Molasses.

I don’t know if it was just me but this week went super slow. Heck, this whole month has gone really slow… snow, cold, snow, cold, repeat.

Especially topical since my work is on weight watchers right now… If I had a $ for every time someone complained about what they “can’t eat”…

Anyways, here’s a random post to get me through to the WEEKEND!

1) I have done yoga twice this week. That’s right, TWICE! Sister started teaching somewhere new and brought me along to try it out. I’d like to say I’m re-addicted but all I can think about are my aching hamstrings and aching triceps. Yikes!

2) I have my February craft project on the horizon this weekend. I’m being a total tree-hugger/pinterest-reader and making reusable paper towels We shall see how this goes, I have not used a sewing machine in about 3 years so it could get interesting and I may do lots of yelling/cursing at said sewing machine.

Don’t they look so cute?

3) Tickets go on sale tomorrow for Boys II Men, 98 degrees and NKOTB. I really want to go to this concert but I don’t know if I am a fan enough to put up with it. Maybe the tickets will sell out super quickly and I won’t have a chance, or be $1,000.

How can you NOT want to see them in concert?

4) Winter Storm “Q” kind of messed up my run this morning. Not amused. Not amused.

5) I finally think I got my sister addicted to weight lifting! I’ve been trying for years and finally Body Pump was enough to get her hooked We both really, really like the at home workout DVD set. Best use of a gift card so far! I actually look forward to doing these DVDs which is a nice change of pace for workouts!

6) I used to love Downton Abbey so, so much. (*cryptic language ahead to avoid spoiling anything) But after this “season” my fondness is quickly running out. How many more people have to leave the show before it’s just over? It’s been a little too dramatic these past few episode… I’m just glad I read the spoilers online beforehand so I wasn’t surprised by any of it. Still so pissed over it though!

 

7) I am looking forward to an incredibly lazy weekend this weekend. I can’t wait!

Anything big on your agenda for the weekend?

Discovery World.

This past weekend I got to check out Discovery World in Milwaukee with Big Brother Big Sisters. It was the first BBBS activity that my Little Brother and I were able to participate in and I think it’s safe to say we both had a really good time!

shiny

making a guitar

totally normal to put a boat in a building, right?

so creepy…

so many fish!

have you ever held a shark egg? didn’t think so!

I’m already excited for future opportunities to visit places I have missed out on visiting in Milwaukee due to my advanced age – lol! And an added bonus is we got a one-year membership so we can come back and check it out again! I am already excited.

Weekend in a Nutshell.

This past weekend was a fun one.  Nothing super exciting happened but it was still much appreciated after a full week back at work (with co-worker drama mixed in – blech)

On Saturday I overachieved at my 2013 goal for January and also did a craft project to add to my organizational project I did last week!  I’m on a roll!  I’d seen this post for a pompom/wood slice project and for some reason was really drawn to it.  And really drawn to the idea of a mindless craft project after an annoying week…

Here’s how mine turned out!

Not quite as good as Ashley’s and $10 over my monthly craft allowance but considering I had to purchase a glue gun that I will ideally be using again, we’ll say that’s close enough.  Side note: I have totally missed the smell of a hot glue gun.  If you’ve never used one, you don’t know what I mean but it brought back many memories of crafting as a kid and projects at church, etc. So random!

Before and After

I also tried my hand at baking some Babycakes cookies this weekend!  I wanted to make Babycakes cookie sandwiches but I struck out on locating Rice Milk Powder… never fear, Amazon Prime is here (but not until later this week).  The cookies were a major bust on the appearance front (except for three), because I failed to realize how much these suckers spread!  I’ve never made vegan cookies that spread anywhere!  Despite their none bakery case appearance, they tasted fan-tas-tic!

One cookie, right?

