aussie's are PAWSOME...

I'm not just biased either because Milo is part austrailian sheperd (aussie) dog, okay I am. But they are clearly the most PAWSOME dogs ever. In the video below it's all Aussie dog wrangling the lit-up sheep.

Please note, Milo herds our two cats... and any humans that come in our house or yard. I wonder if we could come up with a similar display lighting the cats and humans up while Milo wrangles them? I think that is the most PAWSOME idea EVER.

Mostly this video just plain made my day. Enjoy interwebs.

first pair of donated shoes...

My friend Julie, a single mom and a runner, donated the first pair of shoes to my shoe drive. They have only been worn a few times, but they were giving her blisters so she got a new pair. She intended to sell them on e-bay, but instead decided to donate them to the drive. Thanks Julie!

I've been receiving many emails requesting to send shoes, and not just one pair, multiple pairs. I was super amped when a Mizuno Representative sent me an email asking to send multiple pairs of shoes. How amazing is that?


And in even MORE news, since starting this post a week ago, I have received two more pairs of shoes!

This pair from Ashley at Journey to a Better Me

And this brand spanking new pair from Annette at Running Again

Your contributions are wonderful, and I leave you with a picture of the pile of shoes I have so far between Ed and I and the other blogger shoes. This is exciting. Those red Mizunos were my FAVORITE pair of shoes EVER. I don't know what it was about them, but I loved them like no other... weird how we can do something like fall in love with a pair of shoes...

I know I'm killing this, but they say in that crazy world of advertising, you have to be repetitive to get your point across. So if you would like to donate your old running shoes, just send me an email at fairweatherrunner@gmail.com.

In other news, I wanna say HEYyyO to new followers, it's like feast or famine on my blog, no new followers for weeks and weeks, then all of the sudden BAM lots of new peeps. So my shout out to John, Heather, Katie, Annette, Kelly's Runner, Irish Cream, T., Rich, Run to Namaste and Mrs. CJ!

And Katie this is for you, NO 'H'...EVER, unless it's all spelled out. In that case if you miss the 'H' you go down. So complicated. I miss you too roomie, you have no idea.

And lastly, despite working all day and teaching a pre-session (i.e. teaching every weeknight for two weeks straight, all evening) I am still doing decently on my runs. we'll see if that holds true through next week of course. however, I did 10 miles on sunday, which i'm surprisedI banged out! watch out wichita half... FWR is on her way back!

getting my sniz kicked, one monday night at a time...

The original FWRs (that would be the running jessica, the running katie and yours truly) decided to renew our relationship with a personal trainer about five weeks ago. As a group (it's how the name Fair Weather Runners even came about actually) we had a trainer a good potion of 2008, up until Katie had her baby, and then we took quite a hiatus.

We have a new trainer this time around. She is evil and wonderful and hardcore and.... a runner. I'm pretty sure we all have a crush on her. This trainer is amazing, I've been trying to figure out how to incorporate running drills, plyometrics and weights in order to get to my running goals. It's been hard to fit it in during my ridiculous summer schedule. Until now. Our trainer incorporates it all in one nice neat little hour, which I can later repeat on a different day all on my own, just like the big girls.

Not only that, BUT... yes a big amazing but, because we are already clients, our trainer lets us join her running club for training in the lazy river every thursday night. And holy snack does that kick your sniz. WOW. PAIN. Running in chest high water, against the current, is no walk in the park. I hurt for an entire week after doing this. Things hurt that I didn't even know I had!

Speaking of pain, I usually hurt for days after our regular Monday night sessions with our trainer. This week is no exception. But after just five weeks I can already tell I'm getting stronger, not sure if I'm getting faster, but am feeling really strong overall. So it's worth the pain. Most days.

I'm hoping all of this, and the miles I've been trying to get in, will get me to my fall goal of running the Wichita Half Marathon in 2:00, or less. But I'm saying 2:00 because the Wichita Half and I have a sordid past (i.e. someone either under trained, or left town for two weeks before the race and didn't run a step, or wound up with a stress fracture, before the past three wichita half marathons, but i'm not naming names), we'll see who prevails this year. This race is the only race that has ever made me cry tears of sheer anger... for an hour. Literally. Yeah... I'm eyeing you Wichita Half.
____________________________________________________

Fair Weather Runner Shoes for the World Drive
I'll be collecting shoes until mid-august for my shoe drive so you have plenty of time to donate!

My goal is to collect a hundred pair of shoes to send to Shoes4Africa. If you are interested in donating, send me an email at fairweatherrunner@gmail.com.

why i'm quite busy and imporant...

As the head of the fun committee at my job (ummm, yeah....), it was my job to create certificates telling everyone why they are great! I'm making them to give out at our work retreat we are having in KC for the rest of the week. So if you are wondering why I haven't been blahgging it's mostly because I'm VERY busy and important at my job and I am preoccupied creating very busy and important items.

SIDE NOTE: While in KC I'll be skipping out on my work peeps to have a blahggie meet up lunch with Ashley at Journey to a Better Me. Don't worry we will document this momentous occasion. We decided it's like a blind date match.com style, only it's blogspot.com style. I hope she doesn't try and touch my arm.... or wear a flannel shirt, cut off jean shorts and hiking boots, that might get awkward.

To continue, below is my latest creation, and if you need a pick-me-up feel free to print this off and put it in your own office. Just use white out on the "clear channel" part.

In other news, I'm staying on track with building miles, running consistently in the mornings lately. Point of fact, I ran six miles just this morning. It was delightful.

Now I'm leaving you again for an undetermined amount of time... I'm a total tease.