About Me

Thursday, September 5, 2024

Coffee. Contemplations. Chatter.



Shall we convene, con coffee, and chat for a bit?

I don’t know about you, or even the general population, but I’m always up for some chatter amongst my peeps. Even if we can’t meet face-to-face, a virtual gathering will suffice quite nicely. If there are warm beverages involved, all the better. 

That being said, I’ll go first…

If we were having a coffee chat session, I’d start by sharing my August stats. As mentioned in last week’s  Runfession post, August was a bit of a bust, at least in terms of running.. With my nasty fall (and subsequent road rash & achy body parts), I had to scale-back the running while things healed. Fortunately, I had my walking and biking to fall back on, so things balanced-out in the end (sort of). I’m just grateful to be feeling (mostly) normal again. 


Another thing I’d share is the lightbulb moment I experienced a few months ago. As I was unpacking and organizing my new kitchen, I was having difficulty discerning what to put where (and what to store in the basement). This new kitchen isn’t blessed with as much cabinet space as what I’d been accustomed to. As a result, I decided to stash all my keepsake glass pints where I can actually use them. In my other house, they’d been on display in the dining room hutch, but were pretty much forgotten since they were out of sight (I know #MyBad). Now, I use them on the daily, and it’s nice reminiscing on the events from where each of them came from. 


Garmin recently “awarded” me the Rise & Grind Badge, for having seven consecutive days of recorded early morning activity (truth be told, I think I’ve earned this previously). Well, I think we all know I’m up early everyday anyways, but I’m not always recording my workouts on the Garmin (strength, yoga, stretching, for example), so this gives me the motivation to do a little bit of cardio every morning (walking, biking, running, elliptical)…you know, because why not? We’ll see how long I can maintain this streak, LOL. 

Since moving to my new town, the long-standing Wednesday #5at5 runs, usually with my dear friend Barb, had ceased. I did meet a couple local gals, Kelly and Hannah, who invited me to join them on Wednesdays for their routine #3at445 (three miles at 4:45AM). After a few months of these 3-mile meet-ups, I started running two “bonus” miles afterwards, on my own, since I was already warmed-up and had enough spare time. Before long, Hannah started joining me. Just last week, Kelly joined us as well! I still haven’t recruited any full moon runners, but stay tuned, LOL. 


Finally, Thursday night's group run was intended to be a Cy-Hawk gig. After all, it's Cy-Hawk Week in Iowa (the big inner-state rival game between the Iowa State Cyclones and the University of Iowa Hawkeyes is on Saturday). Well, Matt (the Altoona Running Club's president) and myself (the newbie) were the only ones in official team gear. There were a few people in the team colors, but still. This rivalry is huge, so I was really surprised only two of us were taking it seriously, ha! Does that qualify as a first world problem?


Okay, I think I've had the floor long enough. 

What would you share if we were having a coffee and chat session? Did your August play-out nicely? How early do you routinely get out for your runs, or for working-out? Would you rep your alma mater at a group run, especially during the week of a big game?

 Since it's the first weekend of the month, I'm linking this with Deborah and Coco for the Ultimate Coffee Date.

I'm also linking this with MichelleReneeDarleneJenn and Zenaida for the Fit Five Friday Link-up.


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21 comments:

  1. I’d be that person who fully intended to rep my team but then totally forgot to wear the right shirt!

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    1. I have come close (on several occasions) to doing the same, but usually an remember at the last minute.

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  2. Nice to see you continuing your #5at5 - glad you have found some new running buddies!

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  3. Ooh, that sounds like a good game- I'll try to watch some if it doesn't interfere with the Baylor game.
    Nice job converting your 3 milers to five- you created another 5at5! I have faith that you'll soon have a full moon crew.

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  4. Aww, yay! I moved all my cups into a cabinet where they'd actually get used too.

    I got a Garmin earlier this year and I'm not great at recording my workouts (my fitbit would just automatically do it for me, or start tracking + I could edit later to add the activity so the stats would show up -- I'm still getting used to this, hehe). I like the fun badges though! I have definitely never earned the Rise and Grind yet..

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    1. I do a lot of non-cardio workouts, but just don't feel the need to "track" them on the Garmin.

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  5. That's so great you've build a new 5 at 5 group! Have fun watching the rivalry game!

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  6. Great job on inspiring your new friends to run farther with you on Wednesday mornings. I'm sure in no time you'll have a group of friends doing your monthly full moon run with you! My VT tank (the one I wore with you a couple of years ago) is made out of heavier fabric so I don't wear it as often as I'd like. :-( If the weather was cooler, I could wear one of my short sleeve tech shirts, maybe the one from the Hokie Half.

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    1. I have several Iowa shirts, but they're cotton. They're appropriate for football games, but not really for running. I finally got the tank top a few years ago, so that sees a lot of action when there's any kind of fitness involved.

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  7. Happy to hear that you have new morning runner friends. My summer one was injured and so I was not motivated to run.. I usually got out at 7am on days I worked from home. Otherwise I run after work.

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    1. I'm glad I can do the early morning running (both on my own, and with friends) because it just works better for my schedule. I do run after work, on occasion, though, if the weather is sketchy in the early hours.

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  8. Well, their 4:45 meet-up was happening before I entered the scene, LOL...but now it's become a 5-miler instead of a 3-miler ;-)

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  9. Great job on inspiring and motivating the 4.45 group to add a few miles! That's a proper influencer!

    I have some glasses from races, but I successfully break them in the following months, so there's no risk of me building up a nice stash like you have.

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    1. I love these glasses, I don't know why I never had them "out" and in-use before. I'm hoping my influencer skills enable some full moon runners to join me soon!

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  10. I am sorry to hear that you fell. I hope you are OK. Of course, you found friends to join you for your 5-mile early morning run - I love it! I wish it were easier for me to see the badges earned from Garmin. I've also been out early during those times but didn't see that badge.

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    1. Yeah, the fall was a nasty one, and happened on August 1st! I'm glad that's in the rear window...

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  11. My alarm is set for 5, but I am usually awake at 4:30. Sometimes I stay in bed til 5:30. It just depends. I love that you are using things that bring you happy memories.

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    1. I don't remember when the early wake-ups started happening on their own, but it's been several years. I guess it's a good thing.

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