Friday Favorites + this will make me faster (and maybe you too)!!

(Shorts ((on sale)), socks, shoes, shirt)

Lauren talked me into another hill day.  I was sore from the gym, and hills didn’t sound appetizing, but I’m glad she got me on them.  My goal is to make this hill not feel like it is going to kill me and to be able to chat a bit as we are going up.

We had a fun morning going into Runner’s Corner and having a form analysis by Golden Harper (the founder of Altra)!  He started by checking out my shoes and gathering information on where they broke down first to help understand my gait.

Then he filmed us in the parking lot running at easy paces and at marathon pace.  We talked in the parking lot about the most significant things we needed to work on (arm swing for me), and then he had me try out his Float Run Harness.  I’m committing to wearing this for six weeks to make it a habit.   I overswing (every coach I have had has told me this), which is fine when sprinting, ha, but I do it for marathons;)   My elbow goes back correctly, but I bring my arm in front of me and overswing, my elbow goes out in front of my hips.   The harness helps keep your arms at the angle they should be and allows your elbows to swing back but stop closer to your ribs like the elites.

Screenshot from without the harness on and my normal arm swing…

To with the harness on… I need to put together a video because the change was pretty drastic.

He calls this harness a running technique coach that comes with you for every run until it becomes automatic.  You just put it on your back and then your thumbs through the holes.  If you are tugging on the straps when wearing it, you are not arm swinging correctly, making it easy to fix your swing again.  The goal is to keep your wrists to ribs, your elbows back, and your posture open (run proud and tall), which helps your cadence and your form and avoids overstriding.  My cadence naturally went up as soon as I put it on.  PS This is not sponsored in the slightest; I just think this simple harness can help a lot of runners and Lauren, and I can’t wait to see what it does for our PRs.  Wasting less energy with my form = I will run faster on race day.

While there, we also tried a few laps around the building in the Alphafly 3s.  I need to try them out for speed work, but I still think I like the Vaporflies more and the adidas adios pro 3s the most (I did just get sent a pair of the Hoka Skyward X, so expect a review on them soon).

Truly, is there a better lunch than a really good sandwich?  Does anyone else eat the crusts first and save the best for last?

And then it was a busy afternoon full of cross-country…

And the state fair!

Now for just a few favorites this week:

*I finished Every Last One by Anna Quindlen and give it an A.  It was such a page-turner for me.  The story was so different than anything I have read before and told from such an interesting perspective.  I loved it so much I immediately got another book by the same author, and I’m hoping I love it just as much.

*The jacket from my dreams.  The colors are perfection.  It was love at first sight based solely on the colors.

*I’m gearing up for four kids to be home this summer, and one of my favorite things for the summer is The Family Adventure Journal. It includes many cute and free activities and prompts for kids (especially Skye and Beck’s age), and it gets us out the door to explore and journal together.

*I don’t remember who posted about this container on IG, but as soon as I saw it, I bought it to save us on the soccer fields.  The kids love it, making it so easy to pack for our hours of soccer games each Saturday.  I’m a big fan.  It’s also easy to clean, and the lid seals everything nicely.  I feel like Mother of the Year when I pull this out.  This reminds me of one time my brother, who is a pilot, had his wife on his flight.  Before the flight took off, he got on the loudspeaker and said he wanted to make an announcement.  The Mother of the Year award winner, for whatever year it was, was on their flight and gave my SIL’s seat number so everyone knew where she was, haha… Everyone started clapping for her:)

*I love coming across pictures on my blog when searching for a recipe or something and seeing Mer.  She was the best.

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Have any fun weekend plans?

Reading anything good right now?

Do you journal?  Have you in the past?

Long run this weekend? Anyone racing?