Running Lessons #217 (+/-)

My goal for today was 6 miles. I "only" went 5.5. My route was that long and now I know! Here are some of today's (and last week's lessons/observations).

- Running in the rain is fun. And not so fun. I don't like wet, soggy shoes. The rest of me didn't mind being wet. I even had a lady offer me a ride! I was only a mile or so in. If she'd asked a few miles later, I might've thought about it!

- A long run the day after my first gym workout in 3 years was probably not the best idea. The legs felt today more than they have in the past. But I suppose that's actually a good thing.

- There are a LOT of hills in my neighborhood!! I sort of got myself lost today and ended with a nice long one. I knew where I was but the street names weren't what I thought they should be, ya know!? Next time, I'm thinking I'll go backwards and START with the large hills :) There were hills at the other end but a little more gradual. Fitbit says I did 59 floors today!!

- I like my new watch!! I can set intervals - I started with 3/1 minutes to run/walk - and it just keeps cycling through. I did this to start and ended up pushing myself a bit harder than I might have otherwise. My plan is to, for now, use this on my shorter runs, and then use the lap memory on the longer runs, so I don't push as hard the whole time (I gave up in the intervals after about a mile) and can see how I'm doing on my own. The lap timer part of the watch basically lets me track my splits so after the run I can analyze. Today, I was all over the place on my splits of run/walk :) We'll see what happens!

- From last week - I really don't like out and back runs. It's too easy to turn around when I get tired!! But it was nice being on the bike path for most of it and seeing so many other people out there.

That's it. I think. I am REALLY enjoying running!! Who'd have ever thought??!?!?!?

Sunday Morning Run Observations

I ran over 5 miles today! My farthest yet!! I felt good. It wasn't quite as hot but still not exactly cold. I'd say I probably ran about 4 of the miles overall. Not bad! Here are my observations:

- some churches have better attendance than others
- I'm not the only one out and about burning calories
- I like having Nuun with me, but not in a leaking water bottle
- running is actually kinda fun
- my new shorts are still working right after I washed them (you never know with spandex)
- always make sure strava is actually recording
- I like running more with Slugger cuz he gives me an excuse to slow down, stop and smell the flowers, etc.
- my new (4th try) hydration pack is great
- dogs don't bark as aggressively, if at all, when I don't have Slugger with me

Seems like there was more...

FINALLY "In This Life" LIVE!!!

First , let me apologize to readers for not blogging more in the last month! I did in fact get home from CA and started back to school. Life has been busy!!

Collin Raye is my all time favorite artist ever. His song Somebody Else's Moon is what made me fall in love with country music. But somehow I've never seen him in concert! A couple years ago, he was going to be here in DFW somewhere but it just didn't work out for me to go.

August 2015, I saw that he'd be in Arlington on a Saturday night in May 2016. I immediately bought tickets!! I splurged a little (still only $30!) and got front row of the balcony - my favorite place to sit. I bought 2 tickets. Why not? It was months away and one never knows!! I figured I'd find someone to join!! I did :) In early Spring, I invited my good friend Sheila to join me. We were both SO incredibly excited!!

The Friday before comes around and I called the venue to ask about my "will call" tickets. THE SHOW WAS CANCELLED!! WHAT?!?! I cried. Seriously. It had been cancelled in November because the ticket selling company went out of business. I didn't get the email. I suspect it actually went to junk and I deleted it, but the effect was the same! To make a long story short, I bought tickets to the rescheduled event and the credit card company gave me back my money.

Well, the actual show was last night!! I was excited but hesitant because I had been disappointed once! But, Collin tweeted about it, I got an email about it from the venue, and I was pretty sure this was the real deal!! Not sure I truly believed it until I saw this:

I had never been here but Sheila had, as a kid, when it was a movie theater. She said it hadn't changed much! It was a GREAT venue for a concert. Totally felt intimate and like we were just having a private conversation and show with Collin!!

Not zoomed.

Zoomed. And this was really how close it seemed we were.
We could see their facial expressions and such!!

I knew he wouldn't play ALL my favorites. We didn't have all day, after all!! But this is the one of my top three that he did play. I captured most of it which blogger wouldn't let me upload. So here's a clip of the chorus. I videoed so I wouldn't sing and cry. I was still tearing up. I teared up on several. There's just something about hearing these ballads live!! 

After the show. 

I tweeted this when I got home. Collin liked it  :) 

Sheila and I had PeiWei before the show. Yummy!! What a fun, fantastic evening!! Collin TOTALLY lived up to my expectations, which were pretty high after waiting 24 years to see him live!!

YUMMY!!!!

In our seats!! (I still suck at selfies!)

TOTALLY would see Collin again over and over!! EXCELLENT performer, and of course, I love his music. And now I'm completely in love with Arlington Music Hall. Not a bad seat in the house! Next month is Shenandoah for $15 (cheap seats) and in November is Sawyer Brown for $20!!!