud runs). The shoes are Pumas that I bought as a Groupon deal.
The next month I attended a Fitness Magazine event in NYC and everyone walked away with a pair of Reebok RealFlex Transitions. These sneaks are like walking on clouds. They’re nice and grippy on the bottom and crazy cushiony for your feet. I ran in them for a while, but these eventually became my favorite for using on gym machines and for anytime I’m going to be on my feet for long periods of time.
Reebok RealFlex Transitionscompletely gratuitous photo of me with Mia Hamm at Fitness Mag event
Reebok sent me some other gear to try out. This is the Play Dry Short Sleeve Top and it does something magic to sweat— I’ve been told a few times now that I don’t look like I just ran for 30+ minutes in the hot sun when I’m wearing it.
Normally I hate sleeves of any kind when I’m working out, but these don’t bother me.
Post run. I'm sweaty as hell here but you really can't tell. It's vaguely annoying.Someone didn't feel like getting out of the car.
The capris are awesome and I’d wear them every day if I could. They have a slightly rigid waistband in the back, so they don’t ride down/stretch out and show nanny crack, but they are soft waistband in the front to lessen muffin top. The bottom edge is fitted. It’s basically a perfect blend of hold where you want it and give where you need it.
RealFlex Fusion
I had some issues at first with my RealFlex Fusions. I opened the box and they were like the Holy Grail, the perfect lightweight low-profile but supportive black sneaker that I’ve been looking for (it’s really increasingly difficult to find black sneakers). So I put them on right away with the CrossFit socks Reebok sent to run some errands, and the left shoe rubbed my heel and tore. it. up.
After a breaking in period they’re way better. I honestly don’t know whether they’re a touch too big (I do have room in the toe; I also have very narrow feet) or whether I just had to break them in. I don’t wear them with the no-show socks because I don’t want to risk new blisters. But with thicker, higher socks they work great for me. They’re way super grippy and stable, while super lightweight— we’re talking a rigid sock with a sole, basically. I love them as my go-to all-around shoe and I get a ton of compliments on them. The upshot is: try them on if you can, the sizing may be slightly bigger than you’re used to.
The CrossFit socks are barely-there and have no seams that bother me. That’s all I ask of a sock, really.
The one thing about these flexible soles (the look is reminiscent of Legos) that’s been a pain is that I get pebbles stuck in between the nodes when running at the beach or down trails. It doesn’t affect the feel or performance in any way, you just get a click-click-click with every step that drives you completely insane until you can stop and pull the offender out.
And finally— the #getafterit top is cotton, so it got satisfactorily sweaty (a friend on Facebook who does roller derby says they call the sweat/sports bra look “angel wings” which is sort of awesome). It’s just generally badass and fun to wear to the gym or about town. It comes in purple for women and navy for the guys, and says @reebok on the front. Yes, it’s mainly aimed at us Twitter fiends.
For more info on any of these, you can just click on the item in the board below 🙂
Reebok’s slogan is “The Sport of Fitness has Arrived” and I love this on many levels. I miss sports, frankly. I was never very good at them (I was good at skating and good at shooting hoops; not so good at making shots in hockey or remembering plays in basketball) but I enjoyed being part of a team, the competition, the drills, the getting better all the time. I love this idea of bringing what I loved about sport into my life as an adult.
One thing about sports: you learned to show up. You practiced as a team and you practiced on your own so you wouldn’t let your team down.
It’s just a viewpoint I haven’t had in a while. I love that we’ve formed a “team” of local mom bloggers that are pushing each other to run, on our own and together. It’s a welcome addition.
I’m making fitness my sport. (I’m also thinking I want to make dodgeball my sport. Wanna play?)
What do you miss about sports?
What’s your go-to workout gear?
Disclosure: Some of the gear shown here was supplied by Reebok. The rest I purchased with my own money as indicated. All opinions are my own.
