Running: Ur Doin' It Wrong

It's not that I ran wrong, but my whole process of getting ready to run needs to be improved greatly. I need to go to bed earlier on Friday nights, because otherwise getting up early on Saturday morning to run is NOT fun! I also need to get my gear and clothes ready Friday night before bed, so that I'm not running around Saturday morning gathering my stuff and being late to the run. Definitely room for some process improvement. So, we got there like 5 minutes late and everyone who was there last week and was supposed to run 4 miles this week took off running already. We got our hydration packs out of the car and walked towards the newbie group who were there for the first time today for orientation. I suddenly felt some water drip on my calves. I looked at my water bottle and there's a gaping slit in it. I've been using it for years and it finally broke. Funny thing is I just ordered a new hydration belt and water bottles last week and I just hadn't received it in the mail yet. So I had to run without hydration today. :( Right after discovering the water leak, I discovered I had forgotten my watch. I almost can't run without my watch! I was so bummed. Then the orientation with the new group started and we didn't want to sit through that again. We went over to the coaches and they said we can just run with the newbie group but run one more mile. So we ran one mile while they were still being oriented, and then ran 3 miles with them. I went out the same time as Todd so he was my timer at the end. I ran a 43:05 4-miler, which is an improvement over my 33:13 3-miler last week. I was excited about that! After the run I bought some Ultima Replenisher electrolyte powder to mix with water for my long runs from now on. I also got some GU packs at Road Runner Sports. Todd got some Superfeet inserts for his running shoes. I looked at the Garmin 405 Forerunner because I would love to keep track of my miles, time, elevation, etc. with a GPS watch. But it was too expensive and also was too big and heavy on my small wrist. I also tried on the Garmin 305 at REI but it was even bigger. Then I realized that this running thing was starting to cost me a fortune and I decided it wasn't time for a Garmin yet. After the run, we went to the nearby Home Depot Expo Design Center to check out some bathroom and kitchen remodeling stuff and ask some questions. We want to remodel our kitchen (counter, sink, flooring) and our bathrooms (counter, sinks, showers, toilets, flooring). We talked to various experts and were satisfied with our research. For the bathroom counters we're thinking of getting Corian: For the kitchen counter we're thinking of getting quartz, mainly because it's durable and maintenance-free. Then we talked to the toilet expert and he recommended either the Kohler Cimarron or the American Standard Champion 4, which both had excellent flushing powers, according to him. Armed with all the information we could handle in one day, we left for lunch at Nozomi, our favorite Japanese Restaurant. Todd had the chicken katsu, which he ALWAYS gets. (Ha, ha, I just realized I put a toilet pic and a food pic back-to-back, LOL!) I had a Hawaiian Roll: After lunch we got into the car and it was HOT! So on the drive home I pushed that external temperature button in the car: I worked on my Project 365 - Week 2 layout today but it's not finished yet. Todd made Turkey and Potato Soup with Canadian Bacon & Spicy Southwest Smashed Potatoes with White Cheddar for dinner: It was truly divine! Yummy for my tummy! Debra asked me the other day, "Do you ever cook?? I'm so jealous!" Well, Todd is the main chef of our household, but I am the sous-chef and the dish-washer-cleaner-upper. It's probably not an even division. Yes, I am very lucky! And I eat good. :) On the docket tonight is "Mr and Mrs. Smith" on blue-ray DVD. I hope I can last through the whole movie, unlike "The Dark Knight" last weekend. I got too scared.