Overdue.

It's been a busy time of year obviously, since I haven't posted in a few weeks.  I thought about just forgetting about my blog but I feel like I do that with a lot of things I set out to do so I'm posting again because I want to stick with this.  So here I am :)  I just finished with finals and have started my summer.  I'd say it's already off to a great start!

Our big race day has come and gone!  Yesterday David and I ran our very first half marathon up in Green Bay, Wisconsin.  It went well for the most part, except one minor detail-- yesterday was a scorcher!!  It started at 7 AM but it quickly warmed up and I was tiring out at mile four.  That's not good when you have nine more to go!  But I pulled through and I crossed the finish line with a race time of 2 hours 17 minutes.  I'm happy with it considering the conditions we ran in.  In fact, about ten minutes after I crossed the finish line they shut the course down because it was getting too dangerous for the runners (there was also a full marathon so several runners were still out there).

Here we are, post marathon, just glistening away!

David and I had separated early on in the race, as he has much longer legs and therefore faster than I am, so afterwards I looked for him.  And looked some more.  And some more.  Until finally, I found him- about an hour afterwards.  Just what you want to do after you run 13.1 miles, wander around in a hot parking lot full of other sweaty runners in search of someone.  Not so much.  We grabbed our running bags, found some strangers to snap a victory photo and headed out.  We were tired and sore along with post-running stomachaches.  We drove back to his parents house where we stayed for the weekend, showered off and went to lunch.  He mowed down half a pizza while I devoured a burger.  We took a nice nap and headed home.

Even though we didn't run as fast as we'd have liked to, we're happy with our first half marathon experience.  Now we have times to beat!  I'm mostly proud that I set a goal, stuck with it and reached it.  And I'm happy we did it together :)  We actually signed up for another half marathon tonight coming up in September.  Hopefully we'll have some cooler weather!

Enough about running, how about food??  Lately I've been trying to work on my sugar intake. We had a container of cookies in the house a while ago and when I was home during the day I was finding it hard to control myself.  I decided to quit cold turkey.  Temporarily, that is.  This Thursday I'll have gone two weeks without added sugar (with the exception of yesterday, the race day, I treated myself to not one, but two cookies on a job well done- or should I say run?).  But now it's back to reality.  It really hasn't been as bad as I thought.  I use my fruit as dessert and have been making more smoothies as a treat.

Sugar isn't the only thing I'm trying to cut out.  I'm trying to eat less red meat (so yes, that burger yesterday was a nice treat as well!) and follow more of the "Mediterranean" diet.  I hate using the term diet though.  I just like to watch what I eat.  I like to know what my food is made of and where it comes from.  I like to know that it's nourishing my body and not just tasting good.

My goal is to eat well most of the time and indulge less of the time.  I want to enjoy treats as they are meant to be enjoyed, once in a while.  As a...wait for it... treat!

One other thing that has been occupying my time lately is the four-part documentary that aired on HBO last week, "The Weight of the Nation."  All four parts are online so PLEASE go watch!  People don't realize how much damage we really are doing to ourselves.  It's scary.

Now I'm looking forward to a relaxing rest of the week.  I'm actually flying down to Georgia on Thursday to visit one of my best friends for a mini vacay.  I'm pretty excited to be laying on the beach!  We plan on doing some baking so I will have to update again soon with some photos from our adventures.

Until next time!

Feelin' worn out.

The title says it all!  And it is making training very difficult.  I unfortunately ended up not going to Zumba last night, I just had too much homework to work on.  I was bummed about it but I knew I had a good reason to miss.  So today I did a four mile run with some weights and stretching afterwards.  I think tomorrow I will do some yoga and Friday will be my long run.  It's my weekend to work so I won't be getting in any major work outs. :(

My half is in about two and a half weeks so I'm getting down to crunch time!  Anyone have any tips and tricks to keep myself motivated??  I think right now it's mostly mental.  My body feels mostly capable, although today's run did feel a little odd.  Any runners out there ever run your routes backwards?  Try saying that five times fast!  That's a mouth full.  Anyways, I reversed my normal route and for majority of my run I just felt unbalanced or something.  I'm not sure?  It is much warmer today than it has been so maybe it's the weather.  Or me just being so tired.  Who knows, but I hope it passes.  And soon!

Another short post for today.  The homework just doesn't quit!  But first I must shower and enjoy some of my left over homemade chicken fried rice.  I must say, it turned out pretty well for just throwing a bunch of stuff together!  We had left over quinoa, some grilled up chicken breasts and spinach and mushrooms that needed to be used.  So yesterday I cooked up some eggs (like an omelette, but not folded), then sauteed the mushrooms and spinach, added the chicken, threw in the quinoa with some soy sauce and last but not least stirred in the egg.  A protein packed lunch perfect for after a run!

Happy Wednesday!

Long time, no type.

It has been a busy past few days.  This past Saturday I ran a very popular race in Madison, the annual Crazy Legs!!  It's an 8K, so 5 miles, and this year was the first year I was actually ready.  I ran it with a friend, which always helps, but unfortunately it was COLD, RAINY, and WINDY.  But once we got running I was okay and I finished just over 47 minutes-- not bad!  Afterwards we snagged our free beers and headed to lunch.

That evening I had a little girls night because David was gone.  We feasted on bacon-wrapped shrimp, turkey meatballs in a cranberry chili sauce, twice baked potatoes (made with Greek yogurt instead of sour cream), stuffed crescent rolls, veggies and dip, fruit salad, angel food cupcakes AND, the mother load of all mother loads.... Twix brownies.  Oh. My. Gosh... they were deadly, but a very nice treat after a cold race. :)  Gotta treat yourself once in a while, right?

The rest of the weekend, and yesterday, I spent helping my parents move.  After thirty years of living in the house I grew up in, they moved to Madison.  It's bittersweet for me.  I'm happy for them, but I'll miss having that as "my home."

With all the moving (and my giant to-do list lurking in the back of my head, it is the end of the semester after all) I wasn't being very careful with what I put into my mouth.  I treated myself a little bit more than once in a while, so now today I am trying to get back on track!  Starting the morning off with coffee and a smoothie to follow.  Tonight I'll go to Zumba for a cross-training session and I think tomorrow I'll run.  I am still feeling a bit sore since I didn't stretch as much as I should have after Crazy Legs.  Naughty, naughty!

Alright, enough rambling.  I have a pile of homework to work on, so I better get going!

Happy May Day!!