Almost as pretty as the original, or no…

I got the recipe for these cookies on the Babycakes app so if you want some good vegan and gluten free recipes, check out that app!  It’s really fun, probably my favorite purchased app. (One version was on Oprah too, slightly different than mine but same idea)

I also took my Little Brother bowling this weekend!  Is it weird that my arm is sore from throwing the 11 pound ball?  Ha!  He had such a fun time and so did I.  I’m really loving the Big Brothers, Big Sisters program so far.  It’s letting me remember all these fun things I used to do when I was little  You’re never too old to act like a kid, right?

Got to wear these cuties too!

Now I just need to find a way to get through the next 4 days to get another weekend… I might start a petition for 3 day weekends every weekend.  Is anyone in?

Did you do anything fun this weekend?  Would you rather work 5 8 hour days or 4 10 hours days to get your “40 hour work week” in? 

Can it get worse?

I normally LOVE December, all the Christmas lights, cookies, festivities, etc.  But this month is off to a rotten start.  Why so many weird things happened this week, I know not but I am hoping it’s maybe just clearing it out of it’s system before the New Year!

1) My water heater gave out Wednesday morning.  Luckily I heard it and could turn it off before I had 40ish gallons of water all over my basement.

2) You cannot run your dishwasher or shower when your water heater is out.  Good to know, good to know.  Also, the wash machine does not work either…

3) I’m still not sure what to do about the shotuation.  Return them?  Try to break them in again with bandaids? Go get fitted again?  I hate shopping, hence why I order stuff online but when it’s not consistent… arg!

4) I got matched to be a Big Sister on Wednesday as well (a good thing for the week!).  I’m really excited to meet my Little Brother next week!  I think it’s kind of funny I am matched with a Little Brother though – I guess they knew I already have a little sister so they wanted to broaden my horizons ;)  I’m really looking forward to taking him to sports game, the zoo, the park, sledding, etc., etc.!  All the fun kid stuff I miss doing from when I babysat more

5) I’m planning an 8ish mile run this weekend.  Hopefully it does not snow the whole run but I’ll make it work somehow.  At least 8 miles is doable (although not ideal) on the treadmill!

6) I am totally addicted to making Christmas cookies.  Every year I tell myself I don’t need all that sugar in the house and then as soon as it’s December, I just want all the cookies!  Sister and I baked and frosted our first batch of cut outs this year!  And surprisingly, there are still some left!  That’s saying something  We used this recipe but subbed gluten free bisquick and they turned out better than normal cookies do!  Maybe I’ve just forgotten what “normal” tastes like but these are fantastic!

7) I was “planning” to take December 21st off from work until I realized that might quite possibly (or not) be the last day of the world – now I am most certainly taking that day off of work!  There is no way I am intentionally working when the world might end ;) I can’t imagine a worse scenario than being bombed by fire balls from space with all my nearest and dearest co-workers near by…   Ha!

8) I’m going to make an effort to get my scrapbooks caught up this weekend.  I’m sure it’s wishful thinking but I really want them done by the end of the year!  I’m sure some people would call that a stupid goal but for whatever reason, I feel much better when I know my memories are safe – probably because I know how unsafe they are just sitting in my memory…

9)  I feel like I should give myself a “racing budget” for 2013.  But then I start thinking about how much I would have to allow myself and the number starts to be scary.  Maybe it’s better not to calculate that sort of thing… I soon need to decide Cellcom, or no?, Summerfest, or no?  Erg.

10) 6 miles on the treadmill this morning felt like 600 miles…

11) Old guys on treadmills next to you feel the need to chat with you while you are trying to run and the women in the locker room are really gossip-y… probably more reasons I am not the biggest gym workerouter.

I think that’s enough for this week… anything good happen to you this week?  Please show me there is SOME good left in this world

Marathon Monday: 11/26

A day late, a dollar short – whatever!  This holiday/birthday week went way too fast and I had zero interest in blogging this weekend (or doing my NASM apparently – whoops!) so this will just have to be a day late + – I’m sure you’re really broken inside about this – I know I am

Anyways, here’s a recap of my workouts from the past 7 days + whatever else happened while I was out!

