Running in Skirts

Today's Run:

5.08 miles 

8:46/mile

3 hill sprints 

My dogs live and die by a schedule. They get up, like clockwork, at 5:30a every morning to be fed. At 5p, they act like bitches gently remind me to look at the clock and fill their bowl. Before I started running, the 5:30a wake up call was horrible. I prefer to be awake for 45 minutes prior to putting on my running shoes, so their call time isn't as painful as it used to be - especially in the summer when earlier is always better in the South.

I'm unsure if my furry alarm clocks were partying until the wee hours of the morning and I didn't notice, but my alarm went off at 6a and both girls were still snoozing away. Someone must have ruffied my dogs, there's no other explanation.

I decided that I better get up and get moving if I was going to get a run in today. I freakin' HATE the heat, but this morning was pleasantly cool (65 degrees and overcast). When I see 75 degrees on the early morning weather, I start thinking about running on the dreadmill instead. But I'll take overcast, warm and humid over sunny and sizzling any day.

I skipped breakfast and my coffee before my run. Mistake. I was starving after 30 minutes and started getting side cramps. I never get stitches in my side and boy, I hope it doesn't happen again. Not fun. I was also out of chocolate milk, so my post-run recovery wasn't very good. No lie - chocolate milk cures brain fuzz for me.

The rest of the day consisted of working on a few articles for a client and watching Sports Center in preparation for tonight's big game six in the NBA conference finals. Let's go Celtics!

Photo from Wikipedia

I've gotten hooked on a National Geographic show, Amish: Out of Order. I've always been fascinated by this lifestyle ever since I was a child. We took a trip to the Pennsylvania Amish Country when I was 11 or 12 and I still remember the buggies traveling along the roads with the men and women tucked inside. Oh, and that movie Witness was awesome, too. Watching these former Amish men and women trying to fit in with the rest of the world is cra-cra (as the young folk say). It sort of reminds me of watching a new kid enter a middle school in the middle of the year.

I would think the hardest thing about being Amish would be getting used to wearing that long skirt 24-7. Horse riding, chicken plucking, pie making and barn raising all while sporting a duvet cover to your ankles - that's impressive. Runner's World did a story on Running with the Amish in April 2012. Running 26.2 covered head-to-toe and wearing suspenders should be an Olympic sport if you ask me (women don't run, or can't in those skirts). Boy, I bet that's hot in the summer time.