Buckle in my friends, I have quite a bit of stuff to talk about today! Mostly involving fun fall stuff, but some running stuff too! 😉 Including a fantastic #throwbackthursday photo from the start of the Longview Half last year. So, let’s get started!

I don’t think Luke really understands why I love this season, or really just the last few months of the year, so much. And honestly sometimes I’m not sure either. Well, aside from the fact that the best holidays happen in October, November, and December, my birthday is in November, the weather is fantastic, and everything just feels all warm and cozy and festive. So never mind, I’m totally sure! 😉 But he’s a wonderful husband and is always making sure I get to experience all of the fun fall/winter related activities! Even if they seem ridiculously small and almost meaningless. Like baking pre-cut, Halloween sugar cookies (for real though, I think we can all admit that these are some of the best cookies ever!).

So yeah, I’m not sure that he gets it. But he’ll still randomly show up after he gets home from work with things like this, and it makes me so ridiculously happy. It really is the little things in life you guys. 🙂 Haha he also knows me incredibly well! While I was making them he asked how many raw cookies I ate. 😂 The answer was 4. But come on, cookie dough is delicious and has anyone actually ever gotten salmonella from cookie dough anyway. 😉

He also lets me decorate ALL OF THE THINGS!! Haha inside and outside! Although this is the first year we’ve actually had inside Halloween decorations. He even helps me pick out new ones and put them up! Haha but I’m not allowed on ladders (worlds biggest klutzs here!), so he kinda has to. 😉 Anyway, so far our yard is looking pretty spooky! We’ve got a nice little graveyard set up (pictured below), spooky spider webs all over our trees, and several bats hanging around. We had ghosts hung up too, but the wind blew them down haha. We’re gonna fix that though. And Luke wants to figure out a better way to set up our lights. His mom sent us some really cool ones, but our house has no outdoor outlets, so setting up lights is always a pain in the ass. Good thing Luke’s got a degree in electrical design. 😉

He also tolerates me sending him ALL of the Halloween memes and our neighbor’s Halloween decorations. And by the way, some of my neighbors are totally KILLING it with their decorations! I love it! I also love that I’m not the only one who likes to go all out for Halloween. 🙂 So far these are a few of my favorite houses. Haha actually, I talk to the guy who lives in the red/white house all of the time. He’s a really cool guy! He has two black labs that are always excited to see me and he always goes all out with Halloween and Christmas decorations. Obviously his blowups aren’t currently inflated, but they’re still really neat!

So yeah, I’m currently having ALL of the fall fun and my husband is THE BEST! 🍂🎃🖤

Okey dokey then, lets talk about running stuff!

So, today’s run should have been fantastic! The weather was great, the leaves in my neighborhood are starting to change, everyone is starting to put up their Halloween decorations (haha the two photos above are actually from my run this morning), and I felt pretty great! Well, except for my right shin actually.

I am what most people would refer to as an “injury prone runner”. A lot of that actually has to do with my klutzy-ness, but I also have notoriously weak hips. Which has caused me problems with my IT bands and shins. I’ve also had plantar facial issues, but that was from running in a pair of shoes that were waaay too supportive for my very high arches in my feet. 🙃

Anyway, I was just beginning to think I might make it through this training cycle unscathed. I’ve been working on my hips and doing a pretty good job of keeping up with my recovery activities, but this morning my right shin/knee was feeling kind of off this morning… That’s actually super weird because it’s usually my left leg that’s the problem, but whatever. 😂 So at first my stubborn ass thought I was just going to run through it and finish my 5 mile run as planned. I have a ridiculously high pain tolerance, so that was something I could have easily done. But the more I thought about it the more I realized I needed to stop. I’m obviously going to be better off taking care of what’s hopefully just a niggle and not a full blown injury before it gets any worse. I’m actually really good at being a lot more hurt than I think I am because of my crazy pain tolerance. So yeah, I made it 2.5 miles before I decided that those last 2.5 miles weren’t going to be worth it. 🏃🏻‍♀️

Honestly though, I think whatever it is that I’ve done to myself happened on the treadmill yesterday. I legit can’t run properly on a treadmill. I thought that maybe I was starting to figure it out, but apparently not. I’m beginning to think treadmill running is actually a hazard to my health.

So I’ve spent the rest of the day resting my leg. I’m wearing my compression gear and did a bunch of stretching and foam rolling this afternoon. And I plan on taking tomorrow off too. I’m hoping that if I rest it and give it a little extra TLC that it will feel good enough to do my long run on Saturday. Possibly Sunday if it’s still feeling off on Saturday. But anyway, hopefully it’s just a little niggle from running weird on the treadmill.

Moving on, I’m super duper excited to announce that I get to be a part of the Honey Stinger Hive for the 3rd year in a row! 🐝🍯💜

I’m sure by now a lot of you know that Honey Stinger waffles are my go-to running fuel! They’ve gotten me through 3 half marathons and most of my training! Along with their chews and new cracker and nut butter bars. Those things are amazing!

Of course I love the product, but what I really love is the community that Honey Stinger has created. Some of us are runners, cyclists, swimmers, hikers, surfers, snowboarders, golfers, the list goes on and on and on! But no matter how fast or slow, what sport or activity you participate in, what walk of life you’re in, whether you’re a stay at home mom, 9-5er, or a professional adventurer, you’re a complete beginner or are going pro, everyone is here for each other. Always positive. Always supportive. No one gets left out. And I just think that’s the bee’s knees. (See what I did there. 🐝😉😂). So I’m very stoked that I have the privilege of representing this brand for another year. 🙂

Alrighty, as promised, the fantastic #throwbackthursday photo from last year…

Have you ever looked back through old race photos and thought to yourself “wow, I’m super photogenic!” Yeah, me neither. In all fairness though, getting your headphone placement just right is super important. Especially at the start of a race.

I couldn’t remember if I’ve actually shared this photo on here or not, but I figure it’s too good not to. Haha I find candid race photos to be very amusing. And why not? It’s hard to look good for a camera when you’re focused on the task ahead. It makes for fun photos to look back on. At least I think so. 😉

Whew! Alright! I’m pretty sure that covers everything for today!

I hope you have a great Thursday and the MOST fantastic fall!

~Ashley 🎃🖤

Support Me on Ko-fi