If hard work pays off, the easy work is worthless

I know I havent posted in a while, but things have been pretty uneventful. And, I'm almost afraid I'll jinx it if I talk about it, but damn, things have really been clicking! All of my runs have felt awesome.

A couple of weekends ago I had a 20-miler that turned into a 19-miler and left me with some sore hips and blistered feet. But, that was because I had accidentally worn my old, worn out shoes. The right shoes truly make that big of a difference! As luck would have it, we were running from the Garry Gribbles store in Lawrence, and there was a NewBalance rep there that day letting people "test drive" their shoes. We started off with an 8 mile loop through the KU campus, then stopped back at the store before heading out for the rest of the run, so I was able to switch into a new pair of NB at that time. They were better than my old shoes, but definitely not for me. I'm an Adidas girl, and even when my shoes are new, they feel good to me. These did not. Of course, my feet were already blistered, so that probably had something to do with it. But really, that's my only "bad" run of late.

I've got my pace band for Chicago and am feeling good about being able to hit my time goal. Last weekend I did 14, and ended up with a negative split for the last half. I hooked up with some people in a little faster pace group, and pushed myself to stay with them. I ended up doing that last 7 at what will be my race pace, and I still felt great at the end. So, that really boosted my confidence. And all of my weeknight runs I've been doing faster than race pace, so that is feeling good too. Just under a month to go, I'm starting to get excited! And I'm still hoping to do KC that following weekend assuming that I feel good. October should be a fun month!

Now, I know that a lot of "pure" runners do not run with headphones. They say you should be listening to your body and concentrating on your stride and breathing and all of that, not zoning out listening to music. Well, I like to listen to music while I run, and I think it helps me. I dont wear headphones on my long Saturday runs since I'm with the group, but I do during the week. Nothing makes me pick up the pace like a little Nelly or Luda coming on!

I always like hearing what other people have on their running playlists, and people sometimes ask me what's on mine. Some of my favorites are:

Best of Both Worlds- Van Halen
Cold Hard Bitch- JET
Fuel- Metallica
Get Back- Ludacris
Heart of a Champion- Nelly
I Don't Care- Fall Out Boy
Ladies and Gentlemen- Saliva
Let it Rock- Kevin Rudolf & Lil Wayne
Lose Yourself- Eminem
Move Along- The All-American Rejects
Rollin- Limp Bizkit
Runnin' Down a Dream- Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
Stronger- Kanye West
Whiskey in the Jar- Metallica