what's in a name?

Hi!

Thanks for the support and encouraging comments on yesterday’s post.  Honestly, after I hit publish last night I laid awake in bed for awhile feeling very unsure about my post.  I really do try to always keep it real here, but being open is sometimes freaking hard!

I just don’t want to seem like a complainer, but guys…sometimes life is hard.  On those days it’s kind of a challenge to find a balance between staying positive and uplifting while still being real.

And to be perfectly honest, there is nothing that drives me more crazy here in blogland than when people come across as perfect on their blogs.  While I didn’t actually address this issue yesterday, it did come up in the comments.  It seems that most of you feel the same way.  Let’s just lay it all out there – there have been times when I’ve considered no longer reading some blogs because they just seem too perfect.  And whether they are perfect or whether they’re not – it really doesn’t matter – it is a negative force in my life to read about it everyday.  It’s extremely difficult to avoid the comparison trap when all you read each day is the perfection in people’s lives.  I have to constantly keep myself in check with this issue – finding myself trying to measure up to someone else’s style, recipes, photos or exercise routine.

And speaking of exercise routines, this would probably be an excellent time to make known that the husband and I will no longer be running our November half marathon. You know, the one that was originally supposed to be a full marathon?  After a lot of contemplating and discussion, we’ve decided to step back from racing for now.

With trying to get our own business off the ground + Jon working full-time and me almost full-time, there really isn’t enough time for training.  We tried to make it work, but sleep was the main thing being sacrificed.  We try every night to get in bed before 11pm, but when there are deadlines to meet sometimes it’s just not an option.  And seeing as how getting adequate sleep is one of the most important parts of long distance running, it isn’t healthy or smart for us to keep pushing it.

Being the perfectionist that I am, this decision was really difficult for me at first.  And to bring this full-circle, I realized that a lot of it was due to comparing myself to other bloggers. When you see countless bloggers running so many miles a week, it can make you feel like a failure if you’re not doing it too.  In my quest to defeat perfectionism though, I was able to step back and realize that my life is not the same as anybody else’s…and therefore I have to make the best decision for my body and for Jon.

Besides, I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned this, but the husband designed the branding for the entire race – from the participant’s guide down to the finish banner.  So, we’ll be running all over the place on race day, getting photos for our website (and cheering on all the runners!). I’m super stoked about it – I love races! Although I know I’ll be wishing we were running, I’m glad we’ll be going to support everyone and our business!

So that’s that.

Now that we’re through all the heavy stuff – let’s move on to the food!

Breakfast this morning was a green monster, per the usual.  Oh, green monster, how did I ever live without you??

I spent the morning working on my yoga class for tonight and trying to get iPhoto and Flickr to be friends.  The story of my life.  They are currently on speaking terms, though we still have a loooong way to go.

About 10:30 I got so hungry, so I heated up one of my favorite whole wheat pitas and had a big blob of creamy hummus for dipping!

So, if you follow me on twitter, you may know that I had a major life experience this morning.

I lived through my first earthquake!

You have to understand, Oklahoma does not get earthquakes. Like, ever. I never would have dreamed that I’d ever feel one.

So, picture this.  I was sitting on my couch with Olive looking up idioms for tutoring students and dealing with flickr when all of a sudden I heard a sound like the entire house rattled.  I actually didn’t feel anything, but it was such a strange noise – I literally thought to myself “that sounded like how I’ve heard earthquakes described.”

I glanced at Olive to see if she heard it, and she was sitting up with her little ears perked looking around.  However, here is a prime example of a downside of working from home.  There are no other adults around to confirm that you’re not crazy when crazy stuff happens!

So what did I do?  The only logical thing – I went on about my business and forgot about it.

About 30 minutes later, I went to check my phone and realized I had about 5 missed calls and 2 texts from the husband, and a text from my mom, wondering if I’d felt the earthquake and making sure I was okay. ha!  I couldn’t believe it.

Anyway, apparently it was a 4.3 on the scale and was felt all the way from north Texas to Arkansas and everywhere in between.

With all that excitement I completely forgot about lunch, and suddenly I looked up and I had 15 minutes till I needed to leave for tutoring!  Considering everything I still needed to do before leaving, I knew a lunch on the go was in order!  So, I whipped up a brown rice cake sandwich with natural peanut butter and half a banana.  It was delish.  But somewhat messy.  Have you ever tried to bite into a rice cake sandwich? Unfortunately I failed at getting a picture in all the madness.  I lived through an earthquake – can you blame me?!?

