Howdy! Happy Monday-After-a-Holiday! We had an amazing weekend here at the Lazy W and are ready for everything these new days bring us. Work that matters, good food, Shark Week on TV. All of it. I hope this finds you healthy and motivated for a fresh, new week yourself.

Today for Marathon Monday I am snagging this fun idea from Janae, the hardcore, effervescent, and really speedy Hungry Runner Girl. It’s just a running quiz. 20 easy questions. A fun way to get better acquainted with each other aaaaaaannnnnnnd perhaps motivate Yours Truly to get back out there for some much-needed miles. Let’s do this.

1.  Would you rather run along a beach path or on a mountain trail? I’d love to go on a nice, long run that includes both, but if you’re making me choose then I’d take the mountain path for sure because hills are what I crave most. Then I’d drive back to the beach with a book and a cooler full of icy diet coke to recuperate.

2.  If you could choose the flavor of Gatorade at your next race’s aid stations, what would it be? Do they make cherry limeade flavor? That sounds delicious.

3.  If I gave you a $100 gift card to a running store, what would be the first thing that you would purchase with it? Compression socks (dying to try these) and a new phone case/arm band, hopefully one that is tight enough on my skinny arm. That is, assuming I already have a fresh pair of great shoes.

4.  Do you prefer to follow a training plan or wake up and decide then how far and how fast you want to run? I guess a plan is best. I have enjoyed this recent hiatus and the freedom to enjoy other types of exercise, but life is so busy that not having a running-training plan often means I just don’t run, no matter how much I want to. Back at it this week though!

5.  Would you rather start your run with the uphill and end on the downhill or start your run with the downhill and end with the uphill? The latter. Start downhill to build momentum then climb-climb-climb!

6.  When you can’t run, what type of cross-training do you choose to do? Elliptical, lots and lots of yoga, and different HIIT videos with light weights (15#). I like Jillian Michaels lately. Also, 8-minute-abs and time with the foam roller. Although those barely count as “working out,” they do feel good and make a difference in my body.

7.  What is your preference—>  Out and back, point to point or loop runs? Oh man. Every type of run has its joys and benefits. I started a couple of years ago with millions of tiny loops, so I know that works for me. But I do find myself craving out-and-backs a lot. Especially in beautiful new locations.

8.  If you could recommend ANY running related item to a new runner, it would be —> Good shoes as soon as your budget allows (see above). And good earbuds for music, too.

9.  Do you ever see any wild animals while out on your runs? When I run here at the farm, of course, I see the llamas out back. They’re not wild but they are curious. Sometimes I see deer in the adjacent forest. Once the buffalo got out of his pen and was wrecking everything while I was running in the back field. The horses tried to get my attention for this but I was in the zone and not easily distracted. That was a scary way to enter the barn, all full of endorphins and still listening to loud music. And I am still keeping my eyes open for Oklahoma’s Sasquatch.

10.  Ever gotten lost while out on a run? Thankfully, miraculously, no. Which is amazing because getting lost while driving used to kind of be my jam. (Ask Handsome.) I once went running wild in the downtown streets of Austin, Texas, and up and down the river there, and even located coffee afterwards and then my hotel room with no problems. Yay for GPS!

11.  If you could have one meal waiting and ready for you each time you got home from a run for the next 30 days… what would that meal be? I love this question. My answer is: watermelon, cottage cheese, and a dark green salad loaded with raw, crunchy veggies.

12.  Capris or shorts… what do you run in most often? Capris when I am in public and shorts when I am alone.

13.  At what mile (or how many minutes) into your run does your body start to feel like it is warming up and ready to go? I usually feel stiff and caged in for the first mile, fussy and clumsy the second, and marginally better by the third. I think it’s always mile four when I actually feel like I’m warmed up and ready to start working.

14.  What do you do with your key when you run? I loop it through a snap on my phone case and just keep a death grip on the whole thing. I recently tried tying it in with my shoelaces but was a nervous wreck the entire run, constantly checking to make sure it was still there. Every little stick or pebble I kicked made me think the key was gone forever. Very distracting! LOL

15.  If you could relive any race that you have done in the past, which one what it be? Hmm. I don’t know about relive, but for so many reasons I would like to redo this year’s OKC Memorial Marathon, my second full. I made tons of mistakes. Then again, it was such a valuable learning experience. So no, let’s leave it alone. Instead, let’s relive that Zombie 5K obstacle course that was so much fun! Before our starting gun, a zombie sprang out of the woods and terrified me so bad I bolted ahead of my running group, alone into the woods. It was pretty funny and set the tone for the whole race. I had a BLAST. And I think it was in 2014, just a week after my first full, which was a good run, so I was still feeling really strong and happy. Yes to reliving great memories.

16.  What type of run is your least favorite type of run? Any run, no matter the distance, when I feel like I am in a rush to finish because someone is waiting on me or there is a tight schedule. It stresses me out and makes me feel guilty for running at all. I often skip a few planned miles just to get back home. Which puts me in a bad mood. For this reason I tend to grab my miles after my most important chores are done but as early in the day as possible.

17.  What has been your biggest motivation lately to get out the door to get your run on? Slimming back down (I gained some weight during this past marathon training) and just plain ol’ stress relief.

18.  When you go for a run, do you leave right from your front door or do you drive somewhere to start? If I run here at the farm, it’s a short walk downhill to the back field loop. Otherwise I drive between 8-10 miles to one of a few different nearby tracks. We have amazing hills in our area that I crave so hard, but it’s just not safe to run straight-out. Because, you know, Sasquatch.

19.  When running in daylight—>  are sunglasses a must or an annoyance? A must. For sure, must. If I run at daybreak or sunset, even if I don’t really need sunglasses, I still feel weird without them on my face.

20.  When you get tired, what keeps you from quitting? I hate that feeling of having not completed the miles I said I would. Another reason the training plan/commitment is effective for me. My friends on social media may tire of it, and for this I’m a little bit sorry, but it definitely helps me stay on track. No pun intended. : ))

Okay, that was fun! Now if you are a runner, please answer some of these questions below in comments! I’d love to know more about your style and habits. It’s so interesting to me. Thanks for sharing these questions, Janae!

Now I am off to do those most important chores and grab some miles before the week gets hectic. Hope your Monday is fantastic.

Run while you still can.
XOXOXOXO