getting closer

This past weekend, Mike and I spent the weekend at a friend's lake house with a group of friends. The weather was on the cooler side, but gorgeous. On Saturday, we took the boat out for lunch and then went to Goat Island. We got out and were able to walk around on the island to see the goats. They were adorable and let us pet them.

He reminds me of Franklin

We spent the rest of Saturday afternoon, sitting on the dock and playing corn hole on the porch. The sky was absolutely gorgeous.

We had a frozen lasagna for dinner (standard) and sang happy birthday to a dear friend. It was a really great weekend.

When we returned home on Sunday, Mike and I immediately headed back out the door. We both had to get our long runs in and we knew if we sat down, it wasn't going to happen. We headed back to Shelley Lake, where there are plenty of miles of trails and a wonderful place to run.

I needed 9 miles this week and Mike needed 12. The run started out great and for fuel, we decided to use gummy bears. Every 2 miles, we rewarded ourselves with 2 gummy bears. I have to say, knowing you get gummy bears makes 2 miles fly by!

All the way until mile 6 or 7, I felt awesome. Somewhere around that time, my knee pain returned. whomp, whomp, whooooommmmpppp.... just before I started to cry, I stopped to give my knee a good stretch. My running slowed to around 10/11 minutes per mile and I considered just walking back. But then, I started running normally again. by the time my phone died at 7.8 miles, I didn't even feel the knee pain anymore. I finished out 9 miles in 1 hour and 30 minutes. This whole knee issue makes zero sense to me. The only thing I can figure is that maybe my new shoes have gotten my stride off again?

My phone turned off at 7.8 miles, but Mike's kept calculating. Right at 9 miles he told me we were at 1:30 and he continued on to do 12.

At mile 3, someone (coughmikecough) got us lost on the trail after I told him he was taking us the wrong way which made us go up a SUPER steep hill. The hill was probably almost a quarter of a mile long, so I lost a lot of my time then. Mile 7 was when my knee was really killing me, but I am just happy I was able to get 9 miles in.

I know I will feel even better at 10, 11, and 12 miles, but since I have never run more than 8 miles before, hitting 9 was a huge deal to me. I am finally starting to feel like this half marathon might really happen. I hope my knee pain was just a fluke this week, but I did some serious icing last night on the couch and am thinking about getting some type of compression brace to wear. I am hoping that will help.

I slept pretty horrible last night because my legs were really sore. I hope I can get a better night's rest tonight and I plan on making sure I get my long run done on Saturday next week to allow for an extra rest day. Today, I was in need of some chocolate to keep myself awake...

btw... if you have never had this chocolate before, it is AMAZING! I mean, it has a texture and flavor like no other.

Mexico, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island... in that order.

I'm back! I won't be doing a full re-cap on my trip because it was very involved and would seriously take me 8 posts to cover it all. Instead, I will give you just a little snippet as to what I have been up to for the last week and a half. First half of the trip - Mexico, for a close friend's wedding.

While I was in Mexico, I only needed to get in 5 miles on Saturday and then a 3 mile run on Tuesday. Since there was really no where to run, unless I did so on the beach or left the resort (a big scary no for me), we did a bunch of kilometers on the treadmill. Their treadmills are set up way differently than ours are, because I had no idea how far I actually ran. I pretty much just ran for 45 minutes or so at a speed of 10 (clearly not the same) and figured it was about 4 -5 miles. I ended up skipping my Tuesday run since that was the day we left Mexico and we had 12 hours of travel time ahead of us. I needed all the sleep I could get.

Wednesday we woke up in Boston and headed out for a 3 mile run around a nearby park. We really had no idea where we were going, so we ended up just going round and round and then through and around the park over and over. We just ran until we got to 3 miles and called it quits. The route looks quite funny on the Nike app.

I spent the entire rest of Wednesday exploring Boston, so I wish I had gone running after that. We could have gone on a much more fun run around the city than what we did, but we enjoyed ourselves anyway.