By the time I got though with all my tutoring appointments and taught my yoga class I was starving for dinner.  Enter leftovers of my favorite meal.

cooked spinach, vegetarian refried beans, rotel tomatoes and vegan (Daiya) cheese wrapped in a whole wheat tortilla a doused in spicy enchilada sauce.  With a side of baked corn chips (corn tortillas) and homemade guacamole.

Dessert was simple.

two little oranges (only a portion is in the picture)

All in all I’d say it was a banner day – a nice way to balance out yesterday methinks:)

Oh, one last side note.  I’ve told you guys how much I love meeting with international students, right?  Well, I love it more and more everyday.  Hanging out with them is so refreshing + I think I learn more than they do!  Awhile back I mentioned one of my students, Nada, who is super sweet but also beyond talkative and a bit high maintenance.  Well, she really threw me for a loop on Monday.  We were chatting along just like normal when all of a sudden she said “blah, blah, blah…when the little one comes.”

Say what?!

“Little one?” I asked.

“Oh, yeah…I’m expecting. Did I not tell you that?  I’m due in January.”

“Um negative on that.  I would remember if you had told me that.  I’ve been meeting with you for weeks – how can I not know you are pregnant?? So, is it a boy or a girl?” I asked.

“It’s a girl.”

“Aww, how sweet (beginning to get over my initial shock at this point). So what are ya going to name her?”

“Well, I have a couple of names in mind, but one I’m really leaning toward….Lupus.”

“Ahem. Excuse me?”

“Lupus.  That’s what I’m going to name her.”

So, I then had to gently explain to my sweet little Egyptian student that Lupus might not be the best choice.  I mean, sure it’s cute and all…but oh the pain it will cause for that poor child!

I felt bad to shoot her down, but I also felt it my duty to shelter the baby from a lifetime of humiliation.

Oh the joy of international students:) And I can say that because I was one.

Now that I’ve sufficiently talked your ears off!  I’ll be signing off.  I’ll see you all tomorrow!

G’night!

P.S. I can only imagine the google searches that will come forth due to this post!

bring on the carbs

Happy 2nd day of fall! I can’t believe I forgot to tell everyone Happy 1st day of fall yesterday because I am so darn excited.  Last night I heard our weatherman say “a fall cool front will be moving in this week,” and I about jumped out of my skin.  It sounds like I’m being really dramatic, but I really am that excited.  I am in love with fall:)

Jon and I literally drug ourselves out of bed (it was one of those kind of mornings) and went for a four mile run this morning.  I was feeling really strong until we hit our first hill, and then everything went downhill fast, literally and figuratively.  I think I was dehydrated – it wasn’t even that hot out and there was a nice breeze, but my neck and face felt like they were on fire and my body felt like lead.  Very pleasant indeed.  We took a couple of short walk brakes and came in just under 42 minutes.  I was feelin’ pretty blah, but still so happy that we finished.  Our half marathon training is finally looking up a little bit at least, considering we’ve actually stayed committed to our training this week.

Today has been a very “work from home” kind of day, meaning I didn’t leave the house all morning.  When the husband called around 11 to say he had to work through lunch I knew I had to get out of the house.   Obviously I had no choice but to drive straight to the little bakery we ate at yesterday.

Instead of ordering the same sandwich, though, I just bought an entire loaf of that same bread, haha.  I wasn’t kidding when I said how good it was.  By the time I was driving across town to get it, I was already starving and developing a serious headache.  So, naturally as soon as I got back in the car, I inhaled two pieces.  It was so good.  Let me say that again – it was so good!!!

Then I came home and recreated that beautiful sandwich, just with different veggies and hummus instead of pesto.

arugula, sprouts, pickles, hummus

with a red pear on the side

I have been wanting to try arugula for months now, but I never can find it!  After I picked up my bread, I dropped by the grocery store to get some bananas and happened upon some organic arugula.  score!  Is it strange to be so excited over a leafy green?

Anyway, I’ve been so excited about my sandwich that I breezed right by breakfast.

I was out of spinach and bananas this mornings, so I had to fore-go my green monster.  I opted instead for shredded wheat n bran, a sprinkle of Kashi Go Lean Crunch, frozen blueberries and soy milk.  It was a nice change:)  I was actually craving cereal last night before I went to bed, so this really kind of hit the spot this morning.