Monday (aka my b-day): I stayed home from work and went to check out a class at the gym in the morning – Interval.  Not exactly a class I will be missing attending regularly, that’s for sure… but later in the afternoon, when sister was done with work, we headed back for another class, TRX!  Love, love, loved this workout!  But I refuse to pay $10/time after we use up our joining gift certificates.  Sad.  Also kind of worried this gym is going to be a big fat bust on the classes.  So far, not so good…

Tuesday: Back at work, yuck but I managed to run 3 miles before work!  I don’t think I did anything else in the after work hours but I cannot recall…

Wednesday: Yoga DVD + 15 minute Core + 15 min Arms DVDs.  Yoga was either this day or Tuesday I guess.  #memoryfailure

Thursday: Turkey Day!!!  My favorite holiday!  I cooked dinner/lunch at my house and my parents, grandparents and sis were there to enjoy the food.  I always fail to time turkey cooking correctly though… Wanted to eat at 5pm but the turkey was done by 3:30pm.  I always end up with turkeys cooked way before the normal Xmins/lb says it should be done.  But regardless, it was all really delicious and I ate way too much!

TURKEY!

Man, I want there to still be leftovers in the fridge…

For workout it was a big fat rest day + being on my feet for 5ish hours cooking – ha!

Friday: Sister and I tackled her first ever 20 mile run!  It was terribly windy on Friday and also quite cold.  We didn’t really feel the full effects of the weather on the first 13ish miles but by the time we finished that first portion, we were both so cold + so windblown.  We refilled water bottles and tried to chug along for the final 6.35 miles but those 6+ miles felt like they might as well have been the full 20!  And then to top it all off, my hip started hurt, hurting around mile 17 and I tried to make it go away up to mile 18 but to no avail… so we walked the next 1.5, stopped home for a little pup and walked it to the finish around his “block”.  Hopefully we will get in another 20 miler closer to Christmas because this one was anything but confidence boosting for me!  Plus I want sister to run it home next time  After the run, we parked our butts in bed and watched a Twilight Marathon – ha!

Nap time.

Saturday: I was planning to go to the gym but guess what?  Didn’t happen!  So instead I did the Strength DVD from Insanity Asylum.  Totally love this DVD from the crazier Insanity!  The others have a lot of jumping but someday I want to go through the whole program and actually eat healthy along the way too to see what it can do for me!  Maybe come February…or when I’m 40.

Sunday: Made it to the gym!  And did a 40ish minute weight circuit I made up (must practice chin ups…) and then went to a yoga class at the gym.  After working out, the family attempted to get a Christmas tree for my house and the parents.  It turned into quite the ruckus when we 1) got locked out of the house and 2) had to drive to THREE tree farms to try to find something >4′ tall + <$70.  But somehow we managed… after walking, and walking and walking some more!

All said and done, I ran 23 miles and made it to the gym 3 times so I met all my goals!  I also squeezed yoga in twice so that’s a good thing for me!

For the next week, I am planning 20 miles of running + 3 gym trips again.  Also yoga > 1 time

Peace out, Homies.

Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving holiday if you are in the US!  Any good workouts from the past week?

T-6 Days.

I LOVE Thanksgiving.  Like an unhealthy amount.  All my favorite foods, dessert everywhere I turn and wine.  I would say this might be my favorite day of the whole entire year and this year is no exception!  My birthday is actually on Monday so I have that and then three days later, Thanksgiving!  It’s like the best birthday present ever  But since it’s still 6 days away, I will distract myself from the thoughts of food and sugar with a random Friday post!

1) Yesterday I managed to snag two iPad smart covers + a plastic back cover for $40!  Aka half price!  I’ve been super classy since I got my iPad and use random blankets and bowls to prop my iPad up when I am watching it. But finally I am moving up in the world and will have an iPad stand!  And also my sister will be the recipient of the second since I couldn’t leave her out of the deals!