Thursday was another really busy day. After doing some touristy Boston things with my sister in laws, we literally had 20 minutes to get to our hotel, grab our bags, and be on a train towards Providence. I thought I would have time later in the day to go for a run, but it just didn't happen. As soon as we got off the train we were in full wedding planning mode for my sister in law and spending some quality time with family.

On Friday morning, Mike and I woke up with a plan to run 6 miles around his cousin's house. She lives near a park along the water in Rhode Island, so we headed out by 8 am to begin our run. The run started out great on pretty flat land and then we hit the park. For some reason, my knee started bothering me around mile 2 and just wouldn't let up. I had to stop 3 or more times to stretch it out but each time I began running again, it felt awful. I could tell it was very swollen and it hurt the most to stretch it out or bend it completely. With each step I winced in pain. Finally, at 4 miles, Mike made me stop. He told me I was going to end up injuring myself worse, and though he was probably right, I didn't want to listen. I was feeling great and felt like my energy was really high for a 6 mile run. We walked the remaining 2 miles back to his cousin's house.

I was really worried about my knee. I still am a little worried that it is going to interfere with my training. After we ran, I alternated ice on and off for the next few hours which really helped with the pain. I was able to wear heels the next 2 nights without any issues and now my knee feels completely normal. Granted, I haven't ran since that day, so we will see how it goes when I am back at it tomorrow.

We had every intention of running this morning but to be perfectly honest, we are exhausted. We got back into town at 10 pm on Sunday night after a very busy few days with Mike's family and then both of us headed in to work on Monday morning. Right after work last night, we met my mom and her boyfriend half way between our houses to get our dogs and didn't get home until almost 10 pm again, getting us to bed much later than we wanted. There are suitcases and laundry piles all over our bedroom and it took us almost 30 minutes to pack up our gym bags this morning before finally realizing that even if we left at that second, we wouldn't be able to squeeze in a 3 mile run. Instead, Mike jumped in the shower while I cuddled up for 30 more minutes with the pups. I think we are all feeling a very early bedtime tonight. Right after we get some laundry started.

 
My plan is to get my 3 short runs in tomorrow, Thursday and Friday, rest on Saturday, and then get my long (7 mile) run in on Sunday. Then next week I am going to try to get back on my normal Tues, Wed, Thurs, Sat schedule. After talking with a few people about what my knee is feeling like, I think I just have to treat the symptoms by icing after runs and doing some really good stretches before and after each run. Luckily, I can ice my knee at work after my weekday runs, I just worry about allowing myself the icing time on the weekends. I tend to go, go, go on the weekends, but hopefully I can get in some good rest and relaxation for the remaining weeks of my training.

Have a great day! 

200 miles, W2D2 and W2D3

I forgot to post yesterday's run! You guys are supposed to call me out when I don't post a run. Thanks a lot... :)


Yesterday, I was able to get outside for my run, which was pretty great. I actually felt really good and tried to pace myself the entire run. I still ended up going faster in the last mile, but overall, the run felt pretty steady and smooth.

W2D2:

If there was ever a day when I could have totally skipped my run and stayed in bed, it would have been today. It took everything I had to get out of bed this morning, so I forgive myself for a pretty brutal start. Eventually, I got in my groove and although it wasn't very fast, it ended up being an okay run. I just kept reminding myself that my next run will be in Mexico, which made me really, really excited.

W2D3:

I also busted open a blister on the back of my foot this morning, which made my last mile a little more difficult. Each time I stretched out my foot I could feel my sock rub the open blister which made me cringe. I now have several beautiful blisters on my feet, along with horrific calluses that just add to the ugliness that are feet. I guess it comes with the territory, so I just have to deal.

In some other fun news... I have hit the 200 mile mark on my Nike+ app! In less than 3 months, I have added another 100 miles to my log, which is pretty freaking impressive, if you ask me. :)

I think it is time for some new running shoes now.

I will be signing off until next week when I return to the good old U.S. of A! I will be posting my runs from my phone when I can or when I get back to the states.

