Zombies, Run! 5K

I am currently on Week 7 of the Zombies, Run! 5K training program, which I started as a way to slow myself down and encourage myself not to overdo when starting back running after having peroneal tendonitis this winter.  I have been pretty consistently running 11-12 minute miles the last 6 months (mildly depressing remembering my under 7 minute PRs as a teen).  I was pleased to look over my run and see that I was keeping in the 9-10 minute mile range for the running portion of today's training.  I didn't feel like I was exerting significantly more effort, although the distance is still lower right now.  I don't know that I could keep the pace if, for example, I got a little lost on my run and ended up doing an extra 4 miles (it has only happened once... thank goodness I run with my iPhone these days and was able to pull up a map).

I did a Run Keeper 5k trainer last year when I started running again after a work and life induced many year hiatus.  I think I remember my first few runs being in the 13-14 minute mile range, i.e. it took me a while to be able to maintain a longer jog, but this feels like more of an improvement.  It makes me wonder if I should add some intervals other than occasionally turning on Zombie chases to my normal Zombies, Run! workouts to keep getting that improvement.  I haven't done much reading on the scientific data on training patterns and I have to guess that, like the data on nutrition and a lot of other areas, it isn't very cut and dried.  Fortunately my running performance is only important for my own satisfaction and health, so even if I don't optimize, I'm not causing harm, rather failing to make progress as quickly!

As an aside, I wonder if my better performance with the Zombies, Run rather than the Run Keeper is a function of the fact that my husband made me playlists so I finally have music as I run, or whether it is at least partially story motivation.  I think I have to chalk it up to both, because both aspects catch me just right at times during my workout and give me a ridiculously huge grin, an urge to pick up the pace just for fun, or even an out loud giggle!

My husband and I took our 6 year old twins to Blue Man Group this afternoon.  It was great!  We had seats right in the middle at the top row of the mezzanine, which gave a great view.  The view was only improved by the fact that the total ticket cost was only $98 for the 4 of us, including fees!
My favorite part had to be the dance party at the end, where we held the girls up to stand on the chairs in front of us to shake, well, various euphemisms for bottom were employed.
Unfortunately there was no photography in the theater, so we didn't get to take any snaps of the monsters with the blue guys, but given their age they will probably remember pretty well.
This really brings to mind what I was reading in "Happy Money" which discussed the value of spending money on experiences, rather than objects.  I suppose it also met the principal of pay now, enjoy later, since our tickets were purchased many weeks ago.  I suppose it also counts under spending on others, and experiencing it with them, a la the Starbucks gift card experiments in the book.

City of a Thousand Dolls

I just finished reading City of a Thousand Dolls, by Mirian Forster. It was a very enjoyable read.  The biggest surprise with the book was how confined the scope of setting was, virtually everything takes place in the very narrow world of the City of a Thousand Dolls, where the unwanted girls of the vaguely Asian nation are abandoned to be raised and trained in the various houses until they are redeemed or purchased, typically at or after the age of 16, as apprentices, wives, mistresses, etc.  The setting felt relatively fleshed out, the protagonist was lost and unaware in the mystery without being too annoying, and the putting together of all the pieces at the end didn't have any false notes as the clues were appropriately placed through the story.  Another plus, and frustration, is that there is left a significant amount of unexplored territory in the past and future for the author to do much more in this world.  Here is to hoping that the author writes more at the same or better level!

Her website is http://msforster.blogspot.com/, and she does a nice list of recommended fantasy books set in Asian based worlds that I will have to mine next time I have a good chunk of reading time.  Most of my fantasy novel reading runs toward a more European setting, but I found this setting quite appealing and immersible.

Mission Statement

I'm planning to use this blog to log what I'm reading and what I think of it, as well as various inconsequentials about running, homeschooling, and life in general.

As a voracious reader, or as avid as a full time job and 6 year old twins allow, I frequently lose track of books I read and authors I adore.  Hopefully if you've stumbled across this blog I can turn you on to someone new to pass an afternoon with!

My book preferences are fantasy and sci-fi with a seasoning of urban fantasy or steampunk thrown in, but I also enjoy the occasional space opera, romance, or contemporary novel.