2) I officially joined a Gym on Saturday and have been there a whopping… 1 time.  Um, oops.  This is why I was hesitant to join.  I am hoping I can turn this around after this weekend!

3) Speaking of this weekend!  The Girls on the Rn 5k is Sunday!  How has it been 10 weeks already?  I swear we just started the season and it’s already over.  I am kind of looking forward to having my Tuesday and Thursday evenings back (for gym time) but I am going to miss the girls…

4) Pinterest is that thing that I never knew I needed to plan my Thanksgiving menu.  How convenient is it to find a recipe and just PIN IT ON A THANKSGIVING BOARD?!?!  Genius!!  No more finding recipes and then forgetting about them.  And no more pinning things with no intention of baking/cooking what you pin.  Finally Pinterest is making sense to me

5) I have become addicted to So Delicious Coconut Coffee Creamer.  No, there are not 32 servings in a small container, that is clearly a misprint – ha!  It makes French toast taste amazing also!

6) I also NEED to renew my driver’s license!!  Like NOW!  But I lost my renewal slip… hopefully I can still renew without it.  I’m a moron.  Maybe I will attempt this at lunch today.  It only expires Monday… #procrasinator And I will finally look slightly older than 12 years old on my license (hopefully…)

7) It’s officially cold outside and that makes me kind of sad  I love fall while we have pretty leaves and cool temps but once it makes that shift to cold + dead, yuck.

8) This weekend I will start Christmas shopping… I am not that fond of shopping and I swear every year to plan ahead and order stuff online.  I think I still will try to for family but for the giving tree thing we do at work, I’ll have to settle for braving the madness.

9) Never leave valuables in your car.  Sister’s was broken into on Monday and now we are both paranoid x10 about everything… I really hate that feeling.

10) No long run planned this weekend and that makes me way too happy.

That’s all I got today.  Happy Friday!

Indianapolis: Day 2

Today was an exhausting day… but fun!  I had another laid back morning, eating breakfast in the hotel and also doing a little Jillian Ripped in 30 (in the hotel room – lol).  I decided to attempt the 3rd week on the DVD and man, it was a butt-kicker.  My legs felt dead which was not my intention at all when doing the DVD because I was supposed to have my bike ride this afternoon that I needed my legs for… I swear the other weeks I’ve tried are more tiring to your upper body…

Crunchy Flax Cereal + banana + banana bread + almond butter

I had to shoo the housekeeping staff away mid DVD so when I was done, I decided to let them get in the room and go for a little walk.  I didn’t end up walking too far but ended up just chilling in the park for a few minutes.  By the time I got back, they were done with the room though so it worked!  I showered quick and ate lunch and then wandered towards my afternoon biking tour starting point.  I left quite early but it ended up working out fine and I think we got to leave early since I ended up being the only tour-ey.

Lunch – Lettuce + turkey + almonds + sweet potato chips + Mary’s Gone Crackers Pretzels + applesauce (actually consumed this part today!)

DESSERT!

I found Active Indy kind of randomly by just looking on the Indy tourism site but it ended up being a very good find!  They offer bike, walking and running tours all around Indianapolis.  I chose to do the Automobile Heritage tour because I wanted the chance to get to the Indy Speedway Museum without having to drive there.  I suppose driving would have been a lot less work but it was pretty cool to bike this tour instead.

Time to bike!

We started out in Downtown Indy and took a tour of their awesome urban trail system.  I am seriously so jealous of this path system!  It’s so nice to be able to walk and bike downtown without the fear of traffic (which for me is very intense…).  Our first stop was the Stutz building which used to be a car manufacturing plant.  Now it’s being repurposed as a rental space for small manufacturers, artists, etc.  The building is really massive, a whole city block + four floors.

Some of the oldies.

