Hi, hello, hey there!

WOW!  How am I suddenly getting so many views?  I barely write anymore, so feel free to look at years past for training and running blogs where I broke down mileage, training days, and races.  These days I am doing equal parts lifting as running, and I'm down to one red aussie, but I still call it running with reds.  I tend to do more live videos on my Facebook page Running with Reds.  These days I find it easier to just talk through things than write.  Since I have so many new people joining me, I thought I would re-introduce myself before sharing some pictures of my week.  

My name is Michelle and my family and I live in a cute little oz themed town in Kansas.  I moved here from Tennessee in 1999 to go to grad school and other than a brief stint in Colorado, I've lived in the Flint Hills ever since then.  I don't imagine we will ever move, but if I could pick, I would move back to Colorado or even Canada or England.  I loved my time working in both countries and when I retire, would love to move to England permanently.  I am a scientist by trade, right now working in cattle nutrition/rumen microbiology/animal science.  My master's degree is in food safety/food science, but I have dabbled in molecular genetics, cancer research, entomology, and algae research the last few years.  My hubby owns his own business which can be very stressful at times.  I am glad I got to work for him for a few years when our grant ran out at KSU, as I got to watch my kiddo grow up without the stress of an exact 9-5, and to be able to coach girls on the run and track club since my working hours weren't so strict (yes, working all night post coaching happened sometimes).  I miss coaching SO much and would love to get involved somehow with some sort of sports coaching, as it truly is one of my passions.  I have a son who is very involved in fine arts including band and choir and is extremely artistic, while also racing race cars, go figure.    He has played a variety of sports for years but is taking a break from all things athletic to concentrate on his music/art and the dirt track.  Over the years I have had horses, dogs, shown dogs in dog agility, and have ultimately become an ultra-runner.  I have run from as little as one mile up to 50 miles and have loved mostly every minute.  I run with one or both of my current dogs and have run with a dog going on 15 years now starting with Miller and Harley and then my bestest girl Stella, and now with Boom and Ollie.  Stella and Boom have both run multiple 50k races and Stella a 50 miler with me and Ollie is just starting out her distance career.  While I haven't been in a serious training cycle in a while, I am dipping a toe back in by entering the Chicago marathon for next year where we both turn 50.  One or more of my running partners is going to run with me and I am keeping my fingers crossed we all get in!

Okay enough about me!  This is how our week went down.  

Andrew had his first band competition.  They eeked by with a superior rating against some awesome bands that practice every day and do big band camps.  We only are allowed 2 practice days a week during school as we are all inclusive.  That means we allow all kids in all sports and activities to join in, but the downside is no afterschool practice.  We only do 2 competitions a year which kind of makes me sad in a way because when I was in band, we were at competitions every weekend for months, but with the lack of practice, that is probably the max his band should do.  They still don't have a full field show on the field yet and have just 3 months in gotten two songs memorized and all the sets memorized for those two songs.  Sigh.  I think they have a ton of talent and did super well for just two days a week, but dang it, they could be SO much better if they were allowed afterschool or weekend practice. I get making it fun and taking the stress off of kids to be perfect and I am not just saying this because my kid is out there, but this is a dang good band with a ton of talent.  

I borrowed a friend's digital camera and while the above photo is not mine, I took 300 photos and they all look like ants to me.  Sigh.  I guess you need a super zoom lens to get good shots like the one above.  Photo credit goes to Kimmy Shaw.  

The latter part of the week was spent seeing an ENT about my very angry thyroid.  It's been about a year since my thyroid decided to blow up the size of an avocado, and some days it really is uncomfortable and I kind of would like to start the process of removal.  The ENT luckily agreed, doing yet another ultrasound to show me that basically the right side of my thyroid is a giant fluid filled cyst that is making my thyroid angry and inoperable with it's job of providing me with TSH.  My surgery is set for November 5th and my mom is coming from Tennessee to take care of me.  Yes, I am almost 50, and I still prefer my mom to come take care of me.  

Three works out with two runs to boot.  The weather is finally cooling off a tiny bit, and I am ready to run again.  Eventually I will go back to two work outs a week lifting and three runs with one run being a long run.  Come on fall, show me all of your glory.

We may have a new tradition of Ziggy's on game nights (when the raiders are away of course), and then a night cap at Manhattan brewing.  We had so much fun just having a date night with the KSU band playing and some good beer.  For those who aren't from around these parts, Manhattan is a pretty small town, and the KSU band is pretty big, so they do band pub crawls on Friday nights of home games.  We like to catch them at one or two of their stops and listen to them play.  Mark my words, some day, this will be my son!

It's great to meet all of y'all and hope y'all stick around!  Have a great week!!!!