There were only 3 of us who showed up. . . .I think the cold temps scared people away. (It was even a few degrees colder at 9 a.m. when we met up.)

I, along with two other hard-core Alaskan men twice my age, made up the group of three. I was definitely the odd ball.

I ended up running with one of the guys for 6 miles. I thought it might be kind of awkward since he was twice my age, but the conversation was easy and the time went by quickly.

Despite the age and gender difference, I think the conversation was easy because we are both runners. We talked about races we have/are going to run, our jobs, Alaska, families, and all that good stuff. It was fun!

I wanted to do a total of 10 miles for the day, so I drove to the gym and ran 4 more miles on the treadmill.

Then it was a quick stop at the grocery store for next week’s food plus a little treat for myself: a scone. It tasted so good after my long run.

I also made a quick stop at Skinny Mini—Skinny Raven’s mini-me before heading home.

I was in search of a new pair of running shoes. (I ended up returning these because they kept slipping off my heels.) I picked out the Brooks Glycerin 8.

These were on sale since the Glycerin 9s are out.

I’ve never run in Brooks before, but they fit really well. I have a hard time finding shoes that fit my feet: my heel either slips out or my forefoot doesn’t have enough room in the toe box, but these were perfect!

Not the most stylish pair of shoes, but I’ll get over it.

Then it was time to refuel the glycogen stores with a vanilla banana protein smoothie and bagel.

The rest of my day included:

- laundry

- planning our trip to Maui! (We leave in 40 days!)

- folding laundry

- washing dishes

- and other random things that somehow eat up a lot of time.

I still haven’t resolved my Ecto problems. I’ve e-mailed customer service twice now, so I hope they contact me soon! This post took twice as long as it normally would so now it is time to be done!

Confessions of a run-a-holic:

1.) I will never ever, ever get tired of the runner’s high.

2.) As much as I enjoy biking, swimming, and yoga, I can go days, weeks, even months without these types of exercise. Running, on the other hand, I cannot go without for more than a couple of days at a time.

3.) I love running in all seasons (spring, summer, fall)—except winter! I despise it greatly, however, I will continue to run in the winter because the addiction is strong!

4.) Oddly, the only part of my body that gets really cold when I run in the winter are my legs.

5.) I love it all: hills, speed workouts, long runs, etc. I don’t dread one over the other.

6.) I have platypus feet (as Craig calls them)—a narrow heel with a wide forefoot—which makes finding shoes that fit well very difficult.

7.) I will never be satisfied with my PR. I will always be trying to run faster.

8.) I think everyone should run a race sometime in their life. (If they can physically can.) The feeling once you cross that finish line is like no other.

9.) The coldest weather I’ve ever run in was -40*F (with windchill) during college in northern Minnesota.

10.) I started running when I was 10 years old in order to train for the mile in p.e. class.

Confessions of a Run-a-holic, Part I