Frustrating Four Miles & A Book Review on Hump Day

Good morning all. Happy hump day. Here’s to hoping it flies right by.  I don’t know about you, but I am READY for the weekend. And to think that I have a half marathon coming up and I’m still pumped for it to get here.

Yesterday was a busy Tuesday. My only noteworthy eats were my leftovers from dinner on Monday night. I had a nice big tupperware of Stir Fry for lunch and it was yummy.

I also ran out on lunch and laminated a pace band for my friend Lauren for her marathon on Sunday. Are you sick of me talking about her marathon yet? I’m just so excited because if she qualifies for Boston during this marathon, then we get to run Boston together next April!! So anyway – about this pace band. It was a lifesaver for me in my last marathon when I BQed. I didn’t really pay attention to it all that much until about mile 22. At that point I assumed that I wasn’t on target to BQ, but happened to look at my pace band and see that I could still make it. Thank goodness for that little band or I might not have kicked it in enough to squeeze in under 3:40. I made my pace band over at www.marathonguide.com under Running and Training Calculators. They also have a list of the Biggest/Best Boston Qualifiers by year, showing the percentage of people that qualified in each race. Right now, my Pocono Marathon is ranked second for 2010, just under Boston.

Have you ever used a pace band? I’ve seen them as tattoos as well!

Frustrating Four
So as my title indicates I had an interesting four mile run last night. It started out all wrong right from the beginning when I went to put on my Garmin and found that my band had broken! 😦 Sadness.

I was able to wear it with half the band still working and I thought that would be the last of my issues. Next up was the creepy man on the bike who made lewd comments to the girl walking right in front of me. He proceeded to  continue to ride on for a bit and then turn around and head back her way. It was a high-traffic area, so I wasn’t too worried about her. But what a creepo!

I kept on trucking and then groaned with frustration when I saw a huge crowd of kids jog down the entrance-way just up ahead. I had to run alongside them for a few seconds…awkward! I finally passed them, but then had to worry about them coming back up and passing me. Embarrassing!

Finally, as I was finishing up the last 1.5 miles, a woman on a bike and her little dog rode up next to me. And stayed there. For a few minutes. If I thought that running next to the kids was awkward before, this took awkward to a whole new level. We trotted on side-by-side for a good 1-2 minutes, which doesn’t sound like a lot…but it felt like super slow-mo. And the little dog’s bell was jingly jangling the whole time. I finally managed to pull away and prayed to make it back home without any other strange encounters. I made it back unscathed, but a bit worse for the wear. And here are my stats:

Mile 1 – 8:43
Mile 2 – 8:43
Mile 3 – 8:31
Mile 4 – 8:43

Have you experienced any strange incidents on any of your runs?

And finally, I will leave you with another little book review. I read this one super quick and highly recommend it.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

By: Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

I’ll spell it out for your right upfront on this one – loved it! I wasn’t sure about this book when I first opened it up, what with the strange name and the fact that it appeared to be written as letters the entire time – I was skeptical. And you know how rarely I’m skeptical. J

But I pushed on into the letters and quickly found myself engrossed in the story and in love with the characters. I found myself wanting to live in their little society.

Oh yes, I should probably give some sort of plot overview. The book is narrated by a single, 30-something author Juliet Ashton who has recently written a more humorous book about the war. She receives a letter from Dawsey Adams who found her name in a used book he purchased. They begin writing back and forth and Juliet becomes interested in the “literary society” Dawsey and a few of his neighbors created during the war and German occupation of their Island, Guernsey. And from there Juliet’s next book idea is born and the other society members begin writing to her and sharing literary society stories.

Once I became accustomed to the letter style, I was hooked. However, I did have to remind myself to always look at who the letter was to and from, otherwise things could get confusing.

The story is very unique and the characters are immensely enjoyable. Their letters are quick-witted and, at times, hysterical without meaning to be so. This book tells about the war in a very different way and allows the reader to both enjoy the people and appreciate their difficult situations.

I think some people could read this book and consider it trite or transparent, but I think it’s the lighter approach that makes the book more engrossing and authentic. I enjoyed the tone and the approach.

Overall, I would definitely recommend this book. I hasten to say that I think it is probably tailored more to females, but who knows – anyone might enjoy it. It is definitely a quick read as well, so not too much of a time committment.