Friday Brain-Dump

I'm going with bullets here...

• I forgot to mention that the night before last Sunday's elliptical marathon attempt I went for a run. It ended up being not just a run...but a magical run. It was one of those runs that reminds us why we love it so much. I had gotten my hip yanked on Thursday and took 2 days of rest to let it 'gel' in place. I wanted to test distance and terrain to either give me some confidence going into Hood to Coast with Nuun's Team Morning or give me a wake-up call as to what tragedy to expect. I got confidence :)  Seven hilly miles at dusk. 10-minute average pace and feeling like I was loose and chill. Lots of cute wild bunnies. Serenity. I'm as ready as I'll ever be.
• ~*~
• I was reading over my posts from last year's lead-up to the Nuun HTC experience. I was struggling then, too. I had injured and reinjured myself repeatedly in the couple of months prior, and I was internally compelled to write this post called:  Looking at the positive side of injury, aging athlete perspective ...   it was a good post...and it resonates with me today. 
• ~*~
• My packing post for the Mother of all Relays also jumped out at me. Right. I need to pack my stuff up. Last year I took a bodybag-sized duffel and a small daypack. I got some dirty looks because it was so huge, but in my defense, I did have my sleeping bag and my pillow in there! I've been asked how I would pack differently this year, and here is my response... 1. remember that I run hot and do not pack long pants or long-sleeved tops for my running legs...shorts, tank, sports bra, socks times three. One hat/visor. Arm warmers. Shoes. Boom. 2. did not need to bring my own bandaids or ibuprofen or wipes, tiger balm is too smelly to considerately use in a van so leave it home, but I prefer the pepto tablets to the icky drink and the lax ball/Grid/Stick combo was indispensable. Moving on. 3. used all of my electronics and was super bummed that I forgot my chargers! must remember chargers this time and consider buying a splitter for the car outlet so multiple items can be charging at once. 4. I had too much van-wear. One pair long pants, one pair shorts, one of each kind of shirt, and one hooded sweatshirt...flipflops. Van-wear cut to less than half of last year :) 5. still bringing sleeping bag and pillow because I want as much comfort as possible...and still putting it all in the ginormous duffel because that way it fits. And I can sleep on top of it so it really doesn't waste space.
• ~*~
• I ran this morning to practice running in the morning. I'm still not a morning runner. Fortunately, it looks as if my morning leg (Leg 24) will be happening around 9ish...I think. And while I am accustomed to running at night, my night leg (Leg 12) is probably going to happen around 11 pm...later than I usually run but I'm winging that one ;-)
• ~*~
• Some relay participants like to run 2-a-days. I don't. I run limited mileage and for me doing that would be like begging to get hurt. I'm more like 2-a-week :P
• ~*~
• Sparkly skirts

 Gack....my brain just seized on that last one and I need to stop now.