I currently have three pairs of shorts that I run in. They are all Umbro soccer shorts. I like them a lot, which is why I have three pairs, but they are getting worn out. I would like to replace them with actual running shorts that have a pocket where I can stash some stuff. So last night I made a trip up to the local running store in pursuit of new running shorts. Said hello to the Lego Hokie Bird on my way into the mall.

After trying on several pairs of running shorts, I chose a pair of Brooks Epiphany Stretch Short II…

…and a pair of Oiselle Distance Shorts. I did try on the “famed” Oiselle Rogas, but they were too short for my taste.

The distance shorts, except mine are navy

This morning I did a 3 mile run on my yet-to-be-named treadmill. I am debating over a few names, stay tuned. I couldn’t decide which of my new shorts to try out, so I decided to run the first half in my Brooks shorts and the second half in my Oiselle shorts. It made sense at 6 AM this morning. Never mind that I will be running three more times this week (and therefore have plenty of opportunities to try out my new shorts).

I started out in my Brooks shorts. They felt great. They fit me well and felt feather light, like they weren’t even there. The right inner side did ride up a smidge, but after the first half mile they stayed in place. They only have one inner key pocket, but it’s more than what my current Umbro shorts have. I do like that they come in so many different colors. If they end up being favorites I have a variety of color options. I prefer black/dark shorts, and they have nine black or navy blue shorts with different colored stripes.

Once I hit the halfway point I paused my treadmill, hopped off and swapped shorts right there next to the treadmill, climbed back on, and resumed my run. Can’t do that on the side of the road. Well, I guess you can if you want to risk a potential indecent exposure charge. Anyway, the Oiselle shorts felt weird when I first started running. The waistband is a lot lower than anything I’ve ever worn before, and the cut of the shorts gives them a different feel overall. But I got used to the feel and didn’t have any issues with them riding up. These shorts don’t have as many color options, but they do have two zipper pockets and one internal key pocket. Sweet!

Overall, both shorts passed my initial test. It definitely takes more than 1.5 miles to figure out whether or not there will be chaffing issues, though. So it will take a few more runs to figure out if this will be a long-term relationship or not.

——————————————–
And of course I have to share a few random things with you. First, another baby bird update. They continue to look more and more like birds, although slightly like alligators with beaks (to me, at least). Anyone know what kind of birds these are? They’re not Robins, as the momma bird makes a completely different noise than the other two nests which are Robin nests.

Second, I got hooked reading a bunch of Text From Dog messages last night. These things crack me up. Hope they give you a laugh!

Today was a cross-training day. I did a level three 30 day shred workout. Jillian kicked my butt as usual. Since that’s all I really have to say about that, here’s how our date night went this weekend.

Saturday evening Barry and I made our way over to the fair for our date night.

First we walked around and looked at all of the displays and awards.

Then we headed in to the main event: the bull riding!

I managed to get a picture of the guy who ended up winning. He was the only one of the night who stayed on for 8 seconds.

But my favorite bull was one called “Spin to Win.” Look at him staring down the bull fighter, deciding whether or not to charge. He did end up charging, but the bull fighter got out of the way in time.

The main bull fighter (the “rodeo clowns” who protect the cowboys from the bulls) was quite entertaining. He did a lot of dancing, had at least three wig changes, and a bunch of good jokes. Did you know there are three rings in marriage? There’s the engagement ring, the wedding ring, and THEN the suffer-ring! Hopefully that comes across as well in text as it does when it’s told out loud.

Dancing while dressed as a Hooter’s girl

One really neat aspect they had was a trick rider. I’ve seen trick riders in movies, but never in person. This girl was talented, and she was only fourteen!

Once the rodeo wrapped up we walked around the fair some more. Barry indulged me in playing fair games. First I tried to pop balloons on a wall with three darts ($5), but I missed. Then I decided I wanted to play a game where you try and get a ping pong ball into one of about 25 glass bowls circling around a baby pool full of water ($5). I still didn’t win. So then I decided to play that strongman game, where you swing the mallet and hit the thing and then the puck shoots up towards the bell. You know that game?

So anyway, that cost $3 to play, but I guaranteed beforehand that I would win a prize even if I didn’t hit the bell. The lady ended up letting me swing twice, and I got a bit higher on the second try than the first. Then I won this purple ball! And it bounces! Success!

Kind of an odd picture, but I couldn’t figure out a better way to show you my prize

Funny thing is, if we had started out with this game I wouldn’t have played the other two. But the reason I shared the price to play of each of them is to show you that it adds up to $13. The bull riding was supposed to cost $8/person but somehow we went in a side gate and didn’t pay (I swear it wasn’t on purpose). So even with my need to play overpriced fair games, we still came out ahead!

Have you ever played overpriced fair/amusement park games? Did you ever win?

Do you like amusement-park type rides? Which one is your favorite?
I love roller coasters!
Have you ever seen a trick rider perform?

This is my first go at a weekly training recap, and it feels almost as awkward as a first date… or my first blog post. I guess I’ll just launch right into it and babble the way I did on my first date with Barry (it’s a miracle he asked me out on a second date).

Monday – 3 mile progression run, mile splits: 10:17, 9:48, 9:26

Tuesday – Rest day. I didn’t feel up to cross training, so I opted for a rest day and cooked a favorite new summer dish for dinner instead.

Wednesday – 3 mile run on my new, yet-to-be-named treadmill!

Love at first sight. ❤

Thursday – 10.3 mile bike ride with Barry on the Dora and New River trails.

I don’t know how triathletes get off their bike and head out on the run. My legs always feel like lead when I get off of my bike.

