Preppy Runner – Theodora Blanchfield

(How’s that for a descriptive title?)

Amy’s pesto tortellini bowls. I saw tortellini on Monica’s blog the other day, and I haven’t been able to get it out of my head since.

My RoadID that came today. I’ve been putting off ordering one for so long, but I finally ordered one last week after not winning Dori’s raffle. She linked to this post from Caitiln talking about a girl named Lindsay who was in a bike accident and wasn’t treated until the nurses got proof of insurance. That scared me, and I ordered a Road ID. This is dumb, but the reason I waited to long to order one was because I didn’t know what running mantra I wanted at the bottom. I finally decided that was way less important than potentially not having contact info on me if I got into some sort of accident, so I finally just decided to go with “I run because I can.” In Caitlin’s post, she recommended giving your health insurance info to one of your emergency contacts, so I’m sending my info to my parents. Soon.

I’m trying to see if they’ll do a giveaway, but in the meantime, if you use this coupon code (ThanksTheodora7329236), you will get $1 off.

Kale chips with nutritional yeast. (Not nearly as epic as the ones I had in Colorado, but not bad either.)

Um, except for the batch that I burned first.

I wasn’t super-hungry (who am I?), so I just had them with a veggie burger. (And then I made another veggie burger.)

A CASE OF COCONUT WATER. I finally just broke down and subscribed for MONTHLY COCONUT WATER DELIVERIES on Amazon, since I stop at Duane Reade for coconut water after like every run.

My new running shoes (Brooks Ravenna 2s) + Strawberry Banana Gu. My knees were starting to get achy (and I got my last shoes in March), so I knew it was time to get new shoes. I decided to go into JackRabbit and get fitted, since it’d been awhile. The Saucony ProGrid Ride 3s I was wearing were neutral, but apparently I’m starting to overpronate some, so Rob, the nice dude at the UES JackRabbit, recommended either the ProGrid Guides or these Brooks. I liked how they felt all cushy, like running on clouds, so I decided to give them a try.

At JackRabbit, they film you running to judge your gait. In the neutral Sauconys, I was overpronating, but just putting on these Brooks (and the other Sauconys) made me stop overpronating. I don’t quite get what overpronating is (but I know it’s not good) or how shoes can correct it that quickly, but hey, aren’t my shoes pretty? I’m a little nervous to be switching from Sauconys to Brooks, but when I tweeted about the new shoes, Scott said it was the “best running decision” I’d ever make, so who am I to argue?

I’m trying the Strawberry Banana Gus because Heather blogged that they taste like Amoxicillin, and I kind of like that. (I called it the bubble gum medicine growing up.)

Something that is not material but awesome is the great coffee date (a professional one, not a romantical one) I had this afternoon and the renewed sense of hope it gave me for my job search and professional life.

Another non-material awesome thing is my stomach seems to have calmed down quite a bit in the past week. That is actually beyond awesome–it’s amazing. I had to cut way back on coffee (DEAR GOD, MAKE THIS ONLY BE TEMPORARY) to achieve this, but for right now, it’s worth it. I’m going to the doctor tomorrow, and hopefully he can help me even more. (Weirdly enough, dairy seems to be okay, which I had previously thought was off-limits. Maybe my stomach just can’t handle coffee and dairy?)

What is awesome for you right now? (And if you are a runner, what kind of shoe do you wear? And would you be wary of switching shoes, too? Also, if you like coconut water, Zico or Vita Coco?)