I Bit The Dust, Beautiful Runs, Life Lately

So Saturday evening was super fun. My Mom and I went to an awesome lecture about the opera. A rep from the LA Opera was giving the talk and it was fascinating!

Date night with my Mom!

We learned so much about opera and had lots of wine and cheese! :) The perfect way to end a Saturday evening. 

So, let me back up a bit and tell you about my run on Saturday (you'll have to check out the beautiful sunset I saw on my Instagram page!) 

Anyway, I was clicking along on my 10 mile run, having a grand time with my thoughts. Excited to get another 10 mile run under my belt (my first one was in NYC last week! If you missed my adventures, you can read about it HERE, HERE and HERE! ), happy about the beautiful weather and my body was feeling good.
All of a sudden on the trail was a lady walking along with an umbrella sticking out - the kind of umbrella with the long point on the end. Those type of umbrellas scare me, I always imagine someone getting seriously hurt with one.
Anyway, all I could think about was that I wanted to avoid running by her, I just wanted to go far around her. So I ran around her up a tiny dirt mound and I must have tripped on a root or something (I try to be so careful on trails) and I could feel myself flailing like an ungainly bird, arms flapping, desperately trying to catch myself. Desperate, desperate - and then I fell. Ugh.
Luckily, I wasn't really hurt, Yeah, I had dirt in my mouth and scratches on my leg. I was mad because I couldn't catch myself, mad that I went around the lady, hoping I didn't land on my knee, just mad at myself.
And I still had 6 miles left to run!! Since I wasn't hurt, I had to dust myself off, and keep going. Miles 6 and 7 were a little rocky, but I got back on track miles 8, 9 and 10 and finished well.

I have been loving my fruit selections lately - fruit and yogurt have been what I am craving after a run these days...

I was on a 5 mile run on Monday (I ran a 4 mile recovery run on Sunday) and all of a sudden the sky opened up and it started raining. Yes, raining!! It was heavenly! I didn't care about getting soaked, because as quickly as the rain started, it promptly ended. All of a sudden, at the end of my run, were the most amazing clouds...

The beauty after rain

I had a another fun 5 mile run today...

A lot of 5 milers on the schedule this week and I leave this weekend for Vegas!! I haven't been to Vegas in SO long - I'm excited to go and run the Rock n Roll half marathon! I will be interested to see what my body wants to do ---> I am just going to listen to it and have fun :)

There are going to be so many people and I get to finally meet Sue and a bunch of fun bloggers!!! #werunsocial!!!

I always enjoy eating breakfast with this joyful little girl! Oatmeal and fruit for the win!

I wanted to share with you my takeaway from my physical therapist last week. He told me to concentrate on running without making a sound. Running light on my feet. So that is what I have been working on and let me tell you - it's kinda tough to think about while you are running. Am I making any noise while I'm running? The theory is running lighter on your feet will make less overall impact on your body. He also gave me more strength exercises for my upper body.

I am feeling good progress in my right quad muscle and my knee, but I feel like I need more upper body strength.

Also ---> I totaled my miles for the month of October!! This is the first month I have kept track of miles in a really long time. 

123 miles!!

I am really jazzed about that and it's a good starting base on the road to the marathon.

Alright, have a wonderful rest of your Tuesday. Wishing you lots of good sleep and some great runs this week!!

Anyone doing a Thanksgiving Turkey Trot?

How much time do you dedicate to upper body strength?

Happiness Is Running Life!

xo,

Natalie