After that is was a longer trip on the bike path and then we got to Marian University which happened to have acquired the mansions of the 4 men who founded the Motor Speedway. Their houses were incredibly ornate… don’t think I will be taking any decorating advice from these fellas…

Top left – outside of the Wheeler Mansion; top right – inside the Allison Mansion, a creepy large aviary room; bottom left, Wheeler mansion walkway to what used to be a heated 7 car garage; bottom right – inside Allison mansion

A few miles of biking later, we came upon the back side of the Speedway and biked up one of the straightaways.  It apparently took us about 4ish minutes to do that small .6ish of a mile portion of the track when the race cars can do the full 2.5 mile loop in about 40 or so seconds.   And here I though bikes were as fast as race cars Kidding!

 

Then it was a brief walk through the Motor Speedway Museum.  They have many of the winning cars from all years since it first began in 1911.  One thing I found kind of funny is that the first year’s winner averaged about 75ish mph and now that speed limit can be found on regular highways (or close to it!).  Now if only we could figure out how to get rid of traffic, I would say we are really making technological progress  We also watched a short video on the history of the area which was kind of a summary of what I’d been learning all day.

1911 winner + 2011 winner; row of cars

After that it was a quick trip back to the starting point to drop off the bike.  This tour was really an awesome way to see the city and I would highly recommend it if you are ever in Indianapolis.  I am trying to figure out how to possibly fit in their running tour in my week!

By the time I got back to the hotel, I was tired + hungry.  I had a bowl of cereal to tide me over until Sister got back which ended up being a really good thing because Sister and I wasted way too much time trying to figure out what to do for dinner so we didn’t have time to eat before she had to leave again which put me on my own for dinner again.

Snack time! Chocolate Chex + almond butter <3

Dining alone is annoying, dining alone + dealing with food allergies when you are trying to eat it is so depressing and overwhelming.  Sometimes the thought of not eating sounds much more appealing…

I did end up finally coming up with a good option!  Weber Grill Restaurant!  I got carry out and they had a gluten free menu which is awesome!  I am pretty sure they take food allergies pretty seriously at this location because the manager type worker ended up bringing me my food and assured me it was gluten free.  It’s also so nice to get that kind of respect when you know all it takes is someone at a restaurant picking croutons off your salad to make for a very sick couple of days…

So good! Chicken Chop Salad + Whipped Sweet Potatoes with Bourbon Maple Butter

After that, it was just chilling in the hotel room because I am incredibly exhausted and a little headachey likely from dehydration + lots of sun today.  Not sure what I will do tomorrow but I am thinking it’s going to be a little more low key than today!

Total steps for the day = 14,500 + 20(+/-) miles on a bike!

 

 

Horrible Series Ending + an Experiment.

Total random post alert!  And has nothing to do with running… you are warned

For as long as I can remember, I’ve needed to watch TV while I am getting ready in the morning.  For whatever reason, silence at that time of the day just puts me back to sleep.  I used to have a TV in my room which made this easy but since living in my current house, I have been sans bedroom TV because there are no jacks in there and I just don’t have another TV.  So to occupy my time in the morning, I have been watching trough seasons of all my favorite TV shows on hulu and Netflix. I’d pretty much exhausted the Netflix options so I cancelled my service with them after 9ish years!  (They’ve definitely gone downhill since the good ole days)  BUT, I have been really getting into some of the options on hulu!

My last series I watched through was one of my old favorites, The Pretender!  I never watched this show when it was on TV for real but I did watch through many episode on TNT when we first got cable in like 2001.  I don’t know what it is about this show but I really think it’s one of my all-time favorites  But anyways, I could not for the life of me remember how the series ended so I had to go back and watch them all again, of course!  I finished the series this week and well… I don’t remember how it ended because it was the worst ending EVER!  It just left you hanging in total suspense and it made me so mad.  Thank goodness for google though because I quickly entered “the pretender ending” and found there are two movies that they made post-cancellation!  I have obviously ordered these and will be watching them as soon as they come although it sounds like not all the answers are reveled in these movies. grrrrrr!  But whatever, worst series ending EVER.