Have a great week!

farm hangover

A little warning, this post will have nothing to do with healthy living... I am seriously in a fog right now from eating, drinking, and being merry. I am still recovering from a truly wonderful weekend at a farm and bed and breakfast in the middle of nowhere, Virginia, so get ready for photo overload. This place was absolutely breathtaking...

 

 

 

 

 

That cow, her name is Butterscotch (named by me), and she wanted to come home with me. :) Darn CRV wouldn't fit her though...

Mike and I did get 1 run in while we were there, a hilly and tough 3 mile run, but a run none the less. I stopped to take pictures quite a bit, so I really wouldn't even call it a work out.

I have a slight obsession with cows... those who have known me my whole life will remember it.

Yup, there I am, in my bridesmaid's dress, trying to get close enough to a baby calf to take a picture with it. Those suckers are fast though... and the mama didn't really like me chasing after her babe and made it known by mooing like crazy at me.

It was the best weekend ever... good food, good friends, and good times.

Oh yeah, and Mike was there. He had a lot of fun too.

Now, it's back to reality... and HALF MARATHON TRAINING!!! That shizz starts tomorrow! EEK!

easy guacamole

We are still sort of recovering from a relaxing weekend at the lake. A friend invited us to his family's house at Lake Gaston, so we headed there as soon as we got off last Friday night. Though it was super relaxing and tons of fun, we didn't get nearly enough sleep and probably drank a little too much, leaving us feeling pretty groggy to start the week.

We had a blast boating, swimming, eating lake food (lasagna), and just enjoying some friends. We have all decided we plan to make this a monthly trip... we will see how that goes.

 
The pups are also recovering from a weekend at the lake. Deluca would not stay out of the water. I have never seen him so happy and puppy like before! He was dancing around all weekend, getting into mischief and getting yelled at way more than he ever has. I don't know what happened, he seemed to have switched places with Franklin for a weekend.

Let's see, he barked his head off, refused to stay out of the water, even when we needed him to dry off, swam his little tail off, and had one episode of jumping out of the boat to chase after a cat. All the while, my perfect angel, Franklin, was off the leash, prancing around and listening to every word we said. What??!!!

Needless to say, the two of them crashed on the way home.

It was a good weekend for the whole family. :)

When we got home from the lake, we came home to a produce box full of awesome veggies. This was, by far, one of the best boxes we have gotten.

Local blueberries, local white eggplant, local kale, local sweet potatoes, grapefruits, lemons, cilantro, tomatoes, green pepper and ripe avocado. Since I wasn't in the mood to cook a big meal, I immediately whipped up some easy guacamole and toasted a whole wheat tortilla to use for dipping. Since I knew that wouldn't fill me up, I also fried 2 eggs.

Anytime I make homemade guacamole, I get some kind of comment about how difficult it must be. It is soooo the opposite! It tastes 10 times better than store bought, and is so easy! Let me share the quick  and easy recipe with you.

Easy Guacamole
2 ripe avocado
1 large fresh tomato or 2 roma tomatoes, chopped, liquid drained
1/8-1/4 cup red or white onion, chopped
1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped
juice of 1 lime
pinch sea salt
pinch black pepper
pinch garlic powder

Using a fork, mash your avocado. Add in the chopped tomato and onion, a few good squeezes of your lime, and your spices to taste. Voila... guacamole.

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I am finally feeling rested enough to start getting back to my running this week. I have a BIG birthday weekend coming up, so I want to try to get at least 3 runs in before Saturday.

Have a great Tuesday!

fanny pack

Well, now that I have Lindsay's attention...

Hey everyone!

Let's just skip the uncomfortable discussion about where I have been and how sorry I am that I have been MIA. To be brief, my super awesome, easy job where I could play all day has sadly come to an end and I am forced to actually work for my money. I know... tragic.

After many conversations with my uber-supportive husband about maybe putting the blog away for now, he has encouraged me to just post when I can. We can all agree that it has helped me tremendously with sticking to my goals and you can be rest assured that I am still photographing my food and runs, even when I can't post about them. I guess just the thought of posting them, keeps me going.