Friday – 3 mile morning run on my new treadmill

A little blurry Duck Dynasty with my morning run.

Saturday – 6 mile long run with Kim on the Dora and New River Trails. It absolutely poured during the second half of the run.

Sunday – Rest day.

This week’s schedule:

Monday – 4 miles
Tuesday – XT
Wednesday – 3 miles
Thursday – Rest
Friday – 4 miles
Saturday- 6 miles
Sunday – 2 miles

This will be the first of 8 weeks at 5 days of running per week. Aside from a few sporadic weeks here and there, I typically don’t run more than 4 days per week. But I’m looking forward to shaking things up!

We have eggs!!

On Wednesday morning I heard the chickens making a bit more noise than usual in the chicken coop. There was some loud “bawk, bawk, BAWK”-ing going on, much different from their usual noises I showed you in last week’s video. I suspected what might have been going on, but didn’t go and check until the afternoon. I found two eggs! One egg was laid on the shelf below the chicken’s roosting poles in the coop:

Sorry about all of the poop…. but it is a chicken coop, after all. The other egg was laid on the floor under the shelf. Can you spot it??

It’s kind of hard to see:

Chickens usually start laying eggs between 18-20 weeks of age, so ours are a little early. We’re not for sure who laid the eggs, but we have our suspicions (which were later confirmed). Agnes and one of the other chickens (one of the three I can’t tell apart) have the largest combs and wattles, so they’re the most likely culprits.

And because one picture of the two chickens with the largest combs wasn’t enough, here’s a “close up” of each:

We moved the eggs to their nesting box to try and give them the right idea. This will help them learn to lay their eggs in the boxes instead of on the floor.

Eggs in the nesting boxes and Agnes checking the empty box out on Wednesday afternoon

It turns out Agnes is the smartest/fastest learner. I checked the coop Thursday morning and found that someone had laid an egg on the shelf below the roosting poles again….

As I was moving the egg to the nesting box, Agnes comes running past me and jumps up into the left box, which was empty. She then proceeded to scratch around a bit and settle herself in:

I wished her well and left her to it:

When I got home from work that evening I checked the box and found that Agnes had indeed laid another egg. That’s two eggs in two days.

The box on the left of the picture has two eggs in it because I put the other egg from Thursday morning in there.

Hopefully all of the other chickens will learn by Agnes’ example. It wouldn’t surprise me, since it looks like they all stood around and watched her on Thursday morning:

Everyone’s watching. No pressure.

Usually you will get one egg per chicken per day. When they first start laying, it may be a bit sporadic, but once they get into a routine we can expect 42 eggs per week. They typically lay in the morning and will usually lay around the same time each day. The eggs should be collected daily to keep them from getting broken or eaten and to keep the chickens from getting broody and trying to hatch them. They can be wiped off with a dry cloth or washed if needed. Then they get stored in the refrigerator, where they will keep up to 8 1/2 weeks.

On Friday I checked the nests in the morning and found two chickens in the nesting box. I left them alone and closed the hatch door. I checked again in the afternoon and there was an egg in each of the nests the chickens had been in that morning. I didn’t find any other eggs in the coop. Looks like we have just two laying so far. Here’s a picture of Friday’s eggs in my hand, so you see their size more clearly:

They’re pretty decent-sized eggs, larger than some I’ve seen offered for sale at the farmer’s market. I was surprised because I had read when they first start laying the eggs may be very small or even have soft shells. Not our chickens!

Since they are now laying eggs, we have started transitioning them over to laying feed. You can get pellets or crumbles, but we went with pellets. The chickens currently eat chick feed crumbles and they have a tendency to spread it out all over the place. Hopefully we will have less waste with the pellets. We are transitioning them by slowly mixing in the laying feed with their current chick feed. The chickens also got a new special treat this week: cracked corn!

They scratch at it with their feet and peck the ground as they eat it. As they were pecking I told Barry “now they look like chickens” and he replied “yea, because they didn’t before.”

This morning I met up with Kim for a long run on the Dora and New River Trails. We haven’t been able to meet up since an 8 mile jaunt on the Huckleberry at the end of June. It was great to catch up! It was raining when I got up, but the rain had stopped by the time we headed out and it was unbelievably cool outside- low 60’s! Then halfway through our run the rain started again and it made up for the first half of our run being rain-free. My hair always turns into a birds nest when I run in the rain.

Not looking forward to trying to get a comb through that… Speaking of birds, I have a baby bird update!

The last time I showed you pictures of the nests in our hanging flower baskets, the baby birds were either just hatching and not very baby bird-looking or they were still in their eggs. They’re a little more bird-like now!

So demanding.

The one below kind of looks like it’s one large baby bird with an afro, but it’s actually one on the left with it’s mouth open and two on the right asleep.

Last night I watched the movie ‘Pitch Perfect’. I loved this movie. Sometimes movies and TV shows like this are kind of hit or miss for me (for example, I do not like the show ‘Glee’). But this movie made me laugh and I enjoyed all the sporadic and non-sporadic singing.

And since this is a running blog, of course I have to include this:

Now I understand all those t-shirts I’ve seen floating around the internet. Finally back in the loop.

Update from the decision I was trying to make yesterday: Barry and I decided to forgo the lawnmower racing in favor of the bull riding. We will be headed to the fair this evening for a bull riding date night! Hopefully it won’t be rainy!

From our last bull riding date night in May

What was your workout today? Who’s off to the races??

Have you seen ‘Pitch Perfect’? What did you think?

If you’re attached what was your last date night? If you’re single what’s the most recent fun thing you did?