Sack Lunch.

Alec is my youngest son. He is the stinking cutest thing you have ever seen. He seriously came out of the womb breaking hearts, mine mostly.
Problem is he is an airhead. This may be a bit of a genetic disorder. If you have met me you will know where he got this trait.
Monday Alec forgot his picture money as you may remember.
Today he forgot his lunch on the kitchen table.

Andy was home today from work. This interrupts my mojo a little bit. Today I had 20 miles to run and was concerned that Andy was going to throw a kink in my plans.
Surprisingly though Andy asked if I would like company on 10 of those miles. Because Andy takes 20-30 minutes to stretch and roll I thought during that time I would get a few more miles in. I decided to  RUN Alecs lunch up to him at school.
I guess I didn't realize how big or heavy of a lunch I packed the little guy. It was a very awkward 2 mile run up to the school. I looked so goofy carrying his sack lunch in my hand. I felt like I should have been working in New York city as a carrier or something. I had plenty of people staring at me making me laugh during half my bag lunch run. As if the dork factor was not already a 10- I had those goofy looking Hokas on my feet for the first time.

RUNNING in HOKAS.

I have never ran in anything like this before. It is a oversized shoe that appears like a shoe that would help a extreme over-pronator or disabled runner. It is the goofiest shoe I have ever seen.
BUT....
Big thank you to "Kristy" one of my readers and a gal I went to high school with over 20 years ago who GAVE me a pair she wore only a couple times. The crazy part about this is we are the same size.
Andy thought I was nuts for running 20 miles in them. But how else are you going to test them?
REVIEW of the 170$ HOKAS:
As I put my foot into them my first thought was "This is a lot of shoe." And it was. It took a while to get used to them. They felt incredibly foreign on my feet.
On the cement they were more clunky feeling to me but as soon as we hit the back roads I felt enmeshed with the terrain. The soles are a spongy feeling with a lot of cushion. They were very secure around my feet. After dropping off Alecs lunch I picked up Andy for 10. Andy laughed at me saying "YOU LOOK LIKE  A DORK in those, you have these little legs and these BIG boat shoes on!" I am glad that I only ran 20 miles in them. Towards mile 18 my legs had little random aches and pulling that didn't let up the last 2 miles.
I have never cared what my shoes look like. My recent Mizunos are the most girly shoes I have ever ran in. I couldn't wait to dirty them up because I felt like a diva princess in the bright pink color.

Overall I think that I am going to really like them. I am so thankful. I want to do more trail running to break them in. Problem is I am a little paranoid of weirdos hiding in the woods so I will not go alone.

Turning Heads.
I lead a family group on Tuesdays directed towards addiction. It is a arena I am much more serious and composed. The last person to speak mentioned that they wanted to share something that would only take a few seconds but didn't pertain to a loved one struggling. It went like this:
"Yeah, so I was driving on Grange Hall Rd near Alexs gas station and all of a sudden these cars start coming to a sudden stop. Someone then beeps their horn and I see this guy yell out his window "WOO HOO". I am trying to figure out what is going on then I see you, Anita running. Totally oblivious to the fact that you have stopped traffic!"
I think I must have turned 15 shades of red. I had my hands over my face laughing so hard. I had no clue. And nor would I just a few months shy of 40 years old my head turning day have long surpassed me. This was indeed flattering and gave me a little smile after such seriousness.

HUNGERFOLD Countdown: 9 DAYS!!!

This is the Medal..Wood, from local forest!
 

Well I can honestly say I trained this committed and disciplined. If there is one thing I wish I could have altered with my training it would have been training more trails. But then you know why I do not hit the trails alone.
My last 3 long runs not including todays 20 miler:
36 miles, 30 mile, 28 mile run.
It is amazing what you are capable of doing if you stay committed and disciplined. Having a plan and following helps lead to success.

RUNDOWN:
Distance: 20.02
Pace:9:17
Time:3:06