Oh, Jerod

Now I am on to watching Angel.  I’ve never watched this series but thanks to hulu, that will be changing  I’m pretty sure this makes me a huge nerd and that’s just fine.

On a totally unrelated topic, I am currently trying a new “diet” experiment.  I’ve had a stomachache pretty much every single day for the last 5+ years and am bound and determined to find something that will help!  I’ve been to the doctor and nothing is really, really wrong but it’s just annoying more than anything.  So the experiment is to try something called the Blood Type Diet.  I’ve heard about this diet before but never really put much faith into it until one of my sister’s co-workers had really good results using it so I figured it’s not going to hurt to try it.  It’s not limiting your food by any means, just avoiding certain foods that are supposed to be “poison” for your blood type and add more foods that work as “medicine.”  Seems kind of out there but clearly something is not working for me currently…

Since I am O+, that means avoiding coconut, peanut butter, dairy, wheat,  corn, avocados and other things as well and eating more kale, spinach, red meat, kelp and sweet potatoes.  I already avoid wheat because I know that’s an issue for me but dairy will be missed – very, very much  I’m planning to give this a full two weeks of being pretty diligent about it but then you are supposed to only need to obey the rules 80% of the time so that seems pretty doable (so I will get to eat fro-yo and ice cream occasionally!!! – hopefully) so we shall see.  I am not too convinced this will do anything but I figure it can’t hurt to try.

I started on Monday and so far I am 2/3 for not feeling like crap so maybe it’s on to something… or it’s just luring me into a false sense of security, one of the two.  Yesterday was not a great day but the first two this week, I felt better than I can recall feeling recently…   Another good thing, finding new to me food that I really like!  Two main ones being figs and okra  They both sound weird but I was surprised by how good both are!  In fact, baked okra nuggets might just be my new favorite food. (Ketchup is technically outlawed but let’s be honest, ketchup is worth being a little bit sick for )

As you can see, the meals don’t look weird at all and actually look pretty good!

Can you spy someone’s birthday dinner??

If it goes well/fails miserably, I’ll try to post an update in case you are curious or have ever thought about trying it!

Questions:  What is/was your favorite TV show?  It would be really hard for me to pick just one…

Have you ever tried a random diet?  Are they all just a bunch of fluff or do some actually do what they promise?  I’ve tried Paleo, South Beach and low fat diets and all have just made my stomach feel worse.  Although South Beach did really help me feel better for awhile but zero carbs + running = disastrous bonks all around!

Friday Fun.

I have had so many issues this week I am just glad I made it to Friday!  In lieu of making my brain work to come up with a list of what’s all been going on, I am going to borrow my blogging buddy Allison’s survey she posted yesterday!  (Hope that’s OK, Allison?! )

This or That: Health and Fitness

1) Run/workout in the heat and humidity or freezing temps and snow? - Freezing temps for sure, no question.  I have run in snow storms, freezing temps, with snow all over the ground and always finish those runs.  The ones in the summer when I get hot, almost always end on a sour note…  Although to be fair, I almost always run in the morning before the heat really is an issue so I still say summer is my favorite season to run in!

Soooo cold!

2) Have washboard abs or flat abs? - Like this is even a choice I have in real life… ha!  But I might as well say washboard since it’s never going to happen either way!

3) Dr. Oz or The Doctors? - I do really think one of the Doctor’s is cute but I’ve actually never seen the show so I have to say Dr. Oz rates here.  Plus he worked out with Shaun T!

4) Cardio or Strength? - This is probably sacrilegious to say on a running blog but I love strength so much more!  If I could only do one exercise the rest of my life, I would much prefer Strength!

5) Cravings:  protein or carbs? - This really depends on the day but 90% of the time it’s probably carbs.  When I have too many carbs I really do crave meat, steak especially so I don’t think I would be happy only eating one or the other for the rest of my life!

