The Beet Juice and Orange Shirt 10k, plus When you see shoes this cheap you buy them!!

Yesterday I had a great run, I think it was because of the beet juice and my lucky orange shirt.  I was really  surprised at how well this tempo run went.  For the last two weeks, I have been climbing a lot more hills.  This week has been much lighter in mileage and elevation.  I ended up meeting my husband for lunch a few times this week (he usually works on the other side of the valley).   Yesterday I was ready to "fly" (I know that speed is all relative, and I hope this doesn't sound too humble-braggy).

 Before I left for work that morning. I made myself a beet soda. I know it sounds gross but hear me out...
 I added a scoop of beet powder to a Lemon LaCroix sparkling water, and for extra nutrients I added a scoop of Reishi mushroom powder, and I topped it off with a splash of lemonade.  I have been drinking way too much Diet Coke this week, so I made my beet soda prevent me from picking up a Diet Coke on the way to work.

I also took my lunch break an hour early so the weather wasn't super warm yet.  I chose a route that I haven't run in awhile, and that is fairly flat. I wore my bright orange shirt.

The out and back section of my route was on a busy street where the cars drive fast.  I always try to wear a bright top when I have to run on the shoulder of a busy road.  I had been hoping to run the second half at half marathon pace,  but I took off at pretty good clip.  I hit the first mile at 7:30 pace, and I just went with it...I ended up running a 10k at about half marathon pace...  The first half felt not so bad, I had the wind at my back, and on the way back in I had to run into a slight headwind. I kind of crashed and burned during the last mile.  I was lucky that I only had to stop for one red light, and that was pretty brief.  Here's the data.

After the 10k, I ran another mile to cool down.

I've been pretty lazy (or just don't care enough right now) about hitting the weights this week.  At night,  I've been doing some situps on an incline board, and a few times this week I have remembered to do few sets of push ups and planks.... I sit in an office chair for a good part of the day, and my office does not have a window.  Running outside in the fresh air has been way more inviting than the indoor gym... I know once it gets too hot to head outdoors, I will be stuck inside the gym at lunchtime....

When you see running shoes this cheap You buy them!!

I used to care about purses and fancy makeup, But, now all of my disposable income is going towards running shoes.  My birthday is coming up next week (that was the excuse I used anyway) and I found these beauties online for $50.

That price included shipping too!

This is the Nike LunarGlide 7 and it is a very lightweight stability shoe.  I had really liked the Nike Zoom Structure, but I think that shoe was a bit too rigid.  I had been wanting to try the Nike Lunar Glide but this shoe retails normally at around $125.00.  I found this pair of shoes on clearance at RunningWarehouse.com.  I also had a 15% off coupon and that's how I only ended up paying $50.90 for them.

I have been more open to trying different brands of  stability running shoes, due to the fact that running shoe models can change drastically from one season to the next, even if you are buying your favorite shoe from the same brand.  I will say that I have found that shoes with an 8-9mm toe drop seem to be working the best for me right now.

I had really loved the Brooks Adrenaline but, the 15 fit so much differently than the 14. Plus   The heel to toe drop is too high at nearly 13mm.

In other news, my classes are going okay.... Most of my limited free time  now is gone, but I know this won't last forever.  Next week I will have two midterm papers due, and  I hope to start writing the outlines for them this weekend.

That's all I have for now.  Thank you for reading!