The iMac is back!

Hey, hey! I am in a particularly good mood this beautiful Friday afternoon.

1. My desktop computer that basically holds my entire life is finally back from "the shop" and we didn't lose any important family pictures or files...thank goodness!! Long story short, we received an email from Apple letting us know that we bought a computer with a messed up hard drive and, this is the icing on the cake, my husband hadn't backed up any of our files in the 3 years we have owned it. It could have been bad. Really bad. Thankfully all is well and now we have an external hard drive :)
2. I received an email Halloween night welcoming me to the Oiselle Running Team. This is an awesome company...the best fitting and flattering running clothes I've ever owned. I am beyond excited (and honored) to represent them around my community and at all of my upcoming races. As the Oiselle birds say, "Go fast. Take chances.".
3. As some of you know, I've been struggling a bit a lot, since the Chicago Marathon. (Basically, my IT band started causing some pretty intense pain around mile 8...) It has taken a few slow feeling weeks to get back to my normal schedule and mileage. The good news is I had an awesome, easy feeling, run this morning. I put in a good 6.1 miles at a 7:20/mile average with absolutely NO IT pain! This makes me sooo happy and I'm starting to feel like running the Jacksonville Marathon December 16th, while probably still crazy, is definitely doable and I may even be able to drop those pesky 51 seconds off of my time. 
4. Alright, alright...this is the last thing on the list, I promise! While it's not brand new, it still hasn't been posted, so here is the newest playlist. Yay!! 

Playlist #12

Here's the breakdown:
Lots of saddle time in this workout. The first set's focus was learning to maintain those faster RPMs (90-100) for longer periods of time. We didn't "flat road" it forever, of course. Set #2, while still in the saddle, we amped up the gear for a couple songs which forced us to slow the RPM a bit and climb. I threw you a bone (you jump lovers, you) on Set #3 we backed it down to a nice 70-80 RPM range and switched in and out of the saddle every 30 seconds. Last up- track cycling, anyone?? Set #4 was a series of full minute ON (anaerobic- this means breathless, heart busting out of your chest, y'all) and full minute OFF (easy pedaling for a FULL minute...I'm too good to you). That was 2 songs worth...I know, most of you thought you were done after the first...it was an awesome evil trick. ;)

The Song List: (on iTunes)

Turn It Down- Kaskade
Tightrope- WALK THE MOON
Serenity (Short)- Melnikov Project
In My Heart- Moby
Animals- The Cast of Cheers
You'll Find A Way- Santogold
Breezeblocks- Alt-J
Oh Missy- Woolfy
I Wonder- Matt & Kim
La Grange- ZZ Top
Guess What- Archie (direct downloads from www.thissongissick.com)
Madness- Muse
Longevity- Yeasayer

Lastly, good luck and safe travels to all the Oiselle birds running the ING NYC Marathon this Sunday! I wish you all the best and hope your travels to the starting line are a breeze. Thanks for stopping by and Happy Friday!!!