I love a great deal.  Who doesn’t?  I stocked up on my favorite pairs of Brooks shoes-Pure Flow 2 and Pure Connect 2.  I found them for $69.93 on Running Warehouse.  These shoes last about 300 miles so each pair should last me about 3-4 months.  I think I will purchase a few more pairs before someone else does.

Speaking of deals I purchased a new suitcase for my traveling trips.  This one was on sale for $65 (original price is $129.99).  I am so excited to use it but my next trip isn’t till January.

Who doesn’t love free race pictures?  I was able to download  all of my pictures from the Manchester City Half Marathon.  Now, I did not like all of them but at least I had the option of selecting the photos I did like.

On the weekends I usually run along the lakefront and love it there.  However, I’m ready for a change of scenery.  Plus, the wind from the lakefront is not so friendly and sometimes discourages me from running there.  So someone mentioned Waterfall Glen Forest Preserve which is about 30 minutes from my house.  I went there today and enjoyed it very much.  It was a beautiful day and there were a few people along the course.  I am planning to go there again tomorrow to run 12 miles.

I am excited and looking forward to December!  I have three more weeks of school and then I am off for two weeks.  I plan to run, rest, eat, drink, and have fun!!

Work is going so much better.  My kids are doing much better too (behavior wise).  Parent/teacher conferences are on Tuesday and it will be a long day for me.  I will be meeting with parents from 11am-3:00pm and then from 4:30pm-6:30pm.  The only bad thing about it is that I only have 10 minutes per student.  Definitely not enough time and in the past we’ve gone over 10 minutes and then that messes up the rest of the schedule.  I think I will have a timer and see how that works.

The end of October means the end of my Brooks PureFlow 2.   According to my cool spreadsheet I’ve ran 256.11 miles in them.  Plus, the walking I’ve done before and after each race/run.  Definitely time for a new pair.  I’ve ran in the Brooks PureConnect  and love them.  I found the PureConnect 2 on sale on Running Warehouse and Zappos.  The ones in the photo are form Zappos but I also bought a blue pair from Running Warehouse.

I am getting nervous about the Goofy Challenge because I have not been training like I should be.  It is my own fault.  I’ve missed workouts and on top of that I’ve been racing half marathons almost every weekend since September.  Well, that latter isn’t too bad because I am supposed to run each weekend but the key word is run and not race.  I just need to remind myself to enjoy the races and have fun.

This past weekend in St. Louis I “won” a Brooks bag.  So cute and comes in handy for school.  Now, I just need to get my hands on a few more.  If you know people at Brooks Running, please ask them to send me a few more to me.  Thank you.

In a few weeks I will be at the Rock ‘n’ Roll Las Vegas Half Marathon.  The day I am planning to leave is also the same day as the Girls on the Run 5K.  Due to some weird logistics with the race I don’t know the exact time my girls will be running.  I am not planning to run because I have a 2pm flight to Las Vegas.  I’ve sent an email twice to the folks at RnR asking to pick up my race packet on Sunday and they responded that in order to do so I need to pay $40 and it is on a first come, first serve basis. Ridiculous!  $40 for what?!?!?  I am so glad that will be my last RnR race because I refuse to pay for any of their races.

Next race is the Manchester City Half Marathon in NH.  Wish me luck!

I have four races in October.  All except one are RnR races.  I am running in CT again because two years ago I ran the full marathon but this time I am going for the half.  I get to see my friend, JB, again.  Yay!!

On Sunday I ran in Providence and had a good time.  The course took us through some shaded areas and there were many supporters.  It was hilly but I did not mind them too much.  And the weather was just great.  I will have a race review this week.

As of Sunday I’ve ran 178.72 miles in my Brooks PureFlow 2.  They’re great shoes but now am thinking of trying a different pair (maybe Nike?).  Any suggestions?  During the race on Sunday, my knees were not happy.  I am not sure if it’s because of the shoes or because the course was hilly.  I’ll see how they feel during my runs this week.

Last weekend I finally reached A-List status from Southwest by completing 25 qualifying one-way flights.  Ha, I knew all of those flights for my races would come in handy.  I get benefits such as priority boarding, more points per flight, and priority check-in and security lane access.  What I really, really want is free Wi-Fi on the plane.  I am not cheap but I don’t want to pay $8 for each flight for the Internet.

September was a busy month but I am definitely looking forward to October!