6) Jillian Michaels or Bob Harper? - Bob, Bob, Bob, Bob!  I always liked him better on Biggest Loser and I like his workout DVDs better than Jillian’s (but I do really like hers too!).  So I will forever be on Team Bob!

7) Frozen Yogurt or Ice Cream? - Ummm, hard one.  Like choosing between Birthday and Christmas for your favorite “holiday”… I think I have to say Frozen Yogurt.  I remember being probably 8-9ish years old and being obsessed with TCBY and their parfaits!  Tragically the location I always went to closed shortly after that but I recently found out there is one just a few miles from my house!!  Whoop!

Tired of this picture yet?

8) To train:  upper body or lower body? - UPPER BODY!  I hate, hate, hate lunges and only semi tolerate squats.  Feeling the burn in my biceps/chest/tris makes me very happy

9) Protein powder or food with protein? - Protein powder makes me gag.  I’ve likely just never found one I like but ick.  Real food all the way.  Unless I develop a keen love of chalk, I doubt this will ever change.

10) Lunges or squats? - See No. 8 for the answer of neither.  But if I have to pick one… squats.

11) Sweet or salty? - Normally sweet.  Ok, maybe always sweet

12) Workout attire:  cute or comfy? - I would like to be able to say “cute” but in all reality, I can’t really say either.  Workout clothes always fit me stupid so they aren’t often what I would classify as “comfy” and they sure as heck are not cute!  I am lucky if I am not 100% embarrassing most days!  I’ve been known to wear some special combos when out and about… like really special.

13) Body Pump or heavy lifting? - Ehhh, another neither?!  I used to love Body Pump but it got old and I really never liked “heavy” lifting.  I like lifting slightly lighter weights for more reps so whatever that means for an answer, I am not sure

14) Yoga or Pilates? - Sister, shut your ears/eyes but Pilates!  I’ve never gotten along well with Yoga but I am quite fond of Pilates!  Now I just need to find a new DVD or a place to take classes so I can see all the benefits it can offer!

15) Nike or Adidas? - NIKE!  I have always been a big Nike freak, shoes, clothes, Nike+ workout equipment, etc., etc.  And my recent return to them for shoes has been going well so that makes me even more of an advocate  I just don’t think I ever liked those Adidas stripes… they looked too intense.

New Nikes

16) Running on the treadmill or outdoors? - I really am not fond of the treadmill but I think I would benefit from doing more speed related workouts on this machine so I can start working on getting faster without going all crazy outside.  Slow and steady!  But outdoors is for sure my preference here!

17) Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s? - Hard choice again… I would give it to Trader Joe’s if it were not for the Whole Foods salad bar.  That just really trumps TJ’s in so many ways!  I just really wish there was not a $50 cover charge at whole foods… At least TJ’s is cheap!

18) Summer or Winter Olympics? - This used to be Winter but in the last 2 Olympics, I have really become a Summer convert.  I just love watching the running, swimming, cycling, mountain biking, BMX (not even joking), track & field, gymnastics!  So many interesting things to watch! (Plenty of weird ones too, though…)

19) Exercise classes or exercise videos? - Exercise videos.  I hate working out in front of/around people.  I feel so much better at my own house.  Probably also because when working out at a gym I feel like a giant towering over everyone else in the classes… why do I always feel so TALL at the gym! #tallgirlproblems

20) Steamed veggies or roasted veggies? - Ehhh, roasted, I guess.  I’d rather not eat veggies.  Does that make me a bad person?!  But normally roasted = dipped in ketchup for then I am a fan!

I love little survey’s like this – it’s always fun to see other’s responses as well so… what are some of your preferences in the list above?!

Have a great weekend!