Anyway, I must run.  I do just want to say a quick thank you to all my sweet readers for reading my blog- you all are one of the main reasons I keep writing everyday.

And that’s a wrap:)  I hope you all have a lovely day – enjoy the cooler weather if you’ve got it and enjoy the last days of summer if not!

labor day love

There is nothing better than the feeling of accomplishment after finishing a long run.

Maybe I’m being a bit dramatic…but it really is one of the best feelings in the world.  We pushed hard this morning and finished six miles in just under an hour including walk breaks.

As I’ve mentioned before, running has become increasingly difficult for me lately, and I’m not totally sure why.  But it’s redeeming runs like today that keep me going and keep my love for running alive.  It was painful to keep a good pace…but I just kept telling myself to dig deep and show myself what I can do.  It felt so good to sprint to the finish.

We drove out the the lake path this morning, and I munched on half a banana on the way for a little bit of carby energy.

It’s kind of blurry because it was still kind of dark outside.  And I couldn’t hold still in the car.  The husband is a crazy driver.

When we got back I took a long, hot shower and then fixed up a protein filled breakfast.

I cooked one organic free range egg with one egg white in the microwave for 2 minutes.  With about 20 seconds left, I threw some spinach on top.  After the microwave stopped and toaster popped up, I sandwiched it between two Van’s Flax waffles, with a light spread of Spicy Garlic Hummus and a dash of salt and pepper.

I wasn’t sure about the addition of hummus…but I decided to go crazy and try it.  It rocked.  Bigtime.  The combination of flavors was just perfect!  Don’t you love it when that happens?  The only thing I forgot was the chia seeds.  Doh.

It is such a beautiful day outside – the husband and I are going to head out and see where the wind takes us.  No guesses where that might be, but I’ve got high hopes!

Enjoy your Labor Day!

Love and chias:) C

Who is your favorite artist that your listening to these days? The husband and I are really loving One Republic.  It’s a bit different than my usual Diane Birch and and Sara Bareilles…but has a really awesome vibe.

perfect pepper puzzle

This morning Jon and I rolled out of bed just in time to head out for a run.  I was absolutely determined to have a good run…which can actually be quite dangerous:)

The weather was decent this morning – in the high seventies with a very light breeze – so off we went.  And praise the Lord – it went well!  I have been feeling so discouraged about our training, even to the point of thinking to myself “why the heck are we doing this?”  Have you ever been there?  Thankfully this morning restored my faith in believing that I really can train for and run a half marathon.

Before we headed out I honestly didn’t have a clue what I was going to do to help matters, but throughout the course of our run I tried several different tactics.

What worked:

Paying extra attention to my form.  Sometimes when I’m running, I find that I sort of hunch over and stoop my shoulders and back.  Today I kept checking in to make certain that my back was straight and my shoulders were down away from my ears.  I used a move that I do in my PiYo classes often: scrunch your shoulders up toward your ears as high as you can, and then release them down and back towards the floor, elongating the neck.  This helped tremendously today!

Break up the run into smaller segments. Not rocket science right?  The thing is that I usually do this with longer runs, but never with shorter runs.  I go into shorter runs thinking “well, it’s short already!”  But I have to say – in certain conditions, three miles can almost feel like a long run.  In fact, I’d rather do a long run over a short run anyday.  That’s anyday…not everyday, mind you. ha!  This morning, however, I kept telling myself things like “only .4 more miles until one mile is left.  You can run one mile easy!”  Sounds kind of silly, but it totally helped my mindset.  And Jon’s.

Frequent updates on mileage.  Sometimes I try to just zone out during a run and not think about the time.  Today, however, Jon and were both starting to struggle, so I was giving updates every half mile, and then every .2 miles towards the end.  I was somewhat doing this for Jon, since he wasn’t wearing the Garmin, but it totally helped keep my motivation and energy up as well.

Breathe.  Again, rocket science I know.  But sometimes I really truly forget to breathe.  I’ll realize that I’m either holding my breath or breathing very short and shallow breaths.  Today I focused on getting frequent deep breaths in, and I didn’t get near as winded throughout the entire run…even at the end.

Stretch.  We all know it’s important to stretch after a run, but what about during?  At about the halfway point, we both agreed that our legs felt pretty much like lead.  So, we stopped and stretched it out for about 30 seconds.  When we took off again, I felt much lighter and faster.

I’m not saying these tactics would work for everyone, but they definitely helped change my game this morning.  We finished in under 30 minutes including a short walk/stretch break.  For us, this was a great improvement!

