Sooo cute!

I'm in Grand Rapids for the MACUL conference and I am mentally and physically exhausted from the hustle and bustle of the travel, the conference, thinking about job situations, and Sam's dad's health. After my chat for my online class, however, I dragged my butt to the gym since I didn't get a chance to run outside this morning. I slept past my alarm until about 7:15 and then had to get downstairs right away.

Anyhow, I get to the gym and there is a college-age kid working the desk, and lo and behold, I get in for free!! "Don't worry about it, its on me," he says. (The Amway Grand Plaza ) hotel charges a $5 fee for using their awesome fitness center. As I'm running on the treadmill, I see guest after guest come in and I am definately the only one who didn't pay or fill out a room charge form. I'm awesome and soooo cute. Ok, maybe not, but I sure did feel it tonight.

*Edited to add: Gosh, I look tired...
Oh, also it was half hour run and then some lifting. Nothing major, but I needed to move.

Disposable shoes.

I'm in Lansing right now, waiting to go to Grand Rapids for a technology conference. It is another super sunny day. I took my parent's dog Coco with me. She's a Chihuahua/Beagle mix, but don't let size fool you. I think her PR for the 5k is 19:30, which isn't too shabby for a dog. We only went about 3.6, since that's all the plan called for. We headed out to a few paved trails near my parent's house and they weren't too icy. All in all, a good run!


Everytime I go on a trip, I tend to pack too much, or bring back more than I started with. A few years ago in cross country, I started a new habit. I pack disposable clothing. Socks with holes in them, old underwear that needs to be tossed, or an old pair of running shoes on it's last leg. Now, don't get me wrong, I don't dress like a scrub on trips, but I do have some clothes for lounging around moments that are about headed for dumpster heaven. On this trip, I brought an old pair of Asics GT 2100's. My run with Pam was near my top distance so far, and the speed was something I haven't run in over a year and a half, so needless to say I was a little sore. That being said, an old, broken-down pair of shoes was probably not the best choice for a speedy recovery, but it will have to do.

Day off

Day off today to drive downstate.  I didn't even take pictures as I was in quite a hurry to get here.  I didn't leave Munising until 5:15!  I'm hoping the conference will leave me sometime to get quality runs in down in Grand Rapids.  We shall see...

Productive run

Pam Weier and I went for about an hour yesterday to discuss the prospects of a shop team here in Marquette. It was sunny, but there was tons of ice everywhere. Went about 6.82 at 8:20 pace. Comfortable, but almost pushing it. Good to know I can still run that pace.

Another Sunny Saturday

Did 6.12 on my own this morning. Sammy opted for riding his bike on the trainer instead...its so hard to get him out of the house in the morning before he has to go to work.

I'd have to say I took some nice pics for not knowing how to set my timer. :)