Every Friday, three DC area bloggers Mary at Mar On the Run, Cynthia at You Signed Up For What?! and Courtney from Eat Pray Run, DC to host the Friday Five linkup.  Anyone can join with their own Friday Five post (yes, it must be a Friday Five!!)  They encourage you to visit other blogs on the linkup, comment, share and engage!

This week, the theme is Blogs to Love.

This is a tough one.  My morning routine is to open BlogLovin’ on my iPad and to read running blogs.  It is so hard to just pick FIVE but know that even if your blog is not listed here, I still enjoy catching up on your running life.

1. Shut Up and Run.

Beth’s blog always makes me laugh.  She is open and honest and discusses EVERYTHING related to her running. She is also an incredible athlete who completes in Ironman competitions and runs faster than women half her age.  You should definitely subscribe to her blog if you don’t already.

2. My Journey to Fit.

I enjoy Shelly’s candid approach to running and staying fit.  She is also a knitter so I love seeing her latest projects. I can identify as an older runner with her training and desire to have more speed.

3. Taking the Long Way Home

As Wendy says, hers is “a running blog written by someone who doesn’t want to act her age.” I totally get that and can relate.  Her posts are fun and interesting as she always comes up with creative images to illustrate her point.  She has endless energy and is quite fast. I love her devotion to yoga.  She is quite inspiring and I hope her speed and yoga routine rub off on me!

4. We Run Disney

Pam, who is also my age, and her daughter write this blog.  Obviously they love Disney races but they also run other races.  In fact, they even ran in Ireland.  So I follow their racing with envy. Even though, Pam is over 60, she is still running marathons and has even BQed!! Check out read her Boston Marathon report.

5.HoHo Runs

HoHo or Holly is another “oldish” blogger who likes to run as many races as I do. The difference here is that hers are mostly half marathons. I love reading her race reports. Maybe she’ll motivate me to run a full.

This month I’m linking up again with Marcia’s Healthy Slice for Runfessions.

I may have confessed these in previous months but here we go anyway:

1. I planned to go to the gym ONCE a week. I was good the for first 2 weeks and then I fell off the wagon…again.
2. Thanks to being chosen as a SkirtSports ambassador, I have bought more running clothes.

3. I have become a weather wimp.  In the winter, I would go out and run in sub-zero temps.

now when it is 40 degrees, it feels too cold and I run on the treadmill.

4.  I am still in the dumps about my crappy half marathon performance.  It doesn’t help when I keep bumping into people and they ask “How did it go?”   I’ve been saying: crappy, shitty, disappointing, painful, sucky, blisters, achy feet.  Soon, I am just going to say “Fine.”

at least I wasn’t fixing my hair in front of the photographer.

5. I am a solo runner. I don’t mind running by myself.  I can run where and when I want and I like being alone with my thoughts and running at any speed I choose. But somehow, I can’t get motivated to walk by myself.  I used to walk everyday with my co-worker but she seems to have broken up with me.  This week, we started a walking challenge at work and I still find myself sitting at my desk all day. Maybe things will change if spring weather ever arrives.

walking last year during our morning break

Happy Running! Which blogs do you love to read? Anything to confess?

Every Friday, three DC area bloggers Mary at Mar On the Run, Cynthia at You Signed Up For What?! and Courtney from Eat Pray Run, DC to host the Friday Five linkup.  Anyone can join with their own Friday Five post (yes, it must be a Friday Five!!)  They encourage you to visit other blogs on the linkup, comment, share and engage!

This week, the theme is 5 Things in My Day/Day in the Life

Obviously I do more than five but here are the main things I do on a typical Friday:

1. Social Networking on my iPad

I start every day with the Today show, breakfast and reading e-mail, Facebook, Instagram and Bloglovin on my iPad. I get up extra early to fit it in.

2. One Minute Plank

I always (almost always) do my plank on the bathroom floor when I am waiting for my shower to heat up.

2. Work

Not the highlight of my day but it is essential – it pays the bills and pays for my races.  I work in a law school in IT and help staff and faculty with technology.  In other words, I spend a lot of time on the computer.

Yes, I am sitting most of the day. When the weather is nice, I go for a 15 minute walk outside in the morning and often walk at lunch. In the cold weather, I SIT!!

3.  Running

Usually three times a week, I run after work.  If at all possible, I run outside.  This has been a very snowy, icy winter so my most popular route is been around UAlbany campus.  They keep the path that goes around the perimeter pretty clear.

Once the snow melts, I will return to my other running routes in town and the park.

4. Mah Jongg

Every Friday night from 7-11 pm, I play Mah Jongg with a great bunch of women.  If everyone showed, we’d have 12 – 3 tables but usually we have only 8 and during the winter, sometimes it’s only 4.

a mah jongg anniversary dinner – 6 years together

We play, eat, drink and chat… so much fun and “brain” exercise, too.

4.  Reading

I cannot fall asleep at night without reading.  No matter how late, I go to bed, I read.  Sometimes it’s just a few pages and sometimes I read for hours.

So that’s my Friday.

Happy Running! What do you do on a typical day?