Race Flashback: Sarah Adam’s Memorial 5k

Saturday I ran my first 5k that was at my pace and in an actual race setting.  I’ve run this distance many times previously, obviously, but this was the first time in a race.  I had little to no hope for finishing with a decent time since I’ve been taking a completely no pressure on running approach for the last few weeks and ran zero miles the 5 weeks before that!  My only hope was to finish faster than 35 minutes which was the time it took Sister and me to complete one a few years back when she had just started running and was completely overdressed so I knew we could have even gone faster that day given better clothes.

Well, I guess you can say I did a little better this time around… I ended up finishing in 26:17! Say, what!!? I really don’t know how I managed to run this fast but let’s back up a little and I will give a little recap of the race.

This race was started by the parents of a young girl who was killed in a car accident in 2008.  She had loved running and was a part of her school’s cross-country team so her parents decided to start this race to help raise scholarship money to be awarded in her memory.  It was held at Kiel High School in a little town a few minutes away from my parent’s house and was only $20 to register so I didn’t really except any fancy anything for the race but they ended up having an actual chip timed event because a timing company donated their time and equipment – how cool is that?

The race was scheduled to start at 8 am and to be honest, when I signed up I was sure it was going to be blazing hot by that time on a mid-August morning but in reality, it was chilly!  Probably about 60ish when we got to the school!  So weather was not a factor at all this morning!  I did run for a couple of minutes to warm up a little while we were waiting for the race to start because it was so chilly feeling though!  My mom and dad also came along to walk the 5k and set a new PR for them – 48mins!  Whoop!

Before we got started running, the dad and organizer of the race said a few words about his daughter and the race.  He also introduced everyone to his new grandbaby… a little girl named Sarah.  She was about 7 months old and walked the race in her stroller.  How cool was that! Then we said a group prayer as her father is also a pastor and then…

At 8:00am, we were off!  I tried to be sort of near the front but not so near I got ran over!  I also had decided going in that I would just run as fast as I could without causing pain anywhere and really not be concerned at all with being evenly “paced.”  I knew that would result in me being too fast or too slow the whole race so instead I just did whatever!

The first mile went by REALLY fast and I was shocked to pass the time caller and hear… 7:44!  WHAT?!  I am pretty sure that is the fastest mile I have ever run, even when doing speed work miles! I guessed I would slow down considerably at some point but figured I didn’t hurt yet so I wasn’t going too fast and hurting myself or anything at that point?!

After the 1 mile marker, you ran a little ways further and then did a turn around and headed towards the Cross Country track.  Mile 1-2 was still run on pavement and imagine my surprise when I went past mile 2 marker and head… 15:30!  Another 7:45ish mile!

Right after mile 2, we transitioned to the Cross Country track and that’s when I slowed down almost immediately.  I am not used to running on the grass and was afraid of slipping because it was wet and I was getting tired.  I’m really glad the first 2 miles where on pavement though and I just pushed it while I could because grass made me really slow down at that point and I ended up finishing in 26:17 for a 8:28 average pace.  I am stupid and can’t quite figure that math out for what the last 1.1 mile was paced at but… I think about 9:15 pace for mile 2-3.1?  I really don’t know!

Little Sarah finishing with Grandpa!

I really was shocked to see that time when I came across the finish line! I guess sometimes it pays to not hold yourself back on every run!  I know I can’t run fast every time I run but when the weather cooperates and I am feeling good, might as well give it a shot!

I sat around and stretched for a few minutes while I waited for the parents to cross the finish line and then we took a few finish photos and headed back home.  I actually ended up finishing 6/18 in my age group which further surprised me!  And 67/141 (not including all the walkers as they were not chip timed) so a wee bit higher than “normal” for me anyways.  I had so much fun running this race and would really like to come back next year and try to see what I could do with training for it!  I’m feeling compelled to just do a bunch of shorter races next year in lieu of long races to work on my speed so I will definitely keep this in mind!

All in all, it was a really fun morning.  I was a little sore the days after though!  All that fast running and being on grass gave my legs a little workout –

I’ll be back tomorrow with more race related recaps but this time not me running them!