New Year, New Shoes, New Sponsors!

I'm feeling pretty good this week on several accounts!

#1 Change of perspective
 I had one heck of a 2013. I put a lot of thought into writing a summary of how bad it went, all the trials and tests of the year-- the months of time sitting on the bench wondering if I would ever run again.

I even made a graph of how bad 2013 was... (I used to be deeply concerned about numbers. And quite honestly, there are still a few that hold a special place in my heart.)  Then I looked at the colorful bars and decided I really don't need to win a "suck" contest.


I ran more the year I had a 9 pound baby than I did last year! But, by golly, I am done with that. Good bye last year. Hello 2014!

#2 The Flu is gone and Running is AWESOME!
It has been hard to be consistent with running recently due to a case of the flu, but for maybe the first time in my life, I slowed down enough to really fight it off. Two nights in a row I went to bed early, slept 12-13 hours, and ran some very, very short runs on the days that were not as severe.

Running 20-30 minutes every few days kept me sane and also kept my legs from totally rebelling on my next run. (They don't like a stop-and-go training style very much.)

This weekend I put in some good miles on the longest run I have done since last February (before the craziness of PF took hold).

This is my face after running 16 miles!

It was an amazing run, even if I stopped to take way too many pictures before my turn-around... I can't help myself!

This orange glove on a tree limb- way over my head, off the edge of the road-  caught my eye. 

I moved in a little closer...

And saw over the bank-- way over. That someone rolled their vehicle almost to the creek, and the glove was a flag. 

A little further down the road, I saw a detour... 

but did not take it.

I did manage a little steeple chase action. 

It was even more fun on the way back downhill :)

All in all, it was a nice, slow, easy uphill with a good progression back downhill.  I do need to pay better attention to the time I leave, though. I cut it close and almost had to finish in the dark. Running in the dark woods with bears is a bit too scary for me!

#3 New Shoes!! 

I got these Altra Lone Peaks from UPS today and had to try them out. :)

Altra - Lone Peak trail shoe

There will be a review coming, once I have enough miles on them. Today I took them for a 5 mile recovery run and enjoyed trying them out in gravel and wet grass. So far, I like them! And that's a good thing, since I was selected to be an Ambassador for Altra in 2014.

For the application, I had to create a video. This was challenging, but, it was fun to do. I applied very close to the deadline and had to learn a few youtube tricks in a very short time! 

If you are curious you can see it here ►VIDEO. My next one will probably look a little different :) 

***

Let me know.. 

How's running going for you? 

Have you ever tried Altra shoes?

Have you ever rolled your car before? I haven't - yet!