So, let's just jump right in, shall we?

This morning I got up super early to be able to attend a staff meeting at the hospital. I work so infrequently there, I usually never make it to the meetings, but today I was already up and figured I would go. They gave me a super sweet new mug too, so it was definitely worth the trip.

I wore my running clothes so I could easily go for a run after the meeting. I went to one of my favorite trails, that is really close to the hospital and did 3 miles, which was a good run considering I haven't ran in about a week. I did get to use my new running belt that I purchased from TJ Maxx last week... aka... my running fanny pack, which was pretty awesome.

Super nerdy photo, and please don't mind my gross sweaty underarms... but instead, keep your eyes on the belt. You try taking a self photo of your mid-section... it isn't easy.

I love that this belt has a pocket that can hold my phone, my car key, and any other items that I may need during my run. I can tell that for longer runs, I will be so glad I can store my fuel and some chap stick in there as well. It also has a water bottle that goes with it, which fits into a carriage on the front of the belt. For my shorter runs, I won't need that, so I do wish there was a way to remove the carriage all together.  But, there isn't and the belt was only $12 so I will deal.

There is also a small ID pocket where you can write your name and any medical alerts that you may have. That way, if I am ever found face down after a run, they will know who I am and that I am allergic to penicillin. Good stuff. :)

What I don't love about this belt, besides the non-removable water carriage, is that it rides up throughout my entire run. Mike used this belt last week on his 20 mile run... yeah, we will get to that in a second... and he thought the belt was the bees knees. He raved about it non-stop. I think that for guys, their hips are smaller than their mid-section, which helps to keep the belt at their waist. Since I have a smaller mid-section than my hips, the belt rides up constantly. Definitely something I can deal with for $12, but I wanted give you my full review.

I had been wanting something like this for a while, so I am glad to finally have one. Plus, I am happy I didn't spend very much on it. It is a great thing to have, but since these things are normally in the $30 range, I would have been disappointed if I had spent that much.

Breakfast this morning was a return of an old favorite.... overnight oats, eaten COLD!

Nothing beats a cold bowl of oats after a sweaty run. All that fruit in there... all from my produce delivery box, which, by the way, is 10 times better in the spring and summer than in the winter. The fresh fruit is amazing!

This mornings oats were a combination of fresh, chopped peaches, fresh blueberries, fresh blackberries, old fashioned oats, chocolate protein powder, and skim milk. DELISH!

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Last night's dinner was stolen from another blog that I read. It is pretty rare that you open a food blog and the recipe that is featured that day includes ingredients that you already have on hand. Especially when the recipe includes peaches and blueberries.... who has that on hand? When I went to How Sweet's post yesterday, I knew what we were having for dinner.

Her photos are out of this world, but here is my rendition of her Sweet and Spicy Glazed Chicken, Corn and Avocado Tostadas, with Blueberry Peach Salsa. The only changes we made were adding black beans and using whole wheat flour tortillas, making them more into tacos than tostadas.

Then everything fell out of my first taco, so I piled the leftover toppings onto the 2nd tortilla, creating a monster pile.

I am getting full just looking at these photos. This recipe is for sure going to become a part of the rotation at our house. They were so awesome. Next time, I will take the time to make them into tostadas instead of tacos, since I think they would have been really good on a crispy tortilla.

I have to hand it to Mike, he assembled this entire meal, while talking to me on the phone giving him the instructions. He got home before I did yesterday, so he put everything together and it was ready to eat when I walked in the door.... love that guy.

Speaking of that guy.... um... when did my husband become a runner??? He ran 20 miles while I was in Vegas last weekend. I am beyond impressed with his dedication. He is weighing in at about as much as I did when I started this blog, a short 9 months ago... Way to go, babe! I am so proud of you!

Oh yeah... I also went to Vegas last weekend... so much to catch you up on!

Have a great weekend!