Meeting of the In-laws

Happy Sunday!  Alex's parents and my parents have now officially met and I think it went very well.  It was a wonderful engagement party and a lot of fun.


 Alex's mom was wonderful and brought a cake and favors for everyone.  It was so nice and I'm excited for our families to hang out again!

This morning I head out to Burke Lake Park with the Lake Ridge Runners and my dad.  It was a really beautiful day for a run.  I was satisfied but not super impressed with my run.  Yesterday, Patrice had me do some leg work with weights so my legs were tired and sore today.  I definitely wanted to stop running around mile three but finished all five.  I love running at BLP but I was a little sad that my new running shoes already have dirt all over them.  Oh well.

Hope your Sunday was a good one!

~Andrea

Mostly Cloudy but All Smiles

Good Morning :)  It's 73 degrees out, most cloudy and I love it!  Dare I say we are in our decent into Fall weather????  I had the most enjoyable run this morning.  I went six miles!  It felt really great and I didn't feel exhausted at the end.  I also did not walk at all and my pace kicked some booty! 

Of course, I ran in my new Mizunos and wore my running pak.

The running pak says that it doesn't bounce while you run and I suppose that is technically true.  It DOES ride up though.  I started with it down by my belly button and two minutes into the run it was almost to my chest.  Maybe if I tighten it up that will help....

The plan for my run this morning was to try a new route.  It involved going down the Prince William Parkway, which doesn't have a side walk.  It was a little scary at times but the shoulder was large enough to put adequate space between me and traffic.  I finished up the route that I planned out and looked at my Nike+ to check the distance.  I had gone five miles.   Emily had six miles planned for today and I thought I might as well do the same :)  So I started running through the side streets of my neighborhood to get that extra mile.

Once I finished my six miles, I went home for some breakfast.  I usually love to fix eggs and sausage on the weekends but after all that running, I didn't feel like being in front of a hot stove.  So Julia had yogurt with fresh berries and granola and I had a delicious smoothie!

Today's smoothie had frozen, sweet cherries, fresh blueberries, fresh strawberries, spinach, wheat germ, chia seeds, almond milk, vanilla protein powder, and baking cocoa powder.  It was soo good!  I can't remember if I have tried cocoa in my smoothies before or not, but I will definitely be doing it again.  I can't wait to try a smoothie with cocoa and put some almond butter or peanut butter in it too.  YUM!

Well I am off to train with Patrice now and then to the running store to check out compression socks.

What's your favorite way to refuel after a run?

~Andrea

If the shoe fits...

Good Evening!  It's been a slow day for me.  The highlight of my day was going shoe shopping with my dad.

We were supposed to go to the specialty running store here in the 'bridge but they closed at 7pm and we didn't make it out until 8pm.  So we went to Dick's.  It was probably all in my head, but I first started out with some sixty dollar Asics and I felt like I put bricks on my feet.  They were not comfortable or coushiny at all.  I continued to try on more expensive shoes with a little more luck. 

Here's what I finally settled on

Mizuno Wave Nexus 5 :)  These were actually a size 9W, which is why I think I love them!  My feet are sausages and I feel like my feet are suffocating in most shoes.  These were very roomy, light, and my feet were breathing happily!

My dad has recently had some pain in his calf and it started about the time he started using new shoes so he came along to get some shoes too.  A lady at the store recommended some Reeboks to him.

That picture isn't the greatest, but these are the Reeboks with the big zigzag soles.  He said they were a little like moon shoes but he liked them enough to buy them.  I hope this is the first step to getting his leg back to normal.  I double checked before we left the store and we can return our shoes within 90  days if they aren't what we want.  I LOVE that.

I was also hoping to get some compression socks but sadly, they only had one pair of compression sleeves.  They were by Nathan and in a size XL/L, which I wasn't confident would be the right size.  I think I will swing by the running store tomorrow to check out what they have. 

I did buy a runner's pak :)  Here's an embarrassing tidbit:  I put my cell phone and ID in a ziplock bag and I tuck it into my sports bra.  This will definitely lead to more comfortable runs in the future.  I'm testing it out tomorrow morning!

What's your favorite running accessory?

~Andrea