After our run, I waited awhile for breakfast because I just wasn’t that hungry for some reason.  Very uncharacteristic of me.  When I finally got hungry awhile later, all that sounded good was a bowl of cereal.  I usually shy away from cereal for breakfast because it seems to go right through me, leaving me hungry soon after.  But I decided to go for it anyway.

Kashi Heart to Heart, Peanut Butter Puffins, sliced banana and soy milk

I love cereal so much…I wish it just was a little bit more filling.  A couple hours later I was already ready for lunch.  Jon had to work through lunch today, so I was flying solo.

I decided to throw together a quick concoction – and stuff it in a big bell pepper!

Bell pepper first.  I cut the top off, cleaned out the insides and set it on a cookie sheet in the oven at 400 degrees.

For the stuffing, I decided to start with a grain as a base, and after some inspection of the cabinets decided on bulgur.  Bulgur is one of my favorite grains because it’s easy to cook and so nutty!  Plus, 1/2 cup has only 75 calories but boasts 3 grams of protein and 8 grams of fiber.  Into the boiling water it went.

After studying the fridge for a moment, I pulled out some leftover canned corn and leftover chickpeas and dumped them in the skillet.

Protein…check!

Hmmm….I still need some greens.  That’s an easy one.

Oops!  Leaf overboard!

Lastly, I added 2 tbsp of homemade hummus for creaminess and flavor + 1 tsp oregano and a sprinkle of salt and ground red pepper for a little kick!

By the time this mixture was cooked through, my bell pepper was nicely browned and wrinkled.  I carefully (it’s hot!) filled the pepper with the creamy bulgur mixture, stuffing it in deep to make it all fit.  Then I stuck it back in the oven for another 15 minutes or so, turning on the broiler for the last couple.  I just love the broiler.  It soothes my impatient soul.

While I waited, I cleaned up the skillet and cutting board and said hello to this little visitor:)  She’s not dead, I promise.

When the pepper appeared super brown and wrinkled, it was ready to go!

Perfect.

With a sweet and juicy peach on the side.

So, so good.  Sorry dear…you totally missed out on this one;)  The pepper was perfectly soft and somehow the random flavors I threw together fit like a perfect little puzzle.  And I love the way the boiler makes the exposed part of the stuffing a little crispy!

After lunch I decided to book it to the coffee shop.  Without some lunch company, the house gets a little too quiet.  I’ve gotta get some work done and prepare for a call with an Outbox client this evening.

Hope you’re all having a great end to your week – let’s finish strong!

Random Question – what are you most looking forward to about fall?

work it. own it.

Wow.

That’s all I have to say about this evening.  I have spent so much time attempting to get my computer/photo problem under control, and tonight was no different.  I’ve definitely made a lot of progress at getting my photos transferred from iPhoto to Flickr, but I still have a long way to go!  Come on little Macbook – you can do it!

As predicted, Jon and I headed to the gym this morning for our 3 mile run, and it was the best run I’ve had in awhile.  To be perfectly honest, it was the first run in awhile during which I didn’t walk.  Even though I’m a big proponent of walk breaks, I have to say it felt fabulous to kick it into gear this morning!  I owned that run:)

In fact, I feel so good today that I think I’ve gained a renewed motivation to kick butt on my runs from now on…even when they get really uncomfortable…and even outside.  Once you taste the feeling of success, you don’t want to let it slip away!

Anyway, once I got home and showered I was having a serious craving for some greek yogurt.  I have no idea where it came from, but it came upon me suddenly and with such force that I actually drove all the way to Walmart and bought some just for breakfast.  Absolutely nothing else would do.  I also decided that I couldn’t live without these beautiful raspberries while I was there, so I brought them home with me too.

greek yogurt over a toasted Van’s flax waffle with raspberries and sprinkle of chia seeds

This meal was so pretty and fun that I had to break out our nice flatware.  It actually might be only the second time I’ve ever used this flatware.  whoa.

Lunch and dinner were easy – Pita Pit and leftovers.  That’s the way it’s gotta be sometimes, ya know?

Tonight was the last yoga class I’ll go to and not be the instructor!  Kind of a crazy feeling.  I am loving teaching PiYo so far, and I’m super stoked to start yoga as well.  It’s such a fun challenge to come up with new classes each week, and I am so excited to build on each one and see everyone improve throughout the rest of the year.

Yoga is just cool that way:)

Well, guys, I gotta cut this short and get to bed.  Dealing with technology all day has completely zapped me of all energy.  Hopefully tomorrow will be a less frustrating day as far as that goes!

Yay for Thursday!

a hoax

Only a few more hours left to enter the chia seed giveaway!

Yesterday I was MIA…at least here on the blog.

There was, however, a lot of action going on off the blog.

Cookies were baked (and eaten!)

Walks were taken

Delicious food was prepared and consumed

And the moon was watched.

Not sure what that other object is – it wasn’t visible except in the photo.  Must have been something to do with the lense?

Yes, that’s right.  I said the moon was watched.

My lovely sister sent me a text message on Friday evening tell me that at 12:30 am I would be able to see Mars and that it would appear as big as the moon.  Well, I’m not one to miss out on an event this epic!

So, while Jon fell asleep by about 11pm, I burned the midnight oil, waiting for my chance to get a glimpse of the red planet.  At exactly 12:28 I shook Jon awake and told him, “you have to get up!  we have to go see Mars!”

He faithfully stumbles after me, down the hall and out the front door, where he sleepily plops down on the porch while I stand in the middle of the yard, camera ready.

I watch…and watch….and watch.  Waiting.

And nothing.  There was nothing but the trusty moon and a sprinkling of tiny stars.

So, after about 10 minutes, we traipse back inside where I immediately hop on the computer to get the lowdown.  It’s at this point that I find out that we’d been duped!  Apparently this email goes out every year, and it’s all a hoax designed to get fools like me to stare up at the sky, hoping to see a once in a lifetime event.

Bummer.

Luckily the husband is very sweet and forgiving of my crazy antics.

But Cristen, you better watch your back 😉

Onward and upward.

This morning we got up super late for our weekly long run.  Because we cut back to the half marathon, our weekly long run was cut back as well.  So we went out for 5 miles.  I think I underestimated it.  I was a little too cocky.

We’ve been running seven plus miles, so I thought we had this one in the bag.  It didn’t go so well, however.  By the time we got out there the sun was beating down with a vengeance, and despite the drop in temperatures as of late, it was blazing hot.  With the help of a little walking, we finished it out though.  Bad runs always happen, so we’re not too bummed.  The walking time was actually kind of nice:)  We’ll get revenge next week.

I’m off to get caught up on some work that piled up a bit while we were playing all day yesterday. I’ll be back with a recipe for the second batch of cookies later.

Hope you all had a fantastic weekend!

giveaway time! spreading the chia love

Jon and I woke up bright and early this morning and headed out for a three mile run.  It actually wasn’t too terribly humid and hot, and therefore was almost enjoyable.  I said almost😉

Soon after we got back, I was starving for breakfast and was wasting time on twitter while trying to decide what to have when Evan tweeted an idea for the Vega Shake and Go Smoothie mix from the HLS swag bag.  It sounded too good to pass up, so I went for it!

It may not look too appetizing, but don’t knock it ’till you try it.

First, I mashed a whole banana until it was fairly smooth. I then mixed in two heaping spoonfuls of Vega powder, 1/3 cup of raw oats and a splash of almond milk.  It turned out like a thick chocolate pudding!  My only complaint is that it was a tiny bit grainy from the powder.  Next time I think I’ll go a little easier on the powder, but otherwise it was awesome!  And full of protein!

The Vega mix is completely plant based and is corn, dairy, gluten, soy, wheat and yeast free. Per serving it has:

• Two servings of veggies
• 2500 mg Omega-3-6-9
• 11 g complete protein
• Only 100 calories
• 1 billion probiotics cultures

Pretty cool, right? I have yet to find a protein powder that I like, but I’m a fan of this.

This morning I had my first meeting with a new student that I’m going to be tutoring!  She’s from Korea, and I’ll be tutoring her 3 days a week now.  I’m pretty excited about it – something inside me just lights up when I work with international students. 🙂

After my meeting I had lunch with my friend Grace at Panera.  I ordered a version of my favorite – Mediterranean Veggie sandwich, Garden Vegetable soup and a whole grain baguette.

And an Adora disc for dessert.  Not sure what I’m gonna do when these run out – I’ve gotten kind of attached:)

Okay, now onto the good stuff.  Sorry to leave you hangin’.

How about some chia seeds from ChiaSeedsDirect.com to make it up to you?

I don’t like to bombard you guys with giveaways, but I honestly just cannot pass up an opportunity to spread the chia love:)

The lovely folks at ChiaSeedsDirect have been gracious enough to offer a free 2lb. bag of chia seeds to one fabulous ChiaSeedMe reader.

There are five different ways you can enter (1 entry for each one you do):

• leave a comment on this post telling me the most adventurous thing you’ve ever done OR something adventurous you want to do in the future
• add ChiaSeedMe to your blogroll and tell me you did or if it already is tell me that
• follow me on twitter (@chiaseedme) and tweet about the giveaway using the following:    @chiaseedme enter to win free chia seeds!!  http://chiaseedme.com/?p=2235
• decide on one random act of kindness you will do sometime this week and tell me what it is (and you have to do it – honors system!)
• mention the giveaway in a blog post and link to it in the comments

Please make sure and tell me which of the five you did in the comments.

The giveaway will run until Sunday, August 29th at midnight.

If you’ve never used chia seeds before and need some ideas – click here for tons of ways that I love to use them.  Also, make sure and check out my post on why chia seeds are so awesome.

If you haven’t checked out ChiaSeedsDirect yet, you should!  They are an awesome company that offers the highest quality chia seeds at very low prices with free shipping on all U.S. orders.  You can’t beat that!  Also, if you are interested, feel free to download a free 16-page booklet on chia seeds, chia seed uses and chia seed recipes by using the following link: http://www.chiaseedsdirect.com/frreonchsehe.html.

**giveaway is open to U.S. and Canadian residents only.  Sorry!

See you all later!

1 down, 26 to go

Tonight we went out to this little old school house to get some photos for my homework assignment.

and then we ended up in the middle of nowhere on this dusty road.

It was fun. And hot. Very hot.

And then I came home to upload the pics, and the program wouldn’t work!  I’m hoping my instructor will give me an extension…it’s crazy feeling like I’m in college again.

We also managed to get to the store and buy groceries, which I’ll be showcasing as the week goes on.

I’ve kind of strayed a bit from my straight laced eating habits, which inevitable happens to all of us from time to time.  And while I don’t expect myself to be my best all the time, my body’s is not thanking me for it.  So, tomorrow (my next meal) it’s back on track for me!

Also at the grocery store tonight I accomplished one of my 27 goals for my 27th year of life!  At least I made a start toward it.  I bought Burt’s Bees all natural facial cleanser and moisturizer.  Lately I’ve been feeling more and more bothered by the fact that I put chemicals all over my face and don’t think a thing about it.  I spend so much money and time on what I put in my body – what I put on my body should get the same attention and concern. This is just a first step as all my other makeup products are not all natural.  But I must start somewhere!  Anyway, I’ll do a full review on these products here in a couple of weeks!

Next in news tonight;)  Jon and I have officially decided to drop down to the half marathon in November as opposed to the full.  This actually causes me to regress on my list of 27 things:(

It has been a very hard decision, but we both feel that it is the best one.  When I announced that we were going to train for the full, I mentioned that Jon’s work situation was going to make it difficult to get the training time in, but that we wanted to shoot for it anyway.  Well, you’ve heard the quote – shoot for the moon and if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.  I guess our stars are going to be the half marathon.

I am so competitive that this has been a very hard decision for me to swallow.  But with Jon taking on his boss’ responsibilities (on top of his own) for the next 3 months plus the demands that Outbox is putting on us, it just isn’t going to be feasible or healthy for us to train for the full.  We know from our first full marathon that training is a huge time and energy commitment.  While it’s one that we definitely plan to make in the near future, it’s not going to be right now.  It’s taken me several days to accept the decision and to get excited about training for the half.  But I’m all on board now, and I’m so ready!  So, we’ll run it, and we’ll have a blast running it together:)

For the record, I did consider going ahead and doing the full on my own, seeing as how I do still have more time than the husband.  But after discussing it, we decided that it’s much more fun to stick together throughout training as well as the race.  Like  I said this morning “it’s always better when we’re together”  🙂  We’ve run all our races together so far, and there’s no good reason to stop now.

So, since we had already started our full training a few weeks ago, we’re a little bit ahead of schedule.  We’re just going to press on, and either run an extra run or two in the weeks preceding the race, or have a bit of flexibility if something comes up one weekend between now and then.

So, that’s all the big news for tonight.  Hope you all have had an awesome weekend – time to get geared up for the week ahead!

Do you use all natural skin care products?  Is that something that you think about/is important to you?  How do you go about choosing a skin care system?

gotta love the swag

Friends, I’m in the midst of a crisis.

Since I got my Canon DSLR camera back in April, I’ve been uploading all my photos into iPhoto.  Unfortunately the file sizes are huge, and they are overtaking my macbook!  I’ve finally decided to start uploading to Flickr instead, but I also am going to have to move all my photos over from iPhoto as well.

This process is going to take forever.  I’m just so deep in this hole.  Not only is my computer moving slower than ever, but the process of transferring the photos is going to slow it down even more.  Argh!

Okay, rant over.  Thanks for listening;)

warning: if you aren’t a dog lover, just glaze over this next part:) and don’t think I’m crazy.

First things first – Olive wants to say Happy 1st Birthday to her cousin, Bentley!

We still love you little B, even though you chewed up 2 of my retainers this summer.

This morning has been so productive!  Don’t you just love super productive days?

First, I went for a four mile run.  I planned to go to the gym, but the second I stepped out onto the porch, I changed my mind.  It had to have been about 80 degrees.  And there was even a cool breeze.  I couldn’t pass up the chance to run outside.  Unfortunately my Garmin wasn’t quite as thrilled apparently and didn’t find its satellites until well in the run.  I know I ended up at about 4 miles, but have no idea what my time was.  O’well!

Before I went I had a piece of canteloupe, sans salt and pepper

Once I got back, it was still cloudy and breeze, and our scraggly yard was giving me the eye.  I couldn’t resist the nagging and immediately changed shoes and revved up the mower!

About an hour later I finished, a sweaty, hungry mess.  Seeing as how it was after 10:30, though, I opted for a little snack instead of breakfast to tide me over.

I got this herbal water in the HLS swag bag, and I am now obsessed.  I must find a place to buy these.  They have no added sugars or preservatives, and the water is infused with a perfectly subtle ginger lemon flavor.

These pistachios and dried pineapple are also from the swag bag, courtesy of Oh Nuts.  The pistachios were great, but I wasn’t a huge fan of the pineapple.  I don’t like added sugar on my dried fruit, and this definitely had some.  I don’t know why companies always feel the need to add so much sugar to their dried fruit!

Anyway, I answered some emails and before I could turn around twice it was lunch time.

My sister bought me this garlic olive oil from The Olive Tap.  It gives off just a nice, subtle hint of garlic.  Judging from her description I really wish I could have visited the store too.

I mixed 1 tbsp+1 tsp of garlic olive oil + 1 tsp water to 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp seasoned salt and a sprinkle of ground red pepper.

I filled a gallon sized ziplock bag with sliced sweet potato rounds and asparagus, and after adding the oil and seasoning mixture, shook until I couldn’t feel my arms (it really is an exact scienceJ  I then dumped it out onto a cookie sheet (don’t forget to spray it!) and roasted at 400 degrees for about half an hour.  Don’t forget to stir and flip occasionally.  I actually think the asparagus was a bit too soft, so you may want to take it out after 20 minutes or so.

I toasted a piece of Ezekiel bread and spread it with Earth Balance to have on the side.  Plus, another piece of canteloupe with salt and pepper.

Dessert was an Adora Dark Chocolate Calcium supplement disk from the swag bag.  Love these.  lol. What did I eat before HLS?

I just wanted to give a quick shout out to my awesome co workers from my teaching job.  I stopped by the school for a visit yesterday and loved getting to see everyone.  These people are a huge reason why it was so hard to leave, and I’m going to miss them dearly!

my best friend, Teri, Bryan, and me

two of our awesome librarians!

Meghan taught in the classroom next door to me and was a fellow first year teacher.  This girl is a hoot!

And again, Teri:)

Well, I’m off to get some work done!  I’ll be back tonight with my fourth and final HLS recap!  If you missed ‘em, here is recap 1, recap 2 and recap 3.

annnddd we're back!

Good morning!

This time last week Jon and I were heading out for a long run.  We hit the road at about 6:30 am for a seven miler…and trudged home about an hour and a half later, disappointed, yet still hopeful.

Feeling exhausted and a bit disappointed, but still proud that we at least still covered the distance

There were several key mistakes responsible for what we called our “successful failure.”  Successful because we covered the seven miles and made it back in one piece.  Failure because we didn’t accomplish what we set out to do.

• We didn’t go to bed early enough the night before.  We were running on about 5.5 hours of sleep, which is not nearly enough.  Getting adequate rest is vitally important when pushing your body.
• We hadn’t hydrated well the night before the run.  It’s not only important to hydrate during physical activity; it’s also crucial to hydrate in the days before.
• We got going way too late.  By the time we went out, the sun was already beginning to peek out, and the temps were in the 90s.  On top of that, the humidity was extremely high.
• We didn’t have good tunes! For me, music is a serious motivator during long runs.  While I did have my iPod on, I didn’t have a good playlist ready.  I don’t necessarily have to have every song be super upbeat, but Adele just wasn’t doing it for me.
• We didn’t fuel before leaving, so we were still running on the fumes from dinner the night before.  To make matters even worse, we didn’t take anything along to fuel while we were out.
• Lack of hydration during the run.  We did wear our hydration belt, but the water heated up super fast and we ended up running completely out of water by mile five.  No good!
• I had to go to the bathroom starting at about mile 3.  There are few things worse as a runner than carrying on despite needing to use the restroom.  Sorry if that’s TMI, but the resulting cramps and heaviness alone were enough to do me in.

So, as you can see, pretty much everything that could have gone wrong did.  Plus some!

We initially started out fine, but at about mile 2 things started to go downhill when my bathroom needs presented themselves.  There was nowhere to stop, and I didn’t want to go back home so we pressed on, hoping it would pass.  In retrospect we should have just looped back around to the house.  Throughout miles 2-5 we were just feeling spent.  The lack of cold water, humidity and lack of fuel were wearing us down fast. At mile five we completely ran out of water.  My mouth felt like cotton, and as I continued to press on I began to feel extremely weak and a bit lightheaded.  That’s when I knew it was time to stop.  The humidity was like a thick blanket around us, and the sun was beating down.

It’s always difficult to cut a workout short, and when I do I often feel as if I’ve given up or failed. I do think it’s important to push myself even when my mind is telling me to quit.  Many times my body can overcome my mind and prove that I really am stronger than I think.

However, it’s a different story when my body is telling me it’s time to stop.  I don’t call that quitting, I call it taking care of my body and being wise.  There should never be any shame or regret in listening to your body and complying when it’s begging you to stop.

So, we walked the last 2 miles back to our house and vowed to do everything differently the next week.

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Which brings me to this morning.  Instead of following our training plan and dropping back down to 5 miles this week, we decided to have a re-do of the 7.  Having hydrated well, fueled with half a brown rice cake and peanut butter, gotten plenty of rest, we set out at about 5:45 am with a camelback full of ice and water and a motivating playlist! The humidity truly was as bad as ever, but the things we did to prepare really came through for us.

The one thing we didn’t fully prepare was the Garmin.  I put it on the charger last night, but I guess it didn’t attach well because it was dead this morning.  So we free-for-all’d it! Whoop! It was kind of nice not having to worry about time or splits.  We had mapped out our route the night before (using mapmyrun.com) so we knew exactly where we needed to go to get in 7 miles.

This morning was honestly one of the funnest and most enjoyable runs I’ve had in a long time.  I highly recommend that every runner nix the garmin and just run at least every once in a while.  It’s a very freeing experience.  I really feel like the joy of running was brought back to me this morning.

At about the 2 mile mark we ran into a friend

This picture is really crazy looking because it was dark still and I was using the iPhone. This cow was so cute though!  He was like “what are you crazy fools doing out here?!”

Around mile 4  – yoga to stretch out my tight legs!

waving hello to our campus stadium

and a little window shopping!  I really want the top two left shirts for football season this year:)

Along with stopping for water every couple of miles, we also carted along some starburst jelly beans for a little carb kick!

We had an epic finish, and I felt so proud and happy to have redeemed ourselves this week!

So, I can basically sum up our last two weeks of runs in one lesson learned.

It’s all about preparation.

Actually, two lessons learned.

1.  It’s all about preparation

2.  Don’t be too hard on yourself!

Whether you’re a seasoned runner or just starting out, you can know that you will inevitable have “bad” runs.  Every single run is not going to be great. Heck, you might even have an entire week of bad runs.  But if you just keep at it…keep pressing on it will get better.  And it’ll be worth it.  There truly is nothing like crossing a finish line after lots of hard work. Whether it’s an official marathon finish line, a 5k, or your own 2 mile run at home – it’s so rewarding.

I hope you all are having a restful and fun weekend.